WW1 Remembrance - all change

I've just changed the design template over on my WW1 Remembrance blog.  I'm hoping that having done so, the pages will be quicker to load and visitors will find it easier to navigate around.  One of the beauties of the new layout is that you can choose the way you want to view the posts.  I had a look at the mosaic layout on WW1 Remembrance and was surprised to see my grandfather - Walter Nixon - and his brother Jack, staring out at me side by side.  Although I've had those photos for a while, I'd never actually bothered to view them next to each other.

Walter, on the left, served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and survived although he was wounded and gassed.  Jack was not so lucky and was killed in action on the 3rd October 1918. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois memorial in France.  I am assuming his body must have been discovered as I have both of his identity tags which were presumably taken from his corpse.  That's why he has no known grave.  The correct procedure should have been to remove one of the tags and leave the olther on the body so that it could be identified.  As soon as both of those tags were removed he was destined to be buried in a grave identified only as "known unto God".

Manchester City Battalions

Great to see that findmypast.co.uk has now added the platoon, officer and band photos for the Manchester City Battalions.

The photo on this post shows men of Platoon IX, C Company, 22nd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment.  Read the story of one of the Manchester Pals - Harry Toplis Bardsley - on my World War 1 Veterans' blog.

South Lancashire Regiment 1914-1919

Here's a nice site which I don't think I've mentioned before: The South Lancashire Regiment in the Great War 1914-1919.

Although the site is still a work in progress - as any site of this nature will be - there is some good information appearing and it will become an increasingly useful resource.

Cap badge courtesy of North East Medals.

Poor VC database added by Ancestry

Not had a chance to properly go over this yet, but Ancestry has jusst added a VC database to its military collection.  That's a good thing of course, although VCs are a well researched topic and there probably won't be anything new here for anybody.

Unfortunately the collection, such as it is, is only browsable by surname letter, and the quality of the images leaves much to be desired.  My recommendation: Google your VC hero first and scoop up all the free stuff that'a already on line.  You'll probably end up with as much, if not more, than there is on the Ancestry VC collection.

Crimean War VC winners on findmypast

The following men, all awarded the Victoria Cross for service during the Crimean War, have surviving service records in WO 97, now accessible on line thanks to findmypast.co.uk. To view a record, follow this WO 97 Chelsea Pensioners link and enter the details below (Note, you'll need Pay-Per-View credits or a subscription to view the records).

Crimean War VC holders

Alfred Ablett, Grenadier Guards
Thomas Beach, 55th Regiment of Foot
Joseph Bradshaw, Rifle Brigade
Daniel Cambridge, Royal Regiment of Artillery
William Coffey, 34th Regiment of Foot
George Gardiner, 57th Regiment of Foot
Thomas Grady, 44th Regiment of Foot
Matthew Hughes, 7th Regiment of Foot
Peter Leitch, Royal Engineers
John Lyons, 19th Regiment of Foot
John McDermond, 47th Regiment of Foot
Roderick McGregor, Rifle Brigade
James McKechnie, Scots Fusiliers Guards
James Owens, 49th Regiment of Foot
Anthony Palmer, Grenadier Guards
Saumuel Parkes, 4th Light Dragoons
John Perie, Royal Engineers
Joseph Prosser, 1st Regiment of Foot
William Reynolds, Scots Fusiliers Guards
John Ross, Royal Engineers
John Joseph Sims, 34th Regiment of Foot
Francis Wheatley, Rifle Brigade

In addition, the following Crimean War VC holders are referenced in the 1861 Worldwide Army Index:

John Farrell, 17th Lancers
William James Lendrim, Royal Engineers
George Strong, Coldstream Guards

If I had to pick out one record from those listed above it would be Roderick McGregor of the Rifle Brigade.  His service record notes that he was recorded 12 times in the Defaulter's book and court-martialled seven times.  No Long Service and Good Conduct medal for him then, but he did get the VC.

Military Medals awarded to the Royal Artillery

Two Royal Artillery releases in one day has got to be good news.

