William Slade Vincent

Appendix 1.0
Confirmation of William Junior’s Service Record

Quite a few people on family history websites have confused the two W.S. Vincent’s found in the British Army records.

A search of records found the other W.S. Vincent on the British Army Lists for August 1915 and he served with the 12th Bn. of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (K.O.Y.L.I.) not the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. His seniority was dated 5th July 1915. So, this cannot be William Junior as he enlisted in November 1915.

W.S. Vincent 12th Bn. King’s Own Light Yorkshire Infantry British Army List August 1915 [152]

The other W.S. Vincent returned from Egypt to Marseille on 9th March 1916. William Jnr did not serve in Egypt as will be shown below.

Lt. W.S. Vincent lands at Marseille, France [153]

The other Lt. W.S. Vincent, who was a transport officer, was evacuated to England on sick leave on 7th July 1916. A search of all available records does not show he return to France.

Lt. W.S. Vincent evacuated to England 7th July 1916 [154]

A Lt. W. S. Vincent was admitted to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Millbank, London on 30th November 1916, with an enlarge prostate. His regiment was the K.O.Y.L.I., he’d already served 14 years in the British Army and was 65 years of age. I believe this was the same officer evacuated above.

Lt. W.S. Vincent Queen Alexandra Hospital, Millbank [155]

Our William’s “Medal Decoration Card” has also been somewhat of a conundrum. It shows he was posted to Egypt. The detail on this card indicates that he served with the K.O.Y.L.I., and was a Lieut. However, the name has been filled in (with different ink) and states he is William Slade, which is most likely an error as we don’t know what the initials “W.S” stood for prior to the name being filled in. And finally, the qualifying date for his period in Egypt was 22-12-15, the same time William Jnr was attending Wadham O.T.C.

Served in Egypt 1916 [156]

To compound the error, a document from 1919, on our William Junior’s War Service Record, with the National Archives of London, states that he did serve in Egypt from November 1914.

Lt. W.S Vincent Proceedings of Medical Board 1919 [157]

The dates of service, in various theatres of the war on the record, were incorrect, William Junior would have been 14 years of age at the time and (as stated before), he was still at St. Peter’s College Adelaide. But, his age, period of service and rank are correct on this record.

What is highlighted by this record, typed at the Regimental Headquarters, Richmond Barracks, Dublin, Ireland after the war, is that his own regiment was confused with his record details. If the British followed the Australian military example of allocating a unique service number when an individual enlisted and used it throughout his records, this confusion could have been avoided. Although allocated a service number, at the time of enlistment (William Junior’s was 2468), the number was seldom used. In fact, William was allocated another service number (2437) for no apparent reason, when he was posted to 3[rd] Bn. barracks after leaving Wadham. [158]

And the final piece in trying to search for and identify of our William was made a little more difficult, as records of officer postings and, more particularly, seniority within the service, which were printed in monthly British Army Lists Books, contained errors. William Slade Vincent had his name spelt “Vincont” in the January 1916 Supplementary edition, the first time his name appeared on the lists. His date of seniority was correct.

British Army List January 1916 Supp Edition [159]

So having established the correct William Slade Vincent, from Adelaide, the task of tracking him through his war service was somewhat easier.

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[152] National Library of Scotland - British Army List Aug 1915
[153] - [154] National Archives - War Diary W/O 95
[155] - [156] Find My Past
[157] Australian National Archives – British Pension Record BP4532 William Slade Vincent
[158] King’s Own Museum, Lancaster, England
[159] National Library of Scotland - British Army Supp Jan 1916