Chailey 1914-1918

Albert Still - a Barcombe terrier and conscript

2012-02-01T02:40:00.001+05:30

The images from Albert Still's service record that appear on this blog are Crown Copyright and are housed in WO 363 at The National Archives. They are badly water-damaged as can be seen. Nevertheless, what remains is more than what survives for a lot of soldiers and I'll do my best to pick out the key points from each of the surviving pages.

The front page of the four-page attestation form gives basic details and shows that Albert attested at Lewes on the 22nd May 1916 and was called up at Chichester on the 15th May 1917. At the time of attestation he was nearly 29 years old, married, working as an insurance clerk and living at Barcombe. The word Norfolk can be seen top right and partial numbers can be seen to the left. By the time Albert attested, conscription had been introduced and he would have been obliged to attest when he did. He would have had no choice in the regiment to which he was eventually posted. It is noted on this form that Albert had no prior military service.

Page two shows details of his next of kin - his wife Mabel whom he had married on the 25th April 1909 at the parish church, Chailey - and two daughters born in June 1914 and April 1916. The campaigns' section of this side shows that he spent his entire service between 15th May 1917 and 6th March 1919, at home in the UK. He would therefore not have been entitled to receive any medals.

Page three is a listing of Albert's army career: the 4th Royal Sussex (15th May 1917) Regiment, followed by an immediate transfer to the the 11th Norfolk Regiment on the same day. On the 20th October 1917 he was transferred to No 684 Agricultural Labour Company, then to 695 Company on the 15th December that year. Subsequent postings are blurred but we can see that he was discharged, no longer physically fit for war service, on the 6th March 1919. Defective vision and vertigo are noted as the disability. Albert's character is noted as good and his home address is recorded as 1 Munster Cottage, Barcombe, Sussex.

A blemish-free service is recorded and there's also a couple of numbers visible top left: 291117 and 429342. We can also see that Albert served with D Company of the 11th Norfolk Regiment.

The letter from the Ministry of Pensions notes that 429342 was Albert's number with the Labour Corps and that he had claimed a pension as a result of a heart condition aggravated by war service, and rheumatism attributable to war service. He was awarded a weekly pension of five shillings and sixpence for 52 weeks from 7th March 1919 and a weekly allowance of two shillings and fourpence for his two children, effective from the 24th March 1919. His case was to be reviewed after one year.

Army Form B178 notes that Albert's number with the 4th Royal Sussex Regiment was 1560 and that he had originally joined the Territorial Force on the 16th January 1913. He was presumably discharged then, as a Time expired Territorial and was subsequently conscripted. This Army Form also notes service in the Machine Gun Corps and a number 49461.

Chailey Heritage - Kenneth and William Garnett

2012-01-31T17:27:00.002+05:30

I know nothing about Kenneth Gordon Garnett or his brother William Hubert Stuart Garnett. Both men are commemorated on a memorial at Chailey Heritage. The cuttings below are taken from De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, 1914-1918.

Ancient Order of Foresters - St Mary's Church, Barcombe

2012-01-28T03:56:00.001+05:30

My thanks to Ian Hilder for sending me this photo of The Ancient Order of Foresters plaque in St Mary's Church, Barcombe, Sussex.

J C Miller is a familiar name to me and I outline his life below. But first, the roll call as remembered by the Foresters:

G/2228 Pte William Henry Banks, 8th Royal Sussex Regt, KiA 7th February 1916
J E Clark
118775 Gnr Fred Day, RGA, KiA 25th April 1918
48051 Pte Frederick Edwards, 21st Northumberland Fusiliers, KiA 9th September 1917
G/798 L/Cpl George Fred Foord, 7th Royal Sussex Regt, DoW 19th July 1916
E King
90669 Gnr Joseph Charles Miller, RGA, DoW 29th September 1917
SD/538 Pte Cecil Hugh Peckham, 11th Royal Sussex Regt, DoW 19th March 1916
G/8556 Pte Charles William Peckham, 7th Royal Sussex Regt, DoW 11th July 1918
40397 Pte Frederick Stephen Saunders, 2nd Middlesex Regt, KiA 17th November 1916
L/8159 Cpl Herbert Leslie Stevens, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt, KiA 30th October 1914
53650 Gnr Leonard Howard Stevens, RGA, KiA 27th July 1917

F Scrase

At the Going Down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

F Scrase is possibly 6398896 Pte Frederick Henry John Scrase of the 1st Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment who died on the 24th November 1941 in North Africa. I have yet to identify E King and J E Clark. The two Peckham boys were the brothers of John Peckham who is counted amongst Chailey's men. Joseph Miller, alone of the Foresters, is recorded on the Chailey War Memorial.

Joseph Charles Miller
Joseph was born in Lewes, Sussex in 1886. He appears on the 1901 census of England and Wales as a fifteen year old living at Anchor Cottage, Barcombe with his family. The family comprised 53 year old Benjamin Miller (a miller’s carter), his 52 year old wife Harriet (a caretaker) and three sons: William Richard Miller (aged 21; a miller’s carter), Joseph Charles Miller (a carter’s apprentice) and Edgar Stanley Miller (a 12 year old scholar).

There were other children too. Albert Miller, born in Mayfield, appears on the 1891 census as a sixteen year old gardener while Edward Alfred Miller (aged nine) and Alice Jane Miller (aged seven) were scholars. Albert had the middle initial J although this only appears on the 1881 census. By the time the 1901 census was taken, he was living in Mayfield with a young family of his own (and coincidentally living next door to another Albert Miller) and Alice Miller was working as a housemaid at Little Buckingham Farm, Old Shoreham. I can find no trace of Edward.

On the 1881 census there is also another sibling: Elizabeth R Miller, aged three. This is Elizabeth Rosa Miller whose birth was registered at Lewes (the town of her birth) in the June quarter of 1877.

At the time of his enlistment, Joseph Miller was living at Wivelsfield, Sussex and enlisted at Hayward’s Heath. Chailey Parish Magazine first mentions him in July 1916, recording his details as Miller, Gnr J C, RGA, England. In January 1918 it noted that he was “missing” but it was not until July 1918 that he appeared in the parish magazine’s roll of honour. The entry reads: Gnr J C Miller, RGA, killed in action, Sept 18th 1917 in France.

In fact, Joseph Miller had died of wounds on 29th September 1917, a fact recorded by both Soldiers Died In The Great War and The Commonwealth War Graves’ Commission although the latter incorrectly records his name on its roll of honour register as “John C Miller”.

Joseph Miller was 90669 Gunner Miller, serving with 210th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery at the time of his death. He is commemorated on Chailey’s war memorial and is buried at Buffs Road Cemetery, Ypres. His grave stone records his initials, J C, rather than his Christian names.

Three of Joseph’s brothers – William, Edgar and Albert – also served their King and Country during the First World War.

Farewell Chailey1914-1918.net

2011-10-23T18:17:00.000+05:30

I've closed down the Chailey 1914-1918 site. To be honest, it had become unwieldy and the package provided by Fasthosts that I had used to create the site was certainly not user-friendly. In the end it just seemed simpler to close the site down and instead add information to this blog. I have a copy of the site and who knows, in time it might re-surface somewhere else. However, for the time being, search engine capability being what it is these days, somebody looking for a man or woman with Chailey connections during WW1 should manage to stumble across this blog without too much difficulty.

NFDDSS - Newick & Chailey

2011-09-13T04:46:00.006+05:30

This splendid photo appears on the main Chailey site (click on it for a larger version) but I still need to identify the majority of the participants. Can anybody help?

The photo shows members of the Newick and Chailey Branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers at their wind-up supper outside The King's Head, Chailey on July 12th 1921.

Numbering left to right, identified members so far are:

Back row: 2: Frank Mainwood; 6: Len Gordon; 7: "Buffer Ford"; 8: William Padgham; 11: Hugh Page; 13: Charles Pateman

Second row: 6: Thomas Divall

Third row: 3:?? Ireland

Front row: 1: Jack Padgham (father of Albert and William); 7: Thomas Deadman

Frank Mainwood, RGA

Len Gordon, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

William Padgham, RFA

Tom Deadman, Rifle Brigade

A tale of two namesakes - Thomas Avery

2011-09-13T04:24:00.006+05:30

I am grateful to Lesley Fisher for contacting me and correcting the biography I had written for Thomas Avery. It appears that I have mixed up two men of the same name and I will now attempt to unravel them.

1. Thomas Avery was born in Chailey around 1879. When the 1901 census was taken, the family was living at 13 South Street, Chailey. The family comprised Thomas Avery (head of the household, aged 48), his wife Caroline (42) and their seven children: Thomas (21), Edith (18), Rose (16), Frederick (13), Harriett (9), Arthur (6) and Harry (2). Thomas senior worked as a carter on a farm. His son Thomas was a brick-maker (presumably working at Norman’s, locally) and Edith worked as a general domestic servant. The family also had a boarder, 22 year old Frank Funnell who worked as a labourer in at the local brickyard.

Tom Avery appears in Chailey Parish Magazine for the first time in November 1916, noted as a Private, serving with the Army Veterinary Corps in France. He survived the war and appears to have served until the end, finally appearing in the parish magazine in July 1919. He was given the army number SE/21101.

2. Another Thomas Avery, born in 1889, was the youngest of seven children of John Avery and Mary-Ann Bridon. The family can be found on the 1891 census living at Wapsbourne Cottage in the Chailey Parish. Mary-Ann then went on to marry Charles Knight. They appear on the 1901 census living at Oaklands Cottage Chailey with another brother for Thomas and also Mary-Ann's father. They moved to Rock Cottage, Scaynes Hill by the time the 1911 census was completed and Thomas, now 22 years of age is noted as a farm labourer.

Thomas died in 1949 from oral cancer and at the time of his death he was employed as a carter. He was living at Oakwood Cottages in Streat and was never in the army although it was this Thomas Avery who married the widow of the late Harry Gates and subsequently lived at Flint Cottage (pictured above, courtesy of the Geocaching website) on Chailey Common.

Chailey Roll-call: Chailey's Men

2011-09-08T00:17:00.007+05:30

An alphabetical listing of men from Chailey parish in Sussex who are known to have served in some capacity during the First World War:

