Lance Corporal William Wilson, regiment ID please

[ElishebaSmith]

Hello,

 

I was hoping for help identifying the regiment of my great-grandfather, a miner from Calderbank in Lanarkshire. I have a scan of a photo of him in uniform which was a partial scan and, regretfully, I have little hope of ever seeing the original (though I've done my level best to get my hands on it!).

 

I've been told before that the arm stripes & braid indicate that he was a lance corporal and that he had 3 or 4 years in overseas service. According to my mother he was a non-commissioned officer and was at Suvla Bay and may have been in the Royal Scots, although he would have died before she was born. His brother, Thomas, was in the Scots Fusiliers.

 

I've consulted all the usual sources on ancestry and fold3 but have never been able to positively ID him in records because of the lack of address/DOB etc on those records.

 

I've laid out the information I have about him below and would greatly appreciate any views!

 

• William Galloway WILSON (many records I have come across in my family history list him only as William WILSON, no middle name)
• Born 24 September 1892, Bellshill, Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• Residence listed during 1911 Census: 112 Main Street Calderbank Lanarkshire
• According to a Sherriff's court records he was resident at 112 Main Street Calderbank in 1914
• Residence listed at marriage in 1919: 112 Main Street Calderbank, Lanarkshire
• Residence in 1920 at birth of daughter: 13 Baillies Lane Airdrie Lanarkshire
• Nearest kin before war: Matilda Bradley (William's Mother - she married Joseph Bradley after death of William's father, Archibald Wilson. Her maiden name was Galloway)
• Brothers: Archibald Wilson (b.1890),  Thomas Blair Wilson (b. 1896) and James Wilson (b.1894). The only service record I have been able to find in relation to any of the brothers is for Thomas who was in the Scottish Rifles, although I'm unclear on the battalion based on the attached record (1st Battalion ?).
• Half-brothers: Joseph Bradley (b.1901), Ezekiel Sturgeon Bradley (b. 1904), George Bradley (b.1908)
• Nearest kin after the war: Sarah Elizabeth Wilson nee Dunn (Wife), Dorothy Wilson (Daughter)
• He died in 1939 in Glasgow.

 

[George Rayner]

41 minutes ago, ElishebaSmith said:

Brothers: Archibald Wilson (b.1890),

#317964 HLI (?)

Ancestry.co.uk - UK, British Army World War I Service Records, 1914-1920

Maybe his brother...

mentions brother George at 31 Graham Street

George

Edited 17 October , 2021 by George Rayner

[FROGSMILE]

There are just a few inconclusive clues from the uniform, as no cap insignia is visible.  His waist belt is from the 1903 leather bandolier equipment and commonly worn by those corps usually employed in mounted duties, both in terms of on horseback or on horse drawn wagons.  An additional feature is a short shoulder title comprising just a few letters and a whitened lanyard.  The lanyard was issued to all soldiers along with a clasp knife to which it was attached and retained in a top pocket.  Putting all those clues together suggests that he might have been in the Army Service Corps (ASC), but it is just a tenuous link without a view of headdress and nether garments (which might’ve shown breeches and spurs).  Broadly speaking the ASC were generally involved in bringing supplies of all kinds forwards and casualties rearwards.  However, the slight view of his puttees (leg wrappings) does appear to show them fastened at the top and that is usually how dismounted men secured them which goes against the ASC theory.  All in all it leaves a definitive conclusion elusive.

The two stripes on his upper arms indicate his rank as corporal and the inverted stripes on his right lower arm are for overseas service with one issued at the beginning of each year served.  A separate red one was issued for 1914 and it’s absence shows just those in blue relating to the years 1915 to 1918.  He appears noticeably carefree which suggests a survivor’s portrait photograph taken after the armistice.

Thomas Wilson was indeed in the 1st Battalion Cameronian’s (Scottish Rifles) and would have worn black buttons as a distinction on his uniform.

