More help please - My great-grandfather, Driver William Hancock, Royal Corps of Signals

Hi all.

I have sporadically posted on this forum for a few weeks, but now feel like I am in a position to start a detailed thread concerning the discovery of my great-grandfather, William Hancock, and his ware experience.

At 25 I suppose I'm a little young, maybe even sad, to take an interest in history, but I've always been that way, and take weekly trips to Sheffield and Worksop Libraries looking up old football results (another of my hobbies, though as a Sheffield Wednesday fan, less rewarding...)

About six months ago I started researching my family tree on Ancestry and couldn't believe how far I could go back on my father's side - 1665 to my paternal 8th great-grandather, and as far back as the year 1200 for my 23rd great-grandafther, Humfry de Lazenby!

Unfortunately, researching my mother's side has been far trickier. My mum only knew one grandparent, who I knew as Great-grandma Ward, so my work was cut out.

It was when researching Great-grandma Ward, born Violet Evelyn Cook, that I found she had married twice, once in 1927 to a William Hancock, and again after the war to a John Ward.

I had always presumed that my grandmother was born Gladys Ward, but actually I found that she, along with four of her five siblings, was born a Hancock.

I was intrigued as to why my great-grandmother had married twice - divorce was frowned upon back then, and the possibility that she was widowed early struck me as a possibility - most of my ancestors were coal miners, a hazardous occupation at the best of times.

But the way I found out the real story was by a complete fluke.

When visiting my grandmothers grave at Shireoaks church near Worksop, I saw the name William Hancock on the village war memorial -



Could it be that my great grand-father had died during the war?

I searched on Ancestry without finding any conclusive proof, but on CWGC I found indisputable evidence that my great-grandfather did indeed make the ultimate sacrifice for his country -

CWGC :: Casualty Details

To have a wife called V. E. Hancock (Violet Evelyn) and have lived in Worksop, was too specific to be a coincidence. I also knew he was born around 1904 as he is shown as 23 years of age on his wedding certificate, (of which I obtained a copy from the General Register Office) so he would have been 40 in 1944 - the exact age shown on the CWGC record.

I learned also that he had been a driver - maybe not fighting on the front line but nevertheless an important part of the Allied war machine.

Naively, I believed he was actually buried at Singapore Memorial, but of course he is just a name among thousands commemorated on a wall, his body never being found.

I asked, and gratefully received, a picture of his memorial tile, from a member on this site -



Like a dog with a bone, I intensified my research, I wanted to know more, and upon searching for notable war events on 21st September 1944 (his date of death), I found that a Prisoner Of War ship had been sunk by Allied bombers near the Philippines. Prisoner Of War? A driver? Surely not?

Digging further, I found the POW story held water.

I found the following excellent site which confirmed that William had been aboard the Hofuku Maru POW ship in September 1944 -

H Database

I had so many questions - about his actual death, but reading up on the hell ships, and in particular the Hofuku Maru, was an emotional experience to say the least - some accounts suggest William may have been aboard this sub-human carrier ship for as long as seven months. The very thought sends a shiver down my spine.

A trip to Worksop Guardian led me to discover the following article, printed exactly a year to the day on from his death -



The only solace I take from it is that it's over now, and that his life was not given in vain.

Next, I emailed Shireoaks Historical Society for help regarding William - despite my research he remained the only grandparent for who I still didn't have a confirmed date of birth, and therefore I couldn't go further in tracing his family.

Unfortunately they were unable to help with his date of birth, it seems William was born outside their jurisdiction, but unbelievably, they did have a photo of him, taken from a commemorative booklet produced for the 50th anniversary of D-Day, in 1994 -



The image quality isn't that great, but there he is, my great-grandfather! And in his colours too!

If anyone can help identify his lapels or his cap it would be much appreciated!

A couple of weeks ago I started the process of attaining William's service records, perhaps they would contain his date of birth, and give me an insight into what he did during the war.

I knew the wait for his service records would be a long one, so I also sent off for his Japanese POW record card, held at Kew.

As of today I'm yet to receive a reply from Kew, but I did phone Glasgow to confirm they had received my cheque for his service record, as I had not been sent any acknowledgement that they had got it.

They told me it had been posted today. I asked when the actual records were expected to be delivered, and the woman said what was posted WERE the actual records!

Given that most people are waiting months on end for theirs, I remain sceptical, but here's hoping I'm one of the lucky ones, and I can learn more about my long-lost, recently-discovered, great-grandfather -

Driver William Hancock, Royal Corps of Signals.

Hope you enjoed the read.

Lee

 

Great story Lee - best of luck with further research.
Keep us posted.

Mike

 

Hi Lee,

Well done for getting this far, I can empathize totally. By the way........these things never end you know!!

 

Well I received the whole lot this morning!

Within two weeks, I can't believe it!

His date of birth is confirmed, but there are 50 print outs and a lot of information, most of which I don't understand.

I may have to scan them and put them on here to get a bit of help if anyone can?

