D battalion 77 Army Brigade, Ypres, June 1917

[Jomot1]

Matthew enlisted 8 Sept 1914 but forum member says first entered a theatre of war on 9 Sep 1915 as a Gunner with the RFA (36249).

Still puzzled.

I think you need to look at the full papers that are available for him, as these give more detail.

It seems he was originally in B Battery 94th Brigade, with was part of the 21st Division.

If you go to the website indicated below, it will tell you more about the 21st Division (live links not allowed so www omited)
longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/21st-division/

The 21st began moving to France in early September 1915, which agrees with the information I gave you earlier.

His records indicate he was appointed Acting Bombardier 11 Sep 1915 but by 22 Sep 1915 he was awaiting trial and on 26 Sep 1915 he was tried & sentenced to 28 days and returned to duty as a Gunner. I can't immediately see what he was tried for, but there may be some reference further on in his papers.

ADDED: The War diaries are on Ancestry, or you can download from the National Archives for a small fee. To find the diary for the 94th use the search term WO 95/2141/3

[Jomot1]

Ive had a quick look at the war diary. Nothing about his charge/trial, but there is this for 29 Jan 1916:

The section of B Battery near Lys Farm (?) was shelled by 10 5 am? About 60 shells falling close to position, no damage to equipment.
No. 36249 M Turnbull wounded
No. 37415 Gnr J Paid wounded (NB It looks like J Paid in the diary but it was actually J Faid)

From Matthews record his injury was 'GSW Leg' and he was admitted to the 26th General Hospital at Etaples & then Con Camp Etaples (Convalescent Camp?) on 28 Feb 1916

[puzzledsearcher]

You have laid to rest a memory of my father.

He told me an NCO/Officer ordered him to take a bicycle to go on an errand. On the way a tire went flat. He made his way to a QM stores but there were no staff. There was a divided door and the top was wide open. He entered found a pump and started inflating the flat tire. Along came the QM sergeant who told him to stop. Father told him he was on a mission with authority and continued what he was doing. That did it. Insubordination. Penalty, as he told it, strapped spread eagle to a gun wheel at noon for hours.

[puzzledsearcher]

My initial searches reveal some muddling of records. You have found this but the 1911 census records him as Chemical Assistant.

[Jomot1]

My initial searches reveal some muddling of records. You have found this but the 1911 census records him as Chemical Assistant.

Then that is no doubt correct as at April 1911, but by the time he enlisted in 1914 he was serving his time as a motor engineer with Messrs Turvey & Co, Sunderland, per his army record.

[timbo58]

Field Punishment Number 1 was being tied to an immovable object for up to 2 hours a day and this could be a repeated punishment for up to 90 days if convicted at a courts martial.
An extremely common punishment during WWI.

The admission/discharge registers on the FWR site represent only 3-5% of all records ever taken unfortunately (although still way over 1 million records even then!) as the remainder were deliberately destroyed in the inter war period due to lack of storage.
What remains are what was retained by the health services as a 'representative study for statistical analysis'.

[puzzledsearcher]

Thank you for this. After a few days searching for my father's military history I have come to realize how useful was your contribution.

[puzzledsearcher]

Matthew Turnbull was evacuated 16/07/1917 on Hospital Ship with Gunshot wound VI (1) severe. I am trying to learn what ship and where it went. I have a list of hospital ships but have not succeeded in linking one of them to his departure date. Anyone know how to do this?