Hi, In researching an ancestor in the British Indian Army, I've come across the abbreviations such as G.S.V. that I cannot find a meaning for. It appears to be some kind of position or distinction related to the Indian General Service Corps (I.G.S.C.), which includes some kind of service number? Some examples: From the London Gazette, Subedar Mansabdar Khan (GSV/602), Indian General Service Corps: Page 28 | Issue 37407, 28 December 1945 | London Ga... From the London Gazette, the IGSC section lists some soldiers with GSV and IEC numbers: Page 2225 | Supplement 37558, 7 May 1946 | London G... From the London Gazette, the IGSC section includes GSV, GSS, GSC, GSF, GFS: Page 4723 | Supplement 37730, 17 September 1946 | L... GSV can be found in the Indian Gazette, but none of the other abbreviations for IGSC members: Gazette of India, 1947, No. 168 : Directorate of Printing, Government of India : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. Finally, only GSV can be found in the Indian Army Lists under the Indian General Service Corps, and then for only a single soldier: G.S.V.|270) Harnam Singh (there are some I.O. numbers which I understood to refer to intelligence officer). Apr 1946: Indian Army List For Oct Part I And Ii -1946 : Authority Of The Council : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Oct 1946: Indian Army List For Oct Part I And Ii -1946 : Authority Of The Council : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Any clues as to what these abbreviations or the associated number refer would be much appreciated!
hello and welcome Looking at the listing it is a service number Subedar MANSABDAR .KHAN (GSV/602), Indian General Service Corps Casualties below with the same listing example JEMADARS VENKATARAMA RAO Service Number: GSV/774 Regiment & Unit/Ship Indian General Service Corps Date of Death Died 04 September 1945 Age 47 years old Buried or commemorated at DELHI / KARACHI 1939-1945 WAR MEMORIALS India 001 ANANDRAO CADBET - GSV/1759 - 30/08/1944 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 002 AWAL KHAN - GSV/305 - 25/08/1944 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS FACE 88. 003 DEV BAKHSH - GSV/1132 - 22/01/1946 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 004 GHAN SHAM - GSV/2529 - 25/02/1944 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 005 HARPHUL SINGH - GSV/2531 - 08/01/1945 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 006 HEM SINGH - GSV/1112 - 25/05/1945 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS FACE 88. 007 KALA KHAN - GSV/3639 - 18/11/1944 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 008 KAMAL-UD-DIN - GSV/827 - 20/09/1946 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 009 KHAN MUHAMMAD - GSV/2196 - 05/04/1947 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 010 KHUSHI RAM SINGH - GSV/2532 - 06/04/1944 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 011 NUR KHAN - GSV/767 - 13/05/1946 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 012 NUR MUHAMMAD - GSV/638 - 21/02/1947 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS COLUMN 11. 013 TURAB ALI KHAN - GSV/1286 - 03/06/1945 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS 014 VENKATARAMA RAO S GSV/774 - 04/09/1945 INDIAN GENERAL SERVICE CORPS regards Clive
Many thanks for your extremely quick response Clive! It definitely seems to be a service number. I had thought it might be, but I was confused as to why there were so few service numbers given in the awards listings in the Gazette or in the Indian Army List. In the case of the latter, surely higher ranking Subadars and Subadar Majors would be more likely to have their service number listed over a single Jemadar. Orwell1984, that's a good guess, it very well could be. I'm not sure what the others would be though (GSF, GSS, and GSC - GFS as well, though it may be a typo).
Hello they all appear to be service numbers COOK ABDUL BARIK Service Number: GSS/42679 LABOURER BULAI Service Number: GFS/51458 Regiment & Unit/Ship Indian General Service Corps 10 Base Sanitary Sec. JEMADARS C CHAUDHRI Service Number: GSC/1566 Regiment & Unit/Ship Indian General Service Corps 29 Field Censor Unit COOK ABDUL AZIZ Service Number: GSF/3253 Regiment & Unit/Ship Indian General Service Corps
Thank you, that's very interesting to learn. Can you think of a reason why so few of the officers in the Gazettes and the Indian Army List are listed with their service numbers? None of the service numbers I checked had entries on the Commonwealth War Graves website you shared, so I don't think it's because they had all died at the time of posting.
The vast majority of award notifications in the London Gazette did in fact contain a service number. The Indian Army Lists did not normally provide a service number, but they do appear when required to differentiate between officers of the same name.
That makes sense, thank you for the clarification. I have one other tangential question. In regimental listings in the Indian Army List, what are the numbers that follow soldiers' names? E.g., from the April 1923 issue: Indian Army List April -1923 : Army Department Government Of India : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive I assume they are awards/medals conferred, for example I suppose that 56 is one of the common WWI medals (1914-15 star?) since many members of this regiment have it. If they are awards, is there any lookup table for these numbers? I have been unable to find one in any of the Indian Army Lists.
