On guard !

Another great photo courtesy of Ian Lewis. Three Askam-in-Furness "Terriers" enjoying a bit of relaxation - well out of sight of beady-eyed NCO's, no doubt. The soldier in the middle is, I believe, 1477, Private Thomas Hutchinson.

The photograph dates from the period, mid-August to late-November 1914, when the 4th Battalion was based in the south of England, engaged in guarding the Great Western Railway on the stretch of line between Paddington Station and Maidenhead. This is corroborated by the brewery name on the bottom of the bottle - Nicholsons (of Maidenhead). Brown Ale, most likely! Standards of dress do not seem to have been enforced particularly rigorously; note also the variety of footwear on display, with the man on the left wearing clogs. Definitely not Army-issue!

This period of the Battalion's activities during the Great War is only dealt with very briefly in Wadham and Crossley's history;

"The Battalion had left Ulverston on 11th August 1914 and had travelled by train to Slough. Here they were to spend three months guarding the Great Western Railway and its bridges between Paddington & Maidenhead. Accommodation along the line for both officers and men was at the station waiting rooms, without bedding, furnishings or comforts of any description. Great ingenuity was displayed by the members of several detachments to make their quarters more habitable. The Regimental history records,'The palm must be awarded to the Millom Detachment at Langley Park.’ They had scoured a lineside tip and found every conceivable type of kitchen utensil and erected an up to date kitchen. With the aid of a huge Beecham’s Pills advertising hoarding and some ‘borrowed’ waggon tarpaulines a commodious lean-to shelter was also erected. A tame fox and an Airedale terrier were frequent visitors. During this period a number of country men, not used to fast expresses, were killed and injured. Officers and N.C.O’s had an additional responsibility with discipline, as having young and inexperienced soldiers strung out over a 30 mile stretch in close proximity to London and other places of interest and pleasure had its problems. The Battalion achieved success in its spare moments at Cross Country Running and at football. At one point instructions were received to prepare part of the assembly for Egypt, but this order was countermanded, leaving the body intact. By the end of November a move had been made to Sevenoaks were they were billeted in empty houses at the St. John's end of town. Time here was spent in training and musketry practice. No Christmas leave was granted. The last week in February was spent in Margate prior to a move to Tonbridge on March 2nd 1915."

The best source of information lies in the contemporary local newspapers, which regularly printed letters and sketches illustrating what the local men were doing, official censorship permitting. My impression of this time is that they all considered it to be a great adventure, with few of them having any real appreciation of what was to come.

Wires crossed

Another photograph from Ian Lewis, this time of a beautifully engraved silver cigarette case presented by the Directors of the Furness Railway to one of their employees in recognition of his wartime service in the 9th Battalion.

At first sight it would seem a generous gesture extended towards a valued employee. However, when attempting to identify the individual so-honoured, problems arise.

An "I. Teasdale" didn't serve in the 9th Battalion, or even in The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) for that matter! Neither is there any record of a soldier named Teasdale being awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. There was an Isaac Teasdale who was employed by the Furness Railway but, notwithstanding these discrepancies, it is difficult to appreciate just how he could actually have been presented with a cigarette case inscribed "1914 to 1916" given that he was dead by the latter date, killed in action at Gallipoli in 1915.

Isaac had been a pre-war Regular, serving in the Border Regiment after enlisting sometime in late-1902. He would have done his three years with the "Colours" and then been transferred to the Army Reserve to complete the rest of his twelve years' service. It was during this period that he worked for the Furness Railway, living at Askam-in-Furness. He would still have been on the Reserve - just - when war broke out in 1914 and, after being mobilised, he was sent to France with a reinforcement draft to serve with the 2nd Battalion, Border Regiment.

The winter of 1914/15 was particularly cold, and, exposed to the elements in the trenches, many men suffered from frostbite, Isaac included. Invalided home to allow his damaged feet to recuperate (after losing several toes), he was then posted to the new war theatre at Gallipoli, this time to serve with the 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment. Here he was killed on 21st August, along with around 100 others of his battalion, while taking part in the (ultimately futile) assault on Chocolate Hill in the Anafarta Saghir zone. Whatever heroics he may have performed, he was never decorated for them with the D.C.M., or any other gallantry award for that matter.

In the end the Furness Railway Company managed to get his military details at least partially correct. On their memorial, which stands on the forecourt of Barrow-in-Furness Railway Station, he is commemorated as "Private, 2nd Border Regiment." Just whom they intended to reward back in 1916 will probably always remain a mystery.

A quiet little chap

My father was quite a reserved man and conversation was usually confined to the minimum of detail needed. One day in the late 70's - I can't remember the circumstances - we happened to be visiting the little parish church of Whicham, Cumbria, near where I grew up. Inside was (and, I believe, still is) displayed a copy of the Victoria Cross and accompanying citation awarded to Lance Sergeant Tom Mayson of the 1st/4th Battalion, won by him at Wieltje, near Ypres, on 31st July, 1917.

Being a teenage boy and full of awe about such matters, I was, needless to say, quite taken with this and then he casually remarked, "I've held his V.C." That was it. No further explanation; all subsequent questions discouraged. He died a couple of years later and I never got to ask him any more questions.

Still, I wondered for years about his comment and then, in conversation with some of the older people in the village where I lived, I learned how he had come to know Tom Mayson well enough to be allowed to hold his Victoria Cross.

