Sunday 15 December 2013

Captain Frank William Lillie

  Lucy Gowlett, my 3rd cousin, married Charles William Lillie on the 4th October 1887 in Radwinter, Essex. Charles had an Ironmongers business and although also from Essex too, moved to Northern climes, first to Leicestershire and then to Macclesfield in Cheshire.  Here, Frank William was born in 1891, his second child and first son. There were 9 Lillie children, the 3 youngest born in Yorkshire where they lived from around the turn of the century. 

  Frank worked in the Business. His younger brother was a draughtsman and at the end of the war was working for Rolls Royce. Their 7 sisters helped in the shop or at home, and the eldest was a teacher. When war broke out in 1914, Frank joined the 15th Bn of the West Yorkshire Regt, raised by the Lord Mayor of Leeds in September 1915. As a member of Yarnbury Rugby Football Club, he may have shown leadership qualities right from the start as the club was affiliated to the Leeds Rifles Regiment, and several of the men played in the team. Thus, he was made a Sergeant.


   The Battalion moved to Ripon for training but before Frank could go overseas with them, he was picked as a likely candidate for Commission and on 4th June 1915, became a 2nd Lieutenant with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
He was to serve with the 9th Battalion, another Kitchener Battalion that landed in France in September 1915, but he did not join them until 1916, having arrived in France just after the Battle of the Somme had begun. 



  9th KOYLI had already been involved in the Somme offensive right from the start, and continued to play their part in many of the major battles of the Somme until the campaign fizzled out in November. They were then to hold the line over the winter period, and would be there in the early months of 1917, when the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg line.

  Frank was an Acting Captain in December 1916. Some time on the 18th, he was killed in action. He was buried in Vermelles British Cemetery, which was the cemetery which served that part of the front, and was also used by several medical units. I am yet to confirm his name on a local War Memorial.



Vermelles British Cemetery








Tuesday 3 December 2013

Cambrai Aftermath - Two South Midland Losses

Another Division pushed up as a hasty reserve to help stop the German counter-attack at Cambrai, was the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division. The second line units of the South Midland Field Ambulances were attached to this unit and the 2/3rd lost two of it's number on the 5th December, both killed in action and buried at Fins New British Cemetery at Sorel-le-Grand.

Sydney Lawrence Walker
Sydney was born in Carlton, Nottinghamshire. His mother worked in the Cotton Mills and was unmarried but had an older son, and would have a daughter 4 years after Sydney was born in 1891. Sydney lived with his grandparents until moving to Warwickshire to become a Miner, sharing a home with his elder brother, Alfred.

Had he not volunteered in the first month of the War, he might have found himself in the Tunnelling Companies but instead, enlisted into the 1st South Midland Field Ambulance at Warwick as a General Duties Private, Regt Number 1993. The unit was attached to the 48th Division and they landed in France on 30th March 1915. 

Returned to next of kin.....
Sydney was then struck down with Measles in April 1916 and did not return to his unit for a month. He was then transferred to the second line units serving with 61st Division and attached to 2/3rd South Midland Field Ambulance, our unit from the Bristol area. He was promoted to Lance Corporal in August 1916.

His last leave was granted at the end of November 1917, and he was back with his unit for only a couple of days before he was killed on the 5th December, along with Percy Hoddinott. It is likely that they were hit by a shell.


Percival Ernest Hoddinott
Percival was born in 1894 in St Paul's, Bristol. His father, Walter, worked in a stationer's & printer's warehouse and both Percy and his brother would work with him. There were several large Printing works in Bristol at the time and they produced all kinds of good including paper bags, wrapping paper, etc. His elder sister Florence worked a a paper bag folder, probably in the same firm as the male members of the family.

Percy enlisted into the 3rd South Midland Field Ambulance in September 1914 and was given the Service Number 2446. He was posted to the 2/3rd and landed in France on 26th May 1916. He served with the unit throughout and took his last leave in August of 1917. He, too, was with the unit as it supported the move forward of 61st Div, and was killed in action on 2nd December, along with Sydney Walker. They are buried in the same plot at Fins, a Gunner of the Royal Field Artillery between them.


Monday 2 December 2013

Two "strays" at the Battle of Cambrai 1917


The 30th November 1917 marked a significant point in the Battle of Cambrai. This battle, although arguably not strategically important, began on November 20th when Tanks "en masse" were used for the first time. For the first few days, it was a great success, but the commanders were fired up by success and ordered troops to push on without waiting for reserves and support. Subsequently  the Germans felt that they could counter attack on the 30th November, which they did, with success, and the Allies lost almost all the ground they had gained, and some they held before the attack. 

The Tanks were very effective at first but soon began to break down and many were damaged as they ploughed  through the German lines.The General Staff still believed - after 3 years of trench warfare - that cavalry could still be used to exploit any breakthrough in the line! There was little in the way of infantry reserves to support the advance, and therefore when the Germans unleashed their counter attack, the Allies could not hold on to their gains. Three Divisions in particular were hardest hit in the German advance - 12th (Eastern) Div, 20th (Light) Div and the 55th (West Lancs) to  which 2/1st Wessex Field Ambulance were attached.


Two men of the Wessex Field Ambulances lost their lives on the day of the counter-attack, but were serving with other units at the time.

