Wigwhammer Posted 22 December , 2014 Share Posted 22 December , 2014 I am trying to throw some light on my grandfather's Great War. I know from a letter he wrote that he was in hospital in Malta on 30.09.1915 having been evacuated from Gallipoli with typhoid fever. He entered the theatre of war 10.08.1915. Thanks to the pals here on the GWF I now also know that he served with the 1/6th Essex Regiment with the Regt.Nos. 4170 and subsequently 29392 and that he was "disembodied" 24.03.1919. Before his illness, at least, he was in A Co. I therefore assume he returned to his Battalion either while it was still in Gallipoli or in Egypt and stayed with it thoughout the Palestine campaign before being shipped back to Blighty in early 1919 - but I have no real evidence for this. I have little hope of finding his name anywhere - as an OR and a survivor - but it would be nice to find out more about the Palestine campaign, follow the movements of his Batallion in a more detail than is possible in the summary on LLT, see what engagements they fought and so on. HOWEVER, I have searched the Forum for threads on the Palestine campaign and the Essex Regt. in particular, but there is not a lot to be found. So if anybody can has any information, tips and suggestions which he/she is prepared to share with me, I'd be very grateful. I'd also be grateful any book recommendations on the subject. Many thanks Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 22 December , 2014 Share Posted 22 December , 2014 The Official History has fairly good coverage of 161 Bde's actions in the 1st, 2nd and3rd Battles of Gaza, the attack on Nabi Samweil (sic), and the Sep 18 attack of 54th Div. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigwhammer Posted 23 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 December , 2014 Thanks for the tip - I've just ordered a copy! CHEERS colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyman Posted 24 December , 2014 Share Posted 24 December , 2014 Colin A fuller account will be in Burrows' volume on the Essex Territorial Infantry Brigade. Unlike the 5th Bn, which has an even more detailed separate unit history written by an officer. Ian The Essex regiment ; Essex Territorial Infantry BrigadeVolume 5 of (Essex Units in the war 1914-1919), John William Burrows Author John William Burrows Publisher J. H. Burrows, 1932 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigwhammer Posted 25 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 25 December , 2014 Thanks Ian, very grateful. As far as I've been able to discover the only place to get this is from Abe books - they are offering a signed copy for *just* £199.95! I'll have to think about that... Happy Christmas Cheers Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Woods Posted 1 January , 2015 Share Posted 1 January , 2015 Thanks Ian, very grateful. As far as I've been able to discover the only place to get this is from Abe books - they are offering a signed copy for *just* £199.95! I'll have to think about that... Happy Christmas Cheers Colin Copies occasionally come up on eBay anything between £40 and £100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 1 January , 2015 Admin Share Posted 1 January , 2015 Sorry not to have seen this post before you ordered a copy of the book above which will be of little value to you due to some basic errors on this and your previous post. 29392 is not a TF number but a General Service number issued in 1916. The fact he does not have a six digit number means he was not serving in a TF unit when the TF was renumbered in March 1917. Most casualties in the 293** series were serving in either the 1st or 10th Battalion. Alarm bells rang when you said he was in Malta suffering from Dysentery and Enteric fever, if he was serious enough to be evacuated from the Peninsula it is unlikely he would have been returned to his unit. The record of 23935 Smith probably provides a parallel to the service of your man. Pte Cecil Hill Smith age 21, a resident of Manor Park joined the 1/6th Bn Essex Regiment on 23 November 1914 at West Ham and was allocated the number 4065. He embarked Devonport on 24 July 1915. On the 6th December 1915 he was admitted to Hospital in Alexandria 'post-dysentery & enteritis severe'. He was repatriated to the UK in January 1916 and while recovering was posted to the 3rd Line TF unit. On recovery, and by now the Military Service Act was in force, he was posted to the 3rd (Reserve or Depot) Bn when he was renumbered 29395. He was sent to France on the 28th November 1916 where he joined the 10th Battalion in the field on the 11th December 1916. Although irrelevant to your man to complete Cecil's story he was wounded on 30 March 1918 and repatriated to the UK again. He was 'disembodied' on the 16th March 1919. I am not saying this was an exact parallel to your man but had Pte Rankin still been serving with the 1/6 Bn in Palestine in March 1917 he would have been renumbered in the TF series 275001 - 300000, i.e. a six digit number. The medal rolls on Ancestry show Ptes. Rankin and Smith landed in Gallipoli the same day and they are both in a group who were in the 1/6th renumbered in the 293** series. The Roll for the 14- 15 Star is entitled '1914-1915 Stars Essex R 11th 13th 15th -17th & 1st Gr Bns and "C" Roll I think this group come under the "C" section, unfortunately I can't help with what "C" means although as the Roll is dated January 1920 he had been disembodied by then (perhaps Convalescent?) Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigwhammer Posted 3 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 3 January , 2015 Wow, Ken - thanks, that's brilliant but throws me back more or less to square 2! The only war-time records my family has of George Rankin are the transcription of a letter he wrote from hospital in Malta (to an unknown addressee) and two photos in uniform - from which the kind people here on the Forum were able to identify his Regiment and service numbers, also providing links to his medal card and the relevant medal rolls. See here: He was only a lad of 16 when he landed on Gallipoli and the letter from hospital only covers (in very brief terms) his experiences there - I imagine the recipient would have already known a good deal about his previous life - and unfortunately I know next to nothing about the rest of his life, apart from the facts that he met and married my grandmother and died in 1929 when my mother was a baby and her elder brother a toddler. My grandmother, who was a nurse, always adamantly believed that his premature demise was a direct result of his military service, but the WO would have none of it. Given what you know about Pte Smith I imagine George must also have returned to Britain once well enough to travel, but probably what went on with him between the end of September 1915 and his "Disembodiment" in 1919 will remain speculation only (as it would too, even if he had returned to his unit). Many thanks again and if anything else occurs to you, I'd love to hear from you. Cheers Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 4 January , 2015 Admin Share Posted 4 January , 2015 Probably best to continue this on the original thread and lock this one as it's no longer about Palestine Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigwhammer Posted 4 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 4 January , 2015 Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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