13th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment

[Suffolk and Yorks]

Hello All!

 

I am looking to pick the collective brain and see if anyone has any interest in the 13th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. I am particularly interested in the second half of 1917 and early 1918. During this time, my great-grandfather was an officer with the Battalion. I am unable to track down his war record (I believe this was probably destroyed) and as a result I am trying to piece together his service history using other available resources. 

 

Thank you in advance for any help that can be provided.

[Colin W Taylor]

S&Y

 

His name might help us to work out his service records.  Many officers have service documents in the WO339 or WO374 series of the National Archives Catalogue.  Once you know the reference you can look them up on a visit to Kew.  I have docs for a couple of officers of the battalion.

 

It might also be worth getting a copy of 'The Bantams' by Sidney Allinson - one of the chapters is the diary of a solider officer of the battalion covering this period.

 

Kind regards

 

Colin

Edited 24 September , 2016 by Colin W Taylor

[Suffolk and Yorks]

2 hours ago, Colin W Taylor said:

S&Y

 

His name might help us to work out his service records.  Many officers have service documents in the WO339 or WO374 series of the National Archives Catalogue.  Once you know the reference you can look them up on a visit to Kew.  I have docs for a couple of officers of the battalion.

 

It might also be worth getting a copy of 'The Bantams' by Sidney Allinson - one of the chapters is the diary of an officer of the battalion covering this period.

 

Kind regards

 

Colin

 

Colin

 

Thanks for the response - his name was Gerald Hanslip Long and he was both temporary Major (when second in command - i believe from 15 Oct 17 to 3 Jan 18) and then temporary Liet Col when CO (3 Jan 18 to unknown). I believe he was invalided at some point, so I am not sure the dates I have seen online suggesting he was CO until May 1918 are correct. The war diary is also signed by someone else from March 1918. 

[Colin W Taylor]

S&Y

 

He served after WW1 (according to the London Gazette) so his service records will still be held by the MoD and are not in the public domain.  You will probably need to apply for them through the MoD but it takes £30, filling out a few forms and a month or so waiting.  Application process/forms - https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/overview

 

Good luck with your search.

 

Regards

 

Colin

[clk]

Hi,

 

Unfortunately, he doesn't appear to be recorded in the index to officers long (admin) numbers held by the National Archives in WO 338/12/10

Colin is correct in that if he continued to serve post war, the MoD should still have his service record. Do you know when he was born? There are a number of Ancestry public trees that give it as 10th September 1883. From the couple I had a quick look at though they don't link to a primary reference document, but cite the information from another person. Turning to the MoD records their index of files held shows the following:

 

I've highlighted what seems to be the best match (the number prefixed by a 'P' is indicative of an officer file), but his DoB (American format) is shown as 10th September 1882. Do you know that he did indeed serve post war? It might be a question that the MoD index date is incorrect due to data input error, or that the date in the public trees on Ancestry is incorrect and has been cascaded through the trees without primary research. Briefly looking at BMD records there is a Gerald Hanslip Long whose birth was registered in the December quarter 1882 (Ref: Linton 3b 497), so my money would be on that the public trees are wrong. It's a shame that there doesn't appear to be a long number reference that you can directly cross reference to the MoD files, so I guess that you'd have to take a bit of a  "punt" with the MoD file.

 

Good luck with your research.

 

Regards

Chris

[Suffolk and Yorks]

9 hours ago, clk said:

Hi,

 

Unfortunately, he doesn't appear to be recorded in the index to officers long (admin) numbers held by the National Archives in WO 338/12/10

Colin is correct in that if he continued to serve post war, the MoD should still have his service record. Do you know when he was born? There are a number of Ancestry public trees that give it as 10th September 1883. From the couple I had a quick look at though they don't link to a primary reference document, but cite the information from another person. Turning to the MoD records their index of files held shows the following:

 

I've highlighted what seems to be the best match (the number prefixed by a 'P' is indicative of an officer file), but his DoB (American format) is shown as 10th September 1882. Do you know that he did indeed serve post war? It might be a question that the MoD index date is incorrect due to data input error, or that the date in the public trees on Ancestry is incorrect and has been cascaded through the trees without primary research. Briefly looking at BMD records there is a Gerald Hanslip Long whose birth was registered in the December quarter 1882 (Ref: Linton 3b 497), so my money would be on that the public trees are wrong. It's a shame that there doesn't appear to be a long number reference that you can directly cross reference to the MoD files, so I guess that you'd have to take a bit of a  "punt" with the MoD file.

 

Good luck with your research.

