Thomas Mightens - RAMC & Seaforths

[advsmt]

hi all,

On the trail of another relative, this time my wife's grandfather, Thomas Mightens. Tried the family and all they have is that he definitely served in WW1 and that he was in the Middle East - they only have one picture and he has a fez on and Arabic type clothes, no military artefacts. Although born in Glasgow he spent his whole life near Beauly near Inverness.

I found a medal card for a Thomas Mightens. Pte. RAMC Ser. No. 1637, and Seaforths 234876. He has a Victory and British medal (G/104B23 page 2001), no Star. No theatre enties.

The Seaforths service number would point to the 4th? Which would certainly be very local to him. Not sure, but is it true that if he went overseas after 1915 then the theatre details would not be entered on the card? A quick look about the Seaforths only put the 1st in the Middle East. That's a bit of a problem.

I take it the RAMC service number would be local to each unit, and probably 89th, 1st Highland?

I found no service record for this man and so have come to a bit of a dead end.

I will try and get family to try local papers.

Ant suggestions gratefully received.

Bryan

[headgardener]

Tried the family and all they have is that he definitely served in WW1 and that he was in the Middle East - they only have one picture and he has a fez on and Arabic type clothes, no military artefacts. Although born in Glasgow he spent his whole life near Beauly near Inverness.

I found a medal card for a Thomas Mightens. Pte. RAMC Ser. No. 1637, and Seaforths 234876. He has a Victory and British medal (G/104B23 page 2001), no Star. No theatre enties.

The Seaforths service number would point to the 4th? Which would certainly be very local to him. Not sure, but is it true that if he went overseas after 1915 then the theatre details would not be entered on the card? A quick look about the Seaforths only put the 1st in the Middle East. That's a bit of a problem.

Generally there are no 'theatre' details on MIC's for men who did not get a 14 or 14-15 star.

The 6-figure Seaforths number fits 4th Bn. allocation, but if you look at the medal rolls you'll see that these TF men were distributed amongst the various Seaforth battalions, including the 1/Seaforth. The medal rolls will confirm which battalion 234876 Thomas MIGHTENS served with.

[HeatherC]

There are TWO Thomas Mightens with medal cards. The other one is 3733 RAMC/15 FA (Field Ambulance), entered theatre (does not say which) on 20 Aug 1914 so likely a pre-war soldier.

The Thomas you found was in 1st Bn Seaforths according to the medal rolls.

Are you sure you have the right one?

[headgardener]

On the trail of another relative, this time my wife's grandfather, Thomas Mightens. Tried the family and all they have is that he definitely served in WW1 and that he was in the Middle East - they only have one picture and he has a fez on and Arabic type clothes, no military artefacts.

There are TWO Thomas Mightens with medal cards. The other one is 3733 RAMC/15 FA (Field Ambulance), entered theatre (does not say which) on 20 Aug 1914 so likely a pre-war soldier.

The Thomas you found was in 1st Bn Seaforths according to the medal rolls.

Are you sure you have the right one?

1/Seaforth served in Mesopotamia, btw.

[advsmt]

Hi all, and many thanks for the input. HeatherC, no I don't know if I have the right guy. According to Scotlandspeople there was only 1 Thomas Mightens in Scotland's 1901 census - my guy. In the 1911 census there were 2. The other was living in Argyll and age 25, my man was age 20. Incidentally my Thomas was born in Govan, his mother died when he was 2 and the father went to the work house. Thomas was sent to work on a farm sometime before his 10th birthday in the north of Scotland (kiltarlity), the farmer was single and no relation!

I was merely postulating that the Seaforth Thomas was my man because it is the local regiment and the Middle East photo. I was hoping the RAMC might turn up a Highland Field Ambulance connection. I assumed (big assumption) that an Argyll man (if indeed he is the other Mightens) would not naturally go the Seaforths. Findmypast has no Thomas Mightens in the rest of Britain.

Another aside is there is a Thomas Mighten in the RFA - service record and MIC who is his cousin.

The Mighten(s) originated in Ireland and by WW1 had 2 main families groups, one in Glasgow Govan) and the other in the Lothians/Shotts (coal miners).

Bryan

[headgardener]

I was merely postulating that the Seaforth Thomas was my man because it is the local regiment and the Middle East photo. I was hoping the RAMC might turn up a Highland Field Ambulance connection. I assumed (big assumption) that an Argyll man (if indeed he is the other Mightens) would not naturally go the Seaforths.

Too big an assumption, I'm afraid - if you look at the original contingent of 4/Seaforth who went to France in 1914, a not insignificant percentage came from England. The regional affiliations became increasingly diluted as the war progressed. The middle-eastern photo is a good clue, though - it would certainly match what we know about 234876 Thomas Mightens service in Mesopotamia. Any chance of posting a copy, in case we can spot some other clues?

[HeatherC]

Being Devil's Advocate here, the photo could of course be taken before the war and be of the other Thomas Mightens who obviously served in the Army pre-war...

Is there anything like a studio name or photographer's name on the picture which might narrow down a date when it was taken?

[advsmt]

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately I don't have the photo, my wife's aunt has it in Scotland but I am hoping to get a copy soon. I will try and find more family info as it seems like we are reaching a brick wall.

Bryan