Guest ByronEmu Posted 26 September , 2004 Share Posted 26 September , 2004 A friend has obtained my grandad's MIC (Sgt Frederick Rowlinson) and I would like some help interpreting it. In the first row it shows: Corps - Durh LI and Reg No 44046 In the second row it shows: Corps: T R Bn and Reg No TR/5/44038 (His Regimental number on his medals was 44046) Can anyone tell me what T R Bn means? Did he get transferred to another battalion and if so, what was it? Thanks Rob Umney Melbourne, Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandsonMichael Posted 26 September , 2004 Share Posted 26 September , 2004 Hi Rob, Welcome to the Forum and a great place it is... T R Bn = Training Reserve Battalion. Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandsonMichael Posted 26 September , 2004 Share Posted 26 September , 2004 Back again.... Did some nosing about on thid forum as Training Reserve is new to me too. Looks as though your Grandfather was transferred for training prior to being sent to a front line unit. The 5 in TR/5 seems to signify in which district he was trained. Possibly he was transferred to or volunteered for the Machine Gun Corps. I could be completely mistaken, please have a look at this previous thread: http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showt...raining+reserve Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
widwick Posted 26 September , 2004 Share Posted 26 September , 2004 I wonder whether it was not the other way round. First listed is where he started and then posted (as an instructor? to the TR Battalion. The 5th Reserve Bn DLI was the 'home anchor' supplying drafts to battalions in the field. On 1.9.16 the reserve battalions of the Territorial Force DLI (3/5th - 3/9th) were absorbed into a single 5th (Reserve) Bn. Is there a date of entry to Theatre of War on his MIC? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 26 September , 2004 Share Posted 26 September , 2004 There is some information about the TR on the mother site at http://www.1914-1918.net/training_reserve.htm The 5 is not a Brigade or Battalion identifier. It identifies the district/record office which administered the TR unit he was in - in this case 5 = York. In a similar fashion TR/1 = Scotland. Among the units administered by York were the DLI. A strict interpretation of the rules for compiling medal rolls and MICs would be that the man went overseas with the DLI and then later served in a TR unit adminstered by York. The records should show all units, in chronological order, served in by a man from the first time he went overseas i.e. the clock for these records starts running when his feet hit foreign soil. In this case the chronological order is DLI then TR. In addition, I don't think men went overseas designated TR, they would be allocated to a regiment and included in a draft before embarking. But I'm always willing to believe an exception to the rules - the system was administered by humans and different record keepers interpreted the rules differently. Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 26 September , 2004 Share Posted 26 September , 2004 Perhaps a search for his service record or looking up the respective medal roll(s) might reveal more information. Trying to guess someone's service from their MIC is flakey to say the least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ByronEmu Posted 27 September , 2004 Share Posted 27 September , 2004 Thankyou Michael, Jock, Ian & Tony So grandad was at some time in the DLI and also with the Training Reserve Regiment at York...... According to grandad's discharge papers he enlisted at Middlesbrough on Thursday, 15 April 1915. He was with the Yorkshire Regiment and RFA (Royal Field Artillery?). He was also with the Durham Light Infantry. He was discharged with the rank of Sergeant, on 26 November 1917 at York; his discharge papers were marked “physically unfit for war (Para 392 (XVI) KR) with the condition phthisis pulmonalis aggravated by gas”. He had served just 63 days with the British Expeditionary Force. As a returned disabled soldier he was awarded the Silver War Badge (SWB List 5/370/1). Does any of this give us a clue to his movements? Thanks, Rob Umney, Melbourne Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 27 September , 2004 Share Posted 27 September , 2004 Rob, no - he was in a unit of the TR administered by the York Record Office, that's different to actually being at York. Do his discharge papers not give dates/sequence of units ? Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandsonMichael Posted 27 September , 2004 Share Posted 27 September , 2004 Perhaps a search for his service record or looking up the respective medal roll(s) might reveal more information. Trying to guess someone's service from their MIC is flakey to say the least How right you are Ian... Do his discharge papers not give dates/sequence of units ? Agreed Jock....2,5 years in the army & 63 days with the B.E.F. & etc. Seems there is a lot of info missing... Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 27 September , 2004 Share Posted 27 September , 2004 'THE MEAT IS IN THE MEDAL ROLL' Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pwt Posted 27 September , 2004 Share Posted 27 September , 2004 One of my wifes ancestors was posted to a Training Reserve Battalion as an instructor after having been wounded in Flanders. The rank of Sgt. would add weight to this possibility Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ByronEmu Posted 28 September , 2004 Share Posted 28 September , 2004 Hello Michael, I agree with your pals Jock and Ian regarding the amount of information it would be useful to see on a discharge certificate, unfortunately my grandad’s Commanding Officer in 1917 must have thought differently. I have the Certificate of discharge, and the Character certificate, but neither gives dates/sequence of units. They say "Regt: Durham Light Infy having previously served during the War in the Yorks Regt & R.F.A." Thanks Paul, perhaps my grandad also was transferred back to TRB after his incapacity. I mistakenly thought that all the info in the medal Roll was recorded on the MIC. I am relatively new to this history research, so I'll willingly take advice on the next step to take to find out about grandad's war. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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