Edited 17 October , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[Tawhiri]

Assuming that the number of overseas service stripes showing on his sleeve would indicate he was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, and that he was serving with a Scottish regiment with the rank of at least Corporal a search of the medal rolls does indeed produce two William Wilson's serving with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, both of who are entitled to the 1914-15 Star. One of the candidates can be eliminated as he was killed in action on 25 September 1915. The second of the candidates is Lance Corporal William Wilson, service number 716, serving with the 4th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers who first entered a theatre of war on 11 October 1915 in area 2b, so Gallipoli. The 1914-15 Star roll indicates that he had previous service with the 1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry, but was also subsequently promoted to Sergeant, before being discharged to be commissioned on 28 June 1918. He appears in the British War Medal and Victory Medal rolls as Sergeant William Wilson, service number 295593, serving with the 12th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. This roll also shows he was commissioned into the Machine Gun Corps. 

There are three other potential candidates serving with Scottish regiments, but all of them first entered a theatre of war in France, and two of them were killed in action, so they can be eliminated if he did indeed first serve at Suvla Bay.     

Doing a similar search for just W Wilson produces even more candidates serving with Scottish regiments, however again most of these can be eliminated because their first entry into a theatre of war was France, and many of them were subsequently killed in action.

Edited 17 October , 2021 by Tawhiri

[jay dubaya]

Depending which theatre he served in the OS chevrons could be 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919.

[Andrew Upton]

A bit of a cut and paste job - with Overseas Service Chevrons  a man became entitled to his first stripe the day he served overseas, and did not become entitled to a second until he had accumulated a further 12 months overseas service (with an allowance of up to one months leave per year to still be counted towards his total). Thus in reality four stripes generally can represent anything from around three years overseas service up to around four years. And this of course would not represent any time served that wasn't overseas (leave over the one month per year rule, recovering from wounds in the UK, training, etc). After they were introduced in early 1918 entitlement was retroactively employed, but outside the red stripe for 1914 they do not represent specific years. Service overseas up until May 1920 was still counted towards the total, and their wear were not discontinued until 1922.

[FROGSMILE]

6 hours ago, Tawhiri said:

Assuming that the number of overseas service stripes showing on his sleeve would indicate he was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, and that he was serving with a Scottish regiment with the rank of at least Corporal a search of the medal rolls does indeed produce two William Wilson's serving with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, both of who are entitled to the 1914-15 Star. One of the candidates can be eliminated as he was killed in action on 25 September 1915. The second of the candidates is Lance Corporal William Wilson, service number 716, serving with the 4th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers who first entered a theatre of war on 11 October 1915 in area 2b, so Gallipoli. The 1914-15 Star roll indicates that he had previous service with the 1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry, but was also subsequently promoted to Sergeant, before being discharged to be commissioned on 28 June 1918. He appears in the British War Medal and Victory Medal rolls as Sergeant William Wilson, service number 295593, serving with the 12th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. This roll also shows he was commissioned into the Machine Gun Corps. 

There are three other potential candidates serving with Scottish regiments, but all of them first entered a theatre of war in France, and two of them were killed in action, so they can be eliminated if he did indeed first serve at Suvla Bay.     

Doing a similar search for just W Wilson produces even more candidates serving with Scottish regiments, however again most of these can be eliminated because their first entry into a theatre of war was France, and many of them were subsequently killed in action.

It’s such a common name really isn’t it.  Do you think absent voters might help?

[FROGSMILE]

12 hours ago, jay dubaya said:

Depending which theatre he served in the OS chevrons could be 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919.

Quite right Jay, but purely on balance I’d discounted the alternative sequence because I thought it likely that he’d have been wearing the ribbon of the 14-15 star if the four overseas stripes related to 16-19.  That said, in hindsight I can’t recall offhand when the 14-15 star began to be issued, as I know that the medals office prioritised the 14-star initially (ribbons were issued first anyway).  I think that Elisheba is primarily trying to identify his regiment.

Edited 18 October , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[ElishebaSmith]

Having looked at the record,  I don't think #317964 HLI  is a match for any of the brothers. Thank you though.

[ElishebaSmith]

You're an amazing bunch - thank you for the responses.

Yes, in my experience Wilson is not much better than Smith! Blame the Vikings, I guess. 

I'm intrigued by the absent voters list which I haven't heard of - where might I find that?