As well as releasing its data on WW2 honours and awards for the corps, Find My Past has also published a database of Military Medal awards to the Royal Artillery between 1916 and 1993.  There's also some useful general information contained on the site, for instance, the difference in the promotion ladders between WW1 and WW2:

Soldiers' ranks

During WWI, the artillery rank structure included corporal which was removed from the regiment in the 1920s and Serjeant became Sergeant. The WWI War promotion ladder consisted of:

• Gnr – gunner
• Bdr – bombardier (one stripe)
• Cpl – corporal (two stripes)
• Sjt – serjeant (three stripes with a gun above)

The WWII promotion ladder was:

• Gnr – gunner
• L/Bdr – lance bombardier (one stripe)
• Bdr – bombardier (two stripes)
• Sgt – sergeant (three stripes with a gun above)

Between gunner and bombardier there was a lance bombardier (L/Bdr) and between bombardier and corporal there was a lance corporal (L/Cpl). During WWII there was also the rank of lance sergeant 'L/Sgt'. The names of some of the ranks also denoted their role, for example:

Dvr – driver

A driver was a soldier trained in the management and use of horses. The six horses drawing the gun, or wagon, were driven by three drivers, all on the nearside horses, and much training was required before drivers would be rated as competent. The drivers, of course, also looked after the horses and the management, condition and state of health of these animals was regarded as one of the most important functions in the battery.

All branches of the artillery used horses, not just the RHA. By WWII, mechanisation had replaced the horse but the gun limbers, lorries and self-propelled guns all required drivers and the rank remained. The number of horses meant specialist roles of saddler, farrier, and shoeing smith were used and added to the name of the rank. Horse-drawn equipment needed wheelers and fitters and the officer needed clerks who could write in artillery code and signallers who could send it.

• S/Sjt – staff serjeant
• SM – serjeant major
• QMS – quartermaster serjeant
• BQMS – battery quartermaster serjeant
• BSM – battery serjeant major (warrant officer class II)
• RSM – regimental sergeant major (warrant officer class I)

 All MM awards to the RA are now searchable on findmypast.

WW2 Royal Artillery honours and awards online

If your Royal Artillery ancestor was in receipt of an award for service during the Second World War, you'll probably find him or her on a brand new dataset just released on Find My Past. Royal Artillery Honours and Awards 1939-1946 contains details of awards to over 21,000 men and may include the following information:

• soldier's title, first name (sometimes only initials, last name, rank and number)
• soldier's post nominals at the time of the award
• date it appears in the London Gazette
• unit the man was serving in at the time of the award, when known
• award itself
• branch of the regiment
• theatre of operations in which the soldier was serving at the time
• schedule number
• file number
• who the award was recommended by
• theatre of operations
• remarks on the award
• further service notes, when known
• status
• date of event
• cause of death (as applicable)
• place of residence
• date of discharge
• reason for discharge

These records have been assiduously compiled by the librarian at the Royal Artillery museum in Woolwich and are searchable on findmypast from today.

Identifying the Guards

I picked up a copy of Anthony Edgeworth's The Guards yesterday and, looking at the photos, was reminded of an easy way to identify a particular regiment of Foot Guards. Simply look at the arrangement of the buttons on their tunics.

In terms of regimental precedence, the Grenadier Guards come first, followed by the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards,  the Irish Guards and finally, the Welsh Guards.

1. The Grenadier Guards - 1st - buttons arranged singly:

2. The Coldstream Guards - 2nd - buttons arranged in pairs:

3. The Scots Guards - 3rd - buttons arranged in groups of three:

4. The Irish Guards - 4th - buttons arranged in groups of four:

5. The Welsh Guards - 5th - buttons arranged in groups of five:

Easy when you know how.

The black and white photograph is courtesy of art.co.uk and then, in order of regimental precedence, The Daily Mail, Artangel, London SE1 and BBC News.

Manchester City Battalions online

Find My Past has just added the Manchester City Battalions to its fast-growing military database.  Originally published in 1916, the Manchester Roll of Honour comprises a roll call of the men who served with the Manchester Pals battalions - the 16th to 23rd Battalions - giving details of platoons and companies served in.  Group photos are also included although these do not identify individuals by name.

The second part of the Manchester Roll of Honour is a listing of over 63,000 men and their employers. The detail provided in each of the rolls varies considerably. A small number of men are identified by last name only and many more only by last name and initials. There are also entries, however, in which the ranks, service numbers and regiments of each man are identified. A number of men are identified as killed or missing in action and a small number are recorded as having been rejected as unfit for service.

54 Years with the 1st Devon Militia

My thanks to one of my correspondents, Black Sapper, who has provided extracts from the above publication which was written by William Shepherd in 1907 and subsequently transcribed by Helen Barlow (date unknown).  Helen Barlow's full transcription can be viewed online here as a PDF file on the Open University website.

