Gassed in the trenches - 21st March 1918

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

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

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!"

G/1974 Pte Cecil Edward Matthews, 8th Royal Sussex Regt

Chailey Parish Magazine notes in October 1914 that Cecil Matthews is serving his King and Country.  In October 1915 it adds: Matthews, L-Corpl C, 8th Royal Sussex, France.  

In April 1916, the parish magazine notes that Cecil has been invalided and in November 1916 that he has been discharged.  This information is then repeated up to and including March 1917 after which there are no further references to this man.

Surviving papers in WO 364 record that Cecil attested with the Royal Sussex Regiment at Lewes on the 4th September 1914 and was subsequently given the regimental number G/1974. He served overseas between 24th July 1915 and 11th February 1916 and was discharged on 11th September 1916 as no longer physically fit for war service. His entry on the silver war badge roll confirms he was discharged as a result of wounds.

The 1901 census for England and Wales also lists a five year old Cecil E Matthews in Chailey village who is noted as the grandson of the head of the household, Janus C Smith.  The household comprised Janus C Smith (head, married, aged 36, working as a gardener), his wife Mary Ann Smith (aged 53) and three children: William C Smith (aged 21, also working as a gardener), Kate L Smith (aged 16) and Edith B Smith (aged 13).  Frank, aged eight, and born in Charlton, Kent, is noted as a nephew.  The household is completed by Cecil aged five and recorded as a grandson.

 

Again, this may be the same man who served with the 8^th Royal Sussex Regiment and if it is, two other members of the 1901 household – William C Smith and Frank Peacock – also served during the First World War.

Medal index card courtesy of Ancestry.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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Chailey's men amended

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

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!

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Edward Manville

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

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!

230970 Private Alfred R Braysher, 21st Dorset Yeomanry

Chailey Parish Magazine notes a Private A R Braysher serving with the Dorset Yeomanry in England in April 1916.  Nearly two years later, in January 1918, that information is updated to note that Driver A R Braysher is serving with the 21st Dorset Yeomanry. 

This latter information is clearly incorrect.  There was no 21st Dorset Yeomanry but rather a 2/1st which was formed at Sherborne in September 1914.  In October 1915, the 2/1st Dorset Yeomanry was stationed at Lewes which is possibly where A R Braysher got to know of them.  The unit though, never went overseas and was broken up in 1916 to become a cyclist unit. 

A R Braysher served throughout the war and gets a final mention in the August 1919 edition of the Chailey Parish Magazine.  The National Archive lists him as 230970 Private A R Braysher of the 2/1st Dorset Yeomanry. 

An Alfred Braysher is recorded on the 1891 census of England and Wales as a two year old pauper inmate at the Lewes Union workhouse.  His place of birth is recorded as Lewes but there are two other Brayshers listed who were born at Chailey – Sarah Ann Braysher (aged 27, single, working as a char woman) and Edith Braysher (aged six).  

It seems likely that the two children were Sarah’s.  Alfred appears on the 1901 census as the 12 year old step son of 58 year old Alfred Trasly (the surname is difficult to read on the census so this may be an inaccurate spelling).  Alfred is noted as being blind and no occupation is recorded for him.  His wife is Sarah (aged 39), presumably the Sarah Ann of 1891.  Alfred’s surname is spelt Brayzer.  The family was living at 2 Edward Street, Lewes.  There is no mention of Edith who would have been 16 or so and presumably at work elsewhere.

Richard Snelling - Royal Fusiliers regular

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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.

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

Andrew Geddes

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

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

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

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.

Service Records I-N

I see that Ancestry.co.uk has made more of the WW1 service records available on line. To my mind, Ancestry provides an excellent service and I shudder to think how many hours I spent trudging up to the National Archives in London; hours which are now spent tapping out names in the search boxes on Ancestry's website.

What this means for my Chailey site - all being well - is that I'll find more service records for Chailey men, and when I do, I'll update their pages on the website. Watch this space.

My great uncle's service record is also now easily accessible. John Frederick Nixon (Jack, to his family) was my grandfather's elder brother and was killed in action in October 1918. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois memorial in France.

