Private George Lumsden Tyneside Irish

[lemme]

Thanks to John Sheen's excellent book, a few personal items and Ancestry I've managed to piece together fragments of my Grandfather's war record:

Private George Lumsden

Enlisted 19^th April 1915 (aged 17)

27/1380 27^th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Irish)

D Company

1^st Overseas service 11.1.16

Wounded 1.7.16 Gas and shell shock

21 ambulance train 6.7.16

18 general hospital , ship 7.7.16

One of the very lucky ones I think.

But I would like to try and fill in some gaps - is there any way of finding out the name of the hospital ship, the port of entry back into Blighty, hospitals etc. I know medical records are almost non existant but any suggestions as to how I might proceed would be most gratefully received.

At some point he was fit enough for service and tranferred to:

2/7^th Highland Light Infantry No. 282456

But I don't know how to find out when he was transferred or where posted.

Then, according to his discharge papers he was discharged on 14.10.18 in Hamilton, as ‘no longer fit for war service’

Or, discharged on 20.9.18 according to silver war badge records

War badge No. B17335

Does anyone have any information about what the 7th HLI were doing and where they were serving up to the last months of the war?

And finally, according to his discharge papers he had served 2 years 103 days

and 1 year 52 days in the Army Reserve, what would Army Reserve service entail?

Thanks in anticipation of finding another piece in the jigsaw!

Lemme

[KevinBattle]

You'd need to be one of the lucky few to find his Service Records surviving WW2 for any accurate answers to your many questions.

Many don't even have as much as you, so you may have to settle for that being all that there is...

It could take up to 6 months for a recruit to be judged sufficiently trained for service overseas.

By the time he recovered from his wounds, the new 6 digit Service Numbers had been introduced, but that was 1916 so not much assistance there, but for a "Blighty" wound, to be transferred to the UK, recover and be sent back would likely take several months, otherwise no point in sending him back to UK for "superficial" wounds..

Then to qualify for a Silver War Badge would involve Medical Boards assessing quantum of incapacity etc, so again several months, especially where severe enough to force the Army to let him go!

The probability is that he may have been seriously wounded during the German Offensive in March 1918.

The dates given for his service don't seem to add up in one "block" as he seems to have been on Active Service 7 months after enlistment, leaving some 6 months unaccounted for, unless that was between wounding in 1918 and discharge.

Needs someone more clever than I to resolve for you.

[CGM]

Just a little extra information, the cause of discharge on the War Badge Roll is sickness.

[lemme]

Thanks Kevin,

I appreciate I'm lucky to have found out what I have.

Sorry, another question, would I be correct in thinking that his 1 year 52 days in the Army Reserve would be counting back from his discharge on 14th Oct 1918?

If so then he would have gone into the Reserve around 23rd Sept 1917, which roughly co-incides with the end of the Battalion's time in Ireland before being disbanded at the end of 1917.

I can also place him at home in February 1918 (at the deathbed of his father) so I assume that would be compassionate leave.

Thanks again, I'll keep plugging away.

Lemme

[lemme]

Thanks CGM,

I saw the sickness reference, from what I've read this could cover a multitude of things. I just assumed it might refer to his shell shock or perhaps the long term effects of being gassed.

Lemme

[Graham Stewart]

By the time he recovered from his wounds, the new 6 digit Service Numbers had been introduced, but that was 1916 so not much assistance there, but for a "Blighty" wound, to be transferred to the UK, recover and be sent back would likely take several months, otherwise no point in sending him back to UK for "superficial" wounds..

Six figure numbers for the T.F. infantry didn't appear until February 1917.

[Tyneside Chinaman]

Hi,

The detail of his trip on 21/Ambulance Train to 18/General Hospital based at Camiers can be found in Medical Health MH/106/1099 the Admission and discharge register for 18/General Hospital 6/7/16 - 15/7/16.

Admitted s shock to hospital ship 7/7/16 unfortunately ship not named.

Wont add anything to what you know but you may like to copy the pages.

regards

John

[lemme]

Hi John,

Thank you very much for the file numbers, I'm planning a trip to Kew very soon, so this saves me some trawling.

I don't know if this has come up on the forum before, but I discovered an online digitized diary for a nurse serving in 18 General Hospital in 1916. On the night of 6/7th July she mentions having to wake up and get ready 33 patients for transport to a hospital ship. The dates match my Grandfather's time there, so I reckon he must have been one of the 33.

The nurse's name was Evelyn Jackson, here's a link to the site

http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/NewsletterArticles/TheDiaryofEvelynJackson1916.aspx

Thanks again for all the help.

Lemme

[Tyneside Chinaman]

That would depend on what ward he was on reading gthe diary she makes no mention of shell shock or gas.

But it would be really nice if he woz really one of them?

best of luck with your research

regards

John

[lemme]

John,

Thanks for pointing that out, true enough.

In my excitement when discovering the diary reference it didn't occur to me that there would be multiple wards, many nurses and perhaps hundreds of wounded leaving that night on the hospital ship.

Lemme