iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Current circumstances prevent me from visiting TNA Kew soon, but I need info from a WW1 officer's file😒 A VERY QUICK search. I'd expect a result 30 > 60 seconds after the file is opened, - a yes or no type answer. If you can held please DM me👍

100

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It may surprise some to hear that there are many men from the Battle of Loos 1915 buried in Cabaret Rouge BC post war reburials). cwgc refuse to acknowledge proven cases there.

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Obviously apologies for rubbish photo, but a tiny subject. Photo taken on forecourt of Buckingham Palace. Man has just been awarded MC & Bar per London Gazette 18/9/1918, but what does ribbon bar show, - and hence when was photo taken (1918 - 19 ?). Man's service medal entitlement was 14-15 Trio.

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I have a folder full of correspondence between @cwgc & myself about the DISASTROUSLY WRONG replacement headstone illustrated below left. That was 20 years ago, & the "policy" was quickly reversed. The genesis of the first "policy" change was ridiculous in the extreme, & resulted from a >cont>

200

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The IWGC schedule for Andrew's headstone shows a pattern 1212/1D, which is below. I've never seen the badge on his headstone (a cwgc replacement ?). The inscription on the stone cost Andrew's wife 12s & 6p (61 pence decimal) but £40:88 in 2026 prices. Suggest to send a copy of the headstone >cont>

100

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Lt Francis Campion EARL 12th York & Lancs Regt researched for a future zerohourzday.com Before WW1 British officer files were released to the PRO (now TNA) late 1990's direct nok could apply (& pay) for a "search & report" by the MoD. When the files began to be released & researchers >cont>

101

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Just logged onto "Trash Nothing" www site to give something away & pretty "surprised" to see 3 ads requesting free things by a "collector". Old British banknotes + one for British & foreign coins, & this one for medals. Surprising to see such a basic error by "a collector"😒

001

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Just to hopefully help those with a blinkered outlook > "Agent provocateur; /ˌaʒɒ̃ prəˌvɒkəˈtəː/ ; noun. Person who induces others to be violent or commit an illegal act in order to incriminate them or discredit a cause:" (Trust that that may have been enlightening👍).

010

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Adolf H & that Ava bird DID breed, & at least one of their descendents works near me😱 - reception @ my GPs. Visited today to TRY TO GET a GP’s appointment. Told I have to now do it online. Sent me an email with a link - which told me NOT TO USE this page to try to get an appointment. Then >cont>

100

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Maricourt, a few days ago. This is where the British & French lines met prior to jumping off on the morning of 1st July 1916. The very southern & "relatively successful" right flank of first day of the 1916 Battle of The Somme.

020

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Don't work in a job where you rely on gratuities to form a significant % of your income. It has always been a very flawed system which is heavily biased towards employers & is very detrimental to backroom staff. "What you see is what you pay" eateries are really taking off, & pay good wages👍

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Organisations such as the YMCA must have brought a lot of relief to British troops during WW1. Forget the TV & film images; troops, especially the PBI, had a mainly miserable existence during the war. PTSD is not a new phenomena.

010

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

If you don't think that we have a considerable criminal underclass problem in the UK then you have never had a pikey encampment nearby, or lived on or close to an "estate" (or you are a simpleton). Which bit of the "A66" incident isn't being understood🤔 www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2242...

express.co.uk

Flares set off by masked youths as balloons released for man killed on A66

Seven people, including two police officers, died in the A66 crash on the weekend.

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Sadly the news article tells you nothing of note, - such as who the single complainant was. That would be especially interesting to know; for very obvious reasons. More importantly though, the local authority (who are the taxi permit authority) should simply have told the complainant to FECK OFF😒

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Dantzig Alley BC, Mametz, two days ago. The village & adjacent trench of the same name were an objective of 7th Division 1/7/1916. The village & trench were captured on the day by 22nd Bn Manchester & 1st Battalion South Staffs Regts of 91st Brigade. (Mametz Wood is distant on right of photo).

130

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Cemetery yesterday. "The worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history." 19th-20th July 1916; Australian 5th Division & the British 61st Division diversional attack(*) on Fromelles. (* Somme, 1916). For a very modern cemetery it fits >cont>

110

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Courcelles-le-Compte Necropole Nationelle today. 275 Unknown men in the mass grave & 39 named headstoned. All fatalities between 27/9/1914 & 4/10/1914. The memorial was inaugurated 7/10/1923.

030

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Somme today. Probably 5ft diameter & maybe 20ft deep. Signs of substantial timberwork close to bottom. Off the beaten track & authorities aware. Someone has mentioned ladders & rope, but I'm not getting involved😲

010

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Always try to visit this chap when I'm in France. This is the tiny communal cemetery at Ablaizevelle today, - the only IWGC burial in the cemetery, & no reference to him in the cwgc public database.

020

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

This is just so, so, true. The UK's privatised water companies have served their senior employees & shareholders & sh*t on (literally) the British public. Prosecutions would be good.

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Longueval Road & nearby Bernafay Wood Cemeteries yesterday afternoon. The frontage of Bernafay is still fenced off (has been for ages now) & local talk is that it may be being preserved as a crime scene after the last fatal car crash there (notorious bit of road). Anybody know ?