Tom Fletcher Mayson was 23 when he won his VC. His citation reads;

"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty, when, with the leading wave of the attack his platoon was held up by machine-gun fire from a flank. Without waiting for orders, Lance-Sergeant Mayson at once made for the gun, which he put out of action with bombs, wounding four of the team; the remaining three of the team fled, pursued by Lance-Sergeant Mayson, to a dug-out, into which he followed them, and disposed of them with his bayonet. Later, when clearing up a strong point, this Non Commissioned Officer again tackled a machine-gun single-handed, killing six of the team. Finally, during an enemy counterattack he took charge of an isolated post and successfully held it until ordered to withdraw as his ammunition was exhausted. He displayed throughout the most remarkable valour and initiative"

What the citation doesn't say is that the killing was done by a little man only about 5'5" tall who, apparently, by his own admission, "was terrified and didn't know what had got into him." According to those I spoke to who knew him in later life, he certainly never bragged about his deed, and seemed such a "quiet little chap."

The Second World War found him serving in the local Home Guard, and working at Millom Ironworks as part of the railway gang in the shunting yard. This is where my father knew him from, since, between leaving school and being conscripted into the Army in 1946, he worked in what was the equivalent of the Quality Assurance Department, being responsible for tracking the billets of pig iron produced from the blast furnace, and his job would take him regularly out into the shunting yard to work with the railway gang - and Tom Mayson.

Tom died in 1958 and is buried in Whicham Churchyard. My father died in 1980; I wish I'd persisted with my questions.

Young guns

A rather common refrain about the First World War runs along the lines...."He enlisted under-age." In many cases, this was no doubt true, but often it is only a half-truth, with the passage of time having created misconceptions.

The British Army required that a man be 19 years of age before being sent away to fight, although the age limit was much lower in the Navy. For instance, Jack Cornwell was only 16 when he posthumously won his Victoria Cross at Jutland, and a search among naval crew casualty lists will reveal many more who were just boys.

Leaving aside those who lied about their age (of which there were undoubtedly many), there were equally as many who enlisted at a young age quite legally. If fact, one could enlist at the age of 14 and be retained as a Drummer Boy until such time as old enough to join the senior ranks. The following photo shows two such individuals in the King's Own. It has been suggested that they were Regulars but my feeling is that they were Territorials, and are shown at annual camp. Both of them are probably very new recruits to the regiment, one of them still awaiting issue of hs cap badge.

Such boys and young men were held back from front-line service until they came of (military) age. If you trace out the military career path of someone of whom it is claimed that they had enlisted under-age, then you more often than not find that the Army had followed the rules and retained them on Home Service (or similar) until they were old enough to be posted to an active theatre of war.

However, service at home in the UK was not without its dangers. Drummer George Lovell of the 4th Battalion, who had enlisted in mid-March 1914 at the age of 15, was accidentally shot and killed in 1916 while stationed at Margate, guarding strategic locations on the east coast. He is buried in Birchington (All Saints) Churchyard, also the last resting place of the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rosetti.

Strictly-speaking, George was serving in the 41st Provisional Battalion at the time of his death, the holding unit for men from the 4th Battalion who were unable to serve overseas either by virtue of age or low medical grade, although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record him as 4th Battalion. I shall post more about the short life of George Lovell at a later date.

Still missing......

Territorial service numbers are often very telling about a man's military career. In a future blog I'll explain them more but for now, suffice to say, all Territorial soldiers were renumbered in early-1917, including those who were officially listed as missing in action.

The norm was to record a man as missing in action for a period of twelve months from the date he was last seen and then, if no information concerning him had been subsequently received, he was officially declared to be dead. This process can be seen at work in casualties from 1916, many of whom are listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as having new (1917) service numbers, when, in fact, they had been dead a long time before the new numbers were issued.

Less common are the instances of men who had been missing since 1915 who also got renumbered. At this distance I can only ascribe this to administrative oversight by the County Associations which administered the Territorial records, although it is just possible that faint hopes were still being entertained of the mens' safety, even as much as two years after they had last been seen alive.

A case in point is that of Private Thomas Patrick Blake of the 1st/4th Battalion. Originally from Kilglass in County Sligo, he had worked for the Ordnance Survey in Ireland before moving to Dalton-in-Furness in the 1890's, there to take up employment in the local iron ore mines at Roanhead. He had joined the Territorials before 1908 when they were still the Volunteers and was the company cook for the Dalton-in-Furness detachment.

Although quite old by the time the war started (he was in his early 40's), he volunteered for service abroad and landed in France with the battalion on 3rd May, 1915. Six weeks later he was dead, killed in the abortive assault by the 51st (Highland) Division on the German lines near Festubert on June 15th. However, no-one actually saw him die and so, when the roll was taken following the battle, he was listed as one of the missing - and there were lots of names besides his.

To-day, he is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, along with nearly all of his comrades from the 1st/4th Battalion who died on that day and whose remains almost certainly still lie in the quiet fields to the west of Rue d'Ouvert. However, in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records his service number is given as 200016, a number allocated in 1917, rather than his original service number, 703.

Co-incidentally, 200016 indicates that at the time of the formation of the Territorial Force from the old Volunteers he was 16th in seniority among the enlisted men in the 4th Battalion, an indication of just how long he had been serving.

