Radley College archive

When researching a man for my British Army Ancestors Facebook page I stumbled across the Radley College archive which is a collection of digitised photographs and books relating to Radley College in Oxfordshire. There are specific collections of portraits of former students in army uniform but there are also many servicemen to be found in photos like this one, in this case prefects photographed in 1907.

The majority of these men would have gone on to serve as officers in one or more of the British military arms and, blessed with uncommon and therefore easily searchable names for the most part, it doesn't take too much detective work to quickly uncover further detail.

In the image that I have posted above, a quick search on my British Army Ancestors website shows, for instance, that M A (Maurice Astley) Knatchbull-Hugesson served as a second lieutenant with the Grenadier Guards and was KiA in 1916, whilst C W (Cyril Walter) Holcroft served as a captain with the Worcestershire Regiment and was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The archive has been indexed and OCRd as appropriate and will be an invaluable resource, and a free one at that. Well done to Radley College for taking the decision to digitise its archive.

MoD references on medal index cards

I've been meaning to write this blog post for a while. What follows may not be rocket science but because the information scrawled on medal index cards is important, I thought I'd draw attention to two of the particular annotations here.

The medal index card above is 'busy'; lots of information here concerning the regiments that James Murray served with, his medal entitlement, the award of his MM which was gazetted on the 19th November 1917, and the re-issue of these campaign medals in 1934. What I want to draw attention to though is the dates that appear in the remarks section. There are two dates here: 24/1/64 and 14/12/53. These are the dates on which an enquiry about this man's service was received by the MoD at its Hayes office in Middlesex. I don't have any background on the 1953 enquiry but I do have a copy of the response that was returned in 1964. Here it is:

This particular response was returned on the 5th February 1964, quite a quick turnaround considering the enquiry had only been received on the 24th January 1964.

And so the first point to note is that the dates expressed thus, are the dates on which the enquiry was received by the Ministry of Defence (MoD):

The second point to note, ruefully, is that in 1964 this man's records were still extant. The information about his enlistment, transfer and discharge can only have come from an attestation paper (or similar document), whereas the entitlement to medals could conceivably have come from medal rolls. At some point after 1964 therefore, the MoD finished what the Luftwaffe had started in 1940 and destroyed James Murray's records.

1st Cadet Battalion, The Essex Regiment

I came across this headed paper this morning whilst researching a soldier who had served in this cadet battalion. I was not aware of this particular battalion, although the detailed headed paper itself makes its affiliation quite clear.

Headquartered in Canning Town, the "London-over-the-border" stipulation was obviously quite lenient. Chelmsford (home of the battalion's bank) is 34 miles from Canning Town and would have seemed like the back of beyond in the early 1900s. Ingatestone is only marginally closer at about 29 miles.

The 6th Battalion, Essex Regiment was headquartered at West Ham, with A to G companies drawing recruits from West Ham, and H company drawing men from Prittlewell. There was a drill station at Grays. The man who is referred to on this paper is George Ryan who would later serve in the Royal West Kent Regiment and die as a prisoner of war in January 1917 just three days after his 18th birthday. You can see a photo of George on my British Army Ancestors website.

Prisoners of War 1914

You'll find a number of research resources linked from this particular Army Ancestry Research blog, but if you have an interest in First World War prisoners of war you'll need to visit my Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 blog.

Some while ago I transcribed various lists of men held by the Imperial War Museum. These form part of a collection of lists of men who were all captured before Christmas Day 1914 and therefore missed out on Princess Mary's gift tin. Thankfully, these lists of men survive in digital format. The digital quality is not the best in the world but you'll be doing better than me if you can manage to persuade the folk at the IWM to give you access to the original documents.

I'm nearing the end of this particular publication schedule and will have posted all transcriptions by Christmas 2018.

British Army Ancestors - 17th Lancers identified

About a year ago I launched British Army Ancestors, my initiative to provide a vehicle for people to upload army photographs and so, in time, build a useful free resource for others. This week I've been adding my own discoveries and I want to use this post to talk about two of these.

