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First World War

Step 1

Great-grandfather: Captain Frederick Charles Crouch

Step 2

Fiona wanted to find out more about Frederick Crouch and his family. To help with her enquiries she arranged to meet a family member, his granddaughter Hilary MacPherson. Hilary had acquired a considerable amount of family archive, which gave Fiona a number of leads on the Crouch family.

Hilary showed Fiona a crucial letter written by her own mother, Sybil Crouch. The letter gave key insights into Frederick's background and provided a snapshot of what family life was like on the home front. It also helped Fiona trace back a further generation, as it revealed the name and profession of Frederick's father: William Morris Crouch, a portrait painter.

Step 3

To find out more about Frederick's military career, Fiona visited the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich, London. Here she met the museum's librarian Paul Evans, who had obtained a copy of Frederick's service record from The National Archives. Paul guided Fiona through her great-grandfather's service record to help her build up a detailed picture of his military career.

Step 4

Although the service record gave a very good account of Frederick's career before the First World War, there was nothing documented about his service or medical history during the war itself.

Sybil's letter had mentioned that after Frederick was killed, his son Fred was awarded a place at a very prestigious charitable school called Christ's Hospital in Horsham, Sussex.

We contacted the school to see if they might have any records relating to Fred and his family. Tony Hogarth-Smith, the archivist of the school's museum, found Fred's application form, which had been completed by his mother Isabella Crouch. It revealed that her husband was invalided home for nine months suffering from shell shock. He then returned to Ypres, where he was killed just three weeks later. The application also gave details of her widow's pension, which amounted to £360 a year.

Step 5

To get a better understanding of the symptoms and causes associated with shell shock we contacted Professor Edgar Jones, a psychiatrist who treats victims of post-traumatic stress disorder at the Maudsley Hospital in London.

Family Rogue