Alan Herbert Mainwaring West

My thanks are due yet agin to Ian Seccombe of Chailey who recently sent me a photograph of a memorial to Alan Herbert Mainwaring West which is located in St Martin's Chapel, Chailey Heritage. Blogger seems to be playing up at the moment and I'm unable to post the image here. However, I have uploaded it on the website.

Arthur SIDNEY Weaving

I'm delighted to have been contacted by the great nephew of Arthur Sidney Weaving (known as Sid) who was unfortunate enough to be wounded and gassed twice - once in 1917 and then again in 1918. Sid was not from Chailey but he was sent to Beechlands to recuperate after his second wound. His great nephew has sent me a photograph of Sid and his wife taken some time after the war.

Chailey Heritage 2008

Here, courtesy of Ian Seccombe of Chailey, is a recent shot of Chailey Heritage. Comparing it with the photo that I posted here of the building in 1908, the passage of years has, to outward appearances at least, been kind.

Fasthosts - web hosting

This is a shameless commerical plug for Fasthosts, the company that has hosted my Chailey website for the past three years. Having no technical abilities, I also use the company's Sitebuilder package. It has it's limitations but it does the job and so I'm happy to plug Fasthosts here.

Thomas Victor Wood

I am reproducing here, a letter from Wallace Wood - father of Thomas Victor Wood - which he wrote to the War Office after his son's death. The letter is also on Thomas's page on my website but I think it's worthy of a second airing here.

When we think of the First World War, we often recall images of grinning reservists or Kitchener volunteers in the early days and weeks of August 1914. As the war progressed however, the flow of recruits dried up, leading to the introduction of the Derby Scheme in 1915 and then the final recourse, conscription, in 1916.

Wallace Woods's letter is interesting from two angles. First because he draws attention to local Chailey people who quite clearly were doing everything they possibly could to avoid joining up, and second because we see here a rare example of anger and frustration at his son's death.

Letter from Wallace Wood to The War Office

6th May 1917

As I have never heard whether my son (the late 2nd Lieut T Victor Wood, 7th Royal Sussex Regt) body has ever been recovered I am writing for further particulars. I received a letter from Captain Osbourne [sic] stating that he was shot on August 4th last in taking a German trench but as the enemy counter attacked so strongly they were unable to recover the body. We wrote asking where the body was left but have received no reply. As we never knew where he was when alive, I think we have a right to know where he was killed. I regret to have to make a protest here in the way he was sent out to France and hurried up to the trenches at once. We were told that every man was wanted but we find that was not so. After perhaps, all the willing ones were gone there seems about two thirds of the unwilling ones get exemptions which is very unfair and unjust. I think every man ought to do his duty. My son could of do farm work as others and good milker. I know we want more men and more men on the farms but I do not think it fair to keep back about 90 per cent of farmers single sons as it seems to be the case about here, at the cost of other peoples sons.

We have several older men about here been on farms nearly all their life have had to leave in order to keep young strong single ones back and the older doing gardening etc. One of my neighbours has a single son who was a Baker when he registered [but] has changed his occupation twice since to avoid his duty. In one case he had to leave his place as there were two of military age on about 6 acres and 3 cows ----- join the army. Instead he gets on another farm. We have within ¾ of a mile, several farmers I contract for got two single sons at home and one I am told has three. Is this fair? Why was all leave stopped for those that had been in danger nearly all the time? Why was not enough fresh men sent out for the Somme advance? My son’s leave was about two months over due when he might have been home with Hundreds of others to see their Friends.

Thomas, killed in action on 4th August 1916, has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial on The Somme. He is mentioned in the History of the 7th (Service ) Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment (see below).

HISTORY OF THE SEVENTH (SERVICE) BATTALION THE ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT

"The 7th Battalion, R Sussex, was formed at Chichester on 12 August 1914 and allocated to 36th Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division with which it served throughout the war. It landed in France on 1st June 1915 and remained on the Western Front , distinguishing itself in many battles - Loos, Hohenzollern Craters, the Somme, Arras, Cambrai and the final advance. Seventeen Battle Honours were awarded. Total casualties numbered 147 officers and 3,500 other ranks, of whom 57 and 1012 died.

"It is easy to run out of superlatives [Says the Naval & Military Press, which has re-published this work] but this has to be one of the best histories I have come across, with graphic and detailed descriptions of the fighting, supported by clear maps and with photos that include trench scenes. Apart from the well-written narrative there is a wealth of information about the battalion to ensure a permanent record.

