Accessory belonged to british soldier KEETON J landed at Salerno septmber 1943

[Matteo La Boccia]

Accessorio per lucidare bottoni uniformi senza sporcarsi. Appartenuta al soldato inglese matricola 2660844 KEETON J delle Coldstream Guards. Qualcuno può aiutarci a trovare maggiori informazioni su di lui e sulla sua famiglia? Grazie

 

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[Mackaydon]

Translating Matteo: "Accessory for polishing uniform buttons without getting dirty. Belonged to the English soldier serial number 2660844 KEETON J of the Coldstream Guards. Can anyone help us find more information about him and his family?"

Matteo:

Sergeant J. Keeton was in the 4th Battalion

Commander-in-Chief's Certificate
2660854 Sergeant J. KEETON
(Note the difference in his service number; ending in '44' and '54'.)
Source: https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/6th-guards-tank-brigade.51973/
Don....

 

[Mackaydon]

Apologies for digressing off point:
The accessory is called a Button Stick. The bottom would be slid up the stick's channel to then be polished without staining the clothing material.

The Button Stick was patented by Joseph R Parker and L/Cpl Thomas Cooke. They filed an application in Aug. 1917 and were eventually granted British Patent No. 116972 in July 1918. It continued to be produced until the 1970s.
Don......

 

[invent4hir]

Don, good research! When I look at the Commander-in-Chief's Certificate, two sergeants have a number that is one digit off. Namely, 2661844 Sergeant C. TURNER and 2660854 Sergeant J. KEETON. I'll refer Major (Retd) Cazenove of the Coldstream Guards Association to this thread and see if he or anyone in his organization can provide more info. Will post his/their reply asap.

 

[invent4hir]

Major (Retd) Cazenove confirmed that Jack Keeton's number is 2660844. So this is his button stick. Also, he was discharged in 1946 - thus survived the war.

 

[Matteo La Boccia]

Many thanks!!! Any chanche to find some relatives of J. Keeton and some informations about his service??

 

[Mackaydon]

Matteo,
Yes, there is a chance to find his relatives. Four sources come to mind:
1. Ancestry.com
2. Myheritage.com
3. Enlistment papers
4. Records kept by his burial cemetery (direct or online)
The first two require a subscription; the third and fourth options require time and effort.
Don......

 

[invent4hir]

I briefly checked Ancestry, Myheritage, FamilySearch and Fold3 yesterday. There are a few men by that name whose ages would be about right to have served in WWII. Plus a few more with the surname Keaton. As far as I can tell, none are connected to a family tree - so not able to find a next-of-kin that way. I checked freebmd.org.uk for a Jack Keeton's baptism/marriage/death records and found 8 men (see screen capture below). Two can be ignored as they were born & died in 1944. It would help to know where he was born/lived to see who among the remaining 6 might be the best candidates. Note: FreeBMD hasn't yet transcribed the whole index - see here for which years have been transcribed. Also checked freereg.org.uk and no men named Jack Keeton appeared in parish registers from 1900 to 2024. Ditto for Jack Keaton.

Also, knowing where he was born/lived might make it possible to contact a church in that area whose records are not on-line. Plus a Family History Center in that area might also be able to assist.

Hopefully later this week I'll re-visit the on-line searches plus try https://www.findmypast.com/