Did soldiers get transferred?

[Guest maje]

I'm doing some research and wonder if anyone can help with something that's confusing me.

I've found the medal card of a soldier (1914-18) which states he served with the First/Fourth Battalion Queen's Own Royal West Kent Rgt. This battalion spent the war in India. However the soldier in question was wounded fighting in Mesopotamia just before the Turkish armistice. The 2nd Bttn and the 1/5th were involved in this action, but not the 1/4th.

How did a soldier get wounded in a theatre which his battalion did not fight in? How common was it for a soldier to be posted from one battalion to another? And would his medal card only record the battalion he originally joined?

Thank you

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Yes!{it was common for a soldier to be transferred, from his original Battalion{or Regiment}MiC do not always show Battalion,however, the Actual Roll Page{that the Index Card Code refers to juxtaposed by the Medal Name}usually does especially in the case of Stars.

[Guest maje]

Thank you. Having looked at the regimental history, only the 2nd Bttn was engaged on the day in question (28th October 1918). 25% of the battalion became casualties. So he must have been transferred to the 2nd Bttn. I presume he joined the 1/4th originally and this ended up on his medal index card for some reason.