Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - Ancestor's participation in World War I

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iwomi

Joined: 04 Aug 2023
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Location: Polska
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 5:17 am Post subject: Ancestor's participation in World War I

Hello everyone. I've gotten a lot of help on this forum recently. I hope you will help me this time too. Jacob Baker (1893-1960) my ancestor, who left Poland for the USA in 1913, took part in the First World War. I have information that he was appointed to the 51st Pioneer Inf and fought from May 15, 1918 to July 15, 1919 (he had the number 318 76 97). Where can I find out more about his participation in the war, where he was, etc. Please help me. Regards, Iwona

Sophia
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:23 am Post subject: Re: Ancestor's participation in World War I

iwomi wrote:

Hi, good to see you again!
I guess you have already found this:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-63CH-H5PG?i=670&cc=3346936
It is the monthly rosters for the 51st Pioneer Infantry, specifically Company H. From this, you can see that each month a new roster was recorded. I scrolled through them, and Jacob shows up every time. You will see the various places that Company H was, and if you then go to a regimental history you should be able to learn more about what happened in each place. If Jacob had been sick in the hospital, or AWOL (absent without leave) it would have been noted next to his name, and I do not see those notations for him.
When you get to May 1919 you see they are at the American Embarkation Center, which means they are getting ready to sail back to the U.S.:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-D3CH-HYZT?i=697&cc=3346936
And on July 12, 1919 he was being transferred to Camp Upton in New York:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-D3CH-HYH6?i=702&cc=3346936
So you have a little bit of information about his timeline.
What kind of information were you hoping to see?
Best regards,
Sophia

Sophia
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:43 am Post subject:

Hi Iwona,
You probably also have this already:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS1M-W7TQ-L?cc=2968245&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQPZH-KHNQ
It is the index card from the Veterans Administration.
Here is what the abbreviations mean in the right column:
• C - Insurance Application
• K - Life Insurance
• A - Adjusted Compensation (Bonus)
• T - War Risk Insurance
• R - Rehabilitation
• Ct - World War I Certificate (issued with bonus)
• I - Permanent Disability
For Jacob, "K" and "R" were left blank.
I see on his card that the date of enlistment is 25 May 1918 and the same date is given as his date of discharge, which is an error since you know he served through to July 1919 (and the rosters prove that).
Best regards,
Sophia

iwomi

Joined: 04 Aug 2023
Replies: 30
Location: Polska
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 5:21 am Post subject:

Good morning, Sophia, I haven't seen those links you sent, I don't even know how to look for them on familysearch. If I understand correctly, in January 1919 Jacob Baker was in Germany. It is important information for me that he was so close to Poland. Please write where you are looking for and what you enter in the search engine to show such detailed information about, for example, soldiers. Thank you very much for your help and valuable tips, Iwona

Sophia
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 7:41 am Post subject:

iwomi wrote:

Hi Iwona,
Two places in Germany where he would have been were Güls (near Koblenz) and Cochem, a bit south-west of there. So, that puts him much closer to Belgium, Luxembourg and France than it does to Poland.
Here is one resource where you can read more about the 51st Pioneers:
https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/unit-history/conflict/world-war-1-1914-1918/51st-pioneer-infantry
But I think your best resource would be to get the book by Margaret McMahon, "With Rifle and Shovel." Every website that talks about the 51st Pioneers mentions her book.
As for searching on Family Search, I simply searched for Jacob Baker and then limited my search to military records.
I may write more later, when I have the chance, but this should give you a few things to explore today.
Happy reading!
Sophia

iwomi

Joined: 04 Aug 2023
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:02 pm Post subject:

thank you very much Zofia, the book you are writing about is available on the Internet and I would like to read it, but it is in English, which is a big problem for me. I'll try to look for something else, maybe I'll have some luck, best regards, Iwona

Sophia
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 6:54 am Post subject:

iwomi wrote:

Hi Iwona,
You are welcome!
Ordinarily, the best resource for researching soldiers is Fold3 but I do not have a subscription. It should have some records that are specific to Jacob Baker. Fold3 also has a collection called "U.S. Morning Reports, 1912-1939" which should include daily reports of what Jacob's unit was doing. Just to explain, the 51st Pioneers was a regiment, and this regiment consisted of individual companies. Jacob, as you know, was in Company H. These companies could all have different assignments in different places. The usefulness of the Morning Reports are that they are specific to one company. Generally, an individual person is not named in the Morning Report, unless something happens to him to change his status. So, if someone was killed, or wounded and sent to hospital, or went on leave, you may see his name in the Morning Report. Otherwise, what you would learn is where the company is and what they did that day. At least, that is my experience from reading these sorts of documents from World War II files from Great Britain.
It appears to me that Dr. McMahon has done all of this detailed searching of the record, so I still think that her book would be a valuable resource for you. I looked online to see if it is available as a digital version, which would be easier for you to manage the translation. However, it is only available as a printed book. I wonder if you would try to contact Dr. McMahon and ask her any questions that you have. There is a Facebook page for 51st Pioneer Infantry and it does have an email address there, I do not know if it goes directly to her but you could try it.
I would like to wish you the best of luck in researching Jacob Baker.
Best,
Sophia

Last edited by Sophia on Tue Sep 05, 2023 1:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

iwomi

Joined: 04 Aug 2023
Replies: 30
Location: Polska
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 8:52 am Post subject:

Sophia, I have no words to thank you, this is very important information for me and tips where I can find something else. Maybe I can repay you in my search in Poland? Best regards, Iwona

iwomi

Joined: 04 Aug 2023
Replies: 30
Location: Polska
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 10:12 am Post subject:

Sophia, I don't know if you know the Polish site genealodzy.pl, where parishes are indexed, there is a lot of different information there. It's hard to work with churches. If you give me the name you're interested in, I'll try to find something, greetings

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