8531 Driver Alfred Albert AGATE CXII Bde, RFA
4956 Private Albert AGATE, 62nd Machine Gun Corps
G/25996 Private Victor George ASHFORD, 10th Buffs
38838 Driver Arthur AVERY, Royal Engineers
32967 Private Harry AVERY, 7th Norfolk Regt
Gunner J AVERY, Royal Marine Artillery
SE/21101 Private Thomas AVERY, Army Veterinary Corps
John BAKER
Edwin BALDOCK
Harry BANKS
Driver C BARKER, Royal Engineers
223381 Driver G BEAL RFA
AM L H BEAL, RNAS
SS103893 Stoker Albert BEARD, HMS Greenwich
L7572 Officer's Steward Alfred BEARD, HMS Zaria
Private Charles BEARD, 3rd Royal Sussex Regt
G/21063 Private Charles Day BEARD, 10th Royal West Kent Regt
G/21011 Private Henry William BEARD, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt
John A BEARD
Lt Henry Douglas BESSEMER, 4th Queen's
MT/322426 Private Sidney BEST, Army Service Corps
L8067 Trooper Alfred Bird, 3rd Dragoon Guards
GS10396 & L10156 Trooper Harry BIRD,16th Lancers
55429 Private Edward BISHOP, Machine Gun Corps
M2/074635 Private Peter BISHOP, Army Service Corps
75422 Gunner Horace W BLACKMAN, Royal Defence Corps
Thomas BLACKMAN
G/24460 Private William Hugh BLANCHARD, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
Captain John Ingham BLENCOWE, Eastern Command
Lt Robert Campion BLENCOWE, Royal Defence Corps
Reverend Arthur Hamilton BOYD OBE MC TD
36366 Private Frederick William BRAY, Leicestershire Regt
230970 Private Alfred R BRAYSHER, 21st Dorset Yeomanry
37224 Corporal William James BRAZIER, 81st Sg Bty, RGA
G/1654 Private Charles BRISTOW, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
831 Private Charles BRISTOW, 57th Australian Imperial Force
240818 Private Erle BRISTOW, 5th Royal Sussex Regt
K28335 Stoker Gilbert BRISTOW, HMS Mermaid
212821 Leading Seaman Harry BRISTOW, HMS Ready
Henry BRISTOW
3529 Driver Richard BRISTOW, Royal Field Artillery
M/13255 Blacksmith's Mate Sidney George Augustus BRISTOW, HMS Invincible
Thomas BRISTOW
500748 Sapper William BRISTOW, 8th Canadian Engineers
Private Ernest Edward BROOKS, 3rd Royal Sussex Regt
33870 Corporal Henry Alfred BROOKS, 9th York & Lancaster
SD/1633 Lance Corporal William Jared BROOKS,12th Royal Sussex Regt
Private A BROWN, 2/5th Norfolk Regt
Gunner A BROWN, RFA
S/667 Private Alven Henry Jesse BROWN, 3rd East Kent Regt
G/18963 Private Charles BUCKWELL, 6th East Kent Regt
L/9079 Private George W BUCKWELL, 1st Royal Sussex Regt
Private William BURCHETT, 26th Training Reserve Battalion
730340 Private Albert James BURNETT, 130th Bn Canadian Expeditionary Force
15152 RSM William BURTON, RFA
3rd AM Fred CAMPBELL, Royal Air Force
3749 Private Harold Leslie CAMPBELL, Welsh Guards
Private H CAMPKIN, Training Reserve
Cadet Arthur CARR, Royal Air Force
AB Charles CATTAWAY, HMS Juno
3rd AM Richard Percy CHALLEN, Royal Air Force
73165 Private Frank CHATFIELD, Middlesex Regt
98183 Gunner Harry CHATFIELD, Machine Gun Corps
97775 Private John CHATFIELD, Royal Defence Corps
L7566 Officer's Steward John CHATFIELD, HMS Amphitrite
52513 Private Thomas CHATFIELD, 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers
G/2658 Private George CHEESEMAN, 2nd Royal Fusiliers
Charles CLARKE
George CLARKE
352512 Bombardier John William CLARKSON, RGA
7609 Private Richard CLARKSON, 3rd Devonshire Regt
SD/3078 Lance-Sergeant Thomas CLARKSON, 13th Royal Sussex Regt
Private T CLAYDEN, 25th Middlesex Regt
17156 Private Horace COLEY, North Staffordshire Regiment
G CONSTABLE
Corporal Benjamin COOK, 2/5th Royal Sussex Regt
Harold COOKE
2nd Lt Reginald Trench COPLESTON, Royal Lancaster Regt
Lieutenant Horace CORNWELL, Royal Field Artillery
23220 Private George Thomas CORNFORD MM, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
63120 Cpl John Henry CORNFORD, "V" Bty RHA
23219 Pte William Trayton CORNFORD, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Captain Charles Hext COTESWORTH, 21st Lancers
862 Sergeant Alfred E COTTINGHAM, Cyclists Co,1st Div Mounted Troops
G/2521 Private Frederick Samuel COTTINGHAM, 8th Royal Sussex Regt
7979 Private George COTTINGHAM, Royal Sussex Regiment
15030 Sergeant Harry COTTINGHAM, Royal Field Artillery
63717 Co Sgt Maj James Louis COTTINGHAM, Royal Fusiliers
J24158 AB Thomas Charles COTTINGHAM, HM Submarines
P-5378 Lance Corporal William COTTINGHAM, Military Foot Police
Alfred COTTINGTON
Private Harry COTTINGTON, A P M
WR/178250 L/Cpl William Albert COTTINGTON, 2/2nd London Field Coy, RE
Montague Jesse COX
5510 Private Charles CRADDOCK, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt
8002 Private Sydney CROWHURST, 17th Lancers
Alfred DANCY
G/2829 Sergeant Arthur DAY, 8th Royal Sussex Regt
39170 Private William Gaius DAY, 3rd Norfolk Regt
206610 Rifleman Thomas William DEADMAN, 24th Rifle Brigade
Lieutenant Michael Wallace Blencowe DEANE, 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers
2nd Lt Richard John DEANE, 117th Bty, 26th Bde, RFA
WR/327459 Sapper Thomas David DIVALL,Royal Engineers
25752 Private Henry Stephen Daniel DOWNING, 1st East Surrey Regt
Corporal Edward DREDGE, Wiltshire Regt
126 Trooper Frederick John DRUMMOND, East African Mounted Rifles
241664 Private Charles DUDMAN, 8th Middlesex Regt
G/12140 Sergeant Edwin Ivan Thomas DUFFIELD, Middlesex Regt
Cadet Percy Hounsom DURRANT, Royal Air Force
L/8389 Sergeant George SAUNDERS, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt
Lieutenant-Colonel A C EDWARDS, Royal Field Artillery
Lieut Qr-Mr William ELLIS, Att Royal Flying Corps
L6372 Officer's Steward Arthur Ernest EMERY, HMS Verulam
101822 Gunner George Masters EMERY, Royal Horse Artillery
Private G EVANS
28249 Private Frank FARNDEN, 15th Hampshire Regt
William FAULKNER
Ernest James FENN
Private P FERMOR, 53rd Bedfordshire Regt
Private F FORD, 3rd Royal Sussex Regt
240819 Corporal Frank FORD, 1/5th Royal Sussex Regt
28239 Private John FORD, 8th East Surrey Regt
Lance Corporal C FRAMPTON, Army Service Corps
Edgar H FUNNELL, Army Service Corps
124445 Gunner Thomas John FUNNELL, Royal Field Artillery
Private J GADD, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
90415 Sergeant Percival Albert GALLOWAY, DAC, Royal Field Artillery
24187 Private Albert Henry GASTON, Labour Corps
J55075 Seaman James William GASTON, HMS Canada
PO/1261(S) Private Harry GATES, 2nd RM Bn RN, Royal Marine Light Infantry
356819 Chief Petty Officer Montague John GATES, HMS Victory II
Lance Corporal Arthur GIBBS, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Richard GIBSON, 3rd Royal Sussex Regt
259027 Private Roland GILBERT, Labour Corps
108423 RSM Oliver GODLEY, Royal Engineers
204321 Private Charles GODWARD, South Staffordshire Regt
S/41050 Private Len P GORDON, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
Ambrose GORRINGE
George GRAHAM
Lieutenant William Ivor GRANTHAM, 1/5th Royal Sussex Regt
Major William Wilson, GRANTHAM, 1/6th (Cyclist) Royal Sussex Regt
Captain Bernard Bachan GREEN, 3rd Essex Regt
2nd Lieutenant Edward Wilson GREEN, Hampshire Regt
Stoker Harry GREENFIELD, R N Barracks
32454 Private John GREENFIELD,12th Hampshire Regt
Private W GROU, 27th Middlesex Regiment
827 Sergeant George Thomas B GROUNDS, East Kent Regt
P12510 Corporal Charles HALL, Military Foot Police
L/9533 Private George HALL, 2nd Royal West Kent Regt
Private H HALL, 12th Norfolk Regt
374056 Bombardier John W HARMER MM, RGA
Fireman Thomas HARMER, HMT SS Ryckett
Lieutenant Albert HEASMAN MM,16th Australian Imperial Force
291 Private Frederick HEASMAN, 13th MGC, Australian Imperial Force
2145 L/Corporal Gilbert Arthur HEASMAN MM, 11th Australian Imperial Force
D/14263 Private Percy Ernest S HELLIER, Dragoons
Sergeant George HILTON, ASC
Frederick J HOBDEN
286308 Sapper Owen HOBDEN, 106th Field Coy Royal Engineers
38692 Private Charles HODGES, 3rd Essex Regt
98514 Gunner Thomas HOMEWOOD, 41st Trench Mortar Bty RFA
Gunner Arthur HORSCRAFT, RGA
Lieutenant Gerald Sclater INGRAM, 2nd Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt)
Cecil Ernest IRELAND
T2/12286 Sgt Claude Foord IRELAND, 151st Coy ASC, att 56th FA, RAMC
Private Percy Raymond Ireland, 10th Royal Sussex Regt
Gunner J IZZARD, Royal Horse Artillery
Harry E JACKSON
Corporal Harry JEFFREYS, British Red Cross Society
Cadet Christopher Theodore JELLICOE, Royal Navy
Asst Paymaster John Basil Lee JELLICOE, RNVR
Reverend Thomas Harry Lee JELLICOE, Royal Navy
J57705 Boy 2nd Class Alec Clemence Herbert JENNER, HMS Ganges
L/10781 Private Alfred Reuben William JENNER, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
Private Charles JENNER 390th Labour Company
J49195 Able Seaman David William Christopher JENNER, HMS Constance
111031 Private William Ernest JENNER, Royal Army Medical Corps
136676 Driver William Norman JENNER, Royal Engineers
46285 Rifleman Robert Charles JESSOP, 1st Rifle Brigade
Gunner George Arthur KEMP, Royal Garrison Artillery
Private G KENWARD, Royal Air Force
241360 Private John Walter KENWARD, 1/5th Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt)
Midshipman Anthony Martin KIMMINS, HMS Marlborough
2nd Lieutenant Brian Charles Hannan KIMMINS, Royal Field Artillery (att RHA)
Gunner Frank William KING, Royal Field Artillery
Jesse KING
207058 Corporal Mechanic Stephen KING, RAF
Private D KNIGHT, 2/1st Sussex Yeomanry
Lance Corporal John Luther KNIGHT, 4th East Surrey Regt
SS6327 Able Seaman Albert LANGRIDGE, HMS Winchester
49845 Corporal Shoeing-Smith Arthur LANGRIDGE MSM, Royal Field Artillery
J/42643 Seaman Cecil LANGRIDGE, HMS Invincible
Lance Bombardier Henry J LANGRIDGE, Royal Garrison Artillery
Herbert LANGRIDGE
R/4188 Rifleman William Alfred LANSDOWNE, King's Royal Rifle Corps
G/6565 Private Charles LEE, 11th Royal Sussex Regiment
E LEVITT
Driver Wilfred LOCKYER, Royal Field Artillery
Leading Stoker J LONG, Royal Navy
Walter LONG
6841533 Private Frederick LUDLAM, King’s Royal Rifle Corps
Lieutenant Sigurd Harold MACCULLOCH, 2nd Seaforth Highlanders
154169 Gunner Frank George MAINWOOD, Royal Garrison Artillery
33201 Private William MAINWOOD, 9th Royal Berkshire Regt
312568 Private Albert MALTHOUSE, Labour Corps
G/16794 Private Edward MANVILLE, 2nd Queen's Royal West Surrey Regt
87396 Private Charles William MARCHANT, 12th King's Liverpool Regt
Private Charles George MARCHANT, 16th Sussex Yeomanry
L/10421 Lance-Corporal Albert Victor MARTIN, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt
Private H MARTIN, 13th Grenadier Guards
John MARTIN
G/18321 Private William Thomas MARTIN, 1/5th East Kent Regt
William J MARTIN
G/1974 Lance Corporal Cecil E MATTHEWS, 8th Royal Sussex Regt
Private Charles Robert MILES, Royal Engineers
285146 Gunner Albert J MILLER, Royal Garrison Artillery
32133 Private Edgar Stanley MILLER, Kings Own Scottish Borderers
90669 Gunner Joseph Charles MILLER, Royal Garrison Artillery
Private William Richard MILLER, Army Service Corps
Private Albert Basil MITCHELL, 4th Hussars
301785 Leading Boatman Alfred Thomas MITCHELL, HMS Devonshire
Henry J MITCHELL
G/16155 Lance Corporal John W MITCHELL, 12th Royal Sussex Regt
Rifleman Maurice MITCHELL, Kings Royal Rifle Corps
40071 Corporal Sidney MITCHELL, Royal Garrison Artillery
Sergeant F NEAL, Royal Warwickshire Regt
Private J NEVETT, Royal Army Medical Corps
Wallace NORMAN
G/1672 Private John Henry OLIVER, 10th Royal Sussex Regt
L/10419 Private Albert Edward PADGHAM, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt
Gunner William PADGHAM, Royal Field Artillery
Private George PAGE, Royal Engineers
Private John Frederick PAGE, 36th Royal Fusiliers
Private Thomas PAGE, Royal Sussex Regt
Herbert PAINTING
Sergeant Rainald PARKER, Army Service Corps
5506 Sergeant Alfred PATEMAN, 47th Machine Gun Corps
WR259151 Sapper Charles John PATEMAN, Royal Engineers
Ernest PATEMAN
82015 Gunner Percy Charles PATEMAN, Royal Field Artillery
415211 RSM Thomas PATEMAN, 4th Queen's Hussars
Rifleman Walter Robert PATEMAN, 24th Rifle Brigade
23610 Private Frank PEACOCK, 3rd Grenadier Guards
Corporal John PECKHAM, Royal Field Artillery
Lewis J PENN
289696 Gunner Francis George PETTET, Royal Field Artillery
Albert PHILPOTT
Private William Knight PHILPOTT, Remounts
G/17485 Private William Henry G PIPER, 7th East Kent Regt
SD/3427 Lance Corporal Albert PLUMMER, 13th Royal Sussex Regt
376305 Private Alexander PLUMMER, 19th Durham Light Infantry
SD/1643 Lance Corporal Ernest W PLUMMER, 12th Royal Sussex Regt
M2/188419 Private Owen PLUMMER, 283rd MT Coy, Army Service Corps
Flight Sergeant Frank POINTING, RAF
260073 Signaller George POINTING, 11th Royal Sussex Regt
M2 105174 Private James POINTING, MT Army Service Corps
G/211 Private William Richard POINTING, 6th East Kent Regt
85523 Driver William POMFREY, 5th DAC, Royal Field Artillery
Captain John Cecil Glossop POWNALL, Royal Field Artillery
Lieutenant Lionel Henry Yorke POWNALL, 1st Royal West Kent Regt
George PREVETT
L/6002 Private Harry R REED, 1/4th Royal West Kent Regt
J Alwyn ROBERTS
Captain Magnus Rainier ROBERTSON MC, 9th Essex Regt
G/18866 Private Richard ROFFE, 7th East Kent Regt
Driver Henry ROGERS, Royal Field Artillery
7834 Rifleman Henry Alfred SAUNDERS, 12th London Regt WO 363 RECORD
Christopher SCRASE
20682 Lance Corporal Albert Henry SELBY, RE WO 363 RECORD
Albert SETFORD
Gunner F W SHEPHERD, Royal Garrison Artillery
Ernest SHEPPARD
Driver Christopher Nathan SHORT, Div Train Royal Navy
K36936 Stoker George Thomas SIMMONS, HMS Maidstone
P/381 Private William Horace SIMMONS, Military Mounted Police WO 364 RECORD
Alfred W SINNOCK
Private Archibald SMITH, 2nd Leicestershire Regt
Driver C SMITH, Royal Field Artillery
38946 Private Charles SMITH, 13th Bedfordshire Regt
Private F SMITH, Royal Engineers (Att HQ)
200583 Corporal Frederick James SMITH, 4th Suffolk Regt PHOTO
G/9591 Private George Spencer SMITH, 13th Royal Sussex Regt PHOTO
Private G SMITH, 10th Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Gunner William C SMITH, 2/2nd Durham, Royal Field Artillery
13326 Corporal Arthur Harry SNELLING, 13th Kings Royal Rifle Corps
6443557 Sergeant Richard Ernest SNELLING, 4th Royal Fusiliers
241023 Private William SNELLING, 5th Royal Sussex Regt
T2SR/03145 Driver George Ernest SPARSHOTT, Army Service Corps
33549 Private William Henry SPICE, 1st East Surrey Regt
Private Thomas SPRING, Royal Air Force
138183 Signaller Walter Stanley STARLEY, Royal Field Artillery
G/6256 Private Octavius STARLING, 13th Royal Sussex WO 364 RECORD
Driver Albert STEVENS, Army Service Corps
Corporal Ernest Frank STEVENS, Salvage Corps PHOTO
Private Frank STEVENS, 6th East Kent Regt
48227 Private Frank STEVENS, 8th East Surrey Regt
Gunner G STEVENS, Trench Mortar Battery
Corporal G STEVENS, Royal Garrison Artillery
Driver James STEVENS, MT Army Service Corps
Private William H STEVENS, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
64128 Private William STEVENS, 8th Machine Gun Corps
62615 Private Frederick STEVENSON, Labour Corps
429542 Private Albert STILL, Labour Corps
49461 Sergeant Arthur STILL, Machine Gun Corps WO363 RECORD
57356 Corporal Edward STILL, Queen's Royal West Surrey Regt
G/1657 Sergeant Major Ernest STILL MM, Labour Corps
SS119013 Stoker George Henry STILL, HMS Assistance
1689 Trooper Alfred STRINGER, 2nd Life Guards WO 364 RECORD
GSSR/887 Private Frederick Ernest SWEETMAN, 3rd Royal Sussex Regt WO 364 RECORD
Private F SWIFT, 52nd Bedfordshire Regt
102755 Gunner Peter SYMONS, Royal Garrison Artillery
K10617 Stoker Archie TAPP, HMS Dolphin ADM 188 RECORD
K54708 Stoker 2nd Class Ashley Robert TAPP, HMS Pembroke ADM 188 RECORD
SS11770 Leading Stoker Aubrey Lorenzo Russell TAPP, HMS Marmeluke ADM 188 RECORD
R/986 Sergeant Harry TAPP, AVC RFA (att HQR)
Corporal Charles W TAYLOR, AVC
Private George TAYLOR, 2nd Manchester Regt
Driver E TESTER, Indian Cavalry
G/17915 L-Corporal Albert Henry THOMPSETT, 11th Royal Sussex Regt
B/201564 Driver Alfred TICEHURST, London Regt
82017 Gunner Benjamin TINGLEY, Royal Field Artillery
41987 Private William George TINGLEY DCM, C De G, 11th Suffolk Regt
Driver William Henry Tingley Army Service Corps
Private William Henry TINGLEY Royal Engineers WO 363 RECORD
Major William Tidswell TOWERS-CLARK MC, Coldstream Guards
1608 Gunner Edgar Lancelot TOWNER, Canadian Field Artillery
Captain Henry William (Harry) TOWNER, Royal Garrison Artillery
Timothy TOWNER
SE/3722 Private George TRIGWELL, Army Veterinary Corps
LSR/2295 Private Arthur TULLY, 7th Royal Sussex Regt
G/21022 Private Arthur TURNER, 8th Royal Sussex Regt
10749 Private George TURNER, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
Gunner Thomas TURNER, Anti Aircraft Artillery
J33944 Boy 1st Class William James TURNER, HMS Victory I
M/224988 Douglas James Gibbins URIDGE, RASC WO 364 RECORD
205127 Corporal Mechanic Henry James (Harry) URRY, RAF
Charles VENTHAM
Edwin WAGHORN
219181 Driver Oswald Richard WALDEN, Royal Field Artillery
106651 Corporal Shoeing-smith Ebenezer WALDER, RFA WO 363 RECORD
Pioneer J WALDER, Royal Engineers
Private Lewis WALDER, 11th Loyal North Lancashire Regt
17855 Battery QM Sgt William WALDER, Royal Garrison Artillery
George WALKER
K29857 Stoker Albert Frederick WASHER, HMS Active ADM 188 RECORD
G/1967 Private Arthur Thomas WASHER, 8th Royal Sussex Regt
10233 Private George Trayton WASHER, 7th East Surrey Regt WO 363 RECORD
Alfred WELLER
Arthur WELLER
J43156 Able Seaman George Frederick WELLER, HMS Queen Elizabeth ADM 188 RECORD
Driver George WELLER, Royal Field Artillery
Lance Corporal James Charles WELLER, 7th Royal Sussex Regt
John WELLER
69438 Private Edward WELLS, 9th Royal Fusiliers
Lieutenant Alan Herbert Mainwaring WEST, 36th Sikhs
Captain Ralph M WEST, 3rd Mounted Brigade WO 374 RECORD
Pioneer George WHEELER, Royal Engineers
Corporal W WHITE, RFC
27334 Private Charles Jarrett WILLEY, 12th Suffolk Regt
G/4849 Corporal Ernest WILLIAMS, 9th Royal Sussex Regt
Private H WILSON, Army Service Corps
9392 Private Charles Joseph WOOD, 2nd KOYLI
SE/4483 Corporal Frederick Albert Jon WOOD, Army Veterinary Corps
229851 Leading Seaman George WOOD, HMS Sandhurst ADM 188 RECORD
Lance Corporal Harry WOOD, 1st KOYLI
GSSR/649 Private Obed WOOD, 9th Royal Sussex Regt WO 364 RECORD
Bombardier Richard WOOD, Royal Garrison Artillery
2nd Lt Thomas Victor WOOD, 7th Royal Sussex Regt WO 339 RECORD
S/2124 Private Frederick J WOODHAMS, 13th Royal Sussex Regt
18474 Private Jesse WOODHAMS, Coldstream Guards
94309 Thomas Jesse WOODHAMS, Royal Field Artillery
Captain Archibald WRIGHT, Machine Gun Corps
G/1671 Sergeant Frederick William YEOMANS DCM, 4th Royal Sussex Regt

Pictured above, Ernest Stevens and his wife, Alice Pointing.

Chailey Roll-Call: The Patients

2011-09-05T17:13:00.003+05:30

Surviving British Red Cross records tell us that between August 1914 and November 1918, the ladies of Sussex 54 VAD nursed a total of 958 soldier patients at Hickwells and Beechlands. That means that Nurse Oliver’s album represents less than 14 per cent of admissions although of course, she would have had a hand in nursing the majority of the men who passed through the two hospitals.

One hundred and twenty nine sick and wounded soldiers left their marks in Edith Oliver's album. They, and a handful of soldiers from another album kept by Nurse Rose Beatrice Smythe (indicated by an asterisk) are recorded below.

I would be delighted to hear from anybody who has further information on any of the patients listed here, or indeed anyone who can add another soldier name to the Hickwells and Beechland House roll call. Please do contact me.