Under the caption, " A dismounted Lancer at a skirmishing display" this photograph first appeared in the The Navy & Army Illustrated that was published on the 6th March 1896.  The article notes "Here we have a picture which will serve to remind many of our readers of the Military Displays at the Agricultural Hall, and to others will explain the kind of fighting which Dr Jameson's troopers made with the Boers at Krugerdorp. It is a pretty idea, teaching a cavalry horse to lie down and serve as a living screen, from behind which his rider can fire in safety, and moreover, has its use in warfare. In the present instance the dismounted horseman (Rough-rider Corporal Long, of the 17th Lancers) is one of a line of skirmishers ordered to use their carbines on foot, against an enemy whom they are unable to get at owing to the nature of intervening obstacles."

The Corporal Long in question can only be 3000 Cpl Henry Long who joined the regiment in December 1885, transferring to the 16th Lancers in November 1905. He was discharged in December 1906 having served 21 years and was entitled to the QSA and KSA for service in South Africa, as well as the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal with gratuity. His character on discharge was recorded as "Exemplary". 

The second photo is actually quite well-known and was subsequently rendered as artwortk for a cigarette card (see below). This photo originally appeared in The Navy & Army Illustrated which was published on the 21st February 1896. The caption underneath the photo ran,

"Her mother was shot in Cashmere, eight years ago, by Prince Adolphus of Teck, who brought the cub to Lucknow, where the regiment was stationed, and gave her as a present to his troop. Shortly after this the cub was lost for a year. Then one day a man came round with a performing bear, which was recognized as " Lizzie " Since then "Lizzie" has remained with the 17th, with whom she came to England in 1889. She is a great pet with all ranks, for her own part reciprocating the affection, specially in favour of Corporal Baker, her particular guardian, who is shown in the illustration..."

I looked at medal rolls and service records for 17th Lancers corporals called Baker and the only possible candidate is 2881 Shoeing Smith Cpl Thomas Baker. In this photo, the clincher is the horseshoe, just visible on his right arm which marks him out as a shoeing smith. His service record confirms that he held that rank between July 1894 and February 1896 when he was promoted to sergeant farrier.

I am delighted to have identified these two men but was only able to do so as a result of understanding the regimental numbers for the 17th Lancers and, fortuitously in both cases, finding surviving records for them in WO 97.

If you've not already done so, do check out British Army Ancestors. The site is free and even if you don't want to upload photos, you can quickly and easily search over 12m records.

Measuring success in 1917

I've just completed a research project and was struck by the following passage in the battalion diary which covers the actions during which my research subject was killed.

"Z Day, The Raid. A most successful undertaking... Casualties: Captain J E Day (died of wounds), Lieutenant Williams (wounded), 2nd Lt R E W Burke (wounded), 6 killed, 7 missing, 66 wounded. Whole battalion greatly elated at our success..."

Thus was success measured in April 1917. The extract is from the war diary of the 6th Royal Irish Regiment on the 5th April 1917 and I've manipulated the information somewhat because after "successful undertaking" the diarist had written, "21 prisoners of the 4th Grenadier Regiment, from whom inestimable information was gained."

We must take the diarist at his words and hope that it was of some comfort to the relatives of those who died that day. My research subject was one of the seven men missing. His body was never found and he is commemorated by name on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.

The image comes from the Vimy Foundation website and shows Canadian soldiers from the 78th (Winnipeg Grenadiers) surrounding a rather forlorn looking German captured during a trench raid.

Sgt F R G Moore's autograph album

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
<18 1913.="" br="" old.="" yr="">

<18 1913.="" br="" old.="" yr="">
[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



<18 1913.="" br="" old.="" yr="">

<18 1913.="" br="" old.="" yr="">

Enlistment advice in 1897

I'm not convinced that the following 'advice' from "one who has tried it" would have persuaded many a likely lad to join the army. The extracts below are from a larger article published in the Navy & Army Illustrated in 1897. Entitled "To those about to enlist", the anonymous author who, reading between the lines, was almost certainly a cavalryman, was certainly frank.

On pay...

"You will not be overpowered at the extent of your wealth as a private soldier. Month in, month out, you will be lucky to draw five shillings a week after deductions for mess allowances, barrack damages, renovation of kit, etc. How you will invest all this great sum is a matter on which I shall not presume to offer you any advice. You can easily get rid of it at the canteen, and will find a considerable number of jolly fellows to assist at that operation. You can expend it in improving your menu, or can put it in the regimental savings bank. You can gamble it away, or perchance increase it at cards - I do not recommend either— or send it home to your friends. Personally I found I required all my pay, and a little more, to keep me in grub. A beneficent nation allows you three-quarters of a pound of meat and one pound of bread per diem, and anything else you require you must pay for yourself. The meat varies as to quality— occasionally it is excellent, less often it is not fit for human consumption. As a rule the bread is fairly good. Groceries and vegetables come out of the mess fund, to which you pay a certain sum from your pay, whether you wish it or not."

