Lyn 1 Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Can anyone indentify this uniform for me please? Thomas Benson was born at Hartshead Yorkshire in 1889 but may have moved to Sheffield prior to WW1. I have been given this information - BENSON, T J Corporal 315860 19/12/1914 Unknown Somerset Light Infantry United Kingdom II. C. 2. PLOEGSTEERT WOOD MILITARY CEMETERY Is this uniform the Somerset Light Infantry? Many thanks & best wishes to everyone for the New Year Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveHB Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl1867 Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Can anyone indentify this uniform for me please? Thomas Benson was born at Hartshead Yorkshire in 1889 but may have moved to Sheffield prior to WW1. I have been given this information - BENSON, T J Corporal 315860 19/12/1914 Unknown Somerset Light Infantry United Kingdom II. C. 2. PLOEGSTEERT WOOD MILITARY CEMETERY Is this uniform the Somerset Light Infantry? Many thanks & best wishes to everyone for the New Year Lyn Looks like the right cap badge Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Looks like the right cap badge Lyn I think I need new eyes ... well spotted ! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 SDGW have him as born Cardiff, enlisted Swansea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn 1 Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 Many thanks for your help. The family have no links with Cardiff or Swansea and the line it has come down is definitely the Benson line from Yorkshire. I am told it is Thomas Benson b 1889 who died during WW1. Maybe my Thomas Benson's records have been lost or burnt. Thanks Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl1867 Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Many thanks for your help. The family have no links with Cardiff or Swansea and the line it has come down is definitely the Benson line from Yorkshire. I am told it is Thomas Benson b 1889 who died during WW1. Maybe my Thomas Benson's records have been lost or burnt. Thanks Lyn Hi Lyn take a look here - the Somerset's battalion war diary for 1914 and a detailed account of the actions on the terrible day on 19/12/1914 when your Thomas Benson must have been killed. Hope it is of interest. "On 22nd August 1914 1000 men of the Somerset Light Infantry sailed for France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Within four days a quarter of them would be lost at the Battle of Le Cateau, and by the end of the year barely 200 of the first contingent were serving in France. This book ia a day-by-day chronicle of the Battalion from August to December 1914. It uses the Official War Diaries, together with extracts from personal diaries and correspondence, newspaper reports and other contemporary material. The book covers the fighting, movements, trench life and relaxation of a typical group of regular soldiers who came to be known as ‘The Old Contemptibles’. " http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mwS9GQI...;q=&f=false Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn 1 Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 You're a star Dunsby Owl. Not sure if it is my Thomas Benson but will add it with a caution note attached to my family history research. Thank you Best wishes for 2010. Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Hi Lyn, the only T. Benson, in fact the only Benson, that died with the SLI is the one i mentioned above. I used 'Geoffs Search Engine' to search CWGC. The info that he came from Cardiff and enlisted at Swansea comes from his original papers, which were used to compile SDGW. Also his number should read 3/5860. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn 1 Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 Hi Lyn, the only T. Benson, in fact the only Benson, that died with the SLI is the one i mentioned above. I used 'Geoffs Search Engine' to search CWGC. The info that he came from Cardiff and enlisted at Swansea comes from his original papers, which were used to compile SDGW. Also his number should read 3/5860. Dean. Thanks Dean I'm not doubting the information anyone gives me - it just doesn't seem to fit somehow with what I know. Thomas Benson was still in Leeds in 1911 census. I've nothing positive to tell me he moved to Wales and nothing to tell me he didn't. I'm just trying to work out in my own mind whether the photograph given to me as Thomas Benson may not have been correctly identified as him. Still thinking it through Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Waddell Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Lyn, I think you might be right to tread with a bit of caution with this photograph. I agree that the cap badge is Somerset Light Infantry and due to his webbing I thought this photo was pre-war. But on closer inspection the tunic has no pleats on the pockets like a normal SD tunic and the webbing is most likely 1882 Slade-Wallace pattern. My guess is that the tunic is consistent with the blue serge of the cheaper dark blue "Kitchener's Blues" tunic and trousers that were worn by the Kitchener recruits towards the end of 1914. There was a shortage of Khaki, hence the new recruits wore the blues whilst in training. There were also shortages in webbing and it was not uncommon for these old pattern kit to be used by the new recruits. I think it is unlikely that a Kitchener man wearing this style of uniform would find himself in a regular (1st) battalion by December 1914. They are my thoughts on the photo. Scott P.S- I would post this photo on the Great War Forum along with the other details for further opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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