Who When Where

My husband’s grandfather was Thomas Tobin born in 1882 in Liverpool.
He enlisted into the Loyal North Lancs in 1903 & was recalled for ww1.
His regimental number was 7102. Unfortunately he received a gunshot wound to the face at the battle of Ypres on 28th October 1914. He was hospitalised in Wandsworth.
After this we don’t know how he spent the rest of the war.
Family rumours have him as a khaki docker but we can’t find any records of this or of him receiving a silver badge.
Any help would be gratefully received, thanks.
Tobina

Not sure how much you know of this but...

1. I can't find any Service Papers for Thomas Tobin on FindMyPast.

2. He has two entries in Ancestry's UK, World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920 - one for the "British War Medal and Victory Medal" Medal Roll and the other for the "1914 Star". Both have him as 7102 Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and only that. That means that he served overseas as 7102 only - he could have been in some other unit, with another number, after returning to the UK. (I searched on Tobin and 7102 to find those entries.)

3. The page from the Medal Roll for the "British War Medal and Victory Medal" says "Discharged Time Expired 17-2-16". This means that he'd reached the end of the 12 (presumably) years that he'd signed up for - 1903 plus 12 = 1915 actually but maybe these things took time... Now, two things about this discharge.

Firstly it explains why there is no entry for him in Ancestry's UK, Silver War Badge Records, 1914-1920 - the SWB was intended to be given to people who "done their bit" and been discharged - usually because they'd been wounded. However, according to The Long Long Trail's page on the SWB https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldier ... war-badge/, "Expiry of a normal term of engagement did not count" - and that expiry was why Thomas was discharged. So no SWB.

The other thing is, I think that at some point in the proceedings, with ordinary people were being conscripted, if a soldier came to the end of their 12y, then they would have been told, "Sorry, but you have to stay in". The official point of view was that any male in the right age range was deemed to have been signed up, so even if they were released, they were still in the Forces. What I don't know is when this hardening of the time-expiry rules came in - did Thomas get out just in time? Looks like it... Did his previous service then keep him from being called up again? Or did his (possible) job as a docker count as a "reserved" occupation? I don't know - maybe someone on the Great War Forum might be able to come up with a better explanation than me.

Thanks Adrian once again you’ve helped our research to progress.
Tobina