James Peerless, MGC and R.West Kent

[fjwiltshire]

Blackham ROH again.

James Peerless,born March 1898, younger brother of George, MM, (See earlier post)

No service record exists so I must go on the MIC which says he was with the machine gun Co. Private, No.4196.

He was wounded and earned the Silver War badge, list GC/935. This shows he enlisted 14/9/1915, aged 17yrs 6mths. He arrived in France on a date unknown in 1916. I have a news clip from the Kent and Sussex Courier dated 19/5/1916 where both brothers are reported to be at the front safe and well.

He then joined the R.West Kent Regt, service no.11034. His VM, BWM and SWB are all issued under the MGC.

He was discharged 12/4/ 1919, aged 21and 1 month.

Can someone translate this. Was he wounded early on, his SWB was issued to ward off the white feather brigade, then later he joined the RWKs? And I wonder if he fought alongside his brother.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Frank

[Jonathan Saunders]

As his SWB appears on the MGC list I suspect he enlisted in The Queen's Own and was transferred to the M.G.C., which would be the normal sequence you would expect.

Also R.W.K. number L/11034, which would have been a regular no., would indicate enlistment on 15th Sept 1915 from my records! One day out! (G/11034 suggests enlistment in The Queen's Own between 15th/18th Nov 1915).

Does the newspaper clip refer to his unit? Did you take the discharge date from the SWB list? But almost certainly Queen's Own, then M.G.C.

Regards,

Jonathan S

[fjwiltshire]

Thanks again Jonathan for your interesting comments.

All info on James is from his MIC and SWB list. We've covered all the men on the roll whose records exist, now the job gets hard.

I'm confused by the L/ and G/ prefix. By regular number do you mean he signed on for more than the duration? The MIC shows no prefix.

Also the ROH, despite its inaccuracies and omissions, does not mention him being wounded. It makes no mention of the MGC either. The DOB seems about right.

I shall do a bit more checking in case I've got the wrong man.

Frank

[Jonathan Saunders]

Hi Frank,

The L prefix was a regular army entry number. The G prefix was for the duration. However as both prefixes indicate a 1915 enlistment I think it is safe to assume James Peerless enlisted in The Queen's Own. (The M.G.C. were formed in late 1915 as well). Also as his SWB details are from the MGC roll it is again safe to assume this was his final unit.

Regards,

Jonathan S

[fjwiltshire]

I'm going to have a go at uploading something. Hope it works.

[fjwiltshire]

The above clip from the Kent and Sussex Courier was dated 19/5/1916. I've checked the 1901 census to find James was 9months old, so born cMay 1900. So he was at the front aged just 16? He enlisted at 15 and a half? I must have got this wrong. His age at discharge could tie up with the false age he gave them on enlistment. He would not be the first young man from this village who was desperate for glory. Help please.

[Jonathan Saunders]

Well you know he enlisted in Sept 1915 - but really you need to obtain a copy of his birth certificate to prove his age.

Regards,

Jonathan S

[Longboat]

Also R.W.K. number L/11034, which would have been a regular no., would indicate enlistment on 15th Sept 1915 from my records! One day out! (G/11034 suggests enlistment in The Queen's Own between 15th/18th Nov 1915).

Jonathan, you were spot on. G/11034 was issued at Rotherhithe on 15th November 1915 to this chap

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/545136/FAY,%20BERNARD%20BERTRAM

Stuart

[fjwiltshire]

Jonathan and Stuart, many thanks.

I have tried hard to convince myself this is not my man. The freeBMD records no other James Peerless/Pearless born between 1897 and 1901.

The www.pearless.org site records his birth as 15/5/1900. The newspaper report confirms the names, location, units and date. The G/ number is eliminated. The 1901 and 1911 censuses confirm the ages.

I've 60 odd names to cover on this ROH so buying the birth certificates would prove a tad pricey. I'll have to go on the probability and state that a boy of 15.5yrs joined the regular army in 1915 and later fought at the battle of the Somme.

James survived the war and died in Lewisham 1985. Many young people from this area moved to south London after the war.

Frank