Hitting a brick wall...

[Nobby Nobby Boy]

Hi all,

I am trying to locate as much information as possible on my Great Grandfather who fought in the Great War as I am planning a trip to the battlefields of France and Belgium in the summer and would love to know where he was and when. 

Name: Robert Hamilton
Born: 9 July 1899 Dundee, Angus
Died: 1980 Poole, Dorset

Royal Highland Regiment (Black Watch)
Rank: Private
Regimental number: 200697

Tank Corps
Rank: Private
Regimental number: 319169

He was awarded the Victory Medal once, and The British War Medal twice (seems strange?) and the Mercantile Marine War Medal.

There are stories of him enlisting under age and his mother going to France to get him back home, only to re-enlist when he was old enough!  I have also heard from one of my grandparents that he drove one of the very first tanks.

If anyone could help me in my search I'd be most grateful.

Thanks all

[CaroleW]

It doesn't look as though his WW1 service record has survived.  Over 60% were burnt during the WW2 blitz

[neil1821]

He was awarded the Victory Medal once, and The British War Medal twice (seems strange?) and the Mercantile Marine War Medal.

That would be because he served in the Army and the Mercantile Marine (in itself rather unusual)
One BWM plus Victory would be awarded through the War Office (for his Army service) and the other BWM plus MM medal through the Board of Trade (Mercantile Marine service).

With no cross-referencing between departments he would end up with two BWMs. One has his army number and rank and unit and the other just a name. Correct?

There are stories of him enlisting under age and his mother going to France to get him back home, only to re-enlist when he was old enough!  I have also heard from one of my grandparents that he drove one of the very first tanks.

So his Army service is alleged to come first?

[Nobby Nobby Boy]

It doesn't look as though his WW1 service record has survived.  Over 60% were burnt during the WW2 blitz

I had heard that this may be the case...
I'm guessing that if the records were lost then there is no other way of finding out his service?

[Nobby Nobby Boy]

Ah, I had initially though that the two BWMs would be because he served in the two regiments. It didn't occur to me that one would be joined with the Mercantile Marine medal.

I don't seem to be able to find anything about his services in the Navy (was the Marcantile Marine War medal even Navy?) - I couldn't locate any medal rolls similar to the ones for Army medals.

Am I right in thinking that he would've served in the Black Watch before being recruited for the Tank Corps when it was formed in 1917?

Due to his age at the time of the war (15 in 1914), I can only assume that his Army Service predates his Mercantile Marine service. Unless, they had different ages of enlistment...?

Ideally I'd like to find out the Battallion he fought with in order to have a (rough) idea of where he may have been in France/Belgium.

[GrahamSimons]

Merchant Marine Medal Cards should be obtainable from here:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/merchant-seamens-medals.asp

[mmm45]

His BW service number is a post 1917 Territorial Battalion one The Actual Medal Roll at Kew will give an enlistment date and Hopefully the Battalion he served with.I may be able to guess his Battalion with a bit of number crunching of simiar service numbers.

Edit: Suggests 4th Batt (Dundee)

Maybe he was pulled out of army(underage) so joined Mercantile Marine for a couple of trips (in a war zone so entitled to MMWM) THEN rejoined the Army?
Some Mercantile Marine Medal cards are missing

The Tank Corps number 315169( Walsgrove) was issued in July 1919 and there are no Tank Corps casualty numbers with 319*** prefix so I think the TC service is post war

Ady

[Nobby Nobby Boy]

Thanks a lot for looking into that Ady. It would make sense that he would enlist in a Dundee regiment as I presume he lived there at the time (being practically a schoolboy).

I think the theory about the Mercantile Marine Service being between initial enlistment and transfer to the Tank Corps makes sense as he wasn't 18 until July 1917. That said, if someone had joined up underage, would they note the service attained that wasn't technically legal?

I don't mean to sound ignorant, but why would someone transfer to the Tank Corps after the war? Or were the soldiers still on active service until the signing of the Versailles Treaty in 1919?

If I was to go to Kew to search for his records, can you tell me what I'd need to know to be sure I would find his papers? And are these records definately all still intact or were some also destroyed in the Second World War?

Researching the service for these men is amazingly addictive. I've been thinking about it all day trying to find any links I can to his story!

Cheers for the contnued help!

Chris

[mmm45]

Hi
Yes soldiers were still overseas until into the 20s there was the army of occupation in Germany,Battlefield clearances and other operations in Russia..It was an Armistice signed in Nov 1918 the Treaty of Versailles was the actual end of the war.Most soldiers demobbed before that were in the Reserves (called Class Z) ready to moblise if it started again.

The records that survived ww2 Blitz are (99.9%) on Ancestry however the Medal Roll Books that the Medal Index Card refer to are all there they will have an entry which will give enlistment/discharge date and possibly Battalion however it is a Tank Corps Book but his medals should be impressed on edge with The Royal Highlanders as this was his first overseas unit.

It could be worth posting on the Great War Forum if anyone has the Tank Corps Rolls already photographed it would save you a trip.

Ady