chasray Posted 23 May , 2019 Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Hello, I am researching my Great Uncle Benjamin Wheeler. Benjamin Wheeler. Born: 1895 Westbury, Wiltshire. Date of Death: 18th of April 1916. Place of Death: Mesopotamia. Enlistment place: Trowbridge. Rank: Private. Regiment: Duke of Edinburghs (Wiltshire). Battalion: 5th. Regimental Number: 3/9784. Type of Casualty: Killed in Action. Theatre of War: Asiatic. Medal Index Card: Theatre of war 1st served: (1) Victory Medal, British War Medal, 1915 Star. Date of Entry: 26-1-1915. 5th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment. Service Number: 3/9784. I am trying to find out the places Bennjamin Wheeler served during the Great War. I noticed on his MIC that the place he first served was area (1). Did he serve in Gallipoli? Where exactly did he die? Is there a headstone anywhere? Are there any war diaries for the battalion? Any information would be appriciated. Thank you... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 23 May , 2019 Admin Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Hi John The relevant war diary is available for a small fee at Kew https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ebeac8e953fe4c3ea7ff30564f527c95 As he is recorded on the memorial panel it indicates that his grave is unknown so there is not likely to be a headstone. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasray Posted 23 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Thank you David for that information... From the information we have do you think he served in Gallipoli...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDWARD1 Posted 23 May , 2019 Share Posted 23 May , 2019 The 5th were in Helles from the 16th to 30th July 1915, landed at Anzac 4th Aug 1915, to Egypt Jan 1916, to Mesopotamia Feb.1916 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 23 May , 2019 Share Posted 23 May , 2019 (edited) Hi John, The Regimental Museum have transcribed the war diaries of all of the Battalions. The search page is here. It is a bit of a pain though, as you have to search by battalion and a specific date - you don't get a continuous run, nor the option to page forward/back. If you click on the 'summary' text, it will expand to give the full entry. His medal roll records, and the '3/' prefix to his service number, show that he was a special reservist with the 3rd Battalion, before being sent overseas where he initially served with the 1st Bn. in France/Flanders. Regards Chris Edit: Benjamin left a will - £10 from here. It may well consist of a very few words, and would come as a low resolution B&W scan of the original Edited 23 May , 2019 by clk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasray Posted 23 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Thank you Edward and clk for the information.. Clk: That is very interesting about his service number and the fact he went to Flanders first... I just wonder when he left France.... and did he go straight to Mesopotania or via Galllipoli... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 23 May , 2019 Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Hi John, A question that I don't have an answer for is, why and when did he leave the 1st Bn? I don't have access to them, but it might be worth looking at casualty lists to see if he appears as wounded. In terms of his service, papers survive which show: 3/9628 Bond joined 20.10.1911 3/9657 Chivers joined 28.12.1911 3/9784 3/9808 Goodfellow joined 15.10.1912 3/9832 Cox joined 3.12.1912 Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasray Posted 23 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Hi Chris, Looking at those numbers you would think he joined the Special Reserve around September 1912... Is that how you see it? As for why he was transferred... could it be that they wanted to bolster the service battalions with more experienced men.... Thanks for your help Chris... Regards, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 23 May , 2019 Share Posted 23 May , 2019 Hi John pm sent chaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasray Posted 25 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 25 May , 2019 In Hi Chris, I have tried to find his service record but to no avail... I guess it must have been one of the burnt ones... Is there copies anywhere or is that it? He did enlist in Trowbridge and that is all I found and do not know if that is of any help.. So we have Benjamin Wheeler who went to France 26 Jan 1915 as per MIC to join 1st Wilts. His first Will was made out in 1915. (No unit named) His 2nd Will was made in January 1916 whilst with the 5th Wiltshire Regiment and it said that he was with the 5th Wilts in the Mediteranean Expeditionary Force.... So I guess its narrowed down to between 26th of Jan 1915 and Jan 1916 when he transferred from 1st to 5th Wilts... Is there anything else I can try... Thanks again Chris, Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasray Posted 25 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 25 May , 2019 Just read the war diaries of the 5th Wilts and it said that they had replacements in Mudros ready to join Battalion after evacuation from Gallipoli... These men were from the 1st and 2nd Battalions and had seen service in France.. also they were men returning to regiment after been wounded or unfit for duty.... This was 9th of Jan 1916 in Mudros and the same day Benjamin wrote out and signed his 2nd Will with British Mediteranean Expiditionary Force as address... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 25 May , 2019 Share Posted 25 May , 2019 (edited) Hi John, That's interesting. It might be worth trying to explore if he was wounded with the 1/Wilts in 1915, then after recovery was recycled to 5/Wilts. Whilst I didn't see a surviving service record either, if you can find him on a casualty list, it might be possible to date a wounding (within a couple of days) by looking for papers for men from the regiment on the same list to see what wounding dates are shown. Unfortunately, I don't have access to casualty lists from 1915 to look. The records here* and here may be relevant, but whilst you should be able to take out a free trial, I don't know what you would get. Just a record of the individual person with the date of the list?? - whereas you really want details of others on the same list to check if they have surviving papers from which you may be able to make a reasonable inference. There is general advice on how to research a soldier on the LLT here. It might also be worth contacting the Regimental Museum to see what record holdings they have that might be of help (there is a 'contact us' link from the page I linked in post #5). I appreciate that they charge a research fee, but hopefully they may be able to tell you what resources they have that might be relevant, and then you could decide whether it would be worth it. As an aside my GG uncle died with the 1/Wilts in 1914. I had some basic details (CWGC, SDGW, Soldiers Effects, his will, medal rolls, newspaper reports, war diary, etc) but he doesn't have a surviving service file - they were able to add that he died from a GSW to his chest, in a named field hospital. Hopefully they might have something for Benjamin relating to pre war service, a potential wounding, and his death. * Image source: Forces War Records Good luck. Regards Chris Edit: My current avatar is an image of him c1906 Edited 25 May , 2019 by clk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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