Pte. Samuel Bird, Worcestershire Regiment, 240694

[Guest Sambird]

I need help trying to find out Private Bird for his grandson. I understand he served in France, was issued Silver War Badge. It's believed he also served in the Worcs. Yeomanry but I found no record in Colonel C's book.

Does any one know which battalion he may have joined and which company?

Much appreciated.

My granddad, Harry Meades served with the Worcestershire Yeomanry from 1914-1919.

[roughdiamond]

His number is from a batch allocated to the 8th Worc Regt when the Territorial force was renumbered in 1917, it's a very low number from the batch, possibly due to the initial of his surname, or it could mean earlier service.

Did Samuel have the middle initial "C", there is another medal card for 2874 or 2879 (the National Archives list both numbers) Pte Samuel C Bird, this maybe for a 1914 - 15 Star and could have been his earlier number.

Amended to add: - Interesting one this and maybe cleared up thanks to an apparent free day on Ancestry.

The medal card for 240694 Pte Samuel Bird is for the Silver War Badge only, it does not list medals, however it does state he "enlisted 21/09/14" and was discharged with "sickness 18/01/19".

The medal card for 2879 Pte Samuel C Bird is for the 1914-15 Star trio and shows an entry date in France of 01/04/15 which is bang on for the 1/8th Worc's, it also notes that the 2879 number is the correct one of the 2 noted on his card.

So either

2879 Samuel C Bird and 240694 Samuel Bird are the same man or they are different and Samuel Bird didn't serve in a theatre of War.

Sam

[roughdiamond]

I should have asked, was the source of the 240694 service number from the SWB records or another source?

Sam

[HarryBrook]

There are two pre-Great War service records existing for a Samuel Bird as 6957 Worc. Regt. and later as 11224 Worc. Regt. In both cases he gave his residence as 24 Court 3 House, Bromsgrove Street, Birmingham. He was born Birmingham about 1887, and his occupation was - carter. In the first record he gave his next of kin as his sister - Florence Hassel, Upper Trinity St., Birmingham; and in the second as his grandmother Mary Ann Harrison, 24 Court 3 House, Bromsgrove St., Birmingham.

In the first record he attested to 6th Bn. Worc. Regt. 7.6.04 and transferred to E. Lancs. R. 2.9.04, record not complete. In the second he attested to the Worc. R. on 18.6.08 and was discharged 14.8.08, being "unlikely to become an efficient soldier".

Do any of the above names and addresses relate to the Samuel Bird of interest?

[Guest Sambird]

Many thanks for the information. I will check with the grandson to shed some light on the questions. I will post an update. Again, thanks.