"Appendices record the diary of the battalion’s movements from embarkation (30 May 1915) to 16 June 1919 when the last remnants of the battalion left for England and this is followed by a table showing, year by year, the number of days spent in Rest areas, in Billeting areas, and in the Trenches from 1 June 1915 to 11 November 1918. Forty-two percent of the battalion’s service on the Western Front was spent in the trenches. There is a table summarising total casualties each year and another giving casualties in main engagements. There is the Roll of Honour of officers and of other ranks with dates of death, and there is the list of individual honours and awards headed by a summary. We have the nominal roll of officers, WOs and senior NCOs who embarked with the battalion in May 1915, and finally there is the list of officers who served with the battalion with their service records. There is also a 25-page index."

Site update

I've updated the Chailey website by adding some more Ancestry links to the bottom of each page, and removing some of the borders elsewhere. I've also revised the links page, taking out a few broken links and updating others. It's all pretty mundane stuff really but I'll continue tinkering with the site over the next few days.

Chailey Heritage

It's a little off tangent but Heritage boys did serve their King and Country during WW1 and for that reason alone, I'm happy to include this 1908 photo of Chailey Heritage. Note the original title - Guild of the Poor Brave Things.

William Hugh Blanchard

Here's some more conjecture regarding Chailey men and army service numbers and enlistment dates.

I have assumed from previous research, that the W Blanchard mentioned in Chailey Parish Magazine, is William Hugh Blanchard. The National Archives holds a medal index card for this man giving his number as G/24460 with the Royal Sussex Regiment. Chailey Parish Magazine states that W Blanchard was first with a Training Reserve Battalion in April 1917, and later with the Royal Sussex Regiment (first the Reserve Battalion and later the 9th).

The number G/24460 would have been issued to a Royal Sussex Regiment soldier probably in mid to late November 1917 and so this certainly ties in with the information I already had.

Frances Blencowe slideshows

Flushed with how good the Picasa slideshows look, I've added a couple for Frances Blencowe comprising photos when she was nursing at Netley Military Hospital in 1914 and then later, in 1917, at Brook House (now Chailey Place) in Chailey. I'll be adding more slideshows shortly.

Sick and wounded slideshow

I have just added a slideshow to the page for sick and wounded soldiers which shows soldiers recuperating at Hickwells in Chailey and Beechlands in Newick. Most of the pictures date to 1915 at Hickwells and I have tried to put the photos up in chronological order. With the exception of Charles Sabourin who has his own slideshow, I have included captions for those men whom I have identified.

Henry William Beard - enlistment date

Henry William Beard, born in 1879 was almost certainly conscripted into the army in 1917. He was killed whilst serving with the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment, although his army service number, prefixed with a G/ indicates that he was not a regular soldier.

Chailey parish magazine first notes him as serving with the Royal Sussex Regiment in June 1917, but his army number - G/21011 - indicates that he probably joined up in late January or February 1917.

Henry was killed in action on 19th September 1918 and is commemorated on the same memorial as my own great uncle, John Frederick Nixon: the Vis-en-Artois memorial in France.

W Brown - 9th Middlesex

I'll end my week's blogging on Chailey during the First World War with another convalescent patient and another couple of assumptions based on my army service numbers database.

I know very little about Private W Brown. This is what he wrote in Nurse Oliver's album:

Pte W. Brown
1218 No 2 Coy
9th Middlesex Regt

The 9th Middlesex was a Territorial Force battalion headquartered at Willesden Green, north London. Its rates of recruitment appear to have been a good deal slower than the other Middlesex Regiment Territorial Force battalions and by 11th August 1914, with the war a week old, it was only numbering at 1597. Private Brown though, had enlisted before the war began. His number places him as having joined up in late January or early February 1914.

23331 Pte William H Baddock, 3rd Grenadier Guards

Private William H Baddock of the 3rd Grenadier Guards was a convalescent patient at Chailey in early 1916. Wounded in the head by a rifle grenade on Christmas Eve 1915, he arrived back in England four days later, was operated on in Brighton and then despatched to Hickwells in Chailey. He is the most prolific entrant in Nurse Oliver's autograph book and thanks to this, as well as mentions in local newspapers - we are able to build up a reasonably comprehensive picture of his stay at Chailey. (Having said that, I still do not know what his middle name is or what happened to him after he recovered from his wounds).

