Oops!

​The theme this week for #52Ancestors is Oops and it’s a short one from me, I really didn’t know what to write then I thought of the following oops moment I found when I downloaded my great grandfather’s WW1 service record.  I wonder if it was something he wanted to keep quiet!
 
Albert John TERRY was born in Crowhurst, Surrey on 3 May 1880 to William Andrew TERRY and Mary RUSBRIDGE.  Albert had a sister Ethel Mary wo was born in 1883 and unfortunately his mother Mary died of a thrombosis 4 days after Ethel’s birth.  William remarried to Edith Knight two years later and together they had 11 children, Christmas dinners must be have been crowded!  

​Albert married Emily PAYNE in 1907 at the Lingfield Mission Hall and by the time of the 1911 census the couple were living at the Post Office in Lingfield in Surrey along with Harold William, their first son who was a year old.  At the time of the census Emily was expecting my grandmother, Edith Evelyn Mary who was born in October 1911.   Albert was a Post Office Clerk.  The family remained living above the Post Office in Lingfield until Albert’s death in 1958. 
 
When WW1 came I think Albert may have been considered to have been a Reserved Occupation, although I am not 100% sure on that and I need to research this subject further.  He enlisted in June 1916 and was called up in January 1917 and he joined the Army Service Corps in the Canteen Services.  

Image of Lingfield Post Office with the flat above where my grandmother grew up

​His medical history on his Service Record stated he was a Sub Postmaster and expert telephonist and he had Flat Feet and varicose veins.  He was rejected and that presumably is why he ended up in the Canteen Services rather than the Regular army.  He was posted to Dieppe in April 2017. 
 
The oops moment came on 13 July 1918 when he forfeited 7 days pay for the crime of hanging his kit in the kitchen contrary to EFC Standing Orders.  Seems a little harsh to me but I live in an age where discipline and standards count for nothing sadly so it is hard to judge what happened over 100 years ago when standards were higher and discipline was instilled into children from an early age much more rigidly.  I wonder what Emily thought when he had to explain why he was short by 7 days wages! 
 
Once again it proves to me that when finding these documents about your ancestors you should read them carefully and thoroughly because you never know what gems of information about their lives you may find which is over and above the usual information you expect to find.      

Image of the Army Service Corps badge