Robert Owen Knowles MD

[SueNSW]

A late addition to this thread that I don't think anyone else has mentioned - Officers had to apply for their medals -and not all did - for varying reasons - so there is no guarantee there will be a Medal Index Card for your man. Likewise - if he only served in Britain (incl Ireland at that time) he would not be entitled to medals - another reason a MIC may not be found

Doesn't explain about his officers file though - unless he did continue to serve for a period into the 1920's

[JohnBass]

I had an initial look at the Amy Lists: there is listing for RO Knowles MD for November 1916 - Lt R O Knowles MD, RAMC, TF (Territorial Force), attached 10/10/1916 to the 4th (Denbingshire) Battalion (Territorial) of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. I thought this would help, but I can't get any further.
regards
john

[JohnBass]

Thanks. Certainly, there doesn't seem to have been any medals in the family. I'm still intrigued by the photo of ROK wearing a pith helmet which surely means he served outside of Europe. If the appropriate records at The National Archives were destroyed is there records in other locations? Now I know he was attached in October 1916 to the 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion (Territorial) of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers would their records be available?
regards
john

[thewideeyedowl]

This is a useful website for background info: https://www.ramc-ww1.com/index.html. It has a small searchable database.

Owl

[thewideeyedowl]

The Unit War Diaries are held at TNA, but only some have been digitised. If you check WO95/1280, you will find 4 Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers; they were in France, Belgium, and Germany. But then check WO95/4427 4 Dismounted Brigade (for various Welsh regiments), and you will see that they were in Egypt, Palestine, Syria etc.

None of those records has been digitised, so you would need to contact TNA for a quote IF you felt it might be worth paying (probably quite a lot!) for some copying. The Diaries are unlikely to mention names, but you would discover what the Unit was doing when and where.

Personal memorabilia is held at the Imperial War Museum, so you could check there to see if they have anything about or from ROK.

Also check the Wellcome Library for medical info, e.g. They have a list of the books that were written/co-written by 'Robert Knowles', which all seem to be on tropical medicine, published in India and dating from the mid-1920s.

Swooping off now.

Owl

[JohnBass]

To thewideeyedowl -

Once again thank you for this information and leads. I will follow up on all these and hope that more information is revealed. Finding his army service number would be great. The RAMC website is not accepting any more enquiries at the moment, but that may change.
Regards
John

[SueNSW]

Sorry - no real explanation for the photo - there was a history of the battalion - "The 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the Great War" by Captain C Ellis (1926) but not sure how easy it is to obtain these days

Also there is a chap on the Great War Forum "geraint" who is an expert on this battalion - a post on there might throw some light - but a quick check shows he hasn't been active for a couple of months - not sure if he is away or what

Oh - and as an officer he wouldn't have had a service number btw - so don't worry about looking for it

[JohnBass]

Hi Sue - thank you for this information. I have posted a blog on the Gretat War Forum and have already had two responses which are very helpful.
Regards
John Bass

[helachau]

Welsh newspapers on line -
welshnewspapers.llgc.org.uk/en/home

key/cut&paste link above and search respectively for "robert owen knowles" and "robert knowles" (include " " as part of search key). Use date slider bars to restrict period of search, or search without restrictions and use decade filters when all "hits" returned).

Under "robert knowles" search key, see "Denbighshire Free Press, 5 July 1917" - possible sighting?

[JohnBass]

Hi helachau - I've followed the link and also trawled through the newspapers since c1900, and have got lots of interesting details about his early life. Many thanks for your help.
regards john bass