Disaster on the Kop

There was no doubting the courage of General Sir Redvers Buller. He had, after all, won the Victoria Cross in the Zulu War and had participated in many vicious campaigns during a long and illustrious military career. Sadly, rather like one of the stereotyped Victorian d'Ascoyne family caricatures so admirably played by Alec Guiness in Kind Hearts and Coronets, his abilities as a general left a great deal to be desired.

On the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899 he was sent to South Africa as commander of the Natal Field Force, and it was there that his inadequacies as a military tactician were laid bare. Soundly beaten at Colenso, where he had forbidden the troops under his command to dig trenches lest they spoilt the pleasant appearance of the countryside, further defeats at Magersfontein and Stromberg quickly followed, earning him the dubious sobriquet "Reverse Bullers".

This level of sustained failure could not be tolerated and so "Bobs" Roberts was sent out to replace him as overall commander. However, he remained as second-in-command, still entrusted with the relief of the besieged town of Ladysmith.

Not deterred by his previous failures (and not learning from them either) he decided upon a new plan. He would split his army and cross the Tugela River at two points and there secure a bridgehead from which to attack the Boer defensive line between himself and Ladysmith. Entrusting command of his main force to Sir Charles Warren the Tugela was crossed on January 23rd, with the cumbersome movement of the British being easily visible to the Boer forces. A smaller force, under Major General Neville Lyttleton was despatched east to undertake a secondary diversionary attack at Potgeiter's Drift.

At over 1400 feet Spion Kop was the largest hill in the area and lay right in the centre of the Boer defensive line. It was reasoned that if it could be taken then artillery positioned on it could command and subdue all Boer resistance in the area; the defensive line would be broken and the road to Ladysmith laid open.

Spion Kop.

Warren sent the larger part of his force, under Major General Woodgate, to sieze the hill. The British climbed its slopes on the night of the 23rd in a deep mist and met only slight resistance, the Boers having mounted a picquet of only 15 men to guard it. Somewhat surprised by the ease with which they had claimed the Kop the British dug in, although the rocky terrain was such that only shallow scrapes could be constructed, rather than the deep trenches necessary to offer real protection. Daylight on the 24th brought a rude awakening.

Due to the failure to thoroughly recconnoitre the area or attempt to appreciate its topography fully the British found themselves in charge of the lower part of Spion Kop, surrounded on three sides by Boer positions on higher ground. The outcome of the following battle was tragically inevitable. The Boer artillery on the adjacent Tabanyama plateau soon began to pour shells onto the exposed British troops at the rate of 10 rounds per minute and 300 Burghers of the Pretoria Commando then stormed the hill and fierce hand-to-hand fighting ensued. Despite the Boer successes, and amid rapidly growing casualties, the British troops fought on desperately until a stalemate ensued but eventually, in the extreme heat with water being short and ammunition running low, the decision was made to withdraw from the hill. This too, in hindsight, was a mistake, as the Boers, despairing of ever completely dislodging the British from their positions, had become thoroughly demoralised and retreated as darkness fell. By the following morning the only British left on Spion Kop were the dead and dying.

British dead in a trench on Spion Kop, reportedly men of the King's Own.

The casualties were severe: the British suffered 243 fatalities with another 1200 wounded or taken prisoner. By contrast the Boer forces suffered 335 casualties of whom 68 were killed. The majority of the dead were buried in the trenches they had scraped, the covering of earth and rocks becoming the mass grave visible today. Monuments record the names of the individuals buried there.

The casualty list for the 2nd Battalion The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) was the heaviest of all the units engaged;

Major A. J. J. Ross

Captain M. W. Kirk

Lieutenant A. H. Wade

Lieutenant F. H. Pipe-Wolferstan (attached from The King's Own Scottish Borderers)

Colour Sergeant S. Turner

Sergeant J. McIntosh

Sergeant J. W. Webster

Sergeant W. Harrington

Sergeant G. Morce

Sergeant F. Dickson

Sergeant R. Reid

Sergeant T. E. Livock

Corporal A. Munden

Lance Corporal J. Dawson

Lance Corporal E. Hammond

Lance Corporal F. Alderson

Private W. Ashcroft

Private L. Bamford

Private J. Brogan

Private C. Brown

Private W. Brown

Private R. Bland

Private F. Cartledge

Private W. Carroll

Private A. Cooper

Private J. Collinson

Private J. Dawson

Private H. Dreher

Private T. Doran

Private J. Edge

Private J. Fahey

Private N. Farnworth

Private G. Finley

Private R. Fairclough

Private G. Fisher

Private W. Gee

Private F. Gilbert 

Private W. Gormley

Private H. Groundwater

Private H. Hackney

Private R. Higo

Private J. Hughes

Private G. Jackson 

Private W. Jones

Private J. Kennedy

Private A. Kenney 

Private W. Lloyd

Private C. Loft

Private P. Marr

Private J. Moran

Private J. Morris

Private F. Norbury

Private T. Oldfield

Private J. Orchard

Private F. J. O'Conner 

Private G. Park

Private J. Rothwell

Private J. Sweeney

Private J. Swindells

Private B. Thomas

Private J. Varey

Private J. Walden

Private F. Weston

Memorials to men lost in the battle were also erected back home in Britain. An example is the one found in Millom Holy Trinity Church, Cumbria, commemorating Private George Park.

