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WW1 British War Medal help!


m1garand1

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I purchased a British War Medal a few years ago belonging to 1558 Pte F.J.W. Benson 18-Lond. R.

 

I believe he served in a few regiments with some different service numbers, though I am not sure. If anyone could tell me anything about his service that would be great thank you!

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Do you know of any other sites or anything that would provide me more information on him? Anything that would show some in depth details of his service? Like why he was in so many different units? (I am young and new to researching). Thank you!

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I understand you are young , a  good place to start is the Long Long Trail , link found on top of these pages. Chris Baker, founder of the forum has done a great job splitting different areas up for ease of access. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/

as for places to research, MIC's medal index cards are free to look at on Ancestry but if you want to look at the medal rolls star are individual and BWM and Victory combined, you have to pay a subscription if you are doing a lot of research or if you want to do a quick hit you can join for free then cancel your subscription before paying 14 days.

Forces war records and find my past are two more sites but also subscription. the problem being each site holds different records so you need all three subscriptions unless you can get someone else to look for you.

If, you are lucky, his attestation and service record may exist on Ancestry , but, any were lost due to the blitz of London in WW2.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1262/images/30850_A000132-02492?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=1117ba0e3c89df867430fc0af449a653&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fXQ6935&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=4237535

 

his MIC above shows entitlement to BWM and Victory pair and also a TFM Territorial Forces Medal. this roll may be visible on the National Archives site.

Edited by chaz
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Hi All,

It looks like Frederick John Wilmott Benson gave a false date of birth when signing up. He was born 16th March, 1897 and baptised on the 9th May, 1897 at Oxted, St.Mary's Parish Church. His parents were Frederick William, a stonemason and Martha. In 1911 he was employed on the railways. He died 16th April, 1968 in Vancouver, Canada.

Regards Barry

Edited by The Inspector
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22 minutes ago, busterfield said:

From familysearch where it seems records exist.

benson 1.JPG

benson 2.JPG

benson 3.JPG

Thank you very much!

6 minutes ago, The Inspector said:

Hi All,

It looks like Frederick John Wilmott Benson gave a false date of birth when signing up. He was born 16th March, 1897 and baptised on the 9th May, 1897 at Oxted, St.Mary's Parish Church. His parents were Frederick William, a stonemason and Martha. In 1911 he was employed on the railways. He died 16th April, 1968 in Vancouver, Canada.

Regards Barry

He was an underage soldier! Very interesting. Thank you for the information! 

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I've never tried familysearch for militaŕy records but on finding his entry I see:

 

To view these images do one of the following:

Access the site at a family history center

Access the site at a FamilySearch affiliate library

 

I'm not sure you can access the file directly via familysearch.

 

I've just searched Ancestry using all five numbers and then a full name search and had no results. Findmypast does have a service record for him and a separate medical record for admission to 2nd General Hospital July-Sept 1916. He's also on a Casualty List of 19/9/1916 presumably for the same incident. Probably wounded August 1916.

 

Ancestry should have his record but have perhaps mis-indexed it.

 

Depending on your location you have different options to see the file unless you are able to follow the familysearch instructions?

TEW

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Hi All,

A bit more family history...

John Frederick Wilmott Benson emigrated to Canada arriving Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 10th April, 1927. Aged 29 yrs. (correct age) on board "Arabic" from Southampton. N of K, Mother  Martha, 16 Beaufoy rd., Battersea.( Mother's maiden name ..Wilmott. Married 29th Sept.1895 @ St. Mary Stratford Bow, Tower Hamlets) 

Regards Barry.

Edited by The Inspector
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