beestonboxer Posted 25 August , 2013 Posted 25 August , 2013 Can anyone out there help i am trying to find out what Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment the service number T4526 would have belonged to ( Bert Harmston) i have his Medal Index Card and there is no theatre of war first served in details to give a clue . regards Tim
Steve Bramley Posted 27 August , 2013 Posted 27 August , 2013 Hi Tim, Bertie Harmston was in the 5th Battalion (the T on the MIC stands for Territorial if i'm not mistaken). I have an address as 63 Tower Street Gainsborough. He is among a group of approximately 40 men who enlisted between 24th November and 8th December 1915. I cannot be 100% but pretty sure that his enlistment date would be either the 29th or 30th November. His 4526 number was his original Territorial Force Number. He would, being among this group, have very likely joined the 3/5th Battalion, which was the reserve Battalion for the 1/5h and 2/5th Battalions. I know for certain, from surviving service records, that 9 of this group arrived in France as draft replacements on 19 March 1916. They were part of a much larger draft of 227 men that joined the much depleted 1/5th Lincolns in the Zouave Valley area (near Vimy) on 9th April. I cannot say for certain, however, if Bertie was among this draft. In February 1917 new 6 digit numbers were issued, this is his 241329 number. I think that he would still have been with the Battalion when this number was issued. At sometime Bertie was transferred to the Royal Engineers (RE 488882). Out of interest two other members of this group of 40 were also transferred to the RE. Pte. 4511 (241320) Sydney Weatherall from Morton near Gainsborough [later RE 488937] and Pte. 4513 (241321) Allan Hearn from Gainsborough. As far as I am aware, no service records exist for any of these men. Again, I'm not sure, but suspect that the 6 digit RE numbers may be Territorial numbers? If so they may have been seconded to the Divisional R.E.? If so,at a better rate of pay, it may have been a good move! I have no idea what unit Bertie's third service number WR/307263 belongs to? Perhaps someone could help, Cheers, Steve.
Bingo794 Posted 27 August , 2013 Posted 27 August , 2013 WR = Waterways and Railway Troops. I have seen quite a few Lincolnshire Regiment lads with this RE number prefix. Being an engine driver seems to be a popular Lincs to RE transfer. RW
beestonboxer Posted 28 August , 2013 Author Posted 28 August , 2013 Thank you very much for all this information, i am a relative newcomber to the world of medal collecting and need a bit of a leg up at times , i recently brought Berties Victory medal along with his brothers 1914-15 trio , his brother was also a Lincolnshire Regiment man Albert Harmston pte 15854 his MIC shows theatre of war as 2b so if im right this means he would have been in the 6th Battalion and being at Gallipoli ... interestingly Albert was also transfered to the RE wr277318 spr Berties MIC states that he was eligible for the SWB 3221 would this information help to confirm if he was sent to France ? i have checked on the 1911 census there is an Albert and a Bertie at the same address of 63 Tower Street Gainsborough ( still standing today) Regards Tim
Coldstreamer Posted 28 August , 2013 Posted 28 August , 2013 the SWB roll usually states overseas service y/n
Steve Bramley Posted 28 August , 2013 Posted 28 August , 2013 Hi Coldstreamer, I tried to send you a PM but think your inbox is full. I presume that you have the SWB info' from an R.E. roll? If so I would be very interested for any other information on there to help with my 5th Lincs database, Regards, Steve.
Stebie9173 Posted 28 August , 2013 Posted 28 August , 2013 All (nearly all?) Silver War Badge Rolls are now on Ancestry, though hidden away in the Military Records section and they don't tend to come up on the master searches. Unhelpfully, they won't let you search by Regimental number! Steve.
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