Who Do You Think You Are Magazine Forum

[hassamal]

Am I correct in guessing the figure standing on the right is in the Royal Artillery even though he is not wearing a white lanyard? The photo dates from 1918 or perhaps 1919.

I have the service record of the seated figure on the left, who is Herbert Jesse Newman; he served in the Machine Gun Corps from 1918 to 1920, mostly in Dublin. His twin on the left is Arthur Stanley Newman but there's no service record.

There are medal cards for two Arthur S Newmans, one an RFA driver, the other an RGA gunner. How would their uniforms have differed?

I've looked through previous posts but can't find the precise answers, though I feel sure someone on this forum can help me with my first post.

Many thanks.

[g w aldous]

soldier on right is a driver in RFA/RHA, he is wearing a lanyard for active service he has spurs saying he is a horse rider, nice clear capbadge on both men & RFA shoulder title.
Photo is likely to be slightly earlier as they have no medals.

[hassamal]

Many thanks, that means the medal card of the RFA Driver is a possible avenue for further investigation. For information, the seated figure was enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps on 28 April 1918.

Andrew

[g w aldous]

apologies thats me not reading right. unfortunately the medal card gives no dates for arthurs service.

[hassamal]

Annoyingly, I have now found another record for Driver 147924 RFA giving a different name. The medal card gives Driver 147924 RFA as Arthur S Newman, but a supplement to the London Gazette for 15 April 1918 gives Albert Sidney Newman as Driver 147924 RFA. Either Arthur or Albert, the middle name seems to be Sidney and so this is not the Arthur Stanley Newman RFA I'm looking for.

I imagine the figure in the photo could also have been an RFA gunner, which gives me even more RFA medal cards for an Arthur Stanley. Even discounting those with 1914/15 Stars, I can't identify my man.

I much appreciate your help.

Andrew

[g w aldous]

gunners didn't wear spurs and riding breeches. there are a few arthur newman cards for rfa driver if you go through them and weed out the stars and look at long service numbers then see if any papers survive, it is a long job but can be worth it if you want to know more.

[hassamal]

Thanks for the clarification. I'll follow it up in the way you suggest.

The twins were the uncles of a friend. He has only just discovered their existence and I am trying to help him get a sense of who they were. As luck would have it, I found the photo on Ancestry.

Andrew