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wolverine

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I am doing some reserch on my Great Grandad George Day his medals is engraved Pnr G Day 116908 however in a photo I have of him he is wearing A fusilier cap badge he was in is 50's during the Great War so quite old for a for the ranks did regiments have there own Pioneers or can anybody help me find any records on him.

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Image details

Description Medal card of Day, George

Corps Regiment No Rank

Royal Engineers 116908 Pioneer

Labour Corps 292064 Private

Date 1914-1920

Catalogue reference WO 372/5

Dept Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies

Series War Office: Service Medal and Award Rolls Index, First World War

Piece Cooke W E - Denham W

Image contains 1 medal card of many for this collection

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A quick look at the National Archives pages for Medal Index Cards shows that your man was a Pioneer in the Royal Engineers and later a Private in the Labour Corps. He got a new number when transferred to the Labour Corps.

You can get a copy of the MIC free via Ancestry, or for £2 by card from the National Archives, documents online.

I cannot explain the Fusilier badge. If you post it here, experts may be able to help.

D

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This might be of interest with regard the Royal Fusiliers; sourced from the Long Long Trail website:

"33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th and 37th (Labour) Battalions

Formed at Seaford (33rd) and Falmer (34th to 37th) in May and June 1916. 35th landed in France on 8 June and moved to Rouen, where it was engaged in unloading from ships docked there. In April 1917 these battalions became the 99th to 108th Labour Companies, Labour Corps."

- so that's one potential fusiliers - Labour Corps connection.

All the best

Steve

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I would sugest that Steve's reference to the Royal Fusilier's Labour Battalions is not applicable.

His Labour Corps number indicates he was in 705 Company, which was formed from the 6th Labour Battalion Royal Engineers in 1917.

The R.E. Labour Battalions were formed in 1915 from enlisted men with labouring experience.

Regards

Ivor

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Ivor,

But that is the rub. :D

I appreciate your interest and regard for the Labour Corps,in WW1.

There is a distinction,however,in WW1, between a Pioneer, in an Infantry Battalion,R.E. Battalion and members of an Infantry Pioneer Battalion.

George

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post-29283-066646500 1294257340.jpg

A quick look at the National Archives pages for Medal Index Cards shows that your man was a Pioneer in the Royal Engineers and later a Private in the Labour Corps. He got a new number when transferred to the Labour Corps.

You can get a copy of the MIC free via Ancestry, or for £2 by card from the National Archives, documents online.

I cannot explain the Fusilier badge. If you post it here, experts may be able to help.

D

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Ivor,

But that is the rub. :D

I appreciate your interest and regard for the Labour Corps,in WW1.

There is a distinction,however,in WW1, between a Pioneer, in an Infantry Battalion,R.E. Battalion and members of an Infantry Pioneer Battalion.

George

George

I cannot explain the Fusiliers badge but his RE number certainly suggests he was in their 6th Labour Battalion. Whilst it was a Labour Battalion it did follow R.E. protocol and the rank of Pioneer was used for men in the Battalion.

Hisregimental numbers fit in with both the R.E. Labour Battalions - most of the men in the 12 (?off the top of my head as I haven't got all my records to hand) R.E. Labour Battalions had regimental numbers in the range from 110000 to around 125000 and Labour Corps Company 705

Regards

Ivor

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ivor,

Thanks very much for the info and helping me look in the right direction, I have been looking at his medal card and I see he was discharged on 25/5/18 are there some kind of medical record I can look at, or anything else.

Regards Brian

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As a Labour Corps man, he may have been attached to a Fusiliers Regiment. I have a research subject who was wounded with Camerons, transferred to Labour Corps on 'recovery' and attached to the West Riding Regiment at a base depot in France, still near front line but handling horses and supplies, etc. Although in the Labour Corps, he referred to his service as being "with the West Ridings" or "with the 49th". It is well recorded that he wore two cap badges (one being his old Camerons), this well before Monty. Antony

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