army deserters WW1

[MICKEYSKY]

hi
is there a web site etc where there are records of army deserters from WW1, As i think my grandfather may have been a deserter.
Philip Faulkner was a private in the Lancashire Fusiliers
No army records for him.
cheers
mickey

[Peter Goodey]

Philip Faulkner was a private in the Lancashire Fusiliers

Sorry but the question has to be asked. If you haven't found any army records, how do you know he was a private in the Lancashire Fusiliers?

There's a research guide -

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...20th.htm#21361

[MICKEYSKY]

hi
i found out he was in the lancashire fusiliers, it was on his sons birth cert from 1916, also he put down he was working in a mill.
cheers
mickey

[Peter Goodey]

Can you please tell us exactly what the birth certificate says regarding the father

[MICKEYSKY]

Hi
it says for occupation of father, Private Lancashire Fusiliers then in brackets packer in cotton mill. date of his son's birth cert 9th june 1916. Philip's age in 1916 was 27 years old.Thank you peter for your help.
cheers mickey

[Peter Goodey]

It's a pity it doesn't state the battalion. Why did you think he was a deserter? Was it just because you couldn't find WW1 records for him?

Most WW1 service records were lost so the odds are that you won't find a service record and you would only find a reference to a campaign medal if he qualified for one.

[DorothySandra]

hi
is there a web site etc where there are records of army deserters from WW1, As i think my grandfather may have been a deserter.
Philip Faulkner was a private in the Lancashire Fusiliers
No army records for him.
cheers
mickey

The army reaction to desertion wasn't consistent - sometimes they only pursued a man because he had stolen army property.

I have a connection who deserted twice, once after the Boer War (he didn't want to go home with the regiment) and again in 1917 (because his bigamously-married wife was being unfaithful to him, and he wanted to deal with her) He was a good soldier, according to his records. The first time, no action seems to have been taken, and he joined up again for WW1. When they realised that he was a deserter from another regiment, a court martial was considered, but in the end they didn't bother, and left him where he was.

In 1917, a letter in his file said that, since he hadn't stolen any Army property except the clothes he stood up in, and the army owed him 30shillings, and considering his age and poor health, the army wasn't going to take any action. They were notifying the police in his wife's district, in case he turned up there making trouble.

[MICKEYSKY]

Hi Peter
yeah there are loads of Battalions out there it is a pity. Yeah thinking he was a deserter, as someone told me the campaign medals etc records are complete and like you say records were lost in in WW2 some 60% of them. I was told everyone who had anything to do with WW1 recived a medal( ie nurses etc) is this right do you know Peter?.
mickey

[Peter Goodey]

The point about the battalion is that if we knew it we could look up its history.

As it happens it was possible to get through the war without qualifying for a campaign medal. The qualifications are listed here.

The Medal Index Card indicates if medals have been forfeited.

[Diana Davies]

Have you tried the Lancashire Fusiliers museum in Bury?