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Hi
I have been trying to find the correct medal index card of William Ball in the first world war. I only have a photograph of William in his army uniform so I can tell his rank is Corporal, but not his regiment.
The National Archives have several record cards for WB's, but I can't tell which one I need. I know he must have served somewhere in the Asian continent as he is wearing shorts. How can I tell from the medal index where he served so I can purchase the correct one?

Post note

William came from Leicester so the chances are he was in the Leicestershire Regiment. He signed on as single but he was, in fact, married. Apparently young men did that a lot in WW1.

If you know his parents names these are mainly given as NOKin on services records or a family member...service records can be found on Ancestry.

Thanks Kay???? I shall check this out. They were called William and Rachel.

If you can find a service record for him it will give his service number which will match medal card.

1891

BALL, William Head Married M 52 1839 Van Man Dye Works
Stoke Golding
Leicestershire
BALL, Rachel Wife Married F 51 1840
Leicester
BALL, James Son Single M 14 1877 Shoe Finisher
Leicester
BALL, Ethel A Daughter Single F 12 1879 Scholar
Leicester
BALL, Adalade Daughter Single F 10 1881 Scholar
Leicester
BALL, William Son Single M 9 1882 Scholar
Leicester
BALL, Violetta Daughter Single F 19 1872 Hosiery Seamer
Leicester

RG number:
RG12 Piece:
2534 Folio:
42 Page:
24

Registration District:
Leicester Sub District:
East Leicester Enumeration District:
77 Ecclesiastical Parish:
St Mark

Civil Parish:
Leicester Municipal Borough:
Leicester Address:
3, Leadenhall Street, Leicester County:
Leicestershire



British Army Service Records 1760-1913 (Find My Past website)

BALL William 1881 Leicester, Leicestershire Leicestershire Regiment 1900-1913

This record relates to William in above census...parents given, and same address.
Number given as 5874


Chris :)
(having a random guess!)

1891 is this him ?
Name: William Ball
Age: 9
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1882
Relation: Son
Father's Name: William Ball
Mother's Name: Rachel Ball
Gender: Male
Where born: Leicestershire, England

Civil parish: St Marks
Ecclesiastical parish: St Mark
County/Island: Leicestershire
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View image

Registration district: Leicester
Sub-registration district: East Leicester
ED, institution, or vessel: 77
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
William Ball 52
Rachel Ball 51
James Ball 14
Ethel A Ball 12
Adalade Ball 10
William Ball 9
Violetta Ball 19



Trying to work out his year of birth which might help with the search

Thansk everyone. This is the correct William Ball ( M&F Rachel and William).

Thanks Chris for the record number, I can get his medal card.

Hi

The site I have listed below will show you how to read and interpretate Medal Cards and also show the code for the theatre of war .

http://www.1914-1918.net/grandad/mic.htm

Good luck

mike

Thanks Mike, as I need all the help I can get.

My maternal and paternal grandparents are 'found' in about two years I take my hat off to all of you guys/gals.

Well it appears that William Ball was in the army twice! From 1900-1902(info collected here) and again in WWI. Found first record but not second yet. Is there a way of contacting the regiment for their archive records?

greatartuin. go onto ansestry, tap in ww1 and follow ,ifound 3 uncles who served . also tap in absent votors ww1, this was for serving men abroard. hop it helps .marjorie

Thanks Marjorie

I have found out today from one of my siblings that he did, in fact, serve in India for 8 years so there should be lots of info on him.

Thanks again

FAO Majorie

How do I 'tap in' when there seems to no dialogue box to do this? I have already spent a lot on payg trying different things.

I have used eveything on Ancestry I can recognise so I am doing something wrong?

great artuin. you did nothing wrong, ok . go to ukbmd.org scroll down you will find british army records. also british army pensions 1914....1920. by for now marjorie

Thanks Marjorie, but I am afraid that his second army record starts in 1908 so the only information I can get from Ancestry records is his first army service in 1900-1902. I have downloaded these pages from Ancestry. A positive note is that I can now recognise the 'short' service records and do not need to spend money opening a record I already have. Although he was in a 'theatre of war' by the time he was demobbed in Palestine circa 1917 I am not convinced he will be in the 1914-18 records as such.

Thanks for the help though.

This thread has me rather confused, but one point I'm not sure has been made -- a very large proportion of WWI service records was destroyed during WWII. So you might never find his WWI record, if it was one of the ones lost.

To find info about the regiment, google it: "leicestershire regiment".

http://www.armymuseums.org.uk/amot-search/default.asp?Category=Amot&Service=Museum-Display&reference=0000000105

for instance


http://www.hm17thregiment.org/museum.htm

"In 1964, the Royal Leicestershire Regiment was amalgamated into the Royal Anglian Regiment (to become the 4th Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment) and was subsequently deactivated in the 1970s. The regimental museum collection continued to be exhibited in the old Territorial Army Center at The Keep, Leicester, Leicestershire, until 1994, when it was closed due to structural instability. Since then, only 5% of the regiment's collection has been on exhibit, at the New Walk Museum in Leicester."

Thank you JaneyCanuck.

That's not good news then, if his service records were destroyed.

I still hold out hope that the regiment may have information regarding the campaign in India where WB served. It would be nice to know where the regiment was in that area to help build a picture of the man. (He looks lovely on his photograph).

I am one of the 'never say never' brigade so something may turn up in future searches. Up until a while ago I had only heard of his name and now I know lots about him. : )

I would think that the museum people would be able to provide info about the regiment's activities fairly readily.

Was he William Henry or plain William?

Births Jun 1882
Ball William Leicester 7a 214

Births Sep 1881
BALL William Henry Leicester 7a 214

If the first one was born before the end of March, both would have been 9 in 1891.


Now that you've given dates, 1900-1902, is the second Anglo-Boer War not the most likely event? And those early records confirm that he was in the Leicestershire Regiment? Or did they definitely say India? You really just aren't being very clear.

So ... google

"leicestershire regiment" boer


http://www.ladysmithhistory.com/a-to-z/british-regiments/leicestershire-regiment/

The siege of Ladysmith lasted until 28th February 1900, during which the garrison was reduced to starvation rations and many were killed or died of disease.

When, Ladysmith having been relieved and its garrison recuperated, Sir Redvers Buller moved north, the Leicesters were brigaded with the 1st Liverpool, 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and 1st King’s Royal Rifles. After re-organisation and rest, the Battalion joined the 4th Division in General Buller’s Natal Field Force, and took part in the storming of Laing’s Nek and the Lyndenberg operations which carried the war into the Orange Free State and Transvaal during the summer of 1900. The Third (Militia) Battalion volunteered for service in South Africa and took an active part in the guerrilla operations under Kitchener which ended the war. ...

http://www.angloboerwar.com/imperial-units/568-leicestershire-regiment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Leicestershire_Regiment#1881_-_1914

I'm not seeing anything about India c1900.

He was in Egypt 1900-1902. He re-enlisted 1908, his service thenwas in India. Got all the information I require now about the 1900/02 stuff, just need to find the 1908 service. As WB stayed for 8 years in the army he lasted into WW1...so were the regiment deployed to serve in the theatre of war? This is now getting quite exciting. He looks such a lovely guy.