What did my grandfather do in thee ArmArmy?

QI’m trying to uncover the army history of my grandfather James Andrew Filson (1900–1987), born in Liverpool. He sailed on merchant ships from 1917, was in the Army in Ireland between 1918 and 1923, and worked on the Liverpool docks from 1925 to 1965. I have two photos of him in what looks like army uniform. One has “Rhine 1918” written on the back. Jane Barrett

AThe photographs are from the First World War era, and the metal shoulder titles are the right shape for the King’s Regiment (Liverpool).

In the 1921 census, James appears as a private in the 2nd Battalion of the King’s Regiment at Kasr-El-Nil Barracks, Cairo, Egypt (albeit mistranscribed as “Andrea James Filson”). So how might he have got there? There’s no Medal Index Card for him, so we know that he didn’t go abroad before the Armistice.

He was probably conscripted in late 1918 (conscription ceased on Armistice Day). He’d have begun in a Young Soldiers’ Battalion and then been sent to a Graduated Battalion. The 51st (Graduated) Battalion (affiliated to the King’s Liverpools), a training battalion, was based in Fermoy in Ireland for a period, so it’s possible that he served with them for a while. Probably from there he transferred to the 52nd (Graduated) Battalion (also affiliated to the King’s Liverpools), and was sent to Germany after the Armistice as part of the Army of Occupation. As a late conscript t he’d be one of the last to be demobbed. Britain still had huge worldwide responsibilities after the war, and the early volunteers and conscripts were due to be discharged. Schemes involving bonuses and extra pay were devised to keep the Army up to working strength. It’s probable James signed up to stay on until 1923. The 1921 census was taken on 19 June, so James’ service record is almost certainly with the Ministry of Defence. Records are now being transferred to The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, but it will be a while before all are available there.