Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi everyone.
I've come across some quite lengthy military records for a William Henry Kelly (born 1879; husband of Martha) of the 9th King's Liverpool Regiment. They run to about 30+ pages although some seem to be repeated. His number was 2391.
They seem to be Territorial Force attestation papers.
It seems that William had been in the 4th battalion from 1900-? - last date obliterated by black mark but it states that the reason he had left was because the 'term expired'. Anyone able to throw any light on this? All records I have for him during this period (e.g. children's baptisms) say he was a house painter rather than anything to do with the army.
Having left for France on 12 March 1915, he is then wounded at Ypres on 6/01/1917 and is in Bagthorpe Military Hospital for 26 days. I cannot quite make out his injuries as the writing is very faint but would love to identify them. War diaries suggest he was the only one injured that day.
I get confused after this as there are lots of transfers to the Reserve Employment Corps, Gloustershire Regiment and Labour Battalion Centre. He was finally discharged 7/02/1919.
In 1939, he then writes to ask for copies of his discharge papers because he has lost them. Why would he need his papers 20 years after the event?

Can anyone answer my queries?
Also, is there anyone with the time to take a llok at the records if I send them as a pm? I'm not really sure if I am picking out the significant bits!

Many thanks.
Glen

Re:

Having left for France on 12 March 1915, he is then wounded at Ypres on 6/01/1917 and is in Bagthorpe Military Hospital for 26 days. I cannot quite make out his injuries as the writing is very faint but would love to identify them.

Why not scan that area of the papers using the highest DPI setting on your scanner and post the image(s) here. The more eyes the better!

If your scanner program has the facility you could also invert the image to produce a negative and post that as well. With a high DPI this often gives 'clearer' results.

Wounded in action 6 1 17,

Head Frac Ribs,
C1074

Fractured Ribs and head wound, it looks like.

Bertieone wrote:Wounded in action 6 1 17,

Head Frac Ribs,
C1074

Fractured Ribs and head wound, it looks like.

Looks that to me too Bert.

Thanks, you guys.
You have obviously tracked down the records so thanks for going to that trouble. The tip about the scanning techniques is also useful, Dickiesam.

Any ideas about how long he woud have been in the 4th for in 1900? Top of the paper suggests serving for 4 years so would his 'term expired' been up in 1904? Also, am I right in saying the 4th began about 1900 or is my research going a bit astray?

Glen

Hi Glen,

Territorial Force
4Years service in the United Kingdom
Attestation Of

The 4 years is referring to the service he's just signed up for, September 1914, 9th KLR,
Not Verbatim, Q2, service of 4 years unless His Majesty requires him for longer.
Q4, asks previous military service, YES, Time expired, 4th KLR, 1900- 19??

Unfortunately there is nothing amongst these papers giving the expiry date.

Just throwing a suggestion as to why he would ask for a copy of his papers in 1939, would this be to prove his previous military history in connection with an expected Pension as he would have been about 60 at that point?

From about 1881 to 1908 the 4th battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment was Militia - part-time, voluntary but not the same as the Volunteer Battalions of that period. A man could join up and have some weeks of full-time training, and then two weeks a year plus some spare-time training. It appealed to those with casual jobs, as there was pay involved! In 1908 the Militia was transformed into the Special Reserve at the time the Volunteers became the Territorial Force (which included the 9th Battalion).
The National Archives has a page of information about it, which you can get to by Googling 'Militia'. Some militia attestations are available via Findmypast.

D

Many thanks for your help, folks. Sorry for the delay in replying - work has got in the ay of hobbies this week!

I hadn't thought of Wm Henry needing his discharge papers for pension purposes. His request may also have coincided with a deterioration in his health - do you think this could have been relevant?

I've read up about the Militia and feel I am now knowing a little more about this period in history so thanks for the tip, Daggers. Previous replies from you about other topics have alerted me to the value of the War Diaries and I've found these quite intriguing too - obviously I'm lucky that the 9th Battalion is so well documented.

Before I move on from William: can any of you help me work out what happened to him after he was wounded? I know he went to the Bagthorpe Military Hospital but I then get confused with the Labour Battalion/Centre/Corp - are they all the same thing? He also does a spell in the Gloucestershire Regiment but I don't think he serves abroad with them. Am I right in assuming the Labour Corps would have been for rehabilitation and the Gloucestershire Regiment would have been short of men?

Looking forward, as ever, to hearing from you.

Regards,
Glen