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Remembered Today:

Coincidence or What


Guest yogi

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Hello everyone, new to this site,

Just wondered if you would be able to clear up some confusion for me. Some time ago I printed off the following details,

331065 Private Stanley John Archer

5th Reserve Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers

Died Home 07/11/18

Formerly 10551 Hertfordshire Regt.

Having tried to find his grave without any luck, I contacted the CWGC site again to ask if they know where it was they sent back the following information

Cadet Archer S J

Unit 9 Cadet Wing Royal Air Force

331065 Died 07/11/18

Husband of ADL Watson Formerly Archer

Are these 2 sets of details of the same person. Name, Service No. & Date of death the same, or is it a very strange coincidence.

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Yogi

I'd say that it's the same person, with a couple of different service numbers.

The death of Stanley John Archer, aged 22, was recorded in Q4/1918 in Elham. Volume 2a, Page 2715 will get you the death certificate.

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ARCHER , S J Cadet 331065 Royal Air Force 07/11/1918 21

Grave ref. no. RRR. 37. Huntingdon Cemetery (Priory Rd.)

Medal card of Archer, Stanley J

Corps: Hertfordshire Regiment

Regiment No: 100537...

See the differant number.

Regards Phil

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From the NA:

Medal card of Archer, Stanley J

Corps Regiment No Rank

Hertfordshire Regiment 100537

Hertfordshire Yeomanry 106451

Dorset Yeomanry 231663

Lancashire Fusiliers 331065 Private

From this I wonder if CWGC have his info incorrectly shown? It seems the Lanc Fus number has become RAF!

Ian

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Thank you,

So you think it's the same person but confusion over the RAF/ Lancs Fusilers,

The addition of a wife is somewhat of a surprise, I have found an entry of marriage but will have to order a certificate to verify.

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Thank you,

So you think it's the same person but confusion over the RAF/ Lancs Fusilers,

The addition of a wife is somewhat of a surprise, I have found an entry of marriage but will have to order a certificate to verify.

On April 1, 1918, the Royal Air Force (RAF) is formed with the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.

So if he is RAF, he would have been in either RFC or RNAS, prior to 1st April 1918 and that's not on his record or joined after that date, from Lancs fusiliers which there is no evidence.

So I suggest that as this RAF man the cadet, he would be young and this would be his first military service. So there are possibly two differant men involved here. So I checked 1901 census and found two Stanley Archers in Hertfordshire, both would 21 in 1918

Stanley J Archer 3 Herts Bulborne Sawbridgeworth

Stanley Archer 3 Herts Markyate Hertfordshire

Do any of these places help further

Regards Phil

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Stanley J Archer Bulborne Sawbridgeworth is the one I am looking for.

This is the one I am trying to find the grave of, he died at home 07/11/1918. The CWGC gave me

Priory Road Cemetery Huntingdon, have they got the wrong one.

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Interesting Thread

Roll of Honour for Huntingdon has SJ Archer RAF - Native of Huntingdon - link below

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Huntingdonsh...Huntingdon.html

Just to add a bit more confusion :D

Glyn

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And from SDGW - Your Sawbo man

Glyn

post-5500-1147721387.jpg

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Guest burnsey
Hello everyone, new to this site,

Just wondered if you would be able to clear up some confusion for me. Some time ago I printed off the following details,

331065 Private Stanley John Archer

5th Reserve Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers

Died Home 07/11/18

Formerly 10551 Hertfordshire Regt.

Having tried to find his grave without any luck, I contacted the CWGC site again to ask if they know where it was they sent back the following information

Cadet Archer S J

Unit 9 Cadet Wing Royal Air Force

331065 Died 07/11/18

Husband of ADL Watson Formerly Archer

Are these 2 sets of details of the same person. Name, Service No. & Date of death the same, or is it a very

strange coincidence.

yes

On the soldiers died he is stanley john 331065 5th batt lancs fus died at home 7/11/18

formally 10551 hrts regt

Burnsey

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Looks like we have just gone round in a circle and ended up back at the first posting!

That said, we know there were two of 'em.

Perhaps one army and one RAF? The Herts Regt number 10551 does not seem correct - does not come up on the NA mic's.