Thaddeus James Fleming
Thaddeus was born in Crewe, Cheshire in 1892. His father, Thomas Jones Fleming, was a Steam Engine Fitter from Staffordshire but had met Irish lass Mary Cullen in Cheshire, married her and settled in Coppenhall Monks. They had 4 sons and 1 daughter. Then Mary died in 1900 and the three surviving children went to live with an uncle & aunt. Thomas then moved to Plymouth where he married another widower, Catherine Quick and by 1911, the couple had 3 more children and Thomas now worked as a fitter in the Naval Dockyard. Thadeus came down to live with his father and step-mother and started a job as an apprentice brush maker, and he put this down on his attestation form when he joined the 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance in 1909 for a 4 year engagement.

Whilst with the unit, he became a Physical Instructor and re-engaged in 1913 for another 3 years. He was embodied with the rest of his company on 5th August 1914 but did not go overseas with the first line unit which by then had become the 25th. Perhaps as he was a PTI, he was retained at RHQ? Nothing in his records indicates why. 

The Casualty Form from Pte Fleming's Service Records
Whilst at home, he married Bessie Dilling in October, 1914 and their son, Ernest James Kitchener Fleming was born in February 1915. Just over a year later he went to France and was attached to the 62nd Field Ambulance who were part of the 20th Light Division. They were preparing to take part in the Battle of Cambrai when Thadeus was granted leave at the end of October 1917. He returned on the 31st October and rejoined the 62nd. When the Germans counter attacked on the 30th November, 20th Light Division was one of three Divisions that were said to have "evaporated" before the advancing Germans. Thadeus was posted as Missing, and then as Killed in Action OR Died of Wounds Received in Action. His body was recovered though but not until 20th January 1918 by men of the West Yorkshire Regt . He is buried in Metz en Couture Communal Cemetery extension.

His wife Bessie remarried in 1921 and died in 1956. His son did not marry until he was 55  and died a few years ago.

Archibald Percy Taylor
Although born and bred in Madron, Cornwall, Archie enlisted into the 1st Wessex Field Ambulance in Exeter in September 1914. He was born in 1891, son of William Ambrose Taylor, an accountant for Madron District Council, and Marion Beatrice Adams, native of Madron. He had 3 brothers and a sister, 2 of whom died in the early years of the Great War from natural causes. In 1911, Archie was an assistant to a local Dentist, Mr Herbert Gartrell and this would have attracted him to the Medical Corps.

He disembarked in France on 5th December 1914 with the renamed 24th Field Ambulance and served with them until he transferred to the Royal Engineers and became a motorcycle dispatch rider in the 12th Divisional Signals Regt. As mentioned before, one of the Divisions hardest hit by the German attack on 30th November was the 12th (Eastern) Division, and Archie would have been given urgent messages to deliver up the line.

Dispatch Riders at the ned of their journey
There is an account that he would have had to go through the village of Gonnelieu, which unbeknown to him was in German hands. He never arrived at his destination and was posted as missing, along with 3 other dispatch riders. He was not officially posted as Killed in Action until a year later. His name is now found on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing at Louverval as well as the 1st Wessex plaque and the Madron War Memorial.

Friday 29 November 2013

The Volunteer Bands

   It has been a while since I posted to this blog so thought I would re-start with a few photos of that peculiarity of volunteer units in the early 20th Century, the Volunteer Band, which seemed to thrive amongst RAMC units. (Fitting that the only RAMC band that still exists is comprised of Volunteers!)

   Most of 243's antecedent units appeared to have a band at some time in their service. If there wasn't a full brass ensemble, then there would be bugles and drums. In the war, anyone who could play some kind of instrument that they could find whilst behind the lines was drafted in to play at impromptu "smokers" or at Christmas functions. There was always someone!

   This is the Bugle Band of the 3rd South Midland Field Ambulance. The Bass Drum has the inscription "Bristol". The South Midland also had a marching band for many years both before and after the War, led by Bandmaster E T Stephens.


   The above photo is the Band of the Cambourne Detachment of 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance. Most likely taken just before the war as they wear "blues". Some of them also have the Imperial Service Badge on the left chest indicating that they were prepared to serve overseas. This was not initiated until 1912. The picture below shows another band of 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance, but this time from 1915 - 18. The 3/2nd were the third line unit that acted as a recruiting and depot cadre. Some of these men also wear the ISB but there are no service or wounds stripes that can be seen. 


  And lastly, another Bugle band, this time from 3/3rd Wessex Field Ambulance, recruiting in the same area as our "D Det".
                         
    A rather "motley crew" with men of all ages, shapes & sizes! Some wear the issued "Utility" pattern tunic and others the 1914 leather equipment belt. No ISD badges here so I assume these are a mixture of new recruits and "downgraded" men! Let's hope they were a good little band and nevertheless did their bit on lifting the spirits of those going overseas!





Sunday 3 March 2013

Sgt Ernest Arthur Bastin, MM



Ernest was the brother of Arthur Richard Bastin, who had died just after the war in North Evington War Hospital (see previous post). Ernie had been at camp on Salisbury Plain with the 1st Wessex Field Ambulance when war was declared and he was mobilised straight away as part of 24 Field Ambulance, Regt No: 1759 (later 457072 after the TF re-numbering).

Born in 1883, Ernie was the second son of the Bastin family, with three older siblings, and four younger. He married Clara Sercombe in 1906 and they settled in Churchill Road, St Thomas. Ernie was, by 1911, a Foreman Candle Maker. He does not name the company he worked for but does write down that it was a soap and candle manufacturing company.  J L Thomas had the "Sunlight" Soap factory near the river by St Thomas and it is probably here that Ernest worked. He and Clara also had two children, Ernest Stanley born 1907, and Rosalind born 1909. (Neither would make "old bones").

