Morseresearch Posted 21 August , 2014 Share Posted 21 August , 2014 Hello, I was wondering if somebody could help me at all. I was going through some old pictures and i found several of my great grandfather, and his discharge papers, from WW1. He was in the Lovat Scouts. I asked my mother, but she can't recall much about what he did in the war other than she thinks he was injured at the Western front by shrapnel from a shell. He had a periscope for looking over trenches which he kept with him after he was discharged (due to his injuries), and then was eventually donated to a museum in Scotland (unsure which one). He settled in Dallas (Scotland) after the war, using the money he received for being wounded to buy a small farm. I have his discharge paper, i will upload it but this is the information i have gathered from it - not entirely sure if the 314 days with the reserve would have been after or before he was discharged. Private Alexander Stewart Collie born in 1888 Wound stripes GNC. Enlisted at Elgin at 28th Jan 1916 – served one year and 290 days...and 314 days with the reserve. Discharged 23rd september 1918 due to a wound scan? head served between jan 1916 and september 1918 in the 3/1 Lovat Scouts. wound stripes one certificate of discharge no 125553 I have done a search for the Scouts on here and on the web, and after some research over the past few weeks understand a little about the Scouts, and where they went - however nothing from his actual regiment. As i understand people from his regiment were placed into others. Basically i am trying to work out where he fought, and where he went, and where in all likelihood he got his injury to put him out of the war. I think he would have arrived too late to have fought at Gallipoli, but perhaps he was sent to Macedonia? They also went to Eygpt, and to France and Flanders. Any ideas? Thanks for reading. His son, my grandad, went onto serve in the RAF in ww2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 21 August , 2014 Share Posted 21 August , 2014 Hi, Have you downloaded his Medal Index Card? It will indicate his entry into and theatre of war served in. I think this may be the one- http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D1883658 To find the detail that you are looking for you will need to see if his service records survive. If you have a look through ancestry a lot of Lovat Scouts records did survive. The 3/1st were the training regiment so he would have been placed into a first line regiment if he served in France. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 21 August , 2014 Share Posted 21 August , 2014 A little more for you to work on. The page for the Lovat's Scouts from the Long Long Trail,at top left of this page: http://www.1914-1918.net/lovats1.htm Your man has only a 1917 re-number 125553,though I understand that some of these numbers were allocated late in 1916. Looking at the last notes of the linked page it seems possible that Alexander became a member of one of the special groups. You will have to see the original Medal Roll,at Kew under WO329/24 page 4 where his specific unit may be shown. Not a digital record though,so you can ask in the Look Ups Section here in case anyone can help you by getting a copy. From the Medal Index Card I note that he was discharged with a Silver War Badge (sickness or wounds preventing further service) and this shows he enlisted on 28 Jan 1916 and was discharged on 23 Sep 1918,aged 31 and 10/12 months. I don't see any other records for this soldier on Ancestry UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morseresearch Posted 22 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2014 Thank you very much for all your help. I shall look into the links...I guess the problem is that when you are part of a reserve battalion that gets put in with front line battalions, its harder to track. With his periscope i am speculating that perhaps he was a spotter for the 'sharpshooters'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 22 August , 2014 Share Posted 22 August , 2014 With his periscope i am speculating that perhaps he was a spotter for the 'sharpshooters'... Their role in France was largely long range observation and intelligence gathering as opposed to sniping. Chapter 10 of Michael Melville's 'The Story of the Lovat Scouts' covers the Sharpshooters if you want to research further. Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morseresearch Posted 22 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2014 So i have downloaded from the national archives - and i cant work out how to attach it here! So here is what it says: his name, corps Lovat's Scouts, regiment number 12553 (as has been said i think this was new after 1917) Victory medal 66/111 131 page 4 British do do? and then at the bottom it say SWB 66/456 The theatre of war first arrived in is blank, and date of entry therein is also blank.