Military Chat

Good morning struggling to find army papers for my grandfather i think he was in France in the first war i have pictures of hi in uniform with others but he is nowhere to be found it would have been near the end as he was born in 1899 he had an artificial leg was wondering if he was injured thankyou in advance if you can help much apriciated lyn

Birth registered Q3 1898

Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
TESTER, GEORGE VICTORY WATCHOUS
GRO Reference: 1898 S Quarter in TUNBRIDGE Volume 02A Page 764


Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Births Sep 1898 (>99%)
TESTER George Victory Tunbridge 2a 764

Various spellings of MMN for sibling birth reg's shown on the GRO site
eg. Watchouse, Watehouse, Watchus


Parents marriage - Cranbrook RD covers Goudhurst (Poster's declared area of interest for Tester surname)

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Dec 1883 (>99%)

Tester Charles Cranbrook 2a 1266
WATCHUS Harriett Ellen Cranbrook 2a 1266

Brother Frederick -

Soldiers Died In The Great War 1914-1919

First name(s) Frederick Percy
Death month 9
Last name Tester
Death year 1914
Rank Dvr.
Death place France & Flanders
Service number 68417
Theatre of war Western European Theatre
Battalion -
Cause of death Died of wounds
Regiment Royal Horse Artillery And Royal Field Artillery
Record set Soldiers Died In The Great War 1914-1919
Birth place Farningham, Kent
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Residence -
Subcategory First World War
Enlistment place Horsmonden, Kent
Collections from Great Britain, UK None
Death day 2

Soldiers Died in the Great War database © Naval and Military Press Ltd 2010


****** Commonwealth War Graves Commission site shows his Service No. as 68411 if you search for him, but the records show 68417

I only see that one birth for a George Victor/y Tester from 1870 - 1905 so these may be his records. They are transcripts only of medals awarded.

If you have photos of him in uniform you could check online to see if they look like the Suffolk or Norfolk regiment uniforms that are mentioned in the records.


Around 70% of WW1 Service documents were burnt during WW2 and many no longer exist - it would seem that his are in that group.

Britain, First World War Campaign Medals

First name(s) George Victor
1915 corps 11th Suff. R.
Last name Tester
1916 corps 2nd Suff. R.
Disembarkation year -
Medals awarded British War Medal And Victory Medal
Disembarkation date -
Archive The National Archives
Rank Private
Archive series WO 329
Rank as transcribed Private.
Archive reference WO 329/887
Service number 41744
Record set Britain, First World War Campaign Medals
Regiment Suffolk Regiment
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Previous unit 7th Norf. R. 32516 Pte.
Subcategory First World War
1914 corps Suff. R. (1st Camb. R.) 41744
Collections from Great Britain, UK None
© Naval and Military Press Ltd

--------------
Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards

First name(s) George Victor
Second service record Soldier Number: 41744, Rank: Private, Corps: Suffolk Regiment
Last name Tester
Image link http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D5517136
Year 1914-20
Country Great Britain
Service number 32516, 41744
Medal type British Army Medal Index Cards, 1914-1920
Second service number 41744
Archive reference WO372/19
Rank Private,Private
Archive reference description Campaign Medal Index Cards and Silver War Badge Cards
Second rank Private
Record set Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards
Regiment Norfolk Regiment, Suffolk Regiment
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Second corps Suffolk Regiment
Subcategory Medal Rolls and Honours
Service record Soldier Number: 32516, Rank: Private, Corps: Norfolk Regiment
Collections from Great Britain, UK None
The National Archives

CWGC Website

DRIVER FREDERICK PERCY TESTER
Service Number: 68411
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Royal Horse Artillery

"L" Bty.

Date of Death
Died 08 September 1914

Age 21 years old

Buried or commemorated at
BARON COMMUNAL CEMETERY

1.

France

Son of Mr. C. and Mrs. H. Tester, of Stoney Lane, Goudhurst, Kent.

IWM PHOTOGRAPHS

'L' BATTERY, ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY, 1914

Group photograph of the members of the Battery, taken at Aldershot on 15 August 1914, the day before they left for active service in France. On 1st September, during the retreat from Mons, 'L' Battery lost 23 killed and 31 wounded whilst helping to beat off an attack by the German 4th Cavalry Division at Nery. Three Victoria crosses were subsequently awarded to members of the Battery.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205047835

The photograph of the lads was taken less than a month before Frederick died........

Apologies, I know it's referencing Frederick which was not your original post, but I found something else which may be of interest to you.

Each unit of the British Army during the war completed War Diaries. These diaries were a record of the daily/weekly occurrences specific to that unit. Dates of attack, movements, personnel changes etc.

We know Frederick died September 8 1914.

