RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: gnwaters on Saturday 11 April 09 18:14 BST (UK)
-
Hey i was just woindering if any one can help me find some sort of record or any information on a relative who served in ww1, i have his medal role with all his info on but i have searched ancestory and all i can get is the medal role.
-
If his surname starts with O to Z then Ancestry have not published them yet. If it does start A to N, they were probably destroyed during WW2 bombing.
Ken
-
the surname started with "W", any idea when they will be uploaded or any other way i can find any thing out, just finding what battles he was in would be good
-
If you can post his details im sure that we can glean some info from his regiment and service number...any thing at all you have would give us a start point to get you going
Ady :)
-
information on medal role:
Name: Griffith Waters
date of entry: 2912/1915
Welsh Regt: PTE : 24653
Labour Corps: PTE: 565411
do :PTE: 265411*
Medals
Victory
British
1915 star
SWR List as *
I have the roles that the medals are on i hope this is enough information to find some thing out.
thank you
-
Hi
He landed in France on 29/12/1915 so he just got in in time to qualify for the 1915 Star.
He started off in the Welsh Regiment but later became unfit for front line service but was still able to help out in other areas so he was sent to the Labour Corps. He later became unsuitable for that work so he was discharged and awarded a Silver War Badge to prove to everyone back home that he'd "done his bit".
The star symbol next to his 3rd number is what would be stamped on his medals.
For information on the Welsh Regiment, have a look here http://www.1914-1918.net/welsh.htm especially about halfway down in the Service battallions as some of them match his arrival date in France.
And some background on the Labour Corps http://www.1914-1918.net/labour.htm
-
It's a pity that they have not used the SWB type of card, as they give the date of enlistment and date of discharge.
Are you saying you have the medal rolls? They should say which battalion he was in, so you can use the link provided by spof to find out where he went. The SWB roll in Kew will have his enlistment/discharge dates and his age on discharge, if you do not know that.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/medals.asp
Ancestry tend not to predict when thngs are due. The last batch was at the start of November.
Ken
-
thank you i am planning trip to kew next week so hopefully i can find out more then.
regards
Gareth
-
I have just been looking on ancestory and i have viewed 5 diffrent records of people who had the same regt number as my releative, can some one expain this to me i thought regt numbers where unique to the person? they are these days and i thought they where back then as well
-
I have just been looking on ancestory and i have viewed 5 diffrent records of people who had the same regt number as my releative, can some one expain this to me i thought regt numbers where unique to the person? they are these days and i thought they where back then as well
Hi Gareth
Before WW1 a regimental number was just that - a number for the regiment. So Pte Brown could join the Welsh regiment and Pte Green could join the Suffplk Regiment and have the same number.
Tell us what you are looking for in Kew and we'll help.
Glen
-
It is worse than that before 1917, most numbers were actually battalion numbers. So in a regiment like the Liverpools the same number was used about nine times before WW1. The regulars, who were in the 1st or 2nd Battalions (or on the permanant staff of the other part-time battalions), had one sequence, while the eight Militia/VB battalions had their own sequences.
This didn't matter before WW1 as only the regulars tended to switch battalions, and if a part-timer did they were simply re-numbered.
Between 1914 and 1917 another dozen or so number sequences were introduced, and (worse) men regularly switched battalions to make up the numbers in hard-hit battalions. A renumbering of the territorial battalions was carried out in 1917 - http://www.1914-1918.net/TF_renumbering_infantry.htm
7-digit unique army numbers were introduced in the early 1920s, and officers were numbered and 8-digit numbers were introduced in the 1930s.
Regimental numbers were introduced in the 1820s to prevent fraud by officers claiming pay and rations for men that did not exist.
4 digit numbers will run out after the 9,999th man. So in an army of 7 million, the same number would have been used 700 times if something wasn't done, and 70 times for 5-digit numbers.
Ken
-
Tell us what you are looking for in Kew and we'll help.
Glen
Basically i just want to find out as much info on his service as possiable as know one in the family knows any thing, the only thing any one can tell me is that he was caught in a gas attack which finally killed him in the 1930's. so any info i can find in genral that i dont have on the medal roll would be good to know tbh
cheers
gareth
-
Tell us what you are looking for in Kew and we'll help.
Glen
Basically i just want to find out as much info on his service as possiable as know one in the family knows any thing, the only thing any one can tell me is that he was caught in a gas attack which finally killed him in the 1930's. so any info i can find in genral that i dont have on the medal roll would be good to know tbh
cheers
gareth
Hi Gareth
As we don't know if you're referring to an officer or a soldier, follow this link
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/militaryhistory/army/?WT.lp=-33483
and read the advice.
Look for a possible service or pension recod in the microfilms for WO 363 or WO 364.
Take the SWB reference from the medal card and look up the books near the microfilms to convert it to a modern NA reference and you'll find out when he joined and was discharged and what part of the Labour Corps he was in. You can then get a war diary in ref WO 95 for that unit.
Above all, if you get stuck ask the staff as they really are helpful.
Glen