G/8382 Pte Apsley Arthur Stevenson, 1st Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt)

One way or the other, there's quite a lot of information that survives for Apsley Stevenson whose medals I bought last week. He was born in Kingston, Surrey in 1893 and baptised at St John's Church, Kingston on the 16th July that year. The son of Benden Apsley Stevenson and Sarah Ann Stevenson, Apsley appears on the 1901 and 1911 census returns living with his family at Portland Road, Kingston. By 1911 his widowed mother was the head of the household, earning a living as a dressmaker, whilst Apsley - recorded as Arthur Apsley - was working as a grocer's assistant.

Surviving papers in WO 363 reveal that Apsley enlisted on the 29th January 1916 and that he was mobilised on the 2nd March 1916 and posted to the 3rd Battalion, Queen's. Three months later on the 9th June he was sent overseas, joining the regular 1st Battalion in the line, and less than a month later, on the 3rd July 1916, he was killed in action, almost certainly blown to smithereens in a front line trench.

The battalion was in trenches at Cuinchy and the war diary entry for the 3rd July reads:

"A quiet morning. 'Minnie' very active in left and right company frontages in afternoon and evening. Casualties: 4 killed and 2 wounded. At 10.30pm were relieved by 1st Middlesex and proceeded to billets in Le Quesnoy."

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that four men from the 1st Battalion, Queen's died that day. Private Frederick Killick, Lance-Corporal Mitchell and Apsley Stevenson were all killed in action. Frederick Stevens, a career soldier with the battalion, died of wounds and would be buried in Bethune Town Cemetery. Lance Corporal Mitchell would also be buried in nearby Cambrin Military Cemetery but both Apsley and Frederick Killick are commemorated by name on the Loos Memorial. Apsley was originally reported missing and Frederick Killick's death was officially accepted on the 15th July 1916.

Apsley Stevenson is also commemorated on the Kingston-on-Thames war memorial.

Unnatural Behaviour - Queen's West Surrey Regiment "bun-punchers"

This rather nice photo shows men of the 1st Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in India in about 1907. This belongs to a larger collection I bought earlier in the year relating to the service of 8374 Pte George Anderson who had enlisted with the regiment in May 1905.  There are a number of photos that came with his medals - and those of his son, Lewis Robert Anderson - and as a result of studying these photographs, I believe George Anderson to be the man in the back row, fifth from left.

In the group photograph, the men wear Army Temperance Association and Indian Army Temperance Association medals. 'George Anderson' wears three medals for six months, one year and two year periods of abstention; "unnatural behaviour" according to Old Soldier Sahib, Frank Richards who had this to say about the army's teetotallers in his eponymous memoirs:

"To be a member of the Army Temperance Association, a man had to sign the pledge and contribute four annas a month to the funds, which gave him the use of the ATA room, where there were a number of newspapers and magazines not to be found in the Library. Members who kept their pledge were entitled to ATA medals. One was awarded after six months, and I believe they continued to be dealt out at yearly intervals, but a man would have to be back in civil life before he could appear in public wearing these certificates of unnatural behaviour. [Obviously not true, judging by the photo on this page].

"Every six months the members elected a new barman and secretary, who were each paid £2 a month out of funds. These were coveted posts because if an additional £20 or £30 a month could not be made between the two of them, and a handsome profit still shown, this meant either perfect incompetence or, what was less likely, perfect honesty. A percentage of the profit shown was sent to the headquarters of the ATA, the remainder was spent on card tournaments, dances and concerts. 

"I knew about the money side of the business from one barman who, during the time he was on the job, often held cheerful card parties in his bunk after eleven o'clock at night: they were made cheerful by the whiskey and soda which he provided for the party. He was very fond of whiskey and soda, though the staunchest of teetotallers in other respects. Tea, which we called "char", mineral water, cake and bread and butter were sold at the ATA. The main profit was made out of the char, which was sold at two annas a pint. Genuine bun-punchers or char-wallahs, as they were called, would drink char all day: summer and winter they drank it. The Prayer-wallah often said that if the bodies of the ATA men who had died in India from causes known or unknown were to be assembled in one grave, the finest tea-garden in the world would soon sprout up from between their bones."

