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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Robert

Robert Report 19 Nov 2014 21:55

My Great Uncle Arthur William Austin died during the First World War, for the past 20yrs this is all that our family knew, then on sunday I found this

Surrey Recruitment Registers 1908-1933 Transcription
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First name(s) A
Last name Austin
Service number 28071
Age 18 Years 0 Months
Birth year 1898
Occupation Baker
Attestation year 1916
Attestation date 24 August 1916
Attestation place Croydon
Unit or regiment 29th Training Reserve Batn
Regiment 29th Training Reserve Batn
Height 5ft 4in.
Weight in pounds 110
Chest expansion inches 2
Chest size inches 33
Remarks 30 Bensham Grove Thornton Heath
Notes Conscripted men. Recruitment register: No.1, Infantry on cover. Name of recruiter column used for medical classification. Recruitment nos.25000-29350. Indexed.
Country England
Reference 2496 / 21
Series Conscripted men, 9th December 1916 - 20th February 1917
Page number 138
Record set Surrey Recruitment Registers 1908-1933
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Record collection Regimental & service records
Collections from Great Britain
copyright The Surrey History Trust

Finally something about this mystery man.
But now I still cant tie this information down to a casualty.
Any help or information would be appreciated
Bob

Kucinta

Kucinta Report 19 Nov 2014 23:50

Did he move on from the training battalion?

Was your man born Thornton Heath?

If he changed regiments his regimental number would also have changed.

UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919

Name: Arthur Austin
Birth Place: Thornton Heath, Surrey<<<<<<<<<<<
Death Date: 28 Mar 1918
Death Place: France and Flanders
Enlistment Place: Croydon, Surrey<<<<<<<<<<<
Rank: Private
Regiment: Machine Gun Corps
Battalion: (Infantry)
Regimental Number: 115395
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre

CWGC site:

AUSTIN, ARTHUR
Private 115395
Died 28/03/1918
Regiment: Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
Country: United Kingdom
Grave /Memorial Reference: Bay 10.
Cemetery / Memorial Name: ARRAS MEMORIAL

British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920

Name: Arthur Austin
Regiment or Corps: Machine Gun Corps
Regimental Number: 115395

Victory & British Medals.

Kucinta

Kucinta Report 19 Nov 2014 23:55

Info about the Training Reserve:

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

An excerpt.

"Men who were posted to the TR battalions were not allocated to any particular regiment when the time came for them to be posted. So from this time on it is not safe to assume that a recruit would serve with his local regiment. Later, from May 1917, this arrangement was itself altered when the units of the TR became Graduated and Young Soldier Battalions and were once again aligned with specific regiments."

So maybe he was assigned to the MGC when he moved on from the training battalion.

Kucinta

Kucinta Report 20 Nov 2014 00:11

1911 address tallies with the address on the Surrey Recruitment register, and this lad is said to be born Thornton Heath....

Census 1911

1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census

30 Bensham Grove Thornton Heath, Croydon, Surrey, England<<<<<<<<<<<

Alfred Austin Head Married Male 40 1871 Upper Norword Gravel Pits Sifting
Alice Austin Wife Married Female 41 1870 Goudhurst Kent
Arthur Austin Son - Male 13 1898 Thornton Heath School <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
James Austin Son - Male 11 1900 Thornton Heath School
Rose Austin Daughter - Female 8 1903 Thornton Heath School
May Austin Daughter - Female 6 1905 Thornton Heath
Doris Austin Daughter - Female 0 1911 Thornton Heath

Robert

Robert Report 20 Nov 2014 06:04

Hello Kucinta,
Thank you for this. This 1911 census is my man, Rose Austin, his sister is my grandmother. His birth cert says Thirsk Rd. South Norwood, Croydon, so all the same area. No idea as to which other regiments he may have moved to. As you say this does all look like the same man. This is all I have.
Bob
:-)

Kay????

Kay???? Report 20 Nov 2014 08:24

Rank:PrivateService No:26070Date of Death:04/09/1916Regiment/Service:Northamptonshire Regiment 2nd Garrison Bn. Grave Reference:D. 2. 13642.Cemetery:CROYDON (QUEEN'S ROAD) CEMETERYAdditional Information:Husband of N. A. Austin, of 30, Bensham Grove, Thornton Heath.

Another relative>>>

This from CWGC,,

No name given just as,

Austin.A.A.

Robert

Robert Report 20 Nov 2014 17:12

Hello Kay,
This was his father, my great grand father
Bob