WW1 army numbers question.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

Would it be normal for two people to serve in the Royal Field Artillery in WW1 and have the same army number?

Perhaps one man died before the other got the number?

OH's super-brick-wall grandfather, John Hamilton, has a medal card on Ancestry (army no 56967) and so does someone else in the RFA called Frederick T Smith ().

I don't really know why I'm asking this, but as we have been searching for "anything" about JH for 25 years........you never know what someone might say that might make a difference!


If you look on the back of John Hamilton's card you will see that he had to relinquish his medals. The reason was that he spent all of his time in the army during WW1 on Salisbury Plain! It's only today that I noticed how long it took for this to be corrected. Pretty typical of him really!!

If a crystal ball could tell me where his Irish birth record is, that would be great!! (29th April 1895).....

[KiteRunner]

I've certainly seen quite a few examples where the same number has been used more than once within the same regiment - I presume that they reused the numbers once the soldier had either died or left the regiment.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I think I need a more interesting answer than that, Kite!!!!

Like, maybe he was called Smith in his alter-ego life, or something??!!!

I thought I had only seen the same number in different bits (technical term ) of the army, but maybe I'm clutching at straws again?

[KiteRunner]

If a crystal ball could tell me where his Irish birth record is, that would be great!! (29th April 1895).....

Have you been to a Family History Centre to look at the Irish GRO index?

[KiteRunner]

And back to the army numbers, I'm sure I've seen the same number come up for more than one person in the same regiment but it would take a bit of messing about to find some examples and I have to take a break from the computer for a while. But I bet you can find some other examples too if you mess about for a while!

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I do believe you, Kite!

Have you been to a Family History Centre to look at the Irish GRO index?

I haven't, but OH has done a search more than once. We have also found all the Hamiltons in Cork City (his supposed birthplace) on the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses who appear in the Post office (etc) directories around those years. No joy.

His father (name unknown, they had disowned each other by the time JH married a Protestant!) was supposed to have once been harbour master at Dundee (no joy with that). His grandmother (don't know which one, but probably paternal) was supposed to have been Norwegian (no joy with that either! lol). His sister, Kathleen, or maybe the other sister, Aileen, emigrated to Canada from Cork after 1918, but we don't know when or if she was married! (I could go on, but it's all like this :()

Here he is (maybe someone recognises him!!!! pmsl!)

JohnHamilton.JPG

[KiteRunner]

Sorry, don't recognise the face, but going back to those numbers...

To pick a number at random, 12345, TNA gives it as the number of
Marshall, William H
Corps: Leicestershire Regiment

and also, among others:
Chapman, William E
Corps: Leicestershire Regiment

Pratley, William
Corps: Leicestershire Regiment

Marshall, William Henry
Corps: Leicestershire Regiment

And just in case these are all the same William and he kept changing his surname (lol), here's another example:

Murray, William L
Corps: Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Regiment No: 12345

Saxby, Francis L
Corps: Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Regiment No: 12345

[Uncle John]

And the great-uncle I mentioned on another thread had no number at all on his medal card. He joined as an officer.

[Rachel Scand]

And the great-uncle I mentioned on another thread had no number at all on his medal card. He joined as an officer.

I always find numbers sooooo common ;)

[Uncle John]

My mum's Co-op divi number just popped into my head - 34895.

[Rachel Scand]

My mum's Co-op divi number just popped into my head - 34895.

OOoooooooo :D .... 899354 !!!!!!!! :D