Marshall's Battlefields

05/09/2023

At the Carrière Wellington.
The temperature outside is 30 degrees. My guests were pleased to be informed that the temperature is 11 degrees underground.

30/04/2023

Last week’s Anzac Day commemorations at Bullecourt, to which, I escorted two Australian ladies.
As always, when local people discover Australians in their village, a warm welcome was freely given.

22/04/2023

Despite the damp start to the day, my group, from were completely engaged with the doings of ‘their’ Pals battalions at on the First day of the .

09/04/2022

Marshall’s Battlefields clients wander and ponder, deep in thought last week after hearing of the epic tragedy that was the 31st Division’s attack towards Serre at the opening of during This was the first of the year, and was an unqualified success. The clients have said they will book with again before the summer is over. To discover your family’s history, get in contact here or via the website.
I look forward to hearing from you and working with you to discover your

09/12/2021

https://www.marshallsbattlefields.com/blog/submitting-a-case-of-non-commemoration-to-the-commonwealth-war-graves-commission

09/12/2021

https://www.marshallsbattlefields.com/blog/the-barnbow-explosion-december-1916-and-its-devastation-of-a-leeds-family

An account of how the December 1916 explosion at the Barnbow Shell Filling Factory happened, and its effect on one family from Leeds.

15/03/2021

Another satisfied customer for with the completion of another commission.
The subject was the client’s great grandfather who enlisted in 1899 and served 4 years with 11th in Egypt and Ireland before transferring to 15th Hussars for service in India, returning to England in 1908 and transfer to the Reserve. When came, he re-enlisted, joining 14th Reserve Regt at Longmoor, before transferring to the Army Service Corps Remounts Service, serving at before being posted to Indian Remounts Depot at near for the last two years of the war. He left the with the rank of .
What’s your ?
Contact Marshall’s Battlefields to find out.

03/03/2021

The Stewarts of Leeds - One Family’s Experience of War and Loss. A new post has been added to the section of the website, telling the story of the eight Stewart brothers during the and the devastation that was heaped upon their parents as they lost five of their sons to . Told in greater detail than ever before by Marshall’s Battlefields.

25/01/2021

I’m currently working on a commission from a school in the Midlands to create a Remembrance 2021 Assembly presentation, to be delivered by a military veteran turned teacher, to illustrate to students how the Great War impacted their local community.
Focused research has highlighted a single family who lived less than 200m from the school campus. One son emigrated and served as a soldier in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, one son stayed local and joined the Notts & Derby Regiment. Another son and the father of the family were engaged in war work and employed locally in an engineering works. Both soldier sons were wounded, with the NFLD Regt soldier dying of his injuries, while the Notts & Derby man was discharged because of his wounds. Meanwhile, at home, the father, in his 60s was giving his health for the war effort.
The discharged Notts & Derby man returned to engineering and survived the bombing of his factory in 1942. A female cousin, on war work in London was not so fortunate and was killed in 1944.
One family.
Hopefully this Remembrance Assembly will be more meaningful for the students than the mere recital of a list of the local war dead.
Are you a school rep who wants to engage students with a local focus for Remembrance 2021?
Search - Marshall’s Battlefields.

30/11/2020

The last couple of months have been my busiest yet in terms of the number of research commissions I’ve received. The few weeks before the Weekend saw a flurry of jobs come in, and now, clients are coming to have their researched as gifts for loved ones.
If you are considering giving a report on a soldiers’ service as a Christmas gift, time is running out. For your own peace of mind, don’t leave it until the last minute. Current workload suggests that 14th December 2020 will be the last date for you to place an order to have your narrative report produced and transferred before Christmas. The order book will remain open, but late orders cannot be guaranteed to be ready before Christmas.
Increased interest in my guiding services mean my diary is becoming busy as optimism returns for those wishing to travel to the battlefields next year. All will be dependent on restrictions and travel and work arrangements, based on the latest available information. Contact me via the website to discuss your plans and make provisional no-deposit bookings.

06/10/2020

Feedback like this makes all the hard work well worth it.
No two projects are the same, and that point is proved here. Cpl Iley MM was a who enlisted underage before the began. His youth was discovered and he was retained in after his battalion deployed to .
He received his MM for his contribution to a trench raid in May 1918.
After the war, he returned to live in and became a bus driver.
Sister Prior was a qualified nurse, born, but raised in , in , when she volunteered for service in 1915. She served much of the war in UK, at a hospital in . She went overseas to in October 1918, just in time to catch the final offensive there.
She caught ‘flu in the second wave of the pandemic, and this forced her evacuation to , after a spell in and to recover saw her get reinfected.
Sick for almost 4 months, she returned to work at Military Hospital, where she worked until mid 1920.
She continued in nursing until retirement, becoming matron of two maternity hospitals in .
They were fascinating to work on.

Do you want to find out about your Great War service people?
Just send me a message, or visit the website and see what can be found.