Also, I hadn't realised timing might be a useful fact and I can expand a little on that topic a little. The sheriff's case I mentioned was a paternity case - not a terribly savory discovery, I'm afraid, and not a fact have disclosed to my mother - but it means I have quite detailed court records (which, incidentally, provide a fascinating window on life in a scottish mining village in 1915).  

From my reading of the court records, William and Thomas are both listed as witnesses at the hearing which would put them both in Scotland on the date of the hearing, 14 May 1915. It was about the same time the previous year that the witnesses have him living in Calderbank (i.e. to be in a position to credibly father a child in Scotland) and William doesn't refute that general fact in his evidence. So on that basis, I don't know which of the following possibilities are most realistic:

 

* WW was on leave during the hearing and the same time the previous year. Against this fact, I've been through all 65 pages of the court records and I can't find any mention of membership of any battalion or any reference whatsoever to enlistment.

* May 1915 was the earliest date he could have enlisted and only consider battalions that left Scotland after that date.

 

I'm not sure how that tally's with Thomas's enlistment into 1st Bat RSF. I'm quite sure I've identified him correctly through an address on other records so I have to guess that he was either on leave or a late recruit to a unit of regulars.

 

Any thoughts on that? It would also keep 295593 in 4th RSF as contender, I believe. In any event, I'll do some reading about 4th Bat RSF to see if it fits the story about Suvla Bay.

 

Final question, has anyone had any luck with battalion photos and does anyone know of a good source of such photos? I know it is quite unlikely but I could try and locate him visually.

 

Thank you again.

 

[Tawhiri]

I will confess that my assumption when you mentioned a Sheriff’s Court case was that it was a paternity case, largely because my great grandmother featured in two of them in the same era, one of the children being my grandfather. Having children out of wedlock was a lot more common than one might realize in that era, and the Scots in particular tended to take a more pragmatic view than we might give them credit for. Certainly there were a lot of illegitimate children being raised by their maternal grandparents. One of the nice things about taking a DNA test earlier this year was being able to prove that the Ayrshire Sheriff’s Court got it right, with multiple connections to people descended from the brothers of the father of my grandfather. 
 

Were the circumstances of my grandfather’s birth unsavoury? Only if you choose to believe they were. All I can think about is how much I would have loved to have met my great grandmother. She had seven sons between 1909 and 1919, three of who died in infancy, before dying herself of a brain hemorrhage in her early 50’s. Not an easy life at all, and I’m certainly not going to second guess the choices that she made 110 years later.

[ElishebaSmith]

Oh yes, my FH research has found quite a few births out of wedlock, some legitimised, some not, and I don't mean to imply any judgement or give offence at all. Those children and their mothers experienced a lot of pointless shame and anguish and it would be equally pointless (and outdated) to continue to see it as controversial or shameful.

My comment reflects a few things. Firstly, what I think would be my mum's reaction to that information, given that she lived with her grandmother growing up (WW's wife - not the party who initiated the paternity suit) and is fairly proper in her views generally. Secondly, that having to contest paternity doesn't seem like a great outcome, given that it involves giving and scrutinising evidence about whether intercourse occurred and signals a breakdown of any trust that existed in the relationship. And thirdly,  the specific allegations in this case were not great. That's where the real sensitivity lies for me and I'll never know if what was said about him was true or not.

Which just goes to show you may find things you don't really want to know when you begin this search we call family history!

[FROGSMILE]

5 hours ago, ElishebaSmith said:

You're an amazing bunch - thank you for the responses.

Yes, in my experience Wilson is not much better than Smith! Blame the Vikings, I guess. 

I'm intrigued by the absent voters list which I haven't heard of - where might I find that?

Also, I hadn't realised timing might be a useful fact and I can expand a little on that topic a little. The sheriff's case I mentioned was a paternity case - not a terribly savory discovery, I'm afraid, and not a fact have disclosed to my mother - but it means I have quite detailed court records (which, incidentally, provide a fascinating window on life in a scottish mining village in 1915).  

