WW1 wounded soldiers

Can anyone help with a query, please ?

When a soldier is badly wounded, and subsequently discharged from the army, how long did this procedure take ?

Background - my grandfather went to France with the South Lancashire Regiment in 1915. He was shot through the arm, lost the use of the limb, and was medically discharged in May 1918. When, approximately, is he likely to have been wounded ?

I understand all cases were individual, but does anyone know a rough timeline that could assist me in my research ?

The Diaries are available now on Ancestry.co.uk and if you live in the Borough can be viewed online at any Library or The Museum of Wigan Life.
There were lots of Battalions in the Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) so you would need to know which one he belonged to.

got his service number ?

Not sure if this helps, My grandfathers service record states he was posted to France on 19/9/1914. it doesn't give the date of injury but he was transferred from the field hospital to Hospital Yacht Albion on 26/10/1914 and transfered to Queen Alexandra Hospital London. He was discharged from military service "No longer fit for war service" on 20/4/1915

Geraldine,
Yes, thank you. that's the sort of info I'm after. I know that the longest period between injury and discharge is eighteen months, but it's trying to get an average that seems to be difficult. May I ask - what was your grandfather's injury ?

Peter

Peter
Grandad had a gun shot / shrapnel injury that entered just under the angle of his right jaw bone and lodged in his brain. Obviously surgery to remove it was impossible at that time and so he just lived with it. He died in 1956

Geraldine,
Thank you. This is very helpful. My Grandad's injury was severe - he lost the use of his arm - so it seems reasonable at this stage to assume his time to discharge was similar to your Grandfather's, about six months. The reason I'm investigating is that I know my Grandad fought throughout 1916, and it now appears he fought through 1917 as well. I can follow his battalion history and add this to our family history. Thanks for taking the time to reply,

Regards,

Peter.

Peter
Glad to be able to help ,
I was lucky enough to be able to get all granddads service history including that from the Boer war (he enlisted under a false identity being under age) from ancestry but I believe a lot of early records where lost in the fire following the building they were stored in being bombed in WW2. I have his medals from both wars and a couple of photographs from his time in Queen Alexandra's hospital
Geraldine

Geraldine
Could I ask, how did you fine out what his identity was ie it was ealse. I'm having trouble locating my great grandfather also as he lied about his age to join so I am assuming now that he also mybe lied about his identity.
James Marsh

I have his medals from both wars and the inscriptions on the side edges had different names, this initially made me think one set of medals were not his, however once I found his service records on ancestry the names were cross referenced on both sets of records. Apparently he was granted an amnesty for WW1 service for having lied on oath when signing up for Boer war. Hope this makes sense. Geraldine

Hilly.

If your relative had a middle name, try searching with the full name, first name and middle initial, middle name only with last name. Also, three sets of war records are generally available to search: the Enlistment/Service Record, the Pension Record (severe wounds were evaluated to determine qualification for this pension) and Awards and Decoration Cards. If you have the war medals, his service number should be on the edge of the medal. You can use that number to search along with just his last name. The cards will have his Regiment, Rank at end of service and the years served, not much else, but are the most likely to have survived the WW2 Blitz Fire as they were stored in a different location from the Service Records. You may get a number of pages of possible hits. Take the time to check them all, You will start to see a repetitive search pattern emerge on an alphabetical basis and his name may pop up.

His birthdate, and location, will be a big help as well if a lot of similar names show up.

Good luck!


David

Some may already know of the online Wigan and Leigh WW1 Archive, but I've just learned of it due to a post by Frazhm on General - Thread.

archives.wigan.gov.uk

"an excellent site for pictures of relatives who were missing or killed, I have found three of previously unseen family members"

Process of elimination:
The South Lancashires had 18 Battalions
If your relative was in France in 1914, a high chance he served with the 2nd Battalion.

Territorial Force
1/4th - France - Disembarked on (around) 13th February 1915
1/5th - France - same as above

Kitchener (Service) Battalions
7th Battalion - France - Disembarked on 18th July 1915
8th Battalion - France - Disemberked on 28th Sept 1915
9th Battalion - France/Salonika - Landed in France 07 Sept 1915 traveled to Marsaille and went onto Salonika. -Disembarked 05 Nov 1915
11th Battalion - France - Disembarked on 07 Nov 1915.

Things to note: At this point in time (1914) both Regular and TF soldiers were allocated 4 digit service numbers. In the TF, any man with a number less than 4 digits was issued his number after 02 April 1908 and was probably a Volunteer in the county rifle association. Some of these men served in the Boer war.

If you go to the Ancestry website (others are available) and look at the medal cards, the date at the bottom of the card is the disembarkation date. Using the dates above you can identify the unit your relative served with. If the date is different, a month or so out, he was probably a replacement and came in a draft of men from the UK.

Wounded: Search the Times or Local papers for casualty lists. They list killed and wounded. Dependant on the theatre, a casualty list reported in the paper is anything between 4 -6 weeks old. If a person was wounded and brought back to the UK, after being rehabilitated in hospital and then a convalescant hospital, the man would be posted to his reserve battalion or depot. Once fully recovered, some men went back to thier original unit, some would be posted to a battalion that needed the manpower. After 1916 men were sent to any regiment or corps that needed the manpower. The needs of the army come first, the needs of the unit second, the needs of the individual, last. This still happens today. Nothing has changed.

If a man was seriously injured, the Army would not just chuck them out. Many went to the Labour Corps. These men did not serve in the frontline (unless attacked or absolutely necesary), they served as labourers at docks in France or transportation units. If they could not serve in any capacity, they were discharged.

There are pension cards available. There are several catagories, men who survived the war and were injured. Men who did not survive and the widow is claiming the pension. The man survived the war but died shortly after due to injuries sustained in service. These cards can have the type of injury suffered, the pension amount and an address. Sometimes they are just blank. Its pot luck.

Good luck searching.