Major · #45461
| Rank | Major |
|---|---|
| Service number | #45461 |
| Regiment | The King’s Own Scottish Borderers (Res. of Off.), att. Indian Armoured Corps |
| Known as | “Sam” |
HIS SERVICE NUMBER WAS NOT A SERVICE NUMBER (2026). This card read “#IA38”. The London Gazette shows why nothing could ever be found under it: “Captain (temporary Major) Samuel Vallis McCoy (45461), The King’s Own Scottish Borderers (Res. of Off.), (I.A. 38), Indian Armoured Corps.” BOTH NUMBERS ARE IN THAT ONE ENTRY, and the roll had been carrying the wrong one. 45461 IS HIS SERVICE NUMBER; “I.A. 38” is his INDIAN ARMY LIST NUMBER — a position of seniority, not an identifier. Searching the number alone returns six notices and only this one names him, which is the check that settles it. He was commissioned on 3 April 1930, in a cadet list alongside Shiv Dev Verma and Ramchandra Hari Limaye — an Indian Army intake. His rank here of Major is corroborated: the Gazette has him a Captain, temporary Major, in October 1943. ONE THING DELIBERATELY NOT CLAIMED: a Flight Lieutenant Samuel Vallis McCoy, M.B.E., of the Royal Air Force appears in 1957 and 1962 with a Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct. Same distinctive three-part name, DIFFERENT SERVICE AND A DIFFERENT NUMBER. It may be the same man in later life; it may as easily be his son. Recorded, not asserted. Source: The London Gazette, Supplement 36209, p. 4542, 12 October 1943; issue 33626, p. 4501, 18 July 1930.
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Not By Strength But By Guile