Service Number Prefixes

[Adam H]

Bill,

The WX prefix sounds like Australian numbering to me, the W being for Western Australia. I had a quick look on the Commonwealth War Graves website (www.cwgc.org) but didn't find any matches for these names.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Adam

[W Petz]

Adam,

Thanks very much for your reply and the website. I'm glad that these three Australians werre not killed in action. I'm wondering whatever happened to them. I would be interested to find out if they were still alive so I could return a lost item to them. Thanks again. Cheers! - Bill

[W Petz]

Any folks from Down Under that would be interested in tracking down some Australian Veterans from the Africa campaign. I have three pairs of tropical shorts apparently belonging Austrialians serving in Africa. If they can be contacted I would return their items. Bill

[yellow]

Ive got a number prefix that we have missed from our list:

B - Army Service Corps

Seen on WW1 medals. Any ideas what this one means Tony?

I see this one is missing from the Williamson book too.

Steve.

[Tony Farrell]

I've never seen a B prefix on an ASC medal. It might be Botswain or Boilerman - waterways and railways respectively. This, however, is merely speculation, and it's probably something more straightforward.

[andya]

More reference

Hi
thought this page might be of help to someone at some time:
http://www.anythinganywhere.com/info/britabbrev.htm
Regards
Andy

[leigh kitchen]

Ive got a number prefix that we have missed from our list:

B - Army Service Corps

Seen on WW1 medals. Any ideas what this one means Tony?

I see this one is missing from the Williamson book too.

Steve.

Have you got details of the numbers, it may be possible to shed light by searching the MICs on line. Could they be transfers into the ASC, keeping their old numbers? Seems doubtful.

[rexmundi]

Could someone tell me more about this Canadian Nr? Maybe a para?

K48819

[P.Manoel]

Hello All,

This is a great thread and the info is very useful. For Bill, the W.X is a Western Australian number and I was able to track down the service record of one of your members listed, see below:

As you can see he was discharged in 1943 and I'm trying to find out if he's alive today? I also have a question for the forum and it concerns a 1960's GSM I have. It has the Northern Ireland bar and the on the rim it reads 24571307 KGSM J M Banawich Kings. What does the KGSM stand for?

Thanks
Paul

<TABLE class=nristabletextborder cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=center summary="A table providing service record information for a WW2 veteran." border=0><TBODY><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left width="40%"></TH><TD class=nristablerow width="60%">THOMAS, WILLIAM CHARLES </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Service</TH><TD class=nristablerow>Australian Army </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Service Number</TH><TD class=nristablerow>WX2431 </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Date of Birth</TH><TD class=nristablerow>9 Oct 1909</TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Place of Birth</TH><TD class=nristablerow>SOUTH WALES, WALES </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Date of Enlistment</TH><TD class=nristablerow>26 Apr 1940 </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Locality on Enlistment</TH><TD class=nristablerow>WILUNA, WA </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Place of Enlistment</TH><TD class=nristablerow>NORTHAM, WA </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Next of Kin</TH><TD class=nristablerow>THOMAS, JOHN </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Date of Discharge</TH><TD class=nristablerow>7 Jun 1943</TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Rank</TH><TD class=nristablerow>Private </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Posting at Discharge</TH><TD class=nristablerow>19 INF BN COMP TNG BN </TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>WW2 Honours and Gallantry</TH><TD class=nristablerow>None for display</TD></TR><TR><TH class=nristablerow align=left>Prisoner of War








</TH><TD class=nristablerow>No


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Tony Farrell]

It's the abbreviation for the 'rank' of Kingsman: a regimental quirk that's equivalent to Private. Still in use today... just. His number indicates a 1979-80 enlistment.

[P.Manoel]

Thanks Tony. For the life of me I couldn't work it out. If anyone needs any help with researching an Aussie medal group please drop me a line.


Regards
Paul

[paulbear]

Do a google search Canadian Government military record online you may come up with some info on this soldier

PAUL

[Ciaran Byrne]

Can anybody tell me why on MIC cards that certain serial numbers have the Army pre-fix before them and some don't?
For example would it be correct to put "L" in front of all NCO and other ranks who belonged to Lancer regiments or did some indivisuals specifically not have a prefix in front of their number?

[rexmundi]

Is it possible that nr T/243453 was from a RASC men?

[Adrian Stevenson]

Yes, that is an RASC number. The "T" prefix stands for "Transport". The first batch of RASC numbers ran from 1 to 294,000. A second batch was alloted and these ran from 10,660,001 to 11,000,000. An "S" prefix would indicate "Supply"
Cheers, Ade.