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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Mystery Soldier help!


Guest serensilver

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Guest serensilver

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone can help me..... I recently found an old photo in my late grandfathers belongings, its of a young soldier from WWI, all I no is that he was from "The 2nd (68th) Welsh Regiment territorial force.... I seem to have come to a stand still and wondered if anyone cold help?

Any information would be gratefully received.

Thank you

Amy

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Hi Amy,

Welcome to the Forum.

Looking at the cap badge and the size of the shoulder title I would say that he is a Monmouthshire Regiment man. The S/T most probably is either T/1/Monmouthshire; T/2/Monmouthshire or T/3/Monmouthshire.

Do you have any clues for a surname and christian names for the man in the photo? If so some helpmay be forthcoming.

Robert

PS He is also wearing the Imperial Service Badge on his chest.

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He is wearing the territorial "Imperial Service" breast badge that was worn to denote the individual territorials who volunteered to serve outside of Great Britain on the outbreak of war. The badges are of white metal (sometimes copper) being a bar containing the words Imperial Service" surmounted by a Kings Crown with a brooch clasp on the reverse.

The cap badge is the standard Welsh Dragon design and he is wearing a shoulder title surmounted by a "T" again denoting territorial

Without definite clues determining personal identity is unlikely.

khaki

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Hi Amy,

He most definitely is a Monmouthshire Regiment soldier and having copied the picture and had a closer look at his shoulder he is definitely from the 1st battalion. His tunic buttons also appear darker than normal which would indicate a Rifleman and therefore 1st battalion.

That style of shoulder insignia would have been worn until around 1916 when they were replaced with T Monmouthshire. So this soldier was probably one of the first draft sent out in 1915. The 1st Battalion also recruited from around the Newport area if this might help you in identifying him.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Nice picture though, do let me know if you do find out anything else about him.

Kind regards

Martyn

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest serensilver

Hi all thankyou for the information!

Sorry i'm so long replying but I don't look on here everyday...

Martyn, this is new information to me so thank you very much!! The fact that the picture indicates a rifleman is new and 1st battln is also new!! I will keep you informed! I would just like to find out his name and what happened to him you no? The fact you said his battln recruited from Newport is good as that's where we are from!

I'm slowly getting little bits to add to my puzzle!!

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Amy,

No problem. I do have a large collection of pictures of soldiers from the 1st battalion so I will trawl through them this weekend to see if they match up with your picture. Bit of a long shot but you never know.

Alternatively you could try asking the regimental museum at Brecon they may be able to help you.

Will be back in touch

Regards

Martyn

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serensilver: If the photo was in your grandfathers personal possessions, then it's likely to be of him, his brothers or other close relations.

Has the family any potential candidates for whoever served in WW1? Did they all survive, did any serve in the Monmouth Territorials?

Are there any medals or other military mementoes?

Pardon my saying so, but you don't seem very skilled at locating WW1 information on soldiers, so, as has been previously suggested, if you provide potential names then it may encourage Pals to help search for what there might be.

Without even a surname, we can't be of much more assistance.............. over to you................

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Not from the photo but your initial description: the 68th (2nd Welsh) Division (Territorial Force) was a reserve formation based in the UK, and which undertook Home Defence duties on the East Coast and supplied reinforcements to the Welsh territorial units overseas.

Clive

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It would make my search of all my pictures easier if you could give us your grandfathers surname Amy.

Regards

Martyn

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