On promotion...

"Don’t be in too big a hurry for promotion. If you merit it, you are bound to gain it in the Army, sooner, perhaps, than in any other walk of life; and remember that when it comes it will not be a bed of roses. Every step higher incurs certain responsibilities and the first step of all is the most important.

"A lance-corporal is the hardest worked, most abused, and unhappiest man alive. Remember when you get that stripe sewn on your sleeve that yesterday you were plain Private Tommy, and don’t fancy yourself Adjutant-General all in a moment. You will have a roughish time at first, especially with the men who were your equals yesterday, and now is the time to show what you are made of. You will require courage, tact, firmness - in a word, a strong heart - if you are to be a success as Lance Jack. The men watch you, and those above watch you, and you had better watch yourself closest of all." 

The Militia - enlistment, discharge and re-enlistment

The militia was regarded by many as a training ground for the regular army but without the full-time commitment demanded of a career soldier. As usual, the Army Book for The British Empire, published in 1893, contains some very useful information on enlistment into the militia, discharge from it, and re-enlistment.

Supply of men (a) Recruits

The recruit is enlisted for six years, and for the county in which he is raised. A militiaman, if under the age of 45, may engage for a further period of four years and may be re-enlisted for a period of four years up to the age of 45. He may not be transferred to the militia of another territorial regiment without his consent, but an infantry militiaman may be removed, if required, to any other battalion of the territorial regiment to which he belongs.

(b) Discharges

On termination of engagement by purchase, on conviction of felony, and as invalids, the discharge of militiamen may be carried out by officers commanding a militia unit without reference to higher authority. Discharges for misconduct (other than felony) must be referred to the general officer commanding the district.

(c) Enlistment into other Forces

If a militiaman wishes to enlist in the army or navy during the period of his training, he obtains from his commanding officer a "conditional discharge" pending his being released from his engagement. When not up for training or drill, a militiaman wishing to enlist into the army or navy can be attested at once.

A recruit enlisted for a militia unit receives no bounty on enlistment, but receives a bounty varying from £1 to £1 10 shillings on dismissal to his home from recruit drill, preliminary drill and training, under certain rules which are laid down. A militiaman receives an annual bounty of £1 on the expiration of his annual training, under certain restrictions. Every sergeant of militia who has joined on discharge from the army as a non-commissioned officer receives an annual bounty of £3 on the expiration of each training intended to stimulate non-commissioned officers of the regular forces to join the militia as sergeants.

Every militiaman on re-engagement receives a bounty of £1 10 shillings and an annual bounty of £1 10 shillings on expiration of training. Men who enlist for the militia after discharge from the regular army, army reserve, navy or marines receive a bounty of £1 10 shillings. A militiaman enlisted or re-enlisted for the militia reserve receives a bounty of £1 in advance for each year of service in the militia. A militiaman who, when up for drill on enlistment, preliminary drill or training, enlists into the regular army, receives a bounty of £1.

National Library of Scotland - military resources

Have I mentioned lately what an extremely useful resource for military historians, the National Library of Scotland has become?

For a start, the material has been digitised to a high quality specification from original material held at the National Library. The image above is taken from Hart's Annual Army List for 1913 and there are many such volumes which can be easily accessed. Here' a list of Army Lists from 1839 to 1915, and clicking on any of the links on this page opens up further links. There are also separate sections for the Royal Navy 1913-1940 and the Royal Air Force 1919-1945.

The National Library of Scotland's War section can be accessed by clicking on the link. This then opens up a number of different categories of which the Army Lists (noted above), Rolls of Honour and military maps are arguably the most interesting.  The military maps include First World War trench maps 1915-1918 and maps of Belgium from the Second World War.

Best of all is that this is a free resource, digitised by the National Library of Scotland and made freely available to a worldwide audience.

