William Oldham - Royal Field Artillery?

[OldJohnsman]

Further to my previous topic - William Oldham - Manchester Regiment?

We now believe that he may have served - Royal Field Artillery - born 1888 lived Stockport died 92 years old

Does anyone have information on his service record? From photo looks like Lance Corporal at some stage.

Thank you for any help

[CGM]

Hi,

Good luck with your search.

Things could get complicated with two threads running at the same time. Could you close the first?

William OLDHAM is not an unusual name. It could help if you fill in some details to distinguish his service records (if they still exist) from those of other William OLDHAMs.

For example:

Did he have a middle name?

What were his parents names, and who would his NOK have been if not a parent? (Wife?)

And where did he live?

CGM

[woollamc]

There a dozen or so William Oldhams with Medal Index Cards on ancestry who served with either the Royal Field Artillery or the Royal Garrison Artillery (as I am not sure you can distinguish between the two from the cap badge?).

If you have a look at Post 9 on this earlier thread, you will see that the artillery regiments did not have Lance Corporals. Depending on when the photograph was taken, the single chevron denotes the rank of Bombardier or, possibly, Lance Bombardier. I think only three of the Medal Index Cards show this rank which may help to narrow down the field but, as far as I can see from a quick look at ancestry, there is only one service record for a William Oldham and he was from Leicester. There are also two pensions records, one for a chap who was from Birmingham and another from Chesterfield.

C

[BFBSM]

CGM, is right, more information to be able to track William down is needed.

[OldJohnsman]

His son says his wife was Elizabeth.

William may have had middle name beginning W.

[spof]

Hi Oldjohnsman

I've locked the thread relating to the Manchester Regiment and added a link to this one.

Glen

GWF Admin Team

[OldJohnsman]

Thanks Glen

I didn't know how to end it.

[woollamc]

There is a William Oldham, born on 13 November 1888 in Stockport, whose death was registered in Stockport in December 1980. His parents were Walter William and Mary Jane. The dates fit but no middle name is given and there is also a family tree on ancestry suggesting that his wife was called Eileen, rather than Elizabeth.

If the middle initial is W, there is a William Whysell Oldham (37057) who served in the RFA as a Bombardier from 11 September 1914 until being discharged with a Silver War Badge on 28 December 1917. He served in France from 26 March 1915. Other than having the right rank and regiment, this may seem like clutching at straws except that there is a death certificate for another William Whysell Oldham, born in 1919 and who died in 1998 with his death registered in Stockport. Clearly not the William Whysell Oldham from the RFA as far too young but may have been his son - with a tentative Stockport connection.

It's a bit of a long shot but almost certainly worth trying to uncover more details about your William's family, even if only to rule out William Whysell Oldham as the man in the photograph.

[OldJohnsman]

Woolllamc

I'm told by his son that his dad is William Oldham born 13/11/1888 - Eileen is my friends mother. William had a first wife who died just after the war called Elizabeth.

[woollamc]

I can't be much more help here, I'm afraid. I have found Medal Index Cards for 14 William Oldhams who served with either the RFA or RGA but in the absence of service records am unable tie any of them to William Oldham, born at Stockport in 1888 and died there in 1980.

Four of 13 can be eliminated: 96751 (previously 77399) Gunner William Oldham because he was from Chesterfield, 167251 Gunner William Oldham because, despite its indexing on ancestry, his real name was Sydney and he came from Leicester and 998 Gunner William Oldham was from Birmingham. 20033 Driver William Oldham didn't survive the war.

42946 Gunner William Oldham was from Stockport. His discharge address was 12 Heald Street, Portwood which is within a mile of your William Oldham's address in the 1911 census but his parents were called John and Esther, whereas I think your William Oldham's parents were Walter William and Mary Jane Ann .

37057 Bombardier William Whysell Oldham also had a Stockport connection but Whysell is an uncommon name and looks like it might be the name of one of his forebears, possibly on the maternal side - there is no-one with this name in your William's immediate family tree. All the same, as I said in Post 8, this may be worth investigating further as William Whysell Oldham held the same rank as the man in the photograph and you said in Post 5 that your man may have had "M" as a middle initial (albeit that this wasn't noted in any of the censuses).

This leaves seven others. Five were Drivers and Gunners and two were Bombardiers: 63084 and 60161 (who was also Mentioned in Dispatches). These may be contenders because of their rank but there's nothing I have seen that would tie them - or any of the others - to the man in the photograph.

C

[OldJohnsman]

Ok - thanks for your help - I'll pass this info onto his son.