Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Essex Units in the War 1914-1919


GrandsonMichael

Recommended Posts

Hereby I proudly announce that I have been able to add Vols. 3 & 4 to my collection..... :lol:

John Wm. Burrows, Essex Units in the War 1914 – 1919:

Volume 1: 1st Bn. The Essex Regiment, 1923.

Volume 2: 2nd Bn. The Essex Regiment, 1927.

Volume 3: The Essex Yeomanry, 1925. Includes a list of Officers and Men who were killed in action, died of wounds or as a result of service, and were wounded during the war! Ditto a list of members of the Essex Yeomanry who received honours or awards for servive in the campaign, with year of award.

Volume 4: The Essex Militia, 1929. For obvious reasons (?) only 8 pages are devoted to WWI.

Volume 5: Essex Territorial Infantry Brigade (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th Battalions), 1932.

Includes a List of Honours awarded to Officers and Other Ranks of the Battalions of the 161st Brigade.

Volume 6: Service Battalions The Essex Regiment (9th, 10th, 11th, 13th & 15th Battalions),

1935.

All Books Published by arrangement with the Essex Territorial Army Association. John H. Burrows & Sons, LTD.

I’m happy, proud and broke…….

Look ups offered.

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Michael,

Could I request a look up please. In volume 1, is there any mention of CSM Arthur J Rowland M.M. He served with the 1st Battalion, and died of wounds on 21/10/1916. His M.M. was gazetted on 11/11/16. Thanks very much

Regards

Gavin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Michael,

Could I request a look up please. In volume 1, is there any mention of CSM Arthur J Rowland M.M. He served with the 1st Battalion, and died of wounds on 21/10/1916. His M.M. was gazetted on 11/11/16. Thanks very much

Regards

Gavin

Hi Gavin,

He is, very briefly. I wonder if he ever knew he won that M.M ??? Sorry there's not more to tell.

Cheers,...Michael

post-2017-1113768930.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You lucky beggar, Michael!

Is there any mention of Walter Schwier (I think that's spelt right...) in the yeomanry volume? Won the MC or MM, allegedly. Not family, but from the same village. And of course a contemporary of Albert "Smiler" Marshall who, God bles him, is still with us!

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael

Not a request but just a public thank you to all the look ups you have done for me over the last few weeks.

Congratulations on the aquisition of the other volumes.

Keep up the excellent work.

Glyn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Adrian, good to see you're still researching.

Give me some more info if pos. I don't think the name is spelled correctly.

Do you have a date? Can't find him on the CWGC website....had a quick glance through the list, no luck. The list is not arranged by alphabet, but by date.

And of course a contemporary of Albert "Smiler" Marshall who, God bles him, is still with us!

You must be joking...how old is he?

My luck, by the way, was thanks to Mathew King’s question, in Suzanne’s thread on Volume 6, whether Volume 5 was still available. I consulted Abebooks and told him it was. A day later (!) I had a good look at the rest and noticed 3 & 4 were there! Prices good too, so I jumped on them.

Sorry Marc… ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael

Not a request but just a public thank you to all the look ups you have done for me over the last few weeks.

Congratulations on the aquisition of the other volumes.

Keep up the excellent work.

Glyn

Hey Glyn, you sneeked around my back just now :D

Thanks, thanks and I will , Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Adrian,

Hold on, I mistakenly presumed Pte. Schwier was killed. My apologies, spelling is correct.

I stumbled across him looking up someone else...hidden away in an Appendix...

"The following Officers, N.C.O's and Men were specially mentioned in the Regimental War Diary for their conduct on May 13th, 1915, at the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge:- ............., Privates Schwier,......for stretcher bearing under heavy fire."

Now ain't that something?

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The following Officers, N.C.O's and Men were specially mentioned in the Regimental War Diary for their conduct on May 13th, 1915, at the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge:- ............., Privates Schwier,......for stretcher bearing under heavy fire."

Now ain't that something?

Certainly is something! Don't get many mentions of Privates in a War Diary! Thank you VERY Much for looking!

"Smiler" Marshall turned 108 a few weeks ago, I think - there was a thread on him.

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"He is, very briefly. I wonder if he ever knew he won that M.M ??? Sorry there's not more to tell."

Michael,

Thank you very much for looking this up and for copying the page. I appreciate it. I had no idea of the circumstances of his death, so this is very useful. It's interesting to see his name spelt as 'Roland'. The CWGC, his Medal Index Card, and his Boer War Medals all show 'Rowland'. However, his MM Card also spells it as 'Roland'.

