Meyer Posted 7 November , 2005 Share Posted 7 November , 2005 CSM Joseph Brown 6th DLI was my Grandfather unfortunately like many people I know very little about his service before and during the Great War. The snippets I have are; Possible army number from a medal card of 251045 Terratorial soldier from Crook/Willington/Bishop Aucland area Co Durham. Proffession, coal miner, like many of his compatriots. Joined 1908(?) Discharged 1918(?) I would be grateful for any information or a pointer in the direction to find more information?? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gumbirsingpun Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 hi i recommend that you shud try the link below in order to get some more information concerning your grandfaithe,nathing can hold a candle to this page, if you wanna get the best result http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...1&resultcount=5 tuna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Hi It may be worth you having a trip through to Durham, and the Record Office, as it holds a large amount of files and photos that relate to the 6th DLI, or so i am led to believe by a friend of mine who has visited the archive looking for info on his grandfather who also served in the 6th DLI. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 8 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Thanks to you both for the replies and information, I will give the national archives a go. And as for Durham it is only 28miles up the road from me, I am also a member of the DLI association. I understand that most of the war records were lost during the Blitz in London, but you never can tell waht is left to find?? Cheers again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnr.ktrha Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Hello, You should try and get a copy of a book written by Harry Moses called ''The Faithful Sixth'' published by County Durham Books in 1995 {ISBN 1 897585 19 5} It deals with the Bn from 1859 - 1968. There is a good selection of ww1 Bn photo's including one from 1917 showing the senior NCO's. I've had a quick look through my copy, but cannot find any mention of your granddfather in the Index or photo captions. If there is any info that you want, please let me know. Regards, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 8 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Thanks Stewart, I already have 'The Faithful Sixth' and in fact have met and talked with Harry Moses at the DLI museum. I will keep on looking!!! Thanks again, Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMG65 Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Good to see another Darlo lad on the forum. I not an expert on service numbers but your grandfather has a high one for a territorial and I believe that they were prefixed with a 6 if they were in from the start. Could he have served with other battalions? Was he a CSM throughout the war? There are Brown's mentioned in the book by Harry Moses but of other ranks. What exactly does his medal card say and have you tried the medal rolls? Have a look at the website 'The Long Long Trail' for information on researching a relative. Regards Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Cheers Sean, The medal card that I found only shows an army number for a CSM J Brown 6DLI. I am assuming that this is my Grandfather (perhaps it isn't). I neeed to try and do some investigation with the family (whats left od them at least) to see if they have any other snippets of info!! He was definately a CSM with 6DLI at the end of the war as that info is on my fathers birth certificate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Just downloaded another medal card this time for a C/SJT Joseph Brown DLI with the army number 2510457. There is also another number 6/6178 which would fit in with Sean's thought of Terratorial numbers beginning with a 6. The last digit '7' could well have been unreadable on the original card for CSM J Brown with what I can see, army number 251045 !!!!! Would it be possible for a soldier to have more than 1 medal card???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted 9 November , 2005 Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Hi Yes it was more than possible for a soldier to have more than one Medal Index Card. I will do my best to expain the two numbers. When Joseph Brown joined the DLI he was given the number 6178, the prefix 6/ indicating that he was with the 6th DLI. You will find for other DLI Battalions that they have differnet prefixs: eg:18/21 Pte. Herbert E Baker, who served with the 18th DLI. In April 1917 the whole of the Territorial Army underwent a renumbering process, as it was being found that with the expansion of the Army a Regiment may contain several men with identical numbers. (for instance my local Regt, the Lincs may have had up to 3 or 4 men with the same number, serving with different Battaions within the Regiment). Thus the the Territorial Battalion underwent a renumbering, from 2, 3, or 4 digit numbers to a six digit system. In Joseph Browns case this will be the 251047 number that you found. Each territorial battalion in each regiment being allocated a block of several thousand numbers to use. Again to use the Lincs as an example, the 4th lincs were renumbered from 200000 upwards, and the 5th Lincs allocated numbers from 240000 upwards. Hope that makes sense Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Blanchard Posted 9 November , 2005 Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Hello, My Grandfather was from Beamish and served in the 8th DLI, surname Burridge. I managed to get his service record from the National Archives, eventually. His first names were George Edward. I managed to find a George Edward and thought that must be him, listed in the Tanks Corps- but his address didn't tally with what I knew. I knew that he was called Ned- but no Neds. I eventually found his record under Edward Burridge. Anyway the upshot is to keep trying and it is well worth finding that elusive document. I would dearly love to find the service record of my Great Uncle, who also served with the Durhams and then the NF, but with a name like Tom Williams, I think it will be a struggle. If you do find his record let me know as I am researching the Durhams as part of a research degree on the 50th Div in 1918. Good Luck, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Chris, Yes it does make sense thanks. However, you say that the new numbers were 6 digit ie., 251045 as per the original medal card but, the newest card I found has seven digits ie., 2510457 strange?!? So you are in North Lincs? My Great Grandfather C/Sgt Joseph Stevenson was born in Haxey (or Haxy??) don't know what regiment he served with but apparently he died during the Boer war and is burried in Cape Town. Just a bit of info!! Cheers and thanks for the help, Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Hello, My Grandfather was from Beamish and served in the 8th DLI, surname Burridge. I managed to get his service record from the National Archives, eventually. His first names were George Edward. I managed to find a George Edward and thought that must be him, listed in the Tanks Corps- but his address didn't tally with what I knew. I knew that he was called Ned- but no Neds. I eventually found his record under Edward Burridge. Anyway the upshot is to keep trying and it is well worth finding that elusive document. I would dearly love to find the service record of my Great Uncle, who also served with the Durhams and then the NF, but with a name like Tom Williams, I think it will be a struggle. If you do find his record let me know as I am researching the Durhams as part of a research degree on the 50th Div in 1918. Good Luck, David Will certainly let you know if I find anything, Ian. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnr.ktrha Posted 9 November , 2005 Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Hello, Harry Moses's book on the 6th is a great read. I have spoken with him when he was putting together a book on the 9th DLI. I knew a DLI Officer who served with them in Normandy [He was a Reg, who came up through the ranks] If you do go to Durham, would you keep an eye out for any information on 6-1102 Sergeant John D Williams. He was also a Miner. He enlisted in the Bn on 25-05-09 and was discharged due to wounds on the 28 Jan 1916. I knew his son, the 9 DLI officer listed above. His father lost a leg at the 2nd Ypres. Good luck with your search, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meyer Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Hello, Harry Moses's book on the 6th is a great read. I have spoken with him when he was putting together a book on the 9th DLI. I knew a DLI Officer who served with them in Normandy [He was a Reg, who came up through the ranks] If you do go to Durham, would you keep an eye out for any information on 6-1102 Sergeant John D Williams. He was also a Miner. He enlisted in the Bn on 25-05-09 and was discharged due to wounds on the 28 Jan 1916. I knew his son, the 9 DLI officer listed above. His father lost a leg at the 2nd Ypres. Good luck with your search, Stewart <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No probs Stewart!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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