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Devonshire Regiment recruitment in Birmingham?

T

TonyQ

proper brummie kid
We have a relative for whom there are no attestation papers and no war medal records, as far as we can ascertain. We have search long and hard! However, we know for certain that he was in the Devonshire Regiment at some point during WWI - we have a photo of him in uniform and a card sent from him. We know about the burnt records which may explain the lack of attestation papers.

Was the Devonshire regiment recruiting in Birmingham? So far we seem to have found that it was not, but does anyone know otherwise? If ot, we have to assume that he attested to a different regiment and then transferred, which makes the search a bit harder.
 
Perhaps if you supply a name we can do a further search and see what we can come up with. Thanks
Was he from Birmingham?

However a quick search comes up with this info:
Many men from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment were transferred to the Devonshire Regiment during World War I due to heavy casualties and large-scale infantry re-organizations by the British Army
 
adding to the above post from janice..could you also give us his year of birth and wifes name if he was married also where abouts in birmingham he lived...all info may help us..thanks

lyn
 
Transfer from the Warwicks certainly makes more sense than direct attestation. He was William Constable, yes, living in Birmingham all his life. Interestingly, however, his brother attested to the Somersets and then transferred to the Berkshires. (Out of respect for living relatives, I would rather not post additional details for now.) Thanks.
 
TonyQ said:
Transfer from the Warwicks certainly makes more sense than direct attestation. He was William Constable, yes, living in Birmingham all his life. Interestingly, however, his brother attested to the Somersets and then transferred to the Berkshires. (Out of respect for living relatives, I would rather not post additional details for now.) Thanks.
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wish you well with your research

lyn
 
The obvious place to look would be his Medal Card, which should list his regiments.

However, though I can find one for his brother (I assume) I can't find a likely one for William.
 
MWS said:
The obvious place to look would be his Medal Card, which should list his regiments.

However, though I can find one for his brother (I assume) I can't find a likely one for William.
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And therein lies some of the conundrum. Why would a soldier not have a medal card? We can only assume that he may not have completed (may have failed?) his training?
 
MWS said:
It could be that he was deemed unfit by a local regiment and so tried his luck with the Devonshire Regiment. Not uncommon.

Possibly under assumed name, which wouldn't help.
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If deemed unfit, that would have been clear from the attestation papers presumably... but they don't appear to exist. Would there be any other record?
 
Yes, that's true. My great grandfather enlisted and was discharged after a month, deemed unfit to become an effective soldier. However, he turned up on the 1921 census as a Private in the Warks Regiment. No idea what happened in between.

Absent voter records can help but I had a look and he doesn't seem to appear. Either due to not be eligible to vote or not being absent. If you're certain it's a Devonshire Reg. uniform you could try the museum though I'm not sure if they hold any more records than what are available online.

With no Medal Card it does seem unlikely that he saw action.

Is there no more info on the photo or the card?
 
The Soldier only had a medal card if he served overseas
those who served on the Home front did not get one
Also due to admin issues a small amount of medal cards
do not exist
i found this out when looking into my family WW1 service records
i have my Grandads Medals named to him
Yet no Medal card exists
 
He is the son of William (Frederick) and Elizabeth (Sarah). Not sure about the address, there is another William Constable born the same time son of a William and Sarah.

The address I have is 2 Holly Place.
 
MWS said:
He is the son of William (Frederick) and Elizabeth (Sarah). Not sure about the address, there is another William Constable born the same time son of a William and Sarah.

The address I have is 2 Holly Place.
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2 Holly Place is Duddeston Mill Road. I was hoping to find him on absent voters reg in 1918 but I haven't so far.
 
MWS said:
Assuming I have the right person, he married in 1924 and his date of birth was 11th Aug 1897.
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also mark he is on the 1939 eve of war register occupation printer date of birth 11th aug 1897..also with him is possible wife alice born 1901 then we have 2 blanked out names presume they are children and then another william constable born 1873 retired railway fitters mate and he is a widow

lyn
 
Thanks for all the information, which we already have. I wasn't looking for anyone to do research for me. I was only looking for an answer to the very specific question that I originally asked. Apologies if I inadvertently wasted anyone's time on the wide history.
 
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