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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: fossey on Wednesday 12 March 08 21:26 GMT (UK)
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I have a medal card for my grandfather and also his marriage cert. On the medal card it says date of entry 9.10.15 - France.
On his marriage cert it says Private 1st DLI then his number.
How do I know which batallion he was in, and any other information I can find on him being in the war, he didn't die.
Thanks
Angela
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Angela,
What date was his marriage?
His battalion at the time was apparently 1st DLI as you've said.
However, if you have the right medal card then it doesn't appear that he was in the 1st DLI during the war as they were in India for the duration.
http://www.1914-1918.net/dli.htm
Perhaps if you post the MIC here there are some more clues there?
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On the medal card it says date of entry 9.10.15 - France.
Angela
my first thoughts are that was around the time the new army (service) battalions were going to france (for the DLI, 10th onwards)
as Neil rightly says, we might be able to help more if we see the card it's self
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I am enclosing the medal card.
He got married in 1920, but was a coal miner by then. The medal card is correct as is the same number on the marriage cert.
I would love to know where he was and what he did.
thanks for your help
Angela
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well there's nothing there i can see that says he was in the 1st battalion, he has a second number but i'm not 100% sure it is a territorial number
he went to (1) France on the 9th Oct 1915, he was entitled to the 14/15 star, the british war and the victory medal
it seems he was commissioned as well, if i read that correctly in the remarks box it says lieutenant
i will see if i can work out which batt he was in when he was re-numbered
chris
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Chris
Thanks very much, I look forward to hearing from you. It said 1st DLI on his marriage cert, that is where I got that from.
Angela
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Hi there
Unfortunately I can't find his MIC on Ancestry (they are in colour & include the back of the card). Not unusual as not all of the MIC's are there yet. As for two Regt numbers, that is far from unusual as men often moved Regt's. The fact that the 1st Battn Durham light infantry is listed means that he served with them, not that he spent the whole of the war with them.
Do you have the medals? If so you may see that the inscription changes from the star to the BWM & Victory medal. If you don't have the medals, try checking the Medal Roll for the Battn, this may shed some light.
Also if he was commissioned he should have lost his number. There are examples of Officers who had numbers but this is rare!
If you need further help send me a pm as the Great War is my area of interest :)
Andy
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it's not unusual for a soldier to have two numbers in the same regiment if he was serving in a territorial battalion, as they were re-numbered with six figure numbers in 1917.
if he would have moved regiments then he would have had a new number but his new regiment would have been on the card as well and an indication as to which regiment issued his medals.
what is unusual on his card is that there is a second number but it's too low to be a territorial 1917 number ( these started at 200000)
going back to my original musing i thought he went to france around the time the new armies (K1,2,3) went over. making him a 1914/15 volunteer. doing a quick analysis of the numbers in the 25*** range, they were given out to the service battalions raised in 1914 (generally 10th to 15th) which strengthens my conclusions
These battalions had been disbanded by 1920 and yet James was still stating his occupation as soldier and giving service number on his MC , i am wondering if he actually stayed on in the army and was in the 1st battn by that time ( the 1st battn being a regular army unit)
if he did stay on beyond 1923 then his service records will be with the MOD in Glasgow. The other way of ascertaining the battalion ( assuming his records don't appear on ancestry) would be to get someone to look at the medal rolls at Kew and the info from them
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Also if he was commissioned he should have lost his number. There are examples of Officers who had numbers but this is rare!Andy
However Angela, if you research an officer they do have a number.
For records held at TNA this can be found in WO 338 which is the index to service records, and records surname, initials, regiment, unique long number, rank and remarks. The long number usually refers to WO 339 which covers their service during WW1.
Even Officers records held in Glasgow have a "long number"
Wendi :)
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Thanks to everyone for replying.
I am still very unclear to it all.
No I don't have any medals, I never knew him, he died before I was born.
I dont think he stayed on after 1920 as he said coal miner aswell on his marriage cert.
But, saying that, on the electoral registers for 1920 - 22 it said absent for James. So maybe he did continue in the army. But my Gran had two children during those years. Very confusing.
I didn't realise this was as confusing as it is.
Thanks
Angela
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i would be very tempted to apply to glasgow as if you were certain he stayed on and lets see their response :o)
you'll need to prove you are NOk or pay £30 for the privilege though ;D
http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html
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thanks I will take a look at the website, don't know how I prove nok though.
angela
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Hi Angela,
The form has a declaration. I don't think harribobs meant "prove" in that respect ;)
Wendi :)
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thanks very much, will give it a go.
angela
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the absent voters register for 1920-22 usually has the names of soldiers who were serving as part of the army of occupation on the rhine,he would have been granted leave during this period,which would explain how he fathered two kiddies.
mack
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thanks for that Mack.
Angela