Autograph albums kept by nurses or soldiers can be an intriguing starting point for further research into the Great War. It was an album kept by a nurse at Chailey in Sussex which got me hooked onto a particular theme some thirty-odd years ago, and I still don't consider I have completed the task yet. You can see some of the output here: http://chailey1418.blogspot.co.uk/
This blog entry is courtesy Roger Moore who has transcribed entries in an autograph book given to him by his grandfather, late Sgt F R G Moore, 1st Tank Brigade. Roger notes that the album was probably signed as the men were about to depart for England; the location is probably Écoivres, a hamlet in the commune of Mont-Saint-Eloi. This ties in well with a pen and ink sketch of Mont St Eloi which appears in the album.
Further information about any of the men noted below would be welcomed. Men's names in bold. BWM and VM indicates medal entitlement to the British War & Victory medals. Roger's notes in italics.
Aubrey John Bosworth poem 7.1.18
Aubrey John Bosworth (1892 – 1966); MGC Sgt 2979; Royal Engineer 301516 or 310516. Went on to win numerous motorbike events in Kettering from 1921 onwards.
D Pyott comic 5.1.19
RFA Gunner 310517 (9.3.15)
Royal Engineers to 10.2.1919
F Bentin CSM RE poem and sketch 5.1.19
W G Holmes poem 5.1.19
M Lane “The Bold Bad telephonist” poem 6.1.19
J Weir poem 6.1.19
H Potts II Cpl short poem 6.1.19
A J Jeffels poem 7.1.19
E J Rosenberger Box car driver poem and detailed ink sketch of warship 10.1.19
Absent Voter Roll shows Eddie John Rosenberger as ASC 351566. Born 7th June 1892 in Brussels. Died December 1977. BWM & VM; Army Service Corps 351566, 1st Tank Brigade Signal Coy, RE.
1911 census records him as the stepson of Fred. Vincent Thickens at Tooting.
S W Taylor Spr RE poem per R Burns 12.1.19
J A Hutcheson heading for “Bonnie Dundee” 12.1.19
A Wood Sapper RE poem 12.1.19
W H Cottam sapper poem 12.1.19
G Naylor poem 12.1.19
J Thompson Spr 12.1.19
John R Olson poem 20.1.1919
BWM & VM; MGC gunner 32298, RE sapper 313417
F Milligan pioneer poem emphasising pride in Signals co of Premier T Bde
25.1.19(Durham LI 1787 > RE 471988)
J Day 2Cpl poem 3.2.19
W K Cartwright poem “from one to another ... long before conscription” 3.2.19
R Sawyers l/cpl RE poem about where and when FRGM and he met 3.2.19
S Stuart “one of the old Seaforths” pro Scottish 4.2.19
Rupert Hudson “one of the old 48th territorial div”4.2.19
Possibly the man below. <18 1913.="" br="" old.="" yr="">Died at Shrewsbury in December 1982
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[Unclear] Ayres QMS HQ 1st Tank Bde poem about leaving for UK 9.2.19
Possibly Frederick A Ayres; BWM & VM; Tank Corps 97022
J G Allott Spr RE long poem & poem plus comic drawing10.2.19
BWM & VM; RE Sapper 325518
J Cammack
RE RASC SS/14288 embarked 8.8.15
P O Smith Pioneer poem 10.2.19
Read Spr sketches 12.2.19
Read Spr coloured sketch 17.2.19
Howse Spr poem 18.2.19
H A Handford Spr RE poem 1.3.19
E J Miles Spr RE poem 3.19
A Smith pioneer poem 11.3.19
H Harrison 1st Tank Bde Sig Coy RE lengthy poem Ecuvier 12.3.19
1914-15 Star, BWM & VM. Entered France 29.8.15; RFA Gunner 30801; later Tank Corps Private 307063
H Cooper sapper poem en route to Rhine 12.3.19
Goldman poem re The signallers “one of them” 20.3.19
T Ball Cpl poem – Blighty for FRGM, onward to Rhine for Ball 21.3.19
W D Gibbs poem in Scottish form 21.3.19
E J Spears Capt. RE long poem & short poem Ecoivres, France 24.3.19' RE (TF) 1648 Sergt.
J A Richmond (69204 1st TB, Sig Co, RE) )poem and “Passed by Censor” stamps 24.3.19
James Dickson in format of telegraph message from Ecqoivres, 25.3.19
Goodwin, Spr HQ 1st TB poem re tanks leaving for Rhine 1.4.19
A Mumford “Ponsonby” Cpl 1st Bde Tank Corps Sig Coy RE poem and sketches 25.3.19
J W Hunt poem 20.7.19
A Barker poem St Leonards 31.8.19
George Boles; poem 31st August 1919
BWM & VM; MGC Sgt 10676, later Tank Corps Sgt 201777
William H Cottam
BWM & VM; MGC gunner 69947, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regt 24935; later Royal Engineers 313428
H H W W poem 19.5.1921
P A Welsford short poem 28.7. 1921
Cliff Welsford cartoon 1921
R G C poem 11.12.1921
W Wain poem 24.5.1922
Undated Donald M Fraser two long poems about the Armistice (in France 1917 – 1919)
Born 30 May 1869 in Edinburgh. Enlisted 24.7.1915. Transferred to HLI in France, served with MGC from Dec 1917. Demobbed Ripon May 1919 .Wrote letter to Under-Secretary of State 10.2.1938. His “Armistice” poem is long and well written and significantly has “copyright” on it. The article below possibly refers to the same man:
Undated J P Hatch, Spr RE BEF detailed pen and ink sketch of ruins at Mont St Eloi 1919
Undated Spr F Honnor map showing him on IoW and FRGM back in Bristol after war.
Undated S J Humport poem
Undated Sapper J or T Watt RE
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