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WW1 Service Records - Where is Norman Thompson?

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  • WW1 Service Records - Where is Norman Thompson?

    I have a Norman Thompson born May 1893 at Sunderland. On the 1911 Census he was living with his cousin at 23 Bow Street, Middlesbrough, working as a Barman. His father was Robert Henry Thompson born 1856.

    He married Rebecca Rankin on the 28th April, 1917 at Sunderland. His Rank/Profession on his marriage certificate is shown as "Private Rifle Brigade (Barman)." I have searched and searched through Military Records and am unable to find any trace of him during the WW1. There is a Norman Thompson from Stockton but this is not him.

    Can anyone please help find anything about Norman during WW1? Your help would be very much appreciated.

    PS his name is Norman Thompson and not Norman Victor Thompson as shown on some Ancestry trees.
    Last edited by Linda from Murton; 18-04-13, 11:20.
    Linda - Happy Hunting

    A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

    Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

  • #2
    Have you looked amongst the Silver War badge records at all? There is one for a Norman Thompson, 586 Coy, ex R.B. I am hopeless with military records, but could RB be rifle Brigade???????
    Janet in Yorkshire



    Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

    Comment


    • #3
      Could this be his medal card?

      Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thank you for responding Janet in Yorkshire and SmallTownGirl. Your replies both relate to the same chap. I may be able to find out further information thanks to having his service number. Its the Labour Corps (Nottingham) that has thrown me.

        Thank you again. I shall let you know if I find out anything further.
        Linda - Happy Hunting

        A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

        Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

        Comment


        • #5
          dont forget a lot of the first world war records got destroyed, I have been unable to find two Uncles records.

          Comment


          • #6
            Linda


            Only about 30% of the WW1 records for servicemen survived WW2 ........ they were moved for safety's sake at the start of WW1, but there was a fire that destroyed most of them

            In addition, most of the records that did survive are incomplete, damaged, or both.


            So one really is very lucky to find out anything.


            The Medal cards seem to have survived almost completely.


            Records for commissioned officers were stored in a separate place and are also apparently complete
            My grandmother, on the beach, South Bay, Scarborough, undated photo (poss. 1929 or 1930)

            Researching Cadd, Schofield, Cottrell in Lancashire, Buckinghamshire; Taylor, Park in Westmorland; Hayhurst in Yorkshire, Westmorland, Lancashire; Hughes, Roberts in Wales.

            Comment


            • #7
              Here's a bit of background to the Labour Corps for interest .....http://www.1914-1918.net/labour.htm ............ The Norman that STG & I mentioned had been in the rifle brigade before being in the Labour Corps. As it was a corps, rather than a regiment, perhaps those drafted across from the regiments still referred to their original regiment? I have some rellies who seem to have been drafted directly into the Labour Corps - this was from late 1916 onwards, they were "older" men probably unfit for fighting action and had been employed in manual labour of some kind. My other rellies in the Labour Corps seem to have started off joining a regiment before being transferred to the LC - they don't seem to have done active service at the front with their original regiment, I suspect they may have been of poor physique or mental ability.
              Janet in Yorkshire



              Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

              Comment


              • #8
                Janet,
                you are not far wrong in your assumptions about the labour corps. The web site "The long, long trail" which connects up with the Great War Forum

                has an easily read resume of the labour corps (amongst many other things). The link below will take you to that sect.

                All about the British Army of the First World War. Find how to research the men and women who served, and stacks of detail about the army organisation, battles, and the battlefields.
                Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

                David

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks everyone for responding. Just back from a weekend away. Think I shall trawl through the medal cards for more Norman Thompson. I cannot make a connection with my Norman to Nottingham. Will let you know if I find anything. Thank you again for your interest.
                  Linda - Happy Hunting

                  A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

                  Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    > I cannot make a connection with my Norman to Nottingham

                    There might not be one, except for the fact he was posted to that Regiment/Corps/whatever. I've seen men posted from both the Sherwood Foresters and the Shropshire Light Infanty to the East Kent Regiment. It's probably just a combination of where the men were at any particular time and which corp/regiment etc needed extra men.