The Nafziger Orders of Battle collection

From the finding aid, updated in 2012:

"This collection was provided through the generous donation of George Nafziger to the Combined Arms Research Library. The Nafziger Orders Of Battle Collection contains a compilation of 7985 individual orders of battle from 1600 to 1945. It began with George Nafziger’s interest in Napoleonic Wars, and steadily grew to other areas because of the gaming public's interest in these highly detailed historical orders of battle. Sources range from published works to actual archival documents, which represent the largest single source. Nearly all orders of battle break down to the regimental level. The availability of strength figures and artillery equipment varies from period to period."

I've known about this collection for a while and was using it again this morning to look at British Army stations in the 1890s. Most of these transcripts are taken from lists published in The Army & Navy Gazette which itself can be accessed via the British Newspaper Archive and Findmypast.  The Nafziger list is useful though becuase the index and the individual PDFs are easily searchable and acan also be downloaded.

The Nafziger finding aid is here. Click on the individual links within this document to download the lists.

Reasons to be cheerful - Findmypast gives away 10%

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Fortunately, I don't have ancestors - at least, not many - who ventured to Canada, the US, Ireland or Australia, and so the UK sub suits me just fine. I use it pretty much exclusively for military records these days: the worldwide British Army indexes for 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871, the British Army Service records (far more indexed on Findmypast than at Ancestry), The Scots Guards, the HAC, Tanks, Artillery... it goes on. I begin my day with Findmypast, usually between 5am and 6am, and I return to it in the evening. Personally, I consider a full-price sub to be a bargain, but it's even more of a bargain when there's 10 PER CENT OFF!

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The Last Queen's Guard - January 1901

The photograph above originally appeared in the Rifle Brigade Chronicle for 1901. It shows one officer and thirty-one NCOs and men of the Royal Rifle Reserve Regiment who formed the Queen's Guard at Parkhurst in December 1900 and January 1901. Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, died on the 22nd January 1901 and these men were therefore part of the last Queen's Guard.

The Royal Rifle Reserve Regiment, then quartered at Parkhurst, was one of several reserve regiments formed in 1900 of time-expired soldiers. In the case of this last Royal Guard - a complete contingent of two officers and forty-four NCOs and men - all men with the exception of Lieutenant Okeover who had served with the militia, had originally served with the Rifle Brigade.

The following men are all named in The Rifle Brigade Chronicle as having formed part of the last Guard of Honour, all of these men being awarded the Royal Victorian Medal (above, courtesy Science & Society) which had been instituted by Queen Victoria in 1896. Their regimental numbers are those of the Royal Rifle Reserve Regiment and date to March 1900.

Surviving Rifle Reserve Regiment records are few and far between and, where they do survive, are not generally held with the man's earlier papers. Nevertheless I did find records in WO 97 for some of the men in the list below, most of whom had left the Rifle Brigade by the early 1890s and were therefore old soldiers in the true sense of the word. Where I have uncovered additional information, I have expanded the man's forename and also added in his previous Rifle Brigade regimental number and years of service.

932 Colour Sergeant T Lewis

203 Sergeant H Gilbert
978 Sergeant G Blackman
933 Corporal Ernest Martindale; formerly 5571; 1883-1895
1275 Corporal G Taylor
123 Corporal J Clark
407 Acting Corporal B Wells
529 Acting Corporal R Gilmour
1013 Acting Corporal J Rhodes
422 Acting Corporal T Kilshaw

404 Bugler E Mallet (presumably the man above)
532 Rifleman J Ballard
424 Rifleman G Charles
539 Rifleman J Currall
389 Rifleman A Day
419 Rifleman G Fisher
538 Rifleman J Foster
988 Rifleman Joseph Gartshore; formerly 8274; 1886-1898
997 Rifleman J Logan
996 Rifleman Thomas Lynch; formerly 5970; 1883-unknown
999 Rifleman John Pitchford; formerly 6104; 1883-1895 
410 Rifleman T Naylor
846 Rifleman J Edmonds
394 Rifleman M Richards
391 Rifleman J Smith
527 Rifleman C Street
1003 Rifleman T Sweeting
411 Rifleman J Tiff
434 Rifleman William Tiffin; formerly 4188; 1880-1892
400 Rifleman Thomas Wagerfield; formerly 1861; 1877-1889
534 Rifleman J Waller
814 Rifleman J Woodward
1556 Rifleman R Fidoe
499 Rifleman J Fishlock; formerly 6348; 1883-1895
674 Rifleman A Piket

Some of the men listed above with common names may also have surviving service records in WO 97 but it would be impossible to pick them out, particularly as their Royal Rifle Reserve service is almost certainly not indicated on their original papers. That's one of the reasons that published lists such as this, even though it is small, is so important. For some of the men listed above, this single listing in a half-forgotten Chronicle published by the Rifle Brigade over 100 years ago may be the only surviving evidence of their army service.

