9799 Sgt. Charles Thomas Twynam RAMC

[Andy Twynam]

Hi - no doubt you get thousands of requests like this.  I have got nowhere researching this relative.  His medal card has no Theatre of War and no date.  Can the regimental number 9799 alone tell me what division (if that's the right word) of the RAMC he would have been in ?  I notice the Ancestry website has RAMC diaries but they seem to be separated into 'Divisions'.  He was born in May 1894 and survived the war.  He married in 1917 but the marriage certificate simply refers to him as 'soldier'.

 

Any suggestions where I might look for further information ?  or is he a dead-end case ?  his medal card has a misspelling of his surname (Twyman) but he was definitely TWYNAM.

 

Thank you very much.

[Coldstreamer]

Numbers don't really help as people move about to other units.  Have you tried local papers ?

[Andy Twynam]

Thank you.  No particular luck with newspapers.  I don't know whether it is relevant that Charles lived in South Lambeth, London.  Is it correct that a recruiting office for the RAMC was in that area of London ?

 

 

[charlie962]

Andy,

there are 2 medal cards on Ancestry (free this weekend). The one spelt Twyman has his 14/15 star entry date 7/12/15 and theatre 2a Balkans

Charlie962

 

[charlie962]

....and if you look at the medal roll page on Ancestry for the 1914-15 Star there are several other RAMC personnel to 2a Balkans on the same date. Might be worth looking at their records to see if there is a surviving Service Record for any of them which might give you some clues as to his movements. But it is not going to be easy. Good luck

Charlie962

[Andy Twynam]

charlie962 - thank you SO very much - why have I never found those, but you have found them in an instant ?

 

forgive me I am a novice - so he's a Private in 1915, then became a Serjeant later I guess ?  in that 'Remark' section of the card do you think "Obs surname not referred" is to do with the mis-spelling ? and why he's ended up with two cards with the alternative spellings.

 

I shall try and do as you suggest - thank you again

[charlie962]

Yes, 2 cards due to spelling observation

[Andy Twynam]

charlie962's suggestion to me to try and find a service record for someone who entered theatre Balkans on 7/12/15 has actually produced a result !! (many thanks)  - which I missed first time round

 

24325 Clement Stephen Tomkiss is on the same page as C T Twynam and his service record is on Find My Past but mistranscribed C S Tomkins.

 

It tells me that he left London on 10/11/15 on SS Gascon arriving Salonika 7/12/15 - so I guess I can assume that C T Twynam was on the same ship (??)

 

I think my basic question is - how much can I assume that Twynam's service record would be similar to Tomkiss's  ?  for example Tomkiss appears to be attached to "33rd Stationary Hospital" - is it a quantum leap to think that Twynam would have been too ?

[charlie962]

Andy,  it is pretty certainly the same ship these two went out on, but as to their careers before and after there is no certainty in view of their widely different service numbers.....I think!

Charlie962

[Andy Twynam]

many thanks 962, that makes sense to me

 

on another thread I've been told that ship Gascon actually "arrived" Salonika 26 November, with RAMC men, so to speak, staying onboard before actually disembarking 7 December, when apparently the ship moved on

Edited 14 July , 2016 by Andy Twynam

[charlie962]

I had a look for Service numbers close to his and for people living in London. Not an exhaustive or conclusive exercise I'm afraid but I did find:

   9796 Smith of Bethnall Green, Bootmaker   joined 18.8.14 Millbank

   9798  Spencer of Battersea, Railwayguard ,  joined 7.8.14 Millbank

   9803  Utting  of South Lambeth,  Builder Decorator, joined 7.8.14 Millbank

 

They followed wdely different careers but there may be a common starting point of Millbank, Aug 1914 ??

 

I ve ignored similar service numbers for men not from London.

[seaJane]

For information, Millbank was the location of the Royal Army Medical College and other military establishments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Army_Medical_College#/media/File:OS_Millbank_Tate_etc_2.jpg

[Andy Twynam]

many thanks for your interest 962. 

 

Millbank was a general recruiting centre was it, not especially RAMC?  If Twynam joined August 1914, but didn't go anywhere until November 1915, was all that intervening time spent training ? 

Edited 14 July , 2016 by Andy Twynam

[Andy Twynam]

crossposted with seaJane - thanks - yes I've come across the name Millbank before

 

I admit to knowing nothing about these things - 9796 and 9798 are only 2 numbers apart, yet 11 days apart ??

Edited 14 July , 2016 by Andy Twynam

[Andy Twynam]

Hello again.

 

I've finally got around to reading the 'diary' (if that's the correct word) for HMHS Gascon for the period when it took 9799 C T Twynam to Salonika.

 

"27-30 November 1915 - at anchor in Salonika harbour, the personnel of 29 General Hospital still on board

5 December - Disembarking personnel and stores of 29 B.G.H. and received 291 patients from the shore.

6 December - Disembarkation of 29 B.G. Hospital continued through the day

7 December - Disembarkation concluded at 11:30am and the ship left Salonika for Alexandria at 3:30 pm"

 

on C T Twynam's medal card it gives 7 December as the date of his entry into Balkans Theatre.  Is it therefore safe for me to conclude that he was attached to 29 B.G.H. ?  If it is safe to draw that conclusion is there anything available for me to read about the activities of 29 B.G.H ? - would they also have a diary ?

 

Many thanks.

 

p.s. is a B.G.H different from a "Stationary Hospital" ?

Edited 23 September , 2016 by Andy Twynam