 

Regards

Chris

 

Chris

 

Thanks for your input. He was definitely born September 10th 1882, so that ties with the record. He continued to serve as an officer in the TF until 22 September 1937, I have an extract from The Times on that date which reads: "4th Bn Suffolk R - Lt-Col G. H. Long OBE having attained the age limit relinquishes his commn. and retains his rank". From what you have said then, I should be able to apply to the MoD for a copy of whatever they still hold. Do you know if these files would have been 'weeded' or slimmed down over the years?

[EDWARD1]

The War Diary for Jan 18 is signed off as Major and the Feb 18 is signed off as Lt Col

Eddie

[Suffolk and Yorks]

55 minutes ago, EDWARD1 said:

The War Diary for Jan 18 is signed off as Major and the Feb 18 is signed off as Lt Col

Eddie

 

Thank you Eddie - this ties in with the extract i've pulled from The Gazette: 

 

"York. R.
Capt. G. H. Long (Suff. R., T.F.) to be
actg. Lt.-Col. "while comdg. a Bn. 6 Feb.
1918."

 

Presumably the temporary commission would have been applied for shortly after he took command of the Battalion?

[Colin W Taylor]

S&Y

 

Not knowing his DOB in my post above I had quickly put in his name on the London Gazette and had found a couple of references to him - hence my response above stating that he served post-war.  Having now had a chance to look at the Gazette properly I was both wrong and right - I presume he had a son of the same name? A Gerald Hanslip Long joined the RAF Admin Branch in 1940 - either that or he joined the RAF aged 58?

 

From my experience of WO339 and 374 files it is a bit of pot luck as to weeding - some men have almost nothing in their files (so as to almost not exist) whilst some are an inch thick.  I'm afraid I do not know what you might get in photocopies through the MoD though.

 

Regards

 

Colin 

[Suffolk and Yorks]

1 hour ago, Colin W Taylor said:

S&Y

 

Not knowing his DOB in my post above I had quickly put in his name on the London Gazette and had found a couple of references to him - hence my response above stating that he served post-war.  Having now had a chance to look at the Gazette properly I was both wrong and right - I presume he had a son of the same name? A Gerald Hanslip Long joined the RAF Admin Branch in 1940 - either that or he joined the RAF aged 58?

 

From my experience of WO339 and 374 files it is a bit of pot luck as to weeding - some men have almost nothing in their files (so as to almost not exist) whilst some are an inch thick.  I'm afraid I do not know what you might get in photocopies through the MoD though.

 

Regards

 

Colin 

 

Colin

 

Thank you again.

 

I am bit puzzled by the RAF entry in The Gazette. I suspect that it does refer to his son of the same name, though i've heard no mention of him being in the RAF. As far as I am aware, my great-grandfather's WW2 involvement was something to do with the defence of the numerous airfields in East Anglia. 

 

Noted about what the MoD may provide. I'm hoping it will have something in, as I am particularly interested in seeing what it may say about his 1919 service in Northern Ireland which I have been unable to find anything about online.

[Suffolk and Yorks]

I have received the surviving remnants of the file from the MoD, about a dozen pages in total. This contains some interesting information (including a letter from the Army to the Air Force confirming his Army record from 1941!). Unfortunately there is no form B199,but I think any information that this would have contained is covered off elsewhere.

[Guest]

Hi. Not sure if you are still monitoring this conversation but Gerald Hanslip Long was also my great grandfather and if you are interested I can let you have more info.  Cheerio. Emma 

[clk]

@Suffolk and Yorks

 

Hi Emma,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Whilst s/he hasn't been on the Forum since August last year, hopefully the alert (or whatever it's called) that I've added will prompt them to drop by again soon.

 

Regards

Chris

[Suffolk and Yorks]

@clk

 

Hello

 

Returning to this post after quite some time! 

 

I was re-reading this to answer a question a family member has raised and notices that the above spreadsheet with the MoD files lists another G H Long with the same date of birth with a service number of A95607/40. Do you know which service this relates to? I am wondering if this file also belongs to my great-grandfather, either from his pre or post-WWI Service

[clk]

Hi,

 

Sorry, without access to the records themselves I don't know. For example, they might relate to this man with the same DoB.

 

Image sourced from Ancestry (1939 Register)

 

Regards

Chris

[Suffolk and Yorks]

@clk

 

Thank you. Based on the address on that extract, they would be the same person as the address is right. 

 

My query regarding the service number was to do with the format. A95607/40 - I am wondering if this is an Army number in this format, or one of the other forces? Is there anyone who may be able to shed some light on this?