For many years afterwards, perhaps even as late as the 1960's, his widow displayed his photograph and medal in the front window of her house.

The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) battalions during the First World War

Like all other line regiments the King's Own raised several new battalions during the war in addition to expanding the number of Territorial battalions. The following list gives brief details of the various battalions of the regiment and is mainly drawn from the standard text on such matters, 'The British Army 1914-18', by Brigadier E. A. James.

At first sight the various designations, rearrangements and amalgamations of the regiment's Territorial battlions can be rather confusing and were, in the main, a consequence of the need by the Army to rationalise the rather ad hoc recruiting system run by the Territorial Force. Further explanation of the system will appear in a future blog.

Regular Battalions

1st Battalion.

August 1914 : at Dover (Connaught Barracks). Part of 12th Brigade, 4th Division. Landed at Boulogne 23rd August 1914. Served on the Western Front for the whole of the war.

2nd Battalion.

August 1914 : in Lebong in India. Returned to England on 22nd December 1914. Moved to Hursley Park and joined 83rd Brigade in 28th Division. Landed at Le Havre on 16th January 1915. Moved to Egypt in October 1915 and thence to Salonika, where it remained until the end of the war.

3rd (Reserve) Battalion.

August 1914 : in Lancaster (at Bowerham Barracks). As a training unit it remained in the UK for the duration of the war. Moved to Saltash and Sunderland in August 1914, then to Plymouth in 1915 and finally Harwich in November 1917.

Territorial Army Battalions

1/4th Battalion.

August 1914 : in Ulverston. Part of North Lancashire Brigade, West Lancashire Division. April 1915, Brigade attached to 51st (Highland) Division and became 154th (3rd Highland) Brigade. Landed at Boulogne in May 1915. 6th January 1916 : transferred to 164th (North Lancashire) Brigade, 55th (West Lancashire) Division. Remained on the Western Front until the end of the war.

2/4th Battalion.

Formed in February 1915 at Blackpool as a second line battalion. 18th January 1916 amalgamated with 3/4th Battalion. 8th April 1916 : became 4th (Reserve) Battalion at Oswestry and on 1st September 1916 absorbed the 5th (Reserve) Battalion. Moved to Dublin in June 1918.

1/5th Battalion.
August 1914 : in Lancaster. art of North Lancashire Brigade, West Lancashire Division. Landed at Le Havre on 15th February 1915. 3rd March 1915 : attached to 83rd Brigade, 28th Division. 21st October 1915 : transferred to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. 7th January 1916 : transferred to 166th (South Lancashire) Brigade, 55th (West Lancashire) Division. Remained on the Western Front until the end of the war.

2/5th Battalion.
Formed at Lancaster in September 1914 as a Second Line battalion. February 1915 : attached to North Lancashire Brigade, West Lancashire Division. April 1915 : attached to 170th (2nd West Lancashire) Brigade, 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division. Landed in France in February 1917 and remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war.

3/4th Battalion.
Formed in June 1915. Absorbed by the 2/4th Battalion on 18th January 1916.

3/5th Battalion.
Formed in January 1915. 8th April 1916 : became 5th (Reserve) Battalion. 1st September 1916 : absorbed by 4th (Reserve) Battalion.

12th Battalion.
Formed at Westgate-on-Sea on 1st January 1917 from what had been the 41st Provisional Battalion of the Territorial Force, and placed under command of the 218th Brigade in the 73rd Division.  Disbanded in England on 29th March 1918.

41st (Provisional) Battalion.
Formed in the summer of 1915 from what were Home Service-only personnel from the second-line and third-line battalions, either because they had not signed the Imperial Service Obligation to serve overseas or were of low medical categories. 1st January 1917 : became the 12th Battalion Territorial Force.

4th (Reserve) Battalion.
Formed on 8th April 1916 from the 2/4th Battalion as part of the West Lancashire Reserve Group at Oswestry. 1st September 1916 : absorbed the 5th (Reserve) Battalion.

5th (Reserve) Battalion.
Formed on 8th April 1916 from the 3/5th Battalion as part of the West Lancashire Reserve Group. 1st September 1916 : absorbed by the 4th (Reserve) Battalion.


New Army Battalions

6th (Service) Battalion.
Formed at Lancaster in August 1914 as part of K1 and attached to 38th Brigade, 13th (Western) Division. Moved to Gallipoli in July 1915. Went to Egypt in January 1916 and thence to Mesopotamia where it remained until the end of the war.

7th (Service) Battalion.
Formed at Lancaster in September 1914 as part of K2 and attached to 56th Brigade, 19th (Western) Division. Landed in France in July 1915. Disbanded in France on 2nd February 1918.

8th (Service) Battalion.
Formed at Lancaster in October 1914 as part of K3 and attached to 76th Brigade, 25th Division. Landed in France on 27th September 1915. 15th October 1915 : Brigade moved to 3rd Division and remained on the Western Front until the end of the war.

9th (Service) Battalion.
Formed at Lancaster in October 1914 as part of K3 and attached to 65th Brigade, 22nd Division. Landed in France September 1915. October 1915 : moved to Salonika where it remained until the end of the war.

10th (Reserve) Battalion.
Formed in Saltash in October 1914 as a Service battalion, part of K4. November 1914 : attached to 9th Brigade, original 33rd Division. April 1915 : became a Reserve battalion and supplied drafts to the Service battalions overseas. Sptember 1916 : converted into 43rd Training Reserve Battalion in 10th Reserve Brigade.