Maybe the death certificate will elaborate?

Ian

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Now this might be a long shot, Stanley Archer may never have been in the Lancashire fusiliers. I found this chap on CWGC. The three links are, name Archer, regt. 5th Lancashire fusiliers, county Huntingdon. I think this entry is correct as he has a MIC.

Name: ARCHER, JONATHAN WATTS

Initials: J W

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Lancashire Fusiliers

Unit Text: 2nd/5th Bn.

Age: 28

Date of Death: 08/06/1918

Service No: 40516

Additional information: Son of Martha Archer, of Ramsey St. Mary'S, Hunts., and the late John Archer.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: II. G. 11.

Cemetery: HOUCHIN BRITISH CEMETERY

regards Phil

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Just to collate what we have discovered. Still think a sighting of the death certificate should confirm his service details at the time of his death.

There were two Stanley Archers of similar age, but one from Bulborne (our man) and one from Markyate.

Apart from the MIC for 'our man', there is also another MIC for a Pvte Stanley Archer, 202437 Herts Regt. I could not see him on CWGC and I am guessing that this was the Markyate Stanley Archer, and he appears to have survived the war.

Back to the Bulborne Stanley Archer - SDGW shows Lancs Fus 331065

(formerly 10551 Herts Regt), died home 7/11/18

NA MIC shows various numbers, various regiments, same Lansc Fus number but different Herts Regt numbers.

CWGC shows RAF and number 331065, buried Huntingdon and died 7/11/18

Local memorial shows RAF, died 7/11/18, buried Huntingdon but number 330165 (which I presume is a transcription error).

My next guess is that for some reason 'our man' seems, despite his relatively young years, to have been moved around a bit. It may be that the very latest status of his service had not reached various departments, hence SDGW and the MIC reflect previous service, but CWGC and of course the memorial reflect his actual and final service. It may be that he had only just reported to the RAF and did not yet have a number for that service, and his last number for the Lancs Fusiliers still existed.

It does seem likely however that, and to answer Yogi's original question, the Lancs Fusilier and RAF cadet are one and the same man.

Ian

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Yogi

I gave you the reference for the death certificate in an earlier post.

In addition, you'll find the marriage certificate of Stanley John Archer and Alice Dora Peacock in Volume 3b, Page 615. The marriage was registered in the second quarter of 1916 in Huntingdon, and should reveal some interesting information.

Certificates can be ordered for £7 each from here

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I'd like to thank everyone for all your hard work, You can see my confusion.

I really want to know is where he is buried so I can visit his grave, I will order the certs but unfortunatly there is about a 3 week wait, this really is quite a puzzle. I have contacted the local churches in Sawbridgeworth he is not in either of them, so which one is he, where is he, & was he married. !!

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I'd like to thank everyone for all your hard work, You can see my confusion.

I really want to know is where he is buried so I can visit his grave, I will order the certs but unfortunatly there is about a 3 week wait, this really is quite a puzzle. I have contacted the local churches in Sawbridgeworth he is not in either of them, so which one is he, where is he, & was he married. !!

Hi Yogi

As I live in Huntingdon I was interested in your inital post. So today I contacted the local council who provided me with a map of the Priory Rd cemetery. I have located the grave of Stanley J Archer and taken some digital photo's which I will send along with a copy of the map via a personal email. I hope this help which your research. Attached is one of the pictures.

Regards

Phil

post-8464-1147871259.jpg

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Nice work, Phil. Isn't this what our site is all about? 2 days after the initial post by Yogi we have not only an idea of his service but also a pic of the gravestone!

Ian

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This is absolutely fantastic, thank you all so much for all you hard work.

A special thank you to Phil who has gone out of his way to help a stranger.

All of this information is new to me, & a complete surprise, the family had him in the Herts Regt. & thought he died with his 2 brothers in France, One brother was in the Queen's Royal West Surry Regiment & was killed in Cambrin. The other was in the 13th County of London Battalion, Princess Louise's Kensington Battalion, & was killed in Duisans. I have visited their graves & now thanks to all on this site I will be able to visit Stanleys.

I have made a note of all the reference numbers for certificates, & will be ordering them soon.

Jill

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