Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 My G Grandfather was a gunner in the RFA, his regiment no. is 212591, which I have got from his medal card and his name was Charles Kerwin Perry. I am trying to establish where he enlisted, and which regiment he was in etc. I have had trouble finding references to the royal field artillery in war diaries etc. And not knowing very much about WW1 it's becoming a bit of a maze! He mainly lived in Trowbridge & Westbury in Wiltshire, and I have looked on "The Wardrobe" website and cannot find any reference to him there. Has anybody got any ideas how I can find him? Sadly I cannot go to Kew, which hinders my research quite a bit Thanks Sandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Hello Welcome If you post the Medal Index Card it might give us more of a clue. Some of them show enlistment dates and specific units You can always post here for someone to look for the papers - or pay a reseacher which is around £10 for a complete search Enjoy the forum Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 As suggested here is his Medal Card as found on National Archives........I am so hoping somebody can shed some light on this for me. Sandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Hello Sadly its not the most info Ive seen on a MIC - but not the worst! The numbers refer to the medal roll for the British war medal and Victory medal. Im no expert on the artillery but the medal roll might tell you more about his unit - there is a great deal of difference between regiments as to what is shown on the rollsn unfortunatly Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Hello Just to clarify - RFA stands for Royal Field Artillery - that is his "regiment" - the medal roll might show a battery (?) that he was with Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Thats great thank you, I've learnt something new already! Now the next thing is how do I find the medal roll? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Hello Medals rolls are held at the NA (Kew) its a quick job to find the details so post one here and hopefully someone will look Failing that - a copy from a researcher is £4 - £5 Ian PS Im not a researcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 His Number would appear to be a TF {Terriorial Force} Brigade one,someone will no doub be able to ID that for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 How did you find that out? And who do I ask to have that ID'd? This is so interesting! Would he not have been awarded the terrotorial force medal though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 How did you find that out? Would he not have been awarded the Territorial Force medal though? His Number is a Six Figure number{ie Post 1916 TF Number}A number of Forum Members have details of these Units & their Number Ranges,I am afraid I don't,but a post requesting "RFA Brigade Number from TF Number" should get you a response,it has for me in the past. He would only have been awarded the Territorial Force War Medal if he had Volunteered before September 1914{or had previously Served &/or Re~enlisted prior to that date~Not all TF Men volunteered for Overseas Service @ first as they were originally intended for Home Defence Service only} The Other TF Medal for Efficient Service was only granted for 12 Years Service{War Service Double}providing other criteria was met,so He probably didnt have sufficient service for that medal. If you know where abouts he was living @ the time that may give a clue to the Locale of the RFA Unit he joined,but not necessarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Thanks that is great, I will post a new thread now, he lived in the wiltshire area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 I'm not sure he's TF. The RFA was re-numbered in the range 630001 - 975000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 I'm not sure he's TF. The RFA was re-numbered in the range 630001 - 975000. Is there anymore info you can give me Paul? I am a complete novice to this, and I am learning as I go, so I'm relying on you guys to help me out every step of the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Not sure that I can Sandie. The medal rolls and a search for his service record is your next best bet I think. The fact though, that there is no "date of entry therein" and that he was not entitled to the 1915 Star, suggests that he arrived overseas on or after 1st Jan 1916. If we rule out the TF this probably places him as either as a late volunteer or a conscript. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Someone is checking the medal roll for me next week, hopefully that may give me more info. Knowing that because he didn't get the 1915 star he would've arrived overseas after 1st Jan 1916 is more than I knew this morning, so thank you for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Nelson Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Hi Sandie, Welcome to the Forum, you have come to the right place. I recently completed the research on my Great Grandfather who served in the RFA for two years on the Western front. Thankfully he survived the war. It was very rewarding work and the folks on this forum were totally amazing with thier help and info. I managed to put together a day by day account of the movements and the actions my Great Grandfather took part in while he was at the front. All I had to go on was a copy of his pay book. I thought it may be helpful for you if I shared with you the steps I went through to get this info and end up with the finished product. Please note I live in NZ a very long way from Kew, so you do not need to visit Kew to acheive what you are after. The pay book told me his service number, and crucially his Brigade. The RFA was made up Brigades, that is the operational unit. He was in A battery of the 330th Brigade. It is crucial that you establish his Brigade unit number as soon as possible. Do you have, or does a member of your family have his medals ?? If so, you should find his Brigade unit number engraved on the rim of the medals. Once you have his Brigade unit number, you can then order a copy of that brigades war diary from Kew, this can be done online. This gives a day by day account of the Brigades actions and movements. Diarys do vary with the detail they contain, some are very sparse, others give very detailed descriptions of what was going on. Secondly, the other crucial peice of info is, what infantry battalion/Division was the Brigade attached too. The primary role of the RFA was to support the infantry, most Brigades were to attached to a division of infantry. Once you have establised that, you can then reserach the history of that division, and this will give you the "Big picture" of what was going on. EG What battles they took part in etc. The website attached to this forum has all the RFA Brigades with what Division they were attached too during the war. Also, Dick Flory a contributor on this website has an execellent source of info on Brigade movements and who they were attached to. Once I had what Battalions/Divisions great grandads unit was attached too, I sought out the Divisional Histories and put that together peice by peice. Then its simply a matter of putting the War diary info together with the Divisions history, and you have a well rounded document giving a fairly detailed description. I say "simply" this part took me months, but well worth the effort Hope the above info is helpful for you, I was exactly like you, a complete novice. So it can be done. Best of luck, and keep us informed on your progress. Cheers Aaron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandie V Posted 20 May , 2006 Share Posted 20 May , 2006 Oh wow that is fantastic Aaron! Sadly my G Grandfathers medals are no-where to be seen, I only have contact with one of his daughters and she has no clue what happened to them. Just keeping my fingers crossed for the medal roll now. Your post is inspirational though, and I will definitely be keeping you all informed of my progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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