Guest alkens Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Hi, these are the ID tags of my great great grandfather Henry Mark Harris. Apprently he served in both the Boar war and also the 1st World War. All I know is that he may have been a NCO of some type, and was in the Devonshire regiment. Has anyone come across him in their research. Funny, I don't even have a picture of him. Can anyone translate the information on these tags for me? On one tag this is written: H Harris CE LAB Cor 360961 on the other you have this: 15092 C.E. DVN all the best Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alkens Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Henry Harris Medals. any help would be warmly recieved. many thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 If he was an NCO the 'COR' is probably Corporal, though the more familiar abbreviation is cpl. CE could well be his religious denomination - Church of England Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Bluestein Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 I believe your g-grandfather was a member of the Labor Corps, by the looks of his (Great War period) ID tags. The medals are the 'Kings South Africa Medal' with bars 1901-02. (This medal was never issued alone - always with the Queen's South Africa Medal. It was awarded to all personnel engaged in operations in South Africa in 1901 - 02). The ribbon affixed is actually for the 'British Victory Medal 1914-19' (and the other missing from your group.) See below photo for actual ribbon required for KSA. You also have the 1914-15 Star (bronze colored star), and British War Medal (silver medal) If you can give us the naming on the rims of the KSA and BWM and reverse of 1914-15 Star, I'm certain the Pals can offer more info on your g-grandfather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alkens Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Hi, unfortuantly, the medals are not in my posession. They have been photograph by my uncle who lives in England. He's pretty sure he was in the Devonshire Regiment. Here's another medal. anyone out there can tell me about this too? thanks a whole bunch Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 It is the Queen's South Africa Medal with 5 clasps but the photo is too blurred to take a guess at which five clasps are on the medal. Regards. Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 I don't have the slightest idea what is happening with the photos in this thread when I looked a minute ago the photo was of a blurred QSA with five clasps but when I went back and looked again the photo had changed to an India General Service Medal (1854) with a Burma clasp (I can't read the clasp dates) and an unofficial "Burma" bar. If the medal photo has changed again when I go back to your message I am going to go out and have a double Jack Daniels and go to bed!!! Regards. Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alkens Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Hi Dick, 'ave a jack daniels anyway!!! It was doing funny things this end too. The Burma medal was the one I was trying to get on the forum. That's real interesting when you say the medal is a 1854 India serive medal. I completely have no idea who in the family would have been there. Maybe I'll email my uncle and ask him if there is anything on the rim of that particular medal. Can you work anything out when you look at the ID tags, were that standard WW1? enjoy the drink, and sorry about the "twilight zone" bit earlier. regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Paul: Thanx for the indication that the photos did change - I thought for a moment that I was having hallucinations! The medal is the India General Service Medal that was originally issued in 1854 but two clasps were issued for Burma: Burma 1887-89 and the other Burma 1889-92. I can't tell from the photo which clasp is on the medal you illustrated. On the dog tags the numbers are regimental numbers, the CE is Church of England and LAB is probably Labour Corps. I would guess that DVN is Devonshire Regiment. Thanx for telling me to have the double Jack Daniels - I feel much better! Regards. Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Paul The ID tag with Lab Cor on shows that he served in the Labour Corps regimental number 360961 and that his religion was Church of England. The number idicates that he served in Egypt probably in 808 Company of the Labour Corps. The bad news is that we have very little detail on this Company. The Companies in Egypt did not keep their own Diaries and the men were sent to work where they were needed. So, for example, you could get three men working at one hospital, another couple at a RE store, another one at the YMCA canteen and so on. The other tage shows that he also served in the Devons. In view of the fact he served in the Boer War can I suggest the following. That prior to his transfer to the Labour Corps he served in 1st Garrison Battalion Devons. They were a Battalion undertaking employment duties to support the troops and served in Egypt from late 1915 onwards. The Battalion was made up of men who were through age or health not fit enough for front line service. I have come across a number of men from this Battalion who became members of the Labour Corps in 1917 and I suspect this happened in his case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alkens Posted 2 January , 2004 Share Posted 2 January , 2004 Hi Ivor, thanks for the reply. Most interesting indeed, you really know your stuff. Question for you, and everyone else.... Knowing the information I/we have on Henry Harris, is it at all possible this man could have been Lawerence of Arabia's body Guard? This may seem funny, but that was the story that went around the family. I was also told that he probably was a Sgt. in the regiment. What records exist for the devonshire/labour corp, and where would they exist? Unfortuantly I now live in the states, so getting reliable information from here is rather rare. all the best Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 3 January , 2004 Share Posted 3 January , 2004 Paul I am afriad there are no records for the Labour Corps Companies in Egypt. The 1 Garrison Battalion Devonshire Regiment did keep War Diaries. Their PRO references are WO 95/4444, 95/4719 and 95/4732. Unfortunately I live at the other end of Scotland so do not get to the PRO very often. Perhaps one of the London based Pals will have a look at them for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alkens Posted 3 January , 2004 Share Posted 3 January , 2004 Ivor, thanks for all your help so far. I myself can hardly get to the PRO myself. It's time like this that I wish I wasn't 3500 miles from London. thanks mate Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 5 January , 2004 Share Posted 5 January , 2004 Hi, WO 97 at the PRO contains those service records for the Boer War period, although these are incomplete. Great War Service records can be found in WO 363 and WO 364, although again these are incomplete. Medal rolls exist for the IGSM, with the entries listed by bar and by unit. The same applies for the Queens South Africa and King's South Africa medals. In these latter cases the listing is by unit and states all those bars to which an individual was entitled for. If a service record is unavailable it is possible to piece together a potted service record based upon medal entitlement and unit. Great War medals can be found in the medal index card system, and will confirm his entitlement and may give the odd other detail. From here you can consult the medal rolls which may give you a battalion. Before attempting the research it would be best to go armed with all the details off the rims / reverse of his medals, or at least to provide this to anyone doing the research for you. Muster rolls and war diaries, as suggested in other postings, are also other avenues you may wish to pursue. Hope this helps, Rgds, AJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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