 

Lee, you are not the first and will not be the last to have that problem!
Post away.

 

Lovely story Lee. Post the records as there are a lot of people on here who can interpret them for you.

Lesley

 

Hi Lee,

That's great news regarding the service records. I was at the National Archives this afternoon and tried to get box 23 out from the Japanese index cards, the box was not available as it was being used by the Archive staff. So it may well be that they were processing your request today as well?

If you do not receive it soon, let me know and I will look again when I'm next there.

 

Right!

I've spent most of today scanning the records (which were awkward as they came on A3 paper so I've had to pain-stakingly scan half a page at a time and 'stich' them together after!).

Finally finished the job, and on to actually interpreting them.

There are a few things I can easily make out (including a bit where he was very naughty!), but a lot of it is way over my head.

I'll post them in three sections, the following being the first, which covers his first 'stint' with the Regular Army and his switch to the Reserve after what seems like just a year, instead of the six he signed up for -

Sheet A1 -


This one is pretty easy to understand - I've only posted it to let you folks have a look!

Sheet A2 -


Again, pretty easy to see, but with two exceptions.

I need his eye colour (poison!?), and the first distinctive mark (Vacc 4 something?)

Sheet A3 -


Another easy to understand sheet, but why are his relatives crossed and blanked out?

Sheet A4 -


This is where it starts to get tricky!

The information I have so far is -

Age on enlistment - 21 years 203 days
Enlisted for - 6 years’ Army Service, 6 years’ Reserve Service
Service towards limited engagement reckons from - 9/2/26
Joined at - Sheffield, on - 9/2/26

R Signals; attested; Driver; 9/2/26

R Signals; Posted; Driver; 13/2/26

01810 No, ?? 24/12/26, ??; absent M.N 3.10.26 until arrested by CP 11am 20.12.26, ?? arrest 11am 20.12.26 to 22.12.26, awarded 14 days detn by CP, for ‘absence’; Driver; 20/12/1926 - 23/12/1926; 94 days service not allowed to reckon for fixing the rate of pension

RC Signals; ??, Transferred to the ?? with his ?? before the ??; 362 (ii) c. KR.; Driver; 7/5/1927

??; ??; Posted; 8/5/1927

??, army res; Re-engaged for 4 years with effect from 9/2/38, ??; Dvr; 9/2/1938

??, army reserve, ??; Discharged, Para. 510 (x) KRS 1935, His services being no longer required or the enlistment in the Regular Army on 3/8/39; No letter BM 586/39 ?? dt 30/6/1939; Dvr; 2/8/1939

Total service towards Engagement to - 2/8/39, 13 years 175 days
Total service towards pension - 1 year 88 days


If anyone can help decipher the points where I have put down '??' it would be much appreciated, as well as helping me out with some of the initialing (MN? CP? KRS? BM? DT?)

When I have completed this set, I will move onto the next - his transfer/discharge to/from reserve/regular army.

Cheers again

Lee

 

As you can see, William won't have enjoyed his christmas in 1926!

Bamboo, I still haven't received a reply from NA but hopefully you're right in suggesting they were looking for me today.

I will be in touch soon if they are not haha

 

Can anyone please help?

 

Hi Lee,

Congratulations on your research to date, and I wish you luck with it in the future.

I have just looked at the COFEPOW database, and found the following information:

Surname:HANCOCK
First Name(s):William
Rank:L. Cpl.
Service No:2317493
Service:A
Date of Capture:15/02/1942

You might want to head to The National Archives at Kew and check out the records in WO 367, which is the collection of Japanese Registers of Allied Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees held in Camps in Singapore, Second World War
. Also have a look at WO 345, which is the Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, Second World War
specifically WO 345/23 which cover Hancock - Haswell.
Mark

 

I'll have a punt at one line -

RC Signals; ??, Transferred to the ?? with his ?? before the ??; 362 (ii) c. KR.; Driver; 7/5/1927



RC Signals; ??, Transferred to the A res with his consent before the expiration of his period of ? service under para 362 (ii) c. KR.; Driver; 7/5/1927

A res probably means either Army Reserve (or Active Reserve - we currently use the terms Active Reserve or Standby Reserve depending if the member is still attending training days or not)

KR would be King's Regulations (recorded elsewhere as KRs)



The word before "service" in that line has me flummoxed, I can't think of any word that makes sense and matches those letters....

 

Again, pretty easy to see, but with two exceptions.

I need his eye colour (poison!?), and the first distinctive mark (Vacc 4 something?)


I think what looks like poison is just the word "Brown" scrawled very badly.

Vacc 4 might be his vaccination mark, normally on the left upper arm (TB jab?)

 

Hi again,

I have just been looking at the Toyofuku Maru or Hofuku Maru, and found the following link:


http://www.navalorder.org/09-Sep-99%20MistHist.PDF

Mark

 

Another easy to understand sheet, but why are his relatives crossed and blanked out?


