MELKSHAM-based genealogy website, Forces War Records, has uncovered real life counterparts to the characters from BBC TV series ‘Blackadder’, making national news across the UK.
The stories of Captain Robert John Blackadder, Private James Baldrick, Captain John Clive Darling and Lieutenant Athelstan Key Durace George have recently been unearthed after a search through more than six million military records held by the Melksham organisation. The discoveries have caught the attention of many national news outlets, including a mention on BBC Radio 4.
To mark the centenary of the Great War, Forces War Records delved back into its archives to track down the characters made famous in the TV series ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’.
Dominic Hayhoe from Forces War Records said, “We were uploading new information onto our database when we came across a Captain Blackadder. As fans of the television show, we wondered if we could find the military records of the other fictional characters’ namesakes. So we challenged our team of professional researchers and military experts to find them, which they did.”
Fans of Blackadder may be surprised at the number of similarities the fictional characters share with their real life counterparts.
Both Captain Blackadders rose up the ranks and served in the British Army before the outbreak of the First World War, completing service overseas. Both were bachelors who fought at the Somme in 1916. They even share characteristics such as ‘coolness’ and ‘resource’, which earned Robert John Blackadder the Military Cross. The two Baldricks came from humble backgrounds and illiterate families, although unlike his TV counterpart the real Baldrick could read and write.
Dominic added, “Having made this exciting discovery we’re keen to uncover more about them and would be very keen to hear from any living relatives who have additional information, documents and photographs to complete their stories.”
Further information and in depth biographies are available at www.forces-war-records.co.uk
