Military Chat

I am trying to find out any information on my Great Granddad's military record.

His names is George Edwin Wickins.
His date of birth was 06.08.1873.
His soldier number was 48544.
He was in the Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918.

Please is there anyone who can help me with this. I have been trying for ages and all that I had to go on was a photograph taken on his 30th birthday in full uniform.

Julie Hill

He appears on the Surrey recrument registers, but no extra info really, other than he originally enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps.

Note a different soldier number:

First Name G E
Last Name Wickins
Age 38 Years 0 Months<<<<<<<<<<<<
Birth Place
Year 1916
Occupation Publisher<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Unit Or Regiment Royal Flying Corps
Regiment Royal Flying Corps
Soldier Number 11818
Attestation Place London
Attestation Date 11 January 1916
Service -
Height -
Complexion -
Hair Colour
Chest Expansion Inches
Distinctive Marks
Chest Size Inches
Eye Colour
Weight in Pounds
Remarks

Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918

First name(s) G E
Last name Wickins
Service number 48544
Enlisted 1916/09/01
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Record collection First World War
Collections from Great Britain

This showed he had been a Fitter (Gen) in the Royal Flying Corps and was remustered to the same occupation in the Royal Airforce.

His date of joining recorded as 29/9/16.

EDIT: AS he didn't enlist until 1916 , at the age of 38,in the Flying Corps, I'm confused by the photo of him in full uniform on his 30th birthday - did you mean 40th, or was he a soldier previously?

Also, aged 38 in 1916, doesn't quite tally with an 1873 birth ( he would have been 40 in 1913), although he may have lopped a few years off in order to enlist.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C11625268

Air Ministry: Air Member for Personnel and predecessors: Airmen's Records. George Ernest Wickins

(above from National Archives, Kew)

Chris :)

So was he George EDWIN Wickins, or George ERNEST Wickins?

The George Ernest Wickins whose record that Chris found has the same number 48544 as the G E Wickins on the 1918 Royal Airforce Muster Roll.

EDIT:

Looks like Julie's George was baptised George Edwin, so is the name George Ernest in the records at the National Archives a mistake, or has Julie latched on to the wrong G E Wickins?

Name: George Edwin Wickins
Birth Date: 6 Aug 1873<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Baptism Date: 25 Oct 1874
Parish: Liverpool, St Peter
Father's Name: Cradock Wickins
Mother's name: Caroline Blagden Wickins
Reference Number: 283 PET/2/71

Relation Name: George Wickins
Date of Birth: 1873
Place of Birth: LIVERPOOL Merseyside England

(as above from GR 'Search All Member Trees' also shared by others)

Chris :)

I think this chap is far more likely to be the chap in the RAF/RFC

Census 1911:

Name: George Ernest Wickins<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Age in 1911: 33<<<<<<<<<<
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1878
Relation to Head: Son
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Dulwich, Surrey
Civil Parish: Wadhurst
County/Island: Sussex
Country: England
Street address: Brockfield Wadhurst Sussex
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Music Publishers Manager<<<<<<<<<<<
Registration district: Ticehurst
Registration District Number: 73
Sub-registration district: Wadhurst
ED, institution, or vessel: 7
Household schedule number: 9
Piece: 4914

Household Members:
Name Age
Helena Wickins 66
Helena Florence Wickins 45
Mary Beatrice Wickins 35
George Ernest Wickins 33
Jane Maria Hammond 33
May Bourne 21


Name tallies with the NA record Chris found, age and occupation tally reasonaly well with the Surrey recruitment register details I posted, and the G E Wickins on the 1918 muster roll had the same service number as the George Ernest Wickins whose records are held at the National Archives., as posted by Chris.

Thank you both for the information.
Kucinta you were correct George Edwin Wickins. Father Craddock, mother Caroline. Over the photpgraph, I only have family stories to go by. If you would like to see it, it may be of some help to you, I can send it to you.

Julie

I'm not an expert on uniforms, so the photo would be no help to me, but maybe to others?

I can only say that on balance the only records we can find online of a G E Wickins in the RAF or RFC, including the 1918 muster roll you mention, would seem to be for a George Ernest Wickins a few years younger than your relative, who worked in publishing before he enlisted in the RFC in London.

The 1918 muster roll confirms that G E Wickins no 48544 was in the Royal Flying Corps before the RAF was set up.

You could follow up the link Chris posted and get a quote on the cost of obtaining a copy of the record for George ERNEST Wickins no 48544, who seems to be the only G E Wickins on record, to see if some mistake has been made with the second name, but my gut feeling is that it's unlikely.

Your grandfather's 30th birthday would have been 1903 - you mentioned that's when the photo was taken - so long before WWI.