Military Chat

I am trying to find any military records for the above John Thomas Smith b. 1889 Nunbeaton, Warwickshire. H ie said to have served in the Royal Horse Artillery in WW1. He was injured with a piece of shrapnel in the leg and was nursed and recuperated in a hospital in Kent. Unfortunately I have no idea if the Royal Horse Artillery was a regiment in its own right or whether there were several different sections. Unfortunately the above is all the information I have as he was still a single man in the period of WW1 and I have no details re his parents. Could anyone at all help or on this sparce information is there little hope ? Thanks.

Births Sep 1889 (>99%)
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Smith John Thomas Nuneaton 6d 461

(the above Cert. should help, hopefully!)


https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

(to order, £9.25)

Chris :)

Yes Chris - if all else fails I will have to purchase the cert. I was hoping to find parish records for baptisms for N|uneaton online but not been lucky. It is his military records where I am really stuck. Thanks for your help.

This site has info on the RHA:

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

No medal cards are showing for John Thomas Smith in the RHA but there is this one for John T :


Name:John T Smith

Regiment or Corps:Royal Horse Artillery
Regimental Number:65303

"Missing" is also on the card and the 1914 Star is shown as having been returned.

Do you know if he returned to action after his injury?

Edit: this can't be him as the Medal Roll shows he died on 30/11/1917.

Potty - yes he was 'blightied' back to England and was nursed in a hospital in Kent where the sisters of Scott of the Antarctic visited injured troops. He had shrapnel in his leg and they tried a muscle 'transplant' but gangrene developed and his leg was amputated. I have tried to see if he got a pension but once again haven't been successful. I am beginning to wonder now if his records were amongst those destroyed in WW2

1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
25 Toler Road Nuneaton, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England

William Smith Head Married Male Hatter Rougher 46 1865 Nuneaton War
Mary Ann Smith Wife Married Female - 45 1866 Nuneaton War
John Thomas Smith Son Single Male Banksman Collier 21 1890 Nuneaton War
Eliza Smith Daughter Single Female - 18 1893 Nuneaton War
Sarah Jane Smith Daughter Single Female Winder 14 1897 Nuneaton War
Lydia Rebeca Smith Daughter Single Female School 12 1899 Nuneaton War
Christoher Smith Son Single Male School 6 1905 Nuneaton War

He would probably have been awarded the Silver War Badge but I can't find him in Ancestry's records. There are lots of John T(homas) Smiths but the only two in the RHA are too young to be him and both were discharged due to sickness not wounds. There are 20+ John Smiths but not all have an age given. Do you know when he left the hospital or was discharged?

Margaret- a tree on Ancestry has John Thomas Smith (b.1889 Nuneaton) marrying a Helena Lucy Harris (b.1895 Tenterden, Kent).

If correct I think this is the marriage in Kent:
name(s) LENA L HARRIS
Marriage quarter 1
Marriage year 1918
Spouse: JOHN T SMITH
County Kent
Country England
Volume 2A Page 1952

Is this the correct marriage?
Although I see possible deaths for Helena and John in Nuneaton, do you have any evidence that he was born in Nuneaton?

Potty and Gritty - sorry for delay in replying but I was out last evening and have only just logged on.

Potty - no unfortunately I have no idea when John Thomas was discharged from hospital - just that he lost his leg after an unsuccessful muscle transplant operation.

Gritty - yes, the 1911 Census details you put up is the correct family showing John Thomas at home age 21. Also, the marriage you found is undoubtedly the correct one although I didn't actually have the date/place for that but it makes sense as I have now looked it up and it was registered Cranbrook Kent. John met his wife whilst being nursed in hospital and she came from Tenterden in Kent. As an added interest, her name was actually Helena Lucy Ann Harris and she didn't know her name was Helena until she was about 80 yrs old as she had been called Lena all her life. Interestingly her marriage records just shows Lena L Harris.

Thank you both for your help.

I have been a given snippet which I hope help. It has discovered in a John Thomas a miniature a New Testament by the Natiopnal Bible Testament of Scotland while active service in 1916/. In his own writing in pencil is Private J. T. Smith 14178 (writing feint so could be 14198) KINGS OWN SCOTTISH BORDERS C Coy.

This seems peculiar as there is up to now known connection with Scotland.

Would this latest snippet help trace him via military records. Thanks.

The nearest I can find is this Silver War Badge record but the Reg No is different. He was discharged due to wounds on 5/01/1917.


Name:
John Smith

Discharge Unit:K.O.S. Borderers
Regiment:Own Borderers
Regimental Number:14974
Rank:Pte
Badge Number:113995
Piece:3029
List Number:D 0001-0300
Record Group:WO

Edit:

Definitely not the above - he was wounded in the chest and was married to a Letitia Hughes.

Thanks very much for trying. This is a real mystery - no trace anywhere !!

This very odd, Margaret. With his regiment and No we should be able to find him on the Medal Rolls but he isn't there. I have searched through the medal rolls for the KOSB and neither nos 14178 or 14198 are there. That would seem to indicate that the men with those nos didn't serve abroad. I wonder if he could have been wounded in the UK?