TOPIC:

Good afternoon to you all, i am Andrew Cocker. i collect medals mainly to the Norfolk Regiment. I have also recently discovered i had a great Grandfather who fought in the Boer war with the 3rd batt Norfolks, sadly i do not have his medals.
Pte Walter Lince No. 1560 3rd Battalion Norfolks
If anybody more have anymore information, i would be extremely grateful.
Regards
Andrew

Hello Andrew
Welcome to the forum.
Your Great Grandfather served as a Lance Corporal during the Boer War.
His QSA would have had the Cape Colony and Orange Free State clasp along with a 1901 date clasp for his service with the 3rd Norfolk Regiment.
Did he later serve in WW1? and was his profession connected to the shoe industry?
Best wishes

Dave.....

Good Evening Dave, thank you for your reply. Yes he worked in the shoe industry as a cordwainer i believe, Norwich was well known for its shoe making industry. As for serving in WW1 it is my understanding that he initially joIned the RDC then later transferring to the Labour Corps and serving in France.
Regards
Andrew

Hello Andrew
He did indeed serve in the RDC, then transferred to the Labour Corps. He didn't go to France until 1919. He was then attached to the Royal Engineers and returned to England in 1920.
Regards
Dave.

Hello Andrew,

Find My Past holds 12 pages of military paperwork regarding 1560 Walter Lince which seem to cover a military career from 1887 to 1908, when he was finally discharged "medically unfit".

During this time he attested 3 times! 28 January 1887 for the Militia, and 28th May 1895 & 7th December 1903 for the Reserve Militia.

Making overall sense of them is not helped by FMP not having sorted them in to chronological order!

The service record parts do not follow the format I am used to and South Africa (albeit crossed out) only gets one mention, towards the bottom of this page:



However, the next page mentions payment of a "War Gratuity" apparently in 1901:



The other 10 pages contain info that will be of interest to you - e.g. he was 5 ft 5 inches tall (about average for the time) and in 1903 he gave No.6 Little White house Yard, Botolph's Street, Norwich as the address for his wife Laura. If you do not have membership of FMP happy to email them to - you can send me your email address using the private message service on this site - look upwards and to the right.

Regards, David.