Apart from the Royal Victorian Medal, five men wear the India General Service Medal 1854-1895. Clasps are visible on some of these medals and these are almost certainly the clasps for Burma 1885-7 and Burma 1887-89, as illustrated below. The corporal sitting on the ground on the left wears the Sudan Medal and Khedive's Star, evidence of campaigning between 1882 and 1889.

Ernest Martindale is one of the India General Service Medal holders although he was only entitled to the clasp for Burma 1887-89. He later re-enlisted in the Rifle Brigade in 1914 at the age of 48 and saw service in the UK with the 15th Battalion before being discharged in 1915. John Pitchford served in Gibraltar, Egypt, South Africa and India during his original stint with the Rifle Brigade but still came away with no campaign medals; a case of being in the wrong location at the wrong time. 

I research soldiers! 

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A final family portrait

I bought this postcard of a Gordon Highlander and his family the other week. Unfortunately, there is nothing on the card to identify who the soldier and his family are, but his name will undoubtedly appear in Commonwealth War Graves records somewhere, and probably on Soldiers Died in The Great War. His wife probably received a widow's pension, and there is probably a record recording both the husband's and wife's name in the Soldiers' Effects Register.

Because the sad fact of the matter is that this is a sitting assembled after death. It doesn't require much close examination to see that the sitters have all been cut and pasted into a family grouping. The little girl on the right may have originally appeared in a solo portrait, and her father's photo may have been taken in a studio close to where he was camped or billeted in the UK; it could even have been taken in France and posted back home. In a pre-digital age it would have been difficult to get the perspective right, which is why the soldier appears, ironically, a little larger than life.

This photo, quite possibly, was the only group photo that ever existed of this family. Depending on when the father was sent overseas and when he was killed, the infant on his wife's lap may have never seen her father - and he may never have seen his bairn. All the more reason then to re-construct a family sitting, and a reminder for the children in years to come that their father had been a soldier, and died for his King and Country.

I research soldiers! 

Contact me if you need help with your military ancestor. 

Also see this post on finding a photo of your British military ancestor.

Joseph Miller writes home

It's always a bonus when a postcard includes details of the sender. Writing to Mrs H Limpkin of Heath House, Linton, near Burton-on-Trent, 11895 Rfn Joseph Miller of the King's Royal Rifle Corps wrote, "Just a line to let you no [sic] I arrived safe at Winchester. I don't no [sic] how long I shall be stationed here for my arm is not better yeat and I expect I shall go under opertaion with it. I think that is all this time..." He gave his address as 3 Coy, KRR, The Huts, Winchester.

Jospeh Miller, according to surviving papers, attested on the 27th August 1914 and served overseas from the 29th November 1914 with the 1st and latterly the 16th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. He appeared in a list of 1st Battalion wounded published on the 9th June 1915 and again on the 13th April 1917 when he was recorded as suffering from shell shock. He was discharged on the 5th February 1919 aged 22.  

Unpicking the information above, my guess would be that Joseph sent the postcard aftre he had been wounded (in the arm) whilst serving with the 1st Battalion. I think he recovered from this wound, was posted to the 16th Battalion and served in France and Belgium where he was subsequently invalided with shell shock, later being invalided out of the army as a result of this.

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L/3204 George H Edney, 16th & 17th Lancers

When he enlisted with the Corps of Lancers on the 9th January 1911, George Herbert Edney was a 19-year-old waiter working in London. He was born in Stoke Newington on the 25th July 1891, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Edney, but by 1901 had moved south of the river and was living with his parents and siblings at 72 Alvey Street, Southwark. 

The 1911 census return shows George serving with the 16th Lancers and based at Shrapnel Barracks, Woolwich Common. The photo above may have been taken at around this time, or at least when George had completed basic training, as he is wearing the uniform of the 16th Lancers. He had only been in the army for three months by the time the census return was taken, but in due course he would transfer to the 17th Lancers and see service in India between the 18th December 1913 and the 15th October 1914. It was during this time that the photo, below, was taken.

