koyli

[Guest kitycat68]

please could anyone help me understand something as im a complete beginner. Im researching information on my grt grandad and no he was in the koyli from the badge on his hat how do i find out which battalion he was in? taking a wild guess is it the badge on his shoulder?....sorry if i sound totally stupid

[Wienand Drenth]

Hi,

Welcome, and I hope you will find it usefull around here.

The badge on the shoulder, the shouldtitle, was a form of regimental identification as well. In case of the KOYLI, it was just that: KOYLI. If there was some numeral connected to it denoting a battalion, I am not sure. Perhaps you should re-post your question on the other forum for uniforms.

As for the battalion your greatgrandfather was in, what do you already know about him? For example, when did he join the army. If this was already before the war, he might have been in one of the two regular battalions. Before the war, he could also have joined the Territorial Force (part-time army), which also had two battalions. Would he have joined after outbreak of the war, there are a lot more battalions that came into question. Please see here for the koyli page on the 1914-1918 website.

Also, if you know where he did serve during the war, that narrows down the number of possibilities as well.

Hope this is of some use to start with

Wienand

[Guest kitycat68]

thanks for the reply...this is what i know about my grt grandfather so far. he had min 2yrs service/2 yrs good conduct, 2 wound stripes, marksman/ lance corporal. and died in france (poss le chateau, france) 1916 aged approx 21/22.

[Wienand Drenth]

I just thought of the following (amazing how some ideas pop up at a later stage):

have you looked for your grgranddad in the CWGC database? If he has a known grave, there is usually a (short) narrative on the history of the fighting around the cemetery etc. With that information we might find a little more.

Good luck.

Wienand

[Max]

Hello and welcome to the forum. If you give us your grandads name we may be able to help further.

Andy

[Guest kitycat68]

Again thank you both for your help. Ive looked on the cwgc but am unable to find him. ive been told he was called Oliver Card. The are a few soldiers on the cwgc that have oliver or o as a middle name but when i looked down the regiment side none of them match the information (ranking) ive actually got. All i know is that he died in 1916 and le chateau was once mentioned none of my family talked about the past hence im having a great time trying to find out about them i will be downloading a photo of him hopefully soon, just to confirm the information on uniform etc...is 100% correct. The only other thing i can think may help on the battalion side is he was certainly in the yorkshire area in aug/sep 1913 hence 9 months later my grandmother appeared, the photo i have is dated approx 1914 and with his 2yrs good conduct i imagine he joined approx 1912.

[Doug Lewis]

kitycat68

Could this be your G Grandad, information seems to fit except date of death.

Info from CWGC

CARD

Initials: J O

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment: King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Unit Text: 9th Bn.

Date of Death: 25/08/1918

Service No: 19475

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 1710.

Cemetery: RETHEL FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY

Info from SDGW

John Oliver Card

Born-Rotherham Yorkshire

Enlisted-Harrogate

Died of Wounds 25/8/18.

Regards Doug.

[Doug Lewis]

kitycat68

If the info I posted is of any help,his medal index card can be found here

for you to download.

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchive...=1&mediaarray=*

Regards Doug

[Guest kitycat68]

thanks Doug he was my grt grandad, the information youve posted is the one i found on the cwgc the thing that made me confused was his rank was stated as private yet he has his lanc corporal stripe on his uniform and his year of death was stated as 1918 yet ive been told he died 1916. But i will try and dig deeper with the info youve given me, again thank you so much, will post a pic of him asap.

[Arnie]

Kittycat

I have a strong suspicion that your Grandfather was in the 2nd KOYLI looking at his service etc. He probably was killed at Le Cateau, a battle in which the battalion did exceptionally well. Suggest his time of death August 1914.

Arnie

Cede Nullis

[Guest kitycat68]

Arnie

thank for reply have got his date of death (died from wounds - 25/8/18) do you still think 2nd? i also now know that he was at rethel french national cemetery, someone suggested that he was a p.o.w if thats the cemetery is in. have you any more info where he would have been fighting around the time of his death?

thanks

janet