RAMC

[Syd Hockey]

My Grandfather was Bertie Pardoe Hockey born 27-4-1879 at Newport Monmouthshire I believe he enlisted at Cardiff, with the RAMC, all I have at the moment is his medal card that states: BERTIE,S REGITMENTAL Number was 95801 (Medal card) he was in the R.A.M.C. his rank was a PRIVATE his medals were
VICTORY MEDAL R.A.M.C. 101 b/29.
BRITISH MEDAL  R.A.M.C. 101.        Page 208.   Service Medal & Award Roles: R.A.M.C. Regiment or Corps. 301 & 266. 1919. Can any kind person inform me what RAMC 101Means and is it possible to find any more about him elsewhere. His Army records I have not yet found, but I do know that he was back home in Cardiff 21-2-1919. Thank you for any help or pointers. Regards, Syd Hockey.

[TEW]

The medal card references 101 B29 Page 2088 are index references to the medal rolls. His entry is on page 2088 (top right of the roll).

 

The 301 & 266 are the army orders for the issuing of those medals.

 

His medal card is quite plain and has no further information which means he arrived in a theatre of war from 1916 onwards.

 

I can't see any service type records for him. RAMC men are quite difficult to track down to a specific unit. He could be with a front line field ambulance or at a base hospital.

TEW

[Syd Hockey]

Thank you Sir for your kind help and information. Regards, Syd

[PRC]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

I see from the 1911 Census of England & Wales that the 32 year old Bertie P. Hockey, born Newport, Monmouthshire, a married Insurance Agent, was recorded living at 5 Camborne Place, Yeovil, Somerset. This was the household of his in-laws Henry & Annie Abbott. Henry has two step-children in the household, both with the surname Bell.

 

Also in the household is his wife of 5 years, Beatrice, aged 23 and born Pembroke Dock, and their children Thelma, (3) and John James, (1) - both born Yeovil.

However the only likely marriage I can see for Bertie Pardoe Hockey, took place in the District of Pembroke in Q2 1906 and his most likely wife was a Beatrice Catherine Hall.

Checking the birth records, the birth of a Glwyds Thelma Hockey, mothers' maiden name Hall, was registered in the Yeovil District in Q1 1908, and that of John james Hockey, mothers maiden name Hall, in Q3 of 1909.

 

The reason for looking is to investigate possible later children of this couple. The related birth certificate(s) will show fathers occupation. If he was serving it may give nothing more than rank and corps \ regiment, but sometimes it gives much more. However other than a Gwendoline M. Hockey, whose birth was registered in the Yeovil District in Q1 of 1912 I'm not sure I can identify anymore. Between 1911 & 1921 there looks to be possibly 4 or 5 familys registering births with the surname Hockey, mothers maiden Hall, in England & Wales. One of these is actually in the Newport District of Monmouthshire, with potentially 4 children registered - but the first of these is in Q2 of 1912.  Then there are two children registered in the Bedwelty District of Monmouthshire. The rest are along the south coast of England - Hampshire & Kent.

 

It also doesn't look like (fortunately) any of the children or his wife, died while he might have been serving - at least as far as the civil records for England & Wales was concerned. That would have brought up the possibility of showing more information about Bertie on their death certificates.

 

I see from a Cardiff court case reported in 1919 (Western Mail 21st February 1919) that Bertie was an Private in the RAMC who had served in France and who had come home on the 6th January 1919. His home address is given as 42 Cowbridge Road, Cardiff.

 

That brings up one other possibilty - the absent voters lists for 1918 & 1919. There is a bit more here about how to use them to find out the details recorded of the unit being served with. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/finding-soldiers-through-the-1918-absent-voters-lists/

However be aware - the first of the 1918 editions consisted of information supplied by other voters at the address, so will only be as good as the information they knew.

 

The Long, Long Trail webpage above says information about the AVL for Cardiff can be found on line, but the link itself is broken. The documentation appears to be held by Glamorgan Archives but is not on line. You would probably need to contact them if you wanted to go down this route.

https://glamarchives.gov.uk/

 

Hope some of that helps,

Peter

 

[charlie962]

His RAMC service number suggests a mobilization in January 1917.  He may have been called up or may previously have attested and been transferred to the Reserve at the time. It depends a bit on his age and employment.

 

Charlie

 

PS Peter's post shows he was 37 and married so this would have delayed his mobilization.

Edited 23 August , 2020 by charlie962

[Syd Hockey]

Thank you both for your information regarding my Grandfather.

On my father,s birth certificate 23-10-1914 Bertie,s occupation is stated as a Coal Hewer at that time Bertie and his family are living at 6,Jubilee Road New Tredegar South Wales.

Bertie,s wife Caroline Beatrice (nee Hall) left the family around 1920 and went to Australia 1922 alone and under her maiden name, she never returned.

[TEW]

I would try using findmypast or ancestry to locate service or pension type records for other RAMC men with close numbers.

Start at 95790 up to 95810, if that doesn't produce many results expand it another 10 each side.

 

What you'd hope to see is similarities across the existing records, these would imply that Hockey's history follows the same trend.

 

You may find that the records indicate the men were all posted to the same medical unit.

 

As a starter; 95804 Garland came from the Tyne area, called up 16/1/17. Arrived in France June 1917 and posted to 6 Field Ambulance 19/6/17.

 

TEW

 

[Syd Hockey]

Thank you Peter I will try this root.

The soldier Andrew Garland that you mentioned was killed on Christmas day 1917, so sad.

Regards,

             Syd