Researching Officers - A Practical Example....

[Neil Mackenzie]

Steve.

Can the Times Digital Archive be accessed at Kew?

Thanks.

Neil

[Nigel Marshall]

Steve,

This is really fascinating stuff. This is my lunchtimes at work taken care of from now on!

It should help no end to have a structured approach to it rather than my usual bull in a china shop calamity!

Well done, keep it coming please.

Nigel

[JulianB]

I probably can't compare with Steve's meticulous system but I thought pals might be interested in knowing how I'm getting on with a particular batch of officers.

I am researching a specific MGC Company and want to trace all its personnel. Yes, very optimistic but the first thing I did was go through the WD very carefully and although there are v few named ORs (I know they are going to be more problematic) I found the names of 38 officers who served with it throughout its existence - here I must own up to having a good start; my grandfather was one of them and his letters have proved v useful. I thus have photographs of some though there are a couple of group shots which are very frustratingly not named !

OK, I can't remember which order I looked up these references but I think I first tried file WO 338 at the NA, where they did not 'continue to serve' I looked up their service files in WO339 or WO 374 - in one case however the file was clearly mixed up with that of another man with exactly the same name !

Then, Army Lists, Times Digital Archive (eg obituaries or death notices during and after the war - I found one died in Buenos Aires in 1953!), local papers at Colindale (only if you know quite a bit already !), CWGC, ODGW, and just plain Googling - which has brought some results, eg one married in Holland the 1920s and another founded a Rotary Club branch in the late '20s - after correspondence, I got a photo !.

Here's an example from the top of the alphabetical list

Acason, 2/Lt Hubert (1896- 1920)

Dublin, engineers appr. Enl. 5.7.1915 as Cadet 4591 Inns of Court OTC, comm. on 10.3.1916 as 2/Lt 3/1st Welsh Horse. Transferred to MGC on 13.10.1916 and joined 123rd Coy on 10.3.17. Evacuated to hospital in UK on 5.8.1917. Promoted Lieut. on 26.3.1918 and was back in France with 29th Bn MGC on 22.4.1918. Later posted to Clipstone and disembodied 1920 (WO 339/82608). Died 1920 (acc. Errington 1920, 72)

There are 5 that I know very little about. For two I just have the just surnames (though I have a list of possibilities); two who were killed on the same day curiously don't have any files at Kew - sod's law, and of course some who 'continued to serve'.

In theory I would like to trace the families to see if they have any letters etc which might help to further the 'history' of the unit. Yes, another long shot but actually I have found two families - in one case they know all about him but family papers 'disappeared' a while ago, in the second case they have some photographs - and have, of course, sent them copies of what I know.

I have'nt been able to get to Kew for a while but perhaps armed with Steve's 'lesson's I might get somewhere next time I go.

[Stebie9173]

First time I've ever been called meticulous ! And as for structured, my boss would explode at that one !

Neil, haven't got a clue!

Steve.

[ShirlD]

I am now hooked as well

Cheers

Shirley

[Ken Lees]

Excellent idea Steve, thanks for taking the time to produce this for the benefit of all.

I'll be watching with interest.

Ken

[JulianB]

Steve, just my way of thanking you !

Neil, no, it's not available at Kew, it isn't an official archive. Many libraries subscribe to it, possibly Colindale as well.

Re MGC officers, I forgot to mention LG which has been helpful too - once you get the hang of it !

[John_Hartley]

Steve

I'm also here watching.

Yours in awe

John

[anthw]

Steve

awesome thread, I'm just a starter in this so your masterclass is very useful!.

Thanks Again

Anth

[Stebie9173]

Next up - a bit of family background.

We know Hubert was 30 when he died - we can narrow that down from the BMD Registers.

I normally use Ancestry, but we can use Freebmd, which actually uses the same transcriptions, I believe.

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

Surname Given Name District Volume Page

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Births Dec 1887

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Podmore Hubert Ulverston 8e 783

"The district Ulverston spans the boundaries of the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire"

Of course, this is an easy one again, but I'm really just laying out some likely steps, here.

Switching to Ancestry and searching the 1901 Census, we find him straight away:

Name: Hubert Podmore

Age: 13

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1888

Relation: Son

Father's Name: George

Mother's Name: Matilda

Gender: Male

Where born: Grange, Lancashire, England

Civil Parish: Grange

Ecclesiastical parish: Grange St Paul

Town: Grange

County/Island: Lancashire

Country: England

Street address: Charney Hall

Occupation: Student

Condition as to marriage: Single

Education: Being educated!

