by Mike Jones » Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:52 am
Hello Mike,
I had been doing some digging since your posting but Clive beat me to it. Yes the 2nd and the 4th Battalions both fit the bill. The 2nd Bn. being in West Indies in 1898, which is 5 years earlier than the 4th Bn.. Your Grandfather joined using the name Henry Cole. Maybe he did not like the name Horace. The Regimental number he got 14507 (Edit,should be 14597, sorry) was issued in August 1914. Definitely not before that date. So his first period of service must have ended before this. Do you know what his first number was? I am sure he went to France with a draft for the 2nd Bn. on the 24th November 1914. This can be confirmed by the Medal Rolls at Kew. These Rolls are not on line yet. You may know but had he gone 2 days earlier (22nd Nov) he would have got a 1914 Star (The Mons Star). It is near the record, to have enlisted in August and been at the Front in November 1914. Allan Parry is the man with the Casualty lists. He has been working on them for about a year now. Maybe he can come up with when Henry/Horace was wounded? Henry was awarded a Silver War Badge because of his wounds. The paperwork that goes with this award has some good information on it. The Regimental Archives at Norton Barracks have this paperwork and for a small donation (I think it is a £10)will reveal all. The donation does go to the upkeep of the archives.
Regards Mike
Last edited by
Mike Jones on Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Mike Jones