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Remembered Today:

John Joseph Leach 6674/6536297/75064


CassieRae

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  Company Quarter Master Serjeant 75064

John Joseph Leach joined the

Labour Corps, Worcestershire Regiment. When I look this up I find that the seemed to have been formed in 1916/17. How can I discover what Bn he was in please?

 

116077760_john-j-leachmedal-card-col.png.a44fd032dcd1e0ba378d3368124016cf.png

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Thanks Chris, I have also looked for his CWGC Certificate and so far cannot find this.  I will try another service no.

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He must have been wounded then transferred to the Labour Corps

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He seems to have returned to the Worcestershire Regiment with a new number of 75064, against which he was presumably accredited with the Victory Medal?

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Hi,

 

His DCM citation:

image.png.4a4d1976fbb6388c369f46349000b274.png

Image sourced from the National Archives

 

Findmypast has a hospital admission/discharge register record which reads as:

 

First name(s): J J

Last name: Leach

Age: 34

Service number: 6674

Rank: Company Quartermaster Sergeant

Unit: 4th Bn Worcestershire Regiment; 'Y' Company

Admitted to 2nd General Hospital on 17.4.1916 suffering from indigestion. Discharged to 'T B Rouen (Dentures)' on 19.4.1916

14 years completed service/1 in the field

 

Regards

Chris

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Goodness, thank you for all of that information, I wonder then when he died as he is on  the memorial list and on the church war memorial and inside plaque.  It rather looks as if he lived "4 years completed service/1 in the field"

 

Leach, John

a.    Memorial: Longworth (WMR 31718), Longworth, Oxfordshire

 

What is the usual reason why some men have more than one service number?  Thanks you.

Edited by CasseRae
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Bit of a mix-up on the Medal Index Card ? Shows first war theatre as France 23.9.1915.

According to the DCM citation he was at Gallipoli in June 1915.

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I just wondered how and when he 'moved'?

 

This makes me more confused regarding his movements - decided to try the local paper and found this:392875418_leach-j-FaringdonAdvertiserandValeoftheWhiteHorseGazette-Saturday18December1915.jpg.adbde19ba94e16567d2bad0e25664998.jpg

Edited by CasseRae
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Thank you for looking this up for me. So glad it isn't 'my' John Leach. The insertion came under the village name Hinton Waldrist, so I assume he mush have been living there and could be a cousin as it was in a surrounding village that the John I am researching lived.  Many thanks

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Hi,

 

Looking at his service numbers. I hope that I've got this right.

 

6674 - Worcestershire Regiment (Regular Army)

 

6671 Wright - attested initially on a 'short service' basis (7 years with the Colours, and 5 years in the Reserve) on 13.1.1902. Initially posted to the 3rd Bn 28.1.1902

6674

6675 Herbert - attested initially on a 'short service' basis (7 years with the Colours, and 5 years in the Reserve) on 20.1.1902. Initially posted to the 3rd Bn 28.1.1902

6677 Harrison - attested initially on a 'short service' basis (7 years with the Colours, and 5 years in the Reserve) on 13.1.1902. Initially posted to the 3rd Bn 28.1.1902

 

An enlistment in January 1902 would seem to tie back nicely to the 14 years completed service noted in the medical record of April 1916.

 

NB - what confuses the situation slightly is that there are some surviving service papers for men that attested to Militia Battalions (5th/6th) of the Worcestershire Regiment  (some of which have identical numbers to 'Regular' men) around the same time. In their case in late April 1902. I assume though that if John had originally served in the militia, he would have been given a new service number when he signed up as a regular soldier.

 

653297 Labour Corps

 

Service papers show:

 

653292 Blackman* - transferred to the Labour Corps 15.10.1918

653296 Hughes - transferred to the Labour Corps 15.10.1918

653297

653312 Burroughs* - transferred to the Labour Corps 15.10.1918

653330 Stott* - transferred to the Labour Corps 17.10.1918

 

Once transferred they were sent to differing units.

 

*these records specifically note them as 'compulsory transfers'.

 

 

75064 Worcestershire Regiment

 

This looks like it might be a post WW1 service number, and may indicate that John was discharged, but decided to join up again in 1920.