3246 Private John Thomson ALLAN, 1/4th Gordon Highlanders
Private J ANDREW, 4th Northamptonshire Regt
Staff Sergeant ATKINSON
23331 Private William H BADDOCK, 3rd Grenadier Guards
L/10314 Private Charles BANKS, 1st Royal Fusiliers
2767 Private William BARBIN, 42nd Australian Imperial Force
3962 Signaller Chris BARCLAY, 2/10th (Scottish) King's Liverpool Regt
43009 Private Herbert Richard BARNES,13th (West Ham) Essex Regt
486742 Sapper Arthur BEE, 470th Field Coy Royal Engineers
Lance-Corporal BEECHING
602919 Private James BENTLEY, 7th (British Columbia) Canadians
86771 Private Thomas S BENTON, 41st Signal Coy Royal Engineers
Driver BRADLEY
Corporal Albert BRANDON, 1/7th Middlesex Regt
Private BRASSINGTON
2/338493 Gunner H S BRIGHT, Royal Artillery
Private T W BROWN, Durham Light Infantry
Private S F BROWN, 2/9th Middlesex Regt
1218 Private W BROWN, 1/9th Middlesex Regt
22824 Private Henry Robert BURN, 2nd Worcs Regt
G/4780 Private Edward John BURNAGE, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt
Private D BUTCHER, 2nd Royal Sussex Regt*
1359 Private William J BUTTERS 1/20th London Regt
1583 Sergeant William CALVERT, 1/5th East Lancs Regt
290444 Private Archibald John CAPHAM, 1/4th Suffolk Regt
Private A CARTHIDGE, Royal Sussex Regt*
16534 Private William CHADWICK, 7th KOSB
12419 Private Charles Robert H CHAMBERS, 7th Norfolk Regt
Corporal CHATTERTON
Thomas George CLARKE, National Reserve
Driver CLEARY
Driver J CLEGG, Army Service Corps*
Lance-Corporal COATES
R/1480 Rifleman Stan COLLINS, 12th Kings Royal Rifle Corps
16621 Private James COWLEY, 1st Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regt
Lance Sergeant CROFT
7567 Private John CURRIE, 10th Gordon Highlanders
Private DAVEY
Drummer DAVIS
Gunner DAVIS
Private DAWSON
88802 Driver George William DEER, Royal Field Artillery
Rifleman DEERS
12517 Cpl Frederick John DENTON, 9th Essex
2605 Corporal John DICKS, 9th Essex Regt
6155 Private Frank Chivers DIXON, 1st Wiltshire Regt
3655 Private Martin DONNELLY, East Surrey Regt
Private DORCHESTER
Private DUFFY
Corporal A A C ELDRIDGE, Royal Fusiliers
22782 L/Cpl Ernest FAIRBROTHER, 10th Loyal North Lancs
5363 Private W FERGUSON 3rd Border Regiment
Private Joseph R FISH, 86th Aero Squadron, USA
Private FLYNN
Private FOSTER
16880 Private Joseph FRENCH, 9th Essex Regt
Private FROST
11908 Private Carles Hellas FUERE
8355 CSM John William Beeby GALE, 2nd Bedfordshire Regt
Bombardier GARLAND, Royal Artillery
S/7793 Private Andrew GEDDES, 10th Gordon Highlanders PHOTO
50082 Driver James GILBERT, Royal Field Artillery
Private GOLDBOROUGH
2726 Thomas Leo GOLDEN, CEF*
Private GORDON
Private GRAY
11796 Private John E GRIFFITHS, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt)
Private HALE
Rifleman HARDCASTLE
L/6723 Private Frederick HARDING, 4th Middlesex Regt
Private HARDY
21/1522 Private Charles Edward HARRALD, 24th Northumberland Fusiliers
Private HARRISON
Private HART
SR/7386 Private William HAYDON, 1st Royal FusiliersRifleman
F HEAD
2367 Trooper George Seaney HICKS, 3/1st Bedfordshire Yeomanry
Bombardier William HILL, Royal Artillery
Private HILTON
14598 CQMS Oswald Daniel HITTER, 10th Essex Regt
6850 Rifleman Robert Mearns HOBBS, 1/5th Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
SE/9585 Private Albert HOIDGE, RAVC
Private HOLLERAN
20491 Private William HOLT, 20th County of London Regt
Private HOLYROD
Private HUBBARD
Private HUME
Sergeant H HUNTER, Coldstream Guards
Private JENNINGS
64720 Gunner Henry JOBSON, Royal Field Artillery*
Private JOHNSTONE
22002 Private D JONES, Army Service Corps
Private KEARTON
21675 Private O KEENAN, Border Regt
10298 Private Ernest J KELSEY, 22nd (Kensington) Royal Fusiliers
19797 Private Alfred Ephraim KENNARD, 6th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
1366 Lance Corporal Ernest LADD, 5th Buffs PHOTO
17797 Private Albert LEGGETT, 1st Northamptonshire Regt
19740 Private Joseph LEIGH, 3rd Border Regt
Private LINCOLN
Private LISTERCorporal LITTLER
5365 Pte George Robert Alfred LUCAS, 8th RWK
230 Private Herbert MAGINNIS, 10th Scottish Rifles
G/5793 Lance Corporal Ernest Arthur MALINS, 6th Royal West Kent Regt
L/8576 Private Albert MANKTELOW, 2nd Royal Sussex
Private McBRIDE or MACBRIDE
4082 Lance Corporal Andrew McCRORIE, 2nd Royal Scots
Private McCANNPrivate Angus McKENZIE 1/5th (Sutherland & Caithness Highland) Seaforth Highlanders
Private McWILLIAMSSergeant MILNE
2844 Harry Gordon MILSOM, CEF
Corporal NASH
Private NEWTON
Rifleman R NICHOLSON
Private OLIVER
2537 Rifleman Harold William PARKINSON, 1/8th London Regt
11066 Band Boy John William PATE, 3rd Dragoon Guards
8108 Private Bernard PICTON, 2nd Connaught Rangers*
7480 Private Reginald PIMBLE, 1st Gloucestershire Regt
Private H PROCTOR, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding)
Private RAYNOR-SMITH
15429 Sergeant Arthur Samuel REEVE, 8th KOSB
Corporal W R D F REYNOLDS, 3rd Royal Fusiliers
205445 Private Joseph Henry RICHARDS, 11th East Yorkshire Regt
Private A G RICHARDSON, 1st Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles
8030 Private Henry Walter RICHARDSON, 1st Dorset Regt
Sergeant RICHEY
G/3325 Private Arthur Charles RIDGER, 7th East Kent Regt
Walter ROBERTSON, 2nd Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
Private J E ROBINSON
2229 Tpr Alfred ROCK, Royal Horse Guards WO364 RECORD
914 Bombardier Francis E RYAN, Royal Field Artillery
L/6738 Private Charles SABOURIN, 1st East Surrey Regt
SR/1921 Private James William SALMON, 4th Royal Fusiliers
Lance-Corporal SARGEANT
Lance-Corporal SAVAGE
Private SHAKESPEARE
Sergeant SHEPPARD
10690 Cpl John William SHERIDAN, 12th Northumberland Fusiliers
10181 L/Cpl Thomas Clement SKURRAY, 6th Royal Berkshire Regt*
57941 Lance Corporal Albert Edward SMITH, 20th Canadians Private E SMITH, 2nd Welsh Regt*
1584 Corporal Henry G SMITH DCM, 1/6th Northumberland Fusiliers
Lance-Corporal SMITH
Lance Corporal SMITH, The Buffs (East Kent Regt)
8451 Private Joseph SPRUCE, 8th North Staffordshire Regt
Lance Corporal STERN
Sergeant J STEWART, 84th Bde, Royal Horse Artillery
Corporal R SUTTON, CEF*
18406 Private James SWEENEY, 13th Royal Scots
Private SWIFT
6334 Private John THOMAS, 2nd South Staffordshire Regt
801298 Gunner John William THURGOOD, RFA
Private TODD
Private TOMKINSON
255507 Gunner Edward Harvey TRUMAN, Royal Field Artillery
Private J TURNER, 2nd Highland Light Infantry*
43262 Private Robert VINTON, 10th West Yorkshire Regt
841 L/Cpl George Cecil Davison WALBURN, 1/4th Yorks
9437 Private William Thomas WALLACE, 1st Border Regt
Private WARNER
2725 Private William Fryer WASHBOURNE, 1/5th Gloucestershire Regt
235397 Private Arthur Sydney WEAVING, 3rd Worcestershire Regt
65522 Sapper WEEDEN, 135th Field Coy Royal Engineers
268791 Private Arthur George WHIPP, 2/7th Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derbys)
6271 Private Ernest WHITCOMB, 1st Middlesex
25442 Private N WIGSTON, 4th Worcestershire Regt
21370 Lance-Corporal John William WILLIAMS, 24/27th Northumberland Fusiliers
33612 Sapper F WILLMOTT, Royal Engineers
326251 Company Sergeant Major John A C WILSON, Royal Garrison Artillery
Private WISE
9457 Corporal Horace Frank WOOD, 8th Royal West Kent Regt
Private WOOLDRIDGE
Private W WORSTER, 5th and14th Middlesex Regt

Pictured above, regular soldier Horace Frank Wood photographed after his recuperation at Chailey. He would survive the war.

Chailey Roll-Call: The Nurses

2011-09-05T17:07:00.003+05:30

The following list of Sussex 54 VAD personnel has largely been compiled from a single 1914 source and is certainly incomplete. It is ironic that although VAD Probationer Edith Oliver inspired the research that led to this website, it is Edith Oliver and her colleagues in Sussex 54 VAD that I have least information about. I would welcome further input from visitors to this blog who can either add names to the list or augment any of the biographical details contained here.

I have used the term "Nurse" for those women who provided nursing services although strictly speaking, "Probationer" is the correct term for those VAD members who were not qualified nurses.

Miss or Mrs BEST, Cook
Miss Frances Isabel BLENCOWE, Nurse and Commandant
Mrs Mabel Frances BLENCOWE, Quartermaster
Miss Margaret Penelope BLENCOWE, Nurse
Mrs Emily BRYANT, Nurse
Miss Susan Margaret COTESWORTH, Commandant
Miss or Mrs CURTIS, Cook
Miss Jessie Mary FENN, Nurse
Miss Alice Kathleen FENN, Nurse
Mss A GANDER, Assistant Quartermaster
Miss or Mrs GASTON, Nurse
Miss Helen Marian GREEN, Nurse
Miss Marina Edith Bourne GROUNDS, Nurse
Miss Unis Reta Bourne GROUNDS, Nurse
Miss Rose A HANCOCK, Nurse
Miss Dorothy Austen HOLCROFT, Clerk
Miss Emily Morris MARSHALL, Matron
Miss Edith OLIVER, Nurse
Dr William Stewart ORTON, Medical Officer
Sister OSMUND, Lady Superintendent
Alice POINTING, Cook
Miss Kathleen Etheldred POWNALL Nurse
Miss or Mrs ROOTES, Nurse
Miss Marguerite Harriet SANDFORD, Nurse
Miss Rose Beatrice SMYTHE, Nurse
Mrs Ada Elizabeth WEST, Nurse
Dr H R WHITEHEAD, Surgeon General
Miss or Mrs O WILSON, Nurse

Pictured above, Sussex 54 VAD at their Field Day in Stnmer Park, Falmer, Sussex in June 1914. Dr William Orton leads the contingent and tall Nurse Oliver is fifth from left.

George Martin & Albert Setford

2011-07-13T11:07:00.003+05:30

I am grateful to Richard Senior who writes:

For information, George Martin, who you refer to, was the brother of my great grandfather, William Martin. There was a connection between George Martin and Albert Setford. For more information, see The London Gazette HERE .

The shop at South Street, Chailey was taken on by Albert (Bert) Setford & then his son, who married Dolly & had a son. George Martin also farmed Shelley's & Tutts Farms, South Common, Chailey, I believe at the same time as running the shop. In about 1930 he went on to farm Courthouse Farm, Hamsey, Lewes, and Allington Farm, Hamsey, Lewes. Circa 1933 he built (or had built) Colinbourne, South Common, Chailey (named after Colin Godmans, Danehill & Wapsbourne Manor, Chailey, which he had helped farm as son of farmer William Martin, snr., prior to running the shop. After William Martin, snr, Wapsbourne was farmed by George's uncle, Frank Martin and then his son, George Stenning Martin. George Martin's descendents still farm in the Lewes area.

William J Butters

2011-07-11T01:21:00.010+05:30

It's always a real treat when I hear from a relative of one of the men or women I've spent so many years researching; even more so when there's a photo to put to that name.

I recently received an email from Jonathan Butters who is the great-grandson of William Butters of the 20th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment. William was a patient at Hickwells in 1915 and would die of tuberculosis in January 1920 leaving a widow and nine children. In my write-up on the Chailey 1914-1918 site I omitted one child, George Butters, who was born in late 1909 and who died in infancy in September 1912.

William married Clara Ann Corley at St Margaret’s Church, Lee, south east London in 1907, their marriage recorded in the March quarter of that year for the Lewisham district. William would have been around 22 years old, his bride, born in 1888, would have been around 19.

On 8th December 1907 their first child, Edward Charles Butters was born. On 29th January 1909 a daughter, Emily Doris Butters, followed. George Butters was born in December 1909, followed by John Nicholas Butters on the 10th December 1911. Then, on 27th September 1912, at around the same time that their third child died, twin sons James Leslie Butters and Henry James Butters were born.

On 6th June 1913, William joined the 20th London Regiment (TF) for a period of four years and served with B Company. On 17th November that year, his seventh child, Florence May Butters, was born.

There were also one more son and two more daughters that I had not noted in my original Chailey write-up: William John Butters (born 24th December 1916, died 1985), Jessie K Butters (whose birth was registered at Lewisham in the March quarter of 1917) and Clara A Butters (whose birth was registered at Lewisham in the March quarter of 1919).

The photo at the top of this post shows an undated, but presumably pre-war photo of William Butters. The one below shows William, believed to be seated far left, when the 20th London Regiment was at Hatfield. This was probably in November 1914 and would be about the same time that William's poor health first became evident. In June 1915, a Medical Board, identifying tuberculosis, would report:

“Originated Nov 1914 at Hatfield. He states that he was quite well Nov 1914, when he developed a cough. The cough became worse and he brought up much purulent sputum. Sleep sweats from March 1915 to April 1915. Lost some weight. Present condition a weak and wasted man. Signs of active tuberculosis in both lungs, particularly the right lung which is affected in its entirety. Sputum contains enormous numbers of tubercle Bacilli.”

William sent the card to his son, Edward ('Ted') at the family home at 1 Brigade Street, Blackheath. On the reverse he wrote:

"Dear Ted, thank mummy for sending butter which I got alright. I haven't seen Mrs Hurd today so could not send any message. No more news. They are taking away our Reds, Ted and giving us another service dress. XXX. Daddy."

Jonathan also sent me a photo of William when he was recuperating at Hickwells in Chailey. Here he is, sitting cross legged, far left.

This is remarkably similar to a photo I have in my collection which was taken by Frances Blencowe:

In Jonathan's photo, Nurse Blencowe is on the back row, far right, looking away to her left. On my photo, the two dogs have wandered off and one of them is being held by the unidentified woman who replaced Frances Blencowe when she took the photo that I have a copy of. The only other soldier I have positively identified in these photos is Charles Sabourin who lost his leg at Mons and who is sitting behind William Butters.

Clara Butters died just four years after her husband and when she died Ted, aged just seventeen, became the head of the family and had to take charge of his eight brothers and sisters who went into care. Ted Butters died some years ago, but his sister Jessie, the second youngest of William and Clara's children, is still alive and well in Australia. My thanks to Jonathan Butters for sending me this fascinating additional information about his family.

William Albert Foord

2011-06-27T18:26:00.002+05:30

As a result of correspondence from Chris Green, I am happy to include another Chailey man on the roll of honour for the village. Chris writes:

"While carrying out family research I have visited Chailey on a couple of occasions.

My interest is in the Foord family to whom I am related through my maternal Grandmother, L Foord.

Looking at your WW1 Chailey 1914-1918 website I was surprised to see no mention
of my first Cousin one removed, William Foord. He is apparently not listed on the Chailey War memorial, however he is shown on the WW1 commemorative board at Eastbourne Town Hall.

His family, my Grandmother’s brother lived at Cinder Hill, Chailey. One of William’s sister also attended Chailey Heritage School.

William died 25 June 1916. I have visited the family grave at St Peter Chailey & he is commemorated there.

Here are his details for your information.

Private William Albert Foord No.178, 11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment
Died 25 June 1916 age 18yr 345 days.
Died of wounds near Richelbourg L’Avoue
Buried Boulogne Eastern Cemetery."

William Albert Foord, RIP.

Arthur Harry Snelling

2011-03-30T03:19:00.004+05:30

I've just discovered that Arthur Snelling has a badly water-damaged service record which survives in WO 363. This puzzles me because I'd checked all the Chailey men by going through records in WO 363 and WO 364. Nevertheless, Arthur obviously slipped through the net. How many more are there I wonder? In any event, I now see that he joined the ASC in 1911 and sailed for France almost immediately war was declared, remaining overseas until he was died of wounds in August 1918.

This is what I wrote about him:

Arthur Harry Snelling was born around 1893 in Reigate, Surrey. He appears on the 1901 census as an eight year old boy living with his parents, brothers and sister at South Street, Chailey. In 1901 the family comprised: Arthur E Snelling (head of the family, a butcher, born in Battersea, aged 32), Minnie Snelling, (Arthur’s wife aged 34), William Snelling (son, aged 11), Richard Ernest Snelling (son, aged nine), Arthur (son, aged eight) and May Snelling (daughter, aged 11 months). With the exception of May who was born in Chailey, the three boys had been born in Reigate so it seems reasonable to assume that at some time after Arthur’s birth around 1892 and before May’s birth (probably in May 1900), the family had moved from Reigate to Chailey.

Arthur Snelling is noted in the October 1914 issue of Chailey Parish Magazine as serving his King and Country. In October 1915 he is reported as lance-corporal serving with the ASC in France; subsequently promoted to corporal in November 1915 and sergeant in May 1916. On December 22nd 1916, The East Sussex News reported, “Sgt A Snelling (ASC) and Pte R Snelling of the Royal Fusiliers, both sons of Mr and Mrs A Snelling of Roeheath Common, are home on leave. Sgt Snelling has been in France since the outbreak of war and his brother for two years.”

It then appears that Arthur Snelling transferred out of the ASC to an infantry battalion because in January 1918, under the NCO section of Chailey Parish Magazine’s roll of serving soldiers, the following appears: Snelling, Rif A, 21st KRR. It was not to be a lucky move. In November 1918, Chailey Parish Magazine added another name to its roll: Corpl A Snelling, 21st KRR, died of wounds, Aug 25th 1918 in France. The Commonwealth War Graves’ Commission’s Debt of Honour Register makes no mention of Arthur Snelling’s service with the Army Service Corps and records the battalion with which he died as the 13th KRRC and not the 21st. Arthur’s number is given as 13326. It is possible that Arthur transferred from the 21st KRRC to the 13th although this fact still has to be substantiated.

Arthur's service record shows that he remained with the ASC until 1917, transfering to the 21st Battalion in October that year and subsequently being posted to the 13th Battalion in April 1918. He was posted back to the 21st Battalion at some point and died as a result of wounds received in action.

Rainald Parker

2011-01-20T19:09:00.003+05:30

My entry for Rainald Parker on the Chailey site reads:

Chailey Parish Magazine notes in October 1914 that Rainald Parker is serving his King and Country. In October 1915 he is noted as Parker, Pte R, County of London Cyclists and the following month this information is upgraded to Parker, Pte R, 25th County of London Cyclists. In December 1915 there is another change and he is recorded as Parker, L-Corpl R, ASC, MT, England.

In March 1917, his promotion to corporal is noted, followed in December 1917 by notification of his further promotion to sergeant. This is the final entry for this man in Chailey’s parish magazine.

There are no men by the name of Rainald Parker noted on the 1901 census of England and Wales. In the England and Wales, Civil Registration Index: 1837-1983 however, the birth of Rainald Fortescue Parker is noted as having been registered in the March 1896 quarter at Royston, Hertfordshire.

Rainald Parker's medal index card held at the National Archives indicates his rank as sergeant, his regiment as Royal Army Service Corps and his number as M/205166. He was entitled to the British War and Victory medals.

I am grateful to Rob Moffit who contacted me this week with the following information:

"I can add that [Rainald Parker" IS on the 1901 census, mistranscribed as Reginald FORTESCUE in Ealing (Ref RG13 1191 104 19). His death is registered Q1 1960 in Bournemouth. I have just found the record of his marriage to a Minnie STEER in Exeter (Q3 1927)."

Many thanks, Rob. I have also since found him on the 1911 census, the 15-year-old stepson of William and Mary Horton, living in Seaford, Sussex. William Horton is recorded as a barrister-at-law and was presumably quite well-off.

St Peter's School - Honour List

2010-11-30T01:56:00.004+05:30

Again, I am grateful to Ian Seccombe for drawing my attention to the photo above which appears on flickr and was taken by Jem Stone. I hope the link will be sufficient acknowledgement.

A number of the names here are familiar to me. Ernest Still served with the Royal Sussex Regiment and later the Labour Corps and would win the Military Medal during the 14-18 War. Henry Avery may be Harry Avery who later served with the 7th Norfolk Regiment. Arthur Carr served as a cadet with the Royal Air Force and Thomas Chatfield may be the same Thomas Chatfield who lost his life whilst serving with the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers. Thomas Homewood may also be the same Thomas Homewood who was killed in action with the Royal Field Artillery on the 30th June. A Roll of Honour in more ways than one.

