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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 11:19 GMT (UK)

Title: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 11:19 GMT (UK)
Quoting the CWGC website. This was the entry for the death of my great great grandfather James William Cutts who was killed in action in 1916.

CUTTS J W
Nationality - United Kingdom
Rank - Private
Regiment/Service:   East Surrey Regiment
Unit Text:   7th Bn.
Date of Death - 02/04/1916
Service No - 6556
Casualty Type - Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference - II. J. 17.
Cemetery - VERMELLES BRITISH CEMETERY

I then came across a medal card for a James W Cutts who was in the 1st battalion East Surrey Regiment. The regiment number was 6556, the same as the service number of my great great grandad. I don't know if the two numbers relate to each other.. but is it possible this could be the medal card of my grandfather? (i've attached the medal card image)

IMAGE REMOVED
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: cati on Friday 11 November 11 11:21 GMT (UK)
Yes, that's his medal card.

Cati
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 11:31 GMT (UK)
Yes, that's his medal card.

Cati

:o Awesome!!
Would this now require a trip to the national archives to see if there is any more existing information on my grandfathers military history?
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: cati on Friday 11 November 11 11:33 GMT (UK)
Have a look on Ancestry for his service record (free access to this until Sunday!) - but the records may not have survived.

Cati
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 11:48 GMT (UK)
Searching the regimental number on ancestry, there are no results for my guy :( Damn!
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: cati on Friday 11 November 11 11:49 GMT (UK)
Only about 30% of the service records survive, so it's not surprising you can't find him

Cati
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: forester on Friday 11 November 11 12:04 GMT (UK)
Talie,

He was a pre-war Regular.

When was he born? According to one source, his service number shows that he enlisted during 1900.

Phil
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 12:35 GMT (UK)
Talie,

He was a pre-war Regular.

When was he born? According to one source, his service number shows that he enlisted during 1900.

Phil

What is a pre-war regular?   :o
He was born in 1883 in Surrey. I don't know much about him, I haven't found anything about his enlistment. He's completely disappeared on the 1901 census to :(
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: mmm45 on Friday 11 November 11 12:58 GMT (UK)
He was a Regular Soldier pre Great War...Ie wasnt conscripted or volunteered on outbreak of war.
Its possible he was overseas on 1901 the Boer War was on in South Africa

Ady
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: mmm45 on Friday 11 November 11 13:02 GMT (UK)
He is on the Boer War Medal Rolls as LCpl James Cutts 2nd East Surrey Regiment with the number 6556 same as WW1  :)

Ady
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 13:06 GMT (UK)
He is on the Boer War Medal Rolls as LCpl James Cutts 2nd East Surrey Regiment with the number 6556 same as WW1  :)

Ady

Wow! I never knew this stuff, i'm not sure anyone in my family knows about this. Thank you!
Where can I find these Boer War medal rolls? I'd like to search this up and save it to my records :D :D
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: mmm45 on Friday 11 November 11 13:12 GMT (UK)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?htx=View&r=5538&dbid=1686&iid=31794_221475-00144&fn=J&ln=Cutts&st=r&ssrc=&pid=276544

Theres two entries for him on ancestry...One for Kings South Africa medal the other for Queens South Africa Medal

Ady :)
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: Talie on Friday 11 November 11 13:19 GMT (UK)
Damn, I have no subscription so I can't see it :'(
Thank you though! It's really great to have all this extra, unexpected information on him. For far to long he's been just a name with very little information  :(
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: cati on Friday 11 November 11 15:08 GMT (UK)
Tallie, I see that you're in the UK:  check whether your local library has AncestryLibrary: if so then you can view their records free...

Cati
Title: Re: Could this be the medal card for my 2x great grandad?
Post by: MargP on Friday 11 November 11 15:46 GMT (UK)
Hi 

If you send me your e-mail details via a PM I will send this record to you

Margp