From my reading of the court records, William and Thomas are both listed as witnesses at the hearing which would put them both in Scotland on the date of the hearing, 14 May 1915. It was about the same time the previous year that the witnesses have him living in Calderbank (i.e. to be in a position to credibly father a child in Scotland) and William doesn't refute that general fact in his evidence. So on that basis, I don't know which of the following possibilities are most realistic:

 

* WW was on leave during the hearing and the same time the previous year. Against this fact, I've been through all 65 pages of the court records and I can't find any mention of membership of any battalion or any reference whatsoever to enlistment.

* May 1915 was the earliest date he could have enlisted and only consider battalions that left Scotland after that date.

 

I'm not sure how that tally's with Thomas's enlistment into 1st Bat RSF. I'm quite sure I've identified him correctly through an address on other records so I have to guess that he was either on leave or a late recruit to a unit of regulars.

 

Any thoughts on that? It would also keep 295593 in 4th RSF as contender, I believe. In any event, I'll do some reading about 4th Bat RSF to see if it fits the story about Suvla Bay.

 

Final question, has anyone had any luck with battalion photos and does anyone know of a good source of such photos? I know it is quite unlikely but I could try and locate him visually.

 

Thank you again.

 

If William had enlisted late in 1915 then provided he arrived in France (after infantry training) before the end of that year he would have qualified for his first overseas stripe (the stripes weren’t actually issued until 1918, which is how we know a not before date for the photo).

From the LongLongTrail adjunct to this forum:

1/4th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (Territorial Force).
August 1914 : in Kilmarnock. Part of South Scottish Brigade, Lowland Division. Moved in August 1914 to Stirling.
May 1915 : formation [in which battalion was placed] became 155th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division.
Sailed from Liverpool on 21 May 1915, going via Mudros to Gallipoli, where the battalion disembarked on 7 June 1915.
Moved to France with the Division in April 1918.

Details of all the regiments can be scrutinised here: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/

For details of absent voters list: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/finding-soldiers-through-the-1918-absent-voters-lists/

NB.  I don’t think he’s Royal Scots Fusiliers in the photo as he does not wear the two piece shoulder title that was a feature of all fusilier regiments (early in the war TF battalions had a further two pieces making four, comprising the letter T (for Territorial) and the number of the battalion (these latter were no longer common by the end of the war).

“4th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers were a territorial unit based in Kilmarnock serving with the South Scottish Brigade, Lowland Division. They had just departed for annual summer camp war broke out in August 1914, they were at once recalled to base. They were mobilised for war service on the 5th of August and moved to take up position on the Scottish coastal defences at Stirling. In May 1915 the formation was renamed 155th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division. They sailed from Liverpool on the 21st of May for Gallipoli, via Mudros. They were in action at Gully Ravine, Achi Baba Nullah, Krithia Nullahs and The evcuation of Helles on the 7th and 8th of January 1916. They moved to Egypt and concentrated at Abbassia near Cairo. They moved to El Kantara and took over No 3 Section of the Suez Canal defences on the 2nd of March. They were in action at Dueidar in April and The Battle of Romani in August. In 1917 they were in action during The First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, at Wadi el Hesi, The capture of Junction Station, The Battle of Nabi Samweil and The Battle of Jaffa including the passage of the Nahr-el-Auja. 52nd Division remained in the line near Arsuf until March 1918 when it was relieved by the 7th (Meerut) Division and proceedrd to France, sailing from Alexandria in early April, via Marseilles they concentrated near Abbeville. 52nd Divisiobn took over a sector of front line near Vimy on the 6th of May until the 23rd of July when they moved to take over the line north east of Arras. They were in action inThe Battle of Albert, The Battle of the Scarpe, The Battle of the Drocourt-Queant Line, The Battle of the Canal du Nord and The Final Advance in Artois. At the Armistice 52nd Division was north of the Mons canal engaged in clearing Herchies.”

“5th Aug 1914 4th Scots Fusiliers at Stirling  The 4th Scots Fusiliers, recalled from their summer camp, mobilised for war. They moved from their base at Kilmarnock to take up their allocated position on the Scottish coastal defences at Stirling.”

“21st May 1915 4th Scots Fusiliers embark  The 4th Scots Fusiliers sailed from Liverpool for Gallipoli, via Mudros with 155th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division.”

