WW1 cap badge

[Alan O]

At least one of the service records survives and is on Ancestry but my subscription has lapsed so I cannot see the details.

[leigh kitchen]

Ernest Spong served in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and in the London Regiment.
It's possible that he's the man in the photo, depending on which Battalion of the London Regiment he was in.

First Name:
E
Surname:
Spong
Incident Details:
War Office Daily List No. 5554
Report Date:
01/05/1918
More Information:
Entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916. The terms of this award being met by being named in this list.
Rank:
Private
Service Number:
43268
Casualty Listed As:
Wounded
Next Of Kin Address:
Bermondsey, S.E.
Service:
British Army
Primary Unit:
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Archive Reference:
NLS 1918_WList40
British Army daily reports - missing, dead, wounded & POWs – WWI

First Name:
E
Surname:
Spong
Incident Details:
War Office Daily List No. 5364
Report Date:
14/09/1917
More Information:
Entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916. The terms of this award being met by their naming in this list.
Rank:
Private
Service Number:
43268
Casualty Listed As:
Wounded
Next Of Kin Address:
Bermondsey, S.E.
Service:
British Army
Primary Unit:
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Archive Reference:
NLS 1917_WList07
British Army daily reports - missing, dead, wounded & POWs – WWI

First Name:
Ernest
Surname:
Spong
Regiments served with:
Unit Rank Service Number
London Regiment Private 323108
Royal Dublin Fusiliers Private 43268
Archive Reference:
WO 372/18/223303
(Can be found at The National Archives in Kew, and contains First World War, War Office: Service Medal and Award Rolls Index)
Nominal index of all service personnel serving in a theatre of war 1914-1919

[Fatherofthree]

Greetings.

Ernest Spong went to The Royal Dublin Fusiliers from 6th London, amongst a number of London Regiment lads, in what I suspect was a large transfer to replenish The RDF numbers.

Still working on the date of transfer.

41629_612057_10688-00174.jpg

Regards.

Brian

[Fatherofthree]

Greetings again.

Still working on a date of transfer for Edward, but in the meantime I have found a Harry Spong in 6th London, where it appeared he remained.

Harry pair.jpg

Harry MIC.jpg

There are, as far as I can ascertain, no Harry Spong nor H Spong served with The RFA.

Also attached Ernest Medal index card.

The chap in the opening post could theoretically be either Harry or Ernest.

Ernest MIC.jpg

Regards.

Brian

[Fatherofthree]

Greetings again.

I relation to The RFA, 7 Spongs served with this unit, none however had the number 195951, nor can I find any Spong in any unit with this number.

Regards again.

Brian

[Alan O]

Brian

Thank you so it seems that it is highly likely that the 3 of them joined the 6th Londons and at some point 2 transferred out.

Great work

Alan

[Fatherofthree]

Thanks Alan.

I've had another scour; Ernest, subject of the initial enquiry, and a Harry Spong, (not shown with any other unit) were the two who enlisted in The 6th London.

Possibly a different Harry to the original enquiry, but I doubt it, he remained with The 6th.

No trace of any Harry or Henry or H Spong serving with The RFA and again no trace of any Spong with Harry's given number.

Hopefully the original poster reads these posts and can offer an alternative name and number for the Harry Spong enquired after.

Regards.

Brian

[Emily]

Thanks all for the quick responses! I've recently been given another photograph with the name on the back and it is a Ernest Spong. He was in the Royal Dublin fusiliers but must have transferred. I'm glad it's finally been resolved and I can now sleep easy!

[Alan O]

I t would appear that he was in the 2nd Battalion of the RDF before transferring to the London regiment as the 6 digit number for his time in the London Regiment was post Jan 1917. The fact that he is shown as wounded whilst with the RDF may explain a transfer after a spell in UK hospital.

This does tie in with the uniform worn in both photos as the RDF photo with its tunic pattern and brass titles would suggest it predates the London one.

The other 2 soldiers in the London photo may not be relations but fellow members of his platoon.

His RDF regtl number was of the same batch as was allocated to other London Regt transferees circa 1915-16 see https://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/oth...0s/43000s.html so he may have started with the 1/6th Londons moved to RDF (with a new number) and then back to 1/6th after injury (again with a post 1917 number) and it is these numbers that you see on the medal records.

[Luke H]

I agree. You were right Alan with the running order of regiments.

[cbuehler]

This is very interesting. I did not realize so many transfers were made during the war into the line Irish regiments, especially from the London Regiments.
That photo of Mr. Spong shows a very highly polished RDF badge, not to mention the rest of the insignia.

CB

[Emily]

Thank you all for the responses, I am happy that we finally have put a name to a face! My husband's grandmother will be very interested to see what we've found.

[Fatherofthree]

Greetings again Emily.

On the off chance you look in this site every now and then, the following may be of interest to you.

Currently on ebay, a pair of medals to Henry William Spong, although not one of the Spongs discussed in this thread, he may be a relation of those who are.

He served initially with The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, later serving with The Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

Looking at what records there are on the ebay listing, he appears to have lived in Bournemouth when he enlisted.

Anyway, if you are interested, here is the link to the medals:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125844229307

Regards.

Brian