TOPIC:

I am new to this and I'm trying to find info on one of my grandmothers brothers James (Jim) Vickers who stayed in Bolton while the rest went to Canada.

I'm pretty sure I have found his attestation papers for 1899 when he enlists in the militia and 49 days later goes to the Royal Scots Fus. Does anyone know if that was common for Bolton boys to sign up with that group?

I also found a record of a James Vickers who gets a medal in 1902 for South Africa, but it appears that he is in the 4th Battalion The Kings Liverpool. Was it possible that he was transferred to this group?

I'm sorry, but I'm new to this and I'm just trying to fill in the pieces of the puzzle. I'm pretty sure that he also signed up for WW1, but I suppose he would have a totally new number for that war.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Good evening and welcome to this forum,
Always start off with what you know that is factual, his correct name, date and place of birth, family etc, never just assume anything just because of an identical or similar name, do the personal details on the WO96 papers you mention, match what you already know?
Regarding the regiments, there is no quick single answer, for example, a man could be a native of, lets say London, he might be serving in the Bedfordshire Militia and then he could join the Manchester Regiment in London and within a day or two, be up at their depot in Ashton.
Start off with the family and then expand into WO96/97/363/364 etc.
Regards Frank Kelley

Thanks Frank!
I know my James Vickers was born May 14th, 1880 in Bolton, England. The attestation papers that I found said that this James Vickers joined August 8, 1899 at 19 years and 2 months old. It does not give his parents names, so in that sense I am not 100% sure, but the age and location were close enough I thought.

We do have a family photo that said Jim on the back and had a soldier with the uniform ( and hat) of the Royal Scots. The photo was in with the others from that family, but I assumed that there had been some kind of mistake since he was from Bolton. ( I incorrectly thought that you had to be from Scotland to be in the Royal Scots - sorry, I am new to this) Now it is all starting to click together.

If I expand my search into those other WO series that you mentioned, do I just type his name into those areas of the National archives?
Thanks!

All the War Office files are at available at Kew and of those mentioned almost, though not, all, are also available via fmp/ancestry, after reading both your posts here, you should note the the Royal Scots and Royal Scots Fusiliers are two differant regiments.

Thanks Frank! - Again something I didn't know.
James attestation papers ( that I got from FMP) say Rl Scots Fus.
I have also seen James Vickers on the 1902 medal list but don't know how to confirm if it is my James Vickers.
There are several JV who are involved with WW1 but don't have the same number as the one on the 1899 att. papers, so I'm not sure how to tell if it is my guy.
I will keep digging at it and hopefully figure things out along the way.
Thanks again for your help!