Royal West Kents

[basiloxford]

Hello everyone,

I'm researching a man named Frank Hounslow, who was a Lance Sergeant with the 3/4th RWK, and he was killed in action on the 10th of November 1917.

My problem is that due to the lack of service records, i'm unable to discover when he enlisted, so i'm hoping that the knowledgeable people on this forum may be able to help me with a clue as to his date of enlistment from his service number of 201735. His medal card has no date of entry, and along with the six digit number, i would imagine that he had enlisted sometime in 1916, but that's just a guess on my part.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Barry.

[Jonathan Saunders]

First thing, this is a Territorial number. As for enlistment date - earliest would be December 1915, but more likely Feb or March 1916. Outside chance it could have been as late as May 1916. He most likely enlisted under the Derby scheme.

As you may know the 3/4ths arrived in F&F 1st June 1917 and I expect L/Sjt Hounslow was an original member of the Bn that crossed to Havre.

10th Nov 1917, and again as you most likely know, the 3/4ths were in trenches between Requette Farm and the Broombeck. During their 4 nights (circa 9 Nov/13 Nov 1917) they suffered over 30 casualties (not all fatalities) through shelling and sniper fire. This was the period when the Third Battle of Ypres was coming to its conclusion.

Regards,

Jonathan S

Edited - dont suppose you have a photo of the L/Sjt?

[basiloxford]

Hello Johnathan,

Thank you for the reply.

I guessed it may have been early 1916, but army service numbers are a bit of a mystery to me.

The only photo i've got for Frank Hounslow comes from the local newspaper,(Oxford Journal Illustrated) and unfortunately, Oxfordshire Studies who keep original copies of the newspaper won't let me take copies with a digital camera, so i'm forced to use the library's photo copier. A bit of a nuisance really, but it's better than nothing.

If you would like a larger resolution photo, please send me a PM.

Thanks again,

Barry.

[Jonathan Saunders]

Barry - one way around that might be if you write to the Oxford Journal Illustrated (or its successor newspaper if you can trace its ownership forward) and ask them for written permission for you to digitally photograph that picture, as I assume the Studies Centre is concerned with breaching copyright, although I think the photo is out of copyright. Just an idea and you might want to raise it with the Studies Centre first.

Impressive moustache and quite fitting of his rank.

PM sent.

Thanks and regards,

Jonathan S