Worcestershire Regiment

Hello .. I am currently looking at the military career of Charles Valentine Laight from Redditch and whilst I have uncovered much about him I have hit a brick wall with regard his WW1 medal entitlement.

He was a member of 2VB who went to South Africa with the 2nd Worcesters and I have got his medal information from there. Sgt. Laight then transferred to 8th. Btn. in 1908 on the creation of the Territorial Force and subsequently enlisted for active service in September 1914 with 1/8 Battalion.

He at some stage was injured sufficiently enough to get a transfer to the Labour Corps, and LD which I am not familier with unless it means Light Duties! His date of discharge was October 1918 aged 57 years. He died in May 1919, presumably of wounds or as the result of a gas attack. He was entitled to Silver War Badge No. B 20861.

His Worcesters No. 2994 and Labour Corps No. 507319.

From his service record I would imagine he was entitled to a trio and possibly a TF Service Medal.

What would be great to discover was if he got a Volunteer Long Service Medal or a Territorial Efficiency Medal. I would be most grateful if you could shed any light on it for me.

Many thanks

Regards

Mel.

He was awarded the VOLUNTEER LONG SERVICE MEDAL(EDV11) ARMY ORDER 212 OCT.1901.
His MIC for WW1 records he was entitledto the War and Victory with the LABOUR CORP.
Regards,
corona

Many thanks for that information 'corona', much appreciated. I was surprised that there was no mention of a 14-15 Star given that 1/8 moved into theatre in April 1915.

With regard the TFS medal and TEM would they be on different Rolls? Secondly if a man was transferred to the Labour Corps and given a new number did he actually rebadge and sever all ties with his parent unit?

Regards

Mel.

His records on ANCESTRY state he served in WW1 as follows:-
Home from 19/9/14 to 21/1/18
France22/1/18 to 12/5/18 (with the CHINESE LABOUR CORP)
Home13/8/18 to 3/10/18.
His number changed and he would be re-badged LABOUR CORP.
I could find no other record of additional medal issue.
corona

Once more .. many thanks!

Regards

Mel.

Hi Mel,

I've just discovered your request for help whilst (successfully) searching for an answer to my own enquiry.

This may come to you too late, but I did some research on the War Graves in Plymouth Road Cemetery where Charles Laight is buried. This lead to me looking at the newspaper archive in the local library and I located his obituary and account of his funeral.It seems that Laight was a prominent figure in the Volunteer and Territorial movements in Worcestershire.

Would you like me to send a copy of this to you? You can contact me at rsimmons7317@gmail.com

Robin.