Guest Hill 60 Posted 16 May , 2003 Share Posted 16 May , 2003 I think I'm going to ask a really silly question now, but here goes! Is it possible to determine which unit of the RAMC a man was in if all I have is his rank, number, name and date of arrival in France? I'm not the world's greatest researcher (I needed International Rescue to help me on my first trip to the PRO ) and I would be grateful for ANY help you can offer! The man in question is my Great Grandfather: 10311 Private George William Dean, RAMC. He arrived in France on the 18 February 1915. One of the Pals was very (very, very, very) kind and got me his MIC from the PRO/NA but I'm hoping to find out which section he was in. As I said, this is most probably an impossible question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 16 May , 2003 Share Posted 16 May , 2003 Lee, Yes it is possible. At Kew, look up the disembarketion records for that day and check which RAMC units were recorded as leaving - sorry forgot the catalogue code. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 16 May , 2003 Share Posted 16 May , 2003 Ian presumably that would work if he arrived and stayed with the same ambulance unit, CCS etc during his whole time in F&F. Do you know how regularly men of the RAMC moved to different units and is tehre anyway to find the unit if they were sent out after their unit had already arrived in France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hill 60 Posted 16 May , 2003 Share Posted 16 May , 2003 Ian - Many thanks Pal. When I can get to Kew (yeah, right) I'll try that. Just for your info, there is a picture of my gt Grandfather Dean on Chris' main site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 16 May , 2003 Share Posted 16 May , 2003 Signals, Assuming there is nothing for Lee's gt gt grandfather in WO 363 or 364, then this is one way of finding which unit he first went to France with. Whether he stayed with that outfit for the duration, who knows! I recently researched a soldier who had served with four different regts in 3 years. Wheras one of my great-uncles was with the same Regt & Bn from 1914 to 1919. How long is a piece of string? With so little to go on in the search for WW1 soldiers any lead is worth following up including Absent Voters lists and local newspapers. The PRO is not the ONLY source of useful information, it merely houses the biggest official collection of documents. What about the soldier who never served overseas and whose record did not survive the fire of 1940? The sources at the PRO are limited in the extreme if non-existant. Local Research Centres are more useful in this instant. I am by no means an expert in researching the service of WW1 soldiers, but I have an open mind and will pursue any useful source. Too many people believe the PRO is the bee all........it ain't by any means. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BryanShanks Posted 16 May , 2003 Share Posted 16 May , 2003 Lee, What I would say to you is do not give up, all you need is luck, patience and a goodly slice of serendipity. I'll tell you a story. Reseaching my father, I could only get as far as you have. When PRO / TNA / Kew opened its doors and documents became easier to view I thought I would crack it easily. When Soldiers Documents were there to see on film in Nov 1996 that was going to the end of searching. Of course his documents had been destroyed, back to square one. Working on the only hard fact which was date of arrival in theatre, I scoured as many different sources as possible to establish which RFA units arrived in France on that day. As it happened only one did. That is the time to follow your gut reaction. Fairly recently I asked a general question about regimental numbers on the forum and lo and behold either Chris or Paul gave an answer which just about confirmed my theory without anyone really knowing what I was asking. Although I was on the point of giving up at times I always believed something would turn up. So stick with it. As it turned out mine was relatively simple after all. (Even if it did take almost ten years) The first thing I would do in your case is to go through the Divisions that arrived on the day, look at the Field Ambulances within the Brigades. Then there is a case he may have arrived in a draft which would make it difficult. Be positive, you will find what you are looking for. As Ian said embarkation/disembarkation records are another good starting point. Beckes ORBAT of Divisions at the IWM give a good backgound/starting point. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 17 May , 2003 Share Posted 17 May , 2003 Thanks Ian and I agree with you and Bryan that you must pursue all and every avenue of research available - Absent Voters List (if you can find them) can be a God send. Lee's original request just got me thinking whether RAMC men were likely to move from one FA to another dependant on all the usual factors. I understand yr comment about the length of string only too well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hill 60 Posted 17 May , 2003 Share Posted 17 May , 2003 Bryan - Thanks for the encouragement, I won't stop looking . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Medic Posted 7 December , 2003 Share Posted 7 December , 2003 Has anyone indformation about the numbering systems for RAMC soldiers. They do not seem to fit any pattern and I think there was a change during the war from prewar numbering. Any help appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 7 December , 2003 Share Posted 7 December , 2003 This may be a long shot, but I have noticed at least one way that people in medical units can sometimes be traced more easily than their comrades in the infantry. I have noticed from browsing through the online Canadian War Diaries that unlike the infantry diaries, the diaries of field ambulances often mention other ranks by name and number, for example when they were taken on or struck off strength, when they went on leave, or when they became casualties. Thus, if you can find some units who are likely candidates, and can look up their War Diaries, you may find your man. Or course there are a lot of "if"'s if this suggestion. It may not be all that helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 7 December , 2003 Share Posted 7 December , 2003 Has anyone indformation about the numbering systems for RAMC soldiers. They do not seem to fit any pattern and I think there was a change during the war from prewar numbering. Any help appreciated. There was a change of numbering for Territorial Force RAMC men on 1 Apr 17. A list exists of the initial allocation of numbers to units as a result of this change. The numbers allocated were in the range 300001 - 561000. If the number you are interested is in this range I can tell you unit. I can't help with other RAMC numbering. Jock Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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