bonkers82 Posted 10 March , 2014 Share Posted 10 March , 2014 I am looking any information on my great grandfather. I have a photocopy of his record and dont understand most if not all of it. The real problem I am having is that there is an initial name which is scored out and my great grandfathers written in. He did definately fight in the war, Gallipoli for sure. Can anyone even suggest this problem with the name. I am desperately hoping its not something sinister. any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woollamc Posted 10 March , 2014 Share Posted 10 March , 2014 (edited) I think you mean the Medal Index Card, rather than any service records, where the name William Anderson has been scored out? Can't explain the initial error but it doesn't look sinister and, where it says "Theatre of War first served in: 2b", this confims that he served in the Balkans (Gallipoli) and arrived there on 27 July 1915. This link to the Long Long Trail tells you more about the Royal Irish Fusiliers and, by the look of it, he was in either the 5th or 6th Battalions. Edited 10 March , 2014 by woollamc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 10 March , 2014 Share Posted 10 March , 2014 Heather Welcome to the Forum ! There doesn't seem to be a service record surviving the Blitz of 1940. No pension record either. The Medal Index Card seems OK. There is an address on the back of the card: 428 Ligomiel Street,Belfast. I don't know if you have seen that,may put your mind at rest that it's his card ! The letters and numbers on the card lead me to the original Medal Roll which is filed in ledger WO329/1683 page 628,there you will find which of 5 or 6 Battalion he served on landing at Gallipoli. You are in luck as I shall be at Kew tomorrow and will look in the ledger and let you know,subject to it's availability. Both were with 10 (Irish) Division and in the same Infantry Brigade (31). This page from the Long Long Trail,at top left of this screen: http://www.1914-1918.net/10div.htm You will see that not only did they fight at Gallipoli,but came back to France and Flanders to see the rest of the war out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 10 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2014 thank you both. its obviously is the index card. like i say i dont understand it. can you suggest any reason for the name thing? also can you explain more about what all the data means.. oh i am in luck, cant wait now to see if you can tell me anymore. My gt granda was born in 1895, i had been thinking he was too young and used a different name but knowing his date of birth rules that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 10 March , 2014 Share Posted 10 March , 2014 There's a clerk with LOTS of cards to complete and he may have lost his place in the recording of all the lists ! He at least discovered his error and rectified it,but not before he had cross-referenced the card to another one for G/Granpa ! See top of card,crossed out now ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 10 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2014 is there any way of finding out if he fought in france? im sitting here thinking and i have, albeit locked away, a christmas card from him to his wife back home and its either from gallipoli or im now thinkiing france??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 10 March , 2014 Share Posted 10 March , 2014 In the absence of a record it might be difficult to prove,but no reason to think that he changed units and didn't come back to France with 10 Division.You may have the answer in the postcard,so dig it out !! An Absent Voters List for 1918 for his local home area may show his unit at that time,providing the AVL survived the years,a lot haven't ! There will be War Diaries which show the day-to-day actions of a Battalion,these are at Kew but take a while to read,and aren't very good at naming the ordinary soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 11 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 11 March , 2014 brilliant, i know what im doing tomorrow. doing a lot of hoking in my attic!! will post all that i find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 11 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 11 March , 2014 I have found the Christmas card and it was indeed while my great granda was in France. In fact the card is dated 20th November 1918. If someone could explain how to upload an image I shall try and upload an image or two from it, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W.J.Caughey Posted 11 March , 2014 Share Posted 11 March , 2014 Heather If you hit the "more reply button at bottom right it, then a page will come up and bottom left attach more files, choose more files then search your folders for you photo you want to load, you may have to downsize image somehow as you can upload up to 250KB Hope this helps. Walter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 11 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 11 March , 2014 being really dopey here but how do i downsize an image. ive a few id love to be able to share with you all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 11 March , 2014 Share Posted 11 March , 2014 Heather David Smylie was with 5 Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. I have the page from the Medal Rolls and I will send it to you on receipt of your e-mail. To do that click on my name to the left of this message and you will see a Send me a Message box at top right. There are four War Diaries for 5 RIF. The French segment was his last war zone before the end of the war,from Jun 1918 to Jun 1919,not to say that he was there right to Jun 1919 though. Diary ref in the Kew Discovery database is WO95/1975. His first war zone was at Gallipoli,then to Salonika,then to Egypt,then to France.He will have sent the card a few days after the Armistice ending the war in Nov 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 15 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 15 November , 2018 My great granda fought in the great war from 1915 until 1919. My question however is that his medal index is under another name which was then amended in 1924. I know my gt granda was a docker in belfast, could this have been a reserved occupation so he initially gave a different name??? Hope that makes sense. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 16 November , 2018 Share Posted 16 November , 2018 Give us a name, service number, DOB and we may be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James A Pratt III Posted 16 November , 2018 Share Posted 16 November , 2018 I have read that enlisting under an Alias was not rare during WW I and before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 16 November , 2018 Share Posted 16 November , 2018 Looking at Heather's previous thread The MIC is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 16 November , 2018 Share Posted 16 November , 2018 An alias is usually clearly marked. It seems that it is more like an error correction. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 16 November , 2018 Share Posted 16 November , 2018 In fact it was an alias. If you go to the actual medal roll you get Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 16 November , 2018 Share Posted 16 November , 2018 This gets us no closer to seeing why he used an alias. Does Heather have his date of birth and also his mother's maiden name to try to dig more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 16 November , 2018 Admin Share Posted 16 November , 2018 I have merged the two threads Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 29 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 29 May , 2021 Could it be that william anderson used my great grandas name to gain entry?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 29 May , 2021 Share Posted 29 May , 2021 Heather it is over 2 years since you put anything on the thread. This has not altered the need for information As has been said earlier , unless you can give us more information like his full name, where and when he was born and his parents names, then is is unlikely that any reeaderrs of this thread can do any more than guess and give opinions that may well be wrong And did he ever live at 428 Ligoniel Rd, Belfast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 29 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 29 May , 2021 David smylie, born january 1895. Died october 1959. His service number is 17143. Father was david smylie, mother was eleanor (nee cunningham).. i have issues with an alias being used, possibly by accident. Im trying to find out who used the others name if it wasnt an accident at all. If that makes sense x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 29 May , 2021 Share Posted 29 May , 2021 OK, if I understand this correctly 1. David Smylie born 1895 in Belfast 2. in Belfast in 1901 census 3. In Belfast in 1911 census. His parents and himself appear to have moved in with his married sister. He is an apprentice carpenter 4. His mother died in 1912 5. He enlists at some point in Royal Irish Fusiliers #17143 using the name William Anderson 6. He was discharged in Feb 1919 to an address in Ligoniel Rd, Belfast. At this point the Army was aware that his real name was David Smylie 7. You have that he died in 1959 (I think in fact he died Oct 1957, and was living at 238 Ligoniel Road , Belfast at that time. This is probably the address on his pension card, that has been mangled somewhere)) He appears to have deliberately enlisted as William Anderson when he went in to the Royal Irish Fusiliers The use of alaises were common in WW1. Usually it was a young boy concealing his age, but this was not the case here. It was often a man escaping a wife and family, or a girl friend in the family way. Or it could be because of a police record, or deserting during previous service and not wanting that known Basically it is difficult to get to the truth of "why", but I think you can be sure that is was not a clerical error and that he did enlist as "William Anderson". But I think there are enough facts now for readers of the thread to try to find out more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonkers82 Posted 29 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 29 May , 2021 Yes, all those details are correct. Wish i could work out the alias reason 🤔🤔🤔. Thank you by the way for your help x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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