Robert Wilson -- 1/6th West Yorkshire Regiment

[Allan1892]

Robert Wilson, #63742, enlisted 16th November 1917 (on reaching age 18). Medical admissions shows that when he was transferred to Number 4 Stationary Hospital on the 21st may 1918, he had only been in the field for 1 full week. He was taken prisoner and I am trying to come up with a date of his capture. As he does not appear in the in the ICRC, my gut feeling is that his capture was close to the end of the war. I have attached images of what I have with regard to him being a POW -- all thoughts gratefully received.

[DavidOwen]

Hello Allan

He was awarded a Silver War Badge as a result of wounds being discharged in April 1919 (Image courtesy Ancestry)

His enlistment date of 1917 suggests an under age enlistment to me.

A couple of pension records exist on Ancestry - not within my subscription so the image below is best I can do

 

This would jive with the 1921 Census entry for him and the address on your POW enquiry letter (courtesy FMP)

[DavidOwen]

The battalion war diary is here 1/6 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment | The National Archives looking at the date on the German form you probably need to look at August 1918 onwards?

[Matlock1418]

 

28 minutes ago, DavidOwen said:

A couple of pension records exist on Ancestry - not within my subscription so the image below is best I can do

From WFA/Fold3:

Pension index card shows discharge 7-4-19 and 8/3 pw week from 8-4-19 to 6-4-20 [30% disability rate for a pension Class V soldier/Pte]

Pension ledger page shows GSW hip and Final award 18-3-24

M

[Allan1892]

Thank you both for replying.

Mr M -- I was going to look for pension records as I had found his discharge and SWB earlier today but family duties (i.e. acting chauffeur to my good lady wife) got in the way -- thank you for the details.

David -- his enlistment date of 19/11/17 on his SWB entry was his eighteenth birthday. His entry in the admission and discharge register for 4 Stationary Hospital shows that he was 18 years of age, had been in the Army for 6 months and in the field for 1 full week. He had been admitted from sick convoy on the 21/5/18 suffering from Scabies -- he was discharged to duty on the 12/6/18. I had already looked at the Battalion's war diaries for August; September and early October (very faint in parts) but couldn't see any notations of 'missing men'. I have re-visited the diaries and read them from the 12/6/18 (when he was discharged to duty) to the 31/8/18 and I have only found one notation of 'missing men' -- 13/7/18 -- entry shows that a raiding party of 4 Officers and 40 ORs split into 4 detachments which encountered enemy action. The entry that mentions 'missing men' reads 'The second detachment under 2/Lt Brown also came upon Boche, heavy fire followed. 2/Lt Brown with 3 other ranks became separated from the remainder of his party and was not heard of again. -- with the absence of other notations of 'missing men', I suspect that Robert Wilson would have been one of the three other ranks.