Gnr Daniel Hawkins 88783 RFA, Two more questions about his service rec

[hawkins70]

Hi all,

I've been lucky enough to find the service records for my great-grandfather, Gnr Daniel Hawkins 88783 RFA. This has really helped to fill in the blanks but has lead to some more questions I'm afraid ... (not to mention a great aunt and uncle I never knew existed!)

The record show him in France for nearly four years Aug 1914 until 19-Mar-1918 when he was wounded (19 Mar 1918) with what is described on the documents as

GSW R. Foot (sev) due to a/s

Now - I guess GSW can only mean gun shot wound but what about a/s ? Accidental shooting ? active service ? He spent 5 days in the 53rd General Hospital in Boulogne before being shipped back home and was eventually discharged a year later in 1919. Another mystery is that he died in 1921 in Truro, Cornwall from a cerebral haemorrage but is included in the CWGM in cornwall - something I only thought was possible if he died whilst still in service ?

Finally the record shows him as being posted to 15R, 30Bde, Base Details 113 - I intend to go to Kew eventually and look at the PWO records for this brigade which (from another post on this site) I believe are

WO 95/1399 30 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1914 Aug. - 1916 Jan.

WO 95/5169 30 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1917 Dec. - 1919 Feb.

The Documents Online feature of the national archives promises up to 10 pages scanned for a small fee and I'm quite tempted - but can anyone tell me if they think this is worth it or would I be better off being patient and waiting until I can see them in person ? I've no idea what to expect or what format the war diaries would take ... so can anyone give me a bit of an insight ?

If anyone is interested, I've placed his service records on flickr and you can view them at

Daniel Hawkins WW1 Service Records

Thanks as always for any help

John

[rflory]

GSW does mean gun shot wound. During the Great War that term did not necessarily mean a wound from a rifle but also included wounds due to artillery rounds, especially as a result of shrapnel, so I would guess that 'a/s' means 'artillery shell' or 'artillery shrapnel.'

Your man was posted to No. 3 Depot, RFA after attestation on 24 Aug 1914 and probably underwent administrative procedures, outfitting in uniforms etc at that location. He was then posted to 14 Reserve Battery, RFA for initial training on 31 Aug 1914. On 3 Sep 1914 he was posted to 15 Reserve Battery, RFA for additional training. He transferred to 30th (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA on 14 Sep 1914 and went to France with that unit on 20 Aug 1914. 30th (How) Brigade, RFA consisted of 128, 129, and 130 (How) Batteries, RFA and was part of the 3rd Divisional Artillery. He transferred to 113th Brigade, RFA in the 25th Division on 12 Feb 1915. He was discharged from 24th Reserve Battery, RFA on 5 February 1919 as physically disabled and give an 30% disability pension.

Regards, Dick Flory

[hawkins70]

Dick,

That's amazing - thank you so much for all of that information, you've made my day ! Did you get all of that from the war service records or did you pull in other sources as well ? Either way - a huge thank you from me !

Best regards,

John