Royal Field Artillery - 135Battery?

[corbs28]

Hi, I have came into the posession of Six medals attributed to Sjt J T Lambley of the RFA, Number L/19894. Included in the medals are The Military Medal, Victory medal and war medal (all inscribed) The other three reflect WWII.

I have tried searching the London Gazette but can find no mention of him there and I am now trying to find out information about his unit which I believe from his page of service record that I have was, 135Battery RFA. Sjt Lambley arrived in France on 30/12/15 and according the service record was a corporal.

Can anyone give me any pointers where to find out more etc or even if they have any information themselves

Thanks

[Chris_Baker]

135 Batt RFA was part of XXXII Brigade RFA, which was part of the artillery of 4th Division. You can see 4th Division's history on the Long, Long Trail. Link top left of this page. Go to "Tommies", then choose 4th Division from the drop-down box.

[rflory]

Sjt. J T Lambley, RFA received his MM in the London Gazette of 11 Feb 1919. No citations are given for MMs. When I get home tonight I will check to see if I have any information on his battery or his MM action. Regards. Dick Flory

[rflory]

Hi, I have came into the posession of Six medals attributed to Sjt J T Lambley of the RFA, Number L/19894. Included in the medals are The Military Medal, Victory medal and war medal (all inscribed) The other three reflect WWII.

I have tried searching the London Gazette but can find no mention of him there and I am now trying to find out information about his unit which I believe from his page of service record that I have was, 135Battery RFA.

There is something not quite right in the information you give in the quote above. As Chris Baker indicated in an earlier message, 135th Battery, RFA was part of the XXXII Brigade, RFA that was part of the 4th Divisional Artillery. The 4th Division was a regular division that went to France and Belgium in August 1914. Sjt. Lambley's service number "L/19894" is not a regular service number. The "L" prefix in his service number indicates a "Locally-raised" brigade and these were all assigned to gunners who enlisted for service in New Army Divisions. It is possible though that he enlisted in one of the "locally-raised" brigades and later transfrerred to a regular brigade. Regards. Dick Flory

[corbs28]

thank you so much for your help so far, it is much appreciated.

I have a copy of Sjt Lambleys medal card, where I am getting most of the information from and that of his medals themselves. The photocpy is stamped

1914-15 and then (A) Where decoration was earned and ( present situation

It reads accross as follows

Name corps rank reg No Roll on which included

(A) LAMBLEY RFA CPL L/19894 VICTORY/RFA/135B

( JOSEPH T. mm " SGT " BRITISH/

15 STAR/ RFA/

There is then a line put through the 15 star and an annotation underneath saying "15 star medal (ineligible) and some letters and numbers etc...which are very difficult to read and look as if they refer to document references.

Theatre of war is stamped as (1) France

qualifying date is written in as 30/12/15

I understand that the 1914/15 star was for people in theatre up until the 31/12/15

would Sjt Lambley have been eligible, by virtue of his two days qualifying service or did he need more?

Is it possible he was given it and then removed because of a mistake?

all information greatly received and I continue to chase them up...as I am not a relative so access to his military record is difficult, can anyone tell me if I can find out about all of his service career, where born etc, I am new at the research game.

Thanks again for your help

[rflory]

A nice medal group!! The 135B in the notation after the BMW and Victory on the MIC is not his battery - it is the page number in the medal roll for those medals. As I indicated in my earlier message his service number indicates that he served in one of the locally-raised New Army divisions. Regards. Dick Flory

[corbs28]

Thank you for you information. Getting there slowly, though cannot work out his entitlement to the wwii medals and the st johns 15 year service medal! I think someone has added them to make the group look more attractive.

Can anyone tell me whether he would have been entitled to the 14/15star. he arrived in france on the 30/12/15, which puts him in theatre on the 31/12/15 which I believe was the qualifying date for this medal. Though if you look at his medal sheet under the medals it has been struck out and written as ineligible?

Again all help much appreciated.

[rflory]

The 1914-1915 Star was awarded to all men "who actually served on the establishment of a unit in the theatre of war" between 5 Aug 14 and 31 Dec 15. I would guess that he was sent to France as a replacement and because he disembarked on 31 Dec 15, the last day that qualified, he probably was not actually placed on the establishment of a unit until a few days later and therefore was not on serving on the establishment of a unit by 31 Dec 15.

The St John's 15 years service medal may well have been awarded after WW1 so I would not be too hasty in removing it from the group. Regards. Dick Flory

[corbs28]

Thanks once again for some excellent guidance and information.

It is much appreicated.