Recipient of WW1 Medal's

[Andrew McLaren]

Dear Mike,

Having helped my cousin Sharon Griffin trace our grandfathers army history, I was hoping you maybe able to help me throw some light on a set of WW1 Medals I have.

The medals were awarded to a L-CPL P McLaren, 16154 of the Worcester Regiment.

I would appreciate it if you could give me any details on the recipient of these medals.

Many thanks
Andy

[scully]

Hi Andy,

L/Cpl. Peter McLaren (16154) served with the Worcestershire Regiment but was transferred to the Labour Corps (with the rank of Corporal) due to ill health and was given the new number 121422.

He enlisted in Birmingham on the 9th September 1914.

He entered the Theatre of War in France on the 22nd september 1915.

In March 1917 his medial record stated defective vision and malaria.

He was discharged to Z Class on the 8th May 1919.

He was born in Falkirk, Stirlingshire in 1866.

Hope this is of some help.

Louis

[Mike Jones]

Hello Andy,
Your relative has 4 pages of medical records on the Subscription website “Ancestry”. His records are there because of a pension he was awarded in 1920. The blurb does say there is 41 pages but I could not find the other 37 pages. When he enlisted in Sept 1914, he declared himself born in 1879. When he went before the medical Board in 1920, he declared it was 1866 in Falkirk. Do you know which one is the correct one? As Louis has already said, he went to France in Sept 1915. On one of his medical forms it says he caught Malaria in March 1917. It does not say where he caught it but it cant be Western Europe. Short of having his full service record, the only way to find his Battalions , is to search the medal rolls at Kew. Half of his medical forms are so badly written, I cant read them. Most of the other half are in medical terms and I cant understand them. His vision in one eye got bad but the medical board would not attribute that to his army service. If you were to print out the forms, with work you could decipher them all. I suspect that he was in the army previously. He was vaccinated four times in 1901, I think for foreign service. I don’t know when he went to the Labour Corps but a man called Ivor Lee on the Great War Forum will know from his number. It was definitely before Sept 1917. In my data-base (which is not yet complete) he has the lowest number so far (121422) of any Worcestershire soldier transferred to the Labour Corps.
Regards Mike