                    STG
                    Last edited by SmallTownGirl; 21-04-13, 17:00.
                    Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      My rellie was a junior officer in the Bedfordshire Regiment. He had no connection to Bedfordshire at all.
                      Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Linda from Murton View Post
                        I cannot make a connection with my Norman to Nottingham.
                        Nottingham would just have been the administration centre for the issue of virtually all (if not all) Silver War Badges to men discharged from the various Labour Corps companies or Labour Commands - there is no reason for your man to have had any connection with Nottingham

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Thanks for that SueNSW.
                          Linda - Happy Hunting

                          A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

                          Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Just to reinforce what Sue NSW posted about the link between Nottingham and all members of the Labour Corps http://www.westernfrontassociation.c...our-corps.html
                            Janet in Yorkshire



                            Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Thank you for that link Janet. I have spoken with Norman's daughter and she is adamant that Norman was in the London Rifle Brigade (although he was from Sunderland). She recalls Norman saying he was buried alive during the battle of the Somme. After he was dug out he was sent at some stage to Northern Ireland to recuperate. Scanty information but you cling on to tiny details. His war record was probably lost along with all those others. I shall still keep digging though.
                              Last edited by Linda from Murton; 24-04-13, 14:35.
                              Linda - Happy Hunting

                              A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

                              Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Do you think that he could have been transferred across to the Labour Corps after he was injured and hospitalised, as he then wasn't fit enough to rejoin his regiment? I think it quite possible that the LRB part of his record was damaged/lost or filed elsewhere, or mis-indexed by Ancestry. (My father's half brother's record is indexed on Ancestry with a completely wrong name, both forename & surname - I only found it because in desperation I searched just using name of place of birth and then going into the actual record for each hit.)
                                Janet in Yorkshire



                                Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Hello Janet - when Norman married his wife in 1917 he put down that he was a Private in the Rifle Brigade (Barman). This was nearly a year after the Somme so he hadn't been transferred by then. I shall have to have further talks with his daughter to see if I can glean any further information.

                                  Thank you for your help.
                                  Linda - Happy Hunting

                                  A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

                                  Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    Originally posted by Linda from Murton View Post
                                    and she is adamant that Norman was in the London Rifle Brigade (although he was from Sunderland).
                                    Probably some confusion - The 'London Rifle Brigade' was actually a battalion of the London Regiment - the 1/5th. If we have the correct medal card and SWB entry Norman is shown - as on his marriage cert - as being originally in the Rifle Brigade - a different regiment altogether - despite the almost similar name

                                    There was a "London" battalion of the Rifle Brigade - the 18th - but according to the Long Long Trail website they spent the war in India on garrison duties

                                    Quite a few Rifle Brigade battalions took part in the Battle of the Somme between July and November 1916 so unfortunately his apparently being involved in the battle isn't likely to narrow down the battalion

                                    Finding surviving records of similarly numbered RB men who enlisted around the same time as Norman (16/2/16) might help to narrow down the battalion - but numbering was a far from exact science

                                    Maybe local paper reports and casualty lists might be worth pursuing??

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      The Medal Roll (at the National Archives) MIGHT give his battalion.
                                      The National Archives, Kew – Research Service Offered
                                      Contact me via PM on Family Tree Forum or via my personal website - www.militaryandfamilyresearch.co.uk

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        Hello again - Can I just ask SueNSW where you got the date of 16/2/16 for Norman's enlistment please?

                                        Looking again and the Medal Card it mentions Roll LC/101B183 Page 18576 SWB List LC/2441. Can anyone please interpret the Roll reference?

                                        I find it confusing that Norman should say in 1917 (when he married) that he was in the Rifle Brigade. I am having my doubts about family memories and Norman being in the London Rifle Brigade. (Sorry Sandy).
                                        Last edited by Linda from Murton; 27-04-13, 11:34.
                                        Linda - Happy Hunting

                                        A tidy house is the sign of a broken computer

                                        Researching: Brown, Bell, Key and Musgrave from Cumberland. Dodds, Green, Campbell, Hall, Armstrong, Davison from Co. Durham. Raymond from Devon/Cornwall.

                                        Comment

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