National Library of Australia - Australia Trove

2010-10-28T16:25:00.002+05:30

I was searching for something else on-line earlier when I stumbled across Australia Trove. There's some great information on here and I've only just started to scratch the surface. I did however, find the Heasman brothers mentioned in the newspaper archive section and there's a good account of the 11th Battalion at Pozieres which also makes reference to Gilbert Heasman's recommendation for the MM. There seems to be laiods of good stuff on the site and I'll be digging a little deeper later on.

43009 Pte Herbert R Barnes, 13th Essex Regt

2010-09-25T11:35:00.003+05:30

43009 Private Herbert Richard Barnes was severely wounded in the latter stages of the 1916 Somme battles and left his entry in Nurse Oliver’s album in March 1918. It reads:

43009 Pte H.R. Barnes
13th Essex Regt.

Wounded on the Somme. Nov 13th 1916 & still going strong at Beechlands.

March 18th 1918

Herbert shares this page in the album with 326251 CSM John A C Wilson of the Royal Garrison Artillery, 43262 Private Robert Vinton of the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment and Sergeant J Stewart of the 84th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.

Herbert was born in Clapton, East London around May 1894, his birth recorded in Hackney district in the September quarter of that year. He appears on the 1901 census living at 68 Goldsmith Road, Leyton with his parents and two sisters. The household comprised: Richard Dean Barnes (head, married, aged 41, running his own French polishing business), his wife Annie P Barnes (aged 38) and their three children: Herbert (aged six), Laura Barnes (aged five) and Florence Barnes (aged three). Richard had been born in Bethnal Green, his wife in Mile End. Herbert and Laura were born in Clapton while Florence was born in Leyton. This suggests the family probably moved from Clapton to Leyton around 1896/1897.

Another household is noted at the same address and presumably the two families lived in a typical Victorian terrace – one family upstairs and the other downstairs. Henry and Lydia Simson are the only members of the other household noted at that address and interestingly Henry’s trade is recorded as a cabinet maker. It seems likely that Henry Simson and Richard Barnes may have also had a business arrangement.

Herbert’s documents survive in a badly burned condition at the National Archives in London (WO 363 series) and from these it is possible to piece together more of his First World War service.

He attested at Lea Lodge, Leyton with the 3/8th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Essex Regiment on 11th August 1915 giving his age as 21 years and three months. He was passed fit and given the regimental number 2207. His enlistment was approved at Colchester three days later and he would remain in England until 30th July 1916.

On 27th April 1916 he was posted, probably to the 1/8th Battalion, and sailed for France on the 31st July 1916. While in France on 1st September 1916 he was transferred, presumably to the 13th Essex Regiment as his album entry (and his medal index card) gives a different number: 43009.

Herbert was wounded in the thigh and right arm on the 13th November 1916 by either shell or gunshot – his surviving records note both at different points – when the 13th Essex launched an attack on a German position known as The Quadrilateral and four lines of trenches south of it. The battalion war diary reports 323 casualties for the 13th November 1916 and in his day-by-day account of action on the Somme in 1916, the author Chris McCarthy has this to say:

“The Division [2nd Division] attacked Redan Ridge with 5 Brigade on the right… On the left, 6 Brigade led with 13th Essex and 2nd South Staffords, with 1st Kings and 17th Middlesex in the rear… The Quadrilateral was the main problem, the wire being mostly intact and because of fog and mud, progress was slow. Some of the Essex and King’s on the right pressed on to the first objective with 5 Brigade. They then formed a block at the junction of Beaumont Trench with Lager Alley… At 7:30am only 5 Brigade was ready to attack their second objective. There were only 120 men from 17th Royal Fusiliers and 2nd Ox and Bucks LI and, on the left, a few Essex and King’s of 6 Brigade. There were not enough to hold any of the footholds but they managed to reach Frankfurt Trench, gradually falling back first to Munich Trench and then Wagon Road and Crater Lane…”

As Herbert himself says, he was a long time in hospital and although his entry is dated 18th March 1918 it would be over a year later (28th March 1919) that his discharge would be approved by the Essex Regiment in Warley, Essex. Even then, right up until the 15th of that month, it appears from what is left of Herbert’s papers that he was still under the care of the Number 2 Eastern General Hospital at Brighton.

Herbert’s discharge papers give his home address as 17 Beaconsfield Road, Leyton, Essex (the same address he had written on his attestation papers nearly four years previously). His next of kin is given as his father – Richard Dean Barnes. Herbert’s character is noted as very good and his length of service in the army is recorded as three years and 230 days.

On 17th April 1919 a Pensions’ Board agreed that Herbert’s degree of disability amounted to 40 per cent, that it was permanent and that it was attributable to war service. The Board members awarded him a pension of 11 shillings per week, effective from 29th March 1919 but to be reviewed in 26 weeks. Herbert’s papers do not give details of subsequent Board meetings but the likelihood is that his award was probably scaled down over the coming years.

3962 Pte Christopher Barclay, 2/10th King's

2010-09-20T11:26:00.002+05:30

3962 Private Christopher Barclay was a patient at Beechland House, Newick in July 1916. His entry in Nurse Oliver’s album is a drawing of a rural idyll framed by a maple leaf. The wording reads:

Wishing you Prosperity and Happiness

Signaller Chris Barclay
3962
2/10th Liverpool Scottish
Convalescent Hospital
Beechlands

Newick 14th July 1916

Chris Barclay enlisted with the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) in Liverpool on 6th November 1914. He gave his age as 20 years and nine months and his address as 24 Bowood Street, Dingle, Liverpool. He appears on the 1901 census of England and Wales living with his family at 51 Wallington (or Wellington) Street, Toxteth, Liverpool. The household comprised: William Barclay (head, married, aged 31, a general labourer), his wife Sarah Barclay (aged 28) and two children: Christopher (aged eight) and Marian Barclay (aged five). Also living with them were William Barclay’s 26 year old sister in law Mary Barclay and her two children: Mary (aged six) and Edith Barclay (aged three). All the family members are recorded as having been born in Liverpool.

I know little of Chris Barclay’s military service. The National Archives holds a medal index card for him as 355813 Private Christopher Barclay of the Liverpool Regiment. This number would have been given to him when the Territorials were re-numbered in early 1917. His earlier TF number is not given which suggests that he did not go overseas until after the Territorial Force had been renumbered.

I am unsure why Christopher Barclay was at Beechlands but his album entry dates his time there precisely. The British Red Cross Society (BRCS) archives in London also holds a letter written by him to Nurse Oliver the following month. (The letter was sent to the BRCS by Nurse Oliver’s nephew, Joe Oliver many years later).

Writing on YMCA stationery from 95 Camp, Mytchett. Aldershot and signing himself as Signaller C Barclay, ‘D” Company, 2/10th Liverpool Scottish, he writes:

Dear Nurse

I must thank you very much for your kindness to me whilst at Chailey and Newick. One does not realize at the time what it means to devote one’s time to the sick, it is only when you are blessed with health and strength once more that you begin to realize the sacrifice made by you nurses. I will always remember my days at Chailey and Newick; the fun we had and the patient way in which you stood all our noise. I think you must have had a splitting headache, especially when my melodious voice was singing? Fellows generally have their favourite nurse, and so I especially thank you Nurse Oliver, but you would greatly oblige me if you conveyed my sincerest thanks to all the other nurses who were so kind to me whilst at Convalescent Hospital. I hear you have a number of new faces up at Beechlands (lucky fellows). It will be a ‘grand old war’ for them.

Reference to Chailey and Newick suggests that Pte Barclay may have been a patient at Hickwells when Sussex 54 VAD upped sticks and moved to Beechland House a few hundred yards away. In any event, he continued serving with the 1/10th King’s when the 2/10th was subsumed by it in April 1918 and appears to have survived the war.

2767 Pte William Barbin, AIF

2010-09-19T11:25:00.003+05:30

2767 Private William Barbin of the Australian Imperial Force was a patient at Beechlands between October 1917 and January 1918. His entry in Nurse Oliver’s album reads:

When days are dark and friends are few
Dear friend I will think of you.
Roses may wither flowers may fade.
Some may forget you, but never will I

No 2767 Pte W Barbin
Australian Imperial Force

Barbin shares this page in the album with an entry by 268791 Private Arthur George Whipp of the 2/7th Sherwood Foresters.

William Barbin’s full service record can be viewed at The Australian National Archives. Here's a summary:

He was born in May 1895 and attested at Charleville, Queensland on 12th October 1916 aged 21 years and six months. His given profession was labourer and his next of kin as his father, William Barbin of Finch Hatton, via Mackay, Queensland.

He was posted to the 42nd Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force and left Sydney on the troopship A64 Demosthenes with the 5th Reinforcements to that battalion on 22nd December 1916. During the voyage he fell sick and spent four days in the hospital aboard ship. He arrived in Plymouth, England on 3rd March 1917 and after three months’ training was sent to France, arriving at Rouelles on 26th June 1917. He was taken on strength with the 42nd Battalion (3rd Australian Division) on 13th July.

The Third Division had trained in England for six months and been nurtured in the quiet Armentieres section since February 1917. By the time Barbin arrived in France, the Australians have suffered heavy casualties (3,000 at the First battle of Bullecourt in April 1917 and a further 7,500 at the second battle of Bullecourt in May. The heavy toll of casualties had led to all four Australian divisions involved drawing heavily on their reserves which led directly to the disbandment of the 6th Australian Division forming in England.

In June 1917 the 3rd Division was involved in the battle of Messines. It was the division’s first action and it sustained 4,122 casualties.

William Barbin was wounded on 12th October 1917, the opening day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele. On the night before the attack, the division suffered between 500 and 1000 casualties due to a German gas attack which meant that some battalions went into the assault ten per cent under strength. The official history describes the build-up to the battle and the conditions which it describes as “lamentable”.

“The sodden battleground was littered with wounded who had lain out in the mud among the dead for two days and nights; and the pillbox shelters were overflowing with unattended wounded whilst the dead lay piled outside. A stretcher case required up to sixteen men for the carry back across the mile of mud to the duckboard tracks and the advanced dressing stations. The survivors, in a state of utter exhaustion, with neither food nor ammunition, had been sniped at by Germans on the higher ground throughout the 10th, with increasing casualties.”

“Passchendaele in Perspective” continues in similar vein, describing the assault as even more futile than that at Poelcappelle. Artillery support was inadequate and the weather and muddy terrain had made it almost impossible to move the guns up and get them into their allotted positions. One Australian artilleryman described how the battery’s guns were bogged in the mud for three days and only finally removed with the assistance of 26 horses on each gun which pulled them to the position with the mud up to the horses’ stomachs. On the day of the attack, many guns lay temporarily abandoned or out of action. Those guns that were in position found the supply of shells difficult. When guns did fire, the recoil drove them further into the mud making it impossible to accurately register on the targets. Casualties amongst the artillerymen were also high because they were exposed to counter battery fire and were unable to dig protective pits because of the waterlogged landscape. Guns sank in the mud until they disappeared. Battery positions were dotted with red flags where the guns had sunk from view.

The limited shellfire that the Australian guns did deliver failed to make a mark on either the German artillery, strong points or barbed wire. The creeping barrage was so feeble that it could not be distinguished from the German artillery fire and provided no cover to the advancing infantrymen. This meant that they advanced with no cover. The Australian battalions came under persistent enemy shelling on their way to their jumping-off positions and when the 3rd Australian Division troops advanced through the mud of the Ravebeek valley to take their first objective they were forced back under enfilade fire on their exposed flanks. One patrol managed to reach the village of Passchendaele which it found deserted.

Overall the 3rd Australian Division suffered over 3000 casualties. On their right, the 4th Australian Division suffered 1000 casualties and the New Zealanders on their left advanced straight into a thick belt of uncut wire. Their casualties amounted to 3000 dead and wounded. Men bunching on the firmer ground when they were advancing, made them easier targets for the Germans. The advance was also held up when men stopped to give assistance to those who were sinking in the mud.

Overall the attack on Passchendaele Ridge produced 13000 British casualties, the equivalent of a division of troops, for no significant gain. It totally failed in human terms, the cost to the 3rd Australian Division was 35 men for every yard of ground taken.

On the 13th October Barbin was admitted to the 11th General Hospital at Camiers with gunshot wounds to his fingers but by now, his feet were also in a poor condition. Fifteen days later he embarked for England on the Hospital Ship Newhaven and was admitted to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital at Brighton with Trench Feet. He probably spent a short while at the Dyke Road hospital before transferring to Beechland House in Newick where he remained until the 15th January 1918.

On the 16th he transferred to the 2nd Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford and was also given two weeks’ leave. On 12th March 1918 he rejoined his battalion in France and a little over a month later on 16th April, he was wounded in action for the second time; admitted to the 11th Australian Field Ambulance with gun shot wounds to his right thigh and left hand. The following day he was transferred to the 50th General Hospital at Abbeville and then embarked for England on the Hospital Ship St Andrew on 2nd May.

On 3rd May 1918 he was admitted to Norfolk War Hospital with “gun shot wound right thigh” given as the cause for his admission. On 17th June 1918 he reported to No 1 Command Depot and after spending more time in hospital at Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, was returned to Australia on 23rd September 1918. On 13th December 1918 he was discharged from the army as medically unfit.

The rhyme he includes in Nurse Oliver’s album is a mis-remembered combination of two couplets popular at the time. “When days are dark and friends are few / Remember me as I do you” is the first one. “Roses may wither, leaves fade and die / If others forget you, never will I” is the second.

L/10314 Pte Charles Banks, 1st Bn, Royal Fusiliers

2010-09-19T11:21:00.001+05:30

The entry in Nurse Oliver’s album reads:

1st June 1915
C. Banks
1st Royal Fusiliers

C Banks is probably L/10314 Private Charles Banks of the 1st Royal Fusiliers; a regular soldier who enlisted in the army on 14th February 1900 and who arrived in France on 7th September 1914. His medal index card shows that he was entitled to the 1914 Star (with clasp and roses), The British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War Badge. He was discharged from the army on 25th April 1915 due to sickness and so was probably an early casualty in the opening months of the war. C Banks’s entry date in Nurse Oliver’s album certainly marks him as a convalescent and this ties in well with Charles Banks’ discharge date.

When war broke out, the 1st Royal Fusiliers was in Kinsale Ireland and later formed part of the 17th Brigade in the 6th Division.

23331 Pte William H Baddock, 3rd Bn, Grenadier Guards

2010-09-18T12:05:00.002+05:30

Private Baddock is the most prolific entrant in Nurse Oliver’s album with five entries. Unfortunately he never elaborates on his own designation, simply recording himself as “W Baddock” or “Private Baddock”. He writes:

Pte Baddock
3 Grenadier Guards

[drawing of Grenadier Guards cap badge]

Wounded at Neuve Chapelle 1915

This page is shared with entries from G/4780 Lance-Corporal Edward Burnage of the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment and Private S F Brown of the 2/9th Middlesex Regiment. He elaborates more on the Neuve Chapelle wound in another cartoon entry accompanied by text as follows:

Pte Baddock
3rd Grenadier Guards

Wounded at Neuve Chapelle 1915

I wish the wench who nursed me
The best of luck today
I’ll try to repay her kindness
In a soldier’s humble way

HOW I GOT TO CHAILEY

Hit on Dec 24th with Rifle Grenade
Went back to trenches where was bandaged up
Taken to dressing station. Wounds bound and stitched etc.
Finally put on hospital ship for England, Arrived England Dec 29th
Arrived at Dyke Road Hospital, Brighton. Operation performed.

Finis! CHAILEY

Private W Baddock is 23331 Private William H Baddock who, according to one of his two medal index cards (MIC) held at the National Archives, arrived in France on 20th October 1915. His number indicates that he would have joined the Grenadier Guards between March 4th and March 10th 1915. (This MIC - recording details of his 1914-15 Star - notes his name as W H Baddock, the second - recording the award of the BWN amd VM - notes him, incorrectly, as William H BRADDOCK).

On Thursday 30th December 1915, The Sussex Daily News described the arrival of the hospital train carrying Private Baddock (and Private Burnage)

ANOTHER RED CROSS TRAIN COMES TO BRIGHTON - MANY COT CASES

… There was a greater percentage of ‘cot’ cases than has hitherto been known in a trainload to Brighton. In all, the cases numbered 170, and no fewer than 89 of these required to be transferred by stretcher. They had all come from France and were all Britishers. They landed at Dover and were conveyed by a Great Western Red Cross train via Norwood Junction to Brighton… a large number were sent to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Dyke Road where the Christmas decorations will provide a bright and gaily coloured environment.

Baddock and Burnage both receive mentions in The Sussex Daily News of 8th January 1916. Under the headline: WOUNDED AND SICK SOLDIERS - THE LATEST ARRIVALS AT BRIGHTON, Burnage and Baddock are both listed under the “Other Units” section. Baddock’s number is given as A23331 and his regiment, mistakenly, as the 3rd Coldstream Guards.

On Friday 14th January, The Sussex Daily News reported a motor smash at Chailey:

MOTOR SMASH AT CHAILEY - ESCAPE OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS

What might have proved an extremely serious accident occurred close to the Chailey Parish Room on Wednesday evening, about 6:30pm, when two motor cars crashed into each other. Owing, probably, to the new lighting regulations, the drivers could not see each other till too late. One car, containing wounded soldiers, was coming from the Lewes direction, and the other was a baker’s car. The bonnets of both met and both cars were smashed, broken glass flying around. One man was thrown into the road, but had a marvellous escape, as did all the occupants. No bones were broken, but, naturally, there were cuts and bruises, and all had a bad shaking. It was altogether an extraordinary escape for everyone concerned.

In the East Sussex News on the same day, a concerned reader had had his letter published by the editor:

Sir. The new order with regard to lights on motor cars and motor cycles has greatly increased the danger on the country roads. The average pedestrian on the country walks in the road, especially at night time and we – for I am one of the average as a rule walk on the wrong side of the road. The danger is therefore great and I am writing to you, as your valuable paper is very widely read in the country districts, so that perhaps we country folk may be warned to keep to the path at night time… W J Wilmshurst, Ringmer.

On the following page, the paper also covered the motor smash at Chailey:

MOTOR ACCIDENT

When returning from a concert at Barcombe on Wednesday evening, a motor car, containing several soldiers and driven by Mr Best of Chailey, came into collision with the delivery car of Mr S B Richards of Barcombe, driven by J Elphick. The accident happened on the Chailey Road, near the Parish Room. Both cars were damaged and several of the occupants were injured.

Private Baddock also covered the accident in one of his entries in Nurse Oliver’s album. Quoting from “The Sussex News” he wrote:

Motors Collide At Chailey.