Group photographs like this are helpful because they can help you work out when a man might have enlisted. George's three temperance medals indicate that he must have been a member of the Army Temperance Association for at least two years but there are men in this photo who must have joined up a good deal earlier. The gymnastics sergeant instructor on the left, below, has medals denoting nine years' abstention whilst his colleague - who also wears the medal ribbon of the Queen's South Africa Medal - has medals which are certificates of five years' abstention. 

Some of these medals can be seen in the photo below. This particular collection was sold at auction by Dix Noonan Webb in February 2016 (photo courtesy of DNW) and have just now re-appeared on the Aberdeen Medals site:

My guess would be that George's six month and one year medals are for the Army Temperance Home Organisation, whilst his two year medal is certainly the commemorative Queen Victoria medal which was issued in India and which appears fifth from left in the image above. 

George also appears in all ( I am guessing) of the photos below. The first one dates to Aden in 1909 and a football match against a team from HMS Perseus.

The photo below is undated .

The photograph below presumably dates to George's time with the Army Ordnance Corps after he had transferred out of the Queen's.

This last photograph may ne a good deal later, and perhaps George is one of the men by the vehicles. 

Apart from his temperance medals, George Anderson went on to serve with the Queen's in 1914, earning a 1914 Star trio (with clasp). His son would also later serve as a regular with the Gordon Highlnders and would die in 1943 as a prisoner of war of the Japanese whilst working on the Burma-Siam railway.

I research soldiers. Contact me if you need help.

Samuel William Franklin - a mystery solved

My grandfather gave me the two photos I'm publishing on this post.  Both were, he said, of his mother's father, Samuel William Franklin.  Also passed over to me at the same time was a document citing 175 Colour Sergeant Franklin when he was serving with the 2/2nd Regiment of Foot.  Dated 14th November 1861 when he was stationed on the Greek island of Corfu, Col Sgt Franklin had sought "the indulgence" of getting married.  The request had been recommended by his Commanding Officer and counter-signed by Lt Colonel Bruce who commanded the 2/2nd Regiment of Foot. The marriage between Samuel Franklin and Sarah Nelson duly took place later that year.

The photo above was obviously taken many years later when Samuel had swapped his British Army uniform for a Salvation Army one.  The Franklin family were devoted Salvationists and Samuel's daughter Margaret, and in turn her daughter Queenie would follow in Samuel's footsteps, journeying to India and mixing with (and in Queenie's case marrying) other Salvation Army members.  But what of the photo showing a young Samuel Franklin in army uniform?

A few years ago I posted a query on a forum stating that Samuel had been born in 1833 and suggesting that the photo, taken in a studio in Colchester, Essex probably dated to the late 1850s.  I quickly received two responses stating that the uniform was wrong for the 1850s and that besides, the bursting grenades on the collar indicated the Royal Artillery or Royal Engineers and not the 2/2nd Foot, later the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment.  The 1890s was suggested as a possible date rather than the 1850s.

Last night. picking up threads again via findmypast, I found Samuel William Franklin (still in Corfu) on the 1861 Worldwide Army Index.  There appears to be no service record for him in The Chelsea Pensioners' series in WO 97 and I know that by 1871 he was back in England and is listed on the census as a sergeant instructor of Volunteers.  This was possibly the 1st or 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as he was by then living in St Austell.  I did however, check on his children and was pleasantly surprised to see that his son, Samuel Franklin, born in 1863 in Gibraltar, followed his father into the army and joined the Royal Artillery at Colchester on the 7th January 1886. He attained the rank of Company Sergeant Major until he fell foul of the authorities in 1900 and was reduced to the rank of sergeant.  He was discharged from the army (by now serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery) on the 6th January 1907 having served exactly 21 years.  His trial in 1900 robbed him of a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and neither did he qualify for any campaign medals, spending over 18 years in the United Kingdom and the remaining two and a bit years in Malta.  He died in 1910.

But for me, the mystery of the two photos is now solved.  They do indeed both show Samuel Franklin, albeit one is the father and the other the son.