Having consulted my army service numbers database for the Grenadier Guards I can also now add that Private Baddock enlisted in March 1915, sometime between March 4th and March 10th. This means that he would have only had around seven months' training before he was sent to France as part of a draft for the Grenadier Guards. Three months later he was back in England.

John Thomson Allan - Chailey convalescent

Working from my army service numbers database I can fill in some more detail about John Allan. It's conjecture of course, but the logic is good.

We know from the autograph entry in Nurse Oliver's album that he was in Chailey on 23rd October 1915. He drew the Gordon Highlanders' cap badge and wrote underneath it:

J T Allan
4th Gordon Hrs

Wounded at Houdge
25th Sept 1915

The National Archives comes up with one match and this is 3246 Private John Thomson Allan. Looking at my army service numbers database I see that this 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). John Allan's number falls almost smack bang in the middle of these two numbers so it's reasonable to assume that he joined up at this time. Furthermore, the majority of enlistments into the 4th Gordon Highlanders at this time were in the reserve battalion, the 2/4th. So I'm guessing that John Allan was posted to the 2/4th and then subsequently to the 1/4th where he was later wounded at Loos. Thankfully, in terms of trying to understand army service numbers during the First World War, Territorial Force soldiers enlisting in second and third line battalions (eg 2/4th. 3/4th etc) were given numbers from the same series used by the 1/4th.

Charles Dudman

I've updated Charles Dudman's page as a result of correspondence received from Bryan Allen. My thanks to Bryan for contacting me.

Albert Padgham

David Gordon has sent me a photo which appears to show Albert Padgham (seated) and another unidentified Royal Sussex Regiment man standing behind him. David wondered whether the other man was Albert's younger brother William Padgham, but the problem here - which David recognises - is that according to the information we have, William never served in the Royal Sussex Regiment.

But let's go back to the photo. Comparing the seated man with a confirmed photo of Albert Padgham, it looks to be the same man. I had mentioned in Albert's write up that "his army number, with the prefix "L", suggests that he was a regular soldier and he may have enlisted shortly before or around August 1914." Having done a considerable amount of work on army service numbers, regimental numbering and enlistment dates since I wrote that, I'm going to narrow that down further.

The L/ prefix certainly suggests a regular enlistment and a date of August 1914 - almost certainly between the 7th and the 24th of that month. Had Albert enlisted with a South Down battalion (11th, 12th or 13th Royal Sussex) his number prefix would have been SD/. If he'd gone into another service battalion, the prefix would have been G/. So we can say with reasonable assurance that Albert, who would have only been 17 or eighteen when this photo was taken, decided on a career with his county regiment and probably enlisted for seven years with the Colours and five years on the Reserve.

But what of the other man? It could be William but if it is him he would have only been about 15. So two scenarios present themselves:

 

a) It is William. He enlisted with the Royal Sussex Regiment but was hoiked out of the army on account of having made a mis-statement of age. Later, in late 1916 (still apparently under age), he would enlist in the Royal Artillery.

b) It is not William but a friend of Albert's.

In any event, what a lovely photo of Albert Padgham and such a shame that only two years later, at the age of 19, he would be lying dead on French battlefield. The inscription on his headstone in Puchevillers British Cemetery reads:

SHORT AND SUDDEN

WAS THE CALL

OF ONE

SO DEARLY LOVED BY ALL

My thanks to David Gordon, grandson of another Chailey veteran, Len Gordon, for again sending me such a great photograph from his family's collection.

Thomas Pateman MM - enlistment date

I'm going to apply some more logic to Thomas Pateman's army service, based on my army service numbers database. Although I will be launching the armyservicenumbers.com website with infantry regiment service numbers, I do have considerable data for other branches of the British Army.

On Thomas Pateman's page I state, "I could not find Thomas on the 1901 census and it is quite possible that by this stage he had already joined the army and was serving overseas, possibly in South Africa." We know that Thomas was serving as an RSM with the 4th (Queen's Own) Hussars by October 1915 and that he was a pre-war regular soldier. His medal index card gives two numbers and it is the first, four digit number - 4582, which is important here.