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 August , 2014 Share Posted 22 August , 2014 There is another 5 in the number (125553). British do do? = British War Medal issued at the same time as the Victory Medal on the same Medal Roll,hence "ditto ditto" for the same page of the Medal Roll. SWB CC/456 the (Cavalry) Corps List that shows the issue of the Silver War Badge. Theatre of War is blank as he first landed after Dec 1915,when there was no date needed to signify if he was entitled to either a 1914 or a 1914-15 Star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morseresearch Posted 22 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2014 Ah yes that was a typo - thanks very much for that information...still digging around, hopefully i will be able to find out where he was sent to from the 3/1 lovat's. If he was injured in France at the end, i guess its likely he was sent to the 1st battalion. When is the real question. I must say you have all been very helpful, im most grateful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 August , 2014 Share Posted 22 August , 2014 If you can't get to see the original Medal Roll I will take a look in a couple of weeks and let you know what it says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morseresearch Posted 23 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 August , 2014 That would be great, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morseresearch Posted 23 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Is it not possible to find out his exact regiment from the regiment number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morseresearch Posted 23 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 August , 2014 I ask because i am also researching my other great grandfather - but i have less info on him. Private Herbert Morse of the Somerset light infantry. Awarded Victory 6/2/102 b13 page 1547 and British Medals. Regiment number 2954 6? or 0? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Generally speaking it's not I'm afraid. Sometimes you can have an educated guess, but the best way is to have the Medal Rolls themselves checked. Rgds Tim D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taffyat18 Posted 4 September , 2014 Share Posted 4 September , 2014 With regards to Private Griffiths he is buried in Old Hunstanton church. It may be he was based of spent some time in Bircham Newton we own 3.5 acres of ww1 trenches which were used by the Lovat Scouts. We are working to restore. Search dreamy hollow campsite. If anyone wanted to visit please contact us. So i have downloaded from the national archives - and i cant work out how to attach it here! So here is what it says: his name, corps Lovat's Scouts, regiment number 12553 (as has been said i think this was new after 1917) Victory medal 66/111 131 page 4 British do do? and then at the bottom it say SWB 66/456 The theatre of war first arrived in is blank, and date of entry therein is also blank.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taffyat18 Posted 4 September , 2014 Share Posted 4 September , 2014 With regards to Private Griffiths he is buried in Old Hunstanton church. It may be he was based of spent some time in Bircham Newton we own 3.5 acres of ww1 trenches which were used by the Lovat Scouts. We are working to restore. Search dreamy hollow campsite. If anyone wanted to visit please contact us. So i have downloaded from the national archives - and i cant work out how to attach it here! So here is what it says: his name, corps Lovat's Scouts, regiment number 12553 (as has been said i think this was new after 1917) Victory medal 66/111 131 page 4 British do do? and then at the bottom it say SWB 66/456 The theatre of war first arrived in is blank, and date of entry therein is also blank.. With regards to Private Griffiths he is buried in Old Hunstanton church. It may be he was based of spent some time in Bircham Newton we own 3.5 acres of ww1 trenches which were used by the Lovat Scouts. We are working to restore. Search dreamy hollow campsite. If anyone wanted to visit please contact us. So i have downloaded from the national archives - and i cant work out how to attach it here! So here is what it says: his name, corps Lovat's Scouts, regiment number 12553 (as has been said i think this was new after 1917) Victory medal 66/111 131 page 4 British do do? and then at the bottom it say SWB 66/456 The theatre of war first arrived in is blank, and date of entry therein is also blank.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 5 September , 2014 Share Posted 5 September , 2014 Morseresearch The Medal Roll on page 4 of WO329/4 has no details of unit shown,it doesn't appear to be a feature on any of the Lovat Scout pages.His entry: "Alex S COLLIE. 125553. Lovats Scouts.Dgns.Pte." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valmackay Posted 9 September , 2014 Share Posted 9 September , 2014 I downloaded Michael Melville's 'The Story of the Lovat Scouts from Amazon, and it provided me with so much more information on the Lovat Scouts as my Great Grandfather was also in the Lovat Scouts and the Sharp Shooters 1915-1920 .... its worth reading .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 9 September , 2014 Share Posted 9 September , 2014 A transcription of the campaign medal roll entry for Herbert Morse can be accessed via: http://www.nmarchive.com/search-result/page/0/medal-rolls/initial-herbert/surname-morse/primeunit-all/regimentno-295402 With some of my relatives the roll transcriptions gave me a little more information, with others it did not. The website costs just under £5.00 for a day long membership Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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