 

75109 Bond - joined up 27.3.1920

75122 Bash - joined up 31.3.1920

75154 Gillard - joined up 14.4.1920

75169 Davenport - joined up 14.4.1920

 

 

7 hours ago, CasseRae said:

Worcestershire Regiment in the Great War Vol 1   Gallipoli (1915)
The First Phase - Capt Fitz.M.Stacke

a Google Book 

 

On Ancestry the 4th Bn Gallipoli war diary starts here 

 

The LLT says of the Bn...

 image.png.5d57d9727036ceafd80849c10580ad67.png

Image sourced from the LLT

 

Regards

Chris

Edited by clk
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13 hours ago, clk said:

An enlistment in January 1902 would seem to tie back nicely to the 14 years completed service noted in the medical record of April 1916.

 That would make him 15 as born/baptised in 1887. Sounds sensible Chris thank you as does the 653297 Labour Corps

Your thoughts (cannot take off embolden!) are sound and really helpful so thank you again.

I note that he was still given the service number 6674 when he was awarded the DSM whilst in the Dardanelles. I still cannot discover when and where he died though.

Chris what does LLT mean please?

Edited by CasseRae
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Hi,

 

I think that we've been barking up the wrong tree. 

 

Longworth Church Interior War Memorial shows:

 

image.png.bc1aee8d991461f284c32d396c9e0c16.png

Image sourced from http://www.longworth-history.org.uk/

 

The date of death makes him the man that served with the Canadian Army (per the CWGC link in post #11).  His service papers are here. They show that his mother lived in Little London, Southmoor, Abingdon.

 

Regards

Chris

Edited by clk
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Oh my goodness. I am sorry that I didn't check that out. I shall go through remainder and note the plaque dates. Chris thank you so very much for all the thought and time you given to sorting this out. I came here to tell you that  the one we have been following JJ Leach died in the Dardanelles.  This man lived came home, married, died 6.9.15 and had a son who also died in WW2. http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/casualty/leach-john-leslie-2/?fbclid=IwAR1sjqmwjbcP2OQQlmiLS2AKvgrwQ7MAKSTmyqdP2OjB3RbfFkM5OPVXQJAgt-war-deaths.jpg.bbd983694905bdd3d0e7259a3af38abc.jpg

 

Have uploaded this list really to show you and ask if you know this. Someone sent it to me as I had joined a FB group this morning to see if somebody could help over his death. I did ask for source but they've not come back to me.  Cheers and thanks agin for your support Chris. Really appreciated.

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Great work Chris, master of your game 👍

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Chris has been absolutely wonderful in response to many questions from me.I cannot thank him enough. I looked at the linked service records Chris but had not realised that there were so many.  Now all dl and copied. What a great find.  I have others who left for Canada and came back to fight. Where would I find these please if I wish to follow the source for other men?

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Hi,

 

4 hours ago, CasseRae said:

I have others who left for Canada and came back to fight. Where would I find these please if I wish to follow the source for other men?

 

If they served with Canadian units, the files are held in the Library and Archives Canada. The search page is here. If you find one that you are interested in, clicking on the link gives you an initial 2 page view, but if you then click on the link I've circled in the image below, it takes you through to the full record.

 

image.png.652248c43a92201deb7332d47b865f61.png

 

The Library and Archives Canada also hold their unit war diaries. There is some information here.

 

13 hours ago, CasseRae said:

what does LLT mean please?

 

It's short for the Long, Long Trail - the website run by the original founder (Chris Baker) of this forum - link.

 

Regards

Chris

 

Edit:

I had a quick look at a couple (literally) of men on the list that you were sent. They seem to be Worcestershire Regiment men that were awarded the DCM, with the date shown being the date of the London Gazette in which the citation was published. For example, for the other man that we were talking about:

image.png.17d09cbe038a5b49d6d46a2e468906e9.png

Image sourced from Findmypast

 

image.png.f50995b16576febc840d21552bade42e.png

 

image.png.c8221b3f157c4ed0feeb9d5aeb2897e9.png

Images sourced from the National Archives

Edited by clk
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Many thanks Chris, I will follow up the Canadian links. I did start looking in the Gazette but I was called away and then I found your message saying we had the wrong chap. You have been an absolutely wonderful help. We had the wrong chap, but that happens in research and you learn along the way. All's well that ends well. Thank you. Have just bought your Flanders book Chris. 

Edited by CasseRae
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Hi,

 

1 hour ago, CasseRae said:

Have just bought your Flanders book Chris. 

 

I didn't realise that I'd written any books. :)

 

Regards

Chris

 

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