porkpie Posted 25 April Share Posted 25 April Hi everyone. I have not used this site for several years but need some help in identifying a soldier for a friend who has asked for help. I have a photo of the soldier but unfortunately, they have no other information on him. I have asked them for date and place of birth which I hope to receive by the weekend. My observations so far are that Richard was a lance corporal, had a good service stripe, a T on his left upper sleeve which could be for Territorial (?) and a triangular cloth badge above it. There is also a blurry mark on his right lower sleeve which looks like 3 narrow stripes. My other observation is that he looks a mature soldier, probably about 30 years old, and has a smart moustache more in keeping with a regular soldier who joined up before 1914. This is supported by having a good service stripe, being a lance corporal and a photo dating service which suggested it was taken in 1915. I am trying to find out whether there is any info on the photographers name and location. Any help you can give me from the experts out there would be much appreciated. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April He’s wearing overseas service chevrons on his right cuff. See here for explanation. So the photo must be later than 1915 IMO. It’s a very short shoulder title. RE maybe? https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/tips-for-interpreting-photographs-of-men-in-uniform/whats-that-on-his-sleeve-an-overseas-service-chevron/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April thanks Michelle. I will follow up Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April Roger, As he is wearing a Lance Corporal stripe unless he was promoted further then records may well show his substantial rank as Private. Can you also ask for any family info such as marriages / birth of children esp. during war years, date of death if known and address in 1911 census? All this will help narrow him down. Good luck with the research. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April Yes ,the software dating is not very good and I was sure the photo was taken much later. The service chevrons look more believable now you have pointed them out. I couldn't get a good fix on the shoulder tab so, as you say, something short like RE is a possibility. 4 minutes ago, DavidOwen said: Roger, As he is wearing a Lance Corporal stripe unless he was promoted further then records may well show his substantial rank as Private. Can you also ask for any family info such as marriages / birth of children esp. during war years, date of death if known and address in 1911 census? All this will help narrow him down. Good luck with the research. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 25 April Share Posted 25 April Royal Engineers Tunnelling Company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April Thanks Dave, I have asked these questions so maybe they will give me more data to follow through. wow Tunnelling and RE makes sense. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April 3 minutes ago, jay dubaya said: Royal Engineers Tunnelling Company In which case (images ©️ Ancestry.) Could this be your man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April 4 minutes ago, jay dubaya said: Royal Engineers Tunnelling Company wow Tunnelling and RE makes sense. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April Hopefully someone will be able to search the London Gazette to see about the DCM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April Thanks Michelle. I had found this Medal link but not had the RE link to connect up. The DSM is another surprise so I will follow up while waiting for more data from my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April Share Posted 25 April (edited) A good spot by Jay. The T arm badge became the instant badge of recognition for the RE Tunnellers. Edited 25 April by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April Another good spot by you Frogsmile. Thanks, Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April War diaries here, free to download https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=171+Tunneling+company+Royal+Engineers&discoveryCustomSearch=true&_cr1=WO+95&_col=200&_hb=tna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April Another great lead. I wonder if he was presented with his DSM on the battlefield and got a War Diary mention. I did find this happen once when researching a Welsh Regiment soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April I had a brief skim through the 1915 one, didn’t get any further , but one man is recorded as having received the DCM in December 1915, so there’s a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April Share Posted 25 April 8 minutes ago, porkpie said: Another good spot by you Frogsmile. Thanks, Roger Jay picked it up first. It’s interesting how the badge spread quickly and took a variety of forms. There’s an interesting explanation of the badge adopted by Canadian tunnellers here: https://milart.blog/2017/12/04/t-is-for-tunneller/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April I did the same Michelle but only for the period 1st Jan to 30th April and found nothing. I was about to go back to late 1915 so you've saved me the effort!1 Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April thanks again. I will take a look. I remember going to Gibraltar some years ago and found that the Canadian Tunnellers in WW2 did most of the cliff excavation to hide British soldiers from view. They were said to be the top tunnellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 25 April Share Posted 25 April 4 minutes ago, porkpie said: thanks again. I will take a look. I remember going to Gibraltar some years ago and found that the Canadian Tunnellers in WW2 did most of the cliff excavation to hide British soldiers from view. They were said to be the top tunnellers. Yes the tunnellers activity was divided between all the Corps on the Western Front and included Canadians and ANZACs as well as the RE. You might be interested in the books shown below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April thanks again. I will take a look. I remember going to Gibraltar some years ago and found that the Canadian Tunnellers in WW2 did most of the cliff excavation to hide British soldiers from view. They were said to be the top tunnellers. thanks again. I took some interesting photos when exploring the tunnels. The cliff tunnels had an excellent photo gallery of soldiers plus equipment displays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin RussT Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April Just to note that the man mentioned above as 1511/137587 R G Leonard RE has the forename Robert as per his Medal Roll. If the OP's subject was named Richard. then need to look for a different document. Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 25 April Share Posted 25 April Third post down in this thread here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted 25 April Author Share Posted 25 April Michelle, Just checked out the December 1915 diary and it was a Sapper G. Willis who was awarded a DCM on 18th Dec so I think my man is more elusive to find. Will go back to Aug 1915 and trawl my way through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin RussT Posted 25 April Admin Share Posted 25 April Men named Richard Leonard who served overseas in the RE are: 134290 Cpl WR/284534 Pte (ex Essex Rgt) WR/279546 Pte (ex Y & L Rgt) I don't think a tunneller would have the prefix WR on his RE number, so I would plump for Cpl 134290 Richard Leonard out of the above 3 candidates. Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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