A party of wounded soldiers proceeding from a concert in a motor car, collided with a Bakers car belonging to Richards Barcombe. The men were cut and bruised and one man broke his artificial leg. - Sussex News

Then, underneath the headline, HOW IT APPEARED, ACCORDING TO ACCOUNTS,TO Pte BADDOCK. GRENADIER GUARDS, he drew a cartoon of the event. Named soldiers in the illustration are Private Burnage, Private Lister and Private Savourin [sic] who is saying, “I’ve broke my leg. There’s 19 quid gone. Oh dear!”

On Friday 21st January 1916 Baddock gets a mention in the Sussex Daily News in connection with a concert in aid of blinded soldiers:

IN AID OF BLINDED SOLDIERS - SUCCESSFUL CHAILEY CONCERT

In aid of St Dunstans Home, London, for soldiers blinded through the war, an enjoyable concert was held in the Chailey Parish Room on Wednesday evening. The programme was nicely varied… wounded soldiers contributing three items.

… Gunner Davis and Private McCann each had to give a well deserved encore, and Private Baddock, in spite of a badly wounded head, gave some extremely clever ‘lightning sketches’ on the blackboard, illustrating some topics of the day, as for instance, ‘Lord Derby’s Christmas box for the Kaiser’, ‘Bottled up in the Kiel Canal’, ‘A captured British General’ (Omnibus) &c.

This is the last appearance that Private Baddock makes in the Sussex Press and there are too many census possibilities to positively identify him from the initials W H. I assume, as there is no indication of a Silver War Badge on his medal index card, that Private Baddock rejoined his regiment after recuperating from his wounds.

J Andrew, 2/4th Northants Regt

2010-09-16T10:52:00.003+05:30

J Andrew's entry in Nurse Oliver’s album obviously dates him as a patient at Beechlands (although it is conceivable that he could have transferred from Hickwells). His entry, written underneath a cartoon illustration reads:

Pte J Andrew
(4 Res) Northants Regt
Rose Ward
Beechlands
Newick
Sussex

The 4th (Reserve) Northamptonshire Regiment is the 2/4th Battalion which was formed at Northampton on 27th November 1914. He is possibly 2791 Corporal James W Andrew and if this is the same man he transferred (presumably after recovering from whatever sickness had put him into Beechland House) to the Gloucestershire Regiment. The number 2791 dates to October 1914. The National Archives gives two numbers for him with the Gloucestershire Regiment: 5905 and 242112. 5905 dates to post August 1916.

The 1901 census of England and Wales reveals a James W Andrew living at Church Street, Broughton, Northamptonshire with his family. The household comprised: George Andrew (head, married, aged 35, working as a foreman in the boot trade), his wife Sarah A Andrew (aged 35) and their children: Lucy E Andrew (aged nine), Lily G W Andrew (aged eight), George Andrew (aged six) and James (aged five). There is also a 20 year old boarder – Wallace Smith, a "shoie finisher" by trade – living at the house. James’s place of birth is recorded as Broughton.

John Thomson Allen - Wounded at Houdge

2010-09-15T17:56:00.004+05:30

Private John Thomson Allan was a patient at Hickwells in 1915 and 1916 having arrived there after being wounded at The Battle of Loos in September 1915. His entry in Nurse Oliver’s album reads:

Chailey 23rd Oct 1915

[Line drawing of Gordon Highlanders' cap badge]

J T Allan
4th Gordon Hrs

Wounded at Houdge
25th Sept 1915

The National Archives reveals that he was 3246 Private John Thomson Allan, a Territorial Force soldier who arrived in France on 26th March 1915. The 1/4th Gordons was an Aberdeen-based battalion which had disembarked at Havre in February 1915. Looking at my army service numbers database I see that John's number would have been issued either in late November 1914 (3243 was issued on the 28th), or early December 1914 (3250 was issued on the 3rd). The majority of enlistments into the 4th Gordon Highlanders at this time were in the reserve battalion, the 2/4th, so it seems a strong possibility that John Allan was posted to the 2/4th and then subsequently to the 1/4th where he was later wounded at Loos.

On 27th February, the 1/4th Gordons transferred to the 8th Brigade in the 3rd Division (a regular division).

The following extract is taken from Part 11 of The Hospital Way and deals with the action at Hooge in which Private Allan was wounded:

"On 16th June 1915, the 3rd Division had taken part in a disastrous diversionary attack on Bellewaarde Ridge, which aimed to deprive the enemy of observation and at the same time straighten out the British line between Hooge and Railway Wood. Although some ground had been won, and quickly held by battalions of the 8th Brigade following up behind, the cost had been high. Heavy and concentrated German artillery fire, well directed onto lines until recently held by their own troops, cut swathes through the attacking British forces and by the end of the operation the 3rd Division had lost 140 officers and 3,391 men. The 9th Brigade suffered particularly heavily, losing 73 officers out of 96 and 2,012 men out of 3,663. On that occasion the 1/4th Gordons had been spared the brunt of the attack but here they were, just three months later, staring at the same ridge and this time preparing to take part in the main assault of another diversionary attack.

"The British bombardment began at 3.30am on the morning of 25th September and fifty minutes later two mines were exploded under the German trenches facing the 2nd Royal Scots. Two further explosions followed almost immediately and as the debris settled, the attacking troops moved forward. At first, the going was good. The War Diary for the 1/4th Gordons reports that the men reached the German front line trench and met with little loss, finding “many Germans in it, many of whom bolted.” Their success though was to be short-lived. Between 4.50 and 11am the German artillery responded with whizz bangs before collecting north of the Menin Road and launching a counter attack. Their bombs expended, the Gordons were forced to retire to the trenches held by The Royal Scots line, the diary reporting that, “The men of C and D companies who were in the German 3rd line are cut off and missing."

1/4th Gordon Highlander casualties for the 25th September are noted as:

NCOs and ORs

Killed: 23
Died of Wounds: 1
Wounded: 148
Wounded & Missing: 6
Missing: 141

Total: 319

Officers

Killed: 1
Wounded: 7
Wounded & Missing: 1
Missing: 6

Total: 15

John Allan’s path back to Britain would have been first to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital at Brighton and then, almost immediately to Hickwells. His wound was severe enough to keep him at Chailey certainly until the beginning of 1916, but not severe enough to prevent him from taking part in various “entertainments” which were reported by the local press.

He gets his first mention in the press however, in The Scotsman. On 15th October 1915 he is one of 169 1/4th Gordon Highlander men mentioned, who have been wounded in action.

On 5th November 1915 he is recorded in The Sussex Express (SE) as having dueted with Corporal Wood in a concert. On the 26th of that month he gets another mention in both the SE and The Sussex Daily News (SDN) as a performer in a concert at the Parish Room. His name appears as Private Allen but I think that this is a mis-spelling of his surname.

On 3rd December he is again noted as a performer by the same publications at a concert at Hickwells and on 7th January SDN mentions him as having proposed three cheers to Mrs Bessemer for arranging concert at The Parish Room.

John Allan recovered sufficiently from his wounds to be posted back to the Gordon Highlanders’ Depot and from there to another battalion. When the territorials were re-numbered in March 1917, he was given the number 292611. This falls within the block allocated to the 1/7th (Deeside Highland) Gordon Highlanders; another territorial battalion which would finish the war as part of the 51st (Highland) Division.

John Allan was disembodied on 8th April 1919 and was entitled to the 1914/15 Star and The British War and Victory Medals which were sent to him in December 1923 and January 1924 respectively.

Sources and Acknowledgements

The National Archives
The Sussex Express
The East Sussex News
The Scotsman
The Long, Long Trail

The photo is of Hickwells on Cinder Hill, Chailey circa 1899.

Stan Collins - Ockham War Memorial

2010-04-22T08:18:00.005+05:30

I was in Surrey recently on a very wet and somewhat chilly day, and I took the opportunity to drive over to Ockham and photograph the war memorial there. Rifleman Stan Collins is commemorated on it, the first name on the panel to the right, as you face the front of the memorial.

Afterwards, I drove over to Ockham mill where Stan's father had once worked. The mill has been turned into exclusive properties these days and must be much changed from when Stan and his family lived there. I poresume that the family lived in the cottages to the left of the mill in the picture below.

Horace Martin

2010-04-07T14:04:00.006+05:30

I received an intriguing e-mail - and photograph - from Canada recently.

Is the Horace Martin in this photograph, the same Horace Raymond Martin from Newick who served his King and Country with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry? The man on the left bears a resemblance to the photo of Horace that I have, but I can't be sure. The photo was recently purchased in Washington State, about 300 miles south of the Canadian border.

The same photo has also been re-worked as a painting - SEE HERE - the artist maintaining that the photo was taken in east Texas. If this is the same Horace Martin from Sussex, he'd certainly travelled.

My thanks to Robert Stimmel for the intrigue.

Albert Henry Thompsett

2010-02-03T08:50:00.002+05:30

I've just been sent a great photo of Albert Thompsett which must date to 1917 or 1918 and which was almost certainly taken whilst Albert was on leave in England. His mother stands nexr to him and possibly her mother is the lady seated. I'll be updating Albert's page shortly.

Wallace SIDNEY Mitchell

2010-01-20T16:09:00.003+05:30

There's some additional information on Sidney Mitchell's page on the Chailey 1914-1918 site, thanks to a surviving - but badly water-damaged - service record in the WO 363 series. Sidney was a regular soldier who had joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in June 1913, transferring shortly afterwards to the RGA as a regular soldier. He spent much of his time in Salonica, returning to England in March 1919 and then having a short-lived spell with the Military Foot Police in Dublin.

Interestingly, he also appears to have worked at Chailey Heritage at some point in time, presumably whilst he was also serving with the Special Reserve.

The story of a hut - a photo dated

2010-01-09T14:54:00.006+05:30

Yesterday, I posted a photo of Japanese nurses as Netley in 1914, and thanks to the backdrop in that photo I've been able to date another photograph in my collection (above). Click on it for a clearer picture.

For some reason known only to myself, I'd always assumed that this photo dated to later in the war. The background in this photo though, is almost identical (if not, actually, identical) to the Japanese nurses' photo. This means that it can only date to 1915. See the extract below, from the Tornoto Star of 13th January 1915.

The lady standing second from left on the back row is Frances Isabel Blencowe, a leading light with, and later commandant of, Sussex 54 VAD. The woman sitting third right on the front row is Emily Morris Marshall who would later take up the position of matron at Hickwells and Beechland House.

I'd be delighted if anybody can tell me anything about the ranks (for want of a better term) of any of the ladies pictured, and also what the ribbons on some of their tunics represent. In the meantime I need to update Frances Blencowe's page.

My thanks to Marika for the Toronto Star clipping which appears on the Great War Forum thread I mentioned yesterday.

UPDATE

Oh well, it was a good theory whilst it lasted - about eight hours. My thanks to Sue Light for insightful comments as ever - see comments below.

Netley's Japanese nurses

2010-01-08T10:36:00.006+05:30

Francis Isabel Blencowe spent some of her VAD days at the Netley Military Hospital in Hampshire. Photos in her album depict Japanese nurses, and I've just come across a group photo of these ladies on an interesting thread on the Great War forum.

I'm reproducing that photo here, and my thanks to Marika in Canada for posting it on GWF. There is a follow-up to this photo which I'll post in a day or two.

John Thomson Allan

2010-01-07T07:56:00.005+05:30

I've been sent some intriguing information about John Thomson Allan who was a patient at Hickwells in 1915.

Frieda Gardhouse writes:

"John Thomson Allan lied about his age to get into the army after his father, a miner, got him a job in the mine. This lasted for three weeks as he hated it. My aunt, John's daughter, told me he has a South Africa medal, was in the Highland Light Infantry [and] Gordon Highlanders. She also mentioned the Boer War and gave me photos of him in his kilt, and with bagpipes."

By the time John Allan was at Hickwells he was serving with the 4th Gordon Highlanders and, if he was a Boer War veteran, must have re-enlisted as his Gordon's number dates to late November or early December 1914.

John Allan's medal index card courtesy of the National Archives.

Archie Capham

2009-12-25T07:45:00.003+05:30

Further to my post on Wednesday, I've now been sent a photograph of Archie Capham with two of his children. My grateful thanks to Larry Cousins in Canada.

Archie John Capham

2009-12-23T06:05:00.004+05:30

I've been contacted by Archie Capham's relatives in Canada and have therefore been able to correct and update his page on the Chailey 1914-1918 website. Archie was not a Chailey man, but he did spend time recuperating at Beechlands in 1918. Click Here to read about Archie Capham.

Consciencious Objectors

2009-11-21T12:24:00.000+05:30

This only relates to Chailey in as much when, several years ago on one of many visits to the National Newspaper Library at Colindale and trawling through old journals for information on Chailey during the First World War, I came across this snippet on consciencious objectors. I post it here now, for no other reason other than it's an interesting piece and also provides me with a great excuse to re-publish the Gilson cartoon above.

East Sussex News, Friday July 13th 1917

CONSCIENCIOUS OBJECTORS DUCKED
A party of consciencious objectors who had been sent to work in the New Forest had a hostile reception on arriving at Brockenhurst. Numbering about 60 they split into two parties… the former were pelted with clods of turf, booed and hustled out of the village, principally by civilians. The other party came in for rather rougher treatment. Two of their number were ducked in the stream at Balmer Lawn and their luggage which was on a lorry, was pitched into the river. Clods of earth were hurled at them. After a time they made their escape…

Find WW1 service records with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Francis George Pettet

2009-11-19T16:22:00.002+05:30

It's always great to find out additional information about Chailey's men and women, and the final release of records from the WO 363 series on-line via Ancestry has opened up the archive for people like me who live too far away from Kew.

Francis George Pettet appears as F Pettit and then F G Pettet in Chailey's parish magazine. Only two pages of his service record survive, but I've updated his page on the main Chailey 1914-1918 site.

11th November 2009

2009-11-11T08:43:00.003+05:30

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

2009-11-06T10:20:00.002+05:30

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

2009-10-28T10:01:00.003+05:30

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

2009-10-20T10:40:00.003+05:30

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

2009-10-08T08:16:00.004+05:30

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

2009-10-06T08:51:00.001+05:30

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

2009-09-30T08:11:00.004+05:30

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.

Loos - 25th September 1915

2009-09-25T05:49:00.008+05:30

Remembering today, the men of Britain who took part in the Battle of Loos, and in particular John Oliver of Chailey who was killed on this day in 1915.

Today marks the 94th anniversary of the Battle of Loos and a number of Chailey's men were certainly involved in the fighting; amongst these Charles Bristow (2nd Royal Sussex), Albert Martin (2nd Royal Sussex) and John Oliver (10th Royal Sussex).

So too were soldier patients who would later recuperate at Hickwells on Cinder Hill; amongst these Edward Burnage (2nd Royal Sussex), William Chadwick (7th KOSB), John Currie (10th Gordon Highlanders), George Lucas (8th Royal West Kent), Arthur Reeve (8th KOSB), John Sheridan (12th Northumberland Fusiliers), James Sweeney (13th Royal Scots) and Horace Wood (8th Royal West Kent and pictured above, post 1916).

Tomorrow I'll look at another man with Chailey connections who was killed in action on the 26th September 1915. But in the meantime, today is the day to reflect and remember the 9,661 British soldiers who were killed in action or died of wounds on this black day in September 1915.

Also see today's WW1 Remembrance post.

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

John Mitchell - Royal Sussex Regiment

2009-09-18T05:04:00.004+05:30

You can learn a lot from a man's army number which is why I've dedicated a separate blog to army service numbers.

When I originally published the story of Chailey's men between 1914 and 1918, my knowledge of army service numbers was pretty much non-existent. Since then however, I've made a study of army numbers between 1881 (when a new numbering system for British infantry regiments was introduced) and 1918.

Furthermore, I've drilled down to some depth on the Royal Sussex Regiment and so can augment some of the Chailey 1914-1918 biographies with that additional information. John W Mitchell is one man for whom I have been able to add a little more detail.

John's medal index card at the National Archives gives little away. It records two numbers, both for the Royal Sussex Regiment - 2170 and G/16155. It also shows that John was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals. This tells us two things: first that he served overseas, and second, that he didn't arrive overseas until 1st January 1916 at the very earliest.

Now to the numbers.

The G/ prefix for the Royal Sussex Regiment indicates a service battalion and my data on the Royal Sussex Regiment shows that the block of numbers G/16204 to G/16264 were all transfers from the 2/4th Battalion. There were many other blocks of transfers at around this time, but this small block of men were first organised broadly alphabetically by surname and then given new numbers. This happened in September 1916 in England.

The South Down Battalions (11th - 13th Battalions, and not forgetting the 14th (Reserve) Battalion as well) had originally issued numbers prefixed with SD/ to the original intake of men. By September 1916 though, this prefix appears to have been abandoned and new recruits were given the same G/ prefix which had been issued to men joining the 7th to 10th (Service) Battalions. John Mitchell's new G/ prefix number was issued to him when he joined the 12th (2nd South Down) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

Chailey Parish Magazine has already mentioned that John Mitchell was serving with the 2/4th Royal Sussex Regiment and this is confirmed by the army service number data contained within the G/16204 to G/16264 block. The men are all 2/4th Royal Sussex Regiment men, and at least one of these had originally joined the battalion (when it was simply, the 4th Royal Sussex Regiment) in 1912.

Back to John Mitchell, his four digit number tells us that he must have originally joined the battalion in September 1914, and probably around the 21st of that month.

I've updated John Mitchell's page on the website, and as time allows I'll re-visit some of the other entries too.

Frederick William Grantham

2009-08-27T12:47:00.003+05:30

I've been sent a link to the on-line version of Volume 2 of Harrow Memorials of The Great War which contains "the Names of the second hundred old Harrovians who fell in the War from March 31st 1915 to September 11th 1915." Captain Frederick William Grantham is mentioned in this volume and I am attaching the relevant pages. My thanks to Dave Grantham in New Zealand. for the link.

Albert Henry Thompsett

2009-08-21T11:36:00.003+05:30

I've updated Albert Thompsett's page, thanks again to a relative contacting me. I had been unsure of the family's connection with Chailey Parish but by 1911 they had moved to Station Road, Plumpton (although they referred to it as Compt Hill).

Albert is commemorated locally on the Chailey War Memorial and at Plumpton Green, and also on the Pozieres memorial on the Somme.

Convalescents - Chailey Heritage 1918

2009-07-28T08:00:00.003+05:30

I've been sent the link to the picture above which I presume, although I don't know for certain, was taken at Chailey Heritage. Does anybody recognise the buildings or, for that matter, any of the people pictured?

