Terry Barlow Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Hi - I'm trying to find out about my grandfather's movements and involvement in the Great War. I know he served at The Somme. He survived the war and died in 1973, aged 79. Like most old soldiers he never mentioned the war, all he ever told me was the he was at The Somme and promptly clammed up, understandably. He was Joseph Frederick Barlow b1894 in Wolverhampton, he joined the South Staffordshire Regiment 49402 and later transferred to the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) 103785, where I believe he attained the rank of corporal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner 87 Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Hi Terry. Have you searched for Joseph's Regimental and Service Records yet? If not these may well be available on Find My Past or Ancestry. If you can confirm which Battalion Joseph was in then a search online at the National Archives may provide the Battalion War Diary. These often cover, in detail, the day to day actions and movements of the unit and are free to download at he moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Barlow Posted 11 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Hi Gunner 87 - many thanks for the quick response and information. I will follow this up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbem Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 (edited) Hi and welcome I guess this is him https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1262&h=3005729&tid=&pid=&queryId=57940d3a5ed9a1c1c858dac47572587f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=CUH12603&_phstart=successSource Name:Joseph Frederick Barlow Regiment or Corps:South Staffordshire Regiment, Notts and Derby (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment Regimental Number:49402, 103785 and medal roll showing Cpl https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/5119/images/41629_625537_9677-00195?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=e691d8dbf04315b9e4553dc8ae054e71&usePUB=true&_phsrc=CUH12605&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=3209782 rgds Jon Edited 11 February , 2021 by jonbem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Barlow Posted 11 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Hi Jonbem - that's my Grandad Joe. Many thanks for that. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner 87 Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Terry Barlow said: Hi Gunner 87 - many thanks for the quick response and information. I will follow this up. Terry, if you struggle to find him definitely come back as here are other indices and experts on this forum that can help provide that information which will assist in identifying Joseph's unit. Another route is to apply the service records through the following link but I would leave this as the last resort as I understand it costs. https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records Another great source if information is the Long Long Trail which is affiliated to this forum. It will give you an idea of where the unit served etc. If you know his Battalion I am very happy to have a look at the National Archives for you. Edited 11 February , 2021 by Gunner 87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Hi Terry and welcome to the forum. I'm not seeing any surviving service records for him on FindMyPast but that's not unusual - the majority of other ranks records were destroyed when bombs hit the warehouse where they were being stored in the Blitz. His Medal Index Card - literally that, an index card raised at the relevant records office in 1919 to keep track of the issue of medals, shows that Joseph Frederick Barlow, Private 49402 South Staffordshire Regiment and Private 103785 Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment qualified for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. This combination of medals he did not serve in a Theatre of War until on or after the 1st January 1916. The related service medal roll, available on Ancestry, if it has been completed correctly by the clerk concerned should show which units he served with overses. The issuing Regiment should also be the last one served with. Soldiers didn't routinely transfer between units unless it suited the Army. The main reasons for doing so are if a man was wounded \ accidentally injured \ suffered ill-health or the unit was disbanded. If one of the forum pals with access to Ancestry can confirm from the Medal Roll the units served with, then it may be possible with that, and looking for surviving service records for men with nearby service numbers in both regiments to put together some kind of picture of his war service. BTW - take it your aware of his picture on the Lives of the First World War site https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/187982 Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Barlow Posted 11 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Thanks Gunner87. Much appreciated. I've now got his medal roll thanks to Jonbem. Need to find out what unit he was in now. The tragedy is that my late Mum threw away by mistake the contents of a box that contained quite a bit of memorabilia he had brought back from the war including pictures, etc. She replaced the contents with some useless audio cassettes and put the contents aside for me, got confused and disposed of them, bless her. There was also a book of cartoons my grandmother's comrades made for her when she left the services in 1919. She belonged to an auxiliary service that helped build biplanes, possibly at Hendon, she used to apply dope on the wings - understandably they had to have a break every half an hour because they were getting 'high'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbem Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 try this for the war diary https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4554872 Reference: WO 95/1721 Description: 24 Infantry Brigade: 1 Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). (Described at item level) Date: 1914 Aug 1 - 1919 Apr 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Barlow Posted 11 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Brilliant thanks jonbem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Barlow Posted 11 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 11 February , 2021 3 minutes ago, PRC said: Hi Terry and welcome to the forum. I'm not seeing any surviving service records for him on FindMyPast but that's not unusual - the majority of other ranks records were destroyed when bombs hit the warehouse where they were being stored in the Blitz. His Medal Index Card - literally that, an index card raised at the relevant records office in 1919 to keep track of the issue of medals, shows that Joseph Frederick Barlow, Private 49402 South Staffordshire Regiment and Private 103785 Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment qualified for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. This combination of medals he did not serve in a Theatre of War until on or after the 1st January 1916. The related service medal roll, available on Ancestry, if it has been completed correctly by the clerk concerned should show which units he served with overses. The issuing Regiment should also be the last one served with. Soldiers didn't routinely transfer between units unless it suited the Army. The main reasons for doing so are if a man was wounded \ accidentally injured \ suffered ill-health or the unit was disbanded. If one of the forum pals with access to Ancestry can confirm from the Medal Roll the units served with, then it may be possible with that, and looking for surviving service records for men with nearby service numbers in both regiments to put together some kind of picture of his war service. BTW - take it your aware of his picture on the Lives of the First World War site https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/187982 Cheers, Peter Many thanks Peter. I was aware of the photo of Joe - it was me who submitted it some time ago. He bears a uncanny resemblance to my cousin. Cheers Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 Hi folks A polite reminder - please bear in mind not all of us have access to subscription sites, so posting links to documents behind paywalls drastically limits the number of forum members who can help - potentially depriving the OP of insights and different perspectives that might flesh out the story. If you can provide even a one line summary of what the link represents it will lead to a more productive collaboration. Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 11 February , 2021 Share Posted 11 February , 2021 (edited) Hi Terry, The medal rolls (previously linked) show a number of consecutively numbered Sherwood Foresters men (103771 Scott to 103885 Williamson) as previously serving with the South Staffordshire Regiment. 103810 Emery has some surviving papers which show: Image sourced from Findmypast It seems possible then that Joseph never served 'in anger' with the South Staffs. Rather, he may have been part of a draft of men that were taken from them, and posted to the 1/Sherwood Foresters once they had arrived at the Infantry Base Depot. Looking at his South Staff number, by way of example 49405 Pope appears to have been mobilised and posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion on 18.4.1918. Records for 49408 Sutton show the same date and initial posting. Regards Chris Edited 11 February , 2021 by clk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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