I think) my ancestor/ the subject of my research was a British or Commonwealth Officer Cadet who attended a training course at Balliol College; how do I find out more about him?
During World War One, Balliol had two distinct populations. Some of the older Fellows, and a much reduced student body carried on something of the ordinary academic life of the college. But Balliol’s premises, like those of most Oxford colleges, were largely given over to war work. Balliol hosted thousands of British and Commonwealth officer cadets on short training courses. These men were not members of Balliol or of the University of Oxford, and the college holds no administrative records of their time here. We have no lists of names or any other systematic records about the individual officer cadets or their activities while staying in Balliol. See our online exhibition about a 1917 Officer Cadet’s photo album.
