Recruitment to South Wales Regiments?

[Mike Watkins]

My grandfather was reluctant to talk about the war so my family know very little of his experiences beyond the fact that he served in France. There are numerous men who share the same name (Thomas or Thomas R Watkins) in the MIC so it is difficult to identify him without his service number. We have established from the AVL that in 1918 he served with the 909 Garrison Guard Coy but he is not listed in the MIC with the service number stated, which seems to give some credence to the suggestion that he may have served in another unit.

He was 17 when the war started and he lived in Porth in the Rhondda valley. Please can anyone provide information about recruitment centres in the Porth area and the likely 'local' regiment that a Welsh speaking lad would probably join?

More questions than answers at this stage but I hope someone can help.

Thanks, Mike

[Bernard_Lewis]

Tricky - the Rhondda valleys certainly contributed lots of men to the 10th and 13th battalions of the Welsh Regiment but there would be other options. The Welsh Regiment museum is in Cardiff Castle (John Dart, Curator) but I'm not certain that they would have detailed records down to the individual soldier.

Bernard

[Mike Watkins]

Thanks Bernard, good to hear from you.

I found out this evening that my grandfather was short and probably below the 5' 3" regulation height. This seems to make him a candidate for one of the Welsh Bantam Battalions (17th or 18th Welsh, 19th RWF or 12th SWB).

Do you know if it's possible to identify these Battalions by the service number ranges allocated to them please? The reason for the question is that my grandfather served in France and was entitled to a campaign medal. He is probably one of the many Thomas Watkins' in the Medal Roll so if I can link some of these men to one of the Welsh Bantam Battalions from their service numbers it could help narrow the search.

Cheers, Mike

[gregs_yorkley]

HI Mike,

That's interesting, I'm currently helping a relative trace a soldier from that area (Pentre) and we are also having problems identifying him.

William Robert Jones was, according to the medal in the possession of the family GS/22645 Royal Fusiliers, and the family firmly believe he died sometime after 30th Dec 1917 (they have a postcard from him dated that date), if the field of battle.

However, CWGC & SDGW show no record of him under that number. We are gradually working through the W Jones that died and eliminating those that do not fit, but I guess like you its not an easy task.

We have come to the conclusion, that he:

a. got sent the wrong medal (the one the family has actually belongs to another W R Jones

b. didn't actually die in the war, but just didn't return.

The family are particularly unwilling to accept the latter option, so for now we continue with the first. Next stop is to see if by some miracle he is on the AVL.

Good luck with your hunt

Angela

[gregs_yorkley]

Hi again Mike,

Just noticed another bit of your mail, your grandfathers height!

My own great-grandfather was a statuesque 5' 2 3/4" (according to his service records), and was in the Rifle Brigade, so I wouldn't place too much emphasis on your grandfather being under regulation height.

Cheers

Angela

[Bernard_Lewis]

Mike - not an expert but service numbers did run in ranges - Swansea Bn started off with mainly 17000+ but also included 29000+ before extending all over the place as the war progressed.

I think there is a website about one of the other Welsh regt units and I'll see if I can find it sometime today (got to go out soon)

Bernard

[Bernard_Lewis]

http://www.17thwelsh.ukf.net/

Mike - try the above link but no idea if its the one you need!

Bernard

[Mike Watkins]

Hi again Mike,

Just noticed another bit of your mail, your grandfathers height!

My own great-grandfather was a statuesque 5' 2 3/4" (according to his service records), and was in the Rifle Brigade, so I wouldn't place too much emphasis on your grandfather being under regulation height.

Cheers

Angela

[Mike Watkins]

Hello Angela

Thanks for your advice and encouragement. This all started with an unplanned visit to Vimy Ridge which interested my teenage sons sufficiently for a family trip to Ypres. It was sobering for them to see how many young men of the same age did not return.

They are now intrigued by what great grandfather did during the war, which is challenging because of a lack of information. Next step is a visit to Kew in the hope that my grandfather's service records survived and that more of his story will unfold.

If you are looking for local assistance with your research I've found that the Treorchy library <Treorchy.library@rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk> are very helpful.

Good luck!

Mike

[Mike Watkins]

Bernard, many thanks for your help. I tried the link you suggested and the war diaries of the 17th (Service) Battalion, The Welsh Regiment were fascinating.

Unfortunately, as far as my grandfather is concerned, without firm facts I can only work by assumption and Angela's experience suggests that being under regulation height did not necessarily mean qualification as a Bantam.

Ah well, the search goes on!

Mike