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@RE_Hist_Society An Ebay find.....what appears to be a silver dipped 14-15 Star to 112880 Spr SE Hart RE.... I will do a bit of a thread in a mo, but let's see if anyone can figure him out in the meantime.
1. So what of 112880 Spr SE Hart RE? First a search is for any records that may exist, prepare for disappointment as 70-80% of service records were destroyed in WW2, if your man never served overseas then no medal records to, there maybe nothing at all in the public domain...
2. So a search on the usual suspect genealogy site @AncestryUK shows that only a Medal Index Card & Medal Rolls exists.....
3. Royal Engineers medal info more often than not doesn't give any reference to a specific Specific Unit...However it does give us his first name Samuel, he landed in France on 14th September 1915, and was discharged on 17th January 1919.
So what next?
So what next?
4. Just because service records for your man don't exist, records for near number men might!
So we need to search for men in the number block range 112870 to 112889 to see if any of the following pop up.
Service/Pension Records,
Casualty List & Medical Records, @CWGC or SDGW
So we need to search for men in the number block range 112870 to 112889 to see if any of the following pop up.
Service/Pension Records,
Casualty List & Medical Records, @CWGC or SDGW
5. A sample of near numbered men
112873 - 175th TC - Mansfield
112874 - 175th TC - Derbyshire
112877 - Nottingham
112879 - 178th TC - Alfreton
112881 - 175th TC - Nottingham
112882 - Pinxton, Derbyshire
112884 - 175th TC - Nottingham
112886 - 177th TC - Cornwall
112873 - 175th TC - Mansfield
112874 - 175th TC - Derbyshire
112877 - Nottingham
112879 - 178th TC - Alfreton
112881 - 175th TC - Nottingham
112882 - Pinxton, Derbyshire
112884 - 175th TC - Nottingham
112886 - 177th TC - Cornwall
6. Fairly certain 112880 Samuel E Hart is a Tunneller, but who is he & where is he from? Best bet is to search for Samuel E Harts, who are miners/colliers that hail from Notts or Derby, to generalise, for working class men the E is likely to stand either Edwin, Edgar or Edward
7. A quick search of the census gives me two likely men... @thegenealogist
However a look at the first man shows in 1911 he is bread delivery man...However the second man in 1911 is still a Collier, his middle name is abbreviated to Ed and married to a Sarah..!
However a look at the first man shows in 1911 he is bread delivery man...However the second man in 1911 is still a Collier, his middle name is abbreviated to Ed and married to a Sarah..!
8. A search of the Electoral Register on @findmypast covering 1918 to 1920. The 1918 one pulls Samuel Edward Hart and his wife Sarah. Samuel is listed as NM. An abbreviation for Naval/Military Voter indicating he is absent...
9. Then the same electoral register for spring 1919..... Samuel is back home matching up with a January 1919 discharge.
10. Now we have a very likely known man, a Tunneller and the odds are stacked towards him being 175th Tunnelling Company joining them in the late summer of 1915.
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/tunnelling-companies-of-the-royal-engineers-underground-warfare/
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/tunnelling-companies-of-the-royal-engineers-underground-warfare/
11. If you have made it this far, that was a bit of a canter through military research & genealogy armed with just a few bits of information you can piece together a man's story from home, to the front and home again...
Thanks
Andy
Thanks
Andy
