soldier who fought on the somme

[kwickme]

my grandfather Thomas Benjamin whitehead is thought to have fought on the some in ww1. he was a groom or at least worked with horses before and during the war. he is believed to have being in the royal Warwickshire reg. he  was born  1881 in  balsall  common Warwickshire. he was not killed in the war. but I cannot find anything on him  he also served for a time during ww1 in Egypt.
thank you.

[Jebber]

Can you give more information about him, such as when and where he was born, a name alone is not enough for people to help.

[rosie99]

All records of him name him as Thomas Whitehead if he is the son of Benjamin & Eliza 

Place of birth has been given as Balsall Common c1881

[Jebber]

Nothing readily showing up in military records.

[jim1]

2 RWR:
Thomas Whitehead
Royal Warwickshire Regiment 16373 (14th. & 2nd. Batts.)
Not him. Born 1893 Exhall. Married an Edith Brookes.   

Thomas Whitehead
4th Royal Warwickshire Regiment 19714, 7/Oxf & BLI (Ox & Bucks), 32965
4th. Batt. RWR (Training reserve. Never went overseas).
11th. Batt. RWR
6th. Ox & Bucks LI.
7th. Ox & Bucks LI.
11th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Warwick in September 1914 as part of K3 and attached as Army Troops to 24th Division.
April 1915 : joined 112th Brigade, 37th Division.
Landed in France 30 July 1915.
Disbanded in France on 7 February 1918.

6th (Service) Battalion Ox & Bucks LI
Formed at Oxford in September 1914 as part of K2 and placed under orders of 60th Brigade in 20th (Light) Division.
22 July 1915 ; landed at Boulogne.
15 February 1918 : disbanded in France, troops going to 2/4th and 5th Bns and 14th Entrenching Battalion.

7th (Service) Battalion Ox & Bucks LI
Formed at Oxford in September 1914 as part of K3 and placed under orders of 78th Brigade in 26th Division.
21 September 1915 : landed at Boulogne but moved to Salonika 13-26 November 1915.
This Batt. is the only one that could have been in Egypt.

[Nic.]

I have the same problem my relative was also at the Somme and survived.  I also have his service number and a photo of him in uniform.

But it is worth knowing that a large quantity of military records were lost in a fire in 1940 Arnside Street, London when the building they were stored in was hit by an incendiary bomb in WW2.

If you visit http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/the-1940-fire-at-arnside-street/

You will find the following :

"A document held at the National Archives (reference WO32/21769) lists the various collections of documents that were destroyed in the fire. This document has been digitised and can be downloaded (small fee) from the Discovery part of the National Archives’ website."

[kwickme]

thank you.

[jim1]

Thomas Whitehead
4th Royal Warwickshire Regiment 19714, 7/Oxf & BLI (Ox & Bucks), 32965
No records survive for this man. The Gallipoli War diaries don't exist either.
The 11/RWR fought at The Battle of the Ancre (Somme).

[MaxD]

Didn't we look for this man in 2016 with the same lack of real success
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=757947.msg6082159#msg6082159

or has something changed??

maxD