8 (18?) welsh r 3rd bn

[Guest illbo]

Hi

I'm a new member just started researching my grandfather's war records.

I am slightly confused though.

The corps description is 8, or possibly 18, welsh regiment 3rd bn (it's a fuzzy copy)

I know my grandfather served in france during the first world war and returned home with a head wound. I'm trying to fill in some of the blanks.

The welsh regiment 3rd is a reserve regiment that never left cardiff according to the notes on the main site? I am slightly confused - was he transferred out of the third to end up in france?

also, the 8 or 18 - what does that mean?

My next stop will be the records at Kew at some point soon but I am trying to get a good overview before the trip.

thanks

[robertb]

illbo,

What records are you using, and what dates are you refering to? This may help in the investigation.

Rob

[Guest illbo]

Thanks for replying.

I used the war medal roll and bought the index card online - I hope to go to kew at the beginning of next month and get more info but I was hoping to have a clearer idea of where the welsh regiment had been to help me in my searches. The info on regiment was listed under the second section titled corps.

His rank at the time was private but he was a corporal in the same regiment in the second world war but I understand that those records are not available yet.

He enlisted 14/9/16 although he said he was actually under age and lied about how old he was when he enlisted and he had to be kept back from the front initially until he came off age. I don't even know how old you had to be to go to the frontline though. I understand he was on the same boat as his school master which is probably how he got caught.

He said he didn't know what he got into until he saw the chap next to him shot in the head and killed in the trenches. He told me many stories but he died in the early 1980s and his recollections are being fuzzy. I am hoping to clear up what I remember and fit it together.

He was shot in the head, lost part of his skull, was fitted with a silver plate and shipped back to england, treated in scotland. I don't know when he was shot but he was discharged 22/3/19.

Cause of discharge listed as para 392 xvi

It then says kr, and ao 29/1919 in the same box.

The card type is those issued to the the silver wound badge.

This is pretty much all I know. Can you advise me how to find out where he was shipped to in France and where he fought.

Thanks again, Illbo.

[Bernard_Lewis]

What was his name? Did he mentoin any places he saw/fought?

Bernard

[robertb]

illbo,

As you have said the 3rd Welsh never fought as a unit overseas, but supplied the various other battalions of the Welsh Regiment (and other Regiments, I believe) with men for the front line.

It is interesting what you say about the VIII and XVIII Corps - The XVIII Corps was formed in France in January 1917, and then merged with the VIII Corps in July 1918. There were (as far as I can find out) no battalions of the Welsh Regiment serving with these Corps after late 1916. Perhaps your grandfather transfered to another Welsh Regiment, or some other Regiment, from the 3rd Welsh. The South Wales Borderers were in the XVIII Corps in 1918!

Part of the confusion may be that your granfather was serving in either Corps when the merger took place? Although it would be unusual to state the Corps; the usual unit for an infantryman would be his Battalion.

Or, am I barking up the wrong tree here?

There seem to be more questions than answers.

Rob

[Guest illbo]

Hi Bernard

His name was Patrick Joseph Jordan and he was from Liverpool.

illbo

[Guest illbo]

just reread the replies

He didn't name any places in particular; just talked about France and the trenches.

I was quite small so it is possible he told me more but I had info overload. By 1980 he had parkinsons disease quite bad and was changing in being able to communicate.

He said they were ambushed in a field when he was shot; supposed to be meeting with French but ambushed by Germans - a little vague on the details but I was small.

as to the 8 or 18 query - it sounds as if it maybe the 18th that I need to check out first as it would tie in timewise I think.

does anyone know if there are medical records anywhere?

I think if there are actual records still in existance that the war medal roll index card refers to, I may be able to fill in a lot more of the blanks - the reference to a paragraph in cause of discharge for instance?

In common with others he came back with post traumatic stress. I feel I owe him remembrance and the passing on of his story to the next generation but it has been thirty years and the memories are beginning to fade. I need to put it all together and get it down on paper.

I will let you know if Kew provides any illumination.

[Bernard_Lewis]

I've not come across him in the 14 Welsh records though I have not researched the medal rolls. Sorry.

Bernard

[Guest illbo]

thanks anyway Bernard :-)

I have asked the regiment museum if his name and number crops up anywhere in any records they hold but it seems not. They have however provided me with a suggested method of search for Kew.

They did also point out that he may have been transferred to the 3rd reserve after being wounded which I had not previously considered. He was a pt instructor at some point preparing men for the front line (he could still do one armed press ups at 80 which was quite amusing to me as a kid as he would strike matches with his teeth whilst doing them ) - I had assumed that this was the 2nd world war service but I may be incorrect in that.

It's all still as clear as mud then. I understand I have the records of 100,000 men to search through who served in the welsh regiment during the 1st world war.

There should be a matchsticks holding eyes open smiley for that one I think