Fred Hosker 54716

[Wendi]

New member EllenJ sent me the following request.  She is a new member and I will direct her to this page.

"I am searching for information about my grandfather Fred Hosker who was a private in 17th Manchester Regiment from 1917 to 1919, no 54716. He was born21.12.1898 so would have been 19 years old in 1917.

The National archive has no service record of him but I have managed to find a medal card which gave me the above details. I have no idea whether he saw active service or what battalion he was in.

I know he worked for Gossages Soap company in Widnes from the age of 14 so would have been with them at the time he joined 17th Manchester Regiment and I believe the 17th Manchesters was a Pals regiment- is that right? He may have joined up with friends or lads he worked with. I have attached two photos of Fred in army uniform- the dates were guesswork on my part.

I would be very grateful for more information and am not very confident about blogging or using the forum although happy for Fred's details to be posted up there to see if anyone can give me any further information"

[Wendi]

Fred Hosker

[Tim Bell]

Hi Wendy / Ellen,

I believe Fred's Service Record is on Ancestry.  Number 14822 in 51st Training Reserve Battalion.  Enlisted 26/5/16.

If Ellen doesn't have access, let me know.  You're very lucky for the record to survive and I hope you enjoy 'unwrapping' it.

Kingo's work on 17th Bttn will be staple reading http://www.themanchesters.org/Arras%20and%20Ypres.htm and http://www.themanchesters.org/The%20Last%20Year.htm

Tim

[mack]

fred is wearing a crossed rifles badge on his left lower arm,hes a qualified marksman,the stripe underneath is a wound stripe,the only time he could have been wounded,was the day he was captured which was the 22nd march 1918,he didnt arrive in france till the 18th january 1918 and he was repatriated on 4th december 1918,on his lower right arm are two overseas stripes,one for each year of service overseas,but fred only served one year,so he was only entitled to one stripe
son of john+margaret,elizabeth hosker,35 princes st,widnes
enlisted 25-5-1916
aged 17
chemist at gossages
he was appointed lance corporal on 22-11-1917 but gave up his stripe when he went to france

mack

[Wendi]

,he didnt arrive in france till the 18th january 1918 and he was repatriated on 4th december 1918,on his lower right arm are two overseas stripes,one for each year of service overseas,but fred only served one year,so he was only entitled to one stripe

mack

So mack are we thinking this photo is not Fred ?

Wendi

[mack]

i,me sure its probably him wendi,he only had one brother who was old enough to serve and he was in the south lancs regt and RDC,he may have added the extra stripe himself or been issued it by mistake.

mack

[themonsstar]

From his medal roll page BWM & VM

[EllenJ]

Dear All,
Thank you so much for your posts- I am so grateful. I have looked on Ancestry and found my Grandfathers enlistment record but Mack I would like to know where you found out the other information you posted about the latter part of the war? It is brilliant to have the information about his uniform that you have provided. I have a photo of my Grandfather visiting Ypres with a large party of veterans and families after the war which I will try and upload. I have always assumed he was at Ypres although I have no information about this. Let me know if if any of you have any leads as to what this event was.

I never knew my Grandfather as he died in 1943 when my mother was 8 so any information about him is very precious- thanks again!

Best wishes,
Ellen

[Wendi]

Ellen asked me to post this pic for her