On the 25th September 1915, Ernie was a Corporal in charge of a squad of Bearers. The 8th Division was taking part in a diversionary attack at Bois Grenier to assist the main effort at the Battle of Loos (somewhat optimistically nicknamed "the Big Push") and Ernie's squad was assisting with picking up wounded from the trenches. For several hours, Ernie coolly led his squad whilst under heavy shell-fire and at one point they were buried by a nearby shell burst. Then, L/Cpl Snow, a member of his party, was wounded in the thigh. He carried him away from danger and dressed the wound, thereby saving the soldier from certain death. For these actions, he was awarded the Military Medal (gazetted over a year later in November 1916).

Sadly, at the end of 1917, his wife Clara died, age 32. We do not know what the cause of her death was, but only a few lines in the local paper denote that she was sadly missed by her husband, Ernie, serving with 24th Field Ambulance. We do not know whether Sgt Bastin was allowed home to care for his young children, although he had a large extended family who would have looked after them. They would have been called in to help once again, when Ernie died just over two years after his brother on the 3rd March 1921. He was buried under a CWGC headstone in St Thomas' Cemetery, which indicates that he was probably still serving in the Army at the time. He is also commemorated on the Plaque in Exeter Cathedral.

The Bastins also had another brother, Sydney, who became a S/Sgt in the RAMC during the war. Bastin was a common Devon name and many served, and died, during the war.


Wednesday 20 February 2013

Pte Frank Amos Stock

My 3rd cousin, Frank Stock, was born in Stratford, Essex in 1896. Father Amos was originally from Radwinter, Essex, one of the "ancestral" villages just outside Saffron Walden. Some time between 1881 and 1891, Amos' father Josiah moved the family 50 miles down to the outer London suburb of West Ham. He was a Labourer, and work in that part of Essex was obviously easier to find than that in  a little village as he had tried working for his brother-in-law in Gloucester before relocating with the whole family. Amos went on to marry Alice Boreham in 1891 and they had eight children, Frank being the eldest of five sons.

In 1911, they were living in Forest Gate and Frank had a job as a Shop Messenger for Boots whilst Amos worked for West Ham Council on the road repair gangs.

Post Office Rifles on parade.
Unfortunately, we do not have Franks' Service Records but at some time after the declaration of war, he joined the 8th Battalion of the London Regt, more commonly known as the Post Office Rifles. This Battalion could trace it's history back to the 1860's when the threat from Fenian rebels in Ireland was so great that men from the Post Office were made Special Constables to protect the Post Office buildings from being attacked. They then became a volunteer battalion of the Middlesex Regt and actually did duty as the Army Post Office  Corps until that job was taken over by the Royal Engineers. When the Territorial Force came into existence, the Volunteer postmen became the 8th Bn, London Regt (Post Office Rifles). During the war, two battalions were sent to fight with the BEF, with the 2/8th distinguishing itself at Ypres ("The Battle of Wurst Farm Ridge") where a Sergeant won their only Victoria Cross. Frank may have worked for the Post Office at the time, but later in the war, the battalion did not recruit exclusively from the GPO.

At the beginning of February 1918, the two battalions were amalgamated and came under command of the 58th Division. The Post Office Rifles would take part in the last battles in France and the advance into Germany, but on 20th February, Frank died of wounds received in action. He was buried in one of the small burial grounds that populated the French countryside but after the Armistice, was reburied in Chauny Communal Cemetery British Extension where there are now over 1000 graves, mostly from 1918. Up to now, I cannot find his name on any local war memorial, but he will not be forgotten.



His father, Amos, died in 1947 in East Ham, and his wife Alice died three years later. Of his siblings, brother George served in the Royal Artillery. The last of them, sister Lillian, died in 1993 in Brentwood.


Pte Henry Gilbert Edmondson

Henry Edmondson was another member of the 3rd South Midland Field Ambulance who did not set foot in France before his death in Chelmsford in 1915. He died two weeks after his colleague, Ernie Stone, on the 19th February 1915 and is buried nearby. He was 18, the youngest son of the late Edward Edmondson and his second wife Amelia. There was an elder brother, Edward, who served with the Army Veterinary Corps, and a middle brother, Albert, who also went on to serve in the RAMC in a General Hospital in France later in the War. There were also two elder sisters from his father's first wife.

The family lived in Bristol where his father was a General Labourer. He died in 1901 and Amelia became a charwoman to keep the family together. In 1911, they were living in Gay Street, near King Square. Today, it is an area of upmarket housing and office suites, but the little side streets away from the square, remind us of what the area may have been. There is still a cobbled street amongst the modern buildings. The family moved several times, but always in the area. This was not uncommon at the time, but they did seem to settle for some years in Montague Street, after Henry was killed, as his brother Albert, whose Service Records survive, was called up from that address in 1917 and wrote a letter requesting a reference in 1920 from the same address. In 1924, he also applied to the War Office for Henry's medal, but although there is a Medal Index Card, there is no mention of a medal roll number. As he did not serve overseas, he may not have been eligible, but he should have had the Silver War Badge, authorised in 1916 for personnel wounded or discharged sick from any theatre. It seems sad that both Ernie Stone and Henry were left with no commemoration (except the "dead man's penny" perhaps?) even though they died in service. At least Henry's name is found on the 3rd South Midland Plaque in Bristol Cathedral and this blog will remember them.