Edited 18 October , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

On 17/10/2021 at 06:57, ElishebaSmith said:

Residence listed at marriage in 1919: 112 Main Street Calderbank, Lanarkshire

What was the exact date of marriage? I'd assume he had been de-mobbed by then, and de-mob dates are often noted  on medal index cards.

Otherwise, I don't suppose his marriage certificate has any reference to his service number?

Absent Voters Lists are goldmines in that they are just about the only documents that cross reference a serviceman (or woman) to his address and his regiment, rank and service number. They were supplements to the standard electoral registers of the period 1918-1922, listing any person away from home, eligible to vote, and engaged on military duty.

The bad news is that fewer than 100 out of the 650 odd parliamentary constituencies of the time now survive.

The very bad news is that lists are only known to survive from Dundee and parts of Glasgow.

So it will be an uphill task, but there may be something useful here:

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/finding-soldiers-through-the-1918-absent-voters-lists/

[ElishebaSmith]

24 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

What was the exact date of marriage? I'd assume he had been de-mobbed by then, and de-mob dates are often noted  on medal index cards.

Otherwise, I don't suppose his marriage certificate has any reference to his service number?

Absent Voters Lists are goldmines in that they are just about the only documents that cross reference a serviceman (or woman) to his address and his regiment, rank and service number. They were supplements to the standard electoral registers of the period 1918-1922, listing any person away from home, eligible to vote, and engaged on military duty.

The bad news is that fewer than 100 out of the 650 odd parliamentary constituencies of the time now survive.

The very bad news is that lists are only known to survive from Dundee and parts of Glasgow.

So it will be an uphill task, but there may be something useful here:

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/finding-soldiers-through-the-1918-absent-voters-lists/

Thank you for that - I'll have a look.

The marriage was on 18 December 1919. I can't discern a service number.

[FROGSMILE]

28 minutes ago, ElishebaSmith said:

Thank you for that - I'll have a look.

The marriage was on 18 December 1919. I can't discern a service number.

He had been discharged from the Army (aka demobilised - demobbed - usually to the Z-List - a category open to call up in renewed emergency) and was back working as a pit haulage driver so hence a regimental number was no longer relevant for marriage registration purposes.  It would only have helped (been relevant to the registration authority for ID purposes) had he still been serving. 
 

NB.  Returning to the photographic evidence I still think there’s a strong chance that he was in the Army Service Corps (ASC) at the time of the photo.  His employment in 1919 as a specialist driver (pit haulage) suggests some prior driving experience and haulage driving is what the ASC were all about.

Edited 18 October , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

Yes I agree with Frogsmile.

I was hoping perhaps the marriage might have been earlier in the year so that you could exclude late demob dates. Unfortunately, most of the British army was demobbed by December 1919.

[Tawhiri]

Unfortunately the absent voter lists for Glasgow for that time period only seem to cover 1921, both 1918 and 1919 are missing, so they are not likely to be helpful if he was discharged by the end of 1919.

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

2 hours ago, Tawhiri said:

Unfortunately the absent voter lists for Glasgow for that time period only seem to cover 1921,

Well, Spring 1920, but remember there was a long lead-in period during which the invitation to be on the lists had to be circulated to eligible men, collate the lists, then print and publish. The data within was probably several months old, so a man demobbed in the Autumn of 1919 could be on it.

Unfortunately, am I right in thinking that Calderbank is most likely to have been a Lanark/shire constituency, rather than a Glasgow constituency? It's part of the Airdrie division now I think.

Great shame, as there's about 18 William Wilsons from Glasgow, almost all with a service number & regiment, and all of course with an address:

https://www.glasgowfamilyhistory.org.uk/blog/Documents/Absent Voters - Spring 1920 - Alphabetical.pdf

Edited 18 October , 2021 by Dai Bach y Sowldiwr

[Tawhiri]

11 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Unfortunately, am I right in thinking that Calderbank is most likely to have been a Lanark/shire constituency, rather than a Glasgow constituency?

I think you're correct, when I had a look at the lists on Ancestry nothing was coming up for Airdrie at all. The British Newspaper Archive, and by extension FindMyPast, seems to have a fairly complete collection of the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser for that period, but searching for Wilson and Calderwood, or William Wilson for example doesn't produce any obvious hits either.

