Frederick William Grantham

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

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

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?

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

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 appears to confirm this as he received the British War and Victory Medals only and therefore must have arrived overseas on or after 1st Jannuary 1916.  The medal roll for these medals confirms that he served with the 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.

John Gadd survived the war.

1st July 1916

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

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

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.

On the 13th January 2021, Thomas Pateman's medals, above, with an estimate of between £500 and £600 were sold at auction by Dix Noonan Webb for £2,400.

Alf Pateman - when did he join up?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chailey School - Cricket Team 1934

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.