Military Monday - Percvial Richardson. Royal Engineers Part V

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Following Armistice in November 1918, Uncle Percy continued with his Unit. I haven't been able to find much detail of this period but they were working in camps at Longpre, Oissy and Dreuil les Amiens.

At the end of April 97th Field Company returned to England via Havre and Percy was given fourteen days leave. Following this he rejoined his unit and was promoted to Acting Corporal and then to Acting Sergeant.

On the 27th October 1919 Percy was transfered to the 14 SAT Company RE and then to the 219 Field Company RE Rhine Army on the 28th November. So Uncle Percy was part of the British Army of the Rhine - set up to occupy the Rhineland as part of the Armistice deal.

Royal Engineers manning a searchlight on the Rhine 1919

The British were based in and around Cologne and remained there until 1929. Percy wasn't there for that long though; in January 1920 he was discovered to have a hernia and was demobbed back to the family home at 605 Berridge Road, Nottingham on the 3rd January 1920.

Percival Richardson 1889 - 27 August 1965

Military Monday - Harold Richardson Remembered

Some time ago I heard about a project to research and preserve the WW1 Roll of Honour at St Stephen's church in Hyson Green, Nottingham. As my Great-great Uncle Harold Richardson is mentioned on it I contacted the church and was invited to the first meeting.

St Stephen's Bobbers Mill Road

I was able to provide some information about Harold and was keen to return a few weeks later to the final presentaion of the project. It was lovely to see so many members of the community of different ages & backgrounds taking an interest in their local history.

Roll of Honour

Harold - top left-hand side

At the time the church was being built in 1901, Harold lived directly opposite at 29 Bobbers Mill Road. It's sad to think that fifteen years later he would be commemorated, along with many others from this area, on the church wall.







Picture Credit: http://southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/hyson-green-st-stephen/hintro.php

Military Monday - Percival Richardson. Royal Engineers Part I

I've recently added my 2xGreat Uncle Percival Richardson to Lives of the First World War.

I've already posted a few posts about Percy, but hadn't got round to adding his details to the site. Luckily Percy's service records are extant unlike many others so I have been able to find out much more about his time as a sapper with the Royal Engineers.

Percy enlisted in Nottingham on the 9th January 1915 and was assigned to the Royal Engineers. During his initial training at Hallfield Camp in Chatham, Kent he was AWOL twice, once for three days and then for five days. He was fined and confined to barracks for both offences.

On the 11th September 1915 he landed in France with 97 Field Company, which made up part of the 21st Division. There isn't anything else noted on his record until the 6th February 1916, but it is possible to follow his route.






Once the Division had gathered, they endured lengthy forced marches to Loos, for 'The Big Push' where they saw action on the 26th September, losing around 3,800 men. Further reading about the battle can be found here.







The next entry in Percy's service record finds him in a military hospital back home in Newark, suffering from an inguinal hernia and septic sore throat. He remained in Newark from the 21st of February to the 26th of June 1916. During this time he overstayed his leave three times, again resulting in fines and confinement to barracks. On the 24th of June 'when on active service disobeying in such manner as to show a wilful defiance of authority, a lawful command given personally by his superior officer in the execution of his office.'  That found him confined to barracks for fourteen days.

In July 1916 Percy rejoined his Unit where, fortunately for him, he had missed the Battle of Albert (part of the Somme offensive) and the Battle of Bazentine Ridge.

Between July 1916 and the next entry in Percy's records in June 1917 he would have been involved in various battles in the Somme area. Firstly the Battle of Flers-Courcelette which saw the first use of tanks on the battlefield, Morval 25th to 28th September, and Le Transloy 1st to the 18th October 1916.

Battle of Flers-Courcelette. 21st September 1916.

Link to Part II
Link to Part III
Link to Part IV

Picture Credit: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205078825

Wedding Wednesday - Percival Richardson & Edith Waby

One of my (many!) on-going areas of research is that of the Richardson brothers and how they faired during the First World War.

My 2x Great-Uncle Percival Richardson was with the Royal Engineers in WW1 and I know he survived the war but I didn't know what happened to him afterwards.

A few weeks ago, I found a BMD (Births, Marriages and Deaths) reference, via FreeBMD, to a possible marriage for him.  Certificates cost £9.25 at the moment, so it's an expensive mistake if it isn't the correct person, although sometimes you have to order an incorrect one just to eliminate possible matches.

Fortunately when it arrived it showed his father as Robert and the address I have for the family at Berridge Road West in Nottingham also matched.

Percival married Edith Waby at the Registry Office, Nottingham, on the 31st August 1922.  Her father was John William Waby, a gardener.