Registration district: Ulverston

Sub-registration district: Cartmel

ED, institution, or vessel: 4

Household schedule number: 57

Household Members: Name Age

George Podmore 47, born Herts, Elstree, "Private schoolmaster, MA, Oxon"

Matilda Podmore 42, born Middlesex, London

Hubert Podmore 13, born Lancs, Grange

Enid M Podmore 11 , born Lancs, Grange

Freda Podmore 5, born Lancs, Grange

Thomas S Roberts 31, assistant schoolmaster, BA Oxon

Students

Arthur A Baerlein 14

Robert Barton 9

George B Bigland 9

Bevie C Blakeway 12

Geoffrey Garland 12

Charles F Gordon 11

Arthur M Hannam 10

John L Heselton 10

James B Mues 10

John N Mues 12

James T Rea 9

George O Rubie 13

Jno G Rubie 12

Gerald W A Simpson 11

John A C Spencer 10

Hillary Waterworth 10

Servants

Ada Dodgson 18

Jane M Dodgson 22

Ethel Webster 20

Sarah E Bracewell 48

Mary Bradshaw 62

Isabel Scorrer 24

I note that there is a Geoffrey Garland as a student, possibly the brother of Wilfred Garland, whose obituary was in the Times.

We have confirmed, then, Enid as his sister, and there is another sister, Freda, also.

Stepping back to 1891 we have a similar situation, still at charney Hall, with a different assistant master.

We also have 3 more siblings:

George C. (our Oxford scholar?), born c.1883 at Grange; Eric, born c.1886 at Grange; and Edgar, 8 months, born at Grange. Enid and Hubert are there, and Freda hasn't been born yet.

I also like to check the following:

- Marriage of parents.

Searching for George Podmore, and marriages, we get 79 results. Assuming that he was married within 5 years of 1880 we can narrow that down to 9.

George Podmore 1878 Jul-Aug-Sep Wolstanton Staffordshire

George Podmore 1879 Apr-May-Jun Barrow in Furness (1876 Onw) Cumbria, Lancashire

George Podmore 1880 Apr-May-Jun Kings Norton (To 1912) Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire

George Podmore 1882 Jan-Feb-Mar Warrington Cheshire, Lancashire

George Podmore 1882 Apr-May-Jun Woolwich Greater London, Kent, London

George Podmore 1882 Jul-Aug-Sep Manchester (1837-1924) Lancashire

George Podmore 1882 Jul-Aug-Sep Westminster (1870-1913) London, Middlesex **

George Frederick Podmore 1876 Apr-May-Jun Warrington Cheshire, Lancashire

George Podmore? 1879 Apr-May-Jun Barrow in Furness (1876 Onw) Cumbria, Lancashire

Matilda was from "London, Middlesex" so I'll guess at the ** one. The page for that marriage has the following on it:

Sophia Martha Bradfield 1882 Jul-Aug-Sep Westminster (1870-1913) London, Middlesex

Alfred Cope 1882 Jul-Aug-Sep Westminster (1870-1913) London, Middlesex

Matilda Heale 1882 Jul-Aug-Sep Westminster (1870-1913) London, Middlesex

George Podmore 1882 Jul-Aug-Sep Westminster (1870-1913) London, Middlesex

With Matilda as a fairly rare name, I think we might have found their marriage, but I'll check the others, and mark this only as a "Probable".

Having checked the others, this is the only Matilda. I'm quite happy that this is the right one, though I am aware I have cut 70 "unlikely"s out of the equation!

- Actual years of birth of siblings.

Using search parameters - name: Podmore, county: Lancashire, district: Ulverston - we can pick out:

George Conrad, born 1883, Q3

Eric, born 1886, Q2, died 1898, Ulverston (hence not on 1901 Census)

Enid Muriel, born 1889, Q3

Edgar, born 1890 Q4, died 1901, Ulverston (hence not on 1901 Census) :(

Freda, born 1895 Q3.

Steve.

[Stebie9173]

Popping back to the Times in 1882 reveals 1 unrelated hit in 1882 on "Podmore", but on "Heale", we get a nice hit:

Times 11-8-1882

On the 10th Inst., at St James' Piccadilly, by the Rev. Thompson Podmore, of Eastbourne College, father of the bridegroom, GEORGE PODMORE, M.A. of Eden Mount, Grange-over-Sands, to MATTIE, fourth daughter of EDMOND HEALE, Esq., of St James' Palace.