Monday 18 February 2013

Corporal Sidney Charles Cutting

Now a brief journey away from Medical Units and to the grandson of my great great grandfather's second wife (if you can work that out!). Sidney Cutting was born in Rougham, Suffolk in 1890. His mother, Sarah Clutterham was the daughter of Eliza Stiff who married John Clutterham in 1854. They had 8 children before the death of John in 1872. Eliza married my gt-gt-gt grandfather, John Hardy, a year later after the death of his wife Jane in 1873. Sarah left home to marry Elijah Cutting in 1886, and they had 2 boys, and 2 girls. Sidney was the second son.

The Cutting family, like most of my East Anglian relatives, were Farm Labourers. Sidney would have followed his brother onto the farm had he not joined the Army some time from 1908 to 1910, enlisting in nearby Bury St Edmunds. Farm Labourers were a magnet for the Recruiting Sergeants and their staff, as they were usually tough & healthy, and in jobs that were not always steady, and often poorly paid. They were used to being out in all weathers, not afraid of hard work and often came from big families. What better career than the big Army family? Sidney was posted to the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment with the rank of Private and Regimental Number 7695.

The 1st Battalion was stationed in Egypt at the time. In 1911, he was in the Military Hospital, Alexandria along with about 20 of his regiment. There is no record of his ailment but several diseases were rife, as well as the ever-present STD! However, when war was declared in 1914, he left Khartoum with the Battalion and landed back in the UK in October. After a couple of months training, they were sent to join the BEF as part of the 28th Div, disembarking at Le Havre on 18th Jan 1915.

Sidney was now a Corporal and would have been a useful member of the Battalion. The 28th Division took up positions between Hazebrouk and Bailleul. They would subsequently take part in the Second Battle of Ypres in April, but only a month after setting foot in France, Sidney was Killed in Action. He was 25. We do not know what happened; perhaps a shell dropped in the trench, perhaps he was the victim of a sniper's bullet, but we do know that with the battles that followed, his grave was lost. He is now commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, and on the village memorial in Rougham.

A View of the Menin Gate Memorial not often seen.


Pte James George Pedrick

In 1910, 1st Wessex Field Ambulance opened a detachment at Teignmouth, a sea-side town about 14 miles from Exeter, and up to the opening of the First World War, the detachment slowly grew in numbers so that on embarkation for France, there was quite a number of Teignmouth men serving in the ranks of 24 Field Ambulance. James Pedrick was one of those men.

James was born in Teignmouth in 1894. His father, also James, was a Cabinet Maker who married Alice Cotton in 1893. They had 3 children, James being the eldest. His sister Cora was born 12 years later and the youngest, Nora, born in 1909. The family lived in the town but by 1903, had taken over a large Lodging House on the seafront, and James Snr gave up Cabinet Making to manage the business. His wife had previously worked in another Lodging House, first as a Servant, and then as the Manager and she is mentioned in the Trade Directories as being the proprietor. Seaside holidays were becoming very popular at the time and the Pedricks obviously saw the profit in running a Lodging House in a very good location.

James went to school at  Hele's School, Exeter and later found a position as Assistant in an Ironmongers. He likely joined 1st Wessex just before the declaration of war, having the service number 1961, and was part of the unit that landed in France in 1914. On the 16th February 1915, his parents received notice that he was very ill and had been admitted to a Stationary Hospital. Working as a Nursing Orderly, he had been looking after a patient with Meningitis and contracted it himself. A day later after his parents received the news, he died. He was buried in the pretty Longuenesse Cemetery at St Omer, the town being a centre for several large Stationary Hospitals.

Soon after his death, his family moved away from Devon to settle in Ealing, Middlesex. His father died in 1930, his mother in 1953. Was it the loss of their only son that made them leave? We will never know. James Pedrick's name was added to the Teignmouth War Memorial, the Plaque in Exeter Cathedral, and also the War Memorial at Hele's School, now to bee found in St Peter's School, Exeter. It was unveiled in 1922 and bears 81 names from the First War with a further 71 names added after the Second War.

Friday 8 February 2013

Pte Ernest Stone

Ernest Stone, born Bristol 1893, was the first man from 3rd (South Midland) Field Ambulance to lose his life, but without leaving these shores. This unit, one of those associated with 219, was under command of the 48th (South Midland) Division which was a Territorial Division formed in 1908 as a result of Haldane's Army reforms, and was mobilised in 1914 whilst at camp - as were the Wessex. They concentrated in the Chelmsford, Essex area to continue training prior to leaving for France in March 1915.

James Stone was a Bristolian man who married Eliza Reynolds in 1869 at the age of 31. They had 9 children, the youngest being Ernest. It was a labouring family and by 1911, Ernest was the only one still living with his parents, his siblings having set up home with spouses or had passed away (4 of their children had died by 1911). In 1913, James died, and soon after war broke out, Ernest left his mother to join up with the RAMC. We do not know whether he was a pre-war member but his number, 1888 indicates he might have been. or at least one of the first to be recruited when war was declared.