On his lower left sleeve George wears a chevron representing two years' good conduct, and above that, a marksman's badge. George returned briefly to England in October 1914 and disembarked in France on the 8th November 1914. He would remain in France until April 1919, earning for himself the 1914 Star and British War and Victory Medals. 

George married Ada Ansell at the parish church, Warlingham on the 16th August 1919, and their daughter Joan Ruby Edney was born the following year.  His address on discharge on the 8th January 1923 was given as No 1 Flat, 29 Palace Gates, Kensington W8. 

George Edney died in 1968. His military photos, some of which I have posted here, and his discharge certificate are now in my possession. No service record survives for this man in WO 363/4 but there is an entry in a Royal Tank Regiment enlistment register which gives much useful information. In all likelihood, papers may still be with MoD as George served in the army beyond 1920.

British Army Research to 1920

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My pleasure, Bob, and happy to have been of assistance.

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The King's Royal Rifle Corps regimental depot, 1899

There's a nice article in my recently purchased KRRC Chronicle for 1903 which details the workings of the KRRC regimental depot. The article deals specifically with the way in which the depot managed men coming into and leaving the regiment during the Boer War, and I thought it might make a nice opening blog post for 2017.

Traditionally housed at Winchester, and sharing their depot with the Rifle Brigade, a fire in 1894 completely destroyed the King's House and barracks which had been designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685, forcing a re-location to Gosport. It would actually be ten years before the regiments moved back to their newly built barracks and depot in Winchester. I draw attention to this as this is referred to in the text below.

Notes on the Working of the Depot during the War

"The duties of the Rifle Depot are comprised under three heads. First the care and keeping of the records with all its attendant correspondence; second the receiving, clothing, partial training, and dispatch to the home battalions of recruits; and third, duties connected with mobilisation for war.

"As regards the first heading it need hardly be said that the necessity for accurately keeping all records is as paramount during war as in peace, but when the Reserves are called out all their documents, instead of lying idle on the shelves, are in active use. In addition there are innumerable letters received from relatives and friends, but perhaps the amount of clerical work will be better realised by stating that during the war roughly speaking, fifty-three thousand documents were received and dealt with, while certainly another six thousand must have been received by the commanding and other officers and which, being sent privately, were not entered into the registers. It will thus be seen that on mobilisation becoming imminent, or even probable, one of the first measures is to arrange for a considerable expansion of the office staff, and a carefully thought-out scheme of sub-division of work, in order that the additional clerks may be fully and usefully employed...

"... We come then to the third heading... The first step is the issue of the order for mobilisation, posting up the placards and sending out the notices to the reservists - the latter being done by the paymaster. Arrangements are then made for the housing of the Reservists on arrival, and drawing arms, equipment and ammunition. (This will be unnecessary when the Depot has returned to Winchester, as everything will be stored in the barracks). Then the mobilisation store has to be got ready , and the system which most happily was in force at the Depot was this. All clothing and necessaries were kept in bulk until required, the packages were then opened and the articles places in sizes for issue. There was no attempt to keep the things packed in kits, as lai8d down by regulation, for the good reason that there were no lockers for the kits, nor was there space available for any other system than adopted...

"... Then one waited for the coming of those for whom we had prepared. As a rule, one or two men appeared almost as soon as the notices were sent out and towards the expiration of the time, during which Reservists had to join, they began to come in small parties, but the large majority came only at the last minute. Needless to say this added enormously to the difficulties and militated greatly against the comfort of the men themselves. It is sincerely to be hoped that in future mobilisations the officer commanding the Depot will be permitted to exercise his discretion as to the times and numbers of men to join. To have a thousand men coming into barracks late at night - many suffering from the effects of kindness (?)  shown them during the journey by injudicious friends - meant an amount of discomfort and disorder not only prejudicial; to discipline but quite unnecessary.

"The Reservists having arrived proceeded to the guard room, where each man's name was entered on a roll, a sergeant of either regiment [ie the Rifle Brigade and The KRRC] being there for that purpose. The men were then sent to the companies (the first fifty to A Company, the next fifty to B, and so on). On joining the company each Reservist was given a card, on one side of which was a printed form for the Medical Officer's certificate of fitness or otherwise, and on the reverse a list of the articles of clothing, small kit etc the man had to receive."

