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Hello Ady,

Sounds like some very serious database,

Cheers Pete

Thanks again, Ainslie,

So Robert James was already involved with the military before the outbreak, I thought he was part of the P.O. employees who joined up as Pals, Denbigh seems a bit far away, they had no car, and lived in the Egremont, Birkenhead and Aigburth, Liverpool areas. Still have no idea where his Brownburgh came from, questions you wish you'd asked when you were younger.

Cheers Pete

Hello jds,

Thanks for your help. I spent a fair bit of yesterday afternoon at the Library, and on one of Uncle Bob's 17 pages was one joining him to the RE's as a Telelgraph Operator, learn something new everyday. On this page it said previous Military History, where there was an entry  "2 Vol Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment and Denbigh Hussars Iy time expired", but no dates attached, the first date was 18-11-14 when he joined the REs in London. He served in Bedford until cessation. I did see that he had a "Disability Code 15" after his stint in Palestine in 1919, which included a spell in Hospital and as you said a pension of 6/- for 7 and a bit weeks then 8/8d for another 9 and a bit weeks, "to be reviewed".

It led me to wonder whether the more populated areas of the country were used to top up the regiments being formed in the less populated areas, and the redistribution started reasonably early in the scene. I don't suppose there were too many telegraph operators around in 1914, and he'd have been in demand, I imagine. He was reported as being "very intelligent", and did retire as Deputy Super of the P.O. in Liverpool.

Nothing for my Dad other than the medal Card. I had thought that when he was shipped out of France he may have been transferred to the Regiment based nearest to the hospital at which he was being treated, but this may not be the case. I did manage to trace another of the brothers as a Constable/Sergeant/Inspector in Sydney N.S.W. from1912, and the fourth was a Liverpool Pilot and a 1918 'flu victim.

Thanks for your help and interest

Pete

Hello Ken,

Thanks for the response. Yes the photo is the only clue I have about the regiment, I was in Liverpool several years ago and went into the King's Reg. recruiting Office when they still had one. The Captain behind the desk identified him as having a silver cap badge, which he said had been provided to each of the Pals volunteers by Lord Derby. I can't recall him ever saying anything about the Border Regt, and it's base is a fair way from Liverpool, nor did he say very much about the whole experience. Certainly the 33138 number is in the right range for Liverpool Pals 18th., but if the number changes with each regiment, and I only found out last night that it did, then it's fairly meaningless. He has no Star, so I guess he didn't make it to the front until after 1915 although the first Pals K.I.A. I found was 20-12-15.

There was some mention of him being involved in training, but don't know where, when, or if indeed it's true and where it sits in respect of the Blighty. He was Blightied while out on patrol, so that's not going to provide much of a clue either.

I don't know about Uncle Bob, RJB, he was a Delivery Clerk in the Post Office at the time, with no Engineering skills that were ever manifested before or after. He, too, survived and worked the rest of his life in the P.O. in Liverpool.

Thanks once again,

Pete

I have a photograph of my father, Frank Pedder Cannell, as a volunteer for the King's Liverpool Regt as one of Earl Derby's Pals in 1914, complete with silver cap badge. His medal sheet shows him a Frank Peddar in the Border Regt being awarded the British Medal and the Victory medal, but not the Star, I remember the two medals as a child, but they disappeared sometime. He was wounded with a Blighty, and didn't return to the front, I know not where or when.  I remember him saying that they generally didn't have trouble with German snipers, because quite a few of the regiment were former gamekeepers, and accustomed to handling firearms, which would fit the Borders rather than the Pals. Like most of the WW1 soldiers he spoke very little of his experiences.

His brother RJB also volunteered with the Pals and ended up in the Royal Engineers. did this Regiment swapping take place frequently in the early years of the war? Were service numbers given sequentially throughout the Army, or within a Regiment in the non computer days? His number on the card is 33138, his brother's 47468, quite a large difference.

Pete