Genealogy Chat

i have just found my grandads medal card from the ww1. how can i fing more info. i hav etyped in essex regiment, and there seems to be hundreds to choose from. i have typed in essex regiment and harold lydamore and get nothing. what is the best way to proceed. also is there anything on the card that tells me what batillion he was in. there seems to be a whole load of numbers. thanks

Shirley Read this first and see if it answers your query: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/militaryhistory/army/ nell

thanks i have had a look. it seems to clear a few things up. but why has it got 4 different regiment numbers. unless i am reading it wrong. under rank it seems to have life. what does this mean. he was an acting corporal. i am very unsure of army records. shirley

Shirley Without having seen your index card, I can't tell you. The one I've seen for my grandfather doesn't have a number that corresponds with his service number and doesn't give his rank. I've also downloaded one for my half-great-uncle (!) which does give his number and rank, platoon and company which I know is right because it matches info on a postcard he sent his sister, my grandmother. Perhaps someone more knowledgable can help. nell

thanks for trying. you know more than i do. in the column corps it has essex r then on the next line 4? in rank it has a/corporal next line pa or ra next line what looks like life. in the rank no column it has 1753 next line 200307 next line 48880 next line 5999( and some unreadable writing) sorry for being so vague but i have no clue with army anything. shirley

I think life means the term of service signed up for. In those days you could sign up until you were killed or to old to carry out your duties. These days you cannot sign up for that length of service, today is a minimum of 3 years with the option to extendand the maximum is 12 years with the option to shorten it. The maximum length is 22years unless you do really well and reach either Warrant Officer for enlisted men and Brigidier for Commissioned Officers, then you can stay on until 55 for enlisted men and 65 for officers. Another thing to note. The service records for the WW1 have been partially destory during enemy bombing in WW2. only about 30% survive. So you will probably only get information on the Medal Roll which is very limited.

thanks for that. i did not relise it was so indepth. i will keep searching or move my search to ww2. shirley

Shirely, I see from the NA site that he is shown as: Essex Regiment 1753 Acting Corporal Essex Regiment 200307 Private Essex Regiment 48880 Private Essex Regiment 5999411 Corporal That means he has been promoted from private to acting corporal to full corporal. The numbers are his army numbers, which seem to have been changed. I am not familiar with the Essex Regt history and whether they had several renumberings, or whether Harold was transferred from one battalion to another and had his number changed. You will need his army service record to find out more, and what battalion(s) he served with. As elsewhere mentioned, there is only a 30-40 percent chance the records survive. Ian

thankyou for also being helpful. i was so excited when i found it, then when i downloaded it i did not have a clue what i was looking at. thankyou for that it may give more to look into now i understand it a little better. shirley

Shirely Out of interest, there is a WW1 casualty - William Fraser Lydamore shown on the CWGC debt of honour list - he is shown as coming from Ilford, Essex. Any relation to your chap? Ian

Looks as if there's quite a bit about the regiment on the 1914-18 site: http://www.1914-1918.net/ The other place to contact is the regimental museum. I got quite a lot of general info and some specific from each of the regimental museums for my grandfather and his elder brother. This site may help you find a means of contacting the right place. http://www.armymuseums.org.uk/ good hunting Christine