Disqualified from the Army after a dishonourable discharge ?

[Stirrick]

Does anyone know or at least have a feel for this ?

I have a guy who joined up, underage, in 1903, but was dishonorably discharged the following year due to desertion. This was in the King's Liverpool Regiment.

I can find no record of him serving in WWI. Would his dishonourable discharge have disqualified him ?

I would be surprised if it did, as the Army seemed happy to take anyone with the right number of heads after 1915.

[rosie99]

I can find no record of him serving in WWI. Would his dishonourable discharge have disqualified him ?

A large proportion of WW1 service records were destroyed during WW2, it is possible that his was amongst them

[Stirrick]

Thanks, Rosie, but I'm sure that he didn't serve in WWI.

I just want to know if that was because the Army didn't want him because of his previous black mark.

[CraigM63]

I can find no record of him serving in WWI. Would his dishonourable discharge have disqualified him ?

When you say you can find no record of him serving in WW1, what are you basing this on? The absence of a service record, medal index card, or a mention in the medal rolls?

He may well have not served, but there are other possibilities such as serving under an alias because of his previous dishonourable discharge, or home service only in which case he would have not been entitled to any medals. The only traces I can find of my 2x great-uncle's WW1 service are the appearance of his name in a September 1914 newspaper list of territorial soldiers released for service from the colliery he was working at, and his marriage registration in June 1917 which states that he was a sergeant in the Highland Cyclist Battalion. Otherwise, there is no other trace of his service because he never served overseas, even though he was only 21 at the outbreak of war.     

[CraigM63]

Double post.

[MaxD]

When conscription was introduced in 1916, there was no exception for someone who had his type of previous record.
Rosie and Craig have set out reasons for not finding trace of him so unfortunately you cannot be sure he didn't serve.

MaxD

[Stirrick]

Thanks Max

That's really what I was asking.

This guy had a bit of a chequered history post-War and I suspected that he might have avoided re-serving. But I couldn't rule out that the Army simply didn't want a 'bad apple' back in its ranks.

But now I know. ;-)

Thanks all.