TOPIC:

Good morning,
If he was in the RE during the Boer War and actually in South Africa, he would have been entitled to the medal, but his number is quite likely not to be the same as the one on his Great War discharge certificate, so if you are on ancestry, you could take a look at WO363 and WO364 in the hope of finding any papers, these should list his prior service.
Match the number and you will have your man, but again, you would still look at the QSA rolls in WO100 and be left wondering unless any papers from WO96/97 had been filed in WO363 with the Great War stuff.
Regards Frank

Gilchrist wrote: He may well have been in RE. I do have a Discharge certificate for WW1 when he was on the reserves list. To the best of my knowledge he never took part - gives enlisted date as 18/04/18 & discharge as 24/10/18. The certificate gives his Regt No 601215 Rank Pioneer
Unit Class 'W' Army Res R.E.
Records Chatham
He was born in 1869 so I guess too old for full participation in WW1
In my ignorance of this subject - Would he have kept the same regiment and or No from Boer War to WW1?
Where do you suggest I go from here?
Any thoughts on the bulletin I mentioned?
Regards

As he was technically only a Reserve for 6 months at the end of WW1 & I don't remember anything being said about participating then would there be any records?
The Boer conflict is where I have verbal stories of participation. I also found a reference:

Telegraph battalion of Royal Engineers Signal Unit 1st & 2nd divisions

'On mobilisation both divisions were to amalgamate, and they were to be supplemented by Telegraph Reserve (GPO employees), so as to provide a HQ & 4 sections for each Army Corps.'
From The Royal Corps of Signals: History of the Corps by Cliff Lord, Chris Lord, Graham Watson et al

This suggests to me that they were a special group from the GPO that were there to support the RE rather than actually being RE. This fits in with my impressions from childhood stories that they worked behind the lines just sending out the messages rather than the engineering side.
I have no knowledge of a medal but he did receive the Imperial Service Medal in 1929, for work with the GPO & although I don't have the medal I do have the paperwork.
Perhaps I should follow this through the Post Office Museum who has records of employees & maybe this would give a clue.
Regards

Gilchrist wrote: James Burns Rodger

I have just looked through the Royal Engineers published medal roll and I am afraid there is only one Rodger(s) listed, a Lieut. R. M. Rodgers who was with 1st Newcastle-on-Tyne RE Volunteers....

The telegraph battallion rolls are:

QSA:

159/1-47, 48, 49, 50, 52,
159/5-67, 68, 69, 70-100
159/101-102, 103, 104, 105

KSA:

315/3-60, 61, 62

Mike