Regards

Gavin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gavin,

Have you been able to do an Ancestry.com search for your man?

Might be the only way, well, apart from service records, to ascertain what

his real name was?

Cheers,

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As an addendum, the mention of Private Schwier in the Yeomanry lso goes to answer a question from a while back as to why a cavalryman had an infantry rank.

I've found Walter's citation in the London Gazette for 26 July 1918, page 8842, but it gives no date and the list of names is so long that I can't find which medal it is without looking at every page... He was Gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant in March 1918 having allegedly joined up in 1914 so it could well be him in 1915.

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Adrian,

It could be for the M.M. It was common practice to publish these lists in the Gazette in a long list indeed and could be quite some time before the recipient actually was awarded the medal. Don't know about the MC...

Mumble, mumble, read, read: Bingo!

Burrows, The Essex Yeomanry, page 153:

" With great rapidity a trench was dug sufficiently capacious in one position to hold a troop, and its defence was entrusted to Lieut. W.C.V. Schwier, with the Ardleigh troop and two Hotchkiss rifles."

March 29th, 1918 during action around the village of Villers Bretonneux. Not long after the Essex Yeomanry was broken up and parts joined other units.

I repeat: now, ain't that something :)

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

" With great rapidity a trench was dug sufficiently capacious in one position to hold a troop, and its defence was entrusted to Lieut. W.C.V. Schwier, with the Ardleigh troop and two Hotchkiss rifles."

TWO RIFLES! :o Flamin' 'eck! That really is backs to the wall stuff!

If everything else was "Ain't that something?" then that is REALLY something!

Thank you VERY much!

Adrian

(now if only I could find out if anyone else from the villages I'm interested in was there...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hold on Adrian,

Perhaps I'm being an idiot saying this, but we're not talking rifles here, but heavy (French) machine guns, don't ask me why they called them rifles.

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi michael ,

can i be the 20,000 person to ask you to look someone up ?

JOSEPH HENRY GIBBONS MM ( and the old frenchie one which i can never spell ) 11 essex resided walthamstow mm gazetted oct 18 croix de guerrenov 18

cheers

barry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hold on Adrian,

Perhaps I'm being an idiot saying this, but we're not talking rifles here, but heavy (French) machine guns, don't ask me why they called them rifles.

Cheers,  Michael

Now that makes a lot more sense...

Perhaps we should throw this one into the ring in, say, "Soldiers" or "other" and see what the experts make. But yes, MkII explanation makes far more sense.

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hereby I proudly announce that I have been able to add Vols. 3 & 4 to my collection..... :lol:

John Wm. Burrows, Essex Units in the War 1914 – 1919:

Volume 1:  1st Bn. The Essex Regiment, 1923.

Volume 2:  2nd Bn. The Essex Regiment, 1927.

Volume 3: The Essex Yeomanry, 1925. Includes a list of Officers and Men who were killed in action, died of wounds or as a result of service, and were wounded during the war! Ditto a list of members of the Essex Yeomanry who received honours or awards for servive in the campaign, with year of award.

Volume 4: The Essex Militia, 1929. For obvious reasons (?) only 8 pages are devoted to WWI.

Volume 5:  Essex Territorial Infantry Brigade (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th Battalions), 1932.

Includes a List of Honours awarded to Officers and Other Ranks of the Battalions of the 161st Brigade.

Volume 6:  Service Battalions The Essex Regiment (9th, 10th, 11th, 13th & 15th Battalions),

1935.

All Books Published by arrangement with the Essex Territorial Army Association. John H. Burrows & Sons, LTD.

I’m happy, proud and broke…….

Look ups offered.

Cheers,  Michael

Michael, any idea as to how much to buy the whole set ??

Patrick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael, any idea as to how much to buy the whole set ??

Patrick

Nope. Problem is that Volumes 3 & 4 are extremely scarce. I was very lucky indeed that I stumbled across them.

Right at this moment Volumes 1,2,5 & 6 can be bought for a mere £ 350.00 excluding postage. Click here: Burrows for sale

Add another, what, 100 plus for Volumes 3 & 4......

