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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

3 Names from SalonikaCampaign


Guest tartan87terror

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Guest tartan87terror

I have my grandfather's notebooks - old and frail.

He records 2 names there, his "address book" section, I suppose.

Lest they mean anything toanyone searching -they are

S/S William Beard, 28267, RFA, 96th Bat, 19thBrigade, Salonika.

S/S E. Griffiths, 19605, 3rd Bat RFA, Barrack Road, Newcastle.

S/S David Paterson, 179240, RFA.

I'd like any possible feedback on any of these men, particularly my grandfather D. Paterson, who left Devonport on 24 January, 1917, aboard "Corsican", arrived Salonika 7th May. He was a blacksmith, and served in that area until end of war, when his unit continued to serve there due to Russian civil war, until 3 November, 1919, when he embarked and sailed for home on the "Trent".

In the only photo I have of him in uniform, taken in Greece, he has a horseshoeon upper rightarm, and 3 stripes (like sergeant's stripes but upsidedown) on lower right sleeve).Do the stripes represent 3 years'service?

What does S/S denote?

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What does S/S denote?

SS = Shoeing Smith

Upside down horseshoe denotes Farrier

The three small inverted V's on his lower Right Sleeve denote Overseas Service - these indicate that he has served at least 2 years and one day overseas. They were not issued until 1918 which will help you date the photograph. They were blue in colour but there was a red one issued to men that had served overseas before 31/12/1914, this normally shows up darker than the others on black and white photos.

The medal index cards for both Beard and Griffiths are available on-line but sadly your grandfathers' will not be available for another couple of months.

Steve

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Guest tartan87terror

Thank you, hmsk212, that fits closely with what I thought.

I'm finding it very difficult to get much on his possible movements in the Salonika area, apart from his own entries in his diary, but as I've discovered with genealogical searching - I've just got to keep on keeping on!

It's now obvious from what you say re service overseas, that the photo was taken later than 24 January 1919, and I now think it was in Russia rather than Greece.

Thank you very much for your help.

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Guest tartan87terror

I had alook at the medal index cards for both Beard and Griffiths, and discovered that E. Griffiths went onto serve as S/S Corporal Reg. No. 130484 with the Royal Flying Corps. I imagine that he was not "shoeing" anything, but perhaps some sort of mechanic?

By hunting around in the Medalindex cards, I also found that several men shared the same no. e.g. 28267. Not having served ever, I imagine that there was some identifier in front of that number to show which regiment and to differentiate between these men if only their number was being used on records?

Can someone keep me right on this, please?

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