Something for you to do over Christmas to raise money for charity.

P. B. Morgan

The beginning of the First World War will be remembered in 1914 and a lot of people in Hertfordshire are researching the soldiers remembered on local war memorials and in many cases the local soldiers who did return.

What is often forgotten is that many soldiers were based in Hertfordshire for training and civil defence purposes - or were patients in Hertfordshire hospitals and nursing homes. For many the only records of their stay in the county may be the photographs taken of them (as portraits or groups) or the post cards they sent home from their camps or billets.

So why not take advantage of the holiday break to look through your family records to see if there is someone with a connection with the War and Hertfordshire who ought to be remembered, and let me know (with reasonable resolution pictures if relevant) at 

Chris at Hertfordshire-Genealogy.co.uk

I would be particularly interested in pictures taken by Hertfordshire photographers of troops from elsewhere, hospital patients, camps, and training activities. Post cards and letters giving details of life while training, or recovering from injuries in the county would also be valuable. I will feature the most historically interesting items on this newsletter in the New Year and other information will be posted on the main web site and/or passed to the appropriate groups involved in the Herts at War project. I will also pass on any information to the project on any named Hertfordshire soldiers.

For each contribution (up to a maximum of 50) I will donate at least £2 to the Herts Mind Network - which provides support for people with mental health problems living in the community. 

You can also help (and get me to donate more) by identifying people in the many pictures of First World War Soldiers - including those in Napsbury Hospital or those by Harry Cull.

For those of you who don't have any information, why not try and identify the soldier in the picture and his unit. The picture was taken by Latchmore of Hitchin. A quick check of the census suggests there are several possible P. B. Morgan - and I have not had time to find out which one he is. I am not certain what regiments were billeted in the Hitchin area and I don't recognise the cap badge.

Finally, if you don't have any relevant First World War material you can share, you can still drop a donation in the site's charity collecting box.