11th (Service) Battalion.
Formed at Lancaster in August 1915 as a Bantam Battalion. Attached to 120th Brigade, 40th Division. 2nd March 1916 : absorbed the 12th (Service) Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment. 7th February 1918 : disbanded in France.

12th (Reserve) Battalion.
Formed in Lancaster in January 1916 as a Reserve battalion. September 1916 : converted into 76th Training Reserve Battalion in 17th Reserve Brigade. Remained in the UK for the duration of the war.

A Jolly Boys' Outing

We now take paid leave and holidays for granted but, before the First World War, an annual charabanc  trip to Morecambe or Blackpool would probably have been the most that many working-class families from the South Cumberland and North Lancashire area could expect or afford.

In those days - and to a lesser extent in the post-war years too - membership of the Territorial Force provided men with an opportunity for both social comradeship and a (paid) release from work for a set period (usually a fortnight) to go to the annual training camp. An added bonus would be that the wives and girlfriends would not be around to hinder the enjoyment, although, undoubtedly, tales would 'get back' about the behaviour of the unwary!

This splendid photograph, provided by my friend Ian Lewis (cumbrianwarmemorials.blogspot.com), is of just such a group of Territorials on their annual camp at Denbigh, North Wales, in 1913, in this case men of the 4th Battalion from Ulverston. Sadly, none of the men are identified, although it is reasonable to assume that many of them would go on to serve in the battalion during the First World War and probably some did not survive the conflict.

A mystery officer: Part 1

The murder of Hollywood film mogul William Desmond Taylor on 1st February, 1922, was a celebrity scandal of its time. The crime has never been solved, despite several suspects being identified, including his brother, Denis Gage Deane-Tanner, an ex-officer of The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment).

 

William Deane-Tanner a.k.a. William Desmond Taylor

The Deane-Tanners were born in Ireland, sons of an ex-British Army officer, Major Kearns Deane-Tanner. William Cunninghame Deane-Tanner, as he then was, sailed for America in 1890 at the age of 18. There, he flirted briefly with a career on the New York stage before conveniently marrying an actress with a wealthy father who set him up as an antiques dealer.

After divorcing his wife he then changed his name to William Desmond Taylor and moved to Hollywood, appearing in four films before moving into directing them, starting with The Awakening (1914). Over the next few years he directed more than fifty films, such was the output of the studios in those days. In June 1918, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a private and, after basic training, was sent to England, although because of his age  he saw no active service, being instead transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps, where he was responsible for the running of a canteen at Dunkirk with the rank of Temporary Lieutenant. He was eventually demobilised while serving as a Major in the Royal Fusiliers, and returned to the burgeoning Hollywood film scene where he made his fortune.

At some time on 1st February, 1922, he was shot in the back and killed at his bungalow at Alvarado Court Apartments. Simple robbery did not appear to be the motive as valuable personal posessions were still on his person, although a large sum of money which it was known he had drawn out of a bank shortly before, was found to be missing.

Hollywood was awash with rumour and various scandalous theories did the rounds in the broadsheets. However, no-one was ever prosecuted and to-day, the murder remains unsolved. One theory aired was that it was part of a family feud and that it was his brother, Denis, who was the murderer.

I know little of Denis Gage Deane-Tanner apart from one curious fact; around 1900 he was living in the Barrow-in-Furness area and had probably been there for some time. What he was doing there I don't know, but he first appears as a member of the local Volunteer Detachment, the precursor to the Territorial Force.

After the initial reverses suffered by the British Army in the Second Anglo-Boer War  (and politically embarrassing reverses, too, given that the Kaiser's Germany was watching Britain's performance with great interest), a decision was made to increase the number of soldiers available to fight by recruiting men from within the ranks of the Volunteer Force. Each line regiment had its affiliated Volunteer Battalion(s), that of the King's Own being based at Ulverston; it was styled, naturally enough, the 1st (Volunteer) Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). This was a quintessentially Victorian organisation, the very essence of amateur soldiering, but, nevertheless the call went out for men to volunteer for a period of 1 year's service in the Regular Army.

Perhaps to the surprise of the War Council, the response was overwhelming and, of course, many who put their names forward had to be weeded out as being either too old or too unfit for the rigours of the South African campaign. One of the Volunteers who was accepted for service was Private Denis Gage Deane-Tanner.

To be continued.........

Regular Army Service Numbers

The Childers Army Reform created The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) on 1st July, 1881, from the previous 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot. The new regiment consisted of two regular or "line" battalions (the 1st and 2nd) and two militia battalions (the 3rd and 4th), although the latter were styled the 1st Royal Lancashire Militia (Duke of Lancaster's Own).

In the course of the re-organisation a new regimental numbering system was introduced with no distinction being drawn between the two line battalions as far as numbering was concerned. Men already serving retained their old (pre-Childers) numbers, but new service numbers, starting with 1, were allocated on the basis of seniority, with new recruits receiving the next number in the sequence as they joined. Consequently a man's service number may be used to determine an approximate date for when he enlisted. Note: it is believed that the militia battalions (3rd and 4th) did not adopt this new system but continued to use their original numbering sequence.