The only identified person so far is Horace Wilfred Dexter, wounded on 12th April 1918, who sits third from left on the front row.

My thanks to David Dexter for the photograph. Click on it for a larger version.

Which Mitchell is Albert Mitchell?

2009-07-13T10:12:00.003+05:30

From the main Chailey 1914-1918 site:

"There are a two Albert Mitchell / Hussars possibilities noted at The National Archives: 6561 (later 45282) Private Albert Mitchell and 8214 Private Albert Mitchell and further research is necessary to positively identify him."

At the time of writing this, I hadn't seen the medal cards for the two men. Now that I have done so, I am a little closer, but only on the supposition that Albert joined the army as a young man. I'll explain.

Army service numbers can provide enormous clues in helping determine when a man joined a particular regiment. I've studied these in depth and I have a separate army service numbers website.

We know that Albert was born in 188o. 6561 could have been issued to a 4th Hussars man at some point between 1902 and 1906 or in September/October 1910 by which time the numbering system for cavalry of the line had changed. Up until December 1906, cavalry regiments numbered individually by regiment; after that date they numbered by corps.

8214 can only have been issued when this corps re-numbering had taken place, and the number itself dates to January 1912. Albert would have been close to 32 years old at this time and I think it unlikely, albeit not beyond the realms of possibility, that he would have enlisted for a regular terms of enlistment which would have taken him up to the age of nearly 40 (assuming a 7&5 term of enlistment).

In the absence of more concrete evidence therefore, I'm going with the deduction that Albert was number 6561 and that he enlisted probably in 1902 or 1903 when he was 22 or 23 years old. If he is that man, he arrived in France on 27th August 1914.

G/7968 Pt John Gadd, 9th Royal Sussex

2009-07-08T10:20:00.004+05:30

I don't have a lot of information on G/7968 Pte John Gadd. His army service number suggests that he joined the Sussex Regiment as a war-time enlistment, probably around the beginning of October 1915. His medal index card seems to confirm this as he received the British War and Victory Medals and therefore must have arrived overseas on or after 1st Jannuary 1916.

John Gadd survived the war.

1st July 1916

2009-07-01T09:34:00.003+05:30

Remembering today, all those who laid down their lives on the opening day of the Great Push, 1st July 1916. Frederick Samuel Cottingham of South Common, Chailey was one of those men.

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

Chailey's Somme - 1916

2009-06-30T06:28:00.003+05:30

Remembering today, the men of Sussex who laid down their lives in a diversionary attack at Richebourg L'Avoue on the Somme on the 30th June 1916.

The three South Down battalions took part in the attack by the 39th Division and by the end of the day had sustained over a thousand casualties, roughly one third of their combined strength. I have written about this on the Chailey 1914-1918 website in a chapter I called, Chailey's Somme.

Sydney Arthur Brooks, brother of William Jared Brooks of Newick, was killed on this day and Albert Plummer of South Common, Chailey was severely wounded. He would die of his wounds on 2nd July.

The 30th June 1916 was, as some have said, the day that Sussex died, and 93 years on, almost to the hour that the men of Sussex rose from their trenches and walked into well-directed German machine-gun fire, I remember them.

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

Thomas Pateman, 4th (Queen's Own) Hussars

2009-06-26T08:27:00.006+05:30

Thomas and Alfred Pateman. both serving with the 4th (Queen's Own) Hussars, arrived in France on 15th August 1914.

I think it likely that Thomas Pateman, six years older than Alfred, joined the 4th Hussars in 1900. His number - 4582 - dates either to early 1900 or to around July 1909. In 1900, he would have been about 21 years old and it seems more likely that he would have joined up as a young man in his twenties rather than as a thirty year old. You can read more about army service numbers between 1881 and 1918 on another of my blogs.

Both Alfred and Thomas survived the First World War, Thomas ending the war as a decorated Sergeant Major who had been Mentioned in Dispatches (MiD) and awarded the Military Medal. The "Em" and "Emblem" references in his medal index card above, refer to his MiD.

The medal index card is Crown Copyright, downloaded from the Ancestry.co.uk website.

Alf Pateman - when did he join up?

2009-06-23T08:38:00.004+05:30

Alfred Pateman was born in Chailey in 1889 and he was certainly in uniform before the start of the First World War. His medal index card at the National Archives indicates that he was overseas with the 4th Hussars as early as 15th August 1914; an Old Contemptible although he appears not to have claimed the bar to his 1914 Star - the "clasp and roses" so often mentioned on medal index cards of the First World War. But when did Alf enlist?

Alf Pateman's service record does not appear to have survived, but his medal index card gives his 4th Hussars number as 5506. Prior to 1907 all the line cavalry regiments numbered by regiment and so the 4th Hussars had its own series of numbers. Post Army Order 289 of December 1906 however, line cavalry were to be numbered by corps. So one number series for the Corps of Dragoons, one series for the Corps of Hussars and one series for the Corps of Lancers. I've dealt with this topic on a separate post on my Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 blog which looked at Queen's and King's Regulations for the Army. Click the link to read that post.

So the number 5506 was issued twice. Once to a 4th Hussars man when numbering was by individual regiment, and then again when numbering was by line cavalry corps. In the first case, 5506 would have been issued in about 1901 and so we can rule that date out for Alf Pateman as he would only have been about 13 years old. That means he must have joined the 4th Hussars after Army Order 289 had been published, and the number 5506 can only have been issued in the second half of April 1910. So that's when Alf joined his regiment. Fortunately, as his MIC (above) shows, the guesswork has been taken out of the equation regarding the date he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.

The medal index card is Crown Copyright, downloaded from the Ancestry.co.uk website.

Royal Sussex Regiment - Army Service Numbers

2009-06-12T06:14:00.004+05:30

There are several men on my Chailey 1914-1918 site who saw service during the First World War with the Royal Sussex Regiment. Although, Essex-born myself, I have a keen interest in the Royal Sussex Regiment and have recently posted a number of articles on my Army Service Numbers blog about numbering in the various Royal Sussex Regiment battalions. I'll be adding to this series or articles in due course, but in the meantime here are the links to the published posts:

Royal Sussex Regiment - Army Service Numbers

Regular and Special Reserve:

1st and 2nd Battalions (from 1881)
3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion (1908-1914)

Territorial Force:

4th Battalion (Territorial Force)
5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion (Territorial Force)
6th (Cyclist) Battalion (Territorial Force)

Initial complement of the South Down battalions (to August 1916):

11th Battalion (1st South Down)
12th Battalion (2nd South Down)
13th Battalion (3rd South Down)
14th (Reserve) Battalion

Service battalions:

Sussex Regiment service battalions August 1914 - August 1916

D-Day 6th June 1944

2009-06-06T10:26:00.003+05:30

Remembering all those who took part in Operation Overlord this day, 65 years ago. Remembering their steadfastness, their courage and their endurance and remembering in particular, those who gave their lives in the battle for the liberation of Europe.

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

WW1 photographic archive

2009-06-05T07:48:00.005+05:30

There's probably no Chailey 1914-1918 connection here but this is worth flagging up for anybody with a WW1 interest.

Yesterday's The Independent carried an article about a collection of photographic plates dating from 1915 and 1916 and depicting Allied - mostly British - troops in France. The Independent published some photographs in the paper; close to 300 have been published on the paper's website. Here's the link:

Gardin-Zanardi WW1 archive

There may of course be Chailey men amongst the subjects but regardless of that, the archive makes fascinating and compulsive viewing.

The photograph of the patriotic British Tommy tattoed with the Royal Family is one of the photos contained in the archive.

Chailey 1914-1918 Bookshop

2009-05-21T16:55:00.003+05:30

I've added another page to the website with a few recommended research titles. Well at least I had done until the site chose to play up and deleted everything. I'm now in the process of re-building the page.

As I mention on the Chailey 1914-1918 bookshop page, clicking on any of the Naval & Military Press links and then subsequently making a purchase, sees a commission wending its slow way to me. All such commissions help fund the site.

Research-wise I've had nothing to add in the last few weeks and have been concentrating more on the Army Service Numbers blog and army service numbers research in general.

Chailey War Memorial 1920

2009-05-07T08:38:00.002+05:30

My thanks to Jim Type for sending me the photo above which was taken during the unveiling ceremony of Chailey's war memorial in October 1920. There was obviously a series of photos taken at the time and later reproduced as postcards. Number 12 is here (originally on eBay by the looks of things - see bottom right corner) and number 9 is on the War Memorial and Remembrance page of the Chailey 1914-1918 website. I'd love to see other photos from the series if anybody has any they could scan and send me.

Ivan Duffield

2009-04-27T08:45:00.002+05:30

Thanks to information received from a distant relative, I've updated the page for Ivan Duffield who was not a Chailey man by birth but was possibly teaching in the parish when he was called up in 1916.

Ivan initially served with the 6th Middlesex Regiment but later transferred to the RAF and was apparently still serving as a flying officer in Baghdad in 1922.

Rainald Parker and Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe

2009-04-22T11:44:00.002+05:30

Thanks to correspondence received, I've updated the pages for Rainald Parker and Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe.

Rainald Parker originally joined the 25th London Regiment but saw service overseas with the Royal Army Service Corps.

The Reverend Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe must have seemed like a pillar of strength to the Chailey community during World War 1 and he was certainly a diligent chronicler of Chailey parishioners' service overseas. I had known that he was born in Bangalore but knew very little of his family background. Now, thanks to correspondence with a relative in New Zealand, I have been able to fill in a few gaps.

Coincidentally, I currently live in Bangalore and it may be that there will be further information locked away in mouldering ledgers in St Mark's Church, Bangalore where Thomas Jellicoe's parents were married in 1859 and where Thomas himself may have been christened.

Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers

2009-03-16T17:32:00.006+05:30

I've just posted some army service numbers and corresponding joining dates for the regular battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment on my Army Service Numbers blog. That provides me with a good enough excuse to draw attention to a couple of Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers on my Chailey 1914-1918 website, and also to draw attention to the Soldiers of Gloucestershire website.

Reginald Pimble and William Fryer Washbourne both served with the Gloucestershire Regiment (Reginald with the 1st Battalion and William with the 1/5th Battalion) and both spent time at Hickwells and Beechlands recovering from wounds. The two men are easily located on the Soldiers of Gloucestershire database which contains details of over 40,000 WW1 Gloucestershire regiment men; a very handy resource indeed.

Chailey Heritage during WW1

2009-03-10T10:24:00.008+05:30

Chailey Heritage's role during WW1 has always been beyond the scope of my research project. (I have researched Hickwells and Beechlands VAD hospitals but never Chailey Heritage). I do however, have some notes on Chailey Heritage during WW1 and today, quite out of the blue, I received this undated photograph of the "interior of the Princess Louise Military Wards, Heritage Colony, Chailey."

The following from my notes and transcripts of contemporary newspaper articles:

Friday June 11th 1915 [East Sussex News]
[Report that the Haywards Heath Band, accompanied by a number of the bandsmen of the 2/9th Manchester Battalion, visited the Heritage, North Common on Saturday, to play for the wounded soldiers and crippled boys there.]

March 14th 1916 - Page 7 [Mid-Sussex Times]

The Heritage Schools Chailey
EDUCATIVE CONVALESCENCE FOR WOUNDED MILITARY MEN
Among the war problems which are becoming increasingly pertinent, is that of the industrial position of the wounded soldier after the war. As it is obvious that a solution cannot be left until the fighting is over, an experiment in educative convalescence for our gallant, but maimed, lads has been originated at the Heritage Craft Schools for Crippled Children at Chailey, which are carried on in connection with The Guild of Brave Poor Things. Here are situated the Princess Louise Military Wards for wounded men, and the effort on behalf of their inmates has proved to have an enormous value. It has brought out the unique opportunity of testing the men in the use of new limbs and unaccustomed artificial apparatus in the workshops side by side with crippled boys similarly afflicted. The suggestiveness of the Scheme bears the hall mark of genius as well as novelty, but unquestionably the men learn much, unconsciously, from the attitude of the boys.

I have other photos of Chailey Heritage during WW1 tucked away somewhere and in due course I'll scan these and post them here.

My thanks to Jim Type for a) remembering me and b) sending me the photo that I've used on this page. Jim's relatives, Albert Heasman, Frederick Heasman and Gilbert Heasman, and Henry Downing all have pages on the main Chailey 1914-1918 website.

British Army WW1 Records

The War Graves Photographic Project

2009-03-04T09:49:00.005+05:30

I thought I'd give a plug to The War Graves Photographic Project for no other reason than I think it's an excellent initiative. I am a volunteer for the project and have taken photographs at Kirkee in India. Sadly, I don't travel very much and so this has been my only contribution so far - and that, some years ago now - but the project has volunteers located across the globe, and a photographic archive of over 1.1 million names.

My great uncle, John Frederick Nixon, killed in action in October 1918 and commemorated at Vis-en-Artois is one of those names, as is Ernest Whitcomb who was a frostbite patient at Hickwells in 1915. He transferred to the Labour Corps and died on 10th December 1918 in what is now Kalamaria, Greece. He is buried in the Mikra British Cemetery.

British Army WW1 Records

Frederick J Woodhams - 13th Royal Sussex Regiment

2009-03-02T10:32:00.003+05:30

I've updated the page for Frederick John Woodhams of Chailey, based on assumptions I've made that a) Chailey Parish Magazine gave him the wrong middle initial and b) he was a serving member of the Royal Sussex Regiment Special Reserve before WW1 and was later posted to the 13th (3rd Southdown) Battalion. I should add that both of these assumptions may be incorrect, but I have tried to explain the logic behind my reasoning.

Did your ancestor serve overseas during WW1? Find his medal index card on-line. Click here!

Chailey School - Cricket Team 1934

2009-03-01T07:00:00.008+05:30

Following on from recent posts concerning Newick School cricket team circa 1907 and the Chailey School cricket team in 1938, here are some of Chailey's boys in 1934.

Back row, left to right:
Peter Douch, Harry English, Unknown, Ray Campbell, Russel Munnings, Unknown, Dennis Kimmins, David English

Front row:
Stan Hales, Unknown, Harold Williams, John Tompkins

On 15th November 1943, Russel Charles Munnings was one of 114 ratings killed when the ship on which he was serving - HMS Dulverton - was attacked by German planes five miles of the coast of the Greek Island of Kos. Three officers were also killed. The ship was badly damaged and was scuttled by HMS Belvoir. Russel Munnings is not commemorated on the Chailey War Memorial on the village green. His entry in the Commonwealth War Graves register notes that he was the son of Charles Aldous Munnings and Dorothy Kathleen Munnings of Horsted Keynes, Sussex.

My thanks again to David Gordon for sending me this photograph.

Chailey School - Cricket Team 1938

2009-02-28T10:33:00.005+05:30

This post has tenuous connections with Chailey during World War One, but I write it in the hope that it will be of interest to people with a connection to Chailey (and it also follows on nicely from the Newick cricket team post the other day).

The photo of Chailey School cricket team in 1938 was sent to me a while back by David Gordon. First World War Chailey serviceman Len Gordon was the father of Richard Gordon mentioned below.

Back row, left to right:
Harold Williams (Willie), Richard Gordon, Cecil Muddle, Ray Campbell, Les Green, Roland Gingell, David Munnings

Front row:
Stan Hales, Ivor Short, Dennis Kimmins, Peter Douch, John Tomkin

I also have a photograph of the Chailey school cricket team in 1934 and I'll post that in due course too. My thanks to David Gordon.

John Oldaker's boys

2009-02-23T07:51:00.008+05:30

Once in while, completely out of the blue, I am privileged to receive significant additional information concerning the men on the Chailey 1914-1918 site. The photograph I have posted here, certainly falls into this category.

Pictured here are John Oldaker, headmaster of Newick School, and the school cricket team. The photograph was taken in 1909. William Jared Brooks (Will Brooks) is seated second from left and it is his granddaughter who has sent me the photograph.

The photograph on its own is quite a find, but thankfully Will Brooks also wrote the names on the reverse. So, from the back row, reading from left to right: Charlie Hodges, Fred Smith, John Oldaker, Edgar Richards, Unknown. Seated: ? Martin, Will Brooks, Percy Elphick, Jim Reynolds, Sydney Smith, Alf Fuller.

George Brooks, known as Proey, is the boy in the front row.

The boy recorded as "Unknown" is probably the headmaster's son, John Oldaker, and I think that the boy seated to Will Brooks's right is probably Horace Raymond Martin. If it's not him, it would be his brother, John Sidney Martin. Click on the links to see photos of both the brothers in their army uniform during WW1.

Sydney Smith was killed at Gallipoli on 19th August 1915 and Fred Smith was killed at Loos on 26th September the same year. SD/1637 Private Charlie Hodges of the 12th Royal Sussex Regiment was killed at the Boars Head on 30th June 1916.

My sincere thanks to Sally Tinkler for sending me this photograph and additional information about her grandfather, and also to Simon Stevens for his inputs regarding John Oldaker and the boys who later died in the service of their King and Country.

A Chailey medal index card

2009-02-19T11:14:00.007+05:30

Click on the image above to see the detail more clearly. This is a good example of a medal index card (MIC) with additional detail on the reverse. In my experience of looking at these, officers generally have an address written on the reverse, as do men who, for whatever reason, had a problem with the original issue of their medals.

In this case, George Arthur Kemp's medals were returned; the reason for their return - and it looks as though they were received back on 25th September 1923 - is contained within 1743 King's Regulations. For 1912, these read:

1743. Medals which, at the end of 10 years, still remain unclaimed, will be sent to the India Office (if granted for Indian service), or to the deputy director of ordnance stores, Royal Dockyard (Medal Branch), Woolwich (if granted for other service) to be broken up.

I'm guessing that this particular paragraph had been amended by 1923.

New medals were issued on 8th October 1923 and sent to George at Rock House, Colonel's Bank, Chailey.

The reference number under the column headed "Roll" and the page reference next to that, refer to the original medal rolls which are currently housed at the National Archives but which - one hopes - will be available on line in due course.

It is worth noting that had it not been for the efforts of the Western Front Association (WFA), the First World War medal cards - the majority of which have now been scanned by Ancestry.co.uk - would have been destroyed.

The image of George Kemp's MIC reproduced here, is Crown Copyright.

Did your ancestor serve overseas during WW1? Find his medal index card on-line. Click here!

The Horns Lodge, South Street, Chailey

2009-02-17T09:04:00.008+05:30

George & Ina Stevens, Horns Lodge, Chailey (undated)

There's some interesting information about old Chailey buried in the website for The Horns Lodge Freehouse in South Street. I'm sorry to say that I've never had the opportunity to sample any of the ale there but I was very interested to read about the history of Horns Lodge.