On 8th February 1915, Ernest Stone passed away in Chelmsford and was buried in the military plot in the local cemetery on Writtle Road. His mother died around the same time, and so little is recorded in the Commonwealth War Graves Register. Deaths from causes other than battle injuries were very common. The War Diaries record many more admissions for sickness than wounded, unless a major Battle was in progress. In an era when antibiotics were unheard of, many more diseases had fatal consequences, and other medical treatments that we now take for granted were not in general use. We have no cause of death for Ernest, there is no medal card, or service record, but his name is entered on the 1st/3rd South Midland Field Ambulance Plaque in Bristol Cathedral, so his memory is still upheld.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Pte Percy James Charman

As mentioned before, the Drivers of the Field Ambulances were also members of the RAMC until 1915/16 when they were asked to transfer to the Army Service Corps. Many agreed, but others chose to stay with the FAs and give up their Driver status. Drivers were then supplied by Transport Companies. Percy Charman was one of those men, attached to 26th Field Ambulance after landing in France in September 1915.

Percy was born in Sussex in the village of West Chiltington in 1877. His father worked as a Farm Labourer and Percy was the eldest of five children. At the age of 14, he was boarding at a farm just up the road in Billingshurst and working as a "Farm Servant". Then just after his 18th birthday, he applied to join the Royal Engineers and on 28 April 1895, became a Driver, RE. He first signed up to serve 3 years with the colours, and 9 in reserve, but extended his regular service to 7 years and found himself on the way to the Boer Wars in 1899. He served in South Africa until April 1903, earning several clasps for his Queen's Medal including Cape Colony, Paardeberg and Driefontein. On return to England, he was discharged into the Reserve and promptly married Alice Holt with whom he had two sons, Percy and Ernest.

In 1911, he was living in Woking and seemingly doing well. He worked as a Carman (Driver) for a Laundry, and his wife was also working as a Forewoman in the Laundry. They were able to afford a Maid, but offset the cost by having a lodger, also a Laundry worker. In 1907, he was discharged from the Army Reserve. However, war loomed on the horizon and so, inevitably, in 1915, he found himself part of the Army Service Corps, his army driving experience ensuring he would be a valued recruit.

Driving an ambulance just behind the tenches was not an easy option. They were well within range of the shelling, and the Red Cross was not always a guarantee of safety. There were also the physical and natural dangers: mud (as depicted in the famous Daily Mail postcard), poor or non-existant roads, shell craters, etc. A fully loaded car was unwieldy and did not have the capabilities of modern vehicles such as good suspension and four-wheel drive. Significantly, One of only 2 Victoria Cross awards to men of the ASC was to an Ambulance Driver.

However, Percy was now 40 years old and in the winter of 1917, he succumbed to Bronchitis. Without the aid of antibiotics, illnesses such as these were serious and in an older man, who had probably smoked all his life, it was fatal. He was buried in a small plot on the Somme, and after the war, reburied in Suzanne Cemetery No 3, a cemetery was once held French graves until they were removed after the Armistice. His wife did not remarry and died in 1942. Both sons died in 1973 only a few weeks apart.

Friday 1 February 2013

Off to War.....

As our colleagues return from our unit's second operational tour of Afghanistan, (why do they call it a tour - we never go sightseeing!), I thought I would put up this picture of 1st Wessex Field Ambulance leaving Exeter after being mobilised for war in 1914. It was published in the Devon and Exeter Gazette on 25th August and shows the unit marching to the Station, to entrain to Salisbury Plain for further training. There had been an advance party leave a week before, and they all met up again at Perham Down on the plain where they became 24th Field Ambulance and part of a regular division, the 8th.

Two weeks before this date, the unit had been in training on Salisbury Plain at Fargo Camp. This was one of three tented camps that had been established in the Larkhill area a few years before the First World War. Looking at pictures of recruit training there from other units, I can see where a few of the group pictures that I have were taken. The rows of bell tents are unmistakeable. In good weather, it must have been quite enjoyable to end the evening sharing good times with your "mates" outside your tent. Not so much fun in the wet! Canvas is notorious for taking a long time to dry off!

During the early part of the 20th century, it was quite common to publish details of orders and instructions in the local paper. This notice comes from the Western Times and details instructions for the unit prior to leaving for this camp. In 1914, the 1st Wessex had two  detachments. One in Exeter in relatively new accommodation at the Drill Hall in Holloway Street (now under a road junction), and the other at Teignmouth in a Drill Hall shared with other units - so nothing new there! Both units had Transport Sections in their own right, as transporting wounded was as important as treating them in a Field Ambulance. Later in the war, this task would be carried out by men of the Army Service Corps, many of the unit's drivers transferring to the Corps, but for the first couple of years, all were members of the Field Ambulances.

It is interesting to make small comparisons with the Territorial Field Ambulance of that day, and the modern Territorial Field Hospital of today. The majority of the men, both "old hands" and new recruits, were from a non medical background. They came mostly from trades which would be called "skilled manual": Printers (quite a few from Exeter), Metalworkers, Shop Assistants, Tailors, Clerks, and General Labourers. A few had skills that were needed, such as Chemist's Apprentices and Nursing Orderlies, but these were relatively few. Looking at the work that they had to do, strong men were required for Bearing and although they needed to know basic first aid, their main task was to carry a man back to an ambulance or a medical post; whereas the Nursing section would have had to gain more skills and knowledge on how to look after their casualties and to assist the medical staff. But no questions were asked on recruitment and no-one suitable was turned down. They did not have to have a medical background. They did not have to fill in endless pieces of paper or complete competencies. They had to be healthy but they did not have to prove it by endless tests. Their training was considered good enough, and they proved that it was by their conduct overseas during the War.

