Somerset Light Infantry

[nicko576]

Any expert on service numbers of the Somerset Light Infantry, please tell me when

the number 30580 was issued. Any help greatly appreciated

Nick

[Paul Nixon]

Hello Nick

The first half of January 1917.

Paul

[nicko576]

Thanks Paul

Is there anyway i can find what Battalion, he was in.

Thanks

Nick

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Nick

You may already know but just in case you do not.... You amn also served in the Hampshire Regiment.

See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=1

Dave

[nicko576]

Thanks Dave

I did know he was in the Hampshire Regiment, new thread starting shortly.

Cheers

Nick

[Paul Nixon]

Thanks Paul

Is there anyway i can find what Battalion, he was in.

Thanks

Nick

Probably not, Nick, a service battalion almost certainly, but Dave's "spot" of the Hampshire Regiment is interesting.

The Hampshire Regiment number suggests that this was the regiment he first joined and that it was issued in October 1916.

The Hants Regiment was numbering at around 9650 by the time the First World War was declared, and the service battalions, when they were formed, continued with the same numbering series that the regular battalions had used. They then numbered sequentially (and in an orderly fashion) up until about 29700 which they reached in September 1916. There then appears to be a gap in the numbering sequence (these "missing" numbers subsequently appearing in 1917) and then numbers in the 300** range start to appear in the same month.

However, and this is a big BUT, those men with the numbers in the range 30000 (or 30001 probably) to 32000 were posted not to service battalions but to the two TF battalions, the 4th and the 5th Hants. (So too, were men with numbers in the range 304** range and above). Many of these men - some of whom had attested under the Derby Scheme in late 1915 - were subsequently transferred in France to other British Regiments, although some obviously stayed with the 4th or 5th Hants Bns and were given six digit numbers within the blocks of numbers allocated to those battalions.

Your man, Peter McNamee, as Dave has indicated, was given the Hants Regt number 30139. The closest matches on my database are:

30127 (4th Hants) 10th Oct 1916

30188 (4th Hants) 23rd Oct 1916

So in summary, he joins the 4th or 5th Hants in Oct 1916, goes abroad with the Bn (hence the Hants number on his medals) and then transfers in Jan 1917 to the Somerset LI.

Paul

[per ardua per mare per terram]

Is there anyway i can find what Battalion, he was in.

Have you tried the medal roll?

[nicko576]

Thanks Paul, much appreciated. i have not tried the medal roll, thanks for the suggestion.

Nick

[Marc Thompson]

So in summary, he joins the 4th or 5th Hants in Oct 1916, goes abroad with the Bn (hence the Hants number on his medals) and then transfers in Jan 1917 to the Somerset LI.

Paul,

I have to disagree. The MIC and Medal Roll indicate that he transferred from 2/4th SLI (30580) to the Hants (30139). A possible course of events therefore is that Pte McNamee was with 2/4th SLI in June 1918 when it landed in Marseilles and was subsequently attached to 34th Division as Pioneer Battalion. 2/4th SLI later joined the Army of Occupation and all men who could not be demobilized were transferred to 15th Hants circa March / April 1919. The 'style' of entry on the BWM & VM roll is consistent with someone serving with the Army of Occupation i.e. the Hants battalion with which he served is not listed.

I take on board what you say about the numbering sequence for the Hants which requires further investigation / evidencing.

Marc