2346 Pte G Thomson Royal Highlanders

[Macthomas]

Hi Folks,

As you can see, I am very new to this forum but hope you will help me.

Approx 25 years ago, two of my granfathers medals were removed from there legal guardian, my father, by a step family member. Obviously, as these are part of my family history I would like to purchase them back from whoever is now looking after them, if possible.

My Grandfather was George Thomson, Born 28 March 1896 in Star, Kennoway, Fife, Scotland.

The details of the medals are;

1914-15 Star 2346 Pte G Thomson Royal Highlanders

BWM 2346 Pte G Thomson Royal Highlanders

I still have his Victory medal.

From his MIC I see that he also had other service numbers and regiments as follows:

George was in the Royal Highlanders (2346); Private, Labour Corps (5830);Private and again Royal Highlanders (203770); Private. He entered France on the 2 may 1915.

I also know that he was wounded in France and was shipped to Greenock "Fort Matilda" to recover although I dont have exact details of this. Would this wound have also entitled him to the silver wound badge?

One other thing that I find confusing, I have a badge of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry from the WW1 period and my father always told me it was his fathers but this does not show on his MIC.

Any help finding the medals or any other information on my grandfather would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Ian

[Stebie9173]

(Posted in Medal section, too, but more appropriate here, for further discussion)

Hello, Ian. Welcome to the forum.

I don't know anything about the medals, unfortunately, but I hope I can help with his service details.

The number 203770 is a Territorial Force (TF) number "belonging" to the 4th TF battalion of the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch). It may be that his earlier number of 2346 was his first Regimental number (the TF numbers, which were generally rather low, were re-numbered on 1-3-1917 to new 6 digit numbers. Each of the TF battalions had a number range allocated to them.

The 1/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion landed in France on 27-2-1915, so this could fit with his arrival. To be sure you would need to consult the Medal Rolls using the Index References on the MIC.

Men quite often rejoined the ranks overseas in the Labour Corps after they had been "moderately" wounded, so this may tie in with his time in hospital.

He would not have been entitled to the SWB unless his wounds rendered him incapable of further service.

Also, the 14th Battalion Black Watch was known as the 14th (Fife and Forfar Yeomanry) Battalion formed from dismounted troops of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry itself. Where this would fit, I'm not sure especcialy as it was formed in 1916 and wouldn't have been his first unit. It was formed and served in Egypt.

http://www.1914-1918.net/blackwatch.htm

This may not fit with the known service details.

Hope this helps a bit,

Steve.