Pte 8581 Alfred William Goddard 2nd Hampshire - info, advice please

[BG2012]

I have just started to research my Great-grand Father the Hampshire Museum have been very helpful. As I am new to this I have a few questions regarding the information I have found. It would be wonderful to find a photo of him or his fellow soldiers and officers that he may of trained, fought with but not sure the best way to research this.

Alfred William Goddard 8581 enlisted 1910 aged 19

He is on the 1911 Census in South Africa

Entered theatre of war 25th April 1915 ------------- I am not sure which company he would have been in or which beach he would have landed on. Am i correct that it he would have been in the 88th Brigade 29th Division ?

Shrapnel wound left humerus 6.5.1915

Discharged due to sickness 5.10.1918 ----------------- Would this sickness be due to his injury ? I have not found any information for him between his injury and being discharged,any ideas what or where he would have been between those years ? On his Marriage Cert 1923 his rank /profession is Army pensioner

Hampshire Regimental Journal May 1910 he is listed as Awarded 3rd class for Certificate of education what would this have been for ?

May 1912 he is listed as Granted first for Good conduct badge what would this have been for ?

Does it follow that if a Solider number is 8581 (Alfred W G) and I found another solider with 8582 they would have joined at the same time ?

Alfred died in 1944, so my Dad never knew his Grandad, and his own Father never really spoke about it or his own time in WW2. So I am going to struggle finding info for Alfred and my Grandad in WW2 from family members.

[ralphjd]

Welcome to the Forum. This Forum is all about the Great War but just to help you out WW2 records are closed until 2012 I believe, but if you Google WW2 Records and follow the instructions the records are available to next of kin.If the soldier with the next consecutive number was in the same regiment then yes, they would have joined together.If you follow the Long Long Trail site (top left of this page it should help you trace any movements of the Hampshires). Good hunting. Ralph.

[ralphjd]

The 2nd Hampshires landed Gallipoli 25th April 1915 probably Suvla Bay. They left there on the 8th January 1916. Ralph.

[BG2012]

Thanks for the info Ralph, hope I didnt put too many questions into one post. The Long Long Trail site is very helpful.

[ralphjd]

His certificate of education would probably have been for reading and "riting" and "rithmatic" dont forget in that era children left school pretty early with limited education.

[David B]

A few years earlier the third class certificate was for reading standard III, writing from dictation, standard III

And arithmetic - proficiency in numeration, first four elementary compound rules, and reduction of money.

[BG2012]

This all helps to understand what he did in his life, cheers Ben

[sotonmate]

Ben

I seem to remember that only half of the 2 Hants (2 Companies = 500 +/-) landed at V Beach,Cape Helles on 25 April 1915,from the collier "River Clyde",which had been brought in close to shore to assist the troops to land safely. As it happened there were a great many losses. Another memory suggests that only 29 or so soldiers and one officer survived from 2 Hants to be roll-called the next morning. The other half of 2 Hants landed from Mudros around the 28th April to carry on the fight to get a foothold on the Cape. They were involved in attacks on the village of Krithia and it is likely that your subject was wounded in pursuit of this objective. My Great Uncle (CSM 2 Hants) was killed at the 2nd Battle of Krithia on 8 May 1915.

Your subject's discharge in late 1918 to sickness,could have been as a result of the flu pandemic sweeping the world at that time,or to some other malady connected to fighting conditions,but not to wounds,there would have been a distinct separation of the two when it came to cause of discharge.

I will take a look around to see if I can add more to your knowledge.

Sotonmate

[sotonmate]

Ben

I had hoped to find a Pension record but no hits there,also checked the Service records but nothing.

The Silver War Badge discharge List shows reason for discharge as sickness.

Your man would have done well to make it through to discharge with the 2 Hants,they had quite a time of it,as did many others of course.

Sotonmate

[BG2012]

Thanks Sotonmate.

I will try Kew but it seems his records may have been lost due to the bombing ? Do you think he may have been part of the first half of the Hants to land, not sure which company he would have been in ?

I wonder if his wounds and then sickness saved him from fighting again in France as I have not found anymore infomation for him after 6.5.1915 ? As you say they had a tough time of it like many others. I know bits about the fighting in France etc but didnt know about the Gallipoli battles it just shows the courage all the men had in WW1.

[sotonmate]

Ben

Date of landing is for a war zone,so yes he landed at V Beach on 25 April. His Company was at Mudros too before they split the Bn.in half. My G/Uncle's date of landing was on the 28th. I will see if I can find the Company split,I am sure I have it somewhere,but haven't re-visited it for a few years now.

It is possible that he ceased to fight after his wounds,shrapnel to the humerus may have made his arm not so easy to manage so he may have been shipped home and retained on Home duties such as training,without the records we may not get to know.

Sotonmate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Cape_Helles

[BG2012]

Sotonmate

I will be grateful for any infomation yourself or others can provide checked out the wiki link, not seen that one so thanks for that.

[sotonmate]

Ben

Just to kick-start this thread again it was Y and Z Companies who landed on the 25th April. There was a definite early casulty of 20 killed from No 9 Platoon of Y Coy on attempted landing (after the Munsters and Dublins had done so) and an Officer had stopped any further casualties at that time by holding the men back until evening.

The War Diary (WO95/4312) is now available,free to view to subscribers,on Ancestry UK. You can get a read at a local Library or take a two week trial on Ancestry if such a deal continues to be available.