Cap badge

[Chickadee]

Hello, I am trying to find which regiment my Grandfather served with in WW1. I am enclosing a photo of him with his regiment and hoped that someone may be able to locate the cap badge as all attempts to find who he served with have drawn a blank. He was Albert Victor Allison from Jarrow and he survived the war.

Many thanks
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[Lesley Robertson]

I can't really see the badges very clearly...
However, I've had a look at the WW1 medal index cards. There's 28 Albert Allisons, but only 1 Albert V Allison. We can't be completely sure it's him as some men didn't use their middle names when they signed up, but it would be worth checking the census or birth registrations to see how many AVAs were around.

The one I found is 203707 Sgt Albert V Allison, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was entitled to the British & Victory medals but not the 1914 Star which indicates that he wasn't in battle at the start. Was your guy in the army earlier? Maybe in SAfrica or India?

[Peter Goodey]

There is a service record for an Albert Victor Allison in the Kings Own Yorkhire Light Infantry but he came from Castleford.

[Chickadee]

Thanks Lesley for your quick reply. I don't know when he enlisted but he was 36 when WW1 started and I have checked all the Alberts and Albert Victors you have on record and no joy, so my next thing was to check the cap badge for the regiment. I have checked the guy you mention and it's not him as his address is given ad Doncaster. Is my next step the National Archives?

[Chickadee]

Thanks for trying but it's not him, he lived in Jarrow on Tyneside but could have joined a Scottish regiment as his ancestors were from Shetland.

[Peter Goodey]

Is my next step the National Archives?

Yes. Read their guidance. Find it all from the home page by clicking "Find guidance" (cos that's what you want to do)

In particular there's this research guide

[peanut]

The capes the men are wearing look like the Glengarries and the badge is the Black Watch. some of these capes are trimmed with tartan but not the Blackwatch.
I did a search for images of Blackwatch Glengarries caps and it looks like a match to me

Peanut

[Lesley Robertson]

By the time he joined, men had little choice in the regiment they went to. They were sent where they were needed, and even moved between regiments if the need arose.

I have checked the 1911 census for the whole of England for men of that name born 1878+/-5 years. There is only 1 Albert Victor Allison, born about 1879 in Jarrow and married to Elizabeth Jane. He was a shipwright who was living at 54 Stead St Jarrow on Tyne.
As Peter says, check with the National Archives.

[thewideeyedowl]

Hi and welcome...

Perhaps he did not serve abroad? For instance, his health grade - on a scale A down to D - might have been too low. (Only C3 and higher were posted abroad.) If he spent his war service at home, he would not qualify for a medal, so would not be listed in the Medal Index Cards.

I suggest you check Scottish regiments on The Long Long Trail, https://www.1914-1918.net, to establish which of their battalions spent the war years at home. Then check out the uniforms/caps of those regiments to see if any match.

Owl

[Lesley Robertson]

I made that suggestion about that guy I described in message 2 because he made Sgt without qualifying for the Star, and was comparatively old.... I've seen that sort of thing with men who'd served in Africa or other places, started building a civvie life and then been recalled.
Of course, there's other potential reasons it could happen.