Joseph Sharp, London Regt

[SFayers]

Hi folks,

This question is really aimed at any members of the forum who specialise in the various battalions of the London Regiment during the war.

The husband of one of my late relatives, Joseph Sharp, was born in Ipswich on 18th November 1899 and lived in Ipswich all his life. All I know of his war service from the family is that he served in the London Regiment and that he was at some point wounded. I don't know which battalion he was with, but having searched the MICs on Ancestry I've found 3 possible candidates:

1. Pte 2116 Joseph Sharp (later 570484) of the 17th London Regt (entered France on 9th March 1915)

2. Pte 635970 Joseph Sharp of the 20th London Regt (later Pte 279174 of the 3rd London Regt.) (BWM & VM only, so entered a theatre of war 1916 or thereafter, and entitled to a SWB)

3. Pte 767813 Joseph T J Sharp of the 28th London Regt (BWM & VM only, so also entered a theatre of war 1916 or thereafter)

Now, considering my man's age I would think it unlikely (though not impossible) that he could be the first chap. His age may more readily be appropriate for someone entering a theatre of war 1916 or thereafter (sometime in 1918 I would think being most likely) and thus being entitled to a BWM/VM pair only, which would lean more towards the second and third candidates. As far as I'm aware (from birth, marriage, and death certificates) he had no middle names, which if correct would discount the third chap. The fact that my man was also wounded would potentially tie-in with the second chap's entitlement to a SWB.

I'd be interested to hear if any London Regt experts on the forum could add anything here. Do the numbers 635970, 279174, and 767813 (presumably all 1917 territorial numbers?) tie in with a late-war enlistment / conscription? Could any of these numbers have been within a number range allocated to a batch of recruits / conscripts joining the London Regt and coming from the Ipswich / Suffolk / East Anglia area?

Not suprisingly my man's service papers no longer exist - so I'm falling back on good old fashioned sleuthing!

Any help or thoughts, as always, would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

Steve