Private Bradford 7th City of London Regiment

[Guest Beret]

I am brand new to this forum I can just about switch my PC on and off but here goes.

My maternal grandfather Arthur Bradford had his marriage certificate endorsed on the back on 10th September 1915 by the Army Pay Office London district. The next we know about him is when my grandmother went from London to see him in a hospital in Newcastle about two years later suffering from Gas. It could be Newcastle on Tyne or Under Lyme.

I believe he was working in cookhouse somewhere in France. I also have two photos of him together with several colleagues which I will post when I find out how to do it. (They may be of interest to others). The only other piece of equipment I have is his battered old dessert spoon which is endorsed with the numbers 6954 SS and on the reverse 4SS 11974.

Being ex military myself I appreciate that the spoon may have changed hands somewhat!!!

I trust this is OK for openers so I will leave before I wear out my welcome.

Any feedback will be appreciated.

Arthur.

[John_Hartley]

Arthur

Welcome to the Forum.

I presume you've already had a look at the "grandad's war" section on the main site (Long Long Trail top left of this page). If that hasnt been able to help, could you please let us know exactly what specific information you are now after and we can then try and help.

John

[Guest Beret]

Thanks to John for the advice.

One photo attached as promised it may assist others looking for Grandads or Great Grandads.

The Photo shows group together with Private Bradford 2nd from left in the back row. I cant make out the name bottom left, it is something like Luraxvill it may mean something to the more seasoned members.

I do not know where this photo was taken or the time frame. All I know is that it would be after Sep 1915.

Hope it can help someone.

Arthur.

[Guest Beret]

This should be a better picture.

[Charles Fair]

Arthur, welcome to the Forum

I have had a quick look on the National Archives website.

He could be this man - Arthur Bradford, 7th London Regt - whose Medal Index Card can be downloaded from the NA website.

The online index gives the following:

Medal card of Bradford, Arthur

Corps: Regiment No: Rank:

7th London Regiment 1836 Driver

7th London Regiment 350361 Driver

If we have the right man, then your grandfather's original 4 digit number is a good guide to his enlistment date. Reference to the Silver War Badge roll for the London Territorial Force shows the following 7th London men and their enlistment dates:

Number Enlistment date

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

1668 18/05/14

1697 10/06/14

1774 07/08/14

1860 06/08/14

1862 06/08/14

1865 06/08/14

1888 14/08/14

1936 07/08/14

1973 07/08/14

It would thus appear that your grandfather enlisted into the 7th Londons on or about 6 or 7 August 1914. (The numbering sequence above is slightly out of order in terms of enlistment dates, probably because of the number of men looking to join at the same time overloaded the system slightly: 1888 was probably allocated his number before his enlistment had been completed.)

His 6 digit number 350361 was part of the block allocated to the 7th Londons as part of the Territorial Force renumbering of 1 March 1917.

If you check up his page(s) in the Medal Rolls for the 7th London Regt it will give the dates when he served overseas, and the theatre.

If you have his number - which will be on his medals if you have them - it would be helpful for confirming the above.

Charles

[David_Blanchard]

Charles,

I have had a look at the NA website, but not sure how the search system works. Can I narrow down the search if I know the relevant regimental number?

Regards

David

[Charles Fair]

I have had a look at the NA website, but not sure how the search system works. Can I narrow down the search if I know the relevant regimental number?

David, I find searching on numbers - where you know the regiment and the mans number but not the surname (e.g. because you have different spellings) - works well.

For example, the 19th London Regt was allocated the block 610,000 to 629,999 in the post 1 March 1917 TF renumbering.

If under 'Corps' I type in "19th London" and under 'Other Keywords' I type in "610*", this wildcard search will pull up a large number of men, most of whom have six digit nos in the 19th London block.

(There are of course some who are not - they may have started out in the 19th, but then been transferred into the RE or Labour Corps and coincidentally been allocated a number in the same range but in the RE or Labour Corps numbering systems, for example:

Medal card of Charrington, George

Corps: Regiment No: Rank:

19th London Regiment 1842 Private

Royal Engineers WR/180060 Sapper

Royal Engineers 610003 Sapper )

You can also do the same by searching on 611*, 612* etc. all the way up to 629*.

I hav tested it by searching for a specific 4 or 6 digit number and it seems to work OK too.

All the above is of course assuming that the MIC has been transcribed correctly in the first place....

[Guest Beret]

Thanks Charles you have been a great help. You have put me in the right direction things are coming together.

My final photograph is attached showing some extra innovations to uniforms.

Pte Bradford is on the left of the front row with his right hand on his knee.

Any info re military badges welcomed to confirm his outfit.

[Guest Beret]

Private Arthur Bradford

[Charles Fair]

I do not know where this photo was taken or the time frame. All I know is that it would be after Sep 1915.

Arthur

Glad to be of use.

It would help if could scan teh photos in at a higher resoultion, I cant make out much from them at present. Also, if you scanned in a very small section of the photos, such as capbadges, shoulder titles etc. at a very high resolution (say 900 dpi or more) and posted just that tiny bit we might be able to help more. (Dont scan the whole picture at that resolution as you will end up with a huge 25 Mb image that will be impossible to load!)

I would be interested to know on what basis you say the second sentence.

Do post his service number if you have it

Charles

[Guest Beret]

Charles,

I do not have his service number yet but I am due to see Pte Bradford's son (My uncle) soon, he might be able to assist.

The reason I mentioned the uniforms in the second sentance was due to some of the casual headgear.

I trust this photo will be better and I will work on the close up view you suggested.

Arthur.

[Charles Fair]

Arthur, I look forward to hearing more in due course.

Great photo. I'm sure some if the pals who are more expert on uniforms can comments. A couple of the men appear to have flaps on the back of their caps. A casual photo of a group of friends. Its muddy - early 1915 before 1/7th Londons, 141 Bde, 47 Div left for France?

Anything written on the back e.g. photographer's name etc?

[Charles Fair]

I cant make out the name bottom left, it is something like Luraxvill it may mean something to the more seasoned members.

It might be worth scanning it in - there are some people here who are very good at deciphering signatures. It would be worth searching for this name when the Medal Index Cards online gets to L.

[Guest Beret]

Thanks Charles for your help. Pte Bradfords son now 84 was not a lot of help when I visited him, after all he was only 10 when his dad died. The back of the big photo did not have any names on to assist.

I have however scanned that place name of Luraxvill as you suggested. I am still unable to find out when Pte Bradford was gassed would there be any records of troop ships that could have bought casualties back home.

Thanks again

Arthur.