General Chat

May I recommend www(.)1914-1918(.)net - remove brackets, for all sorts of information and help. Joy

Hi I have two questions, hoping that someone can help. On my great grandfathers medal card from the National Archives, there is no mention of medals, only his discharge and re-enlistment dates on the same day. There is a note written across the card saying " listed 333 " ? He was a proffessional soldier, who joined the Royal Garrison Artillary, aged 14 in 1871. The other question is ..where on the rank scale does Serjeant Quarter Master, Royal Artillary fit in. Thanks, Kaye.

Quite a few sites come up if you google Purfleet Camp. One of them [a soldier's diary] says: "Entrained at Milford Station at noon and detrained at Purfleet at 4:30 p.m. We passed through London. Purfleet was an Imperial camp in peace times but was taken over by the Canadian Army in 1916. We billeted in huts again." nell

If you haven't tried it already you can download medal cards from WWI for £3.50 from http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk It *should* have his regiment and rank on it. However be careful! If your relative had a common name you might find it difficult to find out which one he was. Theres no guarantee that he belonged to the regiment named after the county he was in. I've found people from London or Norfolk in Scottish regiments before now!

On joining the Army a soldier is known as a Private Soldier (from sign up) then he completes his basic training and is still a Private once this is completed. They then go on to learn more and gain promotion to lance corporal, corporal and so on... In the Engineers they are called Sappers instead of Privates from join up. Shaz x

education and training qualifications should be recorded, as they might have a bearing on pay scale..

Thanks for the info D., will have a look at that website :-)

Not sure if they took Exams back then but they would certainly have had to learn something about the trade. These days when they join up they are called a Private while doing their Basic Training that all soldiers do, they then go on to learn their trade and when that is completed successfully become a Sapper.

Hmm... would their be any records of them taking this exam? I have a sapper in the Yorks & Lancs Regiment who unfortunately died during WW1 leaving behind a daughter to his parents (his wife seems to have died by then too).

A Sapper is someone who has passed his Trade Exams in the Engineers but has yet to gain a further rank.

my grand father was a sapper in the royal engineers what is a sapper he was killed in 1918 and i have found his grave in france.....

Judith, as far as the 2nd London Rifles are concerned: 1961: regiment amalgamated with 5th Bn, The Queen Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and 6th (Bermondsey) Bn, The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), to form 3rd Battalion, The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, and City of London Rifles lineage discontinued. http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-london/vinf/L06.htm

You may be able to get some answers from this site : http://www*regiments*org - replace stars for dots. Rupert, I would be interested to know if there are any COWLEY listed in your notes. I don't know what regiments they would have served in but came from Worcester area. I just jump at every opportunity! Many thanks, Jacky

If anyone is interested I have in my possession the definitive history of the Worcestershire Regiment in the Great War. This details all of the Battalions that took part , the battles each was involved in the casualities ,including the Roll Of Honour alphabetically by the Battalion, the awards of medals (in many cases how they were won) and those mentioned in depatches. My daughters bought this some years ago (£100) for me since their grandfather served in the Regiment from. 1899 until 1920. Anyone who is trying to find out about their relatives should they have served in the Regiment upto 1920 can contact me via the boards and I will willingly help them. Rupert Bear.

The highest non commissioned rank in the British Army in World War 1 and since is !) Warrant Officer 1st Class .........Regimental Serjeant major. 2) " " 2nd " ......... Company Serjeant major. 3) Colour Serjeant ....... Applicable to Infantry Regiments. 4) Staff Serjeant ........ Applicable to Corps , Reme , Signals Ordanance Corps etc. 5) Lance Serjeant . 6) Serjeant. 7) Corporal...... Except Royal Artillery. 8) Bombardier Artillery Regiments. 9) Lance Corporal All Regiments and Corps. 10) Lance Bombardier Artillery Regiments. There are several other ranks in variosus other reegiments such as the Horse Guards etc. It is over 50 years since I did my National Service so there may have been intermediate ranks added (particularly with renamed Corps and Scottish Regiments . Hope this helps you out. Rupert Bear.

Warrant Officer is the same as Sergeant Major... WO1 (warrant officer 1) = RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major) WO2 (Warrant officer 2) = CSM (Company Sergeant Major) WO1 is the highest ranking non-commisoned officer. Shaz x

Highest non-commissioned rank is Warrant Officer - next down is Sergeant Major (Regimental [RSM] then Company [CSM]) Bob

What annoying is that my man doesn't marry until 1917 so I won't be able to find out if my ancestor was a soldier before 1914 until 1) I visit the national archives at Kew 2) the 1911 census comes out

Hi Sarah, I don't know much about ranks etc but conscription wasn't introduced until 1916 so I guess your man was a volunteer. Could he have been a 'part time soldier' before the war and so already held the rank of sergeant? My gt grandfather was a member of the '2nd London Rifles' from 1861 to 1899 - definitely had to be a part timer as he was a watchmaker by trade throughout that time. Later some of his sons served in the Royal Fusiliers in WW1. I'm wondering whether they had followed their dad into the Rifles before the war. Does anyone know if the London Rifles and the Royal Fusiliers were linked? Judith

I will have to read some of my books, but I didn't think there was conscription in 1915. I may be wrong.