If you register with (it's free) and sign into The National Archives website, you would be able to download L Battery's War Diary covering Aug- Oct 1914

Reference: WO 95/1111/3
Description:
`L' Battery Royal Horse Artillery

Date: 1914 Aug. - Oct.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WO 95 - War Office: First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries is also the place to start to look if you wanted to read about the movements etc of George's regiments too.
1914 corps Suff. R. 1st Cambridgeshire Regt
1915 corps 11th Suffolk Regt
1916 corps 2nd Suffolk Regt or
Previous unit 7th Norfolk Regt

Occasionally, and not very often, individual casualties are named within War Diaries, although this was usually reserved for the Officers. The men were bundled together as OR (other ranks), but I have seen OR's singularly mentioned in other War Diaires. It is possible, although not very likely, that George could have been mentioned in a Diary as a casualty if you chose to look for him ( a LOT of Time and patience permitting).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Within the TNA website are records within the

MH 106 War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen and Servicewomen

Description:
The records in this series are a representative selection of several types of medical records from various theatres of war. The records include admission and discharge registers from hospitals and casualty clearing stations, field ambulances, an ambulance train and a hospital ship.

These records are also available on FMP.

British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records on FMP shows only 5 results for G Tester. None have the same service number as George.

In case you don't have it -1939 Register

First name(s) George V
Last name(s) Tester
County Kent
Country England
Birth date 06 Jul 1898 *******
E. D. letter code DJCS
Birth day 6
Schedule 291
Birth month 7
Schedule sub number 1
Birth year 1898
Archive reference RG101/1807H/003/7
Sex Male
Piece number 1807H
Marital status Widowed ******
Item number 3
Occupation Home Labourer
Line number 7
Address 2 Council Cotts, Goudhurst *******
Category Census, land & surveys
Place Cranbrook R.D.
Subcategory Census
Borough / district Cranbrook R.D.
Collections from Great Britain, England

Here is George in the 1921 census.

Someone with a sub to FMP will doubtless have a look - there might be some note about a disability, which would at least narrow down the timeframe re his leg.

(Of course maybe you have this already.)

George Tester
1897
Birthplace: Goudhurst, Kent, England
Residence: Goudhurst Cranbrook Kent

He's listed with his parents Charles (1856) and Harriett (1859) , and his brothers
Charles 1889 and Jim 1900.


TESTER, JAMES ALFRED mmn WATCHOUSE
GRO Reference: 1900 J Quarter in TUNBRIDGE Volume 02A Page 782

TESTER, CHARLES WILLIAM mmn WATERHOUSE
GRO Reference: 1887 S Quarter in CRANBROOK UNION Volume 02A Page 766 .

DISTRICT NEWS

LATE MRS. C. TESTER. The funeral took place at Goudhurst on Wednesday of Mrs. Mabel Tester, wife of Mr. George Tester, of Chequers Cottages, who died on Friday at the age of 37. Mourners were Mr. G. Tester, Mr. G. Manktelow, Miss A. Manktelow ( and
many more people that cut and paste could not attach)
14 April 1939

Kent & Sussex Courier
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England

FMP entry for 1921 Census reads as per ArgyllGran 25 May 2024 09:07 entry

Charles Tester Head Male 1856 65 Lewes, Sussex, England Farm Labourer B Hinder Farmer

Harriett Tester Wife Female 1859 62 Goudhurst, Kent, England Home Duties -

Charles Tester Son Male 1889 31 Goudhurst, Kent, England Assisting In General Work Kershaw Farmer

George Tester Son Male 1897 23 Goudhurst, Kent, England Farm Labourer B Hinder Farmer

Jim Tester Son Male 1900 21 Goudhurst, Kent, England Horse Man W J Noakes Farmer

GOUDHURST. ACCIDENT. Thursday week Charles William Tester, a waggoner in the employ of Mr. A. B. Hinds, Spelmonden Farm, was unloading coke into a cart at the Railway Station, when clearing up, the horse ran back and caught Tester between the railway truck and the cart. The mate [They at ] once went to the horse's head, and pulled the animal forward in order to release Tester, who was unable to move. A car was fetched from Mr. Owen’s, Railway Hotel, close by, and the sufferer was taken to the surgery of Dr. Marshall, who ordered him home, and since attended him there. It was was discovered that no bones were actually broken, and he is doing as well as could be expected.

Published: Friday 05 February 1926
Newspaper: Kent & Sussex Courier
County: Kent, England

Thankyou all for the reply i will sift through them slowly i appriciate all the time you have spent for my request :-)

thankyou again everyone for the information still having trouble getting round this site hopefully you will all get a thankyou if ive done this right fingers crossed

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