I have now established beyond reasonable doubt that ADAMS , E Private 27474 26/10/1920 35 The 7th Bat Loyal North Lancashire Regiment buried in Hanley Cemetery IS my great uncle. Though the grave is in Stoke on Trent, the only death certificate that fits with his age is not him.
On the Great War Forum I noticed a case that might have relevance:
An Arthur Albert Coulton enlisted into the 6th (Reserve) Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment in1914 (which would be the first likely signing on regiment for Edwin). On 3rd September 1916, Coulton was transferred to the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment for overseas duty, being allocated a new Loyal North Lancashire number of 27349. This is very close to that of Edwin Adams. He joined the 4th Reserve Battalion of the LNL Regiment, but this was only for records purposes, being almost immediately transferred to the 7th battalion on 21st September 1916 for active service in France
It is likely that he did die back in England so I now have to find out where to get a death cert!
I still have found no service record or medal card either for the North Staffs or the LYN. Are there any instances of missing medal cards?