Trying to find out more information

[Maxwellious]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum and would be very very grateful for some help.

I have been researching my family tree and I have found that two members of my family on my mothers side fought during WW1. Unfortunately one of these brave men did not return home, I am trying to find out where they fought and what times.

The first gentleman is a Luther James Waghorn, his service number is 22811, he died on the 12/12/1915 in Mudros Greece and served in the 1st Battalion Garrison Essex Regiment. From the limited research I have done this was a few days prior to the troops being withdrawn from Gallipoli (so sad), he is buried in Portianos Military Cemetery . Unfortunately the family I have left cannot help. Another search also showed that the same person served in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment but I am not sure if this is a red herring.

The second gentleman is a little tricky as I have no reference of his service number or regiment, plus a picture I have of him in his uniform does not tally with the limited genealogy a family member has already carried out. I think the uniform is that of WW1 however others think it is dated 1880, either way it could be the Father or the Son in the picture, I will post some more details at a later date.

Once again thank you for any help or pointers, it will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

Chris

[Medaler]

Hi Chris,

Your first chap is shown as "D.J.Waghorn" on his medal index card. It is him though as the service number and regiment tally. You are very lucky, it actually gives his cause of death as "pneumonia" on 12/12/1915. He entered the theatre of war on 6th September 1915 and was entitled to a 1915 Star trio of medals. Not sure where you got the West Kent connection but they are not mentioned on his MIC. I will dig more later.

Cheers,

Mike

[GraemeClarke]

Hi Chris

Welcome to the Forum.

Here is his SDGW which confirms previous service,

Do you have a pic of his headstone ??

Regards,

Graeme

[Maxwellious]

Thanks Mike you are a star! I wonder why he is DJ Waghorn?

I will dig out a picture of the other chap tonight and see if anyone can help with regards to dating his uniform?

Thanks

Thanks Graham, perhaps that explains the Royal West Kent Regiment?

[johnboy]

There is a MIC for LJ Waghorn S/N 22811 Essex Regiment. No mention of RWK.

[Ellis1918]

Correct he has 2 MICs

The 1st shows D J awarded 1915 Star

The 2nd shows L J awarded Victory & BWM

Same regiment and service numbers

[Ellis1918]

De Ruvignys Roll of Honour has a 2nd Lt L P Waghorn Queens Own Royal West Kents attchd Royal Berks kia Ypres Nov 1914 . Second son of Capt J W Waghorn , Royal Navy.

Any relation ?

[Ellis1918]

Also Pvte William Waghorn 7854 1st Battn Royal West Kents . Kia Oct 1914

[Medaler]

The service number with RWK may be significant as it shows 3rd (Reserve) btn by the prefix. Still pushed for time here but will get more later.

Regards,

Mike

[Maxwellious]

His Father was James Waghorn, he died in 1919 aged 64 so I do not think it was any relation, thank you all for helping, I'm having a look through Ancestry but it is very tough!

[Maxwellious]

Hi Graeme, I do not have a picture of his headstone

[Medaler]

Hiya,

First thing I tried was searching for "3/5540" and "Waghorn" on MIC's - no results returned at Ancestry or TNA. Also tried "3/5540" and "Kent" and no results for that either. I therefore strongly suspect that he never served overseas with RWK. I thought it worth checking to see if there was a third MIC having missed the second one in my rush earlier!

I have also had a look at that 3/5540 service number because I wondered if he was old enough to have been time expired from the Special Reserve of RWK before enlisting for the war. Had a quick look at the SWB roll for RWK on ancestry but there are no men with a 3 prefix to their numbers in the first 14 pages. I was trying to get a number similar to his to have a stab at finding an enlistment date, but no joy I'm afraid.

Looking at this website....

http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk/p/number-prefixes.html

I could find nothing on the RWK 3rd Btn but have a hunch that they were using the same numbering system as the 1st and 2nd Btns but just added a "3" to the front. That would give enlistment into the Reserve in 1899/1900 but my hunch may well be wide of the mark - we could do with an expert on the numbering system of RWK chipping into this conversation round about...........now! :-)

Searching for the birth of a Luther Waghorn on Freebmd between March 1870 and December 1905 yielded just one result (no middle name given, but that does not make it the wrong chap) - so, was your Luther James Waghorn born in the Lewes registration district and recorded in the March 1/4 of 1876? - If that is the case then my theory about his service in the RWK being pre-war would seem to have some legs.

The 1891 Census shows Luther J Waghorn as a 13 year old "house boy" living with father James and mother Clara E. There are also siblings - Albert, Henry and Mollie (?) - the last being a little indistinct. They were living at Tonbridge. Does any of that make sense with your known family tree?

Cheers,

Mike

[Maxwellious]

Hi Mike, you are a superstar!

He is the Luther James Waghorn from Tonbridge, he was born in 1878 to the parents you state, his sister was Mabel but I will let you have that one lol.

[Ellis1918]

A search on CWGC for "Waghorn" casualties in Great War shows 6 in the Queens Own Royal West Kents .

Have you considered widening your search ?

[Maxwellious]

Hi Ellis, no I have not yet although the brothers I have found seemed to survive past WW1 although one James Waghorn who is shown on the 1881 (aged 11 months) s a bit of a mystery as I cannot find a death. I will keep looking and once again thank you all for your help

[Medaler]

Ha Ha Ha!!!!

I would never have got "Mabel" out of that scribble on the census!

So, early service with reserve Btn RWK looks like a strong possibility, perhaps making your herring slightly less red? - that needs more work and I'm not sure I can go much further, perhaps their regimental museum / archive would be worth an email.

As for his later service, LLT states......

1st Garrison Battalion
Formed at Denham, Buckinghamshire on 21 July 1915.
Left Devonport, arriving Mudros 3 September 1915. Served on Gallipoli before moving to Egypt in February 1916, where it then remained.

I had a quick look for their war diary at TNA but was unable to find it. Then again, I am rubbish at searching their archives as my previous posts on this forum will show you!

Again, their regimental museum/archive may well provide more on what they were actually doing.

Warmest regards,

Mike

[Maxwellious]

I found another relative, I posted in the section about uniforms as I was unsure what an X in the cuff of his left hand represented, something to do with rifles & being a marksman. I have no other information other than his name (Edward G Pearce) born 1875 died 1940.

More searching

[Medaler]

Yup, once you start it is impossible to stop! - all part of the fun.

The badge would be a marksmans "trade" badge and is a nice depiction of 2 crossed rifles made out of brass. If you want a close up picture of one you can do a lot worse than search on ebay, there are usually several of them on there at any given time.

Cheers,

Mike