Hi Geronimo,
thanks for the advice, but "been there, done that". In person. I actually found his will at Kew, which shocked the young clerk no end as only about 1%? of wills are held there. However, no grand dad in WWI. People a lot wiser than me with these records have searched, he is not there. I don't have a number but there is no Claude Charles Underwood anywhere. All I can think of is that somehow he enlisted under an assuemd name, maybe to dodge the Bobby's. He served in Mesopotamia (I think he was somehow a POW over there). He was there that long that his skin became permanently dark so that he earned the nickname "Darky" for the rest of his life. He could have been a mechanic or another story is the Guards?. He was also injured in France (shot in the leg). He came back from France with a nice watch for nan.
As I said earlier, he is an elusive fella.
Thanks again and have a nice day.
Sue