jcrabb Posted 11 November , 2014 Share Posted 11 November , 2014 Hi, I hope someone can help. I am trying to find out any information i can on my Great Grandfather Pte Herbert John Crabb, I have found a Medal Roll index which states: Corps: Tank C Regtl. No.: 97233 Roll: TC/101B7 Page: 1205 I found the document with which this relates too but it only has the same information. Any help would be greatly appreciated. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrabb Posted 11 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 11 November , 2014 Anyone have any ideas of the best way i could find out more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 11 November , 2014 Share Posted 11 November , 2014 James Welcome to the Forum ! The Roll reference you give,TC/101B7,relates to the original Medal Roll which is at the National Archives in Ledger WO329/1775,page 1205. I haven't had much dealings with items for the Tank Corps,so can't say whether the Roll will show your GGFs unit,as Infantry Rolls do. I can say that he received two campaign medals and didn't land in a war zone until after 31.12.1915. From his service number it looks likely that he enlisted around early 1916,this from looking at a few Silver War Badge Lists where numbers are linked to enlistment dates: 97205 on 9 Dec 1915 97214 on 12 Dec 1915 97225 on 25 Feb 1916 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFBSM Posted 12 November , 2014 Share Posted 12 November , 2014 James Welcome to the Forum ! The Roll reference you give,TC/101B7,relates to the original Medal Roll which is at the National Archives in Ledger WO329/1775,page 1205. I haven't had much dealings with items for the Tank Corps,so can't say whether the Roll will show your GGFs unit,as Infantry Rolls do. I can say that he received two campaign medals and didn't land in a war zone until after 31.12.1915. From his service number it looks likely that he enlisted around early 1916,this from looking at a few Silver War Badge Lists where numbers are linked to enlistment dates: 97205 on 9 Dec 1915 97214 on 12 Dec 1915 97225 on 25 Feb 1916 This roll is available on Ancestry and the image at http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/5119/41629_626640_11798-00293/1493987?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3findiv%3d1%26db%3diwoservicemedalawardrolls%26rank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-d%26gsfn%3dHerbert%2bjohn%26gsln%3dCrabb%26gsln_x%3dXO%26gskw%3d97233%26gskw_x%3d1%26cpxt%3d1%26uidh%3del4%26cp%3d11%26pcat%3d39%26fh%3d0%26h%3d1493987%26recoff%3d5%2b6%2b7%26ml_rpos%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord, does not give information on the unit. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrabb Posted 12 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 12 November , 2014 Thank you for your time gentlemen, i have had a look on Ancestry but can only find the Medal Roll Index and Card. Which as Mark says doesn't contain a great deal of information. I was told that at least one of the tanks he served in was hit, but maybe survived and was once on display somewhere? Apparently it still had the holes in it? My father told me that Herbert would never be seen without his shirt on due to the scars he had on his back. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 12 November , 2014 Share Posted 12 November , 2014 Hello James Good to see you on the Forum. Thanks for your email regarding Herbert;s family. I thought he might be Somerset based so this should help me find out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrabb Posted 17 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 17 November , 2014 Hi Stephen, Yes, i believe he always lived around Somerset and in WW2 was part of the home guard in Salisbury. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 2 January , 2017 Share Posted 2 January , 2017 Hi James, I have been researching a fellow in Salisbury called Jethro Crabb who I think was the brother of Herbert John Crabb. They were partners of a garage in Salisbury called Fairway Garage in Brown Street, Salisbury - does that ring any bells? If so, contact me at frogg@timezonepublishing.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 2 January , 2017 Share Posted 2 January , 2017 Unfortunately it will be very hard to discover any more unless you can find out which tank battalion he was in. The medal records don't say, and I'm assuming you don't have any documents or photographs which might give a clue, so it will be very difficult to establish this. There's no sign of a service record, but his name (97233 Pte Crabb H J) does appear on a list of men who left Tank Corps Disposal Stations on December 26, 1918, so at least this shows when he ended his military service. Incidentally it's wrongly indexed as "Grabb" on Findmypast, so I have told them about the mistake. Sorry not to be able to offer any more help. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrabb Posted 16 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2019 (edited) Herbert John Crabb in the home guard in Salisbury, part of the Wilts and Dorset Bus Company I believe. Edited 16 May , 2019 by jcrabb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 16 May , 2019 Share Posted 16 May , 2019 Hi James, I don't know if you've seen them since your original posts, but FMP have reasonably recently put up some medical records (link) which indicate that he was admitted to 18 General Hospital on 28.9.1918 suffering with severe leg wounds - indicating serving with the 11th Bn Tank Corps at that time. Might be worth having a look at this war diary? Interesting WW2 photo. The W&D garage site in Castle Street was used (I believe) amongst other things to make wings for Spitfires. As a young girl, my mother remembers being taken there to see her father, who was a charge hand. The site now has a blue plaque. Image source https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spitfire_Manufacture_in_Salisbury_-_Blue_Plaque.jpg Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrabb Posted 11 November , 2019 Author Share Posted 11 November , 2019 Sorry for the delayed reply Chris, that's really great information, thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 12 November , 2019 Share Posted 12 November , 2019 Hi, I've just seen this - there are some really useful new records coming online, and congratulations to Chris for finding this. James, the best way of finding out more would be to look up 11th Battalion's War Diary, which can downloaded here: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/e244824c6a0642d780efed5a4c6e360e It's very unlikely to refer to him by name, but at least you can find out more about the actions involving his unit. All the best, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrabb Posted 14 November , 2019 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2019 Thank you John, Very helpful, i have now downloaded the 11th Battalion War Diaries. Regards James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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