Luckily I paid quite a bit less for the 6 Volumes. :)

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JOSEPH HENRY GIBBONS  MM

barry

Sorry Barry. Can’t find any mention of at all. Difficult to say when he would have been awarded the M.M. I went back 7 months. There were some fierce battles fought by the 11th Bn. during the large German offensive in 1918, in March the 11th sustained very heavy casualties and again in May.

One anecdote about the attack by the 11th at Scottish Wood in the neighbourhood of Vlamerthinge:

" The advance was successful and by 5.30 a.m. Battalion headquarters were assured that each company had reached its objective. Early in the action Captain Fison was wounded. Captain Pinney took over command of the line and he recalls that a C.S.M. remarked to him, 'This is the sort of thing people get a V.C. for, sir" only to receive the emphatic if ungrammatical reply, ' Not in this-------Battalion, they don't; get on with it.' The sergeant-major was subsequently awarded the D.C.M., ' and he deserved it,' said his commanding officer." (Burrows, page 362)

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hold on Adrian,

Perhaps I'm being an idiot saying this, but we're not talking rifles here, but heavy (French) machine guns, don't ask me why they called them rifles.

Cheers,  Michael

Lo and behold, a week later a thread on them turns up! Makes the Yeomanry's efforts far less backs to the wall, but must have still been hard work or he wouldn't have got a gong for it.

Thanks for all the assistance - it's really appreciated!

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael

In your volume that covers the 9th battalion would you mind looking to see if there is any reference to Captain Magnus Rainier Robertson MC please? I have his surviving service papers but am keen to see if he gets a mention in Burrows, in particular the circumstances surrounding a) his death on 22nd August 1918 and b)his award of the Military Cross earlier. I do not know the precise date of this latter action but the citation in the Supplement to The London Gazette on 17th September 1917 reads as follows:

T./Lt . Magnus Rainier Robertson, Essex R.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when commanding the centre and most important party of a raid. He went from post to post, encouraging his men, and, although wounded in two places, most ably appreciating and dealing with a very varying situation. He brought up reinforcements at a critical moment , and frustrated all counter-attacks, finally seeing all his wounded safely away and returning with the rear party under heavy rifle fire and machine-gun fire. He set a magnificent example of gallantry and disregard of danger throughout the operation.

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, that's what I love about this Forum.

So much knowledge, so many questions, so many answers and so much we learn from each other about history and the people actually who made it. Great!

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

T./Lt . Magnus Rainier Robertson, Essex R.

Hi Paul,

I hope you like detective work, because I started to run around in circles.

To answer you questions:

a. can’t find a Capt. M.R. Robertson, mentioned in the 9th Bn. part of Burrows and

b. can’t find a mention of him in relation to gaining a M.C. either.

End of story? Nope. Please bear with me..

Burrows, Essex Units in the War 1914 – 1919, Volume 6, Service Battalions The Essex Regiment,

Index, page 345:

post-2017-1114798045.jpg

Page 333: June 28th, 1917, a Lieut. M.R. Robertson is mentioned in connection with a trench raid by the 11th Bn. Essex Regiment. During this raid a Lieut. F.B. Wearne distinguished himself to such an extent that he was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

Page 345: November 30th, 1917 a Lieut. Robertson is mentioned briefly during a skirmish of the 11th Bn. Essex Regiment blocking a German attack.

Page 101: April 5th the 9th. Battalion Essex Regiment was heavily attacked while withdrawing from the line and “A” Company, led by a Captain Robertson, bore the brunt of a German attack at that moment.

Page 115: the 9th Bn. Essex Regiment went over the top near Morlancourt on August 22nd, 1918, six officers were killed including a Captain M.B. Robertson:

post-2017-1114798171.jpg

These are the facts. I checked the CWGC site and the N.A for a Captain M.B. Robertson, Essex Regiment, no such person to be found.

My theory: Lieut. M.R. Robertson initially served with the 11th Battalion and was transferred/promoted to the 9th Battalion. Someone made a transcription mistake and Captain M.B. Robertson is actually your man Captain Magnus Rainier Robertson.

Does this tally with the information you have?

Cheers, Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael

Thanks for that information. I think you're spot on with the mis-transcription part and the other snippets you provide look as though they tally as well. Next time I'm in the UK, which probably won't be for another 12 months, I'll visit the National Archives again and have a look through the battalion war diaries. I managed to get his papers on my last brief visit a fortnight ago but just didn't have time for the diaries.

But you've helped a lot on this so thank you very much indeed.

Best wishes

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...