Cpl J Dixon KRRC

[Trooper B]

Hello all,

i have acquired the medal trio of 9871 L/Cpl J Dixon of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps.  I know that he probably came from Hull and with that service number I think he may have been a prewar professional soldier.

i have discovered that as a Cpl he was reported missing 1/6/18 but later returned to the UK on 6/12/18 having been a prisoner of war.  I am having trouble though finding out which battalion he served with so that I can discover where he was serving and the circumstances of his capture.

Does anyone have an idea where I could start looking to discover this?

 

Thanks,

 

Trooper B

[Acknown]

The Dixon entries in the ICRC list are under 'Dickson'. Here's his entry but frustratingly, no battalion: https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/List/2474673/699/52336/. Doesn't really help though ...

Acknown

[Trooper B]

Thanks Acknown,

 

At least I can now see that he actually arrived back in UK at Dover on 27th November 1918, but as you say, frustrating!

 

Trooper.

[PRC]

From memory the KRRC Service Medal Rolls for Victory Medals and British War Medals, (on Ancestry only) are fairly detailed about Battalions served with overseas.

 

Suggest you try there.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

[Trooper B]

Thanks PRC, guess I’m now off to spend more money........will report back!

[charlie962]

FindMyPast have one of those odd bits of paper (PtII Orders)indexed that says:

 

Musketry Qualifications

The undermentioned NCOs and Riflemen completed course of Musketry 1/11/17 (edited) and classified as follows:

2 Coy

Marksmen

9871 Cpl Dixon J   Score 138

Edited 17 November by charlie962

[charlie962]

He also appeared as Wounded in the Daily Casualty List of 22/3/17 suggesting actual wounding a month earlier. Cpl, KRRC

[PRC]

1 hour ago, Trooper B said:

Thanks PRC, guess I’m now off to spend more money........will report back!

 

If you're resident in the UK could be worthwhile checking out your local library - most have a subscription to Ancestry.

Some also have FindMyPast while they all tend to have the British Newspaper Archive.

 

Signing up through that route also gives you a free account, which with Ancestry at least gives you the MICs on your normal device. It also means you can take advantage of their free weekends without have to give any credit card details. You've just missed the Remembrance Weekend, but they quite often do something at Christmas.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

[Trooper B]

Crikey Charlie, there’s you digging up bits of info like that .........and me only just finding his medal index card!  No indication of Battalion I suppose?

 

Thanks all for your efforts.

 

Trooper.

[charlie962]

2 minutes ago, Trooper B said:

No indication of Battalion I suppose?

No, 'fraid not. I get the impression he (like others) could well have changed Bn more than once in his career, particularly if his wounding required hospitalisation. Peter's route is best. Do let us know results please.

charlie

[Trooper B]

Thanks Peter,

 

I will I’ll look into that, I am usually a member of at least one site at a time, only to find out that I need to investigate is on a different site......frustrating and expensive!

 

Trooper.

[Trooper B]

On 17/11/2019 at 21:43, charlie962 said:

FindMyPast have one of those odd bits of paper (PtII Orders)indexed that says:

 

Musketry Qualifications

The undermentioned NCOs and Riflemen completed course of Musketry 1/11/17 (edited) and classified as follows:

2 Coy

Marksmen

9871 Cpl Dixon J   Score 138

Charlie 962,

as I was still getting nowhere trying to find info on Cpl Dixon I decided to try and look up other men mentioned in the above record.......and cannot identify any of the approximately 7 or 8 men I looked at when searching for their medal index cards......

any ideas?

[clk]

Hi,

 

On 17/11/2019 at 22:10, Trooper B said:

No indication of Battalion I suppose?

 

His medal roll records indicate that his overseas service was entirely with the 1st Bn. Arrived in theatre (1) on 26.10.1915, discharged to the 'B' Reserve 16.4.1919.

 

Regards

Chris

[charlie962]

1 hour ago, Trooper B said:

I decided to try and look up other men mentioned in the above record.......and cannot identify any of the approximately 7 or 8 men I looked at when searching for their medal index cards....

I don't think this would have helped you as from a couple I've checked they are from other Bns than the 1st that Chris has identified from the Roll (as Peter suggested a couple of weeks ago!)

 

If you are having problems with the search facility it may be that  you are being too precise with the prefix letter. I suggest that you put the service number without prefix letter either a) into the keywords box or b) with an asterisk before it into the service number box.

Try it with Pickett R13046 (NB his forename W is for Walter not Wilson!)

 

Charlie

[PRC]

1 hour ago, clk said:

His medal roll records indicate that his overseas service was entirely with the 1st Bn. Arrived in theatre (1) on 26.10.1915, discharged to the 'B' Reserve 16.4.1919.

 

On 17/11/2019 at 18:10, Trooper B said:

i have discovered that as a Cpl he was reported missing 1/6/18

 

Time to check out the War Diary - either via subscription to Ancestry \ free access to Ancestry at the Library \ download from the National Archive at £3.50.

 

On the NA the 1st Battalion KRRC is here:-

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352007

If you go down this route I'd normally recommend the Brigade War Diary for the relevant period as it contains a copy of the War Diaries for all the units that made up the Brigade, are quite often typed rather than handwritten, and retain appendices and maps that may have gone walkies from the Battalion version.

Long, Long Trail tells me that they were in 99th Brigade of the 2nd Division at the relevant point,

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/kings-royal-rifle-corps/

although there is one slight quirk. The LLT page for the 2nd Division shows 1st KRRC as disbanded in February 1918.

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/2nd-division/

As far as I'm aware no Regular Army Battalions were disbanded as part of the British Army re-organisation.

 

Anyway, 99th Brigade War Diary for the 1st April 1918 to 30th June 1918 can be sourced here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14052888

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

 

 

[Trooper B]

PRC, Charlie962 & clk, 

 

Thanks guys, i have learned a great deal tonight, hopefully  I can now discover the circumstances of his capture.  

 

Regards

 

Trooper