Sherlock Holmes needed to find any clues in this photograph

[MelPack]

Steve

Was that the OBLI man? Let us know if the medal inscriptions tally.

Regards

Mel

[Steve Bodie]

Steve

Was that the OBLI man? Let us know if the medal inscriptions tally.

Regards

Mel

Sadly not, it was his brother Lewis Lewis who died near Amiens on Aug 8th 1918 aged 18, (8 not his lucky number)

All the best

Steve

[Steve Bodie]

Steve

Was that the OBLI man? Let us know if the medal inscriptions tally.

Regards

Mel

Actually Mel, I don't know why I didn't think to mention it, regarding the OBLI man Albert Lewis, I contacted the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust, and far a small donation, they confirmed your findings on the Medal Card and gave me copies of the war diaries concerning Albert with Asteriks's by where he was injured etc. If any body is looking for OBLI info suggest they contact the Trust.

Cheers

Steve

[Tomkinson]

Steve

do not know if it helps but his GRO reference so you can obtain a birth certificate looks like:

Name: Frederick Lewis

Year of Registration: 1893

Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec

District: Rugby

County: Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire

Volume: 6d

Page: 529

£7 gets his certificate.

Cheers

Mike Tomkinson

[Steve Bodie]

Steve

do not know if it helps but his GRO reference so you can obtain a birth certificate looks like:

Name: Frederick Lewis

Year of Registration: 1893

Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec

District: Rugby

County: Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire

Volume: 6d

Page: 529

£7 gets his certificate.

Cheers

Mike Tomkinson

Thanks Mike

[Steve Bodie]

Hi everyone

I have managed to get another photo of Frederick Lewis. I don't know when this one was taken but he is in dress uniform. You will see that the collar dogs suggest some regiment other than the Royal Artillery. They make me think of one of the Guards regiments, what do you think? I agree that the previous picture suggested Artillery.....any ideas to this?

All the best

Steve

[eltoro1960]

Hi there in this picture he is wearing a Coldstream Guardsman uniform.

John

[Steve Bodie]

Hi there in this picture he is wearing a Coldstream Guardsman uniform.

John

Thanks John....., please forgive my ignorance, does this mean he was in the CSG artillery division, or that the 1st photo does not denote that he was in the artillery. Being in the CSG does that mean he was in Military service before 1914......what should I realise from this new finding?

Cheers

Steve

[Steve Bodie]

Steve

It should be possible to reduce the 31 MICs for the RFA list of Frederick Lewises to a small number.

The fact that there are three RFAs in the same photograph suggests that they have trained together and have yet to serve overseas - the marriage was probably in anticipation of that.

It seems unlikely to be a second line RFA TF unit - the closest in proximity to Rugby would be the South Midlands RFA TF and there is no MIC for a Frederick Lewis in the 825xxx - 850xxx six figure renumbering range.

If that reasoning is right then we are looking at a regular/service RFA number and entry into the theatre of war in 1916.

So eliminate:

all incompatible middle initials

CWGC casualties

all MICs with only six figure numbers

all remaining MICs with entitlement to a trio.

This process of elimination should then leave you with a handful for number sequencing and identifying the potential candidate.

Regards

Mel

Hi Mel

Is it possible that the outfit worn at the wedding is not Artillery?

..................I have found another clue to Frederick which gets the MIC's down to just 5. I have a picture of him in a Coldstream guard outfit (see previous entry). The only MIC for a Frederick Lewis with Coldstream Guard and other regiments / services outlined is the one attached. However there is no mention of Artillery on it. Could the outfit worn at the wedding be that of a Royal Engineer or Bike corps? If correct then I think this must be his MIC

[MelPack]

Steve

An interesting development. All the circumstantial evidence from the marriage photograph points towards the RFA.

If the Coldstreamer is your man then he would have enlisted around February/March 1912:

9438 enlisted 22nd January 1912

9934 enlisted 6th January 1913

I will have a dig around.

Mel

[Steve Bodie]

Thank you Mel, very much appreciate that.

All the best

Steve

[MelPack]

Steve

If this is your man then he was transferred to either the 1st or 2nd Army Cyclist Company. The ACC were Divisional mounted troops which may explain the bandolier being other than RFA.

I would have thought that the key element in the jigsaw is to try to establish a fix on the RE service number 20650 to see if the transfer pre or post dated the marriage.

Mel

[Steve Bodie]

Will do...thanks again

Steve

[MelPack]

Steve

Looking at the MIC I think that notation under the medal entitlement reads 'To 1st Div[ision] A.C. Corps 8.1.15 no 867'

which means that he was in the 1st Battalion Coldstreamers and transferred to the 1st Company of the Army Cyclist Company on 8/1/15. The pre RE service was, therefore, with the 1st Division.

Mel

[Steve Bodie]

Thanks for that........

[MelPack]

Steve

I have done a bit more digging with the RE service numbers.

Bearing in mind that RE numbers are difficult to sequence, as far as I can establish the transfer to the RE occurred in May/June 1916 and the service number at that juncture was the WR 125616 one. The other RE service number appears to have been allocated in mid 1918 and is actually a six figure (non TF) number in the 20650* range and not the mistaken five figure number of 20650. There are some in close proximity to that six figure number that appear to be involved in railway ordnance.

So, I think that you have found your man. I think that he was in the Army Cyclists at the time of the wedding which accounts for the bandolier and it just happens that his friend over his left shoulder in the wedding photograph was in the RFA.

I would strongly recommend that you pay for a RE medal roll search to firm things up.

Regards

Mel

[Steve Bodie]

Hi Mel

Interesting stuff, I think you may have cracked this little teaser. When you say "pay for an RE medal roll search" I'm not sure I fully understand how to do this.... do I do what you are suggesting through the National Archives.....?

Thanks again for all your help Mel.

Best

Steve

[Milner]

On the 1911 census there are two possible frederick Lewis's in Rugby one born 1888 the other 1894.

Frederick Lewis married Edith Hughes in 1916 and three children born in Rugby, but all after WW1. He may have been discharged by the time these children were born so birth certs. may not be useful, but you never know.

Also have you checked for an Absent Voters list for Rugby. There was a General Election in 1918. All those away from their place of residence (so including all men in the army) were listed on Absent Voters Lists. These usually recorded the man's regiment, number and rank at the time, as well as his home address.

Try your local library or county hall records office for details.

Children born....

Births Sep 1922 (>99%)

Lewis Stella E (Hughes) Rugby 6d 1368

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Births Dec 1924 (>99%)

Lewis John F L (Hughes) Rugby 6d 1190

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Births Dec 1928 (67%)

Lewis Dorothy E (Hughes) Rugby 6d 1109

Regards

Phil

[Steve Bodie]

Hi all

We did a medal roll search but surprisingly only the 1914 star roll was found. Do the details shown offer any information?

Frederick Lewis is bang in the middle of this page (9458 F. Lewis)