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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: parf on Wednesday 11 August 21 15:24 BST (UK)
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Hello, I'm trying to find more about my Great Uncle William Smith born 25th March 1914 in Ynyshir, Glamorgan. William died in WW2, in Burma on 18th March 1943. He was in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, service number 4189779. I didn't know until yesterday, when I put a post on the Lancashire board about him on 1939 register, that he joined the RWF on 4th October 1932, I presumed he was only in the Army during the war.
This information was kindly found for me -
William Smith 4189779
Royal Welch Fusiliers
Attested 4-10-32 Regular Army
period for which enlisted in years 7/5
date of birth 25-3-14
missing believed killed Burma 18/3/43
P R M believed killed now reported killed in action Burma 18/3/43
So he joined army in 1932, would the 7/5 mean for 7 and a half years ? would that mean he finished in the army in 1939 and re joined to fight in WW2 at a later date. Sorry not very knowledgeable about these things !
Have searched for him on Forces War Records site, but do not have a subscription to it, and found 3 records for him, 2 for 1943 the year he was killed and one for 1946 which I'm a bit confused about as obviously he had been dead then for 3 years.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated
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Service records after 1920 are still with the MOD.
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=651361.0
Forces War records are often just indexes, I believe Ancestry now has control of that site so it may be free to view at some point :-\
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Find MyPast has 3 records with images. Two are casualty lists (attached) and the other is the enlistment book with the details listed in your original post.
The 1946 list includes names from several years of the war. Also I now know P R M means previously reported missing.
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thank you for that info, I also didnt know what P R M stood for either ! would anyone know if 7/5 is 7 and half years or for 7 years but only served 5 years ?
Also does it mention where he joined or any family names ?
Thank you for the help
Jan
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7/5 could mean he signed on for 7 years actually service followed by 5 years in the reserve but I cannot be certain.
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7/5 does mean he signed on for 7 years actual service followed by 5 years in the reserve and was typical for infantry, other units like the artillery could have different terms of service.
Tony
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Thank you both for that, sorry to be so dense but what was the "reserve" ?
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The link below explains the Regular Reserve:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_Reserve_(United_Kingdom)
Tony
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Ok thank you for the info.
So if he was a reserve would he have an occupation or would he be a soldier, when asked for his occupation such as on 1939 register ?
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As a Regular Army Reservist, he would go about his normal life as a civilian with an occupation.
Does he appear on the 1939 Register which was taken on 29 September?
The UK declared war on 3 September, so he might of already have been called up to rejoin the army and as a member of the services will not appear on the 1939 Register.
Tony
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We'll, I did think I had found him on 1939 register, living in Liverpool, a bricklayer, with a wife Mary at 34 Derby Street, Liverpool, same date of birth as my William. But looked on Electoral Registers for the address and found them there from 1937-1940. Then from 1945- 1951 Mary is on her own at 21 Derby Street, so made me think I was on right track. Until I looked at old newspapers online and found out that the William that lived at 21 Derby Street was killed in Western Europe on 8th February 1945 aged 30/32 . Looked on CWGC website and found this William and his details, but didn't say his dob !!