Thomas A Siddall - 4030/110570 Yeomanry - photo dating help

[AndrewSid]

 

I would like the forums help in seeing if i can find anything else out about my great uncle. He died in Oct 1918 when it seems the Spanish  Flu caught up with him. He is buried in Haifa, Israel.  There is no service record but i have the medal card and pension roll which i have discovered can be extremely rich documents despite their brevity.  I cant find a single service record of a man who served with the squadron in the Middle East ( A Sqn).

He joined in early 1915 but Im not sure when.  A volunteer to the local yeomanry unit.  He was pretty quickly dispatched to the Middle East (12 Sept) as part of a presumably replacement draft sent out to A Coy DoLY in Egypt. The rest of the regiment was in the UK then subsequently France.  The remainder of the regiment were eventually converted into Infantry.  Thomas seemed to have remained cavalry throughout but with no online war diaries or good reading material I’ve struggled somewhat to piece anything together.

One rabbit hole was the CWGC listing him being in the Manchester Regiment. Plausible  as the units were close together in both France and Egypt but i had enough evidence to correct their database to the right regiment.

I’d be really grateful if anyone could help decode when he joined and any ideas on sources of his service once joining his unit in Egypt.  

 

Edited 20 September , 2021 by AndrewSid

[ss002d6252]

His war gratuity of £22 assists here

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/60506/images/42511_6129999_0001-00162?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=dd0ee0a122235d5757dee97f03e9b703&usePUB=true&_phsrc=duW50&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=730804

It tells us that

https://www.wargratuity.uk/war-gratuity-calculator/

 

Craig

[ss002d6252]

We know from the war gratuity that #4030 attested between 26 Dec 1914 and 25 Jan 1915

To narrow the date further we can see from service records that,

#4012 attested 22 Jan 1915.

#4019 attested 25 Jan 1915.

This tells us that #4030 most likely attested on 25 Jan 1915.

 

Craig

[AndrewSid]

Thanks Craig.  I’d never even heard of the war gratuity calculator!   

Jan 15 is earlier than i thought but entirely possible.  It was a small unit with 4 squadrons  split across several NW towns circa 120 men per squadron but probably less at wars start.   Volunteers would have no doubt trickled in. 

Edited 3 July , 2021 by AndrewSid

[ss002d6252]

5 minutes ago, AndrewSid said:

Thanks Craig.  I’d never even heard of the war gratuity calculator!  

It is something I wrote a few years ago.

Quote

Jan 15 is earlier than i thought but entirely possible.  It was a small unit with 4 squadrons  split across several NW towns circa 120 men per squadron but probably less as wars start.   Volunteers would have no doubt trickled in. 

The war gratuity is rarely incorrect (the army were fastidious). It needs tied in with other records to narrow things (in most cases) but it's the best method where service records are missing. It can also, quite often, display things such as previously unknown earlier service.

Craig

[AndrewSid]

2 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said:

The war gratuity is rarely incorrect (the army were fastidious). It needs tied in with other records to narrow things (in most cases) but it's the best method where service records are missing. It can also, quite often, display things such as previously unknown earlier service.

Thankyou.  I will be reassessing a few of my relatives to see if it can help.  I presume it only works for those who died?

[ss002d6252]

Just now, AndrewSid said:

Thankyou.  I will be reassessing a few of my relatives to see if it can help.  I presume it only works for those who died?

Not specifically, but the war gratuity for those who survived is rarely available to check.

Craig

[AndrewSid]

Many thanks Craig.  

It seems that unlike the western front the Egypt theatre isn’t that rich for information. Hopefully off to Kew in a month or two to dig out the war diaries.

 

 

[AndrewSid]

Can anyone help to date this postcard photograph -  spring 1915 is my window? The men are Duke of Lancaster’s own Yeomanry.  The recruits look very young with their NCOs sitting centre.  Nothing on the back of the photo.  A strange mix of hats and no hats.

 

Edited 20 September , 2021 by AndrewSid

[ss002d6252]

Very front bottom right man looks like he has a wound stripe - if so, that would put the picture after July 1916.

Craig

[AndrewSid]

Thankyou Craig.  That would scupper my thinking on the photo but not to worry.  Wound strip positioning seems to have moved up and down the left sleeve somewhat from a quick look through google photos.  It’s not very clear in this photo.  I’m on the fence re a photo mark or wound stripe?