So we have a maiden name (and pet name) for Hubert's mother at least, of whom we shall hear later.

Steve.

[Stebie9173]

Revising our list and taking stock:

Hubert Podmore,

Known as "Podders" (probably a school nickname) and Bertie (no doubt by his mother!)

Son of George Podmore and Mrs Matilda ("Mattie")Podmore (nee Heale, m.10-8-1882 at St James', Piccadilly), of Charney Hall, Grange-over-Sands, Lancs.

Brother to George Conrad (1883-), Eric (1886-1898), Enid Muriel (1889-, m.1921), Freda (1895-), and Edgar (1890-1901).

Scholar of Rugby - First Class scholarship, head of Collins House, member of the Cricket XXII and running VIII.

First holder of the Lees Knowles Leaving Exhibition

(A quick Google on this is inconclusive but this seems to be a Prize at Rugby named after Sir James Lees Knowles, an Old Rugbeian)

Entered Trinity College, Oxford - open Classical exhibition, December 1905. Gained a B.A., October 1910. 1st in Mods, 3rd in Greats

A cadet at the Oxford University, Senior Division, Officers Training Corps.

Returned to Rugby as a master, probably between October 1910 and March 1911.

Second Lieutenant in the Rugby School Contingent, Junior Division, Officers Training Corps, from 31-3-1911. promoted Lieutenant, 13-7-1913.

Embarked to France in July 1915 as a Captain with the 12th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. (This "fact" from the MIC may well be erroneous)

"Gazetted as an officer in the Northamptonshire Regiment", September 1914

Belonged to a battalion under an "OR" (Old Rugbeian)

Embarked to France in July 1915 as a Captain with the Northamptonshire Regiment.

Captain, Middlesex Regiment. (This "fact" from the MIC may well be erroneous)

6th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment.

MID three times.

Awarded the D.S.O. in May 1916 for gallantry during a night attack by the enemy

Wounded at Trones Wood

Temporary Major, Northamptonshire Regiment, gazetted July 1916

Wounded in August 1917

Returned to France in December 1917

Lieutenant Colonel.

Accidentally Killed by an explosion of ammunition on 31st December 1917.

Buried at HARINGHE (BANDAGHEM) MILITARY CEMETERY.

Grave reference : I. C. 7.

Remembered at a memorial service at St Paul's Church, Grange, on Thursday 10-1-1918.

As an aside, it seems George Conrad Podmore served in the Army, as a Lieutenant in the R.G.A. He seems to have survived.

Steve.

[Stebie9173]

Now we arrive at everone's favourite, the London Gazette....

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/AdvancedSearch.aspx

We first need to consider what we might find and what format that the entries we need will be in.

We would like to see:

- Initial commission.

- Promotion to Lieutenant.

- Promotion to Captain.

- Promotion to Major.

- Promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

- DSO announcement.

- 3 x MIDs

For the Initial Commission we will need to search for his full name, i.e. Hubert Podmore.

From link 2, above, we select:

- historic event, World War 1.

- exact phrase : Hubert Podmore.

We get one hit from this:

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...ubert%20Podmore

LG 31-5-1916

War Office,

31st May, 1916.

His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the appointment of the undermentioned Officers to be Companions of the Distinguished Service Order, in recognition of their gallantry and devotion to duty in the field:

Temp. Capt. Hubert Podmore, 6th Bn. North'n R.

For conspicuous gallantry and ability during a night attack by the enemy. It was largely due to Captain Podmore that his company held its own in spite of very heavy bombardment, and repelled every attack.

Not exactly what we were looking for, but it will do nicely!

Which fits nicely with the brief description in his obituary. Unfortunately, no hit for his initial commission. We have already seen his appointments to the O.T.C. before the war, so we'd better have a look before the war, too.

This gives us, 3 hits. The one above plus one in 1911 and one in 1913, as per the Times entries.

LG 11-4-1911

UNATTACHED LIST FOR THE TERRITORIAL FORCE.

Hubert Podmore (late Cadet, Oxford University Contingent, Senior Division, Officers Training Corps) to be Second Lieutenant, for service with the Rugby School Contingent, Junior Division, Officers Training Corps. Dated 31st March, 1911.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...ubert%20Podmore

LG 29-7-1913

UNATTACHED LIST FOR THE TERRITORIAL FORCE.

