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Postal marks & censor stamp help please?


Aab133

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Hello,

I am really hoping somebody may be able to help me please? I have a series of postcards which were sent to my great aunt, from her beloved. We were told he never came home and she never knew what happened to him and I have desperately been trying to find out. I have a beautiful carved wooden box that he made for her and long to know who he was.

I have searched and searched his name but nothing matches up with the dates. I then thought perhaps the post marks could help at least narrow down the search by revealing any information about what regiment he was in? The cards are all from 1918 between June and October, mainly from France (a few are hard to read) the postal stamp reads

'army post office R.63'

and the censor stamp is rectangular with number 2155 on. If anyone could offer any information from these details I would be incredibly grateful.

Many thanks.

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Thankyou for your reply. All the letters/postcards are signed 'Louis William Bird' and written in English, but Iam afraid we don't know where he was from. My aunt was originally from Kent, but lived in London during the War as a bus conductor. She later moved to Buckinghamshire (her sisters lived there) before retiring in Cornwall. The last letter he has handwritten a date on is the 4th October 1918 (postal dates are bit later).

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I've just gone through them again and actually the last date is 18.11.18 where he mentions working 20 hours out of 24 in an 'office not the stores' and that he's been in Mons, St Pol and Maubeuge, and that he is going into Germany. Not sure if that helps at all?

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Hopefully someone with a knowledge of the stamps will come along.

I'll have a quick look for him in the meantime.

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Thankyou so much, I know she never got over losing him, never married or had children and she kept all these letters and treasures till she died. I really hope to one day find out who he was and what happened to him, any help is greatly appreciated!

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From http://www.worldwar1postcards.com/soldiers-mail.php

About half-way down, chapter " Military date-stamps "

There were also Divisional date-stamps. A Division, which comprised of three Brigades was usually allocated six stamps: one for each Brigade ‑ with its own number; the fourth was Divisional Headquarters, inscribed "FIELD POST OFFICE D" (and a number); the fifth was the Divisional Train attached to Divisional HQ, and inscribed "FIELD POST OFFICE T" (and a number); the sixth was for the Divisional Railhead, and was inscribed "ARMY POST OFFICE R" (and a number), it was a static unit.

Maybe that's of help. A picture of the postcards would certainly help.

There's usually more information on them than you think there is!

JW

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A possible but the date of death is a little off from the letters you have - there can't have been many Louis William Bird's who died in and around ww1.

First name(s) LOUIS WILLIAM
Last name BIRD
Service number 237895
Rank PIONEER
Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers
Battalion -
Birth place KETTERING, NORTHANTS
Residence -
Enlistment place NORTHAMPTON
Death year 1918
Death day 6
Death month 7
Cause of death Died
Death place France & Flanders
Theatre of war Western European Theatre
Supplementary Notes FORMERLY D.M/2/170454, R.A.S.C. (M.T.) (6TH TELE. CONSTN. COY., R.E.).

There appears to have been another man of the same name from Hull but I haven't seen any obvious death for him.

Craig

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Another Louis William

ASC 89 Coy 1/7142

This and the one Craig notes seem o be the only ones showing the full name

Just because he was not heard of again does not mean that he definitely died. The cards that were kept cover a short span.

Are there any return addresses on the cards?

The RE and ASC would have had units throughout France which will make it harder to pin him down.

If he had been in an infantry regiment it might have been easier.

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Another Louis William

ASC 89 Coy 1/7142

This and the one Craig notes seem o be the only ones showing the full name

Just because he was not heard of again does not mean that he definitely died. The cards that were kept cover a short span.

Are there any return addresses on the cards?

The RE and ASC would have had units throughout France which will make it harder to pin him down.

If he had been in an infantry regiment it might have been easier.

That's what I'm wondering - did he just disappear off in to the distance, never to be heard of again.

Craig

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Craig I am difficulty finding soldiers effects on Ancestry! Tried all sorts of search terms including UK army register of soldiers effects to keep getting No Matches. Could you look for your man to see if he was married!?

The man I put up seems to have survived.

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Thankyou all so much for your help - I will have a read of that link.. I have also wondered if perhaps he didn't die but could've been married and returned to his wife rather than his lover. I could perhaps trace the marriage certificate for the second Louis mentioned and see if the signature matches.. Also, I have taken pictures of some of the clearer postmarks - just got to work out how to post them on here. Unfortunately no return addresses. Most of the postcards are embroidered and he always refers to 'letters' he's sent but unfortunately I don't know what's happened to these. Thanks everyone for your info and advice, your knowledge is much appreciated!

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Craig I am difficulty finding soldiers effects on Ancestry! Tried all sorts of search terms including UK army register of soldiers effects to keep getting No Matches. Could you look for your man to see if he was married!?

The man I put up seems to have survived.

No mention of any wife, effects paid to his father.

Craig

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I think that you have to make a minimum number of posts to be able to post images. The same may apply to pm's.

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Another Louis William

ASC 89 Coy 1/7142

This and the one Craig notes seem o be the only ones showing the full name

Just because he was not heard of again does not mean that he definitely died. The cards that were kept cover a short span.

Are there any return addresses on the cards?

The RE and ASC would have had units throughout France which will make it harder to pin him down.

If he had been in an infantry regiment it might have been easier.

I suspect he's the Hull man I found - he seems to have been possibly married in 1911.

His signature:

post-51028-0-94255100-1439328682_thumb.j

Craig

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No mention of any wife, effects paid to his father.

Craig

Thanks Craig.

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The signature posted by Craig [post#15] should be easy to compare.

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Reference: J 77/1311/53 Description:

Divorce Court File: 53. Appellant: Louis William Bird. Respondent: Beatrice Bird. Co-respondent: Ernest Edward Davis. Type: Husband's petition for divorce [hd].

Date:

1917

From National Archives.

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