Men of the 8th Battalion Worcestershire (1914-15)

[alandeej]

Can anyone give me any information or photo's of the men of the 8th Battalion as there is a photo on this site to which I can confirm my granddad is on the photo, anyone got any information????

His Regiment number is 8896 Rank Private?

Thanks

Denise

[Mike Jones]

Hello Denise,
as I dont have any information on your G/father, I have left it a while to see if any one else was going to reply to your posting. Since no one has, I have come in to point you to where you could do some research. With hard work and dedication you can reveal most of the story. The first thing is to be sure of his number and if you say he was in the 8th Battalion, then it is unlikely his number was 8896! There was the odd exception but the 2 main 8th Battalions (1/8th and 2/8th) did NOT have 4 digit numbers beginning with an 8. The William Hancox most likely to be in the 8th Bn. was 1964, now that is an 8th Bn. number! What do you definitely know about your Grandfather's military career? What, for instance makes you say he was in the 8th bn.? Have you tried to get his service record from Kew? Do you know what happened to his medals, as his number will be engraved on the rim of them? You could contact the official Research Team at Norton barracks , Worcester but it is easier if you are sure of his number.
Regards Mike Jones

[alandeej]

I know my grandad was not 1964 as he was killed in action, my granddad was wounded, and 8896 left the Worcesters in 1917 which was the same time as my grandad, 8896 was wounded & left the same time, I might be totally wrong, I dont know? Unfortunatly I have a mother who has fallen out with me because I'm trying to do my family tree. She has (her son) has all my dads, & grandads medals, and he is'nt even related, so I'm on a sticky wicket with having any information from her!
That's why I'm asking questions on here as I don't know who to ask? I want to pass on to my children history about their grandad & Grt grandad, as my daughter is learning about WW1 & WW2 at her school, I have no problem with finding about my dad as I have is id tags he wore around his neck, they have his RAF number, I have nothing of my grandads, only one photo years later after the war. I know he had at least three medals, and one in particular, which I remember the shape and looked it up, I find it is a BELGIUM MEDAL ? I have know idea why he would have a Belgium medal, I know he has a book of post cards of Ypres. The medals ribbon is red yellow red, and on the medal has a man with a Frence helmet? He also has WW1 Victory medal, also one that had on oneside a man on a horse, and on the otherside the King, with dates 1914 & 1918, these are memories of an 8 year old (me), and 1964 is the year I was born, I saw a picture of the 8th Battalion on your web page, and the man on there, 3rd from the right of the picture stood up, looks the dead spit of my grandad. I maybe wrong, I don't know! I have spent long hours, days, weeks, trying to find out about my grandad, so I thought I might find it on here? William Hancox was discharged from Worcesters due to his injuries, and all through his life, was picking bits of shracknal out of his skin!

[Mike Jones]

Hello again, Dee,
I see some of your problemns, the world is your Oyster if you can find the right records. Is there no chance you could get a third person to ask your (Step?) brother the numbers on those medals? With those you can track the right man, in the right Battalion. I do have a complete list of the 1/8th Battalion men and there is no William Hancox on it, there is a William Handcocks. I am at the moment data-basing all the Silver War Badge (They were discharged due to wounds or sickness) men of the Worcestershire Regiment. By the sounds of it William will be on there but the 200 odd sheets are not alphabetical. I have done about half of them but I have not come across William yet. Have you tried for his service record Yet?
Regards Mike

[scully]

Dee,

I was curious so I had a look at his Medal Index Card at the Archives at Kew. The details on the card are as follows:

Private William Hancox (8896) was with the Worcestershire Regiment Depot.
He enlisted in to the Worcestershire Regiment on the 4th September 1912.
He was discharged due to wounds on the 13th December 1917.
The medal card show he was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Interestingley it does not show any entitlement to a Star Medal and so he did not enter the theatre of war in France/Belgium until 1916.

I will email you a copy of his Medal Index Card.

Regards,

Louis

[scully]

Dee,

I have had a closer inspection of the Medal Index Card and can add the following:

The type of card use is the one used for those individuals who received the "Silver War Badge" (SWB) only. This badge was awarded to those who were wounded in action. The card show the reference for the Silver War Badge as "List L/210/2" against the words "action taken".

In the section on the right under the heading "Cause of Discharge" you will see the reference to "2(a1)" above the word "Wounds". This would suggest he was with the 11th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in Macedonia.

You will see a reference number on the medal stamp (bottom right of card). This shows the reference number for the Medal Role Entry as "L/102/BO page 2788". This reference would aloow you to find and view the Medal Role Entry held at the National Archives at Kew. This entry should be able confirm which battalion he was serving with i.e. 11th Battalion?

It would appear that he probably was serving with the 11th Battalion when wounded - returned home and was transferred to the Worcestershire Depot prior to his discharge.

I can find no reference to a foreign (Belgium) medal you mentioned.

Hope this helps a little more.

Regards,

Louis