RosG Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 Grandad Wilcox army photo.pdfGrandad Wilcox army photo.pdf My Grandad Private William Herbert Wilcox who fought 1916- 1918 on Somme. His medals are annotated Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry 37359 I have found him in a war diary online for 1/5th battalion DCLI dated 22 Dec 1918 having joined the battalion that day from base. My question is that the hat badge doesnt look like DCLI so what is it? There is talk that he first joined the somersets and then the devons and then DCLI. He has another number that of 043876 AOC which is also a puzzle- was he transfered to this after the war? Thanks Ros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovetown Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 It's the Hampshire Regiment. Cheers, GT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 Nice picture. GT's correct, definitely Hampshire Regiment, here's a close-up ... HTH Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 (edited) The very clear picture shows the Hampshire regiment as already said, Ros, and going by his apparent youth I imagine it was his first unit (perhaps when underage). Many men were wounded several times in the course of the war and after recovery they appeared before a grading board that determined their overall fitness. If still well enough they would be sent back to France and Flanders to an infantry base depot (IBD) and thence to whichever unit was most in need of casualty replacements. In this way, if repeated, a man might serve with several different regiments and each time, under the system that then prevailed, he would be allocated a new regimental number. If a wound caused permanent debilitation and a man was graded as unfit for infantry then he might be sent instead to one of the support corps, such as the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC). The idea was that every man was a resource to be fitted into the role for which he was most fitted and useful. Most men, unless medically discharged served until 1919, and the general demobilisation and reduction of the Army post war. Edited 25 April , 2017 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 Just posting to cross-link this post on Willcox to Ros's other post showing him (probably) in a DCLI platoon here: help to identify soldier uniform ans stripes on arm please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosG Posted 25 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 25 April , 2017 Thank you so much. Exciting! I am a little surprised at him being in the Hampshire Regiment ( never heard anything about that from my uncle) as Grandad lived in Wincanton Somerset and was working there at the time he enlisted. I am grateful for everyone' help Thank you Ros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, RosG said: Thank you so much. Exciting! I am a little surprised at him being in the Hampshire Regiment ( never heard anything about that from my uncle) as Grandad lived in Wincanton Somerset and was working there at the time he enlisted. I am grateful for everyone' help Thank you Ros Ros, if you also make a post in the 'Soldiers' section of the Forum here, there are a lot of excellent 'detectives' who can try and trace your grand-dad's service record, or as a minimum, his 'medal index card'. Make sure that you quote his full name and all the regimental numbers that you have, as well as the 'known' information that he served in the Hampshire Regiment, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and the Army Ordnance Corps. Edited 25 April , 2017 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 10 hours ago, RosG said: Grandad Wilcox army photo.pdfGrandad Wilcox army photo.pdf My Grandad Private William Herbert Wilcox who fought 1916- 1918 on Somme. His medals are annotated Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry 37359 Ros Ros - can you just confirm you have his medals and/or have seen the medal inscription to Service Number 37359 in the DCLI. There are a number of W Willcoxs in the various Light Infantry regiments. Just want to make sure we don't go down any blind alleys! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, MBrockway said: Ros - can you just confirm you have his medals and/or have seen the medal inscription to Service Number 37359 in the DCLI. There are a number of W Willcoxs in the various Light Infantry regiments. Just want to make sure we don't go down any blind alleys! Mark Doesn't she already say, Martin? His medals are quoted as: "annotated with...." Seems fairly clear. Edited 25 April , 2017 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said: Doesn't she already say, Martin? His medals are quoted as: "annotated with...." Seems fairly clear. That's what I was working from, but the labour involved motivated me to just double-check. I've had my fingers burnt this way before Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 4 minutes ago, MBrockway said: That's what I was working from, but the labour involved motivated me to just double-check. I've had my fingers burnt this way before Cheers, Mark Sorry, I had meant Mark, not Martin. Senility creeping in. At this rate of posting poor Ros is going to miss all the important stuff from wading through the chaff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 No worries - I answer to anything! As it's concerning her grandfather, I suspect Ros will diligently wade through it all and when we start making real headway, then we can do some summaries. Often, though not always!, new posters find our reasoning and obscure lines of inquiry fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 (edited) 7 hours ago, MBrockway said: No worries - I answer to anything! As it's concerning her grandfather, I suspect Ros will diligently wade through it all and when we start making real headway, then we can do some summaries. Often, though not always!, new posters find our reasoning and obscure lines of inquiry fascinating. I think that Ros would make even more progress if she posted a summary of what's been learned so far, along with her granddad's known units and regimental numbers, in the 'Soldiers' section of the forum here. Edited 25 April , 2017 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 25 April , 2017 Share Posted 25 April , 2017 Yes - and I can easily put in cross-links from any new post to the two existing topics, so the Pals can reach the full discussions if they want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosG Posted 26 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 26 April , 2017 thank you everyone I will post on the soldiers section everything I know Ros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 26 April , 2017 Share Posted 26 April , 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, RosG said: thank you everyone I will post on the soldiers section everything I know Ros It is his Medal Index Card (MIC) that you should search for initially Ros. Unlike the military record papers, that had over half burned in the 1940 Blitz, the MICs have survived. Although they do not contain a great deal of information, they will at least confirm in writing (contemporary record) what you already know. Afternote: I see now that you already have his MIC via Ancestry.com, I did not realise that, Ros. It confirms his DCLI and AOC/RAOC service. It seems likely that he was 'found out' as underage, while with the Hampshires, and then perhaps rejoined when of age with the DCLI. Like many men, including quite a number who would have liked to have stayed in the Army (not everyone had a bad war), he was demobilised in 1919 as part of efforts to substantially reduce military expenditure by the government. Quite a number of such men, sought a new life via emigration to the Antipodes, including my great uncle. Edited 26 April , 2017 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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