Military Chat

My Grandfather Joseph John Doubtfire is stated on my Mothers birth certificate as being a Private 42524 13th Devon Reg, stationed in Calne i presume Wilts.
My mother was born 2nd Feb 1917.
Researching on Genes there seems to be a totally different service number. I know he died many years later ironically on the 6th June 1945 with lung problems and it had been suggested he had been gassed.
Can anyone help with the difference.
Many thanks.
Margaret Burrell

Can't help with why he had a different service number but I know it was quite common for soldiers to have more than one number, especially if they changed to a different regiment. My father-in-law's army records gives two separate numbers - one from the Royal Artiliary and one from the Royal Engineers.

Kath. x

Thank you for your reply, i knew that some soldiers did change regiments during the war , my own father was in WW2 in the Royal Fusiliers when i was born in 1942, he then was in the Royal Artiliary, many years later whilst he was looking for lost comrades he found his friends in a German Cemetery they were in the Canadian Army.
I suspect at the end of the war they amalgated regiments as there were so few brave men.


Many thanks Kath,
From Margaret X

This is the only medal card that comes up on Ancestry for that name:

British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920
Name: Joseph J Doubtfire
Regiment or Corps: London Regiment, Royal Tank Corps
Regimental Number: 3272, 312175

No other regiments listed on the card.

Searching the medal rolls by the number 42524 doesn't fetch up anything remotely resembling your grandfather's name and regiment.

Thankyou, that is the info i came up with. I just can't understand why this is on my mothers birth certificate .
I have joined the war records through Ancestry and came up with that too.
It is an unusual name and i remember my grandmother talking about him being in the first world war so i have to think this is the same person.

Don't know about you but i do enjoy looking for family but get frustrated by one of my husbands grandfathers who seems to have got married and died (i have certificates etc) but to actually finding where and exactly when he was born has eluded me for some years. Many thanks for your Reply. Margaret Burrell

Margaret, I'm pretty sure our ancestors all plotted and schemed on ways to confound us! Why not start a thread on the Find Ancestors board about your husband's grandfather just in case fresh eyes can spot something (or even just confirm what you've already found).

It's such a shame that so many WW1 service records were destroyed during WW2 as they may have given some clues about Joseph John.

Hi Marie, i did a thread ages ago and i had quite a bit of feed back, mostly finding out exactly the same as me ie the same name was probably registered as Burrells, there seemed to be a family from Rochford with many brothers and sisters age range was right so i sent for a birth certificate , unfortunatly the fathers name was William when on his marriage certificate it was James.Back to square one.

His father was deceased when he got married so info may have been given wrongly ie was his father William but everyone called him James, i even had BMD doing a search a year either side of the possible year of birth they sent my money back because they could not find him.

As you say they did plot a bit my grandparents ie Joseph Doubtfire was born 1892 and my grandmother 1889, he made himself older than 21 to marry in 1911. Both thier parents were deceased at that time so who was going to dispute it !! I will keep looking . Thanks for the messages.

Have you been in touch with the Devonshire Regiment Museum?

They might be able to tell you why someone with two other army numbers might have had a Devonshire number at the time of your mother's birth.

Contact details:-

Devonshire Regiment Museum
Archon Code : 867

Contact Details
Wyvern Barracks
Topsham Road
Exeter
EX2 6AE
England

Correspondence Address :
The Keep Military Museum
Bridport Road
Dorchester
Dorset DT1 1RN

Kath. x

No i haven't Kath, had no idea of any such Museum, i will certanly write to them. Is that two addresses ie Exeter and Dorset.

Thankyou

Margaret X

Sorry for the delay Margaret.

I think it is the Dorset address you would need to write to. No guarantee that they can help but anything is worth a try and I have always found regimental museums willing to help if they can.

Good luck.

Kath. x