1990s Research by Mike McKeon (part 9)

1990s Research by Mike McKeon (part 9)

The question arises as to why the loss was so carefully recorded and commemorated on these beautiful memorials. The reason is because they were all “civilians”. Although they fought and died as soldiers, they came from all walks of life; they were sons and husbands. Memorials to the dead of Waterloo, the Boer War, and the Crimea are very rare in Britain. The men who died in these earlier conflicts were professional soldiers. It was almost like an acceptable risk to the job. The regular British Army were virtually wiped out at Mons in 1914. The recruits to Kitcheners New Army and the Territorials were civilians, overtaken by national pride and patriotism, eager to kick the Boche back into Germany, to fight for freedom and honour. The surplus of black and white photographs of men in uniform bear witness to this light-hearted “game” of soldiers. The reality of trench life and the carnage at Loos and Ypres would change all this forever. May / June 1996 I went to the PRO to obtain copies of the medal rolls for Jack. I got this information along time ago but I needed a good copy for this record. The listing for the 1915 Star for H. J. Shanks, Ox and Bucks L. I. is found in PRO WO 329/2745, page 369. This confirms that H. J. Shanks, regimental number 2613 disembarked in France and Flanders on 30/3/15 (see Appendix 4). A man had to be on active service in 1915 in order to earn the 1915 Star. The medal roll for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal is found in PRO WO 329/1370, page 3363 (see Appendix 5). This confirms Jack’s other regimental number as being 265855. These numbers superseded the shorter numbers at an earlier stage in the war. Mystery still surrounded the Private James Shanks 267515 recorded on the death certificate of which I obtained a copy. I could have accepted it as simply being a clerical error but I had become obsessed that the entry belonged to another man, perhaps two deaths had been recorded aas one. In my mind two war heroes may have died for their country, but had not been recorded. However, you may recall that I had already checked for this number in my sources. As I scanned through the medal roll while waiting to photocopy Jack’s entry, I spotted a Private Ernest Hy Seaman 267516 (see Appendix 6). This number was close to 267515 (the number on the death certificate). It was therefore more feasible that this number was assigned to another Private who wasn’t our Jack. The task lay ahead of me. I figured that the number I was looking for would have been assigned to a man from the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry. If I searched all the medal rolls for the same regiment I would eventually find the number along with a name. With a name, I could find out what happened to them, i.e. were they killed in the war, injured, or did they return alive. The medal rolls for the regiment are found in PRO WO 329/1360…..1375. This meant that I had to search 16 volumes of names and numbers. In all, it is 4,500 pages with an average of five entries on each page. It was a huge task which took me over ten hours to complete. In order to keep my mind active, I tried to establish patterns for the service numbers in case my search was fruitless. I did notice that the majority of men with numbers beginning 2675.. had originally been with the 1/1st Huntingtonshire Cyclist Battalion. I found an entry for Private H. Bone 266109 2/1st Bucks Battalion (3257). Private Bone’s name and number are written in a notebook which belonged to Jack. I was coming to the end of the 15th volume when I found THE NUMBER. 267515 Pte James Sterry 1/1st Bucks Battalion (20731); previously 1/1st Hunts Cyc Batt (447), page 4494 (see appendix 7). My heart jumped. I had found the number and it was a different name to Shanks. It has opened up a new avenue, a way of proving that the entry of death with the Office of National Statistics is wrong.

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  • Profile picture for Henry J Shanks

    Born 1896

    Died 1917

    British Army 2613 Private Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

    British Army 265855 Private Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry