Finding Private Adams

First of all, let me apologise. 'Finding Private Adams' is not a historical article in the traditional sense. I'm not sure it is even a family history article in the traditional sense.

There were two phases to my research. The first phase was a number of years ago, when I became interested in Alfred's story and the research my parents had already completed. They had discovered where Alfred's resting place was: Roclincourt Military Cemetery and we visited this when I was a teenager in the mid 1990s. Standing by Alfred’s grave made a profound impression on me. Here was a tangible and tragic family link back to the Great War.

Keen to uncover more, I had decided as a present for my grandfather to try and discover as much as possible regarding the war career of the father he had known only as a baby. I succeeded in creating an article, but I always considered it to be work in progress.

A number of years later, with more research under my belt, I wanted to return to Alfred's story. A great deal more information about the Machine Gun Corps is now available on the Internet and, with the advent of satellite mapping from sites like Google Earth, I was aware that there was a slim, but an exciting chance of finding the location where he fell. Through some detective work in the National Archives and on the net, I managed - I think - to do this. As a family, we then travelled to France and found the field where Alfred fell.

Sadly, I could not tell my grandfather about these discoveries or share in the experience of our trip: he had died shortly after I had written my first account of Alfred's story.

Today I am still learning more details about Alfred's past and I now live, coincidently, very close to the final resting place of his sister and mother. Alfred’s name is also recorded on their gravestone.

Family history is an ongoing process with twists, turns and frequent surprises. No chapter from a family’s past can ever really be called closed.

THE END AS THE BEGINNING