TS700

[calvin]

hello all, i have just looked on the RNR officers list and in the second box for my grandfather it says TS700, does anyone know what this means, thankyou, john

[Jim Strawbridge]

hello all, i have just looked on the RNR officers list and in the second box for my grandfather it says TS700, does anyone know what this means, thankyou, john

I would have thought that it was his service number although I am not sure that I would have expected it to be in The Navy List under R.N.R. It suggests that your grandfather was a trimmer ie ensuring that when using coal for feulling the boilers it was taken uniformally from the heap to stop the ship lilting.

[davetodd]

Hello john baxter

I have researched some of my relatives who served in WW1.

All were in minesweepers and all were engineroom staff of various rank.

The numbers following are RNR service numbers :-

TS 78, TS 6890, ES 133, ES 396.

If a man re-enrolled after a 5 year period, then he would be issued with a "new" service number.

One of my relatives haf a set of 4 different numbers.

The term TS may mean Trawler section, the term ES may mean the man was in the RNR before 1914.

Best Regards

David S Todd

[calvin]

hello jim and david thanks for that, my grandfather was on the the hmd glow from oct 1940-june 1943 he was listed as skipper frank baxter rnr(commanding officer) it is just that it also said TS700, and i did not understand what it meant, any further ideas would be helpful, thanks john

[davetodd]

hello all, i have just looked on the RNR officers list and in the second box for my grandfather it says TS700, does anyone know what this means, thankyou, john

After looking through the RNR List it would seem that TS700 is the mans service number and that TS indicates Temporary Skipper, but the RNR List you refer to is mainly for WW2, not WW1.

So my earlier reply to your query is not relevant.

Best Regards

David S Todd

[calvin]

hello david, thanks for that, the same man in ww1 had a number DA1990, can you shed any light on that one, regards john

[calvin]

hi again david, just an add on, on the men of grimsby 1914-18 site it states skipper frank baxter hmt colonia DA990, the address was 118 orwell st, that was a family home, as was the frank baxter DA1990 2nd hand rnrt halcyon 2, 36 guilford st. on the absent votors list 1919. i am trying to find out the relavance of the numbers, both my grandfather and great grandfather where called frank and i am trying to find out which is which or are they poss. the same man. any help or advise would be appriciated. thanks john

[davetodd]

hi again david, just an add on, on the men of grimsby 1914-18 site it states skipper frank baxter hmt colonia DA990, the address was 118 orwell st, that was a family home, as was the frank baxter DA1990 2nd hand rnrt halcyon 2, 36 guilford st. on the absent votors list 1919. i am trying to find out the relavance of the numbers, both my grandfather and great grandfather where called frank and i am trying to find out which is which or are they poss. the same man. any help or advise would be appriciated. thanks john

Hello John

I have a relative who joined the RNR in November 1914 and has the number DA 2117.

If the numbers are given in logical order it would suggest that DA 990 and DA 1990 were issued before November 1914.

Many Grimsby fishermen joined the RNR before WW1 started and re-enrolled after it.

It may be that your two numbers are unique to the two Frank Baxters, but unless you have their service records, then it

is unlikely you can resolve this.

However, the records should be available at the National Archives at Kew,London and are kept on micro-fiche and microfilm

in the reading room there.

The section you require is BT 377 and the records are in alphbetical order as well as service number order.

Searching for the ships you mentioned I have found the following:-

HALCYON II hit mine and sank off Butt of Lewis Feb. 19 1917, 10 lives lost including skipper

COLONIA ? I think this should read "CAULONIA" 296 tons Built 1912 by Cochranes of Selby, ON 134754 Foundered Mar 31 1943 Rye Bay Sussex

( In 1923 my father was Trimmer on her )

One other vessel mentioned in the "Absent voters " was:-

BRACKENLYNNE ? I think this should be " BRACKLYN " 303 tons Built 1914 at Aberdeen , ON. 136888

Owners Brooklyn Fishing Co.Ltd. of Fleetwood. Lost May 11 1917.

Hope this is helpful.

Best Regards

David S todd

[per ardua per mare per terram]

It would help if you mentioned that you are talking about WW2 when you post a question as numbering and other details were often different in the 2 wars.

on the men of grimsby 1914-18 site it states skipper frank baxter hmt colonia DA990, the address was 118 orwell st, that was a family home, as was the frank baxter DA1990 2nd hand rnrt halcyon 2, 36 guilford st. on the absent votors list 1919. i

Isn't that the question I answered in March and again in April?

