shaky Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 Hi All Last time I was here you managed to tell me when and where my great uncle was killed on the Somme. This time I want to find out what happened to my Grandad, it looks like he went AWOL. If this is the same person he was Shakespeare, Harry, Victor. I have a card that said that he was "deserted, still in state of desertion, 24-1-20". I have a painting that he did in 1939 so must have made it OK. As usual, any help much appreciated.
taylov Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 You are in luck. There are an amazing 53 pages of your Grandfather's service records still surviving which can be found under Harry Shakespeare 5877 Rifle Brigade. They are not the best condition records that I've seen on Ancestry.com - part of the burnt records. I've only had time to look at the first few pages but his desertion dated 24/1/1920 is confirmed on the front page of his will. Will post again if I find more details in his records. Tony
shaky Posted 23 December , 2009 Author Posted 23 December , 2009 You are in luck. There are an amazing 53 pages of your Grandfather's service records still surviving which can be found under Harry Shakespeare 5877 Rifle Brigade. They are not the best condition records that I've seen on Ancestry.com - part of the burnt records. I've only had time to look at the first few pages but his desertion dated 24/1/1920 is confirmed on the front page of his will. Will post again if I find more details in his records. Tony That is incredible. So he deserted after the war was over? Many thanks.
taylov Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 That is incredible. So he deserted after the war was over? Many thanks. The problem with records in the public domain is sometimes you learn things you might not want to know. I would have sent you this by PM but cannot do so (as you are a new member of the Forum ?). Harry V Shakespeare had a bad record in terms of discipline. On 16 May 1916 he faced a Divisional Court Martial. He was charged with "stealing goods from a comrade", found guilty and sentenced to 112 days in detention. On release he was transferred between divisons in the Rifles. There are several pages relating to this trial in his records. Other papers will be at the National Archive. There were later charges in 1917 for absence and failure to parade, dealt with locally with sentences such as 10 and 14 days pay stopped. In 1918 he contracted trench foot and was sent back to the UK. He was then transferred to the RE. His disciplinary problems continue first in 1919 at Longmoor where he is serving at the Railway Construction Troops Depot of the RE and in January 1920 at Catterick Camp. I assume it from here that he deserted. Alas, his desertion is not included in the papers which only go up to January 1920. Hope this helps Tony
shaky Posted 23 December , 2009 Author Posted 23 December , 2009 Many Thanks Tony. He seems to be a man after my own heart, or me after his. I'm not much into managers either I have joined Ancestry and am wading through. Great stuff, thanks. At least he made it through WW1 unlike his brother J.R.Shakespeare.
John_Hartley Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 He was charged with "stealing goods from a comrade", found guilty and sentenced to 112 days in detention. On release he was transferred between divisons in the Rifles. I've seen this sort of transfer before. Very understandble - you wouldnt want to be be serving with someone who had thieved off a comrade. Matter of trust and so on. Good job he didnt do his deserting while overseas.
taylov Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 Many Thanks Tony. He seems to be a man after my own heart, or me after his. I'm not much into managers either I have joined Ancestry and am wading through. Great stuff, thanks. At least he made it through WW1 unlike his brother J.R.Shakespeare. Shaky, there's some irony in all of this. My Great Uncle, Sapper Charlie Wright also is shown as a deserter whilst serving in the UK. Tony
taylov Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 You are in luck. There are an amazing 53 pages of your Grandfather's service records still surviving which can be found under Harry Shakespeare 5877 Rifle Brigade. There's a second file of 13 pages on Ancestry that contains the papers relating to a Court Of Enquiry dated March 1920 to investigate Harry's desertion. The last entry appears to be April 1920 when there is still no trace of him. Tony
shaky Posted 23 December , 2009 Author Posted 23 December , 2009 There's a second file of 13 pages on Ancestry that contains the papers relating to a Court Of Enquiry dated March 1920 to investigate Harry's desertion. The last entry appears to be April 1920 when there is still no trace of him. Tony Could I get a link to these please, I'm still clunking my way around the navigation
taylov Posted 23 December , 2009 Posted 23 December , 2009 Could I get a link to these please, I'm still clunking my way around the navigation Try http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=Vi...amp;pid=1753342 Should give you the first page of this file. Tony
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