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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: SusieK on Sunday 26 November 17 18:31 GMT (UK)
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The attached pic is of someone I believe to be David Thomas, who married Minnie Lewis in about 1912. The pic is only marked as 'Minnie and first husband', so she obviously remarried at some time. The photo is very small and a bit watermarked, and I couldn't enlarge it much without losing some of the features, so I don't expect it to be possible to identify much about the uniform.
All I know is that she is my mother's great aunt, she lived in Carmarthen in South Wales so he probably did too. It may therefore be a Welsh regiment.
Ooops... that's a bit bigger than I expected !
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The cap badge has the general shape of the Royal Artillery badge.
A
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Hi, I agree with ainslie regarding the general shape being like the Royal Artillery.
Frank.
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No question - Royal Artillery but not possible here to identify the branch and rather a lot of David Thomas's in the RA!
MaxD
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Thank you very much ainslie, Frank and MaxD! I didn't hope for much, but at least to narrow it down to Royal Artillery helps! As you say there are an awful lot of David Thomas' around :) As she married a second time I think he may well have died in the war, but at the moment other than their marriage date in August 1912 I don't know much about her or him as yet.
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Hi, was Minnie, short for Elizabeth?
Frank.
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Hi Frank
Not that I know of, I don't have a birth certificate yet and so far I have only seen her listed as Minnie. I've just been given some photographs and a couple of documents and I am just trying to work out who they all are. The census entry I found for her when she was younger listed her as Minnie.
Sue
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Hi, OK no worries :)
Frank.
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Hi, back again, is the name correct for the lad in the photograph, there is a Minnie Lewis who married in Carmarthen in 1912 but the Grooms name was Thomas H Davies.
There could be another Minnie Lewis but not found one yet.
Regards
Frank.
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Back again ;D................................
There is a tree on line (Ancestry) with the photograph of your man, according to said tree he is:
Thomas Henry Davies
Born St. Peter's, Carmarthenshire
K.I.A 28 Dec 1917
Death Place France and Flanders
Enlistment Place Carmarthen
Rank Private
Regiment Northumberland Fusiliers
Battalion 21st Battalion (Tyneside Scottish)
Regimental Number 47676
Formerly 162053 R.F.A
Regards
Frank.
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47676 is Thomas Henry Davies, wife Mrs M (Minnie according to the Effects register) of 34 Hawkes Villas Carmarthen according to the CWGC detail. The RFA number doesn't feature in the military records
So David Thomas remains unfound - or is he TH Davies???
MaxD
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47676 is Thomas Henry Davies, wife Mrs M (Minnie according to the Effects register) of 34 Hawkes Villas Carmarthen according to the CWGC detail. The RFA number doesn't feature in the military records
So David Thomas remains unfound - or is he TH Davies???
MaxD
Hi MaxD, I suspect the man in the photograph is Thomas Henry Davies, pictured on leave, I notice Minnie is wearing a wedding ring as well.
"UK soldiers died in the Great war 1914 - 1918" has all of the details I posted at half past ten last night.
We await SusieK, perhaps she may be able to shed some light on it.
Frank.
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Gosh went off to bed and you guys were still hard at work! Didn't expect to get anymore information really so thank you all very much.
Went back to check the notes again and found two names - Thomas Henry Davies AND David Thomas, so it looks like a bit of confusion somewhere. (Maybe David Thomas was the second husband ?? ) The photograph doesn't have any name on, only 'first husband' so whoever had the photo obviously didn't know it. The marriage date is indeed 12th August 1912 according to a family bible page, but no husband's name visible as it's in a bit of a bad state.
Will check out the ancestry tree, thank you Frank - may be an introduction to someone new in the family (new to me anyway!).
You've all been so helpful and I appreciate it very much, it will make tracking down Minnie 'and husband' so much easier. I suspect that it is indeed Thomas Henry Davies, as his name is included in the notes.
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Frank - I agree with you and your find of the marriage Thomas H Davies/Minnie Lewis Carmarthen Q3 1912.
Seen SuzieK's post - yes, perhaps David Thomas came next although I beg to be excused looking for a later Davies/Thomas marriage in Wales!
MaxD
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.................................................................................... although I beg to be excused looking for a later Davies/Thomas marriage in Wales!
MaxD
;D ;D ;D
Frank.
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MaxD - consider yourself excused ;D ;D ;D
I think I will forget about the second husband for the time being and concentrate on the first! My family history is full of Thomas's, Lewis's and Davies's.
I really wasn't expecting so much, so thank you all!
I've been busy cleaning up young Thomas Henry's uniform, I was so sad to think he might have died so young (and now of course I know he did!) I thought he would want to be remembered all spic and span.
Frank - Have just been looking through the details you supplied and wondering how he could have ended up in the Northumberland Fusiliers and not in a Welsh Regiment. I think the photo was taken early in 1914, going by the age of the baby, so it seems he must have served almost all the way through the war starting with the RFA. (I think that's his cap badge? Sorry, get a bit confused with all the different regiments!)
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Just got this off the Carmarthen WW1 memorial, which I think answers most of my questions! Thanks all for your help, will now follow up as much as I can about young Thomas Henry (although he's not strictly mine.
With thanks
Sue
Thomas Henry Davies, Private, 47676, Northumberland Fusiliers. Thomas was born as Thomas Henry Davies on 4 April 1889, the illegitimate son of Caroline Davies. Caroline married his father, Thomas Price, on 14 September 1889, at Christ Church, Carmarthen. Thomas was raised as Thomas Henry Davies, at 13, Blue Street, Carmarthen. On 28 August 1912 he married Minnie Lewis at St. David’s Church, Carmarthen, and the couple set up home at 34, Hawkes Villas, Carmarthen. He enlisted at Carmarthen into the Royal Field Artillery under the name Thomas Henry Price, and was later transferred into the 21st Battalion (Tyneside Scots), Northumberland Fusiliers, which was attached to 102 Brigade, 34th Division. The Division moved to France between 7 and 15 January 1916, and saw its first major action on the Somme, during the Battle of Albert, where it suffered very severe casualties during its part in the attack on La Boiselle. It then took part in the Battle of Bazentin, Battle of Pozières and the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The following year saw them fighting at the Battle of Arras. Thomas was killed on 28 December 1917, and is buried at St. Martin Calvaire British Cemetery, St. Martin-Sur-Cojeul, France. His brother, Arthur James Price, also fell.
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The fact that he didn't go overseas with the RFA explains why his medal records do not include his RFA number.
From the war diary, it appears he was one of three men in a ration party killed by shell fire while taking rations to his comrades in a trench called Pioneer Alley south west of Arras.
On the link, the trench can be seen in square O31 (need to zoom in a bit) on the left hand map. The right hand map is the area today. The cemetery in which he is buried is over on the left below the village of St Martin sur Cojeul.
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=14&lat=50.2331&lon=2.8771&layers=10146507&right=BingHyb
MaxD
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Blimey, MaxD. I didn't expect even more ! I can't thank you enough for your efforts.
It seems he originally enlisted into the RFA under the name of Price, rather than Davies, according to the Carmarthen WW1 Memorial, so would his RFA details be under Price?
I'll be in Carmarthen in a few weeks so I will be able to visit the memorial.
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Had his full service record survived, it would most likely have had both the RFA and NF details on it with a name change. In any event there is no separate record under the RFA number/name.
Not that it matters but his medal roll entry shows prior service in 26th Battalion NF before the 21st Battalion, the War Memorial details omit that bit.
MaxD
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Many thanks again MaxD.
I have to say that I didn't expect to find out so much about him, with so little to start from, and I very much appreciate all the help from everyone.