William Joseph Turland

[Ross Barnwell]

I have been recently given a letter which was sent to my Great Great Grandfather after the war in 1919. It states that he had been awarded the 'War Badge' for his service during the war in the Royal Army Service Corps.

I have used the information included within this letter to research him, but using the National Archive website I have only been able to obtain the information I already have.

I believe this is the only thing I have from the Great War relating to my Grandfather so I am relying on the information on this only to help me research him.

His son, my Great Grandfather, is still alive and I am in regular contact with him. I am therefore able to ask questions about his father. However, he told me how his father rarely talked about the war, so his knowledge of his father's time in the war is limited.

If anyone has any tips, information or is willing to help me find out a bit more about my Grandfather then that would be fantastic.

The information from the attachment:

Name: William Joseph Turland

Regimental Number: T/370004

Unit: Royal Army Service Corps.

Dated: 26 May 1919

[sotonmate]

Ross

The War Badge is a Silver War Badge. See this page from the Long Long Trail at top left of this screen. The B number at the top of the form is also stamped on the back of the Badge.

http://www.1914-1918.net/silver_badge.htm

You could too download his MIC if you haven't already done so,as it will give you what other medals he qualified for. It's at WO372/20 in the Catalogue on the NA website and for a fee you get a copy. It will give you a bit more info such as the date he went to a theatre of war,and this starts to build up info and will point you further into the story.

There is also a microfilm spool at Kew which MAY have his service papers,but a lot were lost in 1940. The spool is WO363/T1220. This requires the mark 1 eyeball to search it,there is no download as yet.

Best wishes

Sotonmate

[nhclark]

Ross, here's the link to his medal card, in case you don't already have it.

His ASC number "T" prefix means that he was in the Horse Transport branch of the ASC.

If you can get to The National Archives at Kew, do as Sotonmate suggests and look to see if his service papers have survived (about 30% chance).

It's also worth looking at the Medal Rolls themselves, and not just the Index Card. I believe that the SWB Medal Roll may give you his dates of enlistment and discharge.

Noel

[Ross Barnwell]

This is great advice. Thanks.

Ross

[Ross Barnwell]

If I was to get the Medal Card, what information will I get from it?

Ross

[Stebie9173]

This is his Medal Index Card

The lack of any medal information implies that he did not serve overseas, but was employed in the UK.

He was discharged under King's Regulation Paragraph 392 Section XVI (No longer physically fit for duty) due to sickness (the 'S' denotes sickness)

The date of enlistment implies that he attested under the "Derby Scheme" and would have been called up later according to his age, marital status, and job.

Steve.

[Stebie9173]

A quick look at other Service Records on Ancestry would suggest that he was called up in early 1918.

It would be worth try to track down the Absent Voters List for the 1918 General Election (these are usually at the County Record Offices, if they survive) which may gshow his Company.

The Silver War Badge ledgers at the National Archives may also show his Company, but that is not all that likely.

Steve.

[Ross Barnwell]

Oh wow thank you very much!

From what information did you find he was called up early 1918? The sickness makes sense as the War Badge was awarded to those either injured or taken ill. Where did you find this Medal Index Card? And could you tell me a bit more about the Derby Scheme?

Ross

[Chris_Baker]

At the top of this page it says "Before you ask a question about finding a soldier's service record or medal index card, make sure you have first visited "Researching a soldier" at The Long, Long Trail website. The answer is there in 90% of cases. There's a link to it at top-left of this page".

That's because it contains answers to things like "how do I find out more about the Derby Scheme" and "where do I find a medal index card"! Good hunting!

[Ross Barnwell]

Oh excellent. Sorry I didn't realise it would contain information like that! It'd still be interesting to know where Steve got hold of the Medal Index Card without having to pay a fee and how he found out when he was called up.

[Stebie9173]

About 2/3rds of the Medal Index Cards are available on Ancestry.co.uk, as are Service Records (the majority of A-H of the "burnt records" (WO363) and 100% of the unburnt ("pension" - actually copies of records which were stored away from the warehouse when it was bombed in WW2) records (WO364). From those we can estimate (with a dab of experience, and professional sceptism) when a man was called up/transferred, and sometimes even what unit the men with similar numbers were with.

For example:

Steve.