Arthur Tully - a young Special Reservist

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

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

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

Arthur Tully RIP

William Mainwood

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

Chailey Heritage 1928

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

Unveiling Chailey's war memorial

These images of the unveiling of Chailey's war memorial all date to the 2nd October 1920.

Thomas Deadman is clearly identifiable in some of the photographs but who are the other participants?

Even before the war was over, work began in Chailey to commemorate the dead of the parish.  A temporary war memorial, paid for parishioners, was unveiled in the summer of 1918.  The teak triptych made of wood from HMS Britannia can still be seen in St Peter’s Church, Chailey and is now situated above a memorial book. The triptych was unveiled on June 4th but a further eleven men from the village would die in action before the year was out.

News reached the village about mid day on the 11th November that the Armistice had been signed and the same evening, “a large and reverend congregation” filled the parish church to give thanks for the victory.  Services of thanksgiving were also held the following Sunday.

In June 1919, The Chailey Parish Magazine reported that at an adjourned public meeting held at The Reading Room, it was unanimously resolved to erect a granite war memorial designed by Mr Cotesworth, on which were to be recorded the names of those connected with the Parish who fell in the war. It was decided by a narrow majority of two votes that the location for the memorial should be opposite the Reading Room. (Photograph below courtesy of Mike Anton).

At peace celebrations held in the village on July 19th 1919 a Special Eucharist and service of thanksgiving was held, 114 soldiers and sailors attending a ‘sumptuous dinner’ in the Parish Room.  Children were presented with medals by Robert Blencowe to commemorate the end of the Great War and each child had his or her medal pinned to shirts and blouses.

The concluding toast paid tribute to the work of the Red Cross and especially mentioned Beechland House which had done such good work with Miss Cotesworth as Commandant.  Frances Blencowe was also singled out for praise.

The following year, on October 2nd 1920, Chailey's war memorial was unveiled.

Forty nine names of servicemen who were killed in action or died as a result of wounds or sickness attributable to the Great War appear on the war memorial on Chailey village green.  According to my research, the names of a further seven men should also appear.  In alphabetical order, they are:

Charles Buckwell (born and lived in Chailey), Charles Hodges (born in Chailey), Robert Charles Jessop (born in Chailey), William Alfred Lansdowne (resident in Chailey), Richard Roffe (resident in Chailey), Edward Wells (resident in Chailey) and Charles Jarrett Willey (born in Chailey).

In addition, Harold Macculloch certainly had connections with the parish (his father John died at home in Chailey in 1915) and his name appears on the wooden triptych inside the church and in the British Legion Roll of Honour but not on the war memorial.

Frederick James Smith and George Spencer Smith are both noted on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Debt of Honour as being the sons of James and Margaret Emma Smith of Yew Tree Cottage, Cornwell's Bank, Chailey, Lewes, Sussex when in fact Colonel’s Bank is in Newick.  Their names appear on the war memorial in Newick along with those of two other brothers also killed during the First World War.

Finally, William Henry Spice is recorded on Soldiers in Died in The Great War as having been born in “Chailey, Kent”.  As I indicate on his page, this is certainly an error and it seems likely that he had no connection with the parish.

A V Martin

A V Martin - Albert Victor Martin

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

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

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

Loos - 25th September 1915

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.

G/16155 John Wilfred Mitchell, 12th Royal Sussex Regiment

Chailey Parish Magazine first notes John Mitchell serving his King and Country in its March 1915 issue. In October 1915 it states, Mitchell, Lance-Corporal J, 2/4th Royal Sussex, England and in November 1916 updates this information to report that he is in France. This latter information is certainly incorrect as the 2/4th Battalion, formed at Horsham in January 1915, remained in England throughout the war until disbanded in November 1917. He probably went overseas as a 2/4th Battalion man and was posted, on arrival there, to the 1/4th Battalion.

John Mitchell appears to have served throughout the war, his name appearing up to and including the final published roll call in July 1919.  His medal index card notes two army numbers for him: 2170 and G/16155.

G/16155 belongs to a block of numbers issued to men who joined the Southdown battalions in France and John Mitchell's entry in the British War and Victory medal roll confirms that he was posted to the 12th battalion. Later on, he was posted again, this time to the 8th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.

He is probably the same John Mitchell who was the fourth eldest child in a family of nine children (eight of them boys). His parents, Charles and Emily Mitchell, were married in 1880 and by the time the 1881 census was taken they were living at 1 Upper Birchland, Newick. Both were aged 22 with Charles (born in Lindfield) working as an agricultural labourer.

Ten years on, by the time the 1891 census was taken, Charles and Emily were living at what looks like Plummers Den Cottage No 1 in Lindfield and had five children: Charles Mitchell (aged nine), Henry J Mitchell (aged eight), Alfred Thomas Mitchell (aged six), John Mitchell (aged three) and Albert Basil Mitchell (aged eleven months).

By the time the 1901 census was taken the family was still living at the same Lindfield address but there were now more brothers – and a sister. New arrivals and their ages in 1901 were: Elsie Mitchell (aged seven), Walter Mitchell (aged five), Wallace Sidney Mitchell (aged four) and Maurice Gilbert Mitchell (aged nine months).

John Mitchell’s brothers Albert, Alfred, Henry, Wallace (Sidney) and Maurice, also served during the First World War. All of them survived. Their distant relatives, the Plummer brothers were less fortunate. Albert, Alexander and Owen Plummer all lost their lives.

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.