I shall end with the unit waiting to embark for the Western Front in November 1914. Together with their 2nd & 3rd Wessex Field Ambulance colleagues, they would be the first Territorial Force Medical Units to land in France. They were unique in that they had no Regular Officer or NCO serving with them as their RSM had been commissioned. Yet they were given the honour of serving with  a Regular Division, and they stayed with that division until the Armistice. The above picture is not confirmed as being of a group of soldiers from a Wessex Field Ambulance but the original owner has looked closely at the badges, etc and we are sure that it is. It may have been taken on that summer camp in 1914. But it is the youthful look of some of them - boys serving as Buglers probably - and the "old sweat" look of the Sergeant on the right. I wish I know their names and what became of them all.

Lastly, going back to the first picture, not being from Exeter myself, I wondered where it was actually taken. If anyone recognises it, please let me know!






Wednesday 30 January 2013

Pte Archibald Barron

Archie was born in Mevagissey, Cornwall on Christmas Day, 1896. His father Fred was a Shipwright and married Selina Khymbrell in 1888. Archie had 4 brothers & 2 sisters both older and younger than him and just before the turn of the century the family moved to Devonport so that his father could take up work in the Naval Dockyard. It is probable that Archie also followed his father into work at the Dockyard as his Service Records indicate he would have been sent back to the UK to be re-engaged in work there in 1917, but this did not subsequently happen. If a soldier had a skill which was required for the "war effort", it was not unusual for them to be returned to that job, but often on a soldier's pay.

Archie was a pre-war member of 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance, TF and went to France with 25th Field Ambulance in November 1914. He served in the Nursing Section and although he was awarded his first Good Conduct Badge, he also fell foul of the disciplinary system several times for absences and other misdemeanours. Let us not forget that he was 19 when he went to war!

On 6th November 1917, he was admitted sick to the 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station. From there he was evacuated by Hospital Train to a Stationary Hospital, and then to the UK on the 13th November.

He was admitted to Mill Road Infirmary in Liverpool and diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitis. (This Hospital was the old West Derby Workhouse Infirmary and does not exist anymore, it having been bombed in WW2 with a great loss of life amongst patients and staff.) However, at the time, there were limited treatments for diabetes which was considered a fatal illness (Insulin would not be in use for another 5 years) and it is interesting to read in their medical report how Archie was put on the "Allen Starvation Diet", a diet advocated by an American doctor, Frederick Madison Allen. This diet involved drastic reduction of calorie intake, especially carbohydrates but it only
prolonged life by a few months.

Sadly, and inevitably, he slipped into a Diabetic Coma and died on the last day of January, 1918. He was brought back to Plymouth and buried in a family plot in Weston Mill Cemetery. The cross carries the badge of the RAMC. Several of the family were subsequently buried in the grave including his parents. He is also remembered on  Plymouth's Roll of Honour.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Pte James David Allan

Pte Allan is one of my mysteries. There are two different families that I can attribute to this man, but no definite evidence for either. What I do know, is that he was probably born in Plymouth in 1891, and that he was probably a pre-war TF member of 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance.He was a Private, and his Regimental Number was 2130, a fairly late number for the TF units.

He embarked for France with the 25th Field Ambulance on 5th November 1914 along with the other first line Wessex units. I cannot find any record of him in the War Diary, nor newspapers, but in the winter of 1915/16, he reported sick and was evacuated back to the UK, and to one of the Exeter War Hospitals where he died on 15th January 1916.


His grave is marked by a simple stone in the small WW1 plot in the Higher Cemetery, Exeter. This little plot holds graves from casualties who died in the local War Hospitals and are only marked by the stone, and a central memorial. His name is also recorded on the Roll of Honour which was deposited in a casket underneath the Plymouth War Memorial on the Hoe.


Pte Arthur Richard Bastin

There were a large number of Bastins living in Exeter and Devon. Arthur's father Joseph worked as a jobbing gardener and married Mary Ann Broom in 1872. They had 9 children, one of whom died in childhood, which was not unusual in Victorian times. Arthur was the youngest, born in 1894 in the St Thomas area of Exeter. In 1911, he was apprenticed as a Brass Finisher to Willey's Foundry, a firm that was in existence in Exeter from the 1860's to the late 1980's and one of the largest employers in the city. In 1912 he joined the 1st Wessex Field Ambulance, Regt No: 1689, and trained as an Orderly in the Nursing section. His elder brother Ernest was also a pre-war member of the unit and probably influenced him to join.

Arthur was not a regular attender at first but in January 1914, was part of a squad of recruits who won the Recruit Competition at the unit's annual prize giving. His brother Sidney was in the same team. Arthur was mobilised with the unit on 5th August 1914. He was assigned to the second line unit  2/1st Wessex Field Ambulance and trained with them until recruiting bought them up to strength and they landed in France on the 16th January 1916. The 2/1st were put under command of the 55th (West Lancs) Division and served on the Somme, at Passchendaele, Cambrai and Bethune. 
North Evington War Hospital - Formerly a Poor Law Infirmary, built in 1905, it became the Leicester General Hospital, still in existence
Two weeks after the Armistice, Arthur was taken ill and evacuated via Boulogne back to the UK. He was thought to be suffering from nephritis but as an in-patient at the North Evington War Hospital in Leicester, he was diagnosed with a tumour on the small intestine. He never recovered from surgery and died from "exhaustion" on 15th January 1919. His body was taken back to Exeter and buried in St Thomas' Cemetery, Exwick.

