Why no medal card?

[andrewalston]

I've been looking for the medal index card for someone in my one name study.

Elias Dunbavin joined up on 8th September 1914, becoming Lancashire Fusilier 6492. At the end of March 1915 he transferred to the 22nd Divisional Cyclist Corps, becoming private 7139.

His service records survive, with most of the 50 pages concerning his "temporary" transfer back to his civilian employers and the subsequent chasing up of payments.

There is a possible transfer to 3rd Battalion, The Border Regiment as Private 39194 in April 1918. There is a request to have this cancelled, but the fresh number is written on his attestation sheet.

He spent most of the war working on constructional steelwork, but that leaves 8 months of "proper" army service. So why mo medals?

His Lancashire Fusiliers number also confuses me. There is a medal card for private 6497 Henry Potts, mentioning service overseas only 14 days after Elias joined up. Did each battalion have their own numbers?

I must chase up Henry. Elias's wife was Mary Potts!

[MaxD]

If All his service was in UK so he would not qualify for any medals, they needed service overseas.  Checking his records, all the units listed were UK based at the relevant times.

And yes, regiments did have their own numbering systems until 1920 which can confuse as there will be a number1234 in a number of regiments!



MaxD

[andrewalston]

Good to know why there were no medals.

Still confused on the regimental number. Why would the Lancashire Fusiliers have two privates numbered 6492 at the same time ?

(I've now had a quick look, and Henry Potts seems to be unconnected)

[MaxD]

Overlap is explained here better than I could   http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/lancashire-fusiliers-regular.html

Not typical but there were many variations on the theme!  An army ruse to keep descendants guessing 

MaxD

[jim1]

Reading his record he seems to have been released for munitions work rather than steelwork first to an alkali Co. & then to a munitions Co.

[andrewalston]

So it was deliberate (or an admin error). Henry Potts would have joined about 1899-1900, and kept his original number for the duration. He would have been a seasoned regular at commencement of hostilities, and so been one of the first sent overseas.

Elias was returned from the Cyclist Corps to Francis Morton & Co. There was a temporary transfer to United Alkali on 8 Jan 1917; he had been employed erecting steel at H.M. Factory, Gretna, and this affected his separation allowance. He was still with Francis Morton's except for April 1918 when he was instructed to go to Prees Heath where he was given a fresh number and told that he was now in the Border Regiment. Another letter dated 15/4/1918 had him returning to Morton's by the end of the month.

Morton's were big manufacturers of girder work. Bridges and roof trusses were their bread-and-butter. They supplied the girders for the Liverpool Overhead Railway, which was, to all intents and purposes, a railway bridge several miles long.

[MaxD]

Your reading of Potts makes sense.  His number could have been in either the "old" pre 1903 series or the post 1903 but whatever, he was certainly a pre war regular.  He served with 1/6th Battalion who landed in Egypt on 25 Sep 1914, later at Gallipoli and later in France  Cross checks with his medal card. 

MaxD