Royal Bucks Hussars Machine Gun Corps

[june54]

Does anyone know where I can find information on where my grandfather may have been posted.  All I know from his medal card is that he served with Royal Bucks Hussars Machine Gun Corps. 

[forester]

Hello June,

Welcome to Rootschat and especially the Armed Forces Boards. 

The answer probably lies with following the course of the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry.

This link is to the Bucks Yeomanry page on the Long Long Trail. Unfortunately the links to the Divisions won't get you very far as the pages are being updated at the moment.

http://www.1914-1918.net/bucks.htm

If he was in the Bucks Yeomanry previously, it is possible that he was in 17 Machine Gun Squadron, C Battalion or 101 Machine Gun Bn, all of which were formed / renamed / amalgamated from Bucks Yeomanry connections.

If you could give us his details, such as name and service number, it may be possible to pin down his movements with a bit more certainty.

Phil

[june54]

Hello Phil
Thanks for replying. I've tried to attach a copy of the medal card but in case this hasn't worked I'll set out the information as it appears.

Name: Dobson, Frederick
Corps: Bucks Yeo M.G.C
Rank: Private
Regti No. 3149  165607
Medal: Victory - MGC/0/B/C9 Pg 9098
            British -  ditto                  ditto
            15 Star - MGC 13c  Pg 1781
Theatre of War first served in - 3
 Date of entry therein - 21.4.15

Hope this helps
Thanks in anticipation
June

[forester]

Thanks June,

It didn't attach, but I've found it on Ancestry and will have a closer look later.

Phil

[forester]

Hello again June,

I've had a look at the Medal Index Card and it looks like the LLT page I linked earlier is pretty much the tale of his military service.

He was probably a pre-war Territorial and was part of the original draft of 1/1 Buckinghamshire Yeomanry to Egypt in April 1915.
There are half a dozen casualties with 1656** service numbers and they are all from 101st (Bucks & Berks) Battalion Machine Gun Corps.

I had a look for a service record for him, but couldn't see one.

I've also had a quick look for war diaries  held at Kew and they seem a bit hit and miss. I did find two though:

WO 95/4445, which covers 1/1 Bucks Yeomanry from July 1916 to Jan 1917.
WO 95/338, which covers 101 Bn MGC from May 1918 to April 1919.

Phil

[june54]

Hello Phil

Thanks for the information.  Could you tell me how I go about checking the war diaries at Kew - I know nothing at all about researching military personnel. The other clues I have to his service history are a Turkish belt buckle, a pair of what look like Turkish (but definitely Eastern) leather soft shoes, a collection of photographs (look like a souvenir set Jerusalem/Gaza), his spurs, a postcard to my grandmother from Stowe (base of RBH?), a photograph of him in uniform (mounted on a fine looking horse) and another postcard to my grandmother which is a picture of patients and staff at a military hospital.  My father also tells me that he believes my gfather served in Mesopotamia.  Do you think the information at Kew may help to bring the pieces of my jigsaw together?  I'd like to try a get some more information so that I can tell my father while he's still with us (he celebrated his 90th birthday last month).
Thank you so much for your help, it is greatly appreciated appreciated. 

June

[forester]

June,

The war diaries at Kew are original documents (although they are slowly being digitised and the originals withdrawn). It is a question of sitting down and ploughing through them, or photographing them and looking through them at your leisure. Those that are not yet digitised can be ordered online, but are prohibitively expensive unless you only want a particular short period in time.

They vary in depth and quantity of the information they provide, but have virtually no information on individuals, except officers.

Are there any clues on the hospital postcard?

Phil

[june54]

Hello again Phil

Thanks for the info on searching the records at Kew.  I'm not sure what information is on the postcard.  My sister is custodian of this so I'll need to pay her a visit.  I could scan it in and send you a copy and see if there's a legible post mark.

Regards
June

[forester]

Hello June,

That would be fine.......... or post it on here.

Phil