As well as moving my research on Percival a little further, the marriage certificate has also helped solve another problem. The witnesses to the marriage were William and Robert (Fred) Richardson, two of Percival's older brothers. Up to finding this information I hadn't known whether William survived the war.  I had found a possible match in the Lincolnshire Regiment who died in 1914, but hadn't been able to corroborate this.

So now I know he survived I can carry on looking.

(Follow Up Post)

Military Monday - Remembrance

At the church where I got married, in Shirland, Derbyshire, there is a World War One memorial plaque.

I thought I'd have a look on Ancestry to see if I could find out any background to the men on the memorial and ended up discovering quite an interesting tale about William Palmer.

William Palmer, the son of George and Elizabeth  was born in Shirland in 1879, one of eight children.  In January 1894 he married Margaret Allen from Ambergate and they settled in Shirland; William was working as a miner.

The 1911 census recorded William & Margaret living in Chapel Houses, Shirland with six children; Frances, George William, Louisa, Samuel, Alwinne and Herbert.  They also had an older daughter, Elizabeth born in 1894 and a daughter Margaret, born in 1898 and who died aged eleven months.

Despite being aged 37 and with dependant children, William Palmer enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters on the 3rd February 1915 and became Private 22945.  But he was discharged from the army on the 10th March as he was: "not likely to become an efficient soldier."

A re-enlistment letter dated 2nd August 1915 states that he may re-enlist for Home Service only, his medical examination had revealed: "valvular heart disease & bronchitis, on the slightest exertion this man becomes distressed in his breathing.  His breathing is harsh & there are patches of tubular breathing over both lungs."

Undeterred, William re-enlisted in Chesterfield later in August 1915 and was posted to the Durham Light Infantry No 33630.  Sadly, on the 15th August 1916, William was accidentally drowned at South Shields and was buried at Harton Cemetery there.

His widow Margaret was initially denied a widow's pension as William was, "not engaged in military duty when he met with the accident which caused his death," but following an appeal she was granted 15 shillings a week for a year from April 1917.

I think it is fitting that William Palmer is mentioned on his village war memorial -  despite his ill health he still managed to serve his country.

Amanuensis Monday - Royal Flying Corps

In 1918 my Great-Grandfather Charles Harold Jowett joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and was sent out to Italy from his home in Nottingham.


He kept a diary during this time which I'm lucky enough to have, so I thought I'd share a few extracts;


Jan 28 1918
Called out for draft at Aldershot, received pay (30s) & pay books, left Farnbro' 12.50 arrived Southampton about 3 sailed on troopship 4.30 en route for Italy arrived off Le Havre 5 o'clock it was morning Jan 29th waiting for daylight a splendid passage asleep most of the time full moon a beautifull picture on the water escort of 2 destroyers rations for the day served out on board, bully beef & biscuits.
Landed midday Jan 29 & had a 5 or 6 miles walk with full kit uphill nearly all the way, absolutely fagged out very little sleep for cold.

Wed Feb 6th
Travelling all night up before the sun to enjoy the sights saw the sun rise over the sea a sight I shall never  forget one big ball of fire with the reflection in the water like gold passed through Monaco, Monte Carlo Manton & San Remo where we had a fine reception, mandarins mangos & flowers were showered on us the sea and landscapes were magnificent we were to enraptured to have breakfast some fine buildings & churches had a wash & shave just over the Italian frontier.

Fri Mar 8
No rain but plenty of wind, getting used to it. Saw an Italian funeral which takes place at dusk a curious affair women leading, then the corpse, surrounded by priests, followed by the men both women & men carrying lighted candles naturally giving a weird & creepy look to the procession.


Fri June 7th
Inspection of an English Division on on aerodrome by King of Italy

Tues June 11th
No flying rain all day
(Sun June 9th Lt Comm'dr Captn Lowe, crashed on return from flight, pilot & observer injured one machine missing & one damaged by machine gun fire)


Thur July 11th
Bad weather, but machines sent out, one crashed, sent  to fetch it in along with 4 other men & an officer at 9 O.C at night, travelled as far as Padova arriving about 1.50 A.M. lightening incessant, a very heavy storm soon after turning in.

Charles was sent home from Italy towards the end of July, as his daughter Irene, my grandmother, was very ill.
I've yet to research the background of his time in Italy & what the RFC's role was there.  I've bought a copy of this book Offensive Patrol: The Story of the R.N.A.S., R.F.C.and R.A.F.in Italy, 1917-18 which will hopefully shed some light on it.