The following data for enlistments into the 1st and 2nd Battalions during the late-Victorian and early 20th Century era have been provided courtesy of Paul Nixon (armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com):

10  joined on 9th July 1881

271 joined on 16th December 1882

397 joined on 2nd June 1883

599 joined on 21st March 1884

1012 joined on 12th March 1885

1632 joined on 2nd July 1886

1923 joined on 1st January 1887

2300 joined on 19th January 1888

2561 joined on 15th January 1889

2981 joined on 11th June 1890

3244 joined on 24th June 1891

3506 joined on 31st January 1892

4061 joined on 24th July 1893

4317 joined on 17th February 1894

4650 joined on 12th January 1895

5019 joined on 29th January 1896

5311 joined on 3rd May 1897

5671 joined on 14th April 1898

5923 joined on 24th March 1899

6288 joined on 2nd April 1900

6665 joined on 4th January 1901
7003 joined on 17th February 1902
7652 joined on 5th January 1903
8079 joined on 11th January 1904
8489 joined on 9th January 1905
8847 joined on 9th March 1906
9134 joined on 1st January 1907
9800 joined on 20th August 1908
10076 joined on 21st April 1909
10178 joined on 14th February 1910
10439 joined on 20th April 1911
10649 joined on 3rd May 1912
10836 joined on 3rd January 1913
11105 joined on 3rd February 1914

Of course, if a soldier of the King's Own were to be transferred to another regiment there would naturally be 'overlap' between service numbers and so renumbering on transfer was automatic, his new number being the next available in the numbering sequence of his new regiment. This new system was not without its flaws as, in due course, there would arise a great deal of overlap within the regiment itself as men in the militia battalions (later the 3rd or Special Reserve Battalion) and Volunteer Battalions (later the 4th and 5th Territorial Battalions) could have the same number as Regular soldiers in the 1st and 2nd Battalions. Hence, when interpreting service numbers from this period it is necessary to know whether a man was a Regular soldier or not.

In 1920 a new numbering sytem was introduced by Army Order 388. This allocated a unique block of numbers to each regiment, with the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) receiving the block 3701001 - 3757000.

Every serving soldier was given a new number in this block to replace his old one and then he kept this number for the rest of his army career, irrespective of whether he was subsequently transferred between regiments. New recruits received the next available number in the series and thus, from this era, once again a man's service number can be used as an indicator of the date he joined the Army.

The next numbering system was introduced during the Second World War. Due to mass conscription large numbers of men were sent to cental depots for induction and medicals rather than to the individual regimental depots. The administrative effort required to maintain a regimentally-based numbering system was too much for the depot staff to deal with and so a single system of Army service numbers (as opposed to regimental service numbers) was introduced. These numbers were allocated to the depots in blocks in the 14xxxxxx, 16xxxxxx and 19xxxxxx series, and recruits were given a service number before being posted to a regiment. Once again, they retained that unique service number for the whole of their service in the Army, irrespective of which regiment they were serving with. Unfortunately, although a lower number will indicate an earlier enlistment, it is no longer possible to infer much about a man's enlistment date from his service number alone.

Finally, following the introduction of National Service, the numbering process was rationalised into the sytem still used to-day. Part of the number block sequences were:

22000000 - 22199408 used until October 1950

22199409 - 22460786 used until February 1951

22460787 - 22562759 used until July 1951

22562760 - 23052500 used until June 1955

23052501 - 23188252 used until October 1955

23188253 - 23479123 used until May 1956

23479124 - 23845071 used until October 1960

On 31st October 1959, The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was amalgamated with the Border Regiment to form The King's Own Royal Border Regiment. Consequently, the last service numbers to be issued to men who served in The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) would have been drawn from the last block quoted.

Perhaps the shortest military service ever?

Corney Fell is a lonely, windswept place, nestling between the west Cumbrain coastal plain and the Cumbrian mountains. The community comprises a few houses and scattered farms and St. John's Church. In the churchyard there is a solitary war grave to a Territorial soldier of the King's Own who died in 1916, and he may well qualify as having the shortest military service on record, albeit in very tragic circumstances.

Joseph Pennington was called up under the Military Service Act of January, 1916, and, coming from such an insular and remote farming community where he had lived all his life (and had probably never ventured more than a few miles from before), the thought of military service was apparently just too much for him and he took his own life, less than a day after his attestation and formal enlistment. His case was reported in the local newspaper, the Millom Gazette:

Bootle Man’s Tragic End.

Before Coroner F. W. Poole and a jury, of whom Coun. James Mount was foreman, an inquest was held on Saturday evening at the Ulverston Police Court concerning the death of Joseph Peile Pennington. Mr. S. Hart Jackson, jun., watched the proceedings on behalf of the Furness Railway Company, and Mr. Woolgar, stationmaster, was also in attendance.

William Pennington, of Corney, Bootle, identified the body as that of his son. He was a farm labourer, 40 years of age, and unmarried. He was in lodgings. He was not an attested man, but had been called up under the Military Service Act.

The Coroner : Have you had any conversation with him about joining the Army? - No; he had spoken very little about it.

Do you know whether he objected to join?- I believe he did.

