James Smith and Thomas Arthur Dodd

[Itsjs1]

Hi,

I am trying to find information on my grandfathers who both were in the Manchester Regiment in WW1.

James Smith was a regular soldier  (2429) and was captured at Le Cateau.  I can see you have details of his POW record.  I have only found limited information on the ICRC site so would be interested in where the details come from. 

My other grandfather, Thomas Arthur Dodd, (17336) enlisted when war broke out.  He was injured and transferred to ROAC regiment.  He had a pension from the war which finished when he died in 1932.  He was not discharged at the end of the war as he was working on the graves in France.

I would be very interested to find out more about their war records and would appreciate any help or pointers.  Neither are in the "burnt" records at Kew.

Many Thanks

Julie

[charlie]

Hello Julie and welcome to the forum.

The information in our PoW database regarding James Smith has all come from the ICRC files. He has two index cards, one of which, I am guessing you have missed. His service number, if he enlisted into a regular battalion, suggests an enlistment date between February 1912 and March 1913.

He was transferred from Libau to the hospital in Stettin suffering from frostbite. Libau is now Liepaja in Latvia. 1000 British PoWs were sent from Döberitz to Libau in May 1916 in retaliation for German PoWs being returned to France to work on the docks. The British PoWs were employed unloading ships in the Libau docks. The conditions they were kept in, and the weather, were particularly harsh.

Thomas Dodd would appear, due to his number, to have served with the 20th Bn. His date of entry into theatre (10.11.1915) ties in with the battalions arrival in Boulogne on the 9th November. He was transferred to class Z reserve on 11.06.1919

Charlie

[Itsjs1]

Thanks Charlie,

An enlistment date of 1912-13 makes sense for James. Apparently he did not like to speak about his POW days but the impression was it had been very hard.  I will try and find his second index card.

Thanks again for your help

Julie

[charlie]

Julie,
022671 Charles Edward Shires, who's service record has survived, was transferred from the 19th Bn on 04.09.1916 to the AOC. As his number is only two away from Thomas Dodd's (022673), I don't think it is unreasonable to assume that your Grandfather was also transferred to the AOC on or about the same date.

If you have any problems navigating or understanding the ICRC records, ask away.

Charlie

Edit: 022695 Robert Shaw was transferred to the AOC on 08.09.1916