My great-uncles Jack & William Westcott and In Picardy's Fields — Part 2: The Search
In my last post, I told you how finding an old photograph set me on the path to writing In Picardy's Fields. Now for the search itself.
My search for Jack and William's war records
At first, I had no idea where to begin with my search for my great-uncles' war history. The information my mother had left was sparse and there were no family members alive to tell me more about this generation 'before'. Well one Uncle, also named Jack, but he knew nothing.
I found that the first step to trace British WW1 dead is to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which is a treasure-trove when you have first and last names. You wouldn't believe how many names there are in that register, but within seconds the names of both my great-uncles popped up.
Register Commonwealth War Graves Commission
But then I was faced with a discrepancy. Either the War Graves Commission had their deaths wrong, or my mother didn't have the facts. I will never know where she got hers, but they were wrong. Though just by one month.
My great-uncles, unbeknown to each other, died within eight days of each other, William aboard the S.S. Calypso, lying now on the bottom of the North Sea, 15 miles west of Listafjorden, Norway and Jack near Ovillers, in hilly northern France. The Westcott family lost its eldest and youngest son and brother in a matter of days.
Private Jack Westcott
Emblem Royal West Kent Regiment
For the French connection I concentrated my research on Jack Westcott. I was able to trace his path, and more is known about him than about William. It starts with the cap resting on his knee in the photograph. The emblem is of the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment).
But it took a while to find that out. I enlarged the vague, 110-year-old photograph until I could see more clearly the jumping horse and started down a rabbit hole on the Internet until I found his regiment. They still sport that same emblem today!
With his name, his regiment, his number and approximately his whereabouts, it was time for me to take action. This was in late August 2019, just months before COVID disrupted all our plans. I could still freely travel from Holland to the North of France.
In the Field: Picardy and the Battle of the Somme
And so I went. I stood at the Thiepval Memorial, among the names of the missing of the Somme, and found Jack's name carved in stone. Even now, years later, those images are still vivid and emotional for me.
Jack and William never came home. But they are no longer anonymous men in an archive. Their story — and that of the women who stayed behind — lives on in In Picardy's Fields, the novel I dedicated to my great-uncles.
Step into Jack and William's world →
