Thomas George Green (Regimental Number 24565)

[bazunitec]

Hi...

 

I am looking for some assistance regarding my Grandfather (Mums dad). His name was Thomas George Green and he was born on 14th December 1883. He joined the army in Warrington, Lancashire, on the 4th September 1914 at the age of 31 and his attestation shows he was sent into the 5th Batt Hants regiment at Winchester. He was awarded the Victory and British medals (but no star) 

 

He died in 1976 at the ripe old age of 92, just 2 weeks short of his 93rd birthday. I was born on his 80th birthday and the only time I remember him talking about WW1 was the joke he used to tell about being too short to get shot by the snipers (He was only 5' 2")

 

His record shows he was in France from May 1916 until December 1918 - so after the war ended.

 

His records also mention the 1st Garrison battalion and the 19th garrison Battalion but other than that I am at a bit of a loss as to where he may have seen action (if any) while he was in France, although the fact he seemed to be there for 2 years, I would have thought he may have seen something. I know in later life, he suffered with what my mum used to call a "club foot". Could this have been an old injury from the war? I know he spent 90 days in the Lord Derby Military Hospital in Winwick, Warrington after the war.

 

He was also docked 6 days pay for being off camp but that charge sheet says he was in the 14th Batt Kings Royal Rifles at the time (26th November 1915) so he seems to have been all over the place

 

Any help, no matter how small, I would be eternally Grateful

 

Baz

Edited 26 October , 2018 by bazunitec

[Neil 2242]

3 hours ago, bazunitec said:

He joined the army in Warrington, Lancashire, on the 4th September 1914 at the age of 31 and his attestation shows he was sent into the 5th Batt Hants regiment at Winchester

A correction to start with.....he attested into the 5th Btn KRRC on 1st Sept 1914. You'll see at the top of the attestation form that KRR has been ruled through and Hants Regt stamped over the top at a later date. The service sheet also confirms this.

He was then posted to the 14th battalion on 30 Oct 1914

 

[Neil 2242]

He transferred to the 1st Garrison battalion Hampshire Regt on 28 Apr 1916.

3 hours ago, bazunitec said:

His record shows he was in France from May 1916 until December 1918 - so after the war ended.

So you'll notice his time in France coincides with being in the above battalion.

The Long Long Trail site says they were stationed at Saint-Omer in the Caserne de la Barre. They were renamed the 19th Garrison Battalion in 1918, which would account for that appearing in his records too.

Not a front-line battalion, so unlikely to have seen any action. Of course, that's not so say he couldn't have been injured in some way.

[bazunitec]

Brilliant Neil thanks.... so maybe the fact he survived the war had more to do with him being out of range of the German snipers rather than being short

[bazunitec]

On 26/10/2018 at 19:32, Neil 2242 said:

He transferred to the 1st Garrison battalion Hampshire Regt on 28 Apr 1916.

So you'll notice his time in France coincides with being in the above battalion.

The Long Long Trail site says they were stationed at Saint-Omer in the Caserne de la Barre. They were renamed the 19th Garrison Battalion in 1918, which would account for that appearing in his records too.

Not a front-line battalion, so unlikely to have seen any action. Of course, that's not so say he couldn't have been injured in some way.

Neil...

 

Thought I'd just drop a quick reply on this thread... I was over for the Armistice in November and had a trip over to Saint-Omer... took in quite a few sites and had done a bit more research before I left... Many thanks for the info that led to an extra day over there and more places to visit for next time