Hello all, need a bit of help

A little better but still only from an iPhone, my scanner has decided to play up - typical!

 

That does look like the Welsh Regt... Ancestry has only one William George Rogers that I can see who served overseas in WW1 with the Welsh Regt: he was a Lance-corporal and his regimental number was 42262. He served with the 23rd Battalion (ending the war an Acting Corporal, according to his medal index card). However, there's no way of telling if this is our man - and indeed if it is correct that he didn't serve overseas then it can't be him, of course. But just occasionally these apparent dead-ends come to life later in the light of other information, hence mentioning it here. You never know!

Cheers, Pat.

 

Name: William George Rogers
Gender: Male
Document Year: 1919
Regimental Number: 42262
Regiment Name: Welsh Regiment


TD

 

Hi TD,

Amazing info, a lot of things seem very possible, the dob of 1877 on the last sheet is weird but to see Bridgend/Porthcawl (where I now live) listed on an enlistment date that would work for William George Rogers is pretty amazing, it’s very easy to make the information fit but still great! Cheers Geoff

 

Was it common place to lie about your age to get in the army back then? Although he didn't need to lie anyway I suppose?

 

Hi,

Appreciate you’re not 100% about this man being a relative but here’s a bit more about his WW1 service-

23rd (Service) Battalion (Welsh Pioneers)

Formed at Porthcawl in September 1915. Moved to Aldershot in March 1916.
Between May and June 1916, attached to 69th Division at Thetford.
Embarked at Devonport on 13 July 1916 and moved to Salonika.
24 August 1916 : attached as Pioneer Battalion to 28th Division.

As his B103 form says he was posted 23rd overseas in August 1916 I’d suggest he went as part of a reinforcement draft (probably the first to that Battalion). He was probably posted to 23rd for Pioneer duties on account of his age.

3rd (Reserve) Battalion

August 1914 : in Cardiff. A depot/training unit, it remained in UK throughout the war. Moved to Barry in August 1914, thence to Kinmel Park (June 1916) and in May 1917 to Redcar where it remained as part of Tees Garrison.

He likely did his 3 months initial training with this unit in 1916 and returned to them on evacuation to England in 1918.

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army...fantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/welsh-regiment/

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, I think it could all fit except what he put down as his DOB on enlistment on the last sheet TD uploaded which he put down as 1877 which puts him 20 years older than William George Rogers (my grandfather) however, were these dates manipulated massively for reason I have no idea about?

Cheers Geoff

 

Hi,

I doubt a young man of 20 would/could try and pass himself off as a man of 40.

Teenagers did add a few years to pass for 18 or 19 as production of a birth certificate wasn’t part of the recruitment process.

Steve

 

All seemed possible except the DOB! As I’ve put previous, my Mum thought that although he wanted to go to war he never did because of health reasons, she never met him but it’s what Betsy told her......maybe this is a good reason to have about 10 different middle names!!

 

The second sheet shows his age as 41 last birthday, so for this man with this service number he would have been born about 1877

TD

 

I think his age means he's not our man, I'm afraid. As corroboration for his date of birth, Pioneer service would fit with an older chap. Maybe a relative? Either way, I think he's not your grandfather, Geoff.

Cheers, Pat.

 

Agree but I’ve just had the unaltered wedding certificate from Staffordshire record office, will pay and post in a bit

 

Looking forward to seeing the original details Geoff.

 

Still waiting to hear from Staffordshire Records Office but in the mean time found a car insurance document for William George Rogers.....just putting pic up

Geoff

 

I’ve just found some old papers that have the name of a William Henry from St Thomas, Swansea. One is something to do with a burial plot and also has the name Annie Henry on it. The other is a transfer of shares in which the name William Has been replaced with Ivor, both surnames being Henry. My mind is starting to put all sorts of things together now!!! Also another car insurance document so I’ll put them all up for you.

Geoff

 

Road Traffics Act Northern Ireland? The plot thickens.

I know here in Scotland some local authorities have archives on car registration numbers. It's hit or miss which authorities retained the old files.

 

Fabian Street, 1934/35



William Ivor henry!

 

I can’t even work out what that could mean now lol, if they can get that wedding certificate to me it will be interesting?

 

And who are those Rogers next door?

1931 - introducing Rose Dukes:

 

Flipping heck, I didn’t even see that!!