WW1 SERVICE RECORD HELP

[lillian66]

Hello All.

Can anyone help me locate the service record of my grandfather Joshua Bentley.  A fellow researcher has a medal card for J Bentley 2361 of W R Rgt attached to him on their ancestry tree.

He was born in 1899 and family stories suggest he joined up under age. He lived in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

Any help appreciated.

[Hackstaple]

The service record of Joshua Bentley no longer exists - it would have been destroyed by fire during the blitz. About a third of WWI records survived.

I would agree that it would be convenient if your ancestor was that J. Bentley of the West Riding Regiment but it is hard to see what your relative would be so certain. Logically one would look for the name Joshua. Of those we see 3 medal cards - one is of a regular who re-enlisted. One is of a territorial army soldier in the Westminster cadre of the 13th London Regiment.

The only possible one is Joshua Bentley, a driver in the Royal Field Artillery - No. L8982. The artillery was by far the largest corps in WWI and recruited soldiers from all over Great Britain. Most drivers in the RFA had previous experience with horses.

The date of birth - 1899 - does not preclude conscription as age 18 as he would have reached that age in 1917. Recruiting sergeants were wise owls and saw a lot of youths who led about their ages and sent them home. Facial hair was the main indicator.

The medal card for J. Bentley W.R. Regiment No. 2361 is a puzzle in itself. It shows the solider embarked for France on 15/4/15 and returned only on 15/2/19. He received the 1915 Star. However no other medal award is shown but the 15 Star was always awarded with the War Medal and the Victory Medal - never by itself. That shows that another medal card exists for that soldier, probably with a new allocated regimental number, possibly even in another regiment.  I can find two other J. Bentleys WR Regt with those two medals and no Star.

All in a puzzle.

[lillian66]

Thanks for your post. I too wondered how someone was sure J Bentley was Joshua.

I have read somewhere that all soldiers were given new numbers after the outbreak of war as some numbers had been duplicated in other regiments.  The medal card for 2361 has a longer number in brackets 307758. Could this be his new number?

[HarrisonHart]

My grandad has 2 medal cards. he was issued the 15 star from the army and the B and V medals from the royal navy.  First card has his army number, second card has his navy number.  that may be a lead.  a great uncle also did something similar switching from RN to the RAF in 1918.

[Hackstaple]

Thanks for your post. I too wondered how someone was sure J Bentley was Joshua.

I have read somewhere that all soldiers were given new numbers after the outbreak of war as some numbers had been duplicated in other regiments.  The medal card for 2361 has a longer number in brackets 307758. Could this be his new number?

Soldiers' numbers were originally issued by their regiment. They were not army numbers that only came into use in 1920 with 7 digits. Obviously there would be a great many men with the same 4 digit number in a force of 1.5 million.

Renumbering took place to 6 digit numbers from their 4-digit series from 1917 onwards although some territorial army regiments started earlier and were allocated blocks of numbers as they raised new battalions.

Oddly, once the 4 digit numbers went it is not an indication of seniority in service if one has a a lower number. That was the case with the 7 digit numbers as one could tell from the number even the month of enlistment. There are reams of stuff about this if you have the time and patience to go through it all.