On any particular ground?- Not anything particular; but he did not seem as if he would like to join.
Private William Kendall, of The Green, Millom, gave evidence that he met deceased about nine o’clock on Friday morning at Millom Recruiting Office. They stayed there until 10:30, and at noon went to Lancaster for medical examination. They returned by the 8:12 p.m. train, and on arrival at Ulverston witness, deceased, James Burns, Edward Kendall, and another man walked in the direction of the Ulverston Drill Hall. On getting near the hall, he noticed deceased was hanging back a bit. Deceased did not come into the Drill Hall, and witness said to one of the men, “There’s someone short; where’s Pennington gone?” He replied, “He’s not come in yet?” Witness went to the door and shouted out, “This is the place.” He made some sort of answer, but did not come back.

The Coroner : Had you any talk to him during the day about soldiering?- No.

He said nothing against it in any way?- No : he seemed a little bit downhearted, but expressed no opinion.

John Townson, signalman, stated that at 11:50 on Friday night he was stationed in Ulverston east cabin at the Ulverston end of the station. On hearing some noise at the rod points, he looked out of the window, and saw the shadow of a man. He called out, but, getting no answer, he went down the yard about 50 yards, and saw deceased standing in the four-foot. He asked him what he wanted there, and he gave an answer he could not understand. He got hold of him, brought him up-to the cabin, and asked him if he had fallen out of the train, or had been knocked down by an engine. He replied “No.” On getting him to the light, he saw that he had a nasty cut in the neck. He took him to the porters’ room, and left him in charge of Tom Hope, porter, while he knocked up Mr. Woolgar, the stationmaster. The latter came promptly and rendered first-aid until the arrival of Dr. Bowman, about seven minutes later. The doctor conveyed deceased in his motor-car to the Cottage Hospital.
William Riley, porter at the passenger station, stated that he found the razor produced at 9:20 that morning outside the porter’s room.

Police-Sergt. Nutter gave evidence that deceased died about midnight. On examining the body he found a deep cut in the throat, severing the windpipe. He afterwards searched the clothing, and found a purse containing 3s 6d. and the Army Form produced. Subsequently he examined the line, and found patches of blood at three different points, about half a mile from where deceased was found.
The Coroner, in summing up, said that the facts were very simple, and the main question for the jury was as to the state of the man’s mind. There was no evidence that he had any strong feeling in regard to joining the Army, although he seemed somewhat downhearted. If the jury thought the calling up for military service had affected his mind, they might return a verdict of temporary insanity, or, in the alternative, they might say that there was not sufficient evidence to indicate the state of his mind.

A verdict of “Suicide whilst temporarily insane” was returned.

-: Millom Gazette, Friday, March 31, 1916; page 3.

Because he had been formally enlisted he was considered by officialdom to have been a serving soldier at the time of his death and so was entitled to be formally commemorated by the Imperial War Graves Commission (later to become the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) and his grave marked with a military-pattern headstone. It's strange to think that nearly a century later he is now remembered for being a soldier when he never actually served long enough to even put on the uniform.

An old soldier during the Great War

Sergeant John Longmire of Bouth was too old to serve abroad during the First World War. He had joined the Territorials in March 1909, just a year after it's formation from the old 'Volunteers' under the Haldane army reforms in 1908. Instead, his experience was put to use training new recruits for the 1st/4th Battalion in its second-line feeder formation, the 2nd/4th Battalion. The photogaph below, where he is pictured with his wife, and dating from 1919, was taken after he had completed ten years' service in the 4th Battalion, as evidenced by the two stars on the right sleeve of his tunic, one for every five years.

Little information is available about the home service second-line Territorial battalions of the King's Own. They did not keep a war diary and receive only fleeting mention in the published regimental histories. The best way of determining their movements appears to be to track the casualties they incurred through accidents and illness, and where they occurred.

The 2nd/4th Battalion was formed in Blackpool in February, 1915 and was based at Weeton Camp, although I believe some soldiers were billeted in the town. The reason for the fomation of the second-line unit in the heart of west Lancashire rather than at Ulverston, the peacetime base of the 4th Battalion, was the lack of a large enough recruiting pool in the Furness and south Cumbraland area to provide the flow of reserves necessary to maintain the 1st/4th Battalion at full strength, a problem which was to bedevil the first-line battalion for the whole of the war.

A third-line battalion, the 3rd/4th was formed in June, 1915, but it did not remain in existence for long, being absorbed into the 2nd/4th Battalion the following year. Leaving Blackpool, the 2nd/4th Battalion moved down to Sevenoaks and then onto the south coast, being employed guarding strategic coastal locations in Sussex around Rye. Eventually it moved to Oswestry, where it was re-designated the 4th (Reserve) Battalion. It never managed to garner enough strength to be in the position where it could be deployed abroad with the British Expeditionary Force.

I suspect that many men like John Longmire probably felt somewhat disappointed that they could not serve abroad, instead having to kick their heels in 'Blighty'. However, the mounting 1st/4th Battalion casualty lists of the future - and the impact on local society - would soon dispel any romantic illusions they may have entertained, although he was hospitalised with pneumonia while serving in Wales with the 2nd/4th Battalion.

His son, John Longmire Jnr., served in France during the war, first as 49814, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) and then 68499, Lancashire Fusiliers,  and, thankfully returned unscathed. Another son, William, was also in the 1st/4th Battalion, and was wounded (I think) near Rue d'Ouvert on June 15th, 1915. I suspect that the photograph at the right probably shows John Snr. with William, both as members of the 4th Battalion.

To-day, the service of all three men is commemorated on the triptych war memorial in Colton Curch, Cumbria.

