Joining the KRRC's

[i_malc]

I wonder if somebody help me with a couple of queries?

 My grandfather Robert Boyce 10727 lived in Coventry and joined up at the age of 16 in 1912.

1.       Would he have gone straight into the  2^nd Battalion Kings Royal Rifles Corps at Shorncliffe Kent or would he have to go for basic training first                  then to the battalion?

 

2.       As he was one of the 70 or so underage riflemen who didn’t go to France with the 2^nd Battalion (According to the war diaries of the 2^nd Battalion            KRRC) what would have happened to him from August 1914 until he was with the 4^th Battalion KRRC in January 1915, as the 4^th Battalion only                arrived back in England in early December and didn’t embark to France with the main force in late December

[charlie962]

When he joined, did the Army know he was underage? I note a hospital admission for wounding in July(edit May) 1915 with 4 KRRC where his age is noted as 23!(edit 22)

Edited 17 August , 2022 by charlie962
Specsavers

[Allan1892]

Are you aware that he was admitted to No 3 Casualty Clearing Station on the 26 May 1915? He was transferred to the No 2 General Hospital suffering with a GSW Right Leg. His entry in the Admissions and discharge register shows that he was in the 4th KRRC; he was age 22 years; had been in the Army for 3 full years and 'in the field' for 5 full months - ties in with his MIC which states that he was in France by the 19 January 1915. He was then transferred to H S Asturias, on his way back to UK

Edited 17 August , 2022 by Allan1892
to add image of HS Asturias

[FROGSMILE]

2 hours ago, i_malc said:

I wonder if somebody help me with a couple of queries?

 My grandfather Robert Boyce 10727 lived in Coventry and joined up at the age of 16 in 1912.

1.       Would he have gone straight into the  2^nd Battalion Kings Royal Rifles Corps at Shorncliffe Kent or would he have to go for basic training first                  then to the battalion?

 

2.       As he was one of the 70 or so underage riflemen who didn’t go to France with the 2^nd Battalion (According to the war diaries of the 2^nd Battalion            KRRC) what would have happened to him from August 1914 until he was with the 4^th Battalion KRRC in January 1915, as the 4^th Battalion only                arrived back in England in early December and didn’t embark to France with the main force in late December

Regarding question 1, if he definitely joined in 1912 then he would have reported to the [shared] ‘Rifles Depot’, where all regular recruits of the 60th KRRC and Rifle Brigade regiments received their basic training.  The depot was large and continuously training sufficient recruits to feed 8 regular battalions (4 at home and 4 overseas with those at home trickle feeding those abroad).  If he declared his age accurately, which was more likely prewar then he would have enlisted as a boy entrant in a specific category of either, music (band or bugles) or artisan (tailor or shoemaker) until he reached the age of 18, when he could switch to a rifle company if he wished.

For further details see also: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/282905-krrc-new-recruit-and-basic-training/

 

Edited 17 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[i_malc]

Thanks for this info but I'm aware of this. He was born in 1896 in Cambridgeshire.His injury was on his left shoulder but there is confusion on his injury as the No3 clearing hospital put it as right shoulder and records from 11^th ambulance train have his wrong details it shows his reg number as 16737 but his pension details are correct as the left shoulder. I’ve got him at home in 1915 in court for stealing a duck and for being AWL. I’m just trying to tie up a few loose ends while he was in the 2^nd battalion.

Thank you again for your reply

[FROGSMILE]

5 minutes ago, i_malc said:

Thanks for this info but I'm aware of this. He was born in 1896 in Cambridgeshire.His injury was on his left shoulder but there is confusion on his injury as the No3 clearing hospital put it as right shoulder and records from 11^th ambulance train have his wrong details it shows his reg number as 16737 but his pension details are correct as the left shoulder. I’ve got him at home in 1915 in court for stealing a duck and for being AWL. I’m just trying to tie up a few loose ends while he was in the 2^nd battalion.

Thank you again for your reply

To answer question 2 all the regular battalion (1st to 4th) boy entrants, whose terms and conditions of service I described, were on the outbreak of war posted to the Rifles Depot until they were old enough (usually 17 1/2) to join a Reserve Battalion, where they continued training until old enough to join an operational battalion in the field.

Edited 17 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE