The
National Roll of the Great War
Section 5 - Luton
The National Publishing Company
192?
After the war the National Publishing Company started to prepare a series of volumes recording details of what people did during the war. Contributions were submitted on a subscription basis, and for this reason it could never have provided a complete records, and only 14 volumes were produced. Most were linked to major cities (5 volumes related to London) but Section 5, for Luton, contains a large number of records relating to Hertfordshire.
Lucky Dip - Some Miscellaneous Entries
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Most of the entries in the book relate to soldiers who fought overseas, and in some cases died. In each case only the initials of the name are given, and the only reference to Hertfordshire is the address at the end. Rank and Regiment are the final one where there were changes during the war. The fact that both L/Corporal H. Izzard and Private P. G. Izzard started in the Hertfordshire Regiment, and were entitled to the 1914 Star suggests that they were already members of the Territorial Force when war as declared (possibly training in the Summer Camp at Ashridge) and immediately volunteered to be in the first wave who went to a wartime training camp in Essex before going to Grance in November 1914.
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The volume contains about 8000 names and probably somewhere between 3 and 4,000 of these relate to Hertfordshire. A small sample of pages were analysed and it was clear that many of the entries came from Hitchin, St Albans and Watford (red dots). Others (red) occurred half a dozen times or so in the sample, while others only occurred once or twice. It is clear that that only a central strip is covered, and other places may have been intended to be covered in other unpublished volumes. |
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Lucky Dip - some miscellaneous entries
While perhaps 90% of the entries refer to the men who serves in battle there are a small number of other entries - a sample of which are given below
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As his address is that of a mental hospital which became a military hospital during the war. did he simply swop jobs and remained a nurse at the hospital ? |
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There are a few female war workers listed (mainly for factories in Luton) |
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Perhaps because Hertfordshire is land-locked there are no close associations with the sea - and hence few entries refer to Naval personel. |
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Remained in Hertfordshire (doing agricultural labourer related work?) due to ill health. |
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His U.K. activities included guarding German prisoners of war and working in munition factories. |
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There are a small number of entries relating to the Royal Air Force, and some of the late entrants had not made it to the front by the time the war was over. |
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Availability Original copies are hard to find, but you may find one in the reference/local history section of a large library. The Naval and Military Press have reprinted all 14 volumes plus an extra index volume (cover illustrated) - New copies still available. Archive CD Books have issued a number of volumes, including the Luton Section, on CD It is available in a searchable form on line at www.familyrelatives.com and findmypast. At the time of posting this page Ancestry has a number of sections online, but not the Luton Section
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If your relative came from the central strip of Hertfordshire (Hitchin - St Albans - Watford) and had been in the ranks it is well worth checking to see if he is recorded. The name indexes are available on line for free although you will need to pay to see the entry. However, because of the way the information was collected the coverage is far from complete and no significance should be drawn if they are not there. Because the size of the entry was restricted, military career details are brief and often key battles in which they fought are not identified. On the other hand, if you know little or nothing about their military career the information given can be a useful starting point for further research.
| September 2010 | Page created |