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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: kernowbull on Wednesday 05 September 12 00:21 BST (UK)
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:)Hello ,I'm trying to research my paternal grandfather David Reid Wilson who served as a regular in the Black Watch from Sept 1919 until Jan 1926 in India,then returned to Scotland.He was an assistant instructor signalling in Poona I think in the 1st Bn although when attested in 04/03/1919 he was in the 3rd bn(or at least the officer who signed the short service record.Does any one have information on the Watch during this time...
Many thanks
Moira(nee Wilson)
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Hi Moira
The 3rd Battalion were Militia/Special Reserve, so this is just the battalion of the officer who enlisted him. It was the 1st Battalion in India at the time. In more detail they were at these places:
= Baluchistan (1919)
= Allahabad (1921)
= Quetta (1923)
= Lahore (1925)
It will say in the heading on the first page but did he enlist for 12 years? If so he would have still been a soldier until 1931. He would have spent the balance in the Army Reserve, serving two weeks a year in exchange for half pay.
Ken
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Hello Ken
I have checked again and you are right ,it was the 1st Battallion,he was posted to India in 07/09/1919 and served there until 03/1926,he came back to the uk and as you say served 12 years the last 5 years in reserve before he was discharged when he was 45yo.
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Ken do you know much about what the 1st Batallion did in India ...I know he was a assistant instructor in signalling and when he completed serving in India he was a corporal.
tks
Moira
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Hi kernowbull
Have a look at this web site
http://www.blackwatch.50megs.com/indianhill.html
Yours Aye
BruceL
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Hi Moira
I cannot add to the information on Bruce's link. Some British regiments were involved in fighting and received the India General Service Medal (1909 to 1935) but it was not awarded to the BW/Royal Highlanders so you can assume he just undertook normal garrison duties.
Ken
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Do you know if David Wilson was a Corporal as early as 1920? The MACEDONIA, crammed with soldiers from Bombay, arrived at Southampton on 10 April 1920. A Corporal D Wilson was on board (M/349640). It says he was with the R.A.S.C.
There was also two other Wilsons on board: Pte Wilson (Wilts) 32491
And Spr Wilson (R.E) 352590.
Brian
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Hello Brian
from his record ,he was appointed L/CPL on 20/12/1920 and then appointed CPL on 28/12/1922 .....both in the 1st Battalion Black Watch .
any info is gratefully recvd
thanks
Moira ;D
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It just says:
Corporal D Wilson M/349640 R.A.S.C[Royal Army Service Corps]
He arrived on the MACEDONIA from Bombay on 10th Apr 1920.
Dispersal area 2a.
It seems like he was already a Corporal before your ancestor was even made a Lance Corporal, so unfortunately it looks like it isn't him. I am not sure if the R.A.S.C. would involve the Black Watch. If it did, it might be him. The ship had lots of soldiers and some families of soldiers as well.
The ships lists can be pretty vague. Problem is that they will often give a surname but only the initial of the first name, and sometimes not even that. I will have another look at the ship's record to see if the Black Watch is mentioned for any of the other soldiers.
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I only saw one soldier from the Black Watch, a Pte Calderhead. (2nd Black Watch)
....The ship had a huge mixture from different regiments, and the vast majority of them had been given Dispersal Areas to go to, as if they were being discharged.
The R.A.S.C. was most prominent, but there were also the Buffs, Devonshires, Kings Own, Lincolns, Bedfordshires, Wiltshires, Hampshire, Dorsets, K.O.R.L., Cheshires, Manchesters. Scots I saw were: three Gordon Highlanders, a Royal Scot, and a Seaforth Highlander.
I had hoped to find a page-full of Black Watch but no luck.
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David wasn't from Dumfriesshire, was he? There was a David R Wilson & family arrived Southampton on the QUEEN ELIZABETH in 1948. They were heading for an address in Dumfriesshire.
There was also a Lt Comm D.R.Wilson on "RAZMAK", leaving London for Bombay 18 Jan 1929 He was working for the "Govt".
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The Times of India, 23 September, 1919, reported that the 1st Black Watch, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel J. Hamilton, D.S.O., had arrived in Bombay on 22 September, on the S.S. Kashmir.
An ‘overflow party’ of the 1st Black Watch arrived with the 2nd Royal West Surrey Regiment on 30 September, on the City of Marseilles.
In the same newspaper, between 1919 and 1926, there are over 100 items that mention the Black Watch. Over 75% of those are headed athletics, football, cricket, tennis, boxing, racing, polo, golf, hockey, and similar. There’s no sign of any strictly ‘military’ activity apart from the occasional ‘Tattoo’ and the like.
Rex
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I'm not sure if I'm writing in the correct post, but my great uncle, Roderick McInnes b 1898 from Scotland was in India around this same time, Other than a photo of him in dress uniform, I have a small loving cup trophy which states: "A" Coy 42nd Cross Country First Place R. McInnes and on the underside of the trophy it states "EP star star (symbols) Bechtler 33265 Allahabad. I've found Bechtler as a silversmith in Allahabad but cannot find any other info.
Any help on A Coy 42nd would be greatly appreciated.
Ian
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There is an excellent site called "The Black Watch Forums" which you may be able to post your query on.