Scotlandspeople have recently added a new collection
of 31,000 soldiers’ wills to their web
site.
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Soldiers'
wills were usually found in pay books retrieved on the
battlefield, recorded on forms in Army record offices in
Britain, or in the absence of a will, in letters home in which
soldiers might mention their last wishes.
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After the
War Office had settled the estate of a soldier who died on
active service, including entitlements to pay and pension,
they sent the will to the civil authorities. For soldiers with
a Scottish domicile this was the Commissary Office in
Edinburgh. After 1940, the wills were transmitted to Register
House in Edinburgh, where they are now held by the National
Records of Scotland.
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Most of the
wills are for rank and file soldiers. The records are for
soldiers up to the rank of warrant officer who were domiciled
in Scotland, although they also include men who were promoted
from the ranks.
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Researchers can find out the battalion,
regiment, rank and service number of the soldier, as well as
the name of the person who is the beneficiary of the
will. The date when the will was made and the date of
death of the soldier can also be found.
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There is no
charge to search the index to the wills but there is a charge
to look at the will online.
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The vast
majority (26,000) of the Soldiers' Wills are from the First
World War, and there are also nearly 5,000 from World War Two.
There are also around 300 wills from pre-1914 conflicts, and a
handful of wills for conflicts that took place after
1945.
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Sennachie
carried out a search in June 2014 for any entries relating to
the sept names (and variations) of the Clan MacThomas. For
some entries additional information was obtained from the
Commonwealth War Graves web site. The results are listed
below. The surname Thomson has not been included as there were
too many entries to index here.
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It could be
that persons listed below do not have any connection with the
Clan MacThomas. To establish a connection it may be necessary
to undertake research that confirms a connection with the Clan
areas in Scotland.
****
Index:
Surname
Forenames
Service Number, Rank,
Battalion, Regiment,
Date of Death, Cause of
Death, Theatre.
MCCOLM
Thomas
42733 PRIVATE 16th BN.
HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY,
16th April 1917 DIED OF
WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
MCCOMB
James
S/4613 PRIVATE, 9th BN.
BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS), 25th September 1915,
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
MCCOMBE
John R
40409, PRIVATE, 2nd
BN., KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS, 8th November 1917,
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
MCCOMBE
William
3133983, PRIVATE,
GORDON HIGHLANDERS AND LONDON SCOTTISH, 20th July 1943,
UNKNOWN, SICILY.
THOM
Alexander
23049, PRIVATE, 2nd BN,
CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES), 28th November 1917,
UNKNOWN, FRANCE.
THOM
Alexander
S/9805, PRIVATE, 4/5th
BN, BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS), 28th July 1918,
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
Angus
240133, PRIVATE, 5th
BN, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS,
9th April 1917, KILLED
IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
Archibald
12296, PRIVATE. SCOTS
GUARDS, 27th September 1915, KILLED IN ACTION, France
and Flanders.
THOM
Charles
S/15765, PRIVATE, 9th
BN, BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS), 15th April 1917.
DIED OF WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
CharlesScooler
1112559, GUNNER, ROYAL
ARTILLERY, 19th October 1944, UNKNOWN, INDIA.
THOM
Charles William
S/30546, PRIVATE, 15th
BN, LONDON REGIMENT,
30th November 1917,
FRANCE.
THOM
David
23315, PRIVATE, 2nd BN,
KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS, 29th September 1916, DIED
OF WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
George
147852, SAPPER, 255th
TUNNELLING COY, ROYAL ENGINEERS, 29th March 1916, KILLED
IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
George Maitland
9081, PRIVATE, 2nd BN,
KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS, 14th December 1914.
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
Glennie
24448, LANCE CORPORAL,
7th BN, ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIERS, 23rd August 1917,
DIED OF WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
Hugh Barr
200290, CORPORAL, 5/6th
BN, CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES), 29th November 1917,
UNKNOWN, FRANCE.
THOM
James
240533, LANCE SERGEANT,
4/5th BN, BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS), 26th
September 1917, KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
John
1727, PRIVATE, 1/5th
BN, KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS, 14th October 1915,
DIED, ABBASSIA.
THOM
John George
242221. LANCE CORPORAL,
5th BN. GORDON HIGHLANDERS, 16th May 1917, DIED OF
WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
John Gray
2012319, SAPPER, ROYAL
ENGINEERS, 6th June 1944, UNKNOWN, WESTERN EUROPE
CAMPAIGN, 1944-45.
THOM
Robert
2821204, FUSILIER, THE
ROYAL FUSILIERS,
29th November 1943,
UNKNOWN, ITALY.
THOM
Robert
2883033, PRIVATE,
GORDON HIGHLANDERS AND LONDON SCOTTISH, 9th July1943,
UNKNOWN, NORTH AFRICA.
THOM
Robert
3247280, CORPORAL,
CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES), 26th June 1944, UNKNOWN,
WESTERN EUROPE CAMPAIGN, 1944-45.
THOM
Walter
290655, PRIVATE, 5th
BN, GORDON HIGHLANDERS,
28th June 1917, DIED OF
WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOM
William
266045, PRIVATE, 6th
BN, GORDON HIGHLANDERS,
10th April 1917, DIED
OF WOUNDS, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOMAS
Robert
200327 PRIVATE, 1/5th
BN, ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, 17th June 1918,
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOMS
Alexander
S/9867, PRIVATE, 7th
BN, BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS), 15th April 1918,
KILLED IN ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
THOMS
Ewan Fraser
57576, PRIVATE, 6th BN,
KING'S (LIVERPOOL REGIMENT), 9th April 1918, KILLED IN
ACTION, FRANCE AND FLANDERS.
