Unfit or too young to serve?

[alanlw]

We have a rather puzzling soldier on our local WW1 memorial. He was John Goodwin, born 28 Dec 1899, on a farm in Wincle Cheshire. We can find no military records which we can ascribe to him with any certainty. Obviously he was only just old enough to be called up at the end of the war but there must be some reason he is on the memorial. Our only clue is in the Absent Voter List for Spring 1919 which records him as having worked at Upton Grange Farm in Macclesfield but now back in Wincle. Unlike the other soldiers on the list there is no indication of any regiment or regimental number.

 

Could this indicate he was thought unfit to serve in the forces or, as it was right at the end of the war, that when he was called up they thought they could make better use of his skills as a farmer?

All suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

Edited 17 September , 2018 by alanlw
grammar

[KONDOA]

Labour Corp?

[DavidOwen]

Cannot find him on CWGC for either conflict (based on his age and family location). Is the memorial to those who died only or also to those who served?

David

 

 

Edited 18 September , 2018 by DavidOwen

[alanlw]

Thanks for the responses so far. The memorial is to all those who served. John Goodwin survived the first war so you won't find him on the CWGC. He died in 1931 so not in WW2 either. 

[DavidOwen]

3 minutes ago, alanlw said:

Thanks for the responses so far. The memorial is to all those who served. John Goodwin survived the first war so you won't find him on the CWGC. He died in 1931 so not in WW2 either. 

Thanks Alan

David

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Is it possible that he served with the Red Cross as an Orderly locally?

 

Dave

[johnboy]

If he did not serve overseas then i think he would not have had a MIC. if called up that late in the war possibly still training in UK,

[alanlw]

10 hours ago, HERITAGE PLUS said:

Is it possible that he served with the Red Cross as an Orderly locally?

 

Dave

It seems he was working on a farm, away from home. 

[alanlw]

10 hours ago, johnboy said:

If he did not serve overseas then i think he would not have had a MIC. if called up that late in the war possibly still training in UK,

Another chap on our memorial, Joseph Belfield, died in training and indeed has no MIC. Only because of a newspaper account do we know why and he is listed on the CWGC. However for John Goodwin we have no clues other than the Absent Voters' List, which, as I said, shows no military involvement at all. 

Edited 18 September , 2018 by alanlw
grammar

[m0rris]

I recently tracked someone down with a very similar profile to the Agricultural Company - Labour Corps. He was also included on a Roll of Honour for the Midland Bank but no MIC etc.

[yperman]

Could he have served under a different name either as he was born out of marriage, the family officially using one name but using another  amongst themselves  or for various personal reasons? as in Capt W E Johns common law wife styling herself Mrs Johns?

[alanlw]

Good theory, but no, he was born in wedlock, is registered in 1901 and 1911 censuses under his normal names and again in the AVL and when he married in 1926 and died in 1931. 

[johnboy]

At a guess. he was too late to enlist or was still in training hence no MIC

Edited 19 September , 2018 by johnboy

[alanlw]

Maybe but he should have been called up when he was 18 at the end of 1917, so in theory had plenty of time to be trained. That's why I was wondering whether he was not declared fit enough to serve. He died age 31 in 1931 so that might be another indication of fragile health. 

[johnboy]

Not sire if my maths is righ but he would not have been 19[the age when he could be sent to a theatre] until the war had ended?

Do you know what he died from?

[alanlw]

10 hours ago, johnboy said:

Not sire if my maths is righ but he would not have been 19[the age when he could be sent to a theatre] until the war had ended?

Do you know what he died from?

Your maths is right and I wasn't aware that 18 years olds couldn't be sent to the front, so thanks for that.  I read somewhere that the conscription age was reduced to 18 in 1916 so assumed that would include all roles. That might explain another lad on our memorial - Wilfred Leonard Arnett - who was born in March 1899. He has no MIC either but we know from the Absent Voters' List he was in the 17th Lancers, though he would have been 19 in March 1918 so theoretcially could have gone to the front. 

I would have thought Goodwin would have at least been enrolled in some regiment or other. 
It's possible that both Goodwin and Arnett - as farmer's sons - sought exemptions or delays in their military service and that was granted though I couldn't find them in the tribunal minutes I looked through. Often at those meetings farmers' sons were asked to work at another farm instead of their own as a condition of exemption so that might have happened to Goodwin. But how come then he appears on the AVL? Maybe because he had received his call-up papers having exhausted all exemptions in the tribunals? And maybe his father just paid for him to appear on the memorial like his elder brother? Just speculating. 

 

I  don't know what John Goodwin died of.