Prior to 1907, the cavalry numbered individually by regiments. This changed in 1907 and they numbered by corps - so one series of numbers for the household cavalry, one for the dragoons, one for the hussars and one for the lancers.

Assuming that Thomas joined the 4th Hussars pre 1907, his number indicates an enlistment date of late 1899 or early 1900. If he enlisted after 1907, this number would have been issued to a man joining up with the Corps of Hussars around August 1909.

It is difficult to say with certainty when Thomas enlisted in the British Army, but given that he was already an RSM by 1915, my money would be on an enlistment in 1899/1900 and that he probably extended his army service and therefore was still serving with the 4th Hussars (rather than on the Reserve) when war was declared in August 1914.

William Mainwood - when did he enlist?

Chailey Parish magazine first mentions William Mainwood in March 1916, noting that he has attested for service. By October that year, it records that he is serving with the 9th Royal Berkshire Regiment in England. The medal index card that I mention on his page gives the number 27043 and I see from the data that I hold that that number would have been issued to a Berkshire Regiment man in May 1916. That would seem to fit with the information we know for fact: attests in March 1916, is called up shortly afterwards and goes to the Royal Berkshire depot in May 1916 where he gets his number, posted shortly afterwards to the 9th Battalion.

My data on the Ox and Bucks numbering sequences is a little thin but the second number that I mention for William Mainwood - 33201 - would not have been issued until after March 1917.

Chailey's decorated veterans

A number of Chailey men received gallantry awards during the First World War and their stories are all told on the Chailey website. Here they are, in alphabetical order, and my apologies in advance if I have omitted anybody:

Reverend Arthur Hamilton Boyd OBE, MC, TD
23330 Private Tom Cornford MM
374056 Bombardier John William Harmer MM
Lieutenant Albert Heasman MM
2145 L/Cpl Gilbert Arthur Heasman MM
49845 Corporal Shoeing-Smith Arthur Langridge MSM
Lt Sigurd Harold Macculloch, Mentioned in Dispatches
415211 RSM Thomas Pateman MM, Mentioned in Dispatches
Captain Magnus Rainier Robertson MC
G/1657 Sergeant Major Ernest Still MM
61832 Corporal William Henry Tingley DCM, Croix de Guerre
Major William Tidswell Towers-Clark MC
G/1671 Sergeant Frederick William Yeomans DCM

In addition, 12517 Cpl Fredrick John Denton who was a patient at Beechland House Hospital in 1916, had already been Mentioned in Dispatches twice and was presented with the Military Medal whilst he was recuperating at Beechlands.

Percy Durrant

Thanks to a message on the Chailey 1914-1918 guestbook, I am able to correct the assumptions I had made about who P Durrant was. I had assumed that he was Peter Durrant who was born in Buxted. The message puts me straight:

"My Grandfather John Hounsom Durrant had the butchers business at Chailey Green until he retired in 1946. The P Durrant you refer to is Percy Hounsom Durrant, who was born in Guildford in 1900, while his father was serving in the Boer War, the family moved to Chailey in ca 1903. Percy was a cadet in the RAF at that time."

My thanks to R J Durrant for contacting me. I'll be updating Percy's page later today.

Army Service Numbers 1881-1918

I've set up another blog on the topic of army service numbers. I've always been surprised that so many people seem, if not ready to dismiss these vital pieces of information, at least a little reticent at times, to dig down a little.

Eighteen months ago I decided to try and build upon the fledgling database of army numbers that I'd started to build when I commenced work on the Chailey site. My one criterion was that the information should come from original sources, and that meant going back to original attestation papers.

What's come out of that is a database of some thirty or forty thousand records I should think (I haven't had the time to count up exactly how many records there are), and a unique reference resource which can help a researcher narrow down a likely joining date for a particular soldier. I use the word "joining" rather than "enlisting" or "enlistment" deliberately. A man could enlist in one regiment and then transfer to another. If he transferred, he would be given a different number and he might also be given a different number if he was posted from one battalion in a regiment, to another in the same regiment.

The Army Service Numbers blog is really the companion to a far bigger work which is http://www.armyservicenumbers.com/ The site isn't up and running yet but it will be soon and when it is, visitors will be able to type in their ancestor's number and come up with a likely time-frame for his "joining". The first release will concentrate on infantry regiments between the years 1881 and 1918. Future releases will target other branches of the British Army within the same time frame.

