TrevorHH Posted 6 April , 2010 Share Posted 6 April , 2010 I am trying to identify the unit of the young man in the attached photo. His name was William Francis Thomas and he was born in Swindon in 1897. There is also another photo of him in normal uniform with a cap badge which is not very clear which I posted in an earlier message in 2008. Any clues would be gratefully received. Many thanks Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larney Posted 6 April , 2010 Share Posted 6 April , 2010 Hi Trevor, Can you zoom up on the cap badge- it looks like Light Infantry (possibly DCLI), but a closer look will help. SteveJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 6 April , 2010 Share Posted 6 April , 2010 Trevor I agree with the other Steve in that it has the appearance of the Light Infantry bugle but instead of the DCLI, in my opinion, it looks more like Prince Albert's Somerset Light Infantry. A close up of the badge may help one way or the other. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 7 April , 2010 Share Posted 7 April , 2010 Trevor Did your man survuve The Great war?? Cheers Atnomis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 8 April , 2010 Share Posted 8 April , 2010 There is a William F Thomas of the Somerset Light Infantry on the NA's with a suitably late service number of 266021, it shows his rank as Private and the man in the photo is a L/Cpl but that could have been a temporary rank, see link below: - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...;resultcount=16 This is it on Ancestry, can't find a Service or Pension record though: - http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.d...9%7C_F0003FD9_x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantowi Posted 8 April , 2010 Share Posted 8 April , 2010 It looks like he survived, He's not listed on the Swindon nor the GWR ROH - His father was a machinest in the GWR Swindon Carriage works, son's by tradidition followed in dads footsteps. In 1911 he's living with family at 130 Westcott Place, Swindon - about 2 mins walk from where Im sat Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorHH Posted 10 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 10 April , 2010 Hi All Thank you for the replies and suggestions as to the unit (ie Somerset LI ) that William Thomas served in. I shall follow these up on Ancestry. To my knowledge he did survive the war. As requested I attach two close-ups of his badges. These are not too good I know because I do not have the originals and the scans are not that sharp. Please let me know if you have any further suggestions. Kind regards Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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