MIC cards and regiments.

[Rosliston Mark]

I am a little bit puzzled by the info on mic cards regarding regiments served. My great uncle is recorded as being with the 10th lincs and 6th Lincs. I can only trace him with the 10th and he seems to be with them through out the war or at least until the end of 1917 when he is wounded. During his absence the regiment is disbanded and he doesnt recover enough to be sent back to the front. Is it possible that he was reassigned to the 6th after the 10th was broken up? Alternatively how long would he have to serve with a regiment to qualify as serving with it? My grandfather on the other hand was a pre war soldier with the RGA. I know he served with 55 company before the war and presumably during the first couple of years, but by 1917 he is at Tynemouth castle as a gunner which is garrisoned by other RGA units and not 55 coy but they dont appear on his mic card. I am an interested novice regarding the great war and am facinated by it particularly from a geneological stance so parden my ignorance but i would welcome your thoughts on the subject.

[ian turner]

Mark,

There are quite a few angles to these and any other records. The first to reckon with is that the cards are not awlays accurate! (They may well be in your man's case, but keep it in mind).

The MICs usually only reflect the units a serviceman was with when serving overseas in a theatre of war. The British War Medal and Victory Medal were only earned if serving in a theatre of war. Home service did not count (unless under fire in a coastal battery, for instance).

His REGIMENT was not disbanded - you are refering to his BATTALION - that is a unit formed by the regiment and defined by a preceding number - 1st Lincs, 2nd Lincs, etc. All part of the same regiment but different battalions. These are the largest body of men that an individual can identify with - substantially around 1,000 men, but in wartime often much less - 600/800 men.

Which order do his battalions appear in - which is at the top? Either way it sounds as if he changed battalions whilst on active service, apart from wherever he was placed after recovery.

Likewise your grandfather's home service is not reflected. The MICs are not a record of the entire service, just medal entitlement. Frustratingly many who only served in the UK, and whose service records went west in the Blitz, have no MIC and thus precious little official record left of their service. Even those who did serve overseas can have an MIC missing, or misspelt. In fact no records anywhere are infalible.

Have a look at the Long Long Trail (linked at the top of the page) for furher help.

Ian