Could also stand for War Substantive (Sgt/Cpl) .. Lance Cpl is an appointment not a rank so would not carry the prefix. I was Paid A/Cpl (Acting) A/Sgt (Acting) .. after probationary term my rank changed to S/Cpl, S/Sgt (Substantive).

Len

Thanks again for your comments

I thought i should post a photo of his medals too

The information i seek is out there on the internet but im not willing to pay for any registration fee just yet before i converse with the right people like yourselves

Yes Gordon a training course inspection, but where? what regiment(mixed i guess)? what date exactly(i think between 44/47)?

thanks for the links Wrinkles, W/cpl might be Lance corporal as this link shows http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-4287900

David

David, are the medals previously posted the ones you mention above .. because there is a duplicate 1939/45 star included and only one is issued to an individual ..

Len

Len, the photo of the medals are all I have, one of the stars is probably from grandads friend i dont know the name of but i can find out, there are some other papers ive yet to include on here

the national archives has some interesting information & the imperial war museum, i should also mention that quite a few family members have served in the army, a great uncle was in the Irish guards surname Cunnah' my cousin Lee served in the gulf and is still in active duty, another cousin surname Glynn is with the marines, I like to keep record of these things my main hobby is ancestry i have a tree on ancestry.co.uk

Thanks again for the information

David

Regarding the w/ My thoughs are that the original was L/CPL badly written, and someone with very little knowlege changed it to W/

No Gordon, the 'S' was not normally used but on occasion it was such as Regimental Part 1 and 3 orders, or on your Regimental Conduct Sheet where the prefix 'A' (Acting) or 'S' (Substantive) was a guide to the Officer when dishing out punishment. For instance a Capt or a Major could strip an Acting rank but not a Substantive rank, that was generally by higher command. I know, I've been there ....

Len

The RASC had two main functions supply and transport,those in the supply trades butchers ,storemen,bakers etc had S/before their regimental numbers,drivers were T/, there were also administrative clerks but I can't remember if they had a prefix,but I do believe that they were S/ also because they worked in the accounting of rations and POL products.

Still trying to catch up with all the threads I missed in my absence.

I saw it mentioned that the prefix T was for Transport? Could the W in the rank have been for a trained Wireless Op?

Paul.

Some "w" prefixes

W Royal Field Artillery Welsh
W Cheshire Regiment Wirral
W Military Provost Staff Corps
WE Royal Army Medical Corps
WT4 Army Service Corps Welsh Horsed Transport


http://www.1914-1918.net/prefixes.html

Sorry those are number prefixs` not rank.

I think you will find that the "W" before a rank was to indicate War Substantive ranks on official documentation. All servicemen retained shadow substantive ranks as if it were peace time and were promoted in their shadow ranks as normal - time, qualifications and recommendation. A serviceman could be promoted to many ranks above his shadow rank. After the war servicemen reverted to their shadow rank, this applied to officers as well as OR's. My father was at one time a War Substantive WO1 but shadow SSgt. He was commissioned to W/Capt and as one of the lucky ones granted a short service commission in 1945 and eventualy granted a QM catergory commission, retiring as a Major. I have all the suporting documentation to show this. He was RASC and was a S/, he was originally a clerk.