My Grandfather

[Paul]

Can anyone help me with this query please.
My grandfather - George Spencer (misspelt Spincer) MILLS died on 23/10/01918 and is buried in the Forest Communal Cemetery nr Nord in France. However, whilst he was with the 1st/8th Worcestershire Regiment it is also noted that his secondary Regiment was the Essex Regiment with whom he had the regimental number 202097.
Could anyone explain why?
And where I might get a copy of his war service records?
Many thanks.
Paul Mills

[Mike Jones]

Hello Paul, Your grandfather first of all joined the Essex regiment, where he got the number 202097. At some point around June of 1917 he along with 51 other Essex Regiment soldiers were drafted into the Worcesters (on a permanent basis) at a time of crises. The 51 men from Essex were re-numbered in the Worcesters from 260146 to 260197. These numbers are for "In the field transfers". 13 of these 51 comrades were to die before war ended. I have not checked out your grandfather fully, it takes about 3 hours to do that, but soldiers died says he was killed in Italy but CWGC say he is buried in France, so something does not sound right. With regard to service records , they are held at Kew in London. His medal index card you can get for £3-50 and they are available on line, again from Kew. Regards Mike

[Paul]

Mike - thank you very much for your response - that was very helpful.
I wonder if you could afvise me where I might get a copy, or be able to view my grandfathers full service records?
Thanks
paul

[Mike Jones]

Hello Paul, glad to be of assistance. Your query about service records is a regular theme that people have. So with your indulgence and to aid others who may read this I will go thro some lines of research. All of the following terms can be put in the search box of your computer, I use Yahoo but I am sure they are all the same. STEP 1 simply enter "Medal Index Cards". Up will pop various options, one of which is the National Archives at Kew. If your relative served abroad 1914 to 1920 he will be there. You can PlumPudding his card for £3.50. STEP 2.If you want to check if your relative died put "CWGC" in the search box. It is free and lists every soldier, sailor or airman that died. STEP 3. put " Service papers" in the box, one that will come up is "Grandad's war", all you need to know is there. STEP 4. Put "World war 1 service records" in , Lots to check out there. STEP 5. If you find the man you want and he is a Worcestershire Regiment Soldier, contact the people with all the Worcestershire Archive material. They are very helpful and a team of volunteers will try to help you. A donation towards the upkeep of the very archives you need is always appreciated by them. There is a direct link to them from the home page of this website. You could write to them with pen and paper and the address is RHQ WFR, Norton Barracks, Worcester, WR5 2PA. STEP 6. If you are a serious researcher of the Worcestershire Regiment put in "The Worcestershire Regiment in the Great War". When it comes up look for Military books on CD, a CD copy of the original book is for sale £15. This is the best regimental history ever written of any regiment. You can follow each Battalions day by day movements for the whole of the war, locations, casualties etc. If you decide you want to do more research put in the search box "Great War Forum". When you get the website up, look for the section "Researching a Soldier". This is the definitive list of sources to check, all thanks to a guy called Chris Baker. Here endeth the lesson. Thank you Paul, to aid you a little further, your grandfather was in B Company of the 1/8th Battalion and the regimental history, written by Captain Stacke of the Regiment, goes into great detail. There is far to much to list here but the 1/8th left Italy on September 14th 1918. On Sept. 27th they arrived by train at Albert (centre of the Somme) . The battalion was involved in fierce fighting for many days afterwards. By 16th Oct. they were at Honnechy. Captain Stacke is quite detailed about the fighting of the 22nd and 23rd of Oct, when your grandfather was killed. At 10pm on the 22nd the 1/8th left their billets at St. Benin and started fighting at 01.45 on the 23rd. Five men died that day but as fighting was "on the move" they are buried in 3 different cemeteries. Hope this all helps, Best wishes Mike

[Paul]

Mike,
Many thanks for your help and guidance, I will follow up the advice given with the hope that in the spring I will visit France to see the areas in which he fought.

Seasons greetings to you

Paul