Author Topic: 2/5 East Kent in 1917  (Read 602 times)

Offline suecee

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2/5 East Kent in 1917
« on: Tuesday 25 November 14 09:49 GMT (UK) »
My grandfather Thomas Floyd was enlisted in the 2/5 Territorial Force East Kent Regiment on 10 May 1916. His service record did not survive and the only knowledge of his whereabouts in the war comes from letters written to my grandmother from Jul 1918 onwards.

My uncle had said that Thomas was sent back from Italy with stomach problems. Is it possible he was out there or is this just an unreliable memory?

In an undated letter he says "it is exactly a year today since I first went up the line." So he was overseas first somewhere between Jul 1917 and Nov 1917 (he went to France on 1 Nov 1918 with the Labour Corps  371 POW Escort Coy.)

His letters in England were written from 214 Brigade 71st division Colchester whilst waiting to go up the line again.

Can anyone shed any light as to where he first went and was it with the 2/5th?

Thanks
Blunden, Tate, Badslade, Pennicott, Fairbairn (Surrey) Bird (Surrey and Middlesex) Scales, Phillippo, Banham, Franklin (Norfolk) Bond, Miles (Oxfordshire) Webb (Worcestershire) Floyd, Drury (Kent) Clifton, Cane, Tester, Floyd (Sussex)

Offline newburychap

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Re: 2/5 East Kent in 1917
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 25 November 14 11:32 GMT (UK) »
The 2/5th Buffs (East Kent) did not go overseas at all - so your chap must have transferred to another battalion.

I suspect he may be Thomas Floyd 241693 in the Buffs, who transferred to the Labour Corps (376022).  His Buffs number is in the sequence allocated to the 5th Buffs in the 1917 renumbering - indicating that he did not go overseas before then. I suspect his overseas service was entirely with the Labour Corps.

Sadly the Labour Corps medal roll (Ancestry) does not show which companies he served with but it could well be one sent to Italy in November 1917 when British and French troops were sent to reinforce the Italians. 
 
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Offline suecee

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Re: 2/5 East Kent in 1917
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 25 November 14 13:46 GMT (UK) »
Thanks, that's very helpful.
That is my Thomas Floyd, I do have his medals still in their boxes. I had discovered that the 2/5 hadn't been overseas and was trying to find out where Thomas had gone before Colchester. From what I had found I understood that the Territorial Force (and therefore the 2/5) had been incorporated into the 202nd Brigade 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division before Thomas enlisted and that there was a final reorganisation towards the end of 1917 when it was renamed as just the 67th Division. But at that point did the 2/5 become part of the 214th Brigade?

At least I have some idea now of how he came to be in Italy.
Blunden, Tate, Badslade, Pennicott, Fairbairn (Surrey) Bird (Surrey and Middlesex) Scales, Phillippo, Banham, Franklin (Norfolk) Bond, Miles (Oxfordshire) Webb (Worcestershire) Floyd, Drury (Kent) Clifton, Cane, Tester, Floyd (Sussex)

Offline km1971

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Re: 2/5 East Kent in 1917
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 26 November 14 05:44 GMT (UK) »
It is possible he served with 1st/5th Buffs in Mesopotamia. Was injured/taken ill; returned home and downgraded before being transferred to the Labour Corps. There are a number of LC experts on the Great War Forum who may be able to tell you when his number was issued.

Ken


Offline suecee

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Re: 2/5 East Kent in 1917
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 26 November 14 16:06 GMT (UK) »
I have just found an earlier card from him dated 1 May 1918 which gives him as 23305 Floyd, 16th Queens, 214 Brigade, Colchester.

This is a different number from his Buffs number 241693 and his Labour Corps 376022.

(He was with D Coy, 16th Queens, Ipswich when he left for France with the Labour Corps in Nov 1918)

What could 23305 be?
Blunden, Tate, Badslade, Pennicott, Fairbairn (Surrey) Bird (Surrey and Middlesex) Scales, Phillippo, Banham, Franklin (Norfolk) Bond, Miles (Oxfordshire) Webb (Worcestershire) Floyd, Drury (Kent) Clifton, Cane, Tester, Floyd (Sussex)