In the list of past publicans, George Arthur Kemp and Mr and Mr George Frederick Stevens are mentioned. George Kemp is certainly a familiar name to me and he appears on the Chailey 1914-1918 website. In 1901 he was a 19 year old gardener living at Horns Lodge and his father, also George Kemp, was the 57 year old "beer house keeper." I presume that it is George Kemp the elder and not his son (who would go on to serve with the RGA during WW1) who is the George Arthur Kemp noted on the Horns Lodge history page.

After George Kemp gave up the tenancy on the pub, it passed to Mr and Mrs Lewry (an unfamiliar name to me) and then to Mr and Mr Stevens. I have two men by the name of G Stevens on the website and I wonder whether George Frederick Stevens (who appears to have been known as Fred) is one of these men. In any event, clicking through a few links on the Horns Lodge page to this man reveals the photo that I have used on this post, and also a partial narrative written by Fred's son, Harry Stevens. George and Ina Stevens (nee Leppard) took over the Horns Lodge in 1946 and there are a few interesting (for me) snippets in Harry Stevens's narrative which I highlight below.

"Dad sold tins and tins of SP Snuff and one character who indulged, was Tommy Tasker. Tommy was a retired roadman and had been gassed in the First World War and I suppose he thought that “snuffing” was a good substitute for smoking. Bill Snelling the son of Arthur who owned the donkey in the stable (more about that later) was also gassed during the First World War, and he kept Tommy company!"

Tommy Tasker is not a familiar name to me, but Bill Snelling is William Snelling who served with the 5th Sussex Regiment during WW1.

"The next door cottage was occupied by a Mr. Smith the cobbler. Next door to Mr & Mrs Smith, lived Mr & Mrs Taylor. They were a nice old couple and Mrs Taylor sometimes helped Mum out with some of the housework. Mrs Taylor was the village “Midwife” I say that in loose terms, as she was not qualified, but her knowledge came from experience over many years of village life. She was also the person who laid you out, if you were unfortunate enough to “Pop your Clogs.” Her husband was a retired roadman, who had kept the verges of the lanes and roads tidy and clipped all around the village. Next door to the Taylors was the stable where I kept my motorbike, although this wasn't the only occupant. Arrangements had been made to house the donkey belonging to old Arthur Snelling. Arthur was the retired landlord of the Five Bells, which was the next pub down the road towards North Chailey. Arthur had a little trap that was also kept at the rear of our pub, and that was his means of transport around the village. Sometime later a Donkey Derby was organised in the village fete, and “our” Donkey was called “Horns Lodge Beauty.” I think it was one of the first Derbys of this kind that had ever been organised."

Mr Taylor was Charlie Taylor and there are photos of him and his wife also buried in the Horns Lodge website. I am assuming - and this might be a wild guess - that he is the Corporal C W Taylor mentioned on my site.

Is this Corporal C W Taylor AVC?

I've dropped Harry Stevens a line, via the Horns Lodge webmaster, but in the meantime I'd appreciate any further information on these individuals.

Does your WW1 ancestor have a surviving service record? Check on-line. Click here!

Charles Frampton - "exceptionally good physique"

2009-02-16T11:49:00.006+05:30

As intimated the other week, I have updated Charles Frampton's page on the Chailey 1914-1918 site. Charles was not originally a local man, he was borne in Wimborne, Dorset, but his family appears to have settled in Chailey when Charles was a boy.

Charles joined the ASC in November 1914 and it was at this time that his "exceptionally good physique" was recorded. At just five feet one and a half inches tall, he was under height for the army, a factor though which does not appear to have affected his attestation. He served with the ASC throughout the war and was discharged from the army in December 1918.

Charles lived at Bevernbridge Cottages, South Chailey and I was trying - unsuccessfully on Google - to find a photo of the cottages earlier today. In 1891, they fell under Lewes parish boundaries although today they are in South Chailey. I also wondered, given that Charles's father and a lodger in 1891 worked as brick-makers, whether the cottages were originally specifically earmarked for workers at the local Chailey brickworks.

In 2007 I see, one of the cottages - which I'm guessing is a typical Victorian two-up, two-down affair - sold for around two hundred thousand pounds. Cheap for Chailey generally I suspect, but a fortune compared to what it would have cost to buy in 1891.

Read Charles Frampton's partial service record on-line. Click here!

Joseph Miller

2009-02-14T09:28:00.004+05:30

Margaret and Clara Miller were just three years old and one year old when their father, Joseph Charles Miller, died of wounds in September 1917. Joseph, who was born in Lewes, was really a Wivelsfield man - he appears on three memorials in that village - but he is also commemorated on Chailey's parish memorial on Chailey Green. Having recently found papers from his surviving service record in the WO 363 series, I've updated his page on the main Chailey 1914-1918 site.

Read Joseph Miller's partial service record on-line. Click here!

Charles Harrald - three times wounded

2009-02-13T14:45:00.005+05:30

Charles Edward Harrald was a patient at Beechlands in Newick in 1917. He joined up with the 21st Northumberland Fusiliers and was then wounded three times: a gunshot wound to his head on 2nd July 1916, a shrapnel wound to his back on 25th September 1916, and finally a gunshot wound to his left foot on 2nd April 1917.

It was this last wound which caused him to be acquainted with Nurse Edith Oliver and Chailey and which, in time would see him discharged from the army. I've just updated his record on the main site having discovered a few of his papers in the WO 364 pension series at the National Archives.

Read Charles Harrald's partial service record on-line. Click here!

Like William Pointing, whom I wrote about yesterday, Charles's final wound was received at Arras - again, possibly fortuitously for him - before the main offensive began.

William Richard Pointing - wounded at Arras

2009-02-12T16:07:00.003+05:30

William Richard Pointing of the 6th Buffs (East Kent Regiment) was wounded twice - on the Somme in 1916 and at Arras in 1917 - and then taken prisoner in November 1917. Although his Arras wound - shrapnel in his hand - rendered his left little finger useless, it quite possibly saved his life as well. On April 9th 1917, while he was in an Arras hospital, British, Canadian and French troops attacked the German positions. British casualties during the battle would ultimately amount to close to 160,000 men.

William's partial service record survives in the WO 364 series at the National Archives in Kew, London and I have quoted from this in the revised biography I have written for him on the main Chailey 1914-1918 site.

Read William Pointing's partial service record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

For the Fallen

2009-02-11T09:11:00.011+05:30

I was checking in-bound links to the Chailey 1914-1918 website and noticed a couple from the For the Fallen website, a site which commemorates "those British and Commonwealth service personnel who laid down their lives for their countries". I think it's a nice idea and so I'm happy to give the site a plug here and also add another link on the main website.

Soldiers Died in The Great War is now accessible on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk. Alternatively, buy a copy from the Naval and Military Press and conduct your own detailed searches, a facility not currently available via Ancestry. I bought my copy a few years ago now and I've found it invaluable. See N&MP link below.

Gassed in the trenches - 21st March 1918

2009-02-10T15:29:00.013+05:30

I referred yesterday, to an interview I'd conducted with Harold Shephard of the 1/5th Leicestershire Regiment, and his doctor's opinion (in the 1980s) about the after-effects of gassing, as it affected Harold.

Today, coincidentally, I came across various medical reports relating to 277632 Lance Corporal Joseph Dykes of the 2/7th Manchester Regiment, who was gassed at Peronne, France on 21st March 1918, the day the German Army launched its offensive against the British. Joseph had worked as a bricklayer in Bunbury, Cheshire before joining up.

I quote from various papers below:

Army Form Z.22
Statement as to Disability

Date: March 1919

Give diagnosis and particulars of each disability claimed or discovered: "Breathlessness and tachycardia"
The present condition thereof: [unclear] tachycardia. Breathlessness on exertion. No murmur detected."

Army Form B179A

Medical Report on a soldier Boarded [ie, who has appeared before a Medical Board] prior to discharge or transfer to [various classes] of the Reserve.

[Transfered to the Reserve on 18/02/1919. Previously awarded pension of 8 shillings and threepence per week for 26 weeks.]

Report dated 8th July 1919.

"No documentary evidence but man states that he was gassed in the trenches and taken prisoner by the Germans, sent to a German Military Hospital; from here sent to work in Germany. Repatriated 22/11/18 had two months leave, sent to rejoin his regiment at Tiley [?] where he was demobilized."

Present condition: "There is no organic disease of the heart present in this case."

Discharge as permanently unfit: "No."

Opinion of the Medical Board: "Gas poisoning and [unclear]. Complains of cough, expectoration and shortness of breath. Chest movement good ... OF and OR good. Percussion note normal. No adventitious sounds heard in chest. Heart not enlarged, maximum impulse in normal position... no cardiac murmurs heard..."

How long is the present degree of disablement likely to last: "twelve months."

What is the degree of disablement?: "Less than twenty per cent."

You can read Joseph Dykes's service record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

In fairness to those medical professionals sitting on Boards, many of the cases they were dealing with must have been unknown quantities. And yet, by 1919, one assumes that gas cases had been presenting since 1915 (albeit the type of gas used was different in 1915), and men gassed in that year would still have been suffering the effects of that gassing four years later.

I have rarely seen reports from Medical Boards where pensions continued for many years. Obviously many did of course, and it may be that later awards have been weeded out of files. Nevertheless, it is also true to say that many men received pensions which were well below what they should have been and which, after a few months or years, were often stopped altogether. The one glaring Chailey-related exception I can think of is Charles Sabourin, who was a patient at Hickwells in 1915 and who was severely wounded on 23rd August 1914. Papers in his files (and he has papers in both the WO 363 and WO 364 series) show that he was receiving a pension certainly as late as 1952. Nevertheless, that pension amounted to under nine shillings a week which would not have gone very far in 1952. Then again, Medical Boards were hardly in a position to refute his claims - he'd had his right leg amputated high at the thigh.

Read Charles Sabourin's partial service record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Frank Richards, in Old Soldiers Never Die, has some nice comments about Army Pensions towards the end of his memoir which I quote from below. Frank was a regular soldier who had joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1901, subsequently serving eight years with the colours, seven of these in India and Burma. He rejoined his old battalion in 1914 and served throughout the war, winning the DCM and MM in the process. Demobbed in December 1918 he applied for a Medical Board in August 1921, primarily because he was suffering from haemorrhoids but also rheumatism.

Frank Richards takes up the story:

"I had to go to Newport for my Board and I met a man from my village who was going there for the same purpose. He informed me that he had not served in the War but had been guarding a railway bridge about seven miles from his home and one night while on sentry it had rained and he had got wet. Some days later he had been admitted to hospital where he had spent a week with rheumatism. I sympathized with him and said it was marvellous how he looked so well after what he had been through.

"The doctors who examined me as good as told me that if I didn't agree to have an operation I would not be granted a disability pension... A few weeks later I was notified that the Medical Board had found that I was suffering with haemorrhoids and rheumatism and that the haemorrhoids had been aggravated by my War service: for which I had been awarded a disability pension of eight shillings a week for sixty-five weeks. Before this time expired I would be notified to appear in front of a Medical Board for a further examination. No disability could be awarded for my rheumatism which in their opinion had not been caused or aggravated by War service. If I wished to appeal I could do so.

"I knew it was useless to appeal. I have never been in hospital with rheumatism and the War had now been over two years and nine months. I also knew that Medical Boards went by what hospital service a man had entered on his medical history sheet and not by his front-line service. If a man had only done four weeks' service in England and had been admitted to hospital for a few days he would have a better chance of being awarded a disability pension than a man who had done four years in the firing line and whose medical history sheet was clean...

"I met the man who had got wet guarding the bridge and he informed me that he had been awarded a disability pension of twelve shillings a week for sixty-five weeks and had also been recommended for massage treatment."

Frank had an operation for his haemorrhoids and appeared before another Medical Board where he was "... notified that I had been awarded a final weekly allowance of seven and sixpence for seventy weeks, and the award could not be extended beyond this period."

So much for the "land fit for heroes."

I found the image on this post on a flickr album. It shows Amercian troops in 1917, learning how to use their gas masks.

Chailey's patients

2009-02-10T12:42:00.004+05:30

One of the frustrating aspects of trying to research the stories of the men who found themselves at Hickwells and Beechlands is that their entries in Nurse Oliver's autograph album often did not include their army service numbers. Additionally some men just gave an initial rather than a name, or were given only the briefest of mentions in newspaper reports of the time. This means that trying to trace the histories of men like Rifleman F Head, and Drummer Davis (or Gunner Davis for that matter) is a virtually impossible task. I've included their names on the Patients' roll-call because it is feasible, I suppose, that at some future point in time, somebody will send me an e-mail that reads, "My great great uncle was 12345 Rifleman Frank Head and he always spoke about how much he enjoyed being a hospital patient in Chailey..." Well, I live in hope.

Nevertheless, I have spent more time over the past few days, checking names again against medal index cards and service records in the WO 363 and WO 364 series and have identified three more patient service records - those for John Dicks, Ernest Fairbrother and Charles Harrald (or Harrold) - as well as more of Chailey's men. I'll update their pages in due course.

George Pointing

2009-02-09T16:12:00.006+05:30

George Pointing and his brother William Pointing both have surviving papers at the National Archives and so I've updated George's page on the Chailey 1914-1918 site for now.

George was a 19 year old shop assistant working for Sainsbury's in the City of London when he joined the Sussex Yeomanry in 1915. He received a bullet in his left knee in March 1918 which finished his war and left him in hospitals in England for six months. Nevertheless, by 1920, doctors found that he had "recovered" and he was awarded a gratuity of five pounds with "no grounds for further awards".

The service papers in the WO 363 and WO 364 series are full of reports similar to those in George's file and you wonder how many men endured years of pain and discomfort and received no further recompense from their country. I recall interviewing First World War veterans over sixty years after the conflict had ended and the majority of these men were still discomforted by wounds incurred in on the Western Front.

Harold Shephard, of the 1/5th Leicesters was one of those men I interviewed. He'd joined the 5th Leicesters a couple of years before the war and saw service with the battalion until invalided out. In his eighties when I met him, he told me how in recent years he'd been in and out of hospital with breathing problems and how he had explained to the doctor that he thought it was as a result of being gassed on the Somme in 1916. "Oh, you don't want to worry about that my lad" the doctor told him, "that's more than sixty years ago."

"That may be so" replied Harold (who always gave the impression of somebody not to be trifled with), "but, I've got it, and you ain't."

You can read the full transcript of my interview with Harold Shephard on my World War 1 Veterans blog. Here's the link.

FIFTH LEICESTERSHIRE. A Record of the 1/5th Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment, TF, during the War 1914-1919

I'd be interested to know whether Harold Shephard gets a mention in the book above. Perhaps I should click on the link and buy it. This is what the Naval & Military Press say about it:

"This battalion history is based essentially on the War Diary supplemented by contributions from various battalion members. It is a far more detailed one than that of the 1/4th. The battalion, which had its HQ in Loughborough, was also in the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade of the 46th (N Midland) Division. It arrived in France on 28 February 1915 and the first few months were spent in the Armentieres sector and the Salient before moving south to the Loos battlefield. During the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, which decimated the 1/4th, the battalion was fortunately in reserve; it was a day that caused 46th Division the highest number of casualties of any day of the war - 3,583.

"There is plenty of meat in this history, detailed accounts of actions and events in and out of the trenches, names of officers and other ranks, list of honours and awards - but again no index. There was a moment of excitement when the division was was ordered to Egypt and began to move at the end of December 1915. The battalion (with 1/4th Battalion) embarked at Marseille on 21 January 1916 in the Cunarder Andania, described as a ‘floating palace,’ only to be told the next morning to disembark; the powers that be had changed their minds and the division went back to the trenches. In the fighting at the approaches to the St Quentin Canal, 2Lt J.C Barrett won the VC for gallantry during the battalion attack on Pontruet on 24 September 1918. By the end of the war the battalion had suffered 440 dead of whom 25 were officers. A good history!"

Cecil Edward Matthews

2009-02-06T01:00:00.004+05:30

I've corrected information about Cecil Edward Matthews and also added additional excerpts taken from his surviving service papers. In doing so, I've also been able to fill in further small detail for his uncle, William C Smith, and also Frank Peacock, a cousin of William's who was killed in action with the Grenadier Guards in December 1915; a little over a month after he arrived in France.

Read Cecil Mathew's service record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

William Lansdowne: one handkerchief, one penny coin, one notebook...

2009-02-05T08:11:00.005+05:30

When William Lansdowne sailed for France with the 13th King's Royal Rifle Corps in July 1915, his wife May was four months pregnant. When he was killed in action in February 1916, the baby daughter he'd never seen (except perhaps in a photograph) was under two months old.

The month after he was killed, May Lansdowne received a pathetic bundle containing her husband's effects. This contained, "...one soft helmet, one mouth organ, eleven postcards, one handkerchief, one penny coin, one notebook, one gospel, one tin box and two photos." Reading his service record even now, over ninety years after he was killed, is extremely poignant.

May Lansdowne had connections with Chailey Girls Heritage, probably working there as a servant, and it appears to be her connection with Chailey Heritage which links William, a Londoner, to Chailey.

William does not receive any mention in Chailey Parish Magazine but Soldiers Died in the Great War notes that his place of residence was Chailey at the time he enlisted, and I am pleased to be able to acknowledge, in a tiny way, his sacrifice via this blog and my Chailey 1914-1918 website.

Read William Lansdowne's service record with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Chailey's Men - updates

2009-02-03T18:24:00.004+05:30

I've added additional information to the pages for Ivor Grantham, George Hilton, Thomas Homewood, George Kemp and Wilfred Lockyer. I've also found service records for John William Harmer and William Alfred Lansdowne and I'll be updating their pages shortly.

John Harmer was a long serving Territorial who joined Sussex RGA in 1911 and went on to win the Military Medal.

William Lansdowne was a Londoner who was working as a waiter when he joined the King's Royal Rifles Corps. His wife was working at the Girls' Heritage in Chailey which explains his conection with the parish, although he is not mentioned in Chailey Parish Magazine. He was killed in action in 1916 leaving a three month old daughter.

Read John Harmer's and William Lansdowne's WW1 service records with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Charles John Frampton - ASC

2009-02-02T12:25:00.004+05:30

I've updated a number of records on the Chailey 1914-1918 site including that of Charles John Frampton of the Army Service Corps. He is simply recorded as C Frampton in the Chailey Parish Magazine but a logical process of deduction has revealed not only his full name, but also the fact that he has a surviving service record in the WO 363 series. I've not added that information yet but there is a nice letter in his file from Chailey inn-keeper Sidney Best (who would also go on to join the ASC) confirming that Charles was capable of controlling a pair of horses. I'll update his record fully in due course.

