What does this mean on a medal card?

[lotteex]

On a medal card, there is an entry which states reason for discharge.

Can anyone tell me what the following means: -
Reason for discharge - a. o (or u) 265/17
                                      2 (b a i (?e)

Many thanks

Lottee

[mmm45]

Lottee
Army Order 265 of 1917
He was discharged unfit for service the 2b and other bits signify over seas service as an Other Rank

Pretty similar to Paragraph 392 of Kings Regs.

Can you post name and number so i can see the card on Ancestry?

Ta

Ady

[lotteex]

Hi Ady
Thanks for that. His name is Victor James Lawrence who served in WW1 but I cannot find his service records so have assumed his was one of the 70% of records that went up in flames during WW2.
I have found a medal card for Victor Lawrence in the Bedfordshire Re No 33047.
All I know of Victor James is that he was invalided out to Woolwich hospital with a severe leg injury but no idea what regiment he was in. I have found a Victor J Lawrence in the Border Reg No 22812 who received the SWB which I think means that a soldier is discharged as unfit??
So basically I'm clutching at straws in the hope I can find something. I know in 1919 he sailed to Africa to work as a Trader.
Any help will be appreciated
Lottee

[Peter J]

Hello Lottee,

I have had a look at the MIC for 22812 V J Lawrence, Border Regt. - you may be interested to know that the 'SWM' you refer to is in fact 'SWB' which stands for Silver War Badge (sometimes wrongly called the Silver Wound Badge).

This badge was awarded to all military personnel who were discharged as a result of sickness or wounds sustained either at home or overseas, during the war.

Just thought this might be of interest to you.

All the best,

Peter.

[lotteex]

Hi Peter
Yes it sort of gives me some hope that this may be him, though the niggle is that he was born in Battersea and lived in Wandsworth for all his younger years which would have been during WW1. He then went back and forth to Africa starting in 1919 and is how I can verify his address, finally settling in Yorkshire. Why would he join the Border regiment which I assume is up North rather than a Regiment closer to home? Would this be common practice?
Lottee

[mmm45]

Lottee
Its a misconception that men joined local regiments admittedly in 1914-1915 yes they did and many joined their local Terrtorial Battalions or Pals batts but as the war progressed and casualties mounted then men were sent  to what ever Regiment  needed replacements so theoretically you could have a Cornishman serving in a Kilted Scots Battalion!
Local papers had enlistment nominals published so that may be an option ?

Ady

[Peter J]

Lottee,

Ady is exactly right. By January 1916, when ‘attestation’ was not drawing in men in the numbers required (basically, ‘attestation’ was a system whereby men who signed up would only be called upon when needed) the Government introduced the Military Service Act. This meant conscription for single men, and extended soon afterwards to include married men as well. So by 1917, the Army was mixture of regular soldiers, conscripts, volunteers and part-time soldiers. As a result, any given unit was made up of men from different parts of the country, and by the end of the war, men from London might be serving in a Scottish unit, Welsh men might be serving in English battalions, and so on. As Ady rightly says, men were sent wherever they were needed.

This may be a silly question, Lottee, but how do you know that this man was actually a member of the Armed Forces? Do you have some sort of documentary evidence, or is this simply an assumption (which is perfectly reasonable, of course).

Regards,

Peter

[SueK50]

The only point that conflicts with this info is that per his MIC - Victor J Lawrence - 22812 - Border Regiment first entered a theatre of war (2b - Gallipoli) on 10th December 1915 - so he would have been a volunteer - rather than a conscript

He probably went as a reinforcement as per the Long Long Trail the 2 battalions of the Regiment who served in Gallipoli arrived there earlier in the year

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

Cheers
Sue

[lotteex]

Dear all

Thanks for all you thoughts as I have very little knowledge in finding records for the wars. My father assures me that he was in the 1914 - 18 war and that he received a severe leg injury and was taken to Woolwich hospital. Apparently had it not been for his mother, Theresa Lawrence nee Timson, a formidable character, he would have lost his leg. She insisted (I am told) that they did all they could to save his leg which they did but he did walk with a limp following this.

Would his hospital records been with his service history records or would they have been kept by the hospital?

Thanks for the website address Sue.

Lottee