There are exceptions (there are always exceptions in the British Army). At present, the following are beyond the scope of the Army Service Numbers project:

• The Militia and Volunteers (pre 1908)
• The Army Service Corps
• The Labour Corps
• The re-numbered Territorial Force (ie TF numbering from March 1917 onwards)

Nonetheless, even with these exceptions - and also understanding that in some cases there will be a number of caveats - I still believe that the database will offer the best resource on the web for identifying soldiers' joining dates from their numbers. In the meantime though, the army service numbers blog will provide tasters and pointers and I'll be more than happy to answer questions and queries as time permits.

The faces of 14-18

I quite like this little device. Of course, had the slideshow gadget been working properly, I could have put these photos in the right-hand margin. It's not, so I've copied the code into this particular blog entry.



As far as I know, none of these men pictured here have Chailey connections but it's a safe bet to assume that the majority of them served in some capacity during WW1. I have though, started to add slideshows to some of the main pages on the Chailey site, so visitors will be able to see the faces of some of those who served their King and Country. I have quite a large photographic archive and I'll do my best to upload some of this over the coming weeks.

As far as this mini slideshow from another of my collections is concerned, the fresh-faced boy wearing the Lincolnshire Regiment cap badge and displaying his Imperial Service badge on his right breast pocket is Private Donald Banks. He was 16 years old when this photograph was taken and he was badly wounded as a 16 year old, by Lake Zillebeke near Ypres in 1915. He was sent back to England, discharged from the army and joined the British Red Cross where he worked at a hospital in Lincolnshire. Later, when he was old enough, he re-joined the Lincolnshire Regiment and was back in France in time to take part in the March to Victory. I am pleased to say that he lived to a great age and was as bright as a button and with vivid memories when I interviewed him in Essex in the 1980s.

More Jellicoe

Thanks to information received from New Zealand - via The Times newspaper - I've updated the pages for Thomas Jellicoe and his sons Christopher Jellicoe and Basil Jellicoe. My thanks to Robert Lowe for contacting me.

The Wall

This is somewhat off-topic but I thought that as this blog is, in many respects, a remembrance initiative, it would be appropriate to break away from Chailey for a minute and post details of another remembrance site that I stumbled upon today.

On the two occasions that I've been to the USA I made a point of visiting Washington DC to see the Vietnam Veterans' memorial there. I found the experience incredibly moving, so much that on the second occasion I was there I couldn't bring myself to stand and take photos because it felt as though I was intruding.

So I was delighted to find this Footnote website which takes visitors to The Washington Wall and which enables them to search for an individual name and find out more about the soldier who is commemorated there. Who knows, in the future, we may find other commemoration sites, First World War sites included, which enable visitors to have the same experience.

Royal visit 1932

Another of my Chailey contacts has sent me further information about the Royal visit to Chailey in 1932 by the Prince of Wales. Graham Johnson writes:

The visit took place on 19th July 1932 and was primarily to open the new buildings (now converted into private dwellings) at what became known as St. Georges. At the time, the President of Chailey Branch was Mr R. C. Blencowe and the Chairman was Captain C. H. Cotesworth. They approached Mrs Kimmins (head of the Chailey Craft Schools) and offered the services of the Legion as a guard of honour. This was agreed and in order to present a goodly number, Newick Branch was asked to take part as well. It was hoped 40 or so members from both branches would take part together with representatives from the County Committee plus the County Standard . They were allocated a space 20 yards by 3 yards just within the gates and formed up at 3-00pm with all men wearing their medals and British Legion badges.

So I'm guessing that the tall man speaking to HRH is Charles Cotesworth as Robert Blencowe would have been 74 at the time and the man in the photograph is clearly younger than that.

Reverend Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe

Ian Seccombe of Chailey has sent me photographs of the last resting place of the Reverend Jellicoe, Rector of Chailey for thirty years (1894 - 1924) and the man who, did he but know it, has probably contributed more to the Chailey 1914-1918 website than anybody else. It was thanks to his diligence in recording the names of Chailey parishioners who served their King and Country during the First World War that enabled me to tell their stories on the website.

