John William HAYWOOD WW1 service record difficulty.

[BlandTree]

I am attempting to help a friend to unravel the service history of Pte John William HAYWOOD whose Attestation/Discharge details are on Ancestry.  He appears to have enlisted at Pontefract on 3rd August 1915 in the York & Lancaster Regt & been given the number 22976. He seems to have been transferred to the 1st Garrison Btn East Yorks Regt on 7th October 1915 (& his number may have been 20374). His final move was to the 1st (Garrison??) Btn The Yorkshire Regt, on 9th November 1915, with the number 22348.

There follow further entries which I cannot read on 10/12/1915, 12/12/1915, 24/12/1915 & 4?/5?/1916. These entries are important because elsewhere it is stated that he served overseas and I need to know the dates so that I can point my friend to the relevant entries for the 1st (Garrison??) Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment in The Long, Long Trail and from thence to the War Diaries in the National Archives for her own further research.  Can anyone help with this?

John HAYWOOD was discharged from The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards), on 3rd July 1916 under section 392 xvi and the reason given was “No longer physically fit for War service (UDH mitral)”. I understand that “mitral” refers to a leaky heart valve but cannot find an explanation of “UDH”.  My best guess is “Unfit-Discharged-Heart” but a guess is not good enough!!  Can anyone enlighten me?

He was awarded, as I would expect, the Silver War Badge (number 214965), on 19th July 1916 and he also received the British War Medal & the Victory Medal but not the 1914/15 Star, which suggests to me that he did not serve overseas before 31st December 1915.  As he was discharged on 3rd July 1916 that narrows down the time he was abroad. Does the entry for 4?/5?/1916 read, “Invalided”?  If so the window for his overseas posting is very small! 
 
I have tried very hard to unravel this but failed so I have turned to RootsChat, the real experts!  Any help or comments gratefully received!

[ShaunJ]

The 24/12/15 entry says "Posted India".

"1st Garrison Battalion
Formed in Pontefract in October 1915, then on Christmas Eve 1915 sailed to India where it remained throughout the war. Manned by troops who had been medically rejected for fighting and returned wounded who had been medically downgraded. Known to have been based at Sialkot in 1918."

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/alexandra-princess-of-waless-own-yorkshire-regiment-green-howards/

[mmm45]

Think its VDH - Valvular disease of the heart Ive seen it on other WW1 soldiers records

If you look closely at the Medal Roll he was awarded the SWB and British War Medal -No Victory medal its crossed out on top of the page.This says he didnt serve in a "Theatre of war" such as France but Garrison Batts were in Malta and India so that makes sense.He probably got ill either en route or in India ??

hope this helps

Ady