tiswot Posted 6 March , 2010 Share Posted 6 March , 2010 Hello I'm trying to find out some detail about S/Sgt Walter/William Leonard Smith. I've found his medal card on Ancestry but cannot find anything else out about the man. I have a photo of him and a couple of medals inc the 1914-1915 one but no detail to add any flesh to the bones. On his medal card he is shown as Walter, but the family are sure he was called William. He was born in High Wycombe (we think?) but a quick search of the census showed quite a few Walter and William Smiths in the area. So I can't even confirm a birth date. According to the medal card he joined the Buckinghamshire Battalion no. 2152 and then I assume he worked his way up through the ranks eventually reaching the dizzy heights of S/Sgt no. 265556. We have a photo of him in 'Cork Sept 1918' if that sheds any light. Very frustrating, but I hope someone can help! Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 6 March , 2010 Share Posted 6 March , 2010 FreeBMD shows that there have been 2 Walter L(eonard) Smith's born in Buckinghamshire, in Headington in the Sep quarter of 1888 and another in the march quarter of 1896 in Wycombe. There are no William L Smith's shown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiswot Posted 6 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 6 March , 2010 I know, it's incredibly frustrating! The Walter Smith born in 1893 doesn't show on the census, and there are loads of William Smith's on the census who I can't trace BMD's for. That's the problem when looking at popular surnames Thanks for looking anyway. Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel9 Posted 6 March , 2010 Share Posted 6 March , 2010 Why was he in Cork in September 1918? Did he have Irish connections? No Ox and Bucks Battalion there at the time so could he have been hospitalised in Cork? More questions than answers I'm afraid. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantowi Posted 6 March , 2010 Share Posted 6 March , 2010 Do you (or the famiy) know where and when he died ? If so, you could get his death certificate - which shoud give his age - and work backwards. Was he ever married ? Cert will have an age and Fathers name (narrow down census's) Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Tobin Posted 7 March , 2010 Share Posted 7 March , 2010 From the Soldiers of Oxfordshire records... Walter L Smith - 265556 Also as 2152 Sgt; 1/1st Bucks Bn, D Coy; France & Flanders, 30 March 1915; UK leave, 17-23 Nov 1915; to L/Cpl, 3 May 1917; UK leave, 23 May - 1 June 1917; wounded (gunshot, L.thigh), 16 Aug 1917; to England, 20 Aug 1917; to 4th Res Bn, attchd. Kings African Rifles; M: 1915 Star, War & Vict; disembd, 29 Sept 1919. Res: 59 Green St, High Wycombe, Bucks; also Res: No 207711 Air Craftsman RH William Smith, RAF; probably related to 265745 Sgt Frederick Smith, 1/1st Bucks Bn. ANy help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 7 March , 2010 Share Posted 7 March , 2010 Why was he in Cork in September 1918? Did he have Irish connections? No Ox and Bucks Battalion there at the time Don't believe everything you read you know where :-) http://www.warofindependence.net/?page_id=321 The relevant bit is "The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in Ireland 1919 -1923 By – Stanley C. Jenkins M.A. ....the regiment was in Ireland in considerable strength by 1919, the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion having left England en route for Victoria Barracks, Cork, on 1st March 1919. At that time the 3rd Battalion comprised about 300 men, but as new recruits continued to arrive the size of the Battalion increased to 1,000 men. The 2nd Battalion travelled from Oxford to Cork on 30th July and, on arrival, it absorbed the 3rd Battalion, which was deemed to have been disembodied on 1st August 1919. Members of the 1st Battalion joined the 52nd in Victoria Barracks in the following November, but in December, the 43rd were told that they would shortly be moving to the hutted camp at Ballyvonare, near Buttevant. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiswot Posted 7 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 7 March , 2010 This is amazing thank you so much! It's perfect and you've found my man It looks like the other two wwere his brothers and I can now trace via census etc. Fabulous. Lizx From the Soldiers of Oxfordshire records... Walter L Smith - 265556 Also as 2152 Sgt; 1/1st Bucks Bn, D Coy; France & Flanders, 30 March 1915; UK leave, 17-23 Nov 1915; to L/Cpl, 3 May 1917; UK leave, 23 May - 1 June 1917; wounded (gunshot, L.thigh), 16 Aug 1917; to England, 20 Aug 1917; to 4th Res Bn, attchd. Kings African Rifles; M: 1915 Star, War & Vict; disembd, 29 Sept 1919. Res: 59 Green St, High Wycombe, Bucks; also Res: No 207711 Air Craftsman RH William Smith, RAF; probably related to 265745 Sgt Frederick Smith, 1/1st Bucks Bn. ANy help? And even more detail, this is fab. Thank you for searching for me, much appreciated. Liz Don't believe everything you read you know where :-) http://www.warofindependence.net/?page_id=321 The relevant bit is "The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in Ireland 1919 -1923 By – Stanley C. Jenkins M.A. ....the regiment was in Ireland in considerable strength by 1919, the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion having left England en route for Victoria Barracks, Cork, on 1st March 1919. At that time the 3rd Battalion comprised about 300 men, but as new recruits continued to arrive the size of the Battalion increased to 1,000 men. The 2nd Battalion travelled from Oxford to Cork on 30th July and, on arrival, it absorbed the 3rd Battalion, which was deemed to have been disembodied on 1st August 1919. Members of the 1st Battalion joined the 52nd in Victoria Barracks in the following November, but in December, the 43rd were told that they would shortly be moving to the hutted camp at Ballyvonare, near Buttevant. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel9 Posted 7 March , 2010 Share Posted 7 March , 2010 Don't believe everything you read you know where :-) http://www.warofindependence.net/?page_id=321 The relevant bit is "The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in Ireland 1919 -1923 By – Stanley C. Jenkins M.A. I stand corrected. Happily so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 7 March , 2010 Share Posted 7 March , 2010 I stand corrected. Happily so Yes, its sad really that so much military history in Ireland has "disappeared" I only followed this up as I had a faint recollection of other regiments (not just the Essex) being in Cirk during the War of Independence, and thought Oxford and Buckingham were one of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 18 March , 2010 Share Posted 18 March , 2010 ... 207711 Air Craftsman RH William Smith, RAF... He was originally in the Royal Naval Air Service, having joined in 1915. His service register is online: Name Smith, Willie Official Number: F7711 Place of Birth: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Date of Birth: 28 December 1893 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=1 If his RAF record has been released it should be in AIR 79/1868; this is an original document held at the UK National Archives, Kew filed in service number order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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