My father's brother was William HANDLEY born in Wolverhampton to John and Ellen HANDLEY 17th November 1895. His step mother was Sarah after Ellen died.He died in Solihull in 1974. In 1914 his military number was 6637 Kings Shropshire Light Infantry Reserve. He was discharged that year for having flat feet. Address then was 21 Mill Street, Bridgnorth. My query is I know from family members he did go on to serve in WW1 abroad but I am unable to find any later service records for him. Any ideas?
Thank you I will pursue those two sites. I feel his records were probably destroyed as I am unable to find them so far.
Barbara,
Have you seen Wiliam's 1914 Army records on Findmypast and Ancestry? If not they state that William was enlisted into 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve) KSLI. If he re-enlisted then he may have gone back into the 3rd Battalion, but with new regimental number. The 3rd Battalion were deployed to Cork, Ireland in 1917. Does that count as serving abroad?
If you do subscribe to FMP then try the link to KSLI records through the link on:
http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/kings-shropshire-light-infantry-1st-2nd.html
If William did serve abroad then he is likely to be in War Medals Rolls (again on FMP and Ancestry). But there are a lot of William Handley's, and none under KSLI or Regimental No. 6637, that seem to fit your William.
Regards
Phil
Hello Phil
I replied via my phone a couple of days ago but it must have got lost in the ether somewhere. Thank you for the links. I heard a few years ago that William served in France I think. I always thought, as he was declared unfit to serve due to having flat feet, that was the end of the war for him but apparently not. I will try the War Medals Rolls as well as the other links.
Thank you
Barbara
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60% of WWI Army records were destroyed by bombing/fire during WW2, so it's pure chance if your uncle's records survive, unless that is he continued service after 1920 in which case his records are still held by MOD.
These two site should prove helpful:-
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-soldiers-after-1913/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records