King's Royal Rifles

[katysearching]

Hi everyone - a newbie!
My granddad was in 6th Batt. K.R.R. and received Pip, Squeak and Wilfred (1914/5) - yet according to his regimental website his battalion never left the UK! Had no response from them - and short of going down to Winchester to the Royal Green Jackets museum (they absorbed K.R.R. many years ago) I don't know how to proceed.  Going to Ypres in November and wanted to find out exactly where he got his campaign medals - I know he was discharged through "sickness" (gassing??) in July 1916.  He died two months before I was born so never knew him - and my mother has been dead sometime now so I have no-one left to ask.  Many thanks in anticipation!

[Gwil]

Hi Katy
Welcome to Rootschat. For a better response to your query you'll need to provide his name and number.

[JJen]

Hi,

Welcome to RootsChat 

If you would like to post the details of your granddad's name, place and date of birth we can then search for his Service records which hopefully will record his movements whilst in the Army (providing they have survived).

JJ

[katysearching]

Wow - such a speedy response - thankyou

I have some records - like his Short Service Attestation form which shows he joined on 10 April 1915 in Birmingham.

His number: R11587  Private (Rifleman)  John David Pritchard aged 21 years and 50 days - 6th Btn K.R.R.  On the roll of Individuals entitled to the "War Badge" it gives his number of badge and certificate as 58832 which appears on page 113 of 403 pages, dated 13 Nov 1916 in Winchester and signed by Addington - Captn.  He was discharged from K.R.R. Corps through "sickness" on 23 July 1916 and the number 392 (xvi) after it.  His WO/372/16 shows his Campaign 1914-15, his theatre of war as France and his qualifying date as 12.10.15 - so you can see why I'm confused because apparently the 6th Battalion didn't go to France - so obviously they must have sent him to some other group.

Hope there's enough to go on!  Thank you!

[Gwil]

His Medal Roll entry shows he served in France with the 7th Bn
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/5119/41629_611411_5680-00294?pid=5935658&backurl=http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DFTC102%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26db%3DIWOServiceMedalAwardRolls%26gss%3Dangs-d%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26MS_AdvCB%3D1%26gsfn%3Djohn%26gsfn_x%3D1%26gsln%3Dpritchard%26gsln_x%3D1%26_F00061C3%3Drif*%26_F00061C3_x%3D1%26MSAV%3D2%26uidh%3Da63%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D3%26h%3D5935658%26recoff%3D5%25207%26ml_rpos%3D4&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=FTC102&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

The 6th was a training battalion from where men would be sent to the 'fighting' battalions overseas.
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/kings-royal-rifle-corps/

[Gwil]

Did you get his Attestation document from Ancestry. If so there are a further 7 or 8 pages.

Page forwards AND backwards from the page that Ancestry lands you on
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1114/MIUK1914A_086295-01150?pid=538291&backurl=http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DFTC103%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26db%3Dbritisharmy%26gss%3Dangs-d%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26msT%3D1%26gsfn%3Djohn%2520david%26gsfn_x%3D1%26gsln%3Dpritchard%26gsln_x%3D1%26MSAV%3D2%26MS_AdvCB%3D1%26cpxt%3D1%26cp%3D11%26catbucket%3Drstp%26uidh%3Da63%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D2%26h%3D538291%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D3&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=FTC103&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

[Gwil]

A summary of his time overseas seems to be
11 10 1915 to France
15 10 1915 joined 7th Bn
31 12 1915 into the casualty chain with gastric ulcer
28 2 1916 invalided to UK

[Gwil]

Some of the others on here are pretty hot at zeroing in on the right pages of the War Diaries on Ancestry. Hopefully one of them will find 7th KRRC for when he joined them on 15 10 1915 and you can then download the pages to 31 12 1915 when he went into hospital etc with that ulcer.

[katysearching]

You are awesome!  I have been trying to find this out for months - and within an hour of finding this forum - crash bang wallop - you have all this info!

I did get his Attestation from Ancestry but I only got the top sheet!

Thanks so much - hope I can be as helpful to others!