Thanks for that Max, interesting.
In the 1901 census age 17 he is at home in Sheffield , with parents. Ok he could have joined up later that year.
1911 census married with his wife Nellie in Sheffield. General labourer.
i have a copy of their 1910 marriage certificate and there is no mention of army on there, he is a labour master which was a sub contractor.
I have 3 sources related to his death
1 UK Registers of Soldiers Effects 1901-29, Ancestry. Here you can see the original document . His Service number is 6842, buried at Gheluvelt, which is the Menin Gate cemetery at Ypres, widow Nellie who is written on the document as later Mrs Hirst. She remarried a John Alfred Hirst in 1915. In this document it says 2nd Battalion. Died 15.12.14
2 De Ruvignys Roll of Honour Ancestry. Death place Ypres. Service number 6842. However, first battalion. Died 31.10.14
3 UK Soldiers died in the Great War . Number 6842. First battalion. Died 15.12.14. It is only a transcript.
I conclude from that
1 He wasnt in the army prior to 1911
2 He was probably in First Battalion not Second .
3 He died 31.10 not 15.12
From Wikipaedia:The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of 9th Brigade in the 3rd Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.[31] It saw action at the Battle of Mons in August 1914, the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914, Battle of the Somme in Summer 1916, the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and the advance to the Hindenburg Line in September 1918[32] and was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Deneys Reitz in the closing stages of the war.[33]
The 2nd Battalion landed at Zeebrugge as part of the 21st Brigade in the 7th Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front.[31] It saw action at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915, the Battle of Loos in October 1915, the Battle of the Somme in Summer 1916, the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and the Battle of Lys in April 1918.[32]
