Guest pshevlin Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 I am still trying to identify the unit that my grandfather was attached to at the end of the war. In an earlier post I said that in March 1916 he was made full corporal and posted out of the Kings Liverpool 23rd battallion into a B2 unit. (I have learned since then that he had a congenital defect that made hime blind in one eye, would this have been enough to keep him out of an active service battallion?) All I have at present to identify his late whereabouts are two photographs of him as a sergeant which I have attached as a file below. In the first he has the Kings insignia on his shoulder but not in the second. He does however have a cap badge which I have not been able to identify and would be most grateful for any help. I have enlarged the badge to make it a little easier to see. I would also be most appreciative if anyone can identify the lower sleeve insignia on the Kings Liverool uniform that he is wearing. As a final clue his war medals have Kings Liverpool aroud the rim and they are in a box with a number on the front. Is this number any aid in identification. All comments most welcome and many many thanks to all who have helped so far Peter Shevlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 Peter Sorry can't make out the badge (but there are a number of experts here who I am sure will be able to tell you). However I'm fairly sure that being congenitally blind in one eye should have kept him away from front line service...which it obviously didn't as I see he has a wound stripe in one of the photo's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 Thanks Will, I wondered what the stripe was for. I do know that he was wounded by shrapnel and on the only occasion that my father (his son in law) remembers him speaking about the War, he mentioned waking over dead bodies in the trenches so he must have been on active service, especially as he got the War medal. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Looks to me like the badge of the General Service Corps. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Thanks for that Dave. Do you know what the General sevice Corps did? The photo with the cap seems to preceed the other with the Kings insignia. Was ity possible to be in both or could he have been moved back to the Kings later? How much movement was there in 1918? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 In a nutshell, the General Service Corps was a "Reception Corps", recieving trainees before posting to a field force unit. The fact that your Grandfather is wearing the insignia of a Sergeant makes me think that he was, perhaps, on the training staff. If, as you say, he was promoted to corporal in the King's (though he's a sergeant on the King's Regt photo), I'd actually date the GSC photo as being taken after his time with them. ...and yes, he could have been transferred back to the King's. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promenade Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Peter, What was the name of your grandfather and what information is impressed on the rim of his medals. Joe Devereux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Dave Thanks again for your comments. I do know that the early sequence of postings was (and I made a mistake in an earlier post about the dates. Approx Sept 1916 to March 1917 he was Lance Corporal in the 23rd Kings Liverpool. Transferred out and made full to a B2 unit (possibly as we now know from the badge, General Service Corps) At sometime was made sergeant and ended the war in a Kings Liverpool Battallion. Without finding the records at Kew I think thats as much as I could find out. He was at the front at some stage in France. I have noted that he was Battallion postman in the 23rd and since each infantry brigade had three personel in the branch post office it could well be that he received a posting in this capacity. Joe He was called Thomas Platt and the engraving around the rim gives his rank as Sergeant in Kings Liverpool Regiment. Other than that I would have to go and look at the exact sequence of words at my Mothers. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Joe, I notice from your previous posts that you have an interest in the Kings Liverpool Regiment . If it is at all of use to you I have two internal memoranda that my Grandfather had, one from the Adjutant and another from a C.S.M. I'll scan them in and post them if you wish. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promenade Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Peter The only Thomas Platt I hold in my database is Pte Thomas Platt 86765 of 1/7 KLR. If that is the number (and it is a late one) on the medal than he is your man. I have no other info on him. Regards Joe Devereux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 2 December , 2003 Share Posted 2 December , 2003 Joe I dont know but think it unlikely that it is him. I will ask my Mother to look for the number tomorrow. If you dont have him in your database is it unlikely that I will find him in any of the regimental records or at Kew? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promenade Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Peter Depending on the number, I might be able to make a stab at his unit and his enlistment date. If it is a late number it may well be impossible. By the way I have two Shevlins Danield and Joseph - both died - it is likely that you already know about these men. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 Joe I now have the number from the medals and the box. It is 45067 T.Platt Kings Liverpool. I dont know if that will mean anything. Once again may I ask if you know whether it might be possible that his records will be among the burnt papers at Kew or were the Kings regiment ones totally destroyed? As to the Shevlins, no I didn't know about them but its perhaps not unusual as it is an Irish name and there must have been quite a few in Liverpool at the time. I even noticed one that died in the Black Watch when I visited the memorial at Edinborough Castle. Incidentally my grandfather wqas from Ashton u Lyne not Liverpool and as far as I know he may even have started off in a regiment other than the Kings. My mother has a vague recollection of something to do with a Welsh regiment but that may well be a red herring. Thanks again Peter P.S. Here are two copies of memos written to him by others who may be of interest to you or the other relatives concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promenade Posted 4 December , 2003 Share Posted 4 December , 2003 Peter, No 45067 falls into a block (44826-46035) which appears to have been allocated to men who in the main did not go abroad and either served in the Depot or with 23 Wks Bn KLR. There are exceptions as in the case of your relative. As most of the men did not go abroad this block is sparsely populated in the database and therefore it is impossible to make educated guesses. All I can add is that the numbers in the block were allocated in late 1915 and early 1916 but this is only a rule of thumb. At the end of the day I am no nearer to answering your original question. Your only hope now is that his papers survived and are in the PRO/NA. Regards Joe Devereux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pshevlin Posted 5 December , 2003 Share Posted 5 December , 2003 Joe Thanks very much for all your efforts. I will be trolling down to Kew sometime in the next year so if I find anything I will post the details to add to your records. I also have a couple of great uncles to look up but they were in the Manchesters and one had a War Pension due to a bad injury so they might be a bit easier to trace. Thanks once again Best Wishes Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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