Arthur's grave in the foreground, his brother is buried further back up the hill.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Pte Frederick Jacobs

Frederick Jacobs came from a military & naval background, his father Samuel retiring from the Army as a Sergeant with the 77th Foot (later Middlesex Regt) just before Fred and his twin Charles were born in 1882. Samuel then became a Civil Guard in the prison at Portland before disappearing into the historical mire! We know he married Jane Wall and that both of them were living in Portsmouth at the time of Fred's death, but the era in between is a bit of a mystery. In 1891, Fred, his twin and older brothers William and Ernest were to be found in the Portsea Island Union Workhouse, living as Paupers. His eldest brother George was living with his grandfather. Of his parents, I can find no trace. Although I cannot find a death, I believe Samuel died between 1881 & 1891 as Jane is found as a widow in 1901. Her death is recorded in 1928. She still added his name to Fred's CWGC certificate.

As often happened in Victorian times, the boys in the workhouse were encouraged to join the Forces. Ernest joined the Navy and became a ship's cook. Charles joined the Cameron Highlanders and in 1911 was a musician stationed in Aldershot. Fred himself joined up as a Boy Soldier in 1897, age 14. He became a Drummer in the Royal Munster Fusiliers and saw action in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. His medals held clasps for Wittenberg, the Transvaal and Cape Colony. He was then sent to India and whilst there, transferred to the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to the UK in 1906 and discharged as unfit for further service in April 1907.
Bugles & Drums of RMF in South Africa. Which one is Fred?
After discharge, Fred went back to Portsmouth to live with his Aunt Eva, Jane's sister and started work in the Naval Dockyard. At some point, he must have joined 3rd Wessex Field Ambulance, probably when the TF was embodied in 1908. Despite being unfit for active service, he would have been a useful soldier, and as a Drummer, might have had some first aid experience.

War was declared in 1914, and Fred went overseas with 26th Field Ambulance, as 3rd WFA was re-named. He was promoted Corporal but in the winter of 1916, he was taken ill. On 20 Jan 1917, he died, probably in a CCS near Dury Hospital on the Amiens Road, France. He was buried in their cemetery, but after the war, his grave was moved to the Australian Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneaux along with over 400 of his fellow casualties, where he now lies with over 2,000 war casualties.




Saturday 19 January 2013

Pte Richard John O'Hagan

Known both as O'Hagan and just plain Hagan, Richard was born in 1885 in Camborne, Cornwall. His father was from an Irish family who had made their way down to Cornwall. Also named Richard, he was a gardener and married Elizabeth Mary Champion (widow of John Williams) in 1884. Richard Jnr was the eldest and only son. He had two younger sisters and an elder step-sister.
Richard's first job was Tin Mining but soon left for a job above ground as a Packer for the Great Western Railway, becoming a Platelayer after his marriage to Annie Vine in 1913.

Richard O'Hagan was one of the first to join the newly formed Territorial Force, attesting in Camborne on the 28th September 1908 at age 23 and becoming a Private in the 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance. His Regimental Number was 545 and he attended annual training at camp for the next 5 years, becoming Lance Corporal. He was called up for service on 5th August 1914 and stayed with the second line unit in the UK, possibly because he had just become a father, son Richard being born in January. His second son Robert was born in August 1916 and it is quite possible that Richard never saw him as he left for France with a draft to the 25th Field Ambulance in March 1916.

Richard was not an exemplary regular soldier. He reverted to Private rank on a couple of occasions after promotion and then on 10 January 1917, found himself on a charge of Drunkenness whilst on duty. Away from his family, seeing so much suffering and death, it must have been hard to cope at times, although he was not alone. However this occasion must haven been severe as he was sentenced to 21 days Field Punishment No.1

Introduced in 1881 after flogging was abolished, Field Punishment was in use in different forms of severity until 1923. It involved restraining a man, usually in handcuffs, or similar, to a fixed object, such as a gun wheel, for up to two hours a day. This would be carried out for 3 days in every 4. If the man had been sent to a Punishment Camp, the man would also be subject to Hard Labour.

Richard's sentence was carried out in January. Imagine standing like this in the harsh winter weather? We do not know if he was given much in the way of protective clothing. It always seems strange to me that a Medical Unit would use these punishments, but the Regular Army ran on strict disciplinary measures and FP No 1 was carried out over 60,000 times by the British Army during the war.

In June 1917, he was attached to the Royal Field Artillery on Water Duties. I think that his experience a few months earlier had weakened him and this may have been a move in order to keep him at the front. He stayed attached to the RFA, although still a member of 25th Field Ambulance, but in January 1918 was evacuated to No 44 Casualty Clearing Station with pneumonia. He died on the 14th and was buried in Nine Elms British Cemetery, Poperinghe. His widow married again in 1924 and died in 1944, remaining in Cornwall for the rest of her life.

Friday 18 January 2013

Private Charles Reed

Charles Reed was born in Bristol in 1881, eldest and only son of Albert & Eva Reed. He had two younger sisters and the family lived in St Phillips, Bristol where his father was an Insurance Agent. In 1904 he married Margaret Davies, a widow with two young girls, Ivy & Olive. Charles was now a Postman and in 1907 Margaret gave birth to their daughter Eva. In 1911, they were living in Redfield, Bristol but had moved to Brislington 3 years later.

