Grandad Fletcher Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 My wife and I are trying to trace her grand father's army career from WW 1. We have very little info, in fact next to nothing, with the exception that, he was called Private John Fletcher, he came from Leigh in Lancashire UK, and was a cotton mill worker prior to joining up as a Bantam' in the R W F. We are not certain where he was sent, but my wife says she has heard about so many places during here childhood from him, the names have now rolled into one. One thing we do recollect though was, whilst he was in the R W F, he was a Batman, we think on the front line in Ypres. We have a photograph of him in uniform with the brass R W F badge on the shoulder epaulette, and underneath the badge is a square of two different colours which we can't quite make out & there are ' fleur-de-lis ' on his uniform metal buttons Because we have so little baseline info to go off, maybe someone out there can either assist in our search, or give us some idea as to where we start. We would dearly love to find out, this being the 100th anniv of WW 1. Thanks in anticipation !! Brian & Hilda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmslewis Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 Hello, and welcome to the forum! If it helps to start the 19th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were a Bantam unit. The Long, Long Trail website will show what they got up to during the war. http://www.1914-1918.net/rwf.htm Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmslewis Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 PS If you're able to post the photograph to the forum some experts may be able to decipher some info from it i.e. the patch and buttons. I've had a quick search for service records and can't see anything that relates to a John Fletcher from Leigh but will keep looking for info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Fletcher Posted 20 January , 2014 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2014 Many thanks Gareth for your very rapid reply. I will have a see look at your www link Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 There are several Medal Cards for John Fletcher of the RWF. Some of them have a second Regiment shown. Can you say if he only had the one Christian name ? Continuing the Bantam theme with 19 Bn RWF,they were part of 119 Brigade (also known as the Welsh Bantam Brigade) of 40 Division. There is a page in the Long Long Trail,at top left of this page : http://www.1914-1918.net/40div.htm where it is possible to see their broad activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Fletcher Posted 20 January , 2014 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2014 Hi sotonmate , and thank you for your www site which we have just had a quick look at. Will view more seriously tomorrow. With regard to your question re John Fletcher only having one name, that is correct, he did. He was also known as Jack at home. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 Brian Should it work out that he was 19 Battalion the War Dairy is at Kew under WO95/2607/3 and runs from 1 Jun 1916 to 28 Feb 1918.The unit then became the 8th Entrenching Battalion to the end of Mar 1918,War Diary WO95/793. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Fletcher Posted 21 January , 2014 Author Share Posted 21 January , 2014 Hi sotonmate We had been told by someone else about the Kew connection, but will we be able to give them our info via the wwww instead of having to visit the museum at Kew ? Thank you for your input, much appreciated Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmslewis Posted 21 January , 2014 Share Posted 21 January , 2014 (edited) Hi Brian, The War Diaries are going on line through the National Archive Discovery Portal this year and the first 7 Divisions and 3 Cavalry Divisions are available now. I don't know when the 40th Division records will be available to download and view but I suspect it won't be for some time. If you can't wait I'm afraid a visit would be needed or a lookup from some kind soul (I'm afraid I am not local!) In the absence of a definitive service number, medal card etc it may be difficult to pin down John Fletcher's service at this point and more digging is required. Ancestry (accessible at most libraries if you don't subscribe) has a lot of military info including the medal index cards and findmypast has access to the British Newspaper Archive and some relevant military info that you could try searching for further clues. As he was with a Welsh unit there may be references to him in a Welsh paper through the Welsh Newspaper Archive papuraunewyddcymru.llgc.org.uk or the dedicated WW1 site Cymru1914.org I'm sure there will be references to the RWF Bantams which may give you some clues as to his service. The Long Long Trail website is also excellent for information on units and formations as well as the battles they may have been involved in. Hope that helps, Gareth Edited 21 January , 2014 by gmslewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad Fletcher Posted 21 January , 2014 Author Share Posted 21 January , 2014 Hi again Gareth, Yes, we did suspect there would be a problem with info at Kew, as we had come across a stumbling block in previous searches. Like yourself, we don't exactly live on the doorstep for Richmond. All incoming info I get from the forum will be digested, rest assured, no matter how trivial it seems, it can sometimes lead to other useful ties. I do sincerely thank each and everyone of you who has contributed to this first 24hrs with help and advice. I am trying to find how to download John Fletcher's B&W photograph to add to what we have already put forward, so any advice on that would be wonderful, thank you once again !! Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March I wonder if you got any further with John Fletcher? The medal rolls themselves are now on line and he seems to be Pte 28720 19th RWF and then 74091 in first the 10th and then the 2nd Notts & Derby. The roll pages show other men from the 19th RWF in the N&D and I am guessing but I suspect that some of the men who went to the 8th Entrenching Battalion in Feb 1918 went on to the N&D when the 8th disbanded later in Spring 1918. Only the March 1918 War Diary for the 8th EB survives. His 28720 number indicates an early recruit to the 19th RWF -perhaps March/April 1915. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 14 March Admin Share Posted 14 March @Grandad Fletcher hasn’t visited the forum for 10 years. The tag might alert them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March I hope so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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