# British Army Boxing, WW1



## Ken Morgan

Just curious, Ive looked over the years on various other sites, but where would be a good source for information on British Army boxing from the First World War and earlier? 

My Grandfather was an army Champion pre WW1, he said the war stopped him from winning the worlds.

After the war he taught boxing in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland for decades. He actually had women fighters back in the late 1920s and early 1930s, my aunts, (much to my Grandmothers disapproval), would fight because he had problems finding well trained males.

I would love to find written records or even photos of this time. Im sure they exist somewhere, but Im at a loss on where to find them.

Any ideas folks?


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## lklawson

IMS, ejmas has a repub of a WWI boxing manual linking boxing technique to bayonet.  I think it was U.S., but, to be honest, what was being done in the U.S. Military around WWI usually wasn't all that different from European militaries.  Some variations, yes, but over-all...

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk


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## Tez3

I don't know if these will carry the information you want but I'm guessing they will know where to start looking or who to ask.
http://www.abae.co.uk/
http://www.scottishboxing.co.uk/
http://www.iaba.ie/
http://www.britishamateurboxingassociation.co.uk


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## Tez3

Some more

http://www.prewarboxing.co.uk/

http://boxing-forum.co.uk/

http://www.boxinghelp.com/north_ireland.html


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## Tez3

The British Army boxing site, there should be someone who knows where to find the history there. If you know what regiment he was in that would help.
http://www.army.mod.uk/events/sport/3264.aspx


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## Nagel

Ken Morgan said:


> Just curious, I&#8217;ve looked over the years on various other sites, but where would be a good source for information on British Army boxing from the First World War and earlier?
> 
> My Grandfather was an army Champion pre WW1, he said the war stopped him from winning the worlds.
> 
> After the war he taught boxing in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland for decades. He actually had women fighters back in the late 1920&#8217;s and early 1930&#8217;s, my aunts, (much to my Grandmothers disapproval), would fight because he had problems finding well trained males.
> 
> I would love to find written records or even photos of this time. I&#8217;m sure they exist somewhere, but I&#8217;m at a loss on where to find them.
> 
> Any ideas folks?



Hi Ken,
That's some interesting family history you have there.  I have read some accounts of women boxing back in the 20's and 30's, how neat is it knowing that your aunts were fighters. Were they able to get any fights?

Anyways, the one place that I would go to if I had any research questions would be http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/cbzforum/index.php It is teeming with many wonderful boxing historians and knowledgeable aficionados of the sport that should be able to help point you in the right direction. I know that if I had any boxing related questions, that would be the first place I would go to. Note: The forum is down for today due to changing servers, but should be restored later today or early tomorrow.

Other than that, if you hit a dead end in your research you might want to consider joining the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO). There's a yearly membership fee, but the people there really know their stuff.  It's definitely more helpful than sticking a thumb out in most of the boxing forums out there. 

I wish you the best of luck in your research. I hope that you find what you are looking for.


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## Jenna

Ken Morgan said:


> Just curious, Ive looked over the years on various other sites, but where would be a good source for information on British Army boxing from the First World War and earlier?
> 
> My Grandfather was an army Champion pre WW1, he said the war stopped him from winning the worlds.
> 
> After the war he taught boxing in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland for decades. He actually had women fighters back in the late 1920s and early 1930s, my aunts, (much to my Grandmothers disapproval), would fight because he had problems finding well trained males.
> 
> I would love to find written records or even photos of this time. Im sure they exist somewhere, but Im at a loss on where to find them.
> 
> Any ideas folks?



Hey there   The guy that runs this http://www.prewarboxing.co.uk/ is such an afficianado, I would be surprised if you had no luck contacting him   Good luck with your search and an interesting history it is too 
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna


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## Nagel

Excellent site Jenna. Spot on!


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## Ken Morgan

Thanks for the information guys, there's a couple of links there I've not seen before, so I'll follow the trail and see where it leads.

My aunts only got a couple of fights in before my grandmother put a stop to it all. It would appear that my grandfather trained them well, as he would put them in the ring whenever he was short "good" fighters and they only ever fought against the males.


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