hendy Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 i am trying to trace agreat uncle, john william straughan born1876 and lived North Shields ibelieve he joined the tynside scottish andwas in the labour corps but i have found out from a distant relative in australia who happen to have one of his medals which bears the number 34554PTE w straughan LINC R Regiment but i cannont find out anything about him he was probably known as william and he died during the early part of the first world war i cant find a grave for him so i assume he was missing in action hoping someone can help thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Here is his Medal index Card which will show you his campaign medal entitlement if you pay to download it: Medal card of Strangham, William Corps Regiment No Rank Lincolnshire Regiment 34554 Private Labour Corps 27418 Private http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...1&resultcount=2 It would appear that he did not die until later in the war as the Labour Corps was not created until 1-1-1917. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 The Tyneside Scottish William Straughan could be this one: Name: STRAUGHAN Initials: W Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment: Northumberland Fusiliers Unit Text: 20th (Tyneside Scottish) Bn. Date of Death: 09/03/1916 Service No: 20/124 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: I. G. 23. Cemetery: ERQUINGHEM-LYS CHURCHYARD EXTENSION http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...casualty=192870 No helpful details to ID him, I'm afraid. His MIc confirms him as a William. Is this man a red herring, though i wonder... Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Aha! Sometimes they are hiding... Name: STRAUGHAM, WILLIAM Initials: W Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment: Labour Corps Unit Text: 46th Coy. Date of Death: 25/09/1917 Service No: 7418 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 160 and 162A and 163A. Cemetery: TYNE COT MEMORIAL http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...casualty=826576 That would place his death at the 3rd Battle of Ypres. You were right with Missing. Tyne Cot is the Memorial for those lost at Ypres with no known grave. 7418 in the Labour Corps was a Patrick O'Brien, so the number here seems wrong, but is nevertheless too close to William Straughan's MIC number, and with a fairly rare name, so it is likely to be him. 3 name variations and a number error. Par for the course for WW1 research! Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 8 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Aha! Sometimes they are hiding... Name: STRAUGHAM, WILLIAM Initials: W Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment: Labour Corps Unit Text: 46th Coy. Date of Death: 25/09/1917 Service No: 7418 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 160 and 162A and 163A. Cemetery: TYNE COT MEMORIAL http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...casualty=826576 That would place his death at the 3rd Battle of Ypres. You were right with Missing. Tyne Cot is the Memorial for those lost at Ypres with no known grave. 7418 in the Labour Corps was a Patrick O'Brien, so the number here seems wrong. 3 name variations and a number error. Par for the course for WW1 research! Steve. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> thanks for your help steve what would geordie be doing in a lilnconshire regiment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 8 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 November , 2005 my great uncle would bejust into his early fortys when he died,would he have been enlisted in thearmy or the labour corps given his age at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 If you look at the signature on my post you'll see "Herbert William Beeby" Black Watch. From Peterborough, Cambs (or Northants back then). Not a drop of Scotch blood in him. Enlisted London. And he was a volunteer too. At the start of the war, men could basically join whatever Regiment they liked within reason, though many joined their "local" Regiment. He may have been working in Lincolnshire at the time, if he was a volunteer. Later in the War, the later volunteers and conscripts went where they were put so it was quite possible for a Scotsman to be in the Hampshire regiment, or vice versa. The Lincolnshire number seems fairly high, though I have no special insight into their numbers, so it is possible he joined later in the War (end of 1915, early 1916?) and went where he was needed. The Lincolnshire's had lost many casualties at the battle of Loos in October 1915 so possibly a draft of replacements to one of those Regiments. The MIC only carries the units AFTER the man went overseas so he could have been in the N. Fusiliers before going abroad. Only his Service Records would give details of his earlier service. Only 30% of these survived the Blitz. They can be viewed at the national archives at Kew. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linge Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Soldiers Died in the Great War has the following: Private William Straugham 7418, Labour Corps Died 25th September 1917 Born: Carham, Northumberland Enlisted: Newcastle-on-Tyne Residence: Eglingham, Northumberland Formerly 34554, Lincs. R. Regards Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 8 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 November , 2005 thanks pam that is where william was bornand he moved to a farm near eglingham with his gran and grandad before moving to north shields with his brother and he must have enlisted from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 8 November , 2005 Share Posted 8 November , 2005 Looking at the Lincs. service numbers around him, we get these Linc. reg. Labour Corps. 34530 26664 34511 26823 34506 26820 34524 26856 34509 26822 34513 31040 34510 23821 34523 26790 This is the first page of 10 men of which these 7 have very similar "careers". Only 7 men I know, but there are 119 results of which the vast majority seem to be the same sets of numbers. When the Labour Corps was created on 1-1-17 it "swept up" all the previous Labour Battalions in the Infantry and the men were transferred to the labour Corps and given a new number. This initial wave of renumbering included over 100000 men and a lot of these renumbers were allocated in early 1917. My guess would be that William was in the Labour Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, probably due to his age. This was the 12th Battalion: "12th (Labour) Battalion Formed in Brocklesby, July 1916. August 1916 : landed in France, moved to Lines of Communication. April 1917 : transferred to Labour Corps as 16th and 17th Labour Coys. " He wasn't in the 16th or 17th when he died so he may have transferred later (or I'm talking rubbish) Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 8 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 November , 2005 thanks for all your help steve that has helped enormousily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 further to john william straughan he had a brother that joined up George [born 1867] and nephew called jack who ran away to the north of scotland to join up i have a card from him which is hard to make out but i think it is 27752 C coy Camerons dated sept 27th 1918 ithink they both survived the war although george was never heard of again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 9 November , 2005 Share Posted 9 November , 2005 Jack/John, not unusual for John's to be called Jack... Medal card of Straughan, John Corps Regiment No Rank Cameron Highlanders S/27752 Private http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...1&resultcount=1 Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 thanks steve yes i think he got called john this is probably him im sorry ihave nothimg at all on george only he was born at carham in northumberland and nothing much else is known about him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 9 November , 2005 Share Posted 9 November , 2005 There are 12 George Straughan's (ignoring the possibility of more mangled names) http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...=1&mediaarray=* Curiously (or is it significantly) there is another man with the same sort of record as William: Medal card of Straughan, George Ed Corps Regiment No Rank Lincolnshire Regiment 39905 Private Labour Corps 31617 Private http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...&resultcount=12 A possibility? Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendy Posted 9 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2005 yes steve that could be possible they could havejoined up together i dont knw if george had a middle name or not but it looks if that could be our man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now