Some help needed please. WD Handwriting/signature.

[Bob Davies]

Hello all,

I am looking for help in working out this signature please.

''..........wood. Lt for Lt Col

O.C. ASC 5th Cavalry Division''

It is from WO 95 1163/8 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7351613

I cannot find another mention of him in the WD to use as a comparison.

Thanks and regards,

Bob.

Screenshot courtesy of The National Archives.

[jay dubaya]

Adifficult one... how about Garwood

[Waggoner]

Perhaps G. Welwood?

All the best,

Gary

[Bob Davies]

8 minutes ago, jay dubaya said:

Adifficult one... how about Garwood

Thanks Jay,

your suggestion sent me to ''Sherwood''?

Another bit of the WD in his hand.

A capital G in GOC and some of the letter S.

Screenshot courtesy of The National Archives.

[Bob Davies]

1 minute ago, Waggoner said:

Perhaps G. Welwood?

All the best,

Gary

Thank you Gary,

that is a good suggestion too.

Regards, Bob.

[Bob Davies]

A capital 'E' from 'establishment' and a capital 'S' from 'supply' in this next screenshot.

Screenshot courtesy of The National Archives.

[chaz]

just a thought, the diary is from 1917, 

maybe , if there is another before or after this one , there may be a notification of his transfer or promotion in our out.

[Bob Davies]

1 hour ago, chaz said:

just a thought, the diary is from 1917, 

maybe , if there is another before or after this one , there may be a notification of his transfer or promotion in our out.

Thank you for the suggestion chaz,

I have not had chance today but that is a good route to go down.

Harts or Indian Army lists may show something too?

A work in progress......

Regards, Bob.

[davidbohl]

looking at the punctuation perhaps initials G.W. and surname Wood

[Bob Davies]

17 hours ago, davidbohl said:

looking at the punctuation perhaps initials G.W. and surname Wood

I see what you mean,

thank you David.

Regards,

Bob.

[PhilB]

19 hours ago, davidbohl said:

looking at the punctuation perhaps initials G.W. and surname Wood

Or G M Wood?

[jay dubaya]

21 hours ago, davidbohl said:

looking at the punctuation perhaps initials G.W. and surname Wood

That's a good call, I'd completely missed the stops and can only agree with this observation.

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

On 03/09/2024 at 19:02, PhilB said:

Or G M Wood

I would agree that the middle initial does not look like the "W" of "Wood", so "M" might be a good alternative.

I am also not sure that any of the WD is in this man's handwriting, apart from the signature. To me it lookas as though most of the WD is in the same hand, perhaps that of a clerk, with just the signature to be filled in by the person authenticating it. I say this inter alia because each time "Lt Col O.C. A.S.C. 5th Cavalry Division" appears it looks exactly the same, whether the Lt Col was signing it himself, or someone else on his behalf.

If I am right it won't help much to look at the narrative of the diary to see how the signatory writes his capital letters.

In any event, I am not sure that the capital "G" as written in "G.O.C". closely resembles the first initial of the signature, as the final downward stroke of the "G" in "G.O.C." curves up to the left, while in the first initial, if the letter is a "G", it curves up to the right, and back across the downward stroke, quite a significant difference. The downward stroke of my GF's capital "G"s also curves up to the left, and I suspect that this may have been quite common.

Is it possible that the first initial may be a very florid "F"? It is not unlike some of my GF's capital "F"s, though none are quite as florid.

F.M. Wood?

Edited Thursday at 00:00 by A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy

[FROGSMILE]

8 hours ago, A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy said:

F.M. Wood?

That’s what I see too.  There’s punctuation, a stop, after each of the first two letters, and it seems to me also that he has gone to some care to express clearly the up and down strokes of the second letter as an M.  The first letter looks like a florid F as you say. 

Edited Thursday at 08:34 by FROGSMILE

[Bob Davies]

8 hours ago, A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy said:

I would agree that the middle initial does not look like the "W" of "Wood", so "M" might be a good alternative.

I am also not sure that any of the WD is in this man's handwriting, apart from the signature. To me it lookas as though most of the WD is in the same hand, perhaps that of a clerk, with just the signature to be filled in by the person authenticating it. I say this inter alia because each time "Lt Col O.C. A.S.C. 5th Cavalry Division" appears it looks exactly the same, whether the Lt Col was signing it himself, or someone else on his behalf.

If I am right it won't help much to look at the narrative of the diary to see how the signatory writes his capital letters.

In any event, I am not sure that the capital "G" as written in "G.O.C". closely resembles the first initial of the signature, as the final downward stroke of the "G" in "G.O.C." curves up to the left, while in the first initial, if the letter is a "G", it curves up to the right, and back across the downward stroke, quite a significant difference. The downward stroke of my GF's capital "G"s also curves up to the left, and I suspect that this may have been quite common.

Is it possible that the first initial may be a very florid "F"? It is not unlike some of my GF's capital "F"s, though none are quite as florid.

F.M. Wood?

Thank you A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy,

I think that is the best suggestion yet,

I appreciate the time you have taken to look and type this out for me.

7 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

That’s what I see too.  There’s punctuation, a stop, after each of the first two letters, and it seems to me also that he has gone to some care to express clearly the up and down strokes of the second letter as an M.  The first letter looks like a florid F as you say. 

Thanks for your confirmation on this one FROGSMILE.

Regards,

Bob.

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

On 05/09/2024 at 09:45, Bob Davies said:

I appreciate the time you have taken to look and type this out for me.

You are very welcome. I got used to spending quite a lot of time staring at my GF's handwriting trying to decipher it, and when I completed the transcription of his diaries I quite missed that part of the project.

I see that earlier you said that you might look at the Indian Army lists, presumably because, as I see from the LLT, the 5th Cavalry Division had its origin in the Indian Army, 2nd Indian Cavalry Division.

I have had a look at the MICs on Ancestry, but there are few, if any, men with the name of "F. Wood" who fit the bill, let alone men with the name of "F.M. Wood". I did find an F. Wood, Lieutenant, of the Indian Armyhttps://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1262/images/30850_A001715-02532?treeid=&personid=&queryId=11ceabe2-76d8-4f62-b64f-643d4c6b7f7d&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Ifw715&_phstart=successSource&pId=524519 , but others will be better qualified than me to say whether he might have been the man in question.