Charles Reed's Service Records do survive. He was attested into the Royal Field Artillery on 8th November 1916 at the age of 35, and after a medical, was deemed unfit for service overseas, no reason given. He was transferred to the 3rd Labour Company, Royal Irish Regt in April 1917 and then to the Labour Corps. Then again, he was transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps in August 1917 and sent to the Training Battalion at Blackpool.

In February 1918, despite being classified as unfit, he found himself landing in France, and then attached to serve with 24th Field Ambulance.  I wonder whether he requested this move, or whether the needs of the war expedited this change? We will never know! What we do know is that he served with the unit until 2 days after the Armistice, when he was admitted to 42 Casualty Clearing Station, suffering from Influenza, a disease that worldwide, would kill 3 times as many people than those killed in the war. Charles was evacuated back to the UK and to an auxiliary hospital of the Birmingham War Hospital in Hereford - Hampton Grange, which is still in existence as a Care Home. Here, he succumbed to the disease on the 13th January 1919. He is buried in Avon View Cemetery, Bristol. His widow never married but died in Weston-super-Mare in 1961. It is likely that his daughter married late in life and died in 1990.

This sheet from Pte Reed's Service Records details his last few days

"Glasses in case" "2 sets Dentures"

Sources, and the Search for the "Grail"

Looking for the footsteps left behind by these men can be very difficult and involves a lot of lateral thinking and bringing two and two together. There are a lot of documents, records, and archives out there to be found but the one holy "grail" of a man's military life  is the Service Record. If only they all survived..... but alas, the complete archive of service records including duplicates, was hit by a bomb during a raid on London in 1940. About two thirds were destroyed and many only survive in part and very badly damaged. However, there are some that do survive complete, and Pension Records were not affected. My one dream is that somewhere, out there buried in an unknown archive, there is a whole collection of duplicate records and I finally find out in what Royal Engineer unit my great grandfather served! It's a vain hope, I think.
The bomb that fell on Arnside Street and started that disastrous fire becomes even more of a behemoth when you do actually find a complete record. I have seen letters written by relatives, lists of a dead man's possession's to be sent back to relatives, telegrams telling a loved one of their death, exact burial sites, medical records, charge sheets, and their family details, all in these scanned & microfilmed documents. It is such a shame that so many were lost. A whole generation's memories gone in one night.
But there are one or two collections turning up as more and more archives are investigated and put on line. They do not always carry the detail that service records can give but add a bit more information to the picture. For example, Surrey have recruiting records; Manchester has details of local men enlisted into local units; Regiment s like the Royal Artillery are publishing their research online. Local councils are finding things in their basements, I think! Or in practically all cases, there is the poor little archive rat at the bottom of it who has made it their life's work to publish online. Much like me!!



Monday 14 January 2013

Memorial Plaques, Introduction

This Memorial Plaque in Exeter Cathedral commemorates the men from the 1st Wessex Field Ambulance, a medical unit from Exeter & Teignmouth which fought in the First World War. In 1914, the 1st Wessex was designated  24th Field Ambulance and sent to France in November 1914 with a regular Division (quite an honour). The 2/1st Wessex was the second line unit. It recruited and sent draughts to the 24th and later embarked for France in January 1916 as a separate unit.

Also from the West country but with no memorial (that I know of) is the 2nd Wessex Field Ambulance  and it's second line unit 2/2nd Wessex Field Ambulance from Plymouth & Camborne; and 3rd & 2/3rd Wessex Field Ambulances from Portsmouth & Southampton. Both the 2nd & 3rd were also designated 25th & 26th respectively and joined 24th in the 8th Division. The second line units also went to the Western Front in 1916.  The South West Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance also recruited from Somerset & Wiltshire and served with the BEF.

These plaques commemorate the men of the 1/3rd & 2/3rd South Midland Field Ambulances, who were based in Bristol and Gloucestershire. The memorials are to be found in Bristol Cathedral. Both units served on the Western Front from 1915 with the 1/3rd also seeing service in Italy. The West country also recruited staff for TF Hospitals based in the region -  the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Southern General Hospitals, (in Bristol, Oxford, Plymouth & Portsmouth) which took in many of the wounded from all battle fronts.

All these units have one thing in common - they are the First War antecedent units to 243 (The Wessex) Field Hospital (V), of which I am a member. In this blog, I will be posting about the men from these units, and also about war dead from my own family. I will also be talking about the history of these units and looking into first world war medicine in a bit more detail.


We in 243 have seen war, too. Members of our unit have served in many modern day conflicts - The Falklands, Bosnia, First Gulf War, Op Telic, and Op Herrick. We have now been involved in two tours in Afghanistan, and many go out as individuals attached to other units. But thankfully, up to now, we have only lost one person - our regular Training Officer who was killed in the Falklands. 

As a whole, the First War units did not lose as many soldiers as some regiments did, but each one was felt in families and in the community. The Wessex, and the South Midland Field Ambulances were Territorial Force units who all trained together before the War, and who all came from the same local area - much the same area from which our modern day unit recruits. Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire & Hampshire, and everywhere in between! Exeter, Bristol, Southampton, Portsmouth, Plymouth and many cities and towns. They were men from ordinary backgrounds - postmen, printers, labourers, miners, with a smattering of doctors, pharmacists and the odd nursing orderly. But they made a difference to so many others who served in the First World War, both military & civilian.

More about their History and deeds later......