Help with info on my great-grandfather

[Gwil]

1788 Baker has Pension Ledger/Card and has an address of 42 Wroxeter Old Rd, Derby.

96/486227 Baker. These numbers denote a Territorial Force man and that he was No 1 North Midland Field Coy. The low number indicates he was  pre-war man, possibly 1908/1909.
486001   488000   1   N Midland Field Coy

[RobbieCE]

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I think one of my best chances now is to possibly book an appointment at my local archives and check the AVL's to see if I can possibly get any hits that way. It has to be worth a go...

I can assist with this. What address[es] do you have? Give the parish if you know it.

Hi Gwil,

The known address he lived at in 1911 (from the census) would be 8 Brookland Terrace, Cwmbran, Monmouthshire.

It's possible they were then living at 13 Brookland Terrace in 1913 as his brother is living there but not sure if the whole family moved.

by 1922 he was living in 3 woodside terrace according to his marriage certificate.

The 2 service records you have mentioned again don't match I don't think. The first one the address doesn't match. He was a miner before the war from what I know so the second one's service number stating that person was pre-war also doesn't match.

Im really stuck here on this one....

what are your thoughts?

[Gwil]

He and the family are at 13 Brookland Terrace in the 1921 census.

I have looked in the AVL. Wilfred is not at the address. Arthur Baker is though and he is shown as O.S H.M.S Dartmouth.
The AVL I have is Spring 1919 and there are obvious gaps in the numbering, which they have retained from the previous issues. Arthur is entry number 2356. Before him is 2352 and after him is 2360 thus leaving about six entries dropped off from previous issue. It might be worth making contact with the local records office to see if theirs is  the 1918 one.
Cwmbran is in Pontypool Division. I have been through all of that Division and not seen him.

[CaroleW]

Could you either post the article here or post a transcription of what it says

[RobbieCE]

He and the family are at 13 Brookland Terrace in the 1921 census.

I have looked in the AVL. Wilfred is not at the address. Arthur Baker is though and he is shown as O.S H.M.S Dartmouth.
The AVL I have is Spring 1919 and there are obvious gaps in the numbering, which they have retained from the previous issues. Arthur is entry number 2356. Before him is 2352 and after him is 2360 thus leaving about six entries dropped off from previous issue. It might be worth making contact with the local records office to see if theirs is  the 1918 one.
Cwmbran is in Pontypool Division. I have been through all of that Division and not seen him.

Thank you so much for looking this up for me Gwil, It's a shame there is no record there for him. Do you think there is no record due to one never being filled out for him? Is it possible that he was at another address do you think? I'm starting to wonder how often something like this happens where there appears to be no record of someone who served. Have you ever come across a similar situation? I've emailed the archives already so hopefully they can let me know if they have any copies of the 1918 version of the AVL.

Thanks again for your help, at the very least I have some more info on his brother.

[RobbieCE]

Could you either post the article here or post a transcription of what it says

Hi Carole, if you mean the newspaper article then sure here it is.

Thanks.

[CaroleW]

The article must have been 1972 as he married in 1922.   Could the reporter have got the "wrong end of the stick"? 

There is no medal card for him which is very strange if he served in France. 

[RobbieCE]

The article must have been 1972 as he married in 1922.   Could the reporter have got the "wrong end of the stick"? 

There is no medal card for him which is very strange if he served in France.

I have questioned myself if the reporter has the facts straight, but part of me is thinking how could they get this so wrong? It's a big thing to get wrong too isn't it. I'm also thinking that the source for the paper is more than likely my great grandparents themselves surely as they would have obviously been alive and my great nan is quoted in the piece.

On the other hand though why is there no records?

On another forum it has been suggested that maybe it is possible that he joined the war with the south wales borderers but served under a different unit in France, meaning one of the medal index cards could be him but there is no one of linking it for sure. I suppose this is also a possibility?

[RobbieCE]

Hi everyone,

Just a little update. Today I visited the local archives and searched through the AVL for 1918. I found my great grandfather listed as PTE 49045 3rd SWB. I'm very happy to have found this, but even though I have his regimental number now, I still cannot find any index cards for him online. The mystery continues.