Finding Thomas JAMES, South Staffordshire Regiment

Thomas James by Alex Young posted Jun 8, 2024 at 7:03 AM

This is my great grandfather Thomas James. He was a Captain in the South Staffordshire Regiment and served from around 1925 to 1945. He served in Egypt, Palestine and India. My grandmother used to recall he was in Burma and was cut off for a while. He had then also caught maleria. He returned home to Willenhall, Staffordshire and ran the drill hall in Bilston (now Robin2 music venue).

I want to be able to access more information on him but his medals are lost and we don't have a military number. My grandmother thought he was 2nd Battalion however I now wonder if he was 1st Battalion. My grandmother also mentioned he led a Sikh regiment which I now wonder if this was the Chindits?

How do I find out more without a military number? Are there any contacts in India as well as UK? He lived in Egypt and India for a while where his kids were born and so how could I find out more about this? The Staffordshire regiment museum in Lichfield didn't provide much help when I last visited but then again, I knew even fewer things than I do now!

Any help is much appreciated

 

Could this be him ?

T James

British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
Regiment South Staffordshire Regiment
Rank as transcribed T/Capt
Service number 168720
Archive reference WO 417/6

 

Welcome to the form
Apply for his service records through the official route
Link here make sure you read through and then apply
Get a copy of military records of service

 

I found the above named man, in the London Gazette as having been made Lieutenant from WOII on 24th January 1941. See page 1136 from attached pdf.

 

Working backwards from 1941, there is a CSM T. James in the 1st South Staffs medal rolls for the award of the Palestine 1936-39 medal. Could be the same man working his way through the ranks. I've uploaded a pdf version of the rolls for better clarity:

 

How/where did you find this? I'm not sure but it could well be him. Hits all the right points!

 

As found on FMP
Archive reference WO 417/6
British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945

 

Searching the forum he has not appeared here before your post.

There area mass of threads here on the South Staffordshires, so I searched online with "south staffordshire regiment" + "burma" site:ww2talk.com to identify those that might help, in particular the partial war diaries for 1944 which can be found. As his name may appear.

This search states the 1st South Staffs were part of the Chindits, you can amend the online search - using both 1 and 1st seperately. There are experts here on the Chindits.

Wiki states:

From: South Staffordshire Regiment - Wikipedia

As the Chindits operated only behind Japanese lines in Burma, this would your grandmother's memory.

The 1st never served in Palestine, though the 2nd did.

It is possible he was assigned to an Indian battalion when in a parachute role, though not in command as a captain. None of the units listed by Wiki when following the links were Sikh formations, though Sikhs could serve in multi-faith units, by company.

It might be worth checking local newspapers for his funeral and obituary. Most public libraries have free access to the British Newspaper Archive.

 

Sadly, no mention in the 1st South Staffs war diary officers returns for 1944 (Chindit expedition year).

 

A War Substantive Lieutenant T. James (South Staffs Reg.) does appear in the Indian Army Lists for October 1943, attached to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (British Infantry) Once again have added the page in pdf form to provide a better resolution copy of the page:

 

London Gazette has him promoted to Lieutenant 1941. 24th Jan. 1941: — W.O. Cl. II Thomas JAMES (168720)

 

Hello Alex, thank you for posting up the photograph of your grandfather, his medal ribbons hold a few clues that may tie in with the information you've posted.

I strongly recommend that you follow Clive's advice (and link) at post #3 in the thread.
It can be an onerous task, and a wait will be involved, but it is the only way to have some certainty records wise.

So, all that follows is slim on the actuality side but possible nontheless, and on the back of the work of forum members "spindrift" and "Bamboo43".

The first medal ribbon that your grandfather is wearing in the photo appears to be a GSM ribbon (in this case for Palestine as per Bamboo43's post #5 above).

The 1st Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment were in Palestine in the 1930s, so the award of the GSM would fall in with that (see below images and full pdf at end of post).





Also, if you choose to apply for your grandfather's service record, try to provide as much information as you can - a date of birth would help a lot, and remember, the two service numbers that have come up in the thread here up to now are possibilities (as much as I would like them to be your grandfather's!) and no more unfortunately.

That being said, medals (courtesy of The National Archives via find my past, fold3, and ancestry). Please just remember this may not be your grandfather.







And the "Coronation Medal" list entry:



And close up:



Good luck with all. Do try and dig out some more information at the home end (e.g. date of birth) it can but help with any prospective service records application.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Also Alex, you may have better luck with The Staffs museum folks with the two service numbers that have come up from spindrift and Bamboo43.

I know there would be a cost involved if you decide to try again there, but at least the service numbers will give more to go on than just a name - especially if they can drum up group photos (that have names to faces) from the '30s.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

And Alex, just to reiterate and illustrate, and contrary to just one part of Davidbfpo's post #8 above, the 1st Battalion The South Staffordshiere Regiment did indeed serve in Palestine.

Extracts from a brief history published in 1945.







And closer on the Palestine information:



EDIT: And Alex, you can read up on The 1st Battalion's time as Chindits in the post here:

The Chindit Society

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Amazing Jim thank you. What is the website platform you've used for the medals? Is it FindmyPast or Ancestry?

 

Hello James, the "index record for" headed images are from "fold3"; a USA based subscription service that specialises in the military side of things. The information it holds is predominately as a result of deals done with both the USA and UK National Archives.

And as a heads up for you, I've not found anything else on there regarding your grandfather. If I do I'll post it up in the thread here for you (for an old dodderer like me it's easier now to search on line (my days of visiting archives anywhere but the UK - and then only at a push - are long gone!))

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

EDIT: And the coronation medal list page is from fold3 too.