ryan89 Posted 1 February , 2007 Share Posted 1 February , 2007 I have my grandfather's MIC and discharge papers. His name was William Swan and his regimental number is 42619. I know he initially enlisted in the 12th Reserve Royal Iniskilling Fus in May of 1915. He was discharged while serving in the 6th Res MGC in February of 1919. When I was young he told me he served in France during the war. He was awarded the Victory and British war medal. I am curious if his regimental number can give me any further information as to what units or theaters he served in? From the information I have gather so far, it appears that he was in a reserve unit that stayed in Ireland. I remember him talking about fighting in Ireland when he returned from the war. My grandfather was born and raised in Belfast, Ireland. Any information or help would be great. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelPack Posted 1 February , 2007 Share Posted 1 February , 2007 Hello Swan 89 If he was awared the BWM and Victory campaign medals, he would have served in a theatre of war after 1915 and not remained in the UK or Ireland. Can you post a copy of his MIC. Regards Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelPack Posted 1 February , 2007 Share Posted 1 February , 2007 I have just looked at the deatails on the NA and noticed that the service number is for the MGC which means that he entered the theatre of war as a memeber of the MGC rather than with an Iniskilling Battalion. There is a good brief history of the MGC her on the main site: http://www.1914-1918.net/mgc.htm The task is to pin your grandfather down to a MGC Company which you are only likely to be able to do through the Medal Roll reference on the MIC. regards Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan89 Posted 2 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Mel, Attached is my grandfather's MIC. His card is the one with regimental number 42619. Can anyone interpret what machine gun company he was attached to? Thanks for your help GSwan_WWI_.doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 2 February , 2007 Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Mel, Attached is my grandfather's MIC. His card is the one with regimental number 42619. Can anyone interpret what machine gun company he was attached to? Thanks for your help The Well Concealed Machine Gun Company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelPack Posted 2 February , 2007 Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Swan jaydubya has signalled the problem with the MGC The MGC service number is insufficient to identify the unit. The MGC was established in October 1915 and the first 30,000 numbers were taken up rapidly by various disparate units that joined. Your man's number suggests that he joined the MGC in, perhaps, early 1916 ( the numbering was sequential at this point). He would have been allocated to a Company attached to a Division. The problem then becomes further complicated by the MGC re-organising into Battalions in 1918. The service papers are the best bet (if they survived - 30% chance). It is bit laborious but you could also go back to the NA site and on the MIC search bump in Machine Gun Corps in the Corps section and then run through the numbers - say twenty either side of 42619 - note the details and then check for casualties on the CWGC site to see if a pattern emerges. Good luck! Regards Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan89 Posted 2 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Swan jaydubya has signalled the problem with the MGC The MGC service number is insufficient to identify the unit. The MGC was established in October 1915 and the first 30,000 numbers were taken up rapidly by various disparate units that joined. Your man's number suggests that he joined the MGC in, perhaps, early 1916 ( the numbering was sequential at this point). He would have been allocated to a Company attached to a Division. The problem then becomes further complicated by the MGC re-organising into Battalions in 1918. The service papers are the best bet (if they survived - 30% chance). It is bit laborious but you could also go back to the NA site and on the MIC search bump in Machine Gun Corps in the Corps section and then run through the numbers - say twenty either side of 42619 - note the details and then check for casualties on the CWGC site to see if a pattern emerges. Good luck! Regards Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan89 Posted 2 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Mel, What is the CWGC? This maybe a silly question but I am an amatuer at this research stuff. Thank you for your time, Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelPack Posted 2 February , 2007 Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Hello Ryan Sorry for the jargon Commonwealth War Graves Commission - has the full list of the casualties with service number, name, unit etc. If you run the sort of check that I suggested then you can sometimes hit lucky. The real problem you are facing is that there were 169 MGC Companies that joined the Divisions between January and April 1916. I suspect it is likely to be an Irish Division but you can never be certain. regards Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 2 February , 2007 Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Hi ya Ryan, CWGC - Commonwealth War Graves Commission cheers, Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan89 Posted 2 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 2 February , 2007 Thanks for the help! Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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