david west Posted 24 January , 2011 Share Posted 24 January , 2011 I am a bit confused about my Great uncles service number. His name was Reginald William West, service number 1776. He served with the 4th Southern General Hospital RAMC from 1914-1917. However, whilst browsing through the RAMC WWI site i found a Pte John Galbraith Hunter, service number 1776 from the 2nd Lowland Field Ambulance remembered on the site, he drowned when his ship was torpedoed during the war. 2 soldiers with the same service number, how can this happen ? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Grundy Posted 24 January , 2011 Share Posted 24 January , 2011 David Unique service numbers were not introduced until after the Great War. Up to that time, they were regimental numbers, identifying an individual within his own regiment/corps, not as an inidividual within the army as a whole. Regards, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Strawbridge Posted 24 January , 2011 Share Posted 24 January , 2011 With Corps (generally speaking) the individual units within the Corps had their own set of service numbers commencing with Service Number 1. So there will be much duplication of service numbers. I would not be surprised to hear that the same service number could relate to ten or more servicemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 24 January , 2011 Share Posted 24 January , 2011 David There are 22 for 1776 RAMC in the MICs ! Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 24 January , 2011 Share Posted 24 January , 2011 The two mentioned in the first post are soldiers of the Territorial Force. Each RAMC unit of the TF had its own numbering sequence, so many of the 22 (and maybe even more as some RAMC troops did not go overseas) will be TF men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david west Posted 24 January , 2011 Author Share Posted 24 January , 2011 Thanks alot to all the experts, your comments are greatly appreciated. I only found out last week (through Dundeesown) that i had a great-uncle who served in the Great War, so the amount of information that has come in is, well....fantastic !. Thanks again. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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