Sgt John McGeachy Cameron Highlanders

[WINDSOR383]

I have a problem that I cannot solve. My great grandfather John Mcgeachy joined the 2nd Bn QOCH in March 1907 and given Army No.7840. he served in N/China & India before deploying to France in Dec 1914 apart of 27th Div. the camerons war diary record John as wounded on the 24 April 1915 (hill 60, Zillibeke), this is backed up by the 79th news with confirms GSW left arm, both accounts show he was a LCpl.

Johns medal roll(Victory/British war medal) records: Sjt John McGeachy 7840, 2 Cam'n High'rs. then 3rd bn Arg.&.Suth'd Highrs army No.10289 , Pte (which i believe were a home service Bn), the medal index card also show him as a Pte in the following regiments. then 25 Coy the Labour Corps No.14414 & finally the 13 bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. his 1914/15 star roll records him as 14414 Pte John McGeachy,cameron highlanders. both rolls at the top record the "regiment where decoration was earned" as the Inniskilling Fusiliers. the silver war badge No.454613 Pte John McGeachy 47274, wounded, discharge 23.05.1919. so the problem is I have confirmed info that john was a LCpl in the camerons on the 24th April 1915, but the rest of the info seems to say he was a Sgt & Pte after that date,(my grandmother believed he was a Sgt). can any Kind person please help me solve this problem?

picture attached is John taken between 1911-13 India.

[WINDSOR383]

i have attached a copy of the medal roll if any one has any idea's about the rank problem it would be very much appreciated.

regards Stu.M

[WINDSOR383]

a copy of the Medal index card attached

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

He could well have been a Sergeant & lost his Rank,before,or on being transferred to the other Units,The Medal Roll Page records the Highest Rank served @ whilst on Active O/S Service,not always the same as his Final Rank,his recorded appointment as L/Cpl,is an appointment,rather than a "Rank" as such & he may well have lost that also,You may do well to note the number of Units he served with?

[WINDSOR383]

thank you for the reply, i may not of explaned the details to well, as you have noted in the medal roll it shows john as a Sjt, the problem is he was recorded as a lcpl in two seperate documents the first, a war diary & second the 79th news as having a gun shot wound left arm, which did alot of damage to the tendons in his hand, this happened 24th april 1915, no doubt he was sent back to uk to recover. his battalion went to salonica in november 1915, i doubt john would have recovered in 7 months to join in, the 3rd battalion A&SH was on home service at this time which we know john served in as a pte acording to the medal roll. he then joined the 25 coy labour corps which he was an original member in 1917 then the 13 bn RIF in 1918 as a pte, to get demoted from Sgt to pte would take a serious disaplinary matter, would there be court martial records? Details from my grandmother show him as a very dedicated soldier who earned two good conduct stripes, and a keen sportsman who stayed in the army after a bad wound also would have stayed in if not discharged due to wounds in 1919, it just seems out of character.

if anyone has more ideas i would be glad to here from you.

thak you again Stu.M

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Presumably you've tried to see if his "Papers" survive?? If they do they may well give details of why he was reduced in rank

[PPCLI]

Hi Stu,

One of the main problems here is that his MIC seems to be in a bit of a clerical mess. Reading it in conjuntion with the Vic/BWM medal roll info, it appears that someone has incorrectly associated his 1915 Star awarded to the Cam. High., with his Labour Corps number. Then, when the authorities were sorting out the Vic/BWM medal rolls, they have come back to his MIC and entered his correct Cam. High. regt. no. and asterisked Sjt as his rank for these medals. The Vic/BWM medal roll confirms that his highest rank with the Cam. Highlanders was Serjeant and that he still held that rank when serving with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

A possible scenario, based on other men that I have researched:

1914 - enters war as Pte. 7840, 2nd Bn., Camerons

1915 - early in year is promoted to L/Cpl. Wounded in April, back home to convalesce. Attached to Camerons Depot, promoted to Sgt, perhaps acting as an instructor.

1916 - Not fully fit to serve overseas, so transferred to A&SH and continued as an instructor

1917 - Transferred to Labour Coy., a new unit being set up, so it would require experienced NCOs

1918 - Fully recovered fitness/British army desperate for any trained men after the German Spring offensive, so transferred to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, still retaining the rank of Sjt.

I have based this hypothetical scheme of events on the basis that I believe that his 1915 Star medal roll entry/MIC has been poorly/wrongly entered and that the Pte. only refers to the rank on his 1915 Star medal, and not to his subsequent units.

There will be many other ways to interpret this info, but as HarryBetts has said, the only way to be sure is to try and find his service papers.

Cheers,

Stuart

[WINDSOR383]

Thank you so much for that assessment, I have looked many times for his service record with no luck, but the information you have sent certainly makes sense, I will have a look in the 79th news at the depot notes and see if his name shows up. but your reply has opened my research to other avenues thank you once again.

best regards stu.m