Is this a UK soldier? Any way to research him?

[Jean-Loup]

I have a hand made ID tag marked in the following way:
"GNR T.L. HOUCH
N 1083477. R.A."

My understanding is that this means: "Gunner T.L. Houch, serial number 1083477. Royal Artillery"
Is that correct? Is the serial number British or is there a possibility the soldier was from another commonwealth country?

I know the British archives do not share any info about soldiers making any research difficult. However, the name being rather uncommon, perhaps it is possible to find out who this Gunner Houch was? Does anyone have any ideas on how to research him? I tried googling a bit, but came up with nothing. Anyways, at least now if one of Houch's relatives tries googling his name, he will find this thread and be able to get in touch.

JL

[paddywhack]

is it a ww1 or ww2 tag? if itr ww1 some of thd papers survived the war and can be researched!

[Bond]

Here is the range of numbers issued to the RA during WWII and he fits in that range. Also, only the British would use RA for their forces, so he was British RA.

You could try searching on the London Gazette, though I had a quick look and could not find him,though unless he was an officer or won a medal or was mentioned in despatches he would probably not appear.

[Jean-Loup]

The tag is WWII, made of some kind of aluminum, probably cut out of an old ammo box of some kind.
Thanks for the confirmation that he would have been british.

[paddywhack]

or ancestry but thats a paid service!il look once i get my subscription back up and running though another member might be able to look for you there to!

[Seigfried]

I've just searched www.freebmd.org.uk and only two people named 'HOUCH' registered (a birth and a death) between 1880-1940 in the UK (and it's not him!).

[Jean-Loup]

My impression is that researching British residents on the internet is very difficult compared to researching US residents...

[grndevil44]

just was curious of the origin of that name and looks to be swiss/german , to make it more british the umlaut was I guess dropped from the O and a U added to give the sound , just for the sake of it can you show us a pic please? and whats the find story behind it out of curiosity

cheers

[Jean-Loup]

I didnt really want to post this, but as you ask... The tag was found in the El Alamein area and is about the coolest piece of militaria I have ever seen.

JL

[grndevil44]

thank you J-L yes that is very nice, a few more years and the records will be available

[Richie B]

JL

I've just searched Ancestry UK and can find no trace of anyone named T. L. Houch.

I also looked at the Commonwealth War Graves site - again no trace.

Regards

Richie

[robin morley]

Very nice, not issue though, It would be more akin to trench art either produced by the soldier himself or purchased by him.

[Jean-Loup]

Does anyone know if the WWII files are still classified?
Also, is there any way of finding out how many people named Houch are currently listed in the white pages in the UK? I tried doing a search, but the white pages demand an adress as well as a name...

Since new docs are added to the internet every day, does anybody now find a trace of this T.L.Houch in any documents?

JL

[AB64]

The soldier is Thomas Leonard Hough (so Gh not Ch) - Ancestry has new records since the earlier checks and he is in the RA Attestation book, it doesn't really add much though - he was discharged age limit in 1956 - at some point Ancestry is supposed to add tracer cards which would give his units but no idea when that will be

Hope this is some help

Alistair

[peter monahan]

British serial numbers are not my filed, but is the 'N' significant as a prefix? here in canada there were various letter prefixes to indicate regulars, war service only, reservists and so on.

If he aged out in 56, and was stationed in Egypt [during WWII or the Suex Crisis] he was likely a regular or a war time enlistment who stayed in/re-upped, I'd guess.