[ElishebaSmith]

This is a tricky problem (I've only been working on it for the last decade!). I find Sgt 295593 intriguing but I worried about focusing on him based on the assumption that he was in the RSF, especially since it mainly seems to be an Ayrshire regiment.  But faced with some sources I wasn't aware of before (like the Absentee Voter lists) I'm contemplating a plan of systematic elimination based on the assumption that medal lists are complete (that's correct isn't it?). I might be able to get it down to a pretty short list. 

Tawhiri, my question is how you were able to be so efficient in producing that initial list based on  the criteria scottish regiments+rank LCpl and above + 2B? Please tell me it wasn't manual review!  And also what source did you use to determine whether a soldier had died during the war?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

[Tawhiri]

Yes, it was a manual review, but there were surprisingly few candidates once you had put a few criteria in. My starting point was the four overseas service chevrons on his right arm, along with your mother's belief that he had been at Suvla Bay, which means he'd been at Gallipoli. The Gallipoli campaign ended on 6 January 1916, so my assumption was that if he had four overseas service chevrons and had been at Gallipoli he had to have been eligible for the 1914-15 Star, which required a first entry into a theatre of war on or before 31 December 1915. As others have pointed out he could potentially have earned his first overseas service chevron in 1916, and still have four by 1919, but this would not square with him being at Suvla Bay, not unless he'd landed there in the last few days of the campaign. The medal rolls also show a soldier's rank at the time that the rolls were prepared, so my next assumption was that he had to have been some variation of a Corporal given the rank badges in the photo.

I then went off to the medal rolls on Ancestry, and searched for a William Wilson, specifying that the medal I was searching for was the 1914-1915 Star as Ancestry records it, with a rank of Corporal. Although there were quite a few hits, there were only two obvious candidates serving with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, although there were others serving in a Scottish regiment. The 1914-15 Star roll records both the date of first entry into a theatre of war, as well as a code specifying which theatre it was - 1 is France, 2b is Gallipoli. The rolls also record whether a soldier died, or whether they were discharged/disembodied at the end of the war, so since he was alive at the end of the war, any candidate who had died clearly wasn't him. Of the two William Wilson's I thought were obvious candidates, one had first entered a theatre of war in France and was subsequently killed, the second is the man who first entered a theatre of war in Gallipoli, was promoted to Sergeant and then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Machine Gun Corps in mid-1918. Unfortunately a quick look at the officer personal records at the National Archives doesn't produce an obvious match for this man, so it's not clear if he ever completed his training before the war ended. I would note that the 1914-15 Star roll indicates that he was initially a member of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, before joining the Royal Scots Fusiliers, but his career path would seem to be consistent with the history of the 1/1st Battalion of this regiment, which did indeed serve at Gallipoli before subsequently being absorbed into the 12th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1917. Others might be able to tell you more, although I'm not sure why he then appears in the 1914-15 Star Roll for the 4th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-yeomanry-regiments-of-1914-1918/lanarkshire-yeomanry/

Once I had identified a suitable candidate, I then expanded the search using the name and service number, which then brought up his entry in the British War Medal and Victory Medal rolls, which gave me a bit more background. So you can actually get all the initial information that you need just from the medal rolls themselves.

Edited to add that according to Paul Nixon's army service numbers' blog, the Lancashire Yeomanry service number of the William Wilson previously identified above, 716, would have been issued sometime between 3 September 1914 (707) and 18 November 1914 (947). This range of numbers was associated with squadrons A, B, and C of the regiment, with C squadron being based in Coatbridge, which is in fairly close proximity to Airdrie.

https://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com/2014/06/lanarkshire-yeomanry-1908-1914.html

The Lancashire Yeomanry were a territorial force regiment, and if he hadn't specifically indicated that he wanted to serve overseas on enlisting in September 1914 he could very well have remained in Scotland until the regiment embarked for Gallipoli in the summer of 1915. 

Unfortunately lots of caveats of course, starting with which regiment the family thought he had served with, as well as serving at Suvla Bay.

Edited 19 October , 2021 by Tawhiri