I have been looking on Ancestry for the Silver War Badge record of Joseph Pitman, as shown on this Medal Card: http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?h...c=&pid=5629566 but I just can't see it. Can anyone help, please?
scuda
Pitman / Pittmanin North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia
Not him, I'm afraid, Moggie. I'd found that one and discarded it, as having the wrong Regimental Number, and wrong rank. As far as I can see from the medal card my chap was at least a W O II.
And now you've found the medal card for the one you found that confirms it as the wrong one.
Thanks for looking.
scuda
Pitman / Pittmanin North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia
I've gone through the Pension and Service records very thoroughly over the last year, and he's actually in the pension records, but under his previous service in the Gloucester Regiment (he born in Tewkesbury). That record is no help, and there is no other sign of him - I know that many records have not survived, so I'm not surprised. However, I assumed all SWB records were there - maybe I'm wrong. I'm trying to establish how much longer he served after the award of the Military Medal, and why he was discharged.
scuda
Pitman / Pittmanin North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia
Have you tried looking to see if there's anything in Newspaper or London Gazette archives online?
Yes, but I haven't found anything so far. I am particularly interested in the Silver War Badge records, though. Does anyone know if the records for all regiments are supposed to be on Ancestry? There are certainly some there for the RFA, but I can't find Joseph (there's just the one for his namesake, which Moggie found).
scuda
Pitman / Pittmanin North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia
Scuda - he's been mistranscribed by Ancestry - but to give them their due it looks to be because the original record has him with first name - last name order, while all the others on the page are recorded in last name - first name order
Search for Pitman Joseph - and he comes up
He is recorded as B S M (Battery Sergeant Major) - with service from 18/1/09 to 2/3/19 - discharged aged 28 under Kings Regulations - paragraph 392 (xvia) - Army Order 29 of 1919 which was in general terms "no longer physically fit for service"
A list I have from 1912 shows subpara xvia as - "Surplus to military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the service)" - but the exact wording may have changed slightly by 1919 - but the general gist should have been similar
That's great, Sue, thanks so much for finding him. I'm usually pretty good at sorting out census mistranscriptions, but never thought of the names being reversed on a list like this. I had hoped I could search by regimental number, which would have found him, but no such luck! Anyway, thanks to you I now know that he served on more or less to the end of the war, and became Battery Sergeant Major.
scuda
Pitman / Pittmanin North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia
No worries scuda - ran out of time before to explain - but I found him by using the code on his medal card for the issue of the SWB - then browsing the pages for RA taking a guess at the approximate image number that fitted his reference and then only had to move back about 4 or 5 pages to find the right one
So that's the secret, I guessed there should be a way of using the code, but couldn't get anywhere with it. I'd searched long and hard before I admitted defeat and posted this thread!
scuda
Pitman / Pittmanin North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia
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