I suggest that this same procedure was almost identically repeated at regimental depots up and down the country, not only in 1899 but again in 1914.

Pictured at the hesad of this post is Lieutenant, the Honourable Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts VC, an officer of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and only son of Lord Roberts VC of Kandahar, who died of wounds in South Africa in February 1900.

Happy New Year, evryone.

Major Frederick Maurice Crum 1872-1955

I recently bought the King's Royal Rifle Corps Chronicle for 1903. The endpaper bears the signature that I have published beneath this paragraph. F M Crum was Frederick Maurice Crum and what follows is not my text at all, but rather an account of this man's life that I found online at Blairlogie Scotland. I hope this credit and the link gives me sufficient permission to re-publish - with minor editing - the words below. Note that I have omitted much of the text that covers his First World War service.

Frederick Maurice Crum was born 12th October 1872, the son of William Crum and Jean Mary Campbell. The first documentary evidence that we have of Major Crum is in The London Gazette of 7th February 1893 where it indicated that “The King's Royal Rifle Corps, Gentleman Cadet Frederick Maurice Crum, from the Royal Military College, to be Second Lieutenant, on augmentation. Dated 8th February 1893". 

Soon, Frederick was off to India to join the 1/60th Rifles as a subaltern at Rawal Pindi. Strangely the London Gazette did not mention him again until 1900. In December 1896 the 1st Battalion of the 60th Rifles sailed from Bombay for the Cape, which was three years before the second South African War of 1899 to 1902 was declared. In May 1899 Frederick moved to Natal and on the 25th September he was off once again, this time to Ladysmith where he arrived on the 2nd October. On the  5th October the battalion was marched to Dundee, arriving there two days later. On the 12th October 1899, war was declared. and Frederick was soon  in the thick of the action. He received a wound to his right shoulder at the battle of Talana Hill, which would blight him until 1919. Unable to fend for himself he was taken prisoner  and ended up in a hospital in Ladysmith where he received treatment which saved his life. 

The London Gazette for 2nd March 1900 reported "Gentleman Cadet Austin Henry Hull, from the Royal Military College, to be Second Lieutenant, in succession to Lieutenant F. M. Crum, a prisoner of war. Dated 3rd March, 1900". Frederick remained a prisoner until June 1900 when he and a further 150 or so officers and 3000 troops were released at Ladysmith. The London Gazette published on 2nd April 1901 reported "Lieutenant Frederick M. Crum to be Captain, in succession to Major O. S. W. Nugent, D.S.O., appointed to the Staff. Dated 1st January 1901". 

By 1901 Captain Crum had lost all of his molars and his manservant took this into consideration whilst preparing his meals in the field. January 1902 was Frederick’s last night patrol of the war as after this he was given leave to return home on medical grounds. His journey started in an ambulance train and then a long sail home. Six months later he was fully recuperated and returned to the Cape, being posted to De Aar. In December 1902 the Battalion was moved to Malta and in 1903 he gave his first lecture, the topic being “Mounted Infantry”. Shortly after this he received leave of 3 months and he returned home to Stirling. 

My copy of the 1903 Chronicle also mentions Major Crum:

In December 1903 Frederick was posted to the 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps as a Brevet-Major and in October 1904 he qualified in Hindustani. During his service career he was often bothered by his wound which he received in 1900 and in 1904 a surgeon removed an inch of bone and some splinters from his right arm. 

During his time in South Africa, Major Crum wrote With the mounted infantry in South Africa; being side-lights on the Boer campaign 1899-1902 and this was published in 1903. In January 1905 he arrived home on leave, boarding his ship in Bombay. From January to October 1905 he was on leave due to the wound to his right arm but by November 1905 he was back in India and was posted to Bareilly. The period April to October 1906 was to prove important for both Frederick Crum and the Boy Scout movement as he was posted to Scout Training at Rhanikhet where he excelled. 

In November 1906 he received leave to return home to cram for staff college exams. On returning home he underwent intensive learning to bring himself up to the level of passing the Staff College entry exams and on the 3rd March 1907 he sailed from Marseilles to Aden to sit the exam. Possibly fortuitously for the Boy Scout movement, he failed the exams and therefore did not attend Staff College and further promotion did not follow. In June 1907 he returned to India and was posted to Jubbulpore and then in October 1907 he was put in charge of the Battalion for 3 weeks until the new Commanding Officer arrived. The London Gazette dated 21st April 1908 reported that “The King's. Royal Rifle Corps, Captain and Brevet Major Frederick M. Crum is seconded for service on the Staff. Dated 28th February 1908.” 

