Date of enlistment into the KOSB's

[Stirrick]

I have a serviceman, John Andrew CRUDDAS, who was Private 5802 in the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB).

I have records relating to his service in WW1 which suggest that he was a pre-War regular - 1914 Star with Clasp, arrived in France on 27 August,1914.

As far as I can tell, 5802 equates to an enlistment in 1896.
When John Andrew would have been 5!
Could the number have been recycled ?

He was living and working as a Bricklayer's Labourer in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1911, so presumably his enlistment would be sometime between 1911 and 1914.

[jim1]

1 possible scenario is that he was in the Special Reserve which had numbers similar to your man's.
He may have been drafted into the 2nd. Btn. at the outbreak of war but retained his number.

[Stirrick]

Thanks Jim, I wasn't aware of that.

Would membership of the SR rather than a Territorial Battalion not imply prior service with the Regulars ?

[AllanUK]

His Medal Index Card shows that in addition to his time in the KOSB, he was also in the Royal Army Service Corps with a new service number of EMT/56343.

Looking at the Medal Rolls for the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, he is shown as re-enlisting on the 12 September 1919, the service number on this record is shown as EMT/56243. His entry goes on to say that he was discharged on the 3 March 1920 under Para 392 (XXVA) King's Regulations.

[AllanUK]

I have had a look at the Pension Cards as held by Fold3 / Western front Association and found that he received a pension for a short period. Details:

Cruddas, John Andrew
K.O.S. Bordrs.  5802
4.12.18   23 Stowell Street, Newcastle
5 shillings and 6 pence per week from 5 December 1918 to 11 March 1919.

5 shillings and 6 pence in current terms would be 27 1/2 pence

[AllanUK]

I have had a look at Newcastle newspapers for the period 1900 to 1920 to see if there was any mention of John Andrew Cruddas, nothing found in relation to army service but I did find his name mentioned in a court case in 1904. As you can see in the image snippet below, he was aged 12 years. The entire report can be seen on Find My Past by using the link below. He was found innocent whereas the other two were found guilty and sentenced to receive 12 strokes with the birch rod

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/viewarticle?id=bl%2f0000726%2f19040608%2f044&stringtohighlight=john%20andrew%20cruddas

[Stirrick]

Thanks Allan.

That's certainly our man.
Looks like he was in no hurry to get back to civilian life!
Para 392 (XXV) = "Service being no longer required", but I'm not sure what the 'A' stands for.

I'm still struggling to pin down his enlistment (either into the Regulars, or, as Jim suggests, into the SR) and the only wartime record I can find after his arrival in France is his marriage in October 1917 when he was noted as being a Private in the KOSB.

I've also found him in the Electoral Rolls for Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1918 and 1919.
These helpfully confirm his Service Number as 5802 and give his Battalion as the 3rd KOSB.

[Jebber]

Over 60% of military records for that period  were destroyed in the Blitz in WW2, so it’s possible there is nothing more for you to find.

[AllanUK]

The snippet image below (courtesy of Find My Past) shows my thoughts on when your man enlisted. Feel free to 'knock me back' if anyone feels that I am off track.