Genealogy Chat

Hi all i was wondering if someone could explain to me a few things on the medal roll cards?

I have an Henry Charles Gannaway and on the medal card he has 2 reg no's:

1st is 2338
2nd is 21946

why would someone have two reg no's please?
i have been trying to find out where he was when he was wounded in 1917, he was in the machine gun corps but i do not know the battalion etc- as you can tell i am not very good with soldiers records! he died from wounds in richmond surrey and his death is registered there. i have a picture of his grave and another strange thing is that on the grave his age is 32 whilst on the death cert it is 31 years.surely someone who dies aged 31 should still be 31 when they are buried.

Thanks for looking and any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Leanne.x

He must have been in two different regiments to have two numbers. My father in law had two numbers because he was moved between different regiments.

The age on death certificates and gravestones is often wrong because it depends on who was giving the information and how well they knew the deceased.

Kath. x

oh i see- thanks Kath. do you have any idea how i would find out the regiments he was in then please?

I think i will go with the age on the certificate rather than the grave as the informant was his sister so i think she would know him quite well. Thank you.

Leanne.x

Leanne, In case you haven't got this info, this is from the CWGC site:

Name: GANNAWAY
Initials: H C
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Corporal
Regiment/Service: Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
Unit Text: 118th Coy.
Age: 32
Date of Death: 11/07/1917
Service No: 21946
Additional information: Son of Charles Gannaway, of Durlston House, Park Rd., Swanage, Dorset.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Z. 5041.
Cemetery: RICHMOND CEMETERY, Surrey

Name: Henry Charles Gannaway
Birth Place: Dalston, Middx.
Residence: Cambridge
Death Date: 11 Jul 1917
Enlistment Location: Bournemouth
Rank: Private
Regiment: Machine Gun Corps
Battalion: (Infantry).
Number: 21946
Type of Casualty: Died of wounds
Theater of War: Aldershot
Comments: Formerly 2338, Cambs Regt.

Thanks RobG for posting the cwgc info. i had seen this but thank you for taking the time to look. what is the "unit text:118th coy"? sorry if i'm being a bit thick- i haven't really thought about trying to find more info until now.

Alison thank you! where did this come from please? is Cambs regt cambridge regiment? ahh it's good to know where he enlisted too. thank you very much all for helping.

Leanne.x

Henry's brother Frank joined on 13/10/1916 and was living with their father in Bournemouth so perhaps that's why Henry enlisted there. Thanks to all of you for helping. :)

Hi Leanne

It was on Ancestry and apparently you can view the military info for free during November.

118th Company of the Machine Gun Corps.

By the way, I think you were right with 31 - I have a GANNAWAY Henry Charles registered in Hackney (I think that would cover Dalston) June Quarter 1886 (GRO Ref : 1b 577).

Unfortunately Ancestry does not have his service record. Probably one of the many that was lost during WW2.

thanks Alison. i have ancestry but didn't know i could find things like that. i have looked at medal rolls of which i have all three brothers. service records for one of them and pensions record for the other. but i could only find medal card for henry- nothing else. i thought that if they died in ww1 they wouldn't have a service record. hmm thank you. you learn something new everyday!

Rob that's the birth i have for him too- just thought it slightly odd. as its a cwgc grave would the stone have been put there later? maybe someone else had to give the info then.

i don't supppose you would know how to search on the roll of honour on ancestry? i keep puting in his name and pages and pages come up. i can't seem to narrow it down to just a few!

thanks again,
Leanne.x