Thanks for the reply. Concerning- " From the Medal Roll Thompson, John W. Private. >no.12/1036 East > Yorkshire Regiment > > Some Regiments had the Battalion Number included in the >Regimental number. So this means he was in 12th >Battalion." I had looked at the medal rolls before, unfortunately after this entry there are another seven John W.Thompsons in the East Yorks, with the Regimental Nos. 205220,30005,8495, 202116,24501,19345 & 39901 and no way of determining which one is the right one. If the numbers run consecutively in a recruiting office then the numbers of any others joining up at the nearest recruiting office to Houghton-le-Spring at the very start of WW1 might give a clue. Jennifer