As Ian points out, the style of Reverend Jellicoe's memorial is almost identical to that of his son's - The Reverend Basil Jellicoe - who pre-deceased him and who is also buried in St Peter's churchyard. A detail of the inscription on Thomas Jellicoe's memorial is shown on his page on the Chailey 1914-1918 website..

Chailey veterans 1932

Here's a close up of the main body of men from the 1932 photograph. Click on the image for an enlargement of it. My thanks to Tom Cornford's son Stan for sending this to me.

Chailey Mill 1932

Here's an interesting photo taken in front of Chailey Mill in 1932. That's the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII wearing the straw boater, but who is the man he's speaking to, and who are the other veterans?

Tom Cornford MM, his head slightly bowed, is the veteran standing in the front row directly under the flag of St George (and indicated by the arrow), but who are the other men? The mill had been damaged in a storm either the previous year or shortly before that, hence the reason it has no sails.

The age of innocence

Another view looking up what is now the A275 towards North Chailey. Undated as is often the case but I'm guessing late 1890s or early 1900s. I don't have a very high resolution image here so I'm afraid this is the best I can do.

War memorial and St Peter's church

Another undated photograph of Chailey Green, and an interesting angle showing the church and war memorial. The house in between the two, no longer exists.

Chailey village green

Here's another view of Chailey village green, looking up what is now the A275 towards North Chailey.

Chailey Green 1920s

Here's Chailey Green with the war memorial. You can read more about Chailey's war memorial and remembrance on the main site.

Chailey Green pre October 1920

I've been sent a couple of old photos of Chailey - and I have others which I'll also post in due course.

This first one shows Chailey Green before the war memorial was unveiled in October 1920. I'm assuming that this photograph and others that I'll post are out of copyright and that they're OK to post on a non-commercial, remembrance blog. If they're not, I'm sure somebody will let me know.

Ninety two years on

Horace Ham was in the line opposite Hawthorn Redoubt when it was blown up at 7.20am on 1st July 1916. He wasn't a Chailey man but he was there on the Somme on the day that the British Army suffered its heaviest casualties in a single day. Today, it's headline news when a soldier is killed in Afghanistan. On 1st July 1916, the British Army sustained nearly 60,000 casualties, almost a third of these killed and most of those killed in the first hour of the British attack. The failure of that attack and the reasons behind it have been written about ever since. But today, 92 years on, I'll leave the talking to Horace Ham.

Horace was 93 years old when I interviewed him at The Royal Star and Garter home in Richmond-upon-Thames in 1988. Before the war he was a footman, but on July 1st 1916 he was a private soldier, one of Kitchener's men waiting in a trench, ready to go over the top with the 16th (Public Schools) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.

"The 1st July 1916 was a proper mess up. You see we were told that all the barbed wire would be cut and all the Germans would be dead, all that sort of thing. Instead of that, the Germans were very clever. They'd built marvellous dug-outs which they built properly. They were like houses underground, beds and everything in there. The Germans said they were going to stay put and when our people started shelling, they went down their dug-outs. As soon as they stopped and we advanced, they came up, put their machine guns up and mowed our fellas down like ninepins.

"I was lucky mind. I saw Hawthorn Ridge go up and I got hit in the hip with a bit of shrapnel just as we started. I didn't actually get over the trench, I was lucky. All my pals got killed or wounded, gone. There was five of us sort of joined up together. There was myself, a fella named Walker, a fella named Richardson and two brothers named Mellish - they came from Wembley. We sort of palled up and all went around together in the army. Well on the 1st July, I got wounded, Richardson got wounded, young Mellish got through it and Jerry Walker and the eldest Mellish we never heard of, they got killed.

"I should have been in the first wave but I was lucky, I tell you. I was really lucky and I've had my fingers crossed ever since then. I wasn't the only one. Bags of them got wounded just as it started. I saw some of the fellas that came back when we were being seen to and you've never seen such wounds in your life. I've seen some terrible sights but who hasn't in war?"

PS/1491 Private Alfred George Mellish is buried in Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery Number 1 at Auchonvillers. Jerry Walker must be PS/1609 Private Alfred Walker who was killed on this date (the only Walker killed whilst serving with the 16th Middlesex) and who is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. The 16th Middlesex lost seven officers and 155 men killed on 1st July, others would die of their wounds over the days that followed.

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