In February 1908 he was posted to the Mounted Infantry School at Fategarh where he excelled. Sadly luck was not on his side and in May 1908 he fell from his horse whilst pig sticking and was given a week's leave to the hills to recover. It was at this time that the London Gazette dated 26th May 1908 reported, “To be Assistant Commandant of a Mounted Infantry School. Brevet Major F. M. Crum, 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Dated 28th February, 1908.” 

On 6th November 1908, Frederick left the Mounted Infantry School to take over the Mounted School at Poona and there was also talk of him being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He arrived at Poona and was given 6 months leave of absence due to being unwell and overworked. The London Gazette dated 18th December 1908 reported “The King's Royal Rifle Corps, Captain George F. B. Hankey is seconded for service as an Adjutant of Territorial Infantry. Dated 1st December, 1908. Brevet Major Frederick M. Crum, from Supernumerary Captain, to be Captain, vice” It would take Frederick three years to fully recover from his wound and condition. 

During his recuperation period it looked as if there was hope that Frederick would return to active service as The London Gazette dated 26th January 1909 reported "The King's Royal Rifle, Corps, Captain and Brevet Major Frederick M. Crum is seconded for service on the Staff. Dated 1st December, 1908.” Later, on 5th February 1909, the Gazette reported, “ARMY STAFF. To be Assistant Commandant of a Mounted Infantry School. Brevet Major F. M. Crum, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Dated 6th November, 1908", and on 1st March 1910,  "The King's Royal Rifle Corps, Brevet Major Frederick M. Crum, from Supernumerary Captain, is restored to the establishment, vice Captain R. Johnstone, retired. Dated 19th February, 1910". 

On March 4th 1910, The London Gazette reported, "The King's Royal Rifle Corps, Major Lord Robert W. O. Manners DSO, retires on retired pay. Dated 5th March, 1910. Captain and Brevet Major Frederick M. Crum to be Major, vice Lord R. W. 0. Manners, D.S.O. Dated 5th March, 1910". 

Clearly none of the above took place as he did not take up any of the posts due to his ill health. 3rd November 1910 would prove to be a very important date as this is when Captain Crum met Baden-Powell for the first time and he was very impressed by him and his views on helping young people. It was on the 12th October 1911 at Saint Andrews and on his 39th Birthday that Captain Crum decided to leave the army and dedicate his time to the Boy Scout movement. He sent his letter of resignation to the War Office on the 16th October 1911, resigning his commission. and from this point on Major Crum (retired) concentrated on building up the Boy Scout movement in Scotland. 

For his service during the the 2nd Boer War, Major Crum received the Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps for Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal and Talana; and the King's South Africa Medal with the usual two claps for 1901 and 1902. The KSA roll alos notes service with the 25th Battalion, Mounted Infantry. 

When Britain went to war again in August 1914, Frederick Crum was at Hamilton Barracks by the 10th, helping to organise the new influx of recruits. It was during this period that he used boy scouts to act as guides and take recruits to the various areas rather than have them milling about. This brought order to some of the proceedings. 

On 12 October 1914, Frederick joined the 8th Kings Royal Rifles and by May 1915 he was in France. He would serve until the end of the war and would be mentioned in despatches in 1917. In July 1919 he returned to scouting in Scotland. The reverse of his medal index card, above, gives his home address - presumably in 1922 when he applied for his medals - as 13 Pitt Terrace, Stirling.

The 1933 to 1945 Valuation Rolls show that Major Crum was the tenant of Gogar house and from 1945 to 1948 he was the owner occupier of Gogar House where he built a gymnasium for scouts to use. Frederick Maurice Crum of Kenmuir, Rosneath, Dumbartonshire died at Rosneath on 8 October 1955. His diaries can be viewed in the Archives at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library.

I presume that his copy of the 1903 KRRC Chronicle (and presumably other volumes besides) was donated to the KRRC Museum and subsequently sold by the museum as my copy of this volume also bears a KRRC museum stamp and a biro annotation "E14". All in all though, a nice addition to my library, and with some fine provenance.

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