Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

medal card information please


Milner

Recommended Posts

Can anyone explain what my great uncles medal card numbers mean, why does he have three numbers and what does the RE enteries mean, can I find out anthing further from this card. I assume Royal engineers.

Thanks

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

why does he have three numbers and what does the RE enteries mean, . I assume Royal Engineers

Yes RE is Royal Regiment of Engineers[Royal Engineers]

If he is RE throughout the reason for three numbers is probably that he was assigned to 3 different RE Units/Companies & re~numbered each time.

If he was awarded just the BWM & Victory Medal,ie NO Star;then I doubt any further information will be accessable from the Card or indeed the Medal Roll Pages the Codes refer to{listed by each Medal eg:RE/**/**/* etc;}You may be lucky enough to find his service papers @ the NA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phil,

Can you tell us what regiments/corps and what numbers are in the top right hand corner?

We can make more sense of it if we know his numbers.

For example, if one of the RE numbers is > 400000 then he will have been in the Territorial Force, and we can idendify his unit in 1917 from that.

One of the of the numbers may also be a "WR/" (Waterways and Railways) number.

Help us out here!

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phil,

Can you tell us what regiments/corps and what numbers are in the top right hand corner?

We can make more sense of it if we know his numbers.

For example, if one of the RE numbers is > 400000 then he will have been in the Territorial Force, and we can idendify his unit in 1917 from that.

One of the of the numbers may also be a "WR/" (Waterways and Railways) number.

Help us out here!

Steve.

Sorry I thought I had attached the card, here is the record,

My great uncle Calton Milner's card read as follows

Corps Regiment No Rank

Royal Engineers 7473 Corporal

Royal Engineers WR279943 Serjeant

Royal Engineers 397473 Serjeant

Medal Roll Page

Victory * RE/102 BU2 5595

British " do "

15 Star RE/17A 313

He also had the 1915 star and is listed at going to France 26/07/1915

Thanks Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I can't be definitive about any of the numbers, the following is likely:

7473 is a low number, but not really low enough to be a Territorial Number. That therefore suggests a pre-war enlistment in the RE.

WR279943 is a "Waterways and Railways" number - therefore he would have been either in or transferred to Railway Operating/Construction Company or similar or a Docks/Barges Company, and been there when the men in those units were all renumbered (1918, I believe)

The 397473 number is similar to numbers I have seen of men who were in UK based units. It is possible he would have been medically downgraded if transferred from an overseas company to a UK company.

Therefore, his likely war service would have been - enlisted pre-war, been in a Railway/Canal company at some point and later saw out the war in a UK based unit.

It is difficult to be more specific than this JUST from the numbers.

HOWEVER, his date to France is EXACTLY the same as my Great-Uncle's in the 6th Northamptonshires which is the date that 18th Division went to France.

The Engineer Units of 18th Division:

79th Field Company (joined Sep 1914)

80th Field Company (joined Sep 1914)

92nd Field Company (joined Jan 15)

18th Divisional Signal Company.

Coincidence or a clue?

Hope this helps,

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I can't be definitive about any of the numbers, the following is likely:

7473 is a low number, but not really low enough to be a Territorial Number. That therefore suggests a pre-war enlistment in the RE.

WR279943 is a "Waterways and Railways" number - therefore he would have been either in or transferred to Railway Operating/Construction Company or similar or a Docks/Barges Company, and been there when the men in those units were all renumbered (1918, I believe)

The 397473 number is similar to numbers I have seen of men who were in UK based units. It is possible he would have been medically downgraded if transferred from an overseas company to a UK company.

Therefore, his likely war service would have been - enlisted pre-war, been in a Railway/Canal company at some point and later saw out the war in a UK based unit.

It is difficult to be more specific than this JUST from the numbers.

HOWEVER, his date to France is EXACTLY the same as my Great-Uncle's in the 6th Northamptonshires which is the date that 18th Division went to France.

The Engineer Units of 18th Division:

79th Field Company (joined Sep 1914)

80th Field Company (joined Sep 1914)

92nd Field Company (joined Jan 15)

18th Divisional Signal Company.

Coincidence or a clue?

Hope this helps,

Steve.

Thanks a lot, my great uncle moved to Kendal from Sunderland at some point after the war and family information is that he moved because the air was better. I wonder if this could be because he had been possibly been gased during the war.

I know he went on to become a headmaster of a school there. Lots more digging for me to do anyway.

regards

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...