Corporal Robert Watson
73101 Machine Gun Corps
Died 8th March 1920
Served in Gallipoli
Buried
in
Burnley Cemetery, UK
Robert appears to have been born and raised in Blackburn/Little Harwood. His only connection with Burnley is that he was buried with his parents who at some stage moved to Burnley.
Hi Andrew, I looked at the Service numbers and straight away I thought, 1/4th East Lancs Rgt and either C or D Company because of the numbers I have for the Clitheroe lads. I tried to find him on the Medals and Award Rolls. His Service Number is listed as 2817 for the 14-15 Star, which is correct, but it was put against the Machine Gun Corps when it should actually have been the 1/4th East Lancs Rgt. I tried several areas on Ancestry and nothing concrete and then, the one I try last of all which yields me the least success usually, is the Service Record. He actually has a very good Service Record and half way through it there is a letter from the Medal Office asking for details confirming this soldier's service and whether or not he was entitled to the 14-15 Star, which sort of explains why his Medals and Award Rolls sheet is partly wrong. His Service record does list him as being in D Company 1/4th East Lancs Rgt ((embodied 07/10/1914) embarked 01/07/1915) and then after being sent home to the 2nd Western General Hospital, Manchester, with Enteric fever in late 1915 (26/12/1915) to early 1916, he was transferred to the 2/5th Lancs Fusiliers before finally being transferred to the 55th Battalion M.G.C. His address was given as 10 Bethel Road, Little Harwood.
Hi Andrew, attached are Pte Robert Watson's Medal Award Rolls sheets. When you look at the Medal Index card which you sent me, it would indicate that he was a Corporal first in the East Lancs Rgt, then the MGC and then the Lancs Fus which was obviously added later as it is in blue ink. However, when you check out his Service Record, he was in 1/4th East Lancs Rgt (D Coy), then 2/5 Lancs Fusiliers and then finally in the 55th Battalion MGC. His War and Victory Medal award sheet is correct but the 14-15 Star sheet does have him as being in 4th East Lancs but it is in the MGC Roll and his Star was inscribed as so. This is backed up when you check out the correspondence from the War Office in his Service record who are asking questions as to whether or not he is entitled to a Star.
(Courtesy of Peter McQuade)
