A case of changed identity

[MaxD]

The identity card is not really relevant in finding a man's service records so as well to check what the family do actually have.

Have the family found any Great War records?  Did he serve through the inter-war years?  Do you have him on the 1939 register (in any  variation of name?).  Was he commissioned?  Do the family need any help?

MaxD

[Jules1066]

The family confirmed the following:

Enquires in the past have been under name  ‘Stanley’ 

(* his real name may have been Bridge, in 1939 census Preston)

Said he was in the Queens 4th Hussars and served in France and Gallipoli when Churchill was there. He knew Winston Churchill (son visited Chartwell with him on more than one occasion and met the man himself).  * no ‘Stanley’ records found connecting to that regiment *

After he died the family came across an old blazer with a Royal Army Ordnance Corps cloth badge on (WW1). Found a Stanley in records that is/was a possibilty but not sure - details sparse.

Churchill had an AOC driver in gallipoli. His father was very prominent in the local Branch of the British Legion, on committees, frequent quest at Mess Nights at when the 5th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers where stationed there in the 1960's, “on many occasions officers and senior NCO's came to our house for dinner.”

We know 4th Hussars were stationed in Ireland (1920s) and India which would fit with his story (spoke several indian languages, knew a lot about Ireland etc.)

But if not 4th Hussars, what else?
He had medals from WW1 but these were sold. Wife got rid of all his documents.

[ShaunJ]

Churchill had an AOC driver in gallipoli

Churchill was never in Gallipoli. He was First Sea Lord at that time.

[MaxD]

I get the feeling that over the course of years, elements of the jigsaw pieces, such as they are, may have become scrambled.  However, press on.

 Churchill served in the 4th Hussars 1895-1899 and briefly in the R Scots Fusiliers in WW1 after Gallipoli.   4th Hussars didn't go to Gallipoli.  WW1 medal cards can be found for the name Stanley in the 4th Hussars and in the AOC, including one in the Indian Ordnance Department.  None of these can be related to an identifiable individual without at least initials and even then it is doubtful given that only 40% of records survived.

WW2 (and inter-war years) records are not on line so that period can't be discovered that way.

But if not 4th Hussars, what else? - verging on the unanswerable?

MaxD

[Jules1066]

Yes it appears so.

The son was nearly 20 when his father passed away. And the details must start to get mixed up over time.

It’s also not clear how much was “true” given the change of identity.

[Jules1066]

Where can I find details for the Indian Ordnance Department? Is there a searchable Online index ?