Officers Training Corps.

Rugby School Contingent, Junior Division, Officers Training Corps; the undermentioned Second Lieutenants to be Lieutenants.

Dated 13th July, 1913:

Hubert Podmore.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...ubert%20Podmore

Still no sight of his full commission, but we can see if we can find any promotions.

Promotions are generally listed by either initials, e.g. H. Podmore, or first name and initial(s), e.g. Robert W. Beacham

Searching for H. Podmore gets us 1 result:

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/SearchRes...%20Podmore&

which reads:

North'n R.

Temp. Capt. H. Podmore to be temp. Maj. 15 July 1916.

Temp. Lt. G. G. H. Batty (since died of wounds) to be temp. Capt. 15 July 1916.

The undermentioned to be temp. Lts.:

Temp. 2nd Lt. R. B. Fawkes. 30 May 1916.

2nd Lt. T. R. Price (Spec. Res.). 15 July 1916.

Temp. 2nd Lt. L. Flowers. 19 Aug. 1916.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...ct=H.%20Podmore

Only one of the possible 4 promotions (2/Lt. - Lt., Lt. - Capt., Capt. - Maj., Maj. - Lt. Col.), so not a great result.

Bearing in mind, the hit & miss nature of the Gazette, recording these entries for future reference (when researching for specific battalions/regiments) is not a bad idea...

Steve.

[MalcolmStewart]

A Brilliant thread! Thank you for being so clear in your explanations

[Stebie9173]

Again, with Podmore, we can search for his fairly rare surname.

Searching for Podmore in WW1, we get 27 hits. Hit 20, at the bottom of Page 2, there is one hit we don't already have:

This is one of his MIDs.

LG 15-6-1916

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...p;exact=Podmore

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE REGIMENT.

McNaught, Lt. (temp. Captr) A. G.

Hofman, Qrmr. and Hon. Lt. A.

Abbott, No. 9156 Corpl. P.

Pickard, No. 8636 Lce.-Corpl. F.

Turner, No. 7261 Lce.-Corpl. (Acting Corpl. A. G.

Walton, No. 8780 Corpl. (Acting Serjt.) F. G.

Luck, No. 17879 Pte. W. A.

Mayes, Qrmr. and Hon. Lt. R.

Baker, No. 5389 Co. Serjt.-Maj. H. J.

Kent, No, 9077 Pte. E. J.

Clarke, 2nd Lt. A. H. G. (Spec. Res.).

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE REGIMENT (SERVICE BATTALIONS).

Trent, Lt.-Col. G. A., North'n R.

Cathcart, Temp. Lt. M.

Goldson, Temp. Lt. J. W.

Jacks, Temp. Lt. C. C. R.

Harding, Qrmr. and Hon. Lt. H. G.

Lawrence, No. 10012 Corpl. A. H.

Freestone, No. 17836 Lee.-Corpl. W.

Clark, Capt. (temp. Maj.) G. M., Officers Training Corps. (T.F.).

Podmore, Temp. Capt. H.

Fulcher, No. 3/11054 Regtl. Serjt.-Maj. F.

Skinner, Lt. Col. P. C. B., North'n R.

Mobbs, Temp. Maj. E. R.

Fowler, Temp. Capt. R. C.

Stringer, No. 15563 Serjt. E. J. (Bde. Clerk, 73rd Inf. Bde.)

Jackson, No. 13592 Lce.-Corpl. J. T.

The other two are MIA at present....

An interesting point to note about these MID issues is that they are grouped by battalion at this point (even though they are not headed as such). In the case of the Northamptons, these men are at the top of their battalions lists:

McNaught - 1st Battalion

Mayes - 2nd Battalion

Clarke - 3rd battalion (S.R.)

Service Battalions:

Trent, 5th Battalion

Clark, 6th Battalion

Skinner, 7th battalion

Of course, with the bigger Regiments, if there is a jump over a battalion that didn't get an MID in that edition, then it may throw things out. Note that the 4th battalion (T.F.) is not listed as this is a F&F despatch, whereas 4th Btn. were in Egypt at the time.

Steve.

[delta]

Steve - I have said , in the past, that you were "The master"

This is a true master class - thank you

Stephen

[wulsten]

Steve, im having trouble keeping up well thats the excuse

[John_Hartley]

but we can use Freebmd,

The county BMD websites can add even more information.

