Possible service in WW1

[MacGrigor]

Hello,

My great-great-grandad, Charles Salter, would have been fighting age when the First World War began. He was born near Calne, Wiltshire, on the 21st of May 1884. He also went by the name William Charles Salter. Can anyone find anything that might suggest that he did serve? He abandoned the family at some point after 1911, so military service would explain a lot potentially.

I’d appreciate any help!

Adam

[KGarrad]

Nearly two-thirds of all the WW1 Service Records were destroyed in a WW2 bombing raid

But it's worthwhile searching on Ancestry or FindMyPast for a service record.
Medal Index Cards may also be available - IF he served overseas?

You could also search on FamilySearch.org, or TNA (The National Archives).

[MacGrigor]

I’ve looked through a good few medal cards, but none stick out he would have been 30 when war broke out, so there’s a good chance. He was also unemployed in 1911.

[MacGrigor]

I see a few from the Hampshire Regiment but none from Wiltshire. Can anyone see any surviving service records?

[KGarrad]

Just because your chap was from Wiltshire doesn't mean that he was in the Wiltshire Regiment!

My uncle, from Somerset, served in the Worcestershire Regiment.
And a Great-Uncle, also from Somerset, served in the Welsh Regiment.

Recruits, particularly conscripts, were allocated to whatever Regiments needed reinforcements.

[MacGrigor]

Yes, I’ve found that with other men too it would’ve helped.

[jim1]

Have you tried to find the 1918 Absent Voter's list?

[MacGrigor]

I’m not sure how.

[jim1]

You need to know where he was living at the time.