Francis Beevers

[roddyloo]

I'm researching about my Great Grandfather in the first world war, on behalf of my mother. It's all quite interesting, btu I'm stumbling to find out more. He was based in Wakefield, and seemed to follow the following regiment,s and I'm trying to find about his placements during WW1

The information I have are...

Francis Beevers
North Staffordshore Regiment no.60409
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers no. 43914

Also there's a victory number B/102 (B little case) p1420

I don't understand what these numbers mean, but if anyone can help at all that would be wonderful..do the numbers refer to Brigades, Battery, or Battalion....

I've also found a Catalogue number WO372/2, but again not sure what this means. It seems strange that someone from Wakefield would join an irish regiment although we have found his grandmother was Irish.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, on whether this means anything, or if they can point me in the right direction to find out more, that would be of fantastic help , thanks.

[MarkCDodd]

The B/102 B31 refers to the Medal Roll containing his entry.

1420 is the page number on that roll that lists his details.

Usually the medal roll is the one for the last Regiment he was in.

You can see the Medal Rolls at The National Archives.

If he is in a regular Army then you should see the name of the regiment he finished the war in and hopefully, the brigade and his rank. Other regiments/brigades/ranks are also listed.

Sometimes you can see who received the medals which is usefull if he was killed.

Getting the brigade information is important as it allows you to see where and when he may have been stationed during the war.

Since there is no Service Record for this soldier, you would need to look at the Medal Roll to get the brigade information.

[roddyloo]

Thanks Mark, that's all really useful information (all new stuff to learn what it all means...

His last regiment, was the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, no.43914, and he was a private as far as I am aware.

I couldn't see his brigade number on the Medal Roll, but will try and pursue. Do you have to go to Kew Directly to find out all this information in the National Archives?

[MarkCDodd]

Some Medal Rolls have a partial digital copy online.

You will just have to look and if out of luck, Kew is where you need to go.

[apowell]

Hi,

[quote="roddyloo"]I'm researching about my Great Grandfather in the first world war, on behalf of my mother. It's all quite interesting, btu I'm stumbling to find out more. He was based in Wakefield, and seemed to follow the following regiment,s and I'm trying to find about his placements during WW1.

I'm a little confused regarding the information about Francis being based in Wakefield. Do you mean based during his military service or was he born or lived there. If he was born and bred a Yorkshire lad then given that he served with Regiments that were not local I would guess he was conscripted. He would have been posted to a Regiment that needed a supply of new recruits and wouldn't have had any say in the matter and this may also be the case why he moved Regiments again. My relation was conscripted and served with the Highland Light Infantry and he was from Tipton, Staffordshire with no Scottish connections.

When was Francis born because this may give an indication if he was a conscript and given his medal card indicates he didn't go overseas from at least 1916 onwards also maybe an indication but not confirmed.

This is a long shot but it maybe an idea to post a request for information regarding Francis's medal roll at the:

http://www.1914-1918.net/notes.htm

The above link gives you information on researching soldiers and also a link to post on the forum. It's possible a member who specializes in one of the Regiments may have photocopied the medal rolls from Kew and would kindly send you a copy. This was how I was able to view a photocopied medal roll without visiting Kew.

Good luck
Adrian