For example, FreeBMD will give a birth registration as Stockport. cheshireBMD will give the individual registration district within the Borough - handy from time to time in confirming siblings

Of particular help, CheshireBMD (and its Lancastrian cousin) lists place of marriage if a church and a mention if a civil ceremony (possibly if earlyish indicating a Roman Catholic or non-conformist).

John

[delta]

Harters - how do I access the BMD websites

δ

[Stebie9173]

The other Gazette entries are much harder to find.

I have not found either the promotion to Lieutenant, nor that to Lieutenant Colonel, though there is good reason for one of those.

Having got a rough date of the commission, I searched the Gazette for the name Hubert in September 1914. Amongst 36 hits is this one:

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...orthamptonshire

The undermentioned to be temporary Second Lieutenants:

Dated 22nd September, 1914.

Hubert Podmore.

Easy, huh?!

Searching like that is easier if you have two forenames, e.g. the search I did for JulianB that he mentioned.

He was looking for Hugh Cunningham Bruce Kirkpatrick.

When a search for the full name, and Bruce Kirkpatrick failed, a search for "Cunningham Bruce" actually turned up our man - two hits out of three referred to him. As JulianB mentions, you sometimes have to think laterally.

The final promotion I found can be filed under "Last Act of a Desperate Man". Seeing that his obituary says that he "got his company" at the end of the year (1914), I assumed that his promotion to Captain might have been at that time.

Thus, I searched for:

All words: Northamptonshire, and Exact phrase: 6th Battalion (at this time of the war - until early 1915 - battalions were included on promotions)

Date range: to 31-12-1914

17 hits. By a slice of luck, entry number two was:

The Northamptonshire Regiment.

6th Battalion

Temporary Lieutenant Hubert Podmore to be temporary Captain. Dated 22nd November, 1914.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...6th%20Battalion

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

The above line is exactly as it appeared in the gazette. Why the search couldn't read Hubert Podmore, I can't even guess!

At this point, I will cut my losses and leave finding his Lieutenancy for another time (it is in .a very short time frame now anyway).

So we have from that laborious search.

Temp. Second Lieutenant, 22nd September 1914.

Temp. Lieutenant, September-November 1914 ?

Temp. Captain, 22nd November 1914.

Temp. Major, 15th July 1916

Lieutenant-Colonel, ???

Steve.

[Charles Fair]

Great thread Steve, am watching with interest. Thank you.

Charles

[Guest geoff501]

Great thread, very valuable tips, also think it should be made a 'sticky'. Do we do these?

You gonna do Leonard Bocking next?

[Stebie9173]

Failing that labyrinthine effort, we can actually find some of these dates from the Monthly Army Lists. I find that the Gazette often gives a better idea of what is actually happening, with helpful descriptions - "appointed acting captain whilst commanding a company", "resigns his commission due to illness", etc. None of these have happened on Hubert Podmore's gazette entries, but they can often enlighten us beyond what the Army Lists can tell us. I don't have many available for the Northamptons yet, but I have a couple of entries.

August 1916 Army List (effectively officers serving in July 1916)

He is shown as a temporary Captain (his promotion to Major has obviously not updated on the Army List yet), date of promotion to current rank (Captain) = 22nd Nov. 1914.

He does however have his D.S.O. shown.

* Denotes a temporary rank. The crossed swords either means War Service in an earlier war (not so in this case we think) or a mention in despatches (which we knoiw he has by mid-1916).

March 1917 Army List.

His promotion to Major has updated = 15 July 1916. A temporary officer.

January 1918 Army List

By this point he is unfortunately dead, but still listed on the Army list. He is listed as serving with an officer cadet battalion. We know he returned to the front in december 1917, so this could have been where he was serving between his wounding in August 1917 and his return to the front in December 1917. Still a temporary Major. A X in a Circle denotes an acting rank. Note the lack of the acting rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Unfortunately I don't have february 1918, which MAY have reflected his attachment to the Middlesex Regiment.

By March 1918, my next available list, he has been removed from the Army List. Some "missing" officers do however stay on the battalion lists for quite a while after their disappearance.

The Army Lists are on open shelves at the National Archives. Some Pals have access to certain copies (of course!)

Steve.