DA = Deck Hands in the Trawler Reserve.

As previously mentioned BT 377/7 are the copies of WWI service cards in service number order.

BT 377/1 Alphabetical indexes to service numbers (microfilm copies): A-B 1908 Jan 01 - 1955 Dec 31

Edited 7 June , 2007 by per ardua per mare per terram

[calvin]

thankyou david for your help, i know i might have asked this similar question some time ago but i am still trying to resolve the service number issue, why would he be given a d.a number if he was the skipper , would that not have had adifferant prefix, thankyou all again, regards john

[per ardua per mare per terram]

As it says on the initial page of the index you refer to:

"Men of Grimsby A Record of Their War Services 1914 - 1918

"READ FIRST

"The history of the index is unclear, but appears to have been compiled shortly after the Great War, directly from the men involved, although there are apparent double entries which, on examination appear to have been taken from a less than well informed third party. My own hypothesis, remains, that questionnaires where available at the library which returning heroes duly filled out, and the occasional relative, filled an "extra card" out, I am open to more informed opinions.

"There are many spelling mistakes ... There are also several other errors ... As you read through this index you may also see a few anomalies, which are due to several indexers work being put together, and these will be self evident and do not detract from the index. + means there is more but the transcriber could not fit in the space available.* means there is in our opinion some doubt to the original spelling and --- means that entry was left blank."

[per ardua per mare per terram]

Repeating the same question is unlikely to get a different answer. Your anomolies can be solved when and if you or someone working for you does the research from the original service cards or their copies.

"If a man re-enrolled after a 5 year period, then he would be issued with a "new" service number.

One of my relatives haf a set of 4 different numbers." Again this is information that you have had before and is in several threads on the RNR. It was entirely possable to have more than one service number and to get promotion during the war and in an RNR career, but for only one number to be quoted in documents.

[calvin]

hello, i am just trying to clear up things in my own mind and am open to other peoples opinions, if you ask a question more than once it is remarkable how you get a differant take on it, thats what this is suppose to be about shareing and learning, thank you all john

[per ardua per mare per terram]

This is why I’m surprised that you don’t do the research to clear it up instead of repeating your questions. You mentioned that you were going to Kew and I shared with you the precise references to clear up your confusion. The microfilmed RNR officers and ratings’ alphabetical (with first names in full) medal rolls would give all you the Frank Baxters who served, in minutes; none of the army rigmarole like getting Medal Index Cards, looking up references for the medal rolls, or ordering an original documents and waiting for them all the while wondering whether any of those F Baxters on the MICs might have been a Frank. With the service number it is possible to go to the service card and have a virtually 100% success rate in minutes. Even on a first visit to Kew, which can be daunting, I’d expect this confusion relating to his WWI service to be cleared up in less time than it takes for an original document to be delivered. You don’t even have to go to Kew; Horatio2 has regularly shared with this forum that the original RNR service cards are at the Fleet Air Arm Museum and they provide clear copies in exchange for a donation - if you contact them. Sometimes they take a year or more, so you could have been 3 months into their queue or have asked for a Kew look up rather than repeat speculation and learnt the answer.

[horatio2]

You don’t even have to go to Kew; Horatio2 has regularly shared with this forum that the original RNR service cards are at the Fleet Air Arm Museum and they provide clear copies in exchange for a donation - if you contact them. Sometimes they take a year or more, so you could have been 3 months into their queue or have asked for a Kew look up rather than repeat speculation and learnt the answer.

Not true for normal document requests. Such long waits are only for people who ask the FAAM to undertake manpower-intensive, in-depth research requiring complicated searches through different parts of the archive (eg hunting for photographs, diaries, etc). Normal, uncomplicated requests for service papers are usually answered in a matter of days, if name and service number are provided.

[calvin]

thankyou both for your help, i have been in contact with the fleet air arm museum, my intention still remains to go to kew but i can not always do things when i want to due to an incapacity sustained whilst serving in the forces, again thankyou, regards john

[per ardua per mare per terram]

Not true for normal document requests.

I related my direct experience and also what I have heard from people who have emailed the Museum. I'm glad to hear that you have had better experiences.