Army service number

[staunton]

Could anyone help with this please. I have my Grandfathers army service number from his marriage certificate dated June 1918.
No.256442 -private -500th employment company, his residence at time of marriage was West Hall, Whitburn.
His name is Horace Clark and he was born in Derby in 1894.
Unfortunately I dont have his regiment.
Any advice appreciated.

[Alan Welsford]

There are surviving records for a lot of Horace CLARKs in the WW1 service papers, (the "burnt" documents"), as well as quite a lot more in the "WW1 Pensions records" (the "unburnt" documents).

These are available online on Ancestry, as well as by visiting Kew.

Unfortunately Ancestry doesn't include service number as an index lookup, so it would be a case of studying each in turn, to see if its your man.

Alan

[staunton]

Many thanks for that Alan.

[Alan Welsford]

Sorry, I've fed you some bad information.

Although Ancestry doesn't list a service number on its index pages, if you "mouse over" each entry they are (in most cases) shown.

Unfortunately I can't see one remotely like the number you quote, so am rather afraid his papers were amongst the 60% to 70% that have not survived.

Sorry if I raised any false hopes.

Alan

[staunton]

Thanks again Alan, I am wiser now and will soldier on , very grateful for your help.

[Peter Goodey]

Have you tried the medal cards?
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1

I can't spot a likely candidate there.

Personally I don't think I'd wager a lot of money on a parson accurately copying down a string of numbers.

[harfin]

I'd wager a lot of money on a parson accurately copying down a string of numbers.

Isn't that a bit discriminatory against men of the cloth Peter?

|jumphappy
Alan

[staunton]

Thanks Peter I will have a look there,can we find it in our hearts to forgive the parson.
Bless you.
Bless you too Alan.

[Alan Welsford]

The more I look, the more I realise there is that I don't know.

Not being up in matters of army history, I now discover that many of the service papers contain multiple numbers for the same person.

It seems that the number that Ancestry generally display if you "mouse over" an entry is NOT the same thing as what people are often calling a service number.

Certainly I've just delved into some documents, (for a different name), and on pages part way though was scrawled what I was given as a service number. The number it was indexed by was quite different.

So it seems the only way to know if the papers are there for a given person, with certainty, is to go into them all, and see what they say. (I'm not sure I'll be doing that when they finally get SMITHs online |computer|)

I suppose if it was too easy, we'd find another pastime.

Alan

[keith9351]

He could have been in the 27th Division

The 27th Division was formed in England in October-November 1914, from regular units returning from India, Hong Kong and Canada. On 21 December 1914 : landed in France and proceeded to the Western Front.

1st (Wessex) Field Company (joined Nov 1914, renamed 500th Field Coy)

http://www.1914-1918.net/27div.htm

Keith

[staunton]

Thanks Alan, Multiple numbers in a soldiers service is very interesting.
You are right, the unknown facts keep us searching.

Thanks Keith,The 27th Division is a possibility I do know that he was in the trenches, France or Belgium.
My first assumption was Sherwood Forresters [Notts & Derby] as he was a Derby man.

[keith9351]

Looking again at the site I gave you.

The Army Service Corps had a Motor Transport Depot Company No. 500

The ASC Mtor Transport Depot Companies filled a variety of administrative, recruitment, induction, training and re-supply roles.

http://www.1914-1918.net/logistics/ASC_MT_Depot_Coys.htm

Keith

[staunton]

Thanks again Keith, I have a clearer idea of what I am looking for now.
Employment Companies were set up in 1917, usually with medical class B or recuperating troops often staying around Divisional HQ.