M/21756 Sergeant Major Fred Rigby of the Army Service Corps, died on the 19th August 1916. He was 32 years old, the Husband of M. A. Rigby, of 85A, Upper Church Path, Landport, Portsmouth. He is buried in Barlin Communal Cemetery Extension in France.
Fred was a regular soldier, as indicated by his medal inde card which records that he arrived overseas on the 13th August 1914. The card indicates that his 1914 Star was inscribed with the rank A/WO I (which is Acting Warrant Offcier 1st Class), whilst his British War and Victory Medals bore the rank of serjeant. The M/ prefix of his number indicates motor transport, and there is a reference on the card to the 1st Division. The fact that "died" is written on his card, also suggests that he died as a result of sickness or accident rather than being killed in action or dying of wounds.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Sources:
Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Naval & Military Press
4 comments:
Thanks very much for posting this. I happened to find this post of yours on a google search doign some work on my famiyl tree - this partciular branch has been a dead end for some time. Fred Rigby was my Dad's Grandad, no one had any idea what happened to him. We knew his wife (Matilda Ann) was widowed, we knew he was a soldier, and they resided in Landport, porstmouth. Your post has solved a near hundred year mystery.
Thank you once again
Nick
I've added some more information about Fred. There are also 55 pages of his service record that survive in the WO 363 series at the National Archives - and also on line via Ancestry - I've not had a chance to look at these but you can certainly do so. Click on one of the Ancestry links on this page and sign up for a 14 day free trial. Go to British Army WW1 service records and key in his number - 21756 - and his name.
Paul. In 2010 you wrote about a Fred Rigby service number 21756, a WW1 victim, you had a reply from a Nick, who said this Fred was his Great Grandfather, Fred was also my Wife's Grandfather, so my wife and Nick must be related, can you put us in contact. Thank's Mike Jones
I'd love to be able to do that, Mike, but I'm afraid that the information you see is the only information I have. You might try doing some searches for your ancestor on trees on either Genes Reunited or Ancestry to see if you can identify Nick.
Good luck.
Paul
Post a Comment