Let’s put faces to the names – Jack Nixon

Posted on: 19, May, 2017

Rfm Jack Nixon, Rifle Brigade

Finding Jack Nixon

This is how it began: “Jack was killed“. Those three words were often repeated as I was growing up. John Frederick Nixon, or “Jack Nixon” as he was known to his family and friends, was my grandfather’s older brother, one of five Nixon boys who volunteered for King and Country during the First World War. Jack was killed, the other four survived. It was only much later that photos emerged of Jack; lots of photos as it turned out; photos of Jack and his siblings and then, much later, a single tiny portrait photo of Jack in uniform, the same photo that appears above.

Left to right: Jack Nixon, Alf Nixon & Walter Nixon

I am lucky. Not only do I have photos of my Nixon British Army ancestors, Jack and his brother Edgar also have surviving service records. That’s Jack again, above. He’s the ‘woman’ on the left, standing next to his youngest brother, Alf Nixon, and my grandfather Walter Nixon on the right. I remember my grandfather and I remember Uncle Alf as well. But of course, I never met Jack and nor did I meet Edgar or the other brother, Sid. And yet I remember these men and I feel they deserve to be remembered. They stood up and were counted during the First World War, and I am immensely proud of them all.

Left to right: Jessie Nixon, Walter Nixon, Jack Nixon, Edgar Nixon

Jessie, Walter, Jack and Edgar Nixon, circa 1912

And if I am knocked down by a bus tomorrow, there will now be a central location where photos of these men will appear; they’ll appear on British Army Ancestors. I have loftily called this site “a photographic archive”. At the moment it’s nothing like that of course, but I hope that in time, by making it easy for people to SEARCH, UPLOAD, REMEMBER this site will be the place to come both to check for British Army ancestors and to upload an image for the benefit of other researchers or distant family members.

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Welcome to British Army Ancestors. This is a FREE site. It will always be a FREE site. The vision is one of our vast army of British Army Ancestors brought to life. Search for a soldier. Upload a photograph. Search for another soldier. Upload another photograph. In time, it is intended that this site will become THE place to come to when looking for images of British Army Ancestors.

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SEARCH for a soldier. UPLOAD a photograph. REMEMBER the person. So many people asked me how they could find a photograph of their British Army Ancestor that I decided to create this site. Now it's up to you.Help make British Army Ancestors THE PLACE to come to when looking for photos of British Army soldiers. There are millions of searchable names on this site. Help me put faces to them. SEARCH, UPLOAD, REMEMBER.


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There are over 11 million searchable names on the British Army Ancestors website. Searching is easy and fast. Use the wildcard asterisk * to narrow your results. REGISTER in order to upload photographs and download existing images. That's all there is to it. This website will be regularly updated and new features announced via the blog. Thanks for supporting this initiative to put faces to the names of our British Army Ancestors.

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HELP ME PLUG THE GAPS!

Do you own medal roll transcriptions from WO 100 or similar? I am seeking to plug known gaps in this database of British Army Ancestors by adding medal roll transcriptions and other databases to this site, thus adding to the 11m+ searchable names you will find here. Please drop me a line if you would like to contribute: paul@britisharmyancestors.co.uk.

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