Why Would a soldier change his number?

[Fatman]

My Ancestor Alfred Gowler dies in France during WWI

Name: Alfred Gowler
Birth Place: Chatteris, Cambs
Death Date: 25 Mar 1918
Death Location: France & Flanders
Enlistment Location: Bury St. Edmunds
Rank: Private
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment
Battalion: 12th Battalion
Number: 40555
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre
Comments: Formerly 4401, Suffolk Regt

Why would his number have changed? Whilst staying in the same regiment?

Maybe my understanding of what this number is might be wrong?

[MarkCDodd]

When changing Battalions within the Regiment your Regimental Number can change.

He enlisted a Bury St Edmunds which means he would have originally been in the 5th Battalion.

When he died he was in the 12th which means he moved Battalions.

Also, the Regiment went from 5 battalions in 1914 to 23 in 1918 so I assume a lot of soldiers were issued with new numbers to cater for the larger numbers.

Having a quick look, all soldiers in the Suffolk regiment who has a 4 digit Regiment Number were changed to a 5 or 6 digit number during the war.

[Fatman]

Ah thanks Mark - that makes sense!

Do you know if potentially these records could have been the ones that were burnt during WW2?

As i posted in another thread, all I can find is his medal card and details of his death/origin.

But no service record, or Address, or age... etc

[MarkCDodd]

No service records and no pension records so you are out of luck.

[Fatman]

Is it possible that they exist just not online?

[apowell]

Hi,

We know from Mark that Alfreds' service records didn't survive and were destroyed during the Blitz so we're unable to obtain actual information on his service during the war. The information we already have should allow us to find out further information on his Battalion's movements and engagements during the war.

Alfred's Medel Index Card states he was awarded the British & Victory medals which informs us he didn't go overseas prior to 1916 but of course he may have enlisted pre-1916.

Mark already mentioned about the re-numbering of the soldiers and this took place early 1917 and I think based on the Suffolk's 5th Battalion Regimental numbering Alfred (4401) may have enlisted or was mobilized from March-April 1916
3774 joined on 25th January 1916
3832 joined on 8th February 1916
4062 joined on 1st March 1916
4545 joined on 12th April 1916
5189 joined on 31st May 1916

The Suffolk Regiment 12th Battalion
Battalion of the New Army
12th (Service) Battalion (East Anglian)
Formed at Bury St. Edmunds in July 1915, as a bantam battalion.
November 1915: attached to 121st Brigade in 40th Division.
6 June 1916 ; landed at Le Havre.

Engagements of the 12th Battalion
1916
The Battle of the Ancre (a phase of the Battles of the Somme 1916)

1917
The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line (March)
The capture of Fifteen Ravine, Villers Plouich, Beaucamp and La Vacquerie (April and early May)
The Cambrai Operations, in which the Division participated in the capture of Bourlon Wood (November)

1918
The Battle of St Quentin
First Battle of Bapaume, 24 - 25 March

We can't say for sure if Alfred took part in all these engagements (but it's possible) but what we do know is that he was sadly killed during the First Battle of Bapaume 24 - 25 March.

The Germans launched a massive Offensive on the 21st March 1918 known as 'Operation Michael' which overwhelmed the Allies defenders breaking through the Allied lines in many places. The Allies fought desperate rear guard actions during this Offensive resulting in terrible casualties and the First Battle of Bapaume was one of these actions.

An idea of the scale of the offensive faced by the Allies:
The Germans assembled a force of 74 Divisions, 6600 artillery pieces, 3500 mortars and 326 fighter aircraft. The average strength of a German Division in 1918 stood at 12,300 men, 3000 horses, 48 artillery pieces, 120 mortars, 78 heavy machine guns, 144 light machine guns, and 6–12 trucks

I think these books will be of interest to you and give further details:

The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914 - 1927 by Lieut Col C C R Murphy
Book of 1918 Year of Victory by Malcolm Brown

This weblink is for the Suffolk Regimental Museum which maybe of interest:

http://www.suffolkregiment.org/Museum.html

I hope this helps.

Regards
Adrian

[Fatman]

Hi Adrian - thats perfect information!

Would there be any other way to verify facts about Alfred?
I know he was from Chatteris, but is there any other way to discover his age or address outside of his service record - or would these all have been lost during the Blitz?

[apowell]

Hi,

I'm afraid to my knowledge without the service records surviving the chances of finding out anymore information is very limited but you're not alone in your frustration because 60% of these records were destroyed during the Blitz. I think there is only one web provider that had the rights to translate and display the records and I've known them make mistakes recording the surnames or mixing records up. The original records are kept at the National Archive in Kew and it's free to view them in person but this is a real long shot that Alfred's records have been mis-transcribed onto the web.

The only other long shot is to email or write to the Suffolk Regimental museum for help and advice.

I think I've found Alfred on the 1911 census:

Broad Ader Farm Chatteris Cambridgeshire
GOWLER, George Head born 1854 Farm Bailiff
GOWLER, Ann Wife born 1854 Farm
GOWLER, Robert Son Single born 1880 Farm Labourer
GOWLER, Fred Son Single born 1881 Farm Labourer
GOWLER, William Son Single born 1883 Horseman On Farm
GOWLER, Alfred Son Single born 1888 Horse Man On Farm
GOWLER, Ethel Daughter Single born 1890 Dairy Work
GOWLER, Charles Son Single born 1893 Farm Labourer

If this is your Alfred given his date of birth and his Regimental Number I would say he was one of the many Kitcheners Recruits who enlisted late 1915- early 1916. The Battalion he joined was one of the Battalions of the New Army also an indication that it was raised in July 1915 for the new Kitcheners' recruits.

Good luck in your research.

All the best
Adrian

[Fatman]

Hi Adrian,

Once again very detailed!

Yes I have that record in my family tree and was trying to correlate that with the Chatteris War Memorial as I have with the other 2 gowlers listed there.

Ill do some digging and maybe even visit the museum as its not that far from me

Thanks
Andrew