Author Topic: Does army number change?  (Read 1949 times)

Offline Viktoria

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 4,091
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Does army number change?
« Reply #9 on: Saturday 25 August 12 06:20 BST (UK) »
What a mystery--- we had our own of a sort.I`ve told this on R.C before so will be brief.
We were always told my grandfather was a guard.
We could imagine him, very tall ,in full uniform with bearskin etc.
We could not trace him at all  as by the time we were doing F.H everyone we should have asked was dead, and then  we had a break through.
He had been a guard----on The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway!
We did not love him any the less.
                                                          Viktoria.

Offline Leyther1

  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 116
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Does army number change?
« Reply #10 on: Saturday 25 August 12 09:57 BST (UK) »
ha-ha that's a good one Viktoria - I know exactly what you mean...you can't help the slight disappointment before the smile arrives when you discover these things.  With my GGRandfather he was  "A huge strapping bloke, over 6ft tall....." from family stories..but these army records have actually  proved he was in fact 5ft 4 weighing 112lbs lol.

The best bit is that I was given a contact last year from someone on RC (Alan Gleaveson) who helps with WW1 records.  I have asked him about this final letter I have from the army asking his whereabouts to his wife in 1919.  Alan has just confirmed the letter was purely administrative as his file was never closed so the army needed to see if he was alive, dead, missing etc....so he wasn't actually serving in 1919 and after being discharged 3 times for the same reason, he would have NEVER served again after 1915  so all the stories about serving in Ireland are highly likely not to be true : )

Thanks for sharing your story - one day I hope to find a similar ending for my GGrandfather on my Mums side - he was always a policeman....but all records I have show him as a coal miner...but on his Daughters wedding cert he states policeman (He died 3years later and was a coal miner 5years prior).so maybe he wasn't a poiceman as we think?....ha ha