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S/Sjt. William George Wiles
British Army 3rd Battalion Middlesex Regiment
from:Mill Hill
I am led to believe that my great grandfather, William George Wiles enlisted into the Middlesex Regiment in 1907 and comparing the very limited information passed down to me about his service history with what I have researched about the regiment thus far, I think he probably served in the 3rd Battalion (Regulars) for the duration of the Great War. I am told the photograph was taken while he served in India with his battalion from 1911 until 1915 when he and the 3rd Battalion moved to the Western Front. However, the photograph shows him as a Serjeant which makes me question the India connection. By the end of the war he was a Staff Serjeant and like many servicemen received the 1914-15 Star alongside the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal which ties in with the deployment of the 3rd Battalion but I think the photo was probably taken sometime from the second half of the war when his battalion was in battle with the Bulgarians in Macedonia. I wish I knew more.
Editors Update: The rank badges in the photograph indicate he is a Staff Sergeant and he has three war service stripes on his cuff (one for each year served in the war) so it must have been taken in 1917 or later.
