James Stanley Goss - 3rd County of London Yeomanry

[jtobred]

Hi,

I am currently researching the military service of my 2x great Grandfather James Stanley Goss.
James was born in Buckinghamshire in 1896.
He joined the army in 1914 and was posted to the 3rd County of London Yeomanry, then later the Machine Gun Corps.
I have been unable to find his service records, only his medal card. Unfortunately however it doesn’t detail where he may have served.
His regimental numbers are:
205380 - 3rd Co of London Yeo
151132 - MGC
I don’t know if this helps at all but I’m desperately searching for where he may have served, any information is greatly appreciated,
Many Thanks JT

[nanny jan]

Hi,

Two thoughts......his service record might have been destroyed in the blitz in WW2 or, if he continued in the Army post 1920, then his record will be with the MOD and you can apply for a copy, cost is £30.

[MaxD]

Longlongtrail has  this:
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-yeomanry-regiments-of-1914-1918/3rd-county-of-london-yeomanry-sharpshooters/

He appears on the MGC medal roll with a large number of men with consecutive MGC numbers, all of whom had previously served in the 3rd CLY.  This looks very much like a mass transfer.

That suggest to me that his service was as LLT has it as far as the MGC is concerned, he served in E Battalion later 103 Battalion.  As his CLY number looks like a later one and he does not have a Star, his service overseas was not until after 1915.

MaxD

[jtobred]

Thanks so much MaxD
I don’t really know how the regimental numbers work, I was curious as to whether may have been among those at Gallipoli or perhaps replaced those lost there?
I had noted all the other men being transferred at the same time, I went so far as looking all those on the same page up to find their service records to no avail... as the poster above mentioned I fear they may have been among those records lost to the blitz....

[MaxD]

Gallipoli would have entitled him to a 1914/1915 Star, the absence of which denotes overseas after 1915.  If you are doing the "near numbers" trawl, use the CLY numbers rather than the MGC one, I'd be pretty sure given the batch nature of his number in the MGC roll that we are looking there at the E Battalion transferred men.

MaxD

[jtobred]

Ahh okay I see,
Thank you for your insight, like I said I know nothing of regimental numbers it’s all very confusing and just seems to get even more so the deeper I research 

[MaxD]

Numbers were regimentally allocated so his CLY number and his MGC number would be different.  The MGC medal roll on which he appears has been carefully annotated showing which unit the men had served with previously and checking a sample of men whose service records survive, it is clear that his MGC unit was E Battalion from May/Jun 1918. There is a war diary which can be downloaded from the National Archives for £3.50 here:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/92210e5bed0342f5abb9a7bef134f344

Finding when he joined from his CLY number is not so straightforward.  His number is one allotted in the Territorial Force re-numbering in 1917 to the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry (Bucks Hussars) and this suggests he started with them and retained it when he moved to CLY. If he joined earlier than 1917, he would have had a (probably) four digit number but this would only figure on the records we have if he served with it overseas.  The area of the country he came from is, with the Yeomanry at least, a good (but not infallible) indicator of what Yeomanry regiment a man served with.  Did he come from the Buckingham, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Amersham area I wonder?

The foregoing is a longwinded (sorry) way of saying I don't think we can track his pre-MGC service with any certainty at all. It is a complicated issue, see for example:
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/renumbering-of-the-territorial-force-in-1917/renumbering-of-the-territorial-force-yeomanry-in-1917/

MaxD

[jtobred]

Thank you for all that information MaxD, I’m a lot clearer on the numbering system now.

Yes James was from Buckinghamshire originally, he was born in Woodham, near Aylesbury. He went on to be a fairly successful farmer in Calverton and Weston Underwood. He was also a councillor and Justice of the Peace.

[MaxD]

Possible service sequence - First unit Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, perhaps 2/1st who stayed in UK.  Transferred to 3rd CLY some time after renumbering in 1917, (speculation -  perhaps when 2/1st Bucks Yeomanry converted to Cyclists in August 1917).  Overseas with 3rd CLY (in Egypt from Jun 1917), to E Battalion MGC April 1918 then France June 1918 with them until disembodied March 1919 (from the medal roll).

MaxD