the original newbie.

[mattsdigs]

Hi to all. I am 75 years of age and trying to find out anything about my Grandfater Thomas Stevenson. All I have found after asking in my family is,..Thomas Stevenson served all four years of WW1 in the Coldstream Guards regt Number 6282. I have no idea of where or how to proceed and indeed if its worth it with so little to go on with. Any suggestions would be so worth while.

[wimsey]

I think the number is 6285. But thats as far as I've got.
His surname is mis-spelt STEPHENSON on the medal index card.
In fact there are two cards, one spelt correctly. The correct one also has a Royal Engineers number 308268.

[Lesley Robertson]

Welcome to the British Genealogy Forum.
I think that wimsey is right - the number was 6285 because there is a Thomas Stevenson listed on the medal index cards under that number. Number 6283 in the Coldstreams was Fred Barker. There is another Thomas S. in the Coldstreams, but his number was 137776 and he didn't join until 1915.
Thomas changed regiments to the Royal Engineers at some point (this was common during WW1, depending on which regiments were seriously under-strength). His first RE number was 308268. When the army was renumbered, his RE number changed to WR/126142. There's a note on his card saying that he is also indexed as T. Stevenson. There's also a note referring to a SWB List RE/3455.

I have checked the Silver War Badge list and WR126142 Sapper Thomas Stevenson was awarded a SWB number B157239 in 1920. He was discharged from the Royal Engineers Rly. Trps. Dep. According to his SWB card, he enlisted on 5 Oct 1914, and was discharged 7 Feb 1919. The reason for the discharge was sickness, and looking at the date, it would not surprise me if it was the Flu pandemic. His age was 33. The SWB was awarded to men who had served during the War, but for reasons that were not obvious to strangers in the street had been discharged. It protected them from civilians who assumed they should be in to forces and gave out white feathers...

Sadly, it looks as though his service record was among the 60% that were destroyed during WW2.

The next question, of course, is to decide how much more research you want to do. Do you want to only know about his army career, or do you want to know about your other ancestors?

[Jomot1]

Just to add that according to the medal award roll he transferred to the Royal Engineers on 22 May 1917, and was awarded the 1914 star with clasp and roses whilst in the Coldstream Guards.

He first entered a field of war on 26 Aug 1914, so will already have been a serving soldier when war broke out. According to the army service numbers website, 5969 joined on 3rd January 1905 and 6617 joined on 14 Feb 1906, so if this is correct then with service number 6285 he should already have been serving in 1911.

The 1911 census shows a Thomas Stevenson aged 26 and born Yorktown Canada serving with the 3rd Bn Coldstream Guards at the Tower of London.

I can't say for certain that this is him, but he may well be worth investigating further.

[mattsdigs]

Thanks to all for your input. It gives me a start in trying to find my Grandfather's service certificate.

[Peter Goodey]

Thomas Stevenson served all four years of WW1 in the Coldstream Guards

Records of the Guards regiments were filed separately from other regiments and therefore are not included in the 'burnt records' available on Ancestry.

You used to have to contact the Guards records office but it seems that things have changed. According to the Imperial War Museum -

Service records from the Brigade of Guards (The Grenadier, Coldstream, Irish and Welsh Guards) have now transferred to the Army Personnel Centre, including First World War records (see above). Scots Guards records are currently held by the Scots Guards Archives. Fees and restrictions apply.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collec...ervice-records

Note that some Guards records were destroyed by enemy bombing of the Guards chapel during the Second World War.

[mattsdigs]

Thank you so much for any suggestions or information...and to mr peter Goodey many thanks for that helpful information