W. Dwyer RGA Hong Kong - trunk

[Debbie Whiting]

I have acquired a really lovely old chest which I'm looking for possible answers to whom it may have belonged to!! 

Ithas been suggested that it's "Royal Garrison Artillery" 

       W Dwyer   RGA   Hong Kong

Any ideas would be splendid 

 

 

[kenf48]

There are a number of men named W.Dwyer in the Royal Artillery Attestations on Find My Past

We need to identify a Great War connection to make it relevant to this forum at the moment and without any provenance for the item that may prove difficult but hopefully with a more relevant title the Artillery folk will be along to help you

[PRC]

Hi @Debbie Whiting and welcome to the forum

The Royal Garrison Artillery only existed as a separate part of the Royal Artillery from 1899 to 1924, which ups the possibility of a Great War connection.

The absence of a service number would possibly indicate an officer, and an officer before 1921 when they too started to receive Army Service numbers - unless the number is one of the faded pieces of writing that is possibly present.

If he was an officer serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery in Hong Kong during the Great War, he would have qualified for the British War Medal, although as an officer he would have had to apply for it - other ranks who qualified got theirs sent out automatically.

I've had a look for Lieutenants, Captains, Majors and Colonels W* Dwyer in the National Archive catalogue for a Medal Index Card but have drawn a blank. These medal index cards were literally that - index cards completed at the relevant records office in 1918/1919 to enable the clerks to keep track of the documentation and correspondence relating to the issue of service medals like the British War Medal. But if he didn't apply then unlikely there won't have been one. And of course we don't know that the service in Hong Kong occurred during the Great War. If he served in the Great War but UK only, then he wouldn't have qualified for any service medals.

There are no obvious officers service records or personal papers in the National Archive from the Great War period. If he continued serving after 1920 however then they would have been retained by the Ministry of Defence and only now might they be working their way through to the National Archive.

If his service was pre-war then one possible line of enquiry is the 1911 Census of England & Wales. The scope of that included overseas garrisons of the British Army. The institutional return for the Barrack at Stonecultures Island, Hongkong shows No.87 Company, Royal Garrison Artillery in residence. There is a Captain Dwyer serving with him, but he was George Toulmin Cunynghame Dwyer, a single man, aged 36 and born Chatham, Kent.

I hope the Artillery afficianado's can come up with something - if not I'll give it another look in the morning.

Cheers,
Peter

[Debbie Whiting]

Hi Peter, thankyou so much for your reply. I can see now that this enquiry is a lot more complicated than my thoughts when I posted the question!!! 

I acquired this lovely box via a local Facebook marketplace advert. I thought I was collecting something I could paint and turn into a toy box for one of the grandchildren... Obviously not!!! 

I am a naturally curious person and it was just a thought, the trying to find its roots so to speak. I see now it's probably a bigger undertaking than I envisaged. I would however love for it to go to sombody or somwhere where it can be appreciated... Any ideas? 

Debbie