Death of a battalion - Frezenburg, 8th May 1915

The proud recruit posing for this photograph is 17106, Private Cuthbert Saunders. In civil life he was a schoolmaster from Askam-in-Furness, but, like so many of his generation, he was determined to "do his bit" and enlisted at the earliest opportunity.

The photograph was taken at Saltash in early-1915, the location - for training purposes - of the Regiment's 3rd Battalion. He would be drafted out to join the British Expeditionary Force  in Flanders in March and be dead by the end of the first week in May, along with over 300 of his comrades from the 2nd Battalion; another 600 would be prisoners of war. Nearly all of the dead have no known grave and are now commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, including Private Saunders.

The devastation visited on the 2nd Battalion occurred at Frezenburg during the Second Battle of Ypres. A ferocious artillery bombardment followed by an all-out assault completely overwhelmed the British front line. Casualties were severe; nearly 1100-strong just a few days earlier, the 2nd Battalion lost over 90% of its strength and was effectively wiped out as a fighting formation. The War Diary for the period is incredibly terse, probably because there was no-one left to provide much first-hand detail about the calamity.

May. HUTS W. OF YPRES.

4th.

The Bn. were resting in the huts. The following reinforcements arrived on the 3rd May. Other Ranks 240.

7 p.m. Orders were received to march out to the trenches and relieve the 5th Bn. The King’s Own Regt.

8.30 p.m. The Bn. marched out and took over trenches in front of FREZENBERG. The trenches were new trenches and had not been completed. “A” ad “D” Coys. were in the first line. “B” and “C” Coys. in support. “B” Coy. acting as support to the 3rd Monmouths.

5th -7th.

Bn. in the trenches. Enemy shelled trenches intermittently.

8th.

7 a.m. Enemy shelled trenches blowing them in, and rendering them untenable. The enemy advanced and captured the front line trenches, they then advanced against the support dugouts. The O.C. 3rd Monmouths called for one company to support the line and “B” Coy. under Captain Forwood at once moved across the road and occupied some old trenches east of the burial ground in the rear of the Monmouth’s trenches.

10 a.m. Enemy commenced attack in the support dugouts but were held in check when 200 yards from them. The enemy were observed moving in a westerly direction on both flanks of the position. Major Clough assumed command on the death of Colonel Martin.

11.35 a.m. Message received to retire on POTIJZE. “B” Coy. was ordered to retire first followed by the 3 platoons of “C” Coy. on the North of the YPRES - ZONNEBEKE Road. The following officers were present during the engagement.


Lt. Col. A. R. S. Martin, killed
Major H. K. Clough
Captain C. W. Grover, wounded and prisoner
Captain T. B. Forwood, killed
Lieut. H. C. E. Jebb, wounded
2/Lt. G. P. M. Scudamore, missing
2/Lt. Mesney, wounded
Lt. Seddon, wounded and prisoner
2/Lt. Muchall, killed
2/Lt. Horne, hurt by fall
2/Lt. Brown, wounded
2/Lt. Somerville, wounded
2/Lt. Windeler, missing
2/Lt. Taylor, prisoner
Lt. Rawlinson, believed killed

After the retirement regiments got mixed up. Some of the Bn. retired through the POTIJZE line and some remained in the trenches till the 9th May.

Casualties of the Brigade. Officers 128, Other Ranks 4379.

9th.

The remainder of the Battalion were withdrawn from the front line and sent back to the huts. The total casualties during this last tour in the trenches from 4th May till 9th May were:-

Officers: Killed 4, Wounded 5, Wounded and Prisoners 2, Wounded and Missing 1, Missing 4.
Other Ranks: Killed 36, Wounded 110, Wounded and Missing 31, Missing 721.

 

"G" Company, 4th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment

The photograph below, provided by Mr. George Perry, shows members of "G" Company, 4th Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) at Milly Bridge Farm, Twyford Down, soon after mobilisation following the declaration of war on September 4th, 1914. These men were all pre-war 'Terriers', drawn from Askam-in-Furness and neighbouring Dalton-in-Furness.

On mobilisation the battalion was sent south on home defence duties and spent the next few months in Berkshire guarding the Great Western Railway. It was while stationed there that it suffered its first casualties of the war, several unwary men being knocked down and killed by the express trains.

Front row, left to right: Private F. Thomas, Private C. Mailes, Private 'Pim' Taylor, Private C Raven, Private T. Thompson, Private W. Williamson, Private 'Tar' Preston

Second row, left to right: Private J. Tyson, Private C. Phillips, Corporal T. Dickinson, Corporal E. Laidman, Sergeant Gibson, Lieutenant Kennedy, Lieutenant Spearing, Sergeant J. P. Wells, Corporal T. Atkinson, Private G. Huck, Private W. Ely, unknown

Third row, left to right: Private E. Burns, Private T. Gott, Private T. Crossley, Private J. Jackson, Private W. Waters, Private H. Phillips, Private W. Kipling, Private R. Wallace, Private C. Nicholas, Private H. Shrimpton, Private W. Corbett, Private J. Edwards

Back row, left to right: Private C. Wells, Private J. Charnock, Private M. Benson, Private J. Riley, Private P. Roberts, Private H. Riley, Private J. Gill

Several of the men did not survive the war, including Lieutenant Edward Spearing, who was killed at Delville Wood in September 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.