[Greyhound]

Great thread, very valuable tips, also think it should be made a 'sticky'. Do we do these?

From one master to another.

Hear hear on the "sticky".

You gonna do Leonard Bocking next?

Ssshhhh!

[Stebie9173]

Now for a brief interlude.... Before heading back to Hubert, I'll talk you through the basic searches for an officers promotions.

The chosen officer is James Fairley Daly of the 6th Battalion H.L.I. (briefly attached to the 2nd Northamptons in 1918, but youi can't tell that from the Gazette or his MIC).

Medal card of Daly, James Fairley

Corps Regiment No Rank

6th Battalion Highland Light Infantry Captain

4th Battalion Highland Light Infantry Major

Investigator Officer Lieutenant Colonel

Investigations Officer?! Intelligence Officer, perhaps....

Anyway,

We need to search in 3 major ways for James:

- Full name.

- Forename, middle intial, surname

- Initials and surname.

First attempt : James Fairley Daly, into Exact phrase., Year range 1890 to 1950

3 hits:

(Narrative paraphrased)

LG 11-3-1902

2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry, The undermentioned Gentlemen to be Second Lieutenants:

James Fairley Daly. Dated 12th March, 1902.

LG 30-6-1908

6th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, Highland Light Infantry ; the following officers from the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry, are appointed to the battalion, with rank and precedence as in the Volunteer Force. Dated 1st April, 1908 :

Lieutenant James Fairley Daly.

LG 28-9-1934

Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of the City of Glasgow.

Colonel James Fairley Daly, D.S.O., T.D., of 199, Saachiehall Street, Glasgow,

to be Deputy Lieutenants.—Dated 12th September, 1934.

Nice start there.

Moving on to type two, Name/Initial/Surname.

So entering James F. Daly (on the old Gazette search the capital F and . were very important. Not so much on the new, but old habits die hard).

3 more hits there:

LG 5-8-1910

6th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry; Lieutenant James F. Daly to be Captain. Dated 27th April, 1910.

LG 23-10-1915

Captain James F. Daly to be temporary Major. Dated 13th July, 1915.

LG 13-3-1919

War Office,

13th March, 1919.

The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the Territorial Decoration upon the undermentioned Officers of the Territorial Force who have been duly recommended for the same under the terms of the Royal Warrant dated 17th August, 1908, as modified by the Royal Warrant dated the 11th November, 1918:

6th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry,. Major James F. Daly, D.S.O.

Finally, Initials/Surname - J. F. Daly

LG 9-9-1904

2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry, The undermentioned Second Lieutenants to be Lieutenants:

J. F. Daly. Dated 10th September, 1904.

LG 25-2-1920

6th Bn., Highland L.I.—.Maj. J. F. Daly, D.S.O., T.D., to be Lt.-Col. 16th Feb. 1920.

LG 27-4-1921

H.L.I.

6th (D.F.) Bn.

To be temp. Lt.-Col. :

J. F. Daly, D.S.O. 9 Apr. 1921.

LG 23-8-1921

H.L.I.

6th (D.F.) Bn.

Temp. Lt.-Col. J. F. Daly, D.S.O., T.D., relinquishes his commission. 15 July 1921.

LG 8-8-1924

6th Bn. H.L.I.

Lt.-Col. J. F. Daly, D.S.O., T.D., to be Bt. Col. with precedence as from 16th.Feb. 1924. 9th Aug. 1924.

LG 10-3-1925

6th Bn. H.L.I. - Lt.-Col. (Bt. Col.) J. F. Daly, D.S.O., T.D., is ret. on completion of tenure of command and retains his rank with permission to wear the prescribed uniform. 16th Feb. 1925.

LG 24-4-1925

TERRITORIAL ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS.

GENERAL LIST.

Infantry.—Lt.-Col. (Bt. Col.) J. F. Daly, D.S.O., T.D., from 6th Bn. H.L.I., to be Lt.-Col. (Bt. Col.). 16th Feb. 1925. (Substituted for that which appeared in the Gazette dated 10th Mar. 1925.)

We've captured most of his promotions there, but are missing a D.S.O.

Trying a variation of spelling, i.e. James Fairly Daly (i.e. no "e" in Fairley)

That gets us our final hit:

LG 3-6-1918

D.S.O.

Maj. James Fairly Daly, High. L.I., Glouc. R.

I hope that gives you all an idea of what to look for - the basics of it anyway.

Steve.