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Remembered Today:

Any guesses at enlistment date?


keggy65

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Hi all,

I've been transcribing and backtracking the actions of the 8th SLI War Diaries from April 1917 (when Abel Beaver was killed) to August 1916 and would love to find out what other, prior, actions he might have been involved in.

Unfortunately, his records have not survived (a search by MagicRat has established this - thanks again, Alan). SDGW gives his enlistment as Minehead but doesn't give a date. I'm, therefore, working a bit blind.

Would some bright Pal/s be able to hazard an educated guess about this from his number - 26604?

Mabel

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Failing a numbers expert giving you a lead, you might like to search SDGW for other SLI casualties in his number range

and also around the date of his death. It may give you some sort of idea, even if it remains guesswork.

Ian

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Mabel

23159 enlisted on 25/3/16 and 29765 on 27/12/16 - so at a guess enlistment would have been around August 1916 - but bear in mind though regimental numbering after the end of 1915 is not an exact science.

Regards

Mel

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Ian

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, I don't have access to SDGW (may have to sort that one out!)

Mabel

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Mabel

23159 enlisted on 25/3/16 and 29765 on 27/12/16 - so at a guess enlistment would have been around August 1916 - but bear in mind though regimental numbering after the end of 1915 is not an exact science.

Regards

Mel

Mel; thank you for this - I understand that it's not gospel but am appreciative, as I said, of an educated guess. I have been assuming he was a "Derby" man.

Mabel

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  • 8 months later...
Mel; thank you for this - I understand that it's not gospel but am appreciative, as I said, of an educated guess. I have been assuming he was a "Derby" man.

Mabel

Hi Mabel,

Just to add my 5 pence worth, I have previously carried out similar research with some success, based upon the medal rolls. By looking for the surviving service records of the other men on the same roll page, you can find that enlistment dates on their papers tally within sometimes days/weeks of each other, thereby narrowing down the individual enlistment date considerably.

Cross reference this roll page to SDGW to see where the other casualties on that page enlisted, and you can narrow it down even further with luck.

Incidentally, my Great Uncle, Sgt Harry Fenton was killed in the same action as "your" man.

Regards

Jeremy Fenton

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Mabel,

I've just been looking at some other numbers in this range for Som LI:

Albert Edwin Helliar, 26576, attested 20-01-16, placed in Army reserve until mobilized, approved/mobilized 01-08-16

William Charles Edwards, 26697, attested 09-02-16, placed in Army reserve until mobilized, approved/mobilized 16-08-16

Anthony Edward Court, 26781, attested 27-05-16, placed in Army reserve until mobilized, approved/mobilized 31-08-16

There is a pattern here and your man falls between Albert and William.

It's guesswork but it looks like they were approving an average of 6 men a day from the reserves.

This makes 26604 mobilized around 06-08-16 having been in the reserves since late January 1916.

Regards,

David

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Mabel

23159 enlisted on 25/3/16 and 29765 on 27/12/16 - so at a guess enlistment would have been around August 1916 - but bear in mind though regimental numbering after the end of 1915 is not an exact science.

Regards

Mel

I hope you don't infer that numbering is an exact science before the end of 1915 .... if to you it is, you should have been in on the numbering project!

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I hope you don't infer that numbering is an exact science before the end of 1915 .... if to you it is, you should have been in on the numbering project!

Ouch! :rolleyes:

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Grumpy

Perhaps I should have said 'even less of an exact science' :ph34r:

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