010

Reposted by Tom Tulloch-Marshall

𝟙𝟜𝟙𝟠𝕔𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 @fourteeneighteen.co.uk · 16/08/2026

You are all welcome to join a new and free WW1 community space I have added to the Long, Long Trail site. Ask, reply and discuss In the Dugout. dugout.discourse.group #ww1 #genealogy

dugout.discourse.group

In the Dugout

For discussing the British Army of WW1

0248

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Rancourt Military Cemetery, today. A "simple" small cemetery design by Noel Ackroyd Rew. The first three deaths were on Christmas Day 1916, with burials continuing till 11/3/1917. The bulk of the 93 WW1 burials (of whom 20 are unknown) were from 30/8/ till 13/9/1918, & there are also one >cont>

100

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

French Necropole Nationale de Rancourt & La Chapelle de Souvenir Francais this afternoon. 8,566 burials; the largest French cemetery on the Somme. Blisteringly hot day, - very uncomfortable walking.

010

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Statue du Marecal Foch today at Bouchavesnes-Bergen. French Sector, Battle of The Somme, 1916.

110

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The IWGC also pulped most of the WW1 nok "Final Verification Forms" during WW2. An archival disaster, - & you shouldn't ask what their photograph policy was until very late 20th Centaury, - because you'd cry😱 IWGC & cwgc were, archivally, an utter disaster until the current centuary.

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

What would the lads have said🤔 AIF Burial Ground, Grass Lane from the south-west, this afternoon. The nearest turbines are in No Man's Land as it was in the winter of 1916-17. "Farms" like this are popping up all over the Somme & Pas de Galais.

010

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"Unusual" wreath seen today at the McCrae's Battalion Great War Memorial in Contalmaison.

120

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Photographed yesterday, - Somme. Note carriage plugs in all four (fuses not yet fitted). (Trainer not for sale, - for scale only).

020

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Two interesting photos I took yesterday; the "Rideau (earth bank) des Filoires" just north of Delville Wood, by the Longueval to Flers road. This feature is important because of the first day of the Battle of Flers - Courcelette 15/9/1916. The reason why this "Rideau" is significant is that >cont>

261

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Liverpool & Manchester "Pals" Battalions Memorial at Montauban yesterday. The Pals liberated the village 1/7/1916 & the memorial always seems to be well supported locally. Surrounding hedge is always pretty neat, but some attention from a stone mason wouldn't go amiss. >cont>

110

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Gordon Dump Cemetery this afternoon, - nicely framed by the scorched stubble fields. Somme farmers seem to be watering sparingly, probably due to low water tables.

050

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Tank Corps Memorial & the Australian "Windmill" Memorial at Pozieres today. It was trying to rain, but not enough to even wet the road, because the ground was so hot the water was evaporating immediately.

140

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

"Mucky Farm" (Mouquet Ferme) Pozieres this afternoon; the scene of intense Australian actions during WW1. The wartime farm was left (north) of the track, where the trees left distant are. Post war the ground was riddled with German underground workings & was unsafe to build on.

030

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

16th (Irish) Division Memorial & Guillemont WW1 French Memorial today. The Irish memorial railings have been cleaned ready for repainting by Western Front Services Ltd. westernfrontservices.com

020

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It is a great mistake to conflate "people seeking asylum" with illegal immigrants who have no intention to contributing to UK society & are almost certainly going to go straight into the "black" / criminal environments. This is 100% detrimental to genuine asylum seekers AND UK residents.

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

"Ghastly by day, Ghostly by night, The rottenest place on the Somme." "High Wood" (Le Bois des Fourcaux) this evening.

040

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Gordon Dump Cemetery Somme. 1st photo last month, & 2nd an explanation of a photo I've been looking for for 40 + YEARS😲 The horrible little entrance is an early 1950's imposition. No2 shows where the original entrance was built, BUT CAN I FIND AN IMAGE OF IT😱 Do you know of one ?

011

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Has anybody ever come across a case of, or have any comments about, the WW1 possibility of a man enlisting in the ranks of the SPECIAL RESERVE of the British Army AFTER Britain had declared war on Germany🤔

101

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery, Belgium. Has anybody any information(*) about the genesis & use of this cemetery 1914-15, & / or ever found any reference to any man / men being exhumed elsewhere & reburied here ? (* not from the cwgc website).

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

"Sport. /spɔːt/. Noun 1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment: 2. A person who behaves in a good or specified way in response to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation: informal." 🤔

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Just had a quick flick over to the brawl. Messy was having a lie-down, then one of the argi boxers got sent away. I hadn't quite grasped that the object was to see how many times you could kick oponents🤔 Oh well, back to the typing👍

000

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Peronne Road Cemetery is one of many IWGC WW1 cemeteries which contained "ghost burials" at the end of the war. Some were recognised as such & the "memorials" removed (such as here). Others were not, & some which cwgc know about they are in a state of denial about. >cont>

100

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

What is the point of (the cost of) a dead language such as Welsh😲

110

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

What a pity that cwgc refuse to properly commemorate British WW1 soldiers whose places of burial have also been proven.

010