Help needed tracing soldier

[ASA1]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone out there will be able to help me find any record of a soldier who appears on my local war memorial in Carshalton (Surrey), but who I cannot find any record of in the usual places - CWGC, medal card, service record etc.

His name is Reginald Ernest Kenneth EVANS. According the local paper he served with the London Rifle Brigade with the rank of Rifleman. It is possible he died after the end of the war as the memorial has quite a few other names where they died between 1918 and 1921.

I have located him on the 1901 census living in Rochester Road, Carshalton. He was born in 1893 or 1894 in Carshalton, parents are Hugh and Florence.

I have been in touch with a distant family member but unfortunately she had no further info.

EDIT - I have also checked the Surrey Recruitment Registers but can find no entry for him there.

Any help or ideas gratefully received!

Many thanks.

[km1971]

If you are local you could try the local records office to look in the electoral roll for 1918. Some councils had an Absent Voters List for soldiers, listing regiment rank and number. Even the standard roll should list something useful.

If you can find him in the 1911 census it will give you an addrees. Otherwise you will have to go through all the names as they will be in address order.

http://www.1914-1918.net/grandad/avl.htm

Anyone interested in Liverpool should note that the link does not work. I have contacted the LRO and they say Liverpool did not have a AVL. The standard elctoral roll just has an 'A' next to any soldiers who were away.

Ken

[liverpool annie]

Hi Asa !

The only thing I can think of is the London Rifle Brigade is also called the London Regiment and if you plug in just Reginald Evans into the archives there are just a few who are London Regiment ...
still can't find him on Geoffs engine though  .... as you say he may have died after the deadline for CWGC ... but died of wounds relating to the war ! ... what exactly did it say in the local paper ... maybe there's a clue there ??

I've had a couple like that myself .... I'll keep looking though !

Annie 

[forester]

I've tried just about every combination I could think of, but found nothing.

His birth is registered March Qu. 1893  Epsom  2a  9
Reginald Ernest K Evans

Carshalton falls within Epsom Reg. District.

I can't find his death on FreeBMD.
Have you tried the Overseas Death Index?

Phil

[ASA1]

Thanks for the suggestions.

The local paper simply listed his name amongst all the others that appear on the memorial, and said he served with the London Rifle Brigade. It could be wrong, of course!

I have also tried searching Geoff's search engine using different spellings, inititals etc, but with no luck...

I've had a brief look at the 1911 census using the search facility. I can't find any obvious entry that is him, although there are a few Reginald Evans' born around 1893-4.

Haven't heard of the overseas death index before...where can I find it and what info would it be likely to show?

ASA1

[forester]

The Overseas Death Indices are in the same format as the GRO home ones.

Findmypast have them on a subscription basis.
They are not individually indexed, only by surname, page by page.

I'm afraid that's a pretty poor explanation, so have a read on this link:

http://www.findmypast.com/helpadvice/knowledge-base/overseas-military/

Phil

[Paul pxe155]

The gentleman you are searching for is without doubt my Great Uncle Reginald Evans. He died on the first day of the battle of the Somme (1/7/1916) at Gommecourt. He was serving with the 12th Battalion the London Regiment (The Rangers). His service number is 471554. He is buried at Gommecourt British Cemetery Number 2. I have visited the site on many occasions.  His details appear on the CWGC website. If you cut and paste the following into the search bar it will take you directly to his page:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=590005

Unfortunately it gives no address or next of kin. Given that he appears on the Carshalton war memorial I would guess he was still living with my Great Grand parents Hugh and Florence. My Grandad is Herbert Lionel Leonard Evans. I have asked both my dad and uncle who were unable to help any further regarding their Uncles address at the time of his enlistment. There is a medal card available but it would appear no service record. It's a shame because I am very keen on world war one history. Due to your posting I shall now travel down from Norfolk to attend the war memorial on the next remembrance sunday in order to pay my respects.

I hope the above is a help

All the best

Paul Evans

[forester]

Hello Paul,

Welcome to Rootschat and especially the Armed Forces Boards.

No doubt you have the info from Soldiers Died in the Great War, which adds very little, other than Reginald enlisted in London and was resident in West London.

Phil

[ASA1]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the confirmation.

You may be aware of these links already but if not:

You can download a pdf copy of 'The Rangers Historical Records' from www.archive.org - it includes details of their attack on the first day of the Somme.

Alan MacDonald's excellent site www.gommecourt.co.uk gives further information about the battle.

I don't know if you already have a picture of Reginald; if not there is one on the page dedicated to The Rangers, www.gommecourt.co.uk/fallenrangers1.htm . The picture is from the Territorial Service Gazette held at the British Library Newspaper Archive in Colindale, North London.

Do you have a digital picture of Reginald's grave that you would be willing to let me have for my project?

If you want any pictures of the Carshalton memorial let me know.

Regards,
ASA1