Research into my great grandad (Would really appreciate help)

[MGrinnell]

Good afternoon all. 

I have been recommended this site from a gent who helped me gain some more information today. I would appreciate anything you can support me with. 

 

I am looking in particular for where my great grandad served and what battles he could have played a part in. 

If anyone can ID the tank in the picture also that would also be appreciated. We actually still have his tank mask in very good condition. 

 

His name is Percy Grinnell or Percival W Grinnell. 

Edited 13 June , 2021 by MGrinnell

[alf mcm]

Welcome to the forum.

  I can't help you but I'm sure @delta can. Hopefully he will be along soon.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

[MGrinnell]

10 minutes ago, alf mcm said:

Welcome to the forum.

  I can't help you but I'm sure @delta can. Hopefully he will be along soon.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

Thank you

[Alisonmallen62]

How fantastic to have such photos of your relative and records too!  

[Michelle Young]

Welcome to the forum. In the photo of him by the tank, his cap badge looks Royal Engineers. He looks to have a fabric tank badge stitched to his tunic. 

[Gunner 87]

54 minutes ago, Michelle Young said:

Welcome to the forum. In the photo of him by the tank, his cap badge looks Royal Engineers. He looks to have a fabric tank badge stitched to his tunic. 

 

Hi Michelle. Could that be an early Tank Corps badge? Percival Grinnell enlisted into the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, appears to spend some time in the Machine Gun Corps, then finally transfers to the Tank Corps. The service record appears to list the the 3rd Battalion, Tank Corps, if that is a correct reference. 

[david murdoch]

4 minutes ago, Gunner 87 said:

 

Hi Michelle. Could that be an early Tank Corps badge? Percival Grinnell enlisted into the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, appears to spend some time in the Machine Gun Corps, then finally transfers to the Tank Corps. The service record appears to list the the 3rd Battalion, Tank Corps, if that is a correct reference. 

I'd say so. There were some men moved sideways into Tank Corps Signals who would be badged RE but also they were renumbered in Royal Engineers. 

[delta]

Welcome to the Forum - he's a new name to me but his service number indicates he transferred in the New Year 0f 1917.  

C Bn is indeed a possibility and I will do some digging

 

 

Stephen Pope

[Alan24]

35 minutes ago, Gunner 87 said:

Percival Grinnell enlisted into the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, 

He voluntarily enlisted under the terms of the Derby Scheme on 22 Jan 1916, the scheme having reopened on 10 Jan 1916 until 02 March. 

He was mobilised on May 15th, the last group of single men.

 

 

Edited 13 June , 2021 by Alan24

[INW]

Percival has a good set of Service Records on Find My Past. The unusual name makes him easy to find. The papers include dates of postings etc. They need quite a bit of deciphering.

 

INW

 

[MGrinnell]

1 hour ago, delta said:

Welcome to the Forum - he's a new name to me but his service number indicates he transferred in the New Year 0f 1917.  

C Bn is indeed a possibility and I will do some digging

 

 

Stephen Pope

Thank you anything would be greatly appreciated 

[Michelle Young]

@FROGSMILE might be able to help on the badges ID

[FROGSMILE]

As Michelle has said the outline shape is very similar to the corps of RE, but in all the photos he’s wearing both the cap badge and arm badge of the newly formed Tank Corps.  Note too that he’s armed with a Webley revolver in open topped holster, which was another common feature of the tank crews.

 

Edited 14 June , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[AndrewSid]

The service records are very rich and are worth a very detailed look.  It appears  like yeomanry, MGC than tanks.  He has at least three service numbers.  From being mobilised on 12 05 1916 he moved to the MGC and then tanks.  His move out of the cavalry was entirely normal and the ACI 1044/16  likely refers to the direction to move men to units where they were needed, MGC was rapidly expanding at the time and cavalry units were being either turned into infantry or  i think scouted for volunteers for other units.

 

As i said there is a lot in the records to go through slowly. 

Edited 14 June , 2021 by AndrewSid

[johntaylor]

Hi, I've just seen these amazing photos and the service record confirms that Percy Grinnell served in C Bn of the Tank Corps from June 1917. In Dec 1917 this was renamed 3rd (Light) Tank Bn, which also appears in the record, and equipped with Whippet tanks:

 

If you haven't done so already, I would recommend downloading the War Diaries for 3rd Bn from the National Archives website, which you can currently do for free:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4553257 There is also a War History here: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/822c5c34db9a4dcd8bf6f0fa82832f85

 

I haven't checked, but this probably won't refer to him specifically but will give an excellent indication of his movements and activities with the battalion.

 

The photo of him by the tank is fascinating but unfortunately it will be impossible to identify the tank as none of the identifying numbers are visible. It's the sponson door of a male Mark V tank showing the 6 pounder gun, but beyond that there's nothing to show which one.

 

However the group photo is a different matter and I'm intrigued by the flag they are holding - the resolution isn't very good but I can see what could be battle honours, as it looks like the word "Cambrai" at the bottom.

 

It also has the large letters "TC" for Tank Corps, and various other insignia, including what looks like a "3" inside a letter "C" at the corners, presumably referring to C or 3rd Bn. There also seems to be a letter "A" in the middle, which could refer to A Company. He also belonged to A Company of 1st (Depot) Bn in 1919, but this looks more like a "battle flag" for C Bn, and the men in the photo are presumably some of the veteran NCOs. I would be really interested to see a higher quality scan to see what else it says.

 

Finally, a word of warning - you mention you have his tank mask and as I'm sure you know, these are very rare, frequently faked and sell for four figures, so resist any tempting offers to sell!

 

All the best, John

Edited 15 June , 2021 by johntaylor

[johntaylor]

I'm just going to contradict myself - in fact there could be a manufacturer's number visible on the tank photo, though it's very faint and higher up than I would have expected. Do others agree? Again it would be great to see a higher quality scan.

 

All the best, John

[MGrinnell]

2 hours ago, johntaylor said:

Finally, a word of warning - you mention you have his tank mask and as I'm sure you know, these are very rare, frequently faked and sell for four figures, so resist any tempting offers to sell!

 

Thank you. We are keeping it for sentimental reasons

[johntaylor]

It's an amazing relic - absolutely irreplaceable and you should treasure it. I wondered if you might be able to post higher quality scans of the two photos mentioned above please? It would be great to see the flag in more detail, and also the number on the side of the tank.

 

All the best, John

[MGrinnell]

Huge thank you to all of your help thus far. 

[pjwmacro]

Great photos and service record - thanks for sharing.