Royal Munster Fusiliers. Which batalion?

[clarah]

I am still trying to piece together my ggrandfathers record. I have just found a photo of him in uniform and confirmed that he was seargent in the RMF (I previously posted under RMF on this).

If he was in the Curragh in October 1916 and away for next two years, what batallion may he have been in?

Also is the only way to get service record to go to Kew to access archives? With his DOB etc. is it not possible to find out info any other way?
I got some info re medals on national archives about a Thomas Murphy who may or may not be him.

[nobeard]

This page may be helpful to you, it's very concise & easy to follow. Check out the 5th battalion, the text tallies with your info.

http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Royal-Munster-Fusiliers

The National Archives have digitised a lot of the WW1 war diaries & they can be downloaded (costs £3.50 i believe), but of course you need to know exactly which Battalion you're looking for & which date.
Good luck.

[corisande]

There were 8 "Thomas Murphy" in the RMF

Of the 8  Medal Card Index (and it is to all intents and purposes a complete record) men with this name on the MIC , only one is listed as a sergeant (there is a corporal as well, and possibly him as many men had temp or acting ranks in WW1)

Of the 8 Thomas Murphy in the RMF, 4 are listed as killed in CMGC (they are all listed as Privates)

The sergeant on the MIC is 3974 Sgt Thomas Murphy. He went to France in Dec 1915 (from memory that would have to be with 2nd battalion, as 1st was in Gallipoli, and I do not think any other RMF were in action at that time in France), but it is entirely consistent that a man might return to Dublin, perhaps wounded, and spend a while training new men there, before being sent back to an active role.

That man did not get the SWB, so the implication is that he survived the war without being invalided out.

If he was sent abroad in 1916 it would have been either to the Middle East with the New Army Munster battalions, or to France with the 1st or 2nd battalion.

The service record for the above Thomas does not survive (you can check Ancestry records)

My feeling is that you need more family info to get any further. Basically each battalion acted as its own little regiment, so to know the battalion is essential in order to know where he served.

Does nobody in the family possess for example the actual medals. Did he get any gallantry awards - in which case the citation would/could tell you where he was at that time.

One needs a fair amount of persistence to track these things down!

[jds1949]

Also worth checking if he got married or registered the birth of a child during the time he served, quite often the certificate will list full service details,

jds1949

[clarah]

Unfortunately due to the death of my great grandmother at a very yoiung age, my greandmother was reared by other family and had very little to do with her father.
I have a copy of his wedding photo and it has very clear seargent stripes, that was Oct 1916. Wedding Cert says Sergeant and residence was Curragh camp. Birth cert for 1917 clearly states sergeant in the Royal Munsters.   No other detail. Do you think I can assume he is the sergeant noted then? He definitely served in France and there are a few stories about American soldiers that he served under.

[clarah]

One other story was that he joined in Limerick aged 14. That would have been 1898. Is that possible, would there be any other way of looking up local records at that time to see if that checks out? Thanks for the assistance on this.

[spof]

One other story was that he joined in Limerick aged 14. That would have been 1898. Is that possible, would there be any other way of looking up local records at that time to see if that checks out? Thanks for the assistance on this.

It was possible to join the Army back then at age 14. Think of it as an apprenticeship. They'd probably be drummers, general hands etc  while learning how to be a soldier. Any surviving records will be at Kew.

As corisande said, more family background is needed. try the 1911 Irish census based on the info from the wedding cert

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

It may help to narrow down which Thomas we are looking for.

Glen

[jds1949]

If he was in the British Army at the time of the 1911 census then he should show up on that as all of the Army establishments were recorded. There is at least one Thomas Murphy born 1884 listed as "Overseas Military"

see: http://www.1911census.co.uk/search/results4.aspx?x=721169657

jds1949

[Listry]

I am still trying to piece together my ggrandfathers record. I have just found a photo of him in uniform and confirmed that he was seargent in the RMF (I previously posted under RMF on this).

Clarah,

Are you still searching for Thomas Murphy?. I have a photo of 2nd Battalion Munster Fusiliers, the photo would be circa 1920's when the 2nd Battalion was posted to Egypt and located at the Citadel, Cairo. The caption to this photo reads as follows- "Regimental Staff."
Caption lists the staff, the soldier standing at back 1st left is a "Sergeant Murphy (School)".

Unfortunately no initial was given. Do you have a photo that you can compare to this.