Relatives etc. are blanked out for privacy reasons.

My attempts:
01810 No, ?? 24/12/26, CCO (Company Commanding Officer?) DB R.S. (Royal Signals?); absent M.N (Midnight) 3.10.26 until arrested by CP 11am 20.12.26, close arrest 11am 20.12.26 to 22.12.26, awarded 14 days detn by CP, for ‘absence’; Driver; 20/12/1926 - 23/12/1926; 94 days service not allowed to reckon for fixing the rate of pension

Another:


RC Signals; ??, Transferred to the A. Res(erves) with his consent before the expiration of his period of Crown Service under para 362 (ii) c. KR (King's Regulations).; Driver; 7/5/1927

Another:

A Reserve; Section B; Posted; 8/5/1927

Sect "B", army res; Re-engaged for 4 years with effect from 9/2/38, in Sect D(?); Dvr; 9/2/1938

Sect(ion) D, army reserve, C/Sigs/19; Discharged, Para. 510 (x) KRS 1935, His services being no longer required on re-enlistment in the Regular Army on 3/8/39; No letter BM 586/39 ?? dt 30/6/1939; Dvr; 2/8/1939

Mark

 

Guys, I really appreciate your help, thank you very much.

I will get to work on revising the lines later and may have time to put the next batch of records up.

Thanks again

Lee

 

Right guys, onto the next four.

Sheet B1


What I have -

Army no. - 2317493
Rank - Driver
Units - ??
Corps - Royal Signals
Reservist’s Identity Number - D/H 439
Date of Transfer to Reserve - 9/5/1929
Date of Discharge - 2/8/1939

What is after Units? What does D/H stand for?

Sheet B2 -


What I have -

Date of birth - 21-7-1904
Height - 5ft. 7ins.
Complexion - Fresh
Colour of eyes - Brown
Colour of hair - Lt. Brown
Marks and scars - ??, Pigmented scar rt ear, scar forehead
How employed while serving with the colours - Stables
Certificate of Education - 3rd
Civil Trade or Calling (I) Before enlistment - Miner (II) To which now returning - Miner
Address on Transfer or Discharge - 21 Woodend, nr Worksop, Notts.
Military conduct - Good
Final assessment of Character on leaving the colours - Good hard worker, good with horses, a good driver, ?? Reliable
Rank on transfer to Army Reserve - Driver
Service in present rank - one year 87 days
Height without boots - 5ft. 7ins.
Chest measurement over waistcoat - 36ins.
Waist measurement over waistcoat - 33ins.
Breech measurement over trousers - 40ins.
Size and fitting of boots - 7.6
Size of cap - 7
Size of steel helmet - 7
Length of Rifle Butt - Short
Cause of transfer to the Army Reserve - KR. ?? 362 © and colonel commandant
Date of transfer - 7-5-27

Again the vaccination thing is not clear, and would like an interpretation of his 'cause of transfer'? Also, what is the word before reliable?

Sheet B3


Pretty clear

Sheet B4


What I have -

Proceedings on Transfer to the Army Reserve and Discharge part VI
Service completed on date of transfer to the Reserve - 1 year 88 days
The transfer to the Army Reserve of the above named soldier is confirmed for 7.5.27, ??
Serial Number of Certificate of Service - ?
Station - Chatham??
Date - 10.5.27

Proceedings on Transfer to the Army Reserve and Discharge part VII
Service completed on date of discharge - 1 year 88 days with the colours, 12 years 87 days in the Reserve
The discharge of the above named soldier is confirmed for - 2-8-39, Para 510 (x) Krs 1935. His services being no longer required or re-enlistment with the Regular Army
Serial Number of Certification of Service - ?? 19
Station - Reading
Date - 9-8-39

Again struggling where the question marks are, especially the 'see note N' bit.

If anyone can help on any of the points it would be much appreciated.

Lee

 

Hello
Sheet B2
HONEST, SOBER, RELIABLE

Lesley

 

Thanks very much Lesley

Lee

 

Sheet B1:

Army no. - 2317493
Rank - Driver
Units - C Co(mpan)y D Btn
Corps - Royal Signals
Reservist’s Identity Number - D/H 439
Date of Transfer to Reserve - 9/5/1929
Date of Discharge - 2/8/1939


B2
Marks and scars - Vax U(pper) l(ef)t, Pigmented scar rt ear, scar forehead

Cause of transfer to the Army Reserve - KR. para 362 sub(paragraph) C and colonel commandant


B4

Proceedings on Transfer to the Army Reserve and Discharge part VI
Service completed on date of transfer to the Reserve - 1 year 88 days
The transfer to the Army Reserve of the above named soldier is confirmed for 7.5.27, with his consent before the expiration of his period of Colour Service para 362 (ii) c
Serial Number of Certificate of Service - C/Sigs/9
Station - Chatham (this a signature of the (I think) Captain who authorised his transfer to the reserves)
Date - 10.5.27

Mark