1853 – Exeter Castle noted as HQ

18.12.1854 – Regiment was Embodied for Permanent Duty on account of the Crimean War; At that time the Regiment had 10 Companies (Grenadier Coy, 8 others & a Light Coy)

26.02.1855 – Left half of Regiment moved to Newport, Monmouthshire.

27.02.1855 – Right half, HQ & Band moved to Newport via Bristol.

Regiment stayed at the Barracks on the Hill, Newport; They recruited hard for the Crimean War;
Regiment stayed at Newport until middle of December 1855.

December 1855 - Regiment moved to Limerick in Ireland via Birkenhead, Liverpool, Mersey &amp Kingston, Ireland; Then train to Dublin & eventually stationed at Boherbuoy Barracks, Limerick.

05.06.1856 Regiment left Limerick for Cork, stationed at the Barracks on the Hill for 7/8 days before being ordered to England.

After an eventful journey by sea they arrived in Portland & Weymouth Barracks probably on 17.07.1856.

New colours issued on 22.07.1856.

The Regiment marched for home on 25.07.1856 via Dorchester, then Bridport, Axminster, Honiton on 30.07.1856 a final march into Exeter.

1858 – Training at Topsham Barracks. The Regimental strength was 778, there were 261 Absentees; battalion billeted at various Inns in Exeter.

1859 – Regimental strength was 512, there were 275 Absentees; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.

Regiment stayed throughout the 60’s at Topsham Barracks.

1860 – Regimental strength was 590; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.

1861 – Regimental strength was 629; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1861 – Death of their late Colonel Hugh Earl Fortescue on 14.09.1861.

1862 – Regimental strength was 715; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1863 – Regimental strength was 754; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1864 – Regimental strength was 759; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1865 – Regimental strength was 658; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1866 – Regimental strength was 663; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1867 – Regimental strength was 693; battalion billeted at Topsham Barracks.


1868 – In consequence of the Fenian Scare full guard was mounted day &amp night over the Ward in St Thomas.

1869 – Regimental strength was 828 & Billeted at Topsham Barracks.

1869 – Regiment were in Plymouth for a Brigade Field Day at Devonport, returning the same day by train.

1870 – Billets were in St Thomas at Public, but with a strength of 802, part were in Cavalry Barracks the remainder in the billets.

1871 – Regimental strength was 803, Billeted in Inns & Private Lodgings; The Crown took Command of Militia Units from the County Authorities.

From this year it is noted that Topsham Barracks were denuded of regular troops for many years.

1872 – Regiment under canvas for the first time since 1812, at Exmouth & their strength was 882.

31.03.1873 – Recruits were assembled at the Ward & proceeded to Raglan Barracks at Devonport, returning on 11.05.1873 before being dismissed.

14.07.1873 – 428 men were called up to forma Battalion for Maneuvers on Dartmoor for up to 6 weeks – 2 weeks at Egg Buckland & 1 month with the Flying Column; They returned to Exeter on 22.08.1873 & were dismissed.

1874 – Regiment was 765 strong & encamped for Training at Dawlish.

1875 – (& for a few years after) Regiment was Billeted in St Thomas at Public.

In 1881 when the Regiment was 628 strong the 1st & 2nd Devons & the 1st & 2nd Devon Militia were formed into the Devonshire Regiment

1888 – Regiment moved from St Thomas to the Higher Barracks & then the Camp Field behind Topsham Barracks; New colours were issued about this time.

1890 – Training in the Camp at Barnstaple.

1891 to 1898 – Training was carried out in the Old Camp Field, Topsham.

1899 – Training was at Honiton in a camp on the Exeter Road.

11.05.1900 – Regiment was up for Permanent Duty on account of the South African War & went to Salisbury Plain, via Queen Street Station &amp Porton Station until arrival at Bulford Camp; They stayed here for 3 months before moving to another Camp at Parkhouse some 2 to 3 miles away; Camp Parkhouse was mostly Volunteers.

16.10.1900 Regiment left Camp Parkhouse for Jersey, Channel Islands via Grately Station, Andover, Southampton; They arrived in Jersey on 17.10.1900 & marched to St Peter’s Barracks.

At this time the 3rd Devon Regiment was embarking for Plymouth & the 1/4th were billeted at Fort Regent, St Hellier.

14.07.1901 the Regiment left Jersey for home but the Band remained in Jersey until at least 30.09.1901 when they returned to England via Weymouth & Exeter.

1902 – there was no Regimental Training.

1903 – Regiment training at Honiton.

1904 – Training at Honiton.

1905 – Training at Honiton.

1906 – Training in "a big field" at Honiton with 3rd Somersets.