William George Newing - Essex Rifles

[Guest kamakaziken]

Hi Chums,

can anybody help me out with any information on this matter please.

I have managed to get hold of my grandfathers MIC from the National Archives which tells me he was a Private in the Essex Regiment (No: 3149) and then the Rifle Brigade (No.212183) I would be interested to know which campaigns he might have been involved in and the dates of these.

Also his medals appear to be listed as numbers which mean nothing to me so would appreciate if someone could explain what they mean and what they might have been awarded for.

Victory (Roll) TP/105B3 (Page) 537,

British (Roll) TP/105B3 (Page) 537,

15 Star (Roll) TP/21 (Page) 10

The handwriting is very difficult to decipher but it looks as if it is reading that in the catagory "Theatre of war first arrived in" .... (3) Egyptian

There is something written next to the section "date of entry therein" which I cannot make out but the date appears to be 24/7/15

Appreciate any help or suggestions to take me forward in learing about this brave man.

Thanks

Ken Foot

[GrandsonMichael]

Hi Ken,

There is an excellent website from our host Chris called The Long, Long Trial which you can find at the top left of this Forum page. This should give you a good start researching your Grandfather and info about the regiments he served in.

This includes info about his medals. The actual notations behind the mention of his medals refer to the medal rolls of which the MIC's are a short and often not very accurate summary.

Take a look at this thread and you'll find info on the theatres of war, etc. :

http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=14510

Any more questions after your research, just drop them here, lots of knowledgable pals running around here.

Cheers,

Michael

[Matthew King]

Hi Ken

Seems your Granddad would have been in the 54th Division of the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force as my Grandfather was. He could have been in the 6th Regiment as my Grandfathers serial number was 3603 and most of his friends were in the 3000s although they were late 3000s. He could have been in the 5th then.

On the 24/7/1915 the regiment sailed from Devonport on the transport ship Southland. They sailed to Gallipoli where they arrived on the 11th August.

The main battle they took place in was The First Battle of Gaza on the 26-27 March 1917.

I am creating a website about my Grandfathers time in the Essex Regiment and it contains a lot of stuff you might find interesting.

My Webpage

If you have anything about your Grandfathers time with the essex reg I would be very interested.

Matt

[Guest kamakaziken]

Hello Michael/Matt.

Thank you so much for your messages and guidance. Your information was so informative.

Its great to finally be able to find some information on William and the hardships he had to deal with.

Thanks for your help.

Ken Foot