Read Charles Frampton's WW1 service record with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Arthur Ridger - shot in the face

2009-02-01T10:06:00.004+05:30

Londoner Arthur Charles Ridger was 16 years old when he attested with the East Kent Regiment in September 1914. The following July he was in France and only a few weeks later sustained a gunshot wound to his face. That was as long as his war in France lasted, but he was then in and out of hospitals until his discharge from the army in June 1916.

Arthur certainly spent time at Hickwells in Chailey and it was whilst he was there, at around Easter 1916, that he met Nurse Edith Oliver and left his mark in her album.

Arthur Ridger's WW1 service record survives. Read it NOW with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

George Saunders

2009-01-30T11:56:00.005+05:30

I've added a little more information about George Saunders. Having spent a considerable amount of time researching army service numbers between 1881 and 1918, I can say with reasonable certainty that George joined the Royal Sussex Regiment on about 29th December 1905.

I had previously guessed that he joined in 1906 and that he was probably a Reservist at the time Britain war with Germany in 1914. However, the man who was given the number after George - L/8390 - joined on 29th December 1905 for 9 years with the Colours and 3 on the Reserve; so too did other men enlisting with The Royal Sussex Regiment at this time.

So it think, in the absence of a surviving service record, that it is reasonable to assume that George also joined up for 9&3 and that therefore he had a little under five months left to serve with the Colours when Britain went to war on 4th August 1914. Eight days later, he was shouldering a rifle in France and preparing to meet the might of the German Army.

George was killed in action on 17th August 1916 and is commemorated on the memorial at Thiepval. His brother, Henry Alfred Saunders, was killed in action seven weeks later on 7th October 1916. He too is commemorated on the Thiepval War Memorial on the Somme. Both brothers are commemorated on Chailey's war memorial.

Find your army ancestor with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Chailey's men amended

2009-01-29T17:19:00.006+05:30

I've amended the pages for Chailey men Harold Campbell, Frank Chatfield, William Day, Alfred Cottingham and Alfred Cottington.

Harold Campbell lost his arm whilst serving with the Welsh Guards, but came home to Chailey and somewho still managed to milk his cow.

Frank Chatfield served with the Middlesex Regiment and the Labour Corps and he's one of the few men for whom I have a photograph.

Alfred Cottingham was a regular soldier with the Coldstream Guards and arrived in France nine days after war was declared. He later served with the Army Cyclist Corps.

Alfred Cottington remains a bit of an enigma. The Cottington and Cottingham families though, were certainly related. It's possible that he and Alfred Cottingham are one and the same.

William Day attested in 1916 and then served with the Norfolk Regiment.

Read their stories on Chailey 1914-1918.

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Tingley - Chailey

2009-01-28T13:10:00.004+05:30

I've updated the pages for William George Tingley DCM, Croix de Guerre, his brother Benjamin Tingley (RFA), their cousin William Henry Tingley (latterly Royal Engineers) and another William Henry Tingley who was probably the first William Henry Tingley's father. That's a lot of Tingleys for one morning and I hope I've got it right. Watch this space!

Find your army ancestor with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Edward Manville

2009-01-25T15:35:00.003+05:30

Thanks to correspondence received from Edward Manville's great niece, I have updated his page on my site. Edward was one of fourteen children. Two of his brothers were career soldiers and one of these, Henry Manville, died of wounds in 1914.

Fresh images - home page and Chailey's men

2009-01-24T09:50:00.006+05:30

I've uploaded fresh images on some of the main landing pages of Chailey 1914-1918.

On the Chailey 1914-1918 home page, courtesy of Seaford Museum, is a great Southdowns recruiting poster from 1914. I don't know if anybody has ever researched the effectiveness of different types of recruiting practices during WW1 but this one, I suppose, would probably fall into the scaremongering category. Others would be labelled "guilt" - the "What did you so in the Great War, Daddy" type posters; then you'd have those appealing to the patriotic spirit; blackmail in the form of white feathers or lion and unicorn buttons dropped into pockets; many, many inducements which, all combined, saw that Kitchener well exceeded his call for a hundred thousand men. A number of Chailey's men served with Southdowns battalions. I wonder if any of them joined up as a result of the Chichester poster (reproduced here).

On a lighter note, I've also added some comic images to the pages for Chailey's men. Here they are:

Chailey's Men A-D
Chailey's Men E-L
Chailey's Men M-R
Chailey's Men S-Y

Find Southdowns army service numbers and army service records on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Alfred Braysher

2009-01-23T12:25:00.002+05:30

I've updated Alfred Braysher's page on the Chailey 1914-1918 website with some additional information gleaned from his medal index card; not a lot but it looks as though he attested under the Derby Scheme.

I think this is the same man who appears on the 1891 census as a two year old pauper in Lewes workhouse and whose surname is also spelt in various documents as Brayzer.

Richard Snelling - Royal Fusiliers regular

2009-01-22T11:54:00.002+05:30

I've updated Richard Snelling's page on the Chailey 1914-1918 website. Richard was born in Reigate but was living in Chailey when Britain declared war on Germany in 1914. He enlisted as a regular soldier with the Royal Fusiliers and served throughout the First World War, latterly moving with the regiment to India and Iraq.

Richard's service record does not appear to have survived, but his medal index card carries a good deal of information and there would doubtless be additional information to be gleaned from the medal rolls.

Harold Parkinson - Bronchial Billy

2009-01-21T11:19:00.004+05:30

I've updated the page for Harold Parkinson who was another patient at Beechlands. He almost certainly appears in a photo (above) that is pasted next to his entry but as there is no indication of where he is in that photograph, I am unable to put a face to the name.

Harold was a Londoner and served with the Post Office Rifles (8th London Regiment). Read more about the 8th Londons and the army service numbers issued to them, on my army service numbers blog.

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George Thomas Bourne Grounds

2009-01-20T10:53:00.003+05:30

Chailey man, George Thomas Bourne Grounds and his sisters Marina Edith Bourne Grounds and Unis Reta Bourne Grounds, all did their bit for King and Country during the First World War. Marina and Unis nursed at the local Chailey VAD detachment while George, a long-serving Territorial (and pre 1908 volunteer) served with the East Kent Mounted Yeomanry and later, the 10th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He never went overseas but nevertheless he still "did his bit".

George's service record survives in the WO 363 series at the National Archives and I've now fully written up his service history.

View George Grounds's service record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Charles Sabourin - updated

2009-01-19T10:44:00.006+05:30

Charles Sabourin is one of those rarities - as I discovered late on Friday - who has surviving papers in both the WO 363 and WO 364 series at the National Archives. I already had copies of his badly burned and water damaged papers from the WO 363 series but was surprised to see that I'd missed pension records in the WO 364 series.

Charles, a serving militia man with the 3rd East Surreys, joined the Regular East Surrey Regiment in November 1900, saw service in the Boer War, spent five years in India and was then recalled as a reservist when the First World War was declared. Severely wounded on 23rd August 1914 - the first real day of fighting involving British troops - he was captured by the Germans, had his right leg amputated as a result of a shrapnel wound, and was repatriated as a Prisoner of War in February 1915. He then spent many months at Hickwells and, I think, Beechland House. As his pension records reveal, Charles continued to receive an army pension certainly up until 1952, by which time he would have been seventy years old.

View Charles Sabourin's pension record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Charles's WW1 service with the East Surrey Regiment was brief to say the least. The two-volume title below, covers the history of the regiment from 1914 through to 1919, a period which saw the regiment sustain 6,750 casualties and win eight VCs.

In August 1914 the East Surreys comprised two Regular (1st and 2nd), one Reserve (3rd), one Extra Reserve (4th) and two Territorial battalions (5th and 6th); the Regimental Depot was at Kingston-on-Thames. As the war went on further battalions were added: eight so-called ‘Service’ battalions (7th to 14th) in Kitchener’s New Armies and a second and a third line battalion for each of the Territorial battalions for a total of eighteen battalions of which only nine saw active service overseas, and it is their war record which is the subject of this history.

George Seaney Hicks

2009-01-18T10:14:00.006+05:30

I've updated the page for George Seaney Hicks who was a patient at Hickwells and Beechland House. Thankfully, 47 pages of his service record survive in the WO 363 series at the National Archives and so I have a far fuller picture of him and his war service. Remarkably, having attested with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry, he ended up serving in at least five battalions of The Bedfordshire Regiment, went overseas three times, was wounded twice and gassed once. He also found time to get married exactly one year before the war ended. All this and a stay in Nurse Oliver's company as well. That's him sitting far left, his hand resting on his leg. The photograph was taken in June or July 1916 whilst George was at Beechlands.

Read George Hicks's service record on-line with a FREE 14 day trial to Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

When did Chailey's patients enlist?

2009-01-16T11:51:00.005+05:30

Using information from my army service numbers database, I've been able to update the records for more patients. It's a laborious process but a necessary one. I have updated enlistment/joining date information for Joseph French, John Gale, John Griffiths, Charles Harrald and William Haydon.

The photo above shows convalescent soldiers at Beechlands, circa June 1916.

For more information on British army service numbers and the dates on which these were issued to British soldiers, check my Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 blog.

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More patient updates

2009-01-15T10:41:00.004+05:30

I've updated the records for William H Baddock (addition of first name), Thomas George Clarke (correction of regiment), James Cowley (home address noted on medal index card), John Dicks (information concerning the Essex regiment) and Martin Donnelly (correction of battalion). All of these men were patients at Hickwells and Beechland House. Further updates will follow in due course.

Find your ancestor's WW1 army service number or service record with a FREE 14 day trial of Ancestry.co.uk - Click here!

Soldier patients updated

2009-01-14T16:49:00.006+05:30

I've updated the pages for Ernest Whitcomb, William Thomas Wallace, Robert Vinton and Joseph Spruce. All four men were patients at Hickwells or Beechlands and all except Robert Vinton were career soldiers who had enlisted before the First World War broke out. Robert Vinton attested under the Derby Scheme and may well have been in a category which exempted him form being immediately called upon. Certainly his number indicates that he probably didn't joined the West Yorkshire Regiment until 1917. Nevertheless he was still with them long enough to be wounded and to be discharged as a result of these wounds.

The 1911 Census

2009-01-13T15:12:00.004+05:30

The 1911 census for England - the majority of it at least - has today been published on line. Most of the men and women mentioned on my Chailey 1914-1918 site will be on the 1911 census somewhere but it's going to take me a month of Sundays to update all the pages - and it's time (and a subscription to find-my-past) that I don't currently have. If anybody can add any 1911 census details for any of the individuals on the site, I'll be pleased to update the relevant pages.

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Andrew Geddes

2008-11-27T12:47:00.002+05:30

I'm delighted to have been sent a photo of, and additional information about, S/7793 Private Andrew Geddes of the 10th Gordon Highlanders. Private Geddes, a native of Auchencairn in Scotland was wounded at Loos in 1915, wounded on the Somme in 1916 and wounded for a third and final time at Armentieres in 1918. He was then discharged from the army in 1918.

After being wounded in 1916, Private Geddes found himself under the care of Sussex 54 VAD at Beechlands in Newick which is how he appears on my website.

I am grateful to Stuart Wilson for contacting me with the additional information on Andrew Geddes which I have now included on his page. Being able to finally put a face to his name is a wonderful added bonus.

Andrew Geddes also appears on Stuart's Sons of Galloway website in the Auchencairn nominal roll.

Albert Leggett

2008-11-20T10:49:00.001+05:30

Albert Leggett's service record survives as a burnt document in the WO 363 series at the National Archives. Ancestry has just made service records I-N available on-line and so, twenty odd years after I first transcribed Albert's entry in Nurse Oliver's album, I have been able to find out more about him. I've now written up my notes and updated Albert's page on the website.

Albert was not a resident of Chailey but a wound on a battlefield in France would ensure that he would soon be acquainted with the parish. He enlisted with the Northamptonshire Regiment at Norwich in April 1915. By the end of July that year he was in France and, posted to the regular 1st Battalion, would fight through Loos and the Battle of the Somme until severely wounded at Pozieres in August 1916. He was in hospital in France for just under a month and then, returning to England in September 1916, would spend at least another ten weeks in hospitals in England; first to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital at Brighton and then to Beechlands (or Beechland House) in Newick. Later transferred to the 2/5th Scottish Rifles and then the RAMC, Albert would spend the rest of the war in England. The leave that he was granted from hospital in December 1916 was beneficial to Albert and his wife. In September 1917 their second child was born.

Albert was discharged from the army in March 1919 and two months later, a grateful country, acknowledging that his wound amounted to a 20 per cent degree of disablement, awarded him a weekly pension of five shillings and sixpence, to be reviewed twelve months later. Subsequent Board papers do not survive but it seems likely, given the many other soldiers' papers I have seen, that his award was reduced.

Remembering

2008-11-09T16:11:00.003+05:30

On this Remembrance Sunday, almost ninety years since the guns on the Western Front fell silent, I remember Chailey's First World War dead.

I remember those with connections to Chailey Parish :

Alfred Albert Agate; died of sickness on 19th November 1918
Henry William Beard; killed in action on 19th September 1918
Alfred Bird; killed in action on 11th April 1917
William James Brazier; killed in action on 23rd March 1918
Charles Bristow; killed in action on 3rd September 1917
Charles Bristow; killed in action on 27th September 1917
Sidney George Augustus Bristow; drowned at sea on 31st May 1916
Henry Alfred Brooks; killed in action on 15th June 1918
Charles Buckwell; killed in action on 11th July 1917
Thomas Chatfield; killed in action on 25th August 1918
George Cheeseman; killed in action on 28th June 1915
John Henry Cornford; died on 19th November 1920
William Trayton Cornford; killed in action on 18th November 1916
Frederick Samuel Cottingham; killed in action on 1st July 1916
Richard John Deane; accidentally killed on 18th July 1917
Frederick John Drummond; killed in action on 3rd November 1914
John Ellis; killed in action on 10th August 1917
George Masters Emery; died of wounds on 15th December 1916
John Ford; killed in action on 3rd May 1917
Harry Gates; killed in action on 19th February 1917
Richard William Gibson; killed in action on 6th September 1916
Frederick Heasman; killed in action on 26th September 1917
Owen Hobden; died of sickness on 13th November 1918
Charles Hodges; died 8th November 1918
Thomas Homewood; killed in action on 30th June 1916
Gerald Sclater Ingram; killed in action on 21st October 1914
Claud Foord Ireland; killed in action on 12th October 1917
Robert Charles Jessop; killed in action on 23rd April 1918
Cecil Langridge; drowned at sea on 31st May 1916
William Alfred Lansdowne; killed in action on 26th February 1916
Charles Lee; killed in action on 2nd June 1917
Sigurd Harold Macculloch; died of wounds on 20th December 1915
Joseph Charles Miller; died of wounds on 29th September 1917
John Henry Oliver; died of wounds on 25th September 1915
Albert Edward Padgham; died of wounds on 24th August 1916
George Robert Page; died in India in 1919
Frank Peacock; killed in action on 20th December 1915
Albert Plummer; died of wounds on 2nd July 1916
Alexander Plummer; killed in action on 23rd April 1918
Ernest Plummer; died of wounds on 3rd September 1916
Owen Plummer; killed in action on 5th April 1917
Lionel Henry Yorke Pownall; killed in action on 21st March 1915
Magnus Rainier Robertson MC; killed in action on 22nd August 1918
Richard Roffe; died on 5th February 1917
George Saunders; killed in action on 17th August 1916
Henry Alfred Saunders; killed in action on 7th October 1916
Albert Henry Selby; died of wounds on 12th April 1917
Frederick James Smith; killed in action on 17th April 1917
George Spencer Smith; killed in action on 26th April 1918
Arthur Harry Snelling; died of wounds on 25th August 1918
William Henry Spice; killed in action on 18th July 1917
Frank Stevens; killed in action on 25th October 1918
William Stevens; killed in action on 27th May 1918
Frederick Stevenson; died of sickness on 12th April 1918
Albert Henry Thompsett; killed in action on 3rd April 1918
Arthur Tully; died of wounds on 23rd June 1918
Arthur Turner; killed in action on 27th November 1917
George Turner; died of wounds on 24th August 1916
George Trayton Washer; killed in action on 23rd October 1915
Edward Wells; killed in action on 5th April 1918
Alan Herbert Mainwaring West; accidentally killed on 7th January 1918
Charles Jarrett Willey; killed in action on 26th September 1917
Charles Joseph Wood; killed in action on 31st October 1914
Frederick Albert Jon Wood; died June 1920
Thomas Victor Wood; killed in action on 4th August 1916

I remember those who were nursed at Hickwells or Beechlands and who were subsequently killed in action or died of wounds or sickness

William J Butters died of sickness on 25th January 1920
Stan Collins; killed in action on 18th August 1916
Joseph French; killed in action on 3rd August 1917
Robert Mearns Hobbs; killed in action on 28th November 1917
Ernest Arthur Malins; killed in action on 2nd July 1916
John William Sheridan; killed in action 11th October 1917
Thomas Clement Skurray; killed in action on 28th August 1915
James Sweeney; killed in action on 26th March 1918
John William Thurgood; died of sickness on 6th March 1919
Ernest Whitcomb; died on 10th December 1918

And I remember too, my great uncle who had no Chailey connections but who also laid down his life for his King and Country.

John Frederick Nixon; killed in action on 3rd October 1918

Seventy six men. The equivalent of two and a half First World War infantry platoons; or six village cricket teams (and four umpires). May they rest in peace and may we remember their sacrifice.

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

Pictured above:

The age of innocence - Jessie Nixon, Walter Nixon, John Frederick Nixon (1891-1918), Edgar Nixon

Alfred George Mellish & John Percival Turner

2008-11-08T07:26:00.001+05:30

Earlier this year, on the 92nd anniversary of the opening of the Battle of the Somme, I wrote a piece using extracts from an interview I'd conducted with Horace Ham. Horace was serving with the 16th Middlesex (Public Schools) Battalion and was wounded on 1st July 1916 before he even got out of the trench. The piece of shrapnel that hit him probably saved his life.

Less fortunate were the nearly 20,000 British soldiers who were killed in action that day, a figure that to me, still, is almost incomprehensible. Twenty thousand men. The equivalent of twenty British battalions give or take.

Horace recalled the Mellish brothers, the elder of whom was killed on 1st July, and I was delighted to receive an e-mail this morning from Sheila Jones whose great uncle, John Percival Turner, killed in action the same day, shares a grave with Alfred Mellish in Hawthorn Ridge cemetery. Sheila's son visited the Flanders battlefields earlier this year and took the two photos which are included here.

May John and Alfred rest in peace everlasting. Thank you Sheila for contacting me.