Deciphering Soldiers' Handwriting

[TheRecordKeeper]

Thanks very much to all for your help and insights. The photo of Edward John Howard Veitch is great!

[Coldstreamer]

why do you think his btn is wrong ? 

[TheRecordKeeper]

On 30/10/2019 at 11:25, Coldstreamer said:

why do you think his btn is wrong ? 

 

Whom?

[Coldstreamer]

On 16/10/2019 at 19:46, helpjpl said:

 

 

17329 Pte Richard Yates, Coldstream Guards ?

 

JP

 this one

[TheRecordKeeper]

On 06/11/2019 at 04:23, Coldstreamer said:

17329 Pte Richard Yates, Coldstream Guards ?

 

The service number returns someone with the last name 'Judd,' on Forces War Records, which seems like a stretch to me, and the person named Judd was not in the Coldstream Guards. Judd was the one with the 'wrong' battalion. Sorry for the confusion.

[Coldstreamer]

thanks for clarifying - I was confused.com

[TheRecordKeeper]

Revisiting this thread after years because I need more help!! This is what I'm working with.

And here's what I've managed to transcribe: 

"It was something awful—the shells were flying all sides of us and every minute seemed an hour waiting in to get to go over but it came at last, so over we went like demons/diamonds(?) [illegible] and [illegible] to [illegible] [illegible] but sorry to say I didn't(?) get a few [illegible]. I was hit in the arm and leg but [illegible] hope were still going strong so I will have to thank the Sisters of Ward B6 for the kindness to me while here."

Any help with the [illegible]s is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[Terry_Reeves]

After demons - singing and joking.

TR

 

[sueburden]

I didnt get too far till I was hit in the arm and leg.

Sue

Edited 4 December , 2022 by sueburden

[charlie962]

..waiting in to get the order but it came at last so over...

[charlie962]

..to our selves but sorry to say..

[charlie962]

..leg but our boys were still going strong..

[TheRecordKeeper]

Back with more!! I can't quite make out this gent's battalion. So far I've got Private Alexander, 13th Corps (or maybe Company?), and then [illegible] Artillery [illegible] though it looks like maybe "Park"? France. Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Edited 5 December , 2022 by TheRecordKeeper

[charlie962]

13 Corps, Seige Artillery Park

[charlie962]

Seige Parks were the name given in 1917, I think, to ASC MT units that provided the haulage for Heavy Artillery within a Corps. There may be a war diary although it may be under the subsequent title rather than 13 corps siege park.

I crib this from a post in an earlier thread by @michaeldr.

Siege Parks attached to Corps were designed for work with Heavy Artillery, but were administered by the ASC. They were answerable to the Heavy Artillery for the haulage of guns, supplying ammunition to batteries when in position, and the movement of batteries, also to the MT Branch of the ASC for the upkeep of lorries and administration of personnel

[charlie962]

Trawl through this page of the LongLongTrail and you may find the ASC MT Company that corresponds to XIII Corps Siege Park ?

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-army-service-corps-in-the-first-world-war/army-service-corps-mechanical-transport-companies/ 

Edit..looks like war diary for 335 MT Co ASC, alias 13 Corps Siege Park, is here 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/29fffb2b1809439893cc0d80689e5bfd

 

Edited 5 December , 2022 by charlie962

[TheRecordKeeper]

37 minutes ago, charlie962 said:

Trawl through this page of the LongLongTrail and you may find the ASC MT Company that corresponds to XIII Corps Siege Park ?

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-army-service-corps-in-the-first-world-war/army-service-corps-mechanical-transport-companies/ 

Edit..looks like war diary for 335 MT Co ASC, alias 13 Corps Siege Park, is here 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/29fffb2b1809439893cc0d80689e5bfd

 

Thanks very much! This is super helpful.

[TheRecordKeeper]

On 17/10/2019 at 09:56, TheRecordKeeper said:

Thanks for all your research! Here's where I'm stuck with this fellow: the reason I think it's a W and not a P is because his initial looks like the way he writes his W's (circled in blue). The reason I think the first letter of his last name might be an F is because he writes his F the same way (red). I wrote out what the signature looks like to me, but what kind of a name is Fhonpon, honestly. And I think it might actually be 1/3 battalion (orange) but I'm not getting much in the way of results for that. Could also be a strange-looking 4? It could be that he just made a typographical error...

 

Hey thanks! I really appreciate the sleuthing you've done.

 

On 16/10/2019 at 15:26, Bob Davies said:

Well, I am finding quite a lot of info on the 13th Batt Royal Highlanders of Canada but no nominal roll as yet. There is a list of casualties, including a number of Thompsons. https://archive.org/details/royalhighlanders00fethuoft

Well, after 5 years of mystery I'm back on the trail of Mr W "Fhonpon." The 13th Royal Highlanders of Canada would make perfect sense for him and I do think it's Thompson, specifically William Teller/Tullock Thompson, because I found service records with the signature that looks *exactly* the same. However, it does not list his battalion as the 13th of anything, and the casualty form doesn't list a specific hospital (the 22nd General in Camiers-Dannes) that would have confirmed he was the right guy. I did go through all 250+ results for 'W Thompson on the Canadian Personnel Records archive and this seems to be the only one that matches, unless the handwriting was just eerily similar and I happened to miss the real one.

So here are my questions:

1. What bureaucratic slip-up might have happened to make the record incorrect with regards to his battalion?

2. Why did he write that he was in the BEF and not the CEF? Was it possible that he was just making stuff up, or that he had assumed another soldier's identity?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

 

[PhilB]

On 04/12/2022 at 18:05, Terry_Reeves said:

After demons - singing and joking.

TR

 

laughing and joking?

[Terry_Reeves]

26 minutes ago, PhilB said:

laughing and joking?

Could be, but there appears to be a dot hovering above.

[TheRecordKeeper]

On 26/02/2024 at 12:15, TheRecordKeeper said:

Well, after 5 years of mystery I'm back on the trail of Mr W "Fhonpon." The 13th Royal Highlanders of Canada would make perfect sense for him and I do think it's Thompson, specifically William Teller/Tullock Thompson, because I found service records with the signature that looks *exactly* the same. However, it does not list his battalion as the 13th of anything, and the casualty form doesn't list a specific hospital (the 22nd General in Camiers-Dannes) that would have confirmed he was the right guy. I did go through all 250+ results for 'W Thompson on the Canadian Personnel Records archive and this seems to be the only one that matches, unless the handwriting was just eerily similar and I happened to miss the real one.

So here are my questions:

1. What bureaucratic slip-up might have happened to make the record incorrect with regards to his battalion?

2. Why did he write that he was in the BEF and not the CEF? Was it possible that he was just making stuff up, or that he had assumed another soldier's identity?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

EDIT: I had the wrong paperwork after all! I finally found the correct paperwork and all is confirmed. Turns out that the 'eerily similar' handwriting mentioned above was just that. Now anyone coming back to this post can rest easy knowing that his name was actually William Thompson, not Fhonpon.