11th November 2009

Remembering today, the men and women of Chailey who served their King and Country during two world wars, and remembering in particular, those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

WW1 Service Records O-Z

Not before time, Ancestry has released the remaining 'Burnt Documents' and these are now searchable - after a struggle - on the Ancestry site. It's a pity, having waited so long for these, that Ancestry seems to have completely messed up the search function. Type the first name and surname in the relevant boxes and you'll just as likely get no results. Type the same names in the keywords boxes and the results appear.

Similarly, it's no use typing in the regiment (in the regiment box) and the name (in the keywords box) at the same time. That will also get you no results. Type the names first, wait for the results, and then narrow down by regiment. The information is there, it's just that Ancestry has messed up the search.

In any event, apart from finding my great grandfather's service records, I've also had a quick look at some of Chailey's men and found records for the following:

John Peckham
Francis George Pettet
Albert Still

There may be others, but in the meantime, I'll be updating these men's pages as and when.

Arthur Tully - a young Special Reservist

When Arthur Tully died of wounds in June 1918 he was 20 years old. And yet his number - LSR/2295 - dates to August 1914 and belongs to the series issued to the Royal Sussex Regiment Special Reserve - the 3rd Battalion. Of course, there was nothing unusual about men (or boys) joining up under age and Arthur appears to have fallen into that category. To be 20 years old in 1918 must have meant he was 16 in 1914 and was probably the reason he remained in England until 1917.

I'm guessing that his true age became apparent to the military authorities at some point and that he was retained in England until he became 19. If that was the case, it's unusual as I've seen countless service records of men who were discharged from the army having made a "mis-statement of age".

Arthur is buried at Varennes Military Cemetery in France. His headstone reads, PARTED ON EARTH / TO MEET IN HEAVEN.

Arthur Tully RIP

William Mainwood

I've updated William Mainwood's page with some more conjecture based on the two army numbers which were issued to him IF he was the same William Mainwood who served with the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry.

Chailey Heritage 1928

My thanks to Roger Dougherty of Coneyhurst Paper Collectables for sending me the photo above. It shows Dr Charles William Kimmins and, presumably, boys from Chailey Heritage. It was taken in 1928. The biographies of Dr Kimmins's sons Anthony Martin Kimmins and Brian Charles Hannan Kimmins are on the Chailey 1914-1918 website.

Unveiling Chailey's war memorial

My thanks again to Jim Type for alerting me to these three postcards which are currently up for grabs on a well-known internet auction site and which date to 2nd October 1920.

I could be wrong, but the man standing third from right on photograph number 5, looks like Thomas Deadman. Can anybody identify any of the other attendees?

Read more about Chailey's war memorial on the main Chailey 1914-1918 site. Also see more Chailey War Memorial photographs HERE and HERE.

A V Martin

A V Martin - Albert Victor Martin

The other day, when remembering Chailey's men at Loos, I noticed that I hadn't added detail about Private A V Martin's army number. Army numbers can often tell you a lot about a soldier, which is why I've dedicated many hours to working on a separate Army Service Numbers project.

In A V Martin's case, his number L/10421, indicates that he joined up in August 1914 and joined as a career soldier with the Royal Sussex Regiment. That is to say, he joined up for a period of seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. We know this because that particular number sequence for the Royal Sussex Regiment was reserved for men who wished to enlist as career soldiers. Had Albert Martin joined up for war-time service only, his number would have been prefixed with SD/ (if he'd joined the 11th, 12th or 13th (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd South Down) battalions, and if the SD/ number series had reached as high as 10421 - which it didn't), or G/ if he'd joined another Royal Sussex Regiment service battalion.

The links I've given in the last paragraph will take you to posts that give more detail on numbering in these Royal Sussex Regiment battalions. Albert Padgham of Chailey (seated above) also joined the Royal Sussex Regiment under regular enlistment terms and you can read more about him by clicking on his name.