brett361975 Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Long story short, back to James Berry, still not resolved ! 2nd LT Berkshire Regiment Gazetted 1919 Resign commision due to illness caused by wounds. Address on MIC Sycamore House Uphill Western super mare also The Grange Hutton Weston Super mare Found a J Berry died in 1926 in NORMANTON WAKEFIELD in March quarter On the back of the MIC is the following : inf war graves commision d. 11.2.26 (i'm guessing this is the date of his death) I am told there of four deaths recorded to the name of James Berry in 1926, are any of these deaths closer to Weston Super Mare? Can anyone help me, i'm baffled here , is this the same man? Chasing shadows on this one Regards Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Brett, The four people who died in that qtr by the name of James Berry were aged 60 (Salford) 0 (Bradford) 72 (Cheltenham) and 27 (Wakefield). Same info on Free BMD. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Brett, I have had a look at this mans card and cannot see any mention of the CWGC and date of 11 2 26, am I looking at the correct card ? Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltaxman Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Just in case anyone doesn't know Weston Super Mare, it's 20 miles SW of Bristol...... that's the west country!! The names mentioned above are all "northerners" by comparison. The MIC below is the MIC with the addresses but no mention of CWGC....... Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltaxman Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Per Ancestry, there are no deaths recorded after 1912 with that name in Somerset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Thats the card I have been looking at and the only date on the correspondence side is the 16th Feb 1920 the day his EF9 was received back. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltaxman Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 I can't see anything on the strength of the MIC that would indicate that he died. However, after sorting through a few James Berrys in Somerset, I came across this one. He was born in North Petherton, but it is only a few miles away from WSM. There is a James Berry living in Weston on the 1901 census, but he's in his 60's.... Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Guys The MIC in question is this one although Brett seems to have made a link between this J. Berry and James Berry which at the moment I'm not convinced is there. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltaxman Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 I think the James Berry MIC I posted is the correct one due to; rank - Brett states 2nd Lt, the other MIC is full Lt resigned commission - again my MIC states his entitlement to the SWB in the same year (1919) as he resigned. Without further access to service records, J Berry could be a James, John or Joseph (to name a few). I feel that the death aspect has been confused with the J Berry MIC. Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett361975 Posted 5 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 5 July , 2008 Thanks for you answers so far, ok two MIC's same rank, same initial, same regiment On the back of the MIC with the medals the address on the back is Sycamore House the people living at Sycamore House in 1937 were an Arthur William BERRY and an Alice BERRY Im told the second MIC with no medals i am told is just an enquiry in to medal entitlement as there are no medals listed but on the back we have the date (d.11.2.26) Ok London Gazette entry below LG 5-11-1919 R. Berks. R. Temp. 2nd Lt. J. Berry relinquishes his commission on account of ill-health caused by wounds, 26 Sept. 1919. and retains the rank of 2nd Lt. Ok so the d.11.2.26 is this the date of the enquiry? or the date of death? if its an enquiry why is it to the War graves commision? Next we have a death in wakefield of a James Berry in the march quarter of 1926 aged 27 the only death with the age about right. Or is this a coincidence? regards Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltaxman Posted 5 July , 2008 Share Posted 5 July , 2008 I think it is coincidence. If they are the same man, why is there a request for medals on another MIC (with a different rank - note that he is 2nd Lt not Lt - this makes a big difference) when the original MIC would have been used? (it wasn't full up from previous enquiries and the civil service hates extra paperwork). The CWGC query and the Wakefield connection are probably the same man and correct but my gut feeling says that they aren't the same man. Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett361975 Posted 5 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 5 July , 2008 I think maybe the best thing is to get a copy of the death cert of the James Berry in Wakefield and see what it says, Back to square one ! next officers pair i'm buying are to montiguee smithe cant be that many too track down ! do you think i should get the death cert? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett361975 Posted 6 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2008 Also the J Berry on the MIC with war graves enquiry and the dat 26.2.26, the man who died in Wakefield in the march quarter of 1926 was also called James? So i suppose i need to find out if the Berkshire regiment had a LT James Berry serving as well as a 2nd Lt James Berry serving at the same time? any one have any links to the Berkshire regiment? Regards Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinglma Posted 6 July , 2008 Share Posted 6 July , 2008 Brett I think the 'd/' before "11.2.26" is for date - its very common on these medal cards - and therefore for the date of enquiry from the Imperial War Graves Commission rather than a date of death. Usually these blank cards are to be found when a 'dummy' cards has been created following an enquiry received and where the original card could not be found by the medal office. Its easy to tie them up in the case of other ranks as more often than not the regimental numbers match. Its possible that those shown here are one and the same man. I would want to look at the army lists for the R.Berks.Regiment to see whether there was more than one office named J Berry. What I don't understand however is why the IWGC would be enquiring about the medal entitlement of a Lt J Berry, R. Berkshire Regt when they don't have anyone listed with those details. Regards Mike S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett361975 Posted 6 July , 2008 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2008 thanks Mike, Will contact the Regiment if i can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 6 July , 2008 Share Posted 6 July , 2008 (edited) Have you looked through all the officers' service files at Kew to find if his have been kept? You imply that this is in relation to a pair of medals that you have, in which case are they named to a Lieutenant or a Second Lieutenant? The two ranks are different. I have researched some men from the Berks Regiment, but not the Northamptons; why do you think they will have any more information than Kew or the Army List? The evidence so far does not indicate J Berry and James Berry are the same man; it also points to a SWB card which has not been shown. Edited 6 July , 2008 by per ardua per mare per terram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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