KRRC 18th Battalion (Arts & Crafts)

[JohnJo]

Forgive me if I am doing this incorrectly - It is my first posting.

My grandfather Thomas James Jones was killed on 31st July 1917 presumably with 18th battalion (Arts & Crafts) KRRC with Plumer's 2nd Army, X Corps, 41st Division, 122nd Brigade at Pilckem Ridge attacking Hollebeke?

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_detail...casualty=456713

I have the above cwgc record and a photograph but little else. The medal card just says he got the two standard medals for service soldiers but does not even record his death. I understand that soldiers in his part of the Voorerzele site were transfered there after the war from smaller gravesites.

I read with great interest the letters and account of the sixteen year old boy, Raymond F Smith, from the same battalion originally formed at Gidea Park in an earlier thread about the battalion in 2003 and have assumed that those experiences applied also to my grandfather. Can anyone tell me if his number R/24348 places him there in Gidea Park/Aldershot in 1915/16 during formation and training and posting to Flanders in 1916 or would he have joined the battalion later as a replacement?

I would also be pleased to find out any more about the 122nd's part in the attack on Hollebeke on 31st July 1917.

I also read the earlier thread about the reference to "Arts & Crafts". I understand that my grandfather was a cooper by profession before the war and had an interest in photography. Does that explain his invovement with this battalion?

Many thanks.

[JohnJo]

Sorry!

The sixteen year old boy was, of course, Albert French

http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/la/index.html

[Guest Crinken]

I am a newcomer to this site but my interest stems from several sources.

Firstly my grandfather Cpl F W Coe belonged to this battalion and was killed near Dickenbusche on Nov 11th 1916.

Secondly I lived in Gidea Park for 20 years or so from 1939 to 1960 and went to school at Hare Hall.

Finally I now live just a couple of miles away from Witley where the 18 KRRC did some of their advance training in early 1916. The area is now a NT common and all traces of the very large camp there have gone

I have a copy of an appeal from sir Herbert Raphael asking for volunteers for his new battalion. It was published in the EssexTimes in 1915

As it happens my grandfather was a skilled plasterer and could we have come under the umbrella of the "crafts" of the battalions subsidiary title. It may also explain, why at the age of nearly 39, he left his wife and three young teenage sons to go to war. As he lived no more than a couple of miles from Gidea Park he could have been working on the new estate.

Interestingly the battalion strength was just over 1000 when they landed but the was eroded over the next few months by casualties etc so that by the time in Sept 1916 when they took part in the attack on Flers Courcelette the trench strength was down to about 640. The total casualties in the attack were some 360 i.e. About 60% of the battalion. Probably the NCOS,s were hit hard and as a result grandfather was promoted to corporal. He was killed two months later, allegedly by a sniper, probably Ic a wiring party.

His records survived the blitz and make interesting reading.

The 18th batt. Suffered badly and I think had nearly 1000 killed throughout the war as a whole according to cwgc records.

[MBrockway]

Can anyone tell me if his number R/24348 places him there in Gidea Park/Aldershot in 1915/16 during formation and training and posting to Flanders in 1916 or would he have joined the battalion later as a replacement?

The Service Number range C/6001 to C/7999 was reserved for the original establishment of 18th Service Battalion, KRRC (Arts & Crafts), while the R/xxxxxx prefixes generally (but not always) signify the men volunteering for the Kitchener New Army battalions - 7th - 13th battalions.

That said, there are plenty of examples of men with R/xxxx prefixes in the original establishments of the higher numbered battalions, so his R/24368 Service Number does not exclude this.

I will check my notes to see if we can infer his approximate enlistment date and get back to you.

Cheers,

Mark

[MBrockway]

The battalion's Arts & Crafts moniker may be misleading - it refers to the ideals of The Arts & Crafts Movement rather than being designed to cater for artists and craftsmen with a small 'a' and a small 'c'.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement

The difficulty comes in the fact that many men interested in that Movement would also have been practising artists and craftsmen whose beliefs aligned with the social and political principles of the Movement!

Further confusion arises since - unlike the Church Lads Brigade (linked to 16/KRRC) - this was always a loose confederation rather than a card-carrying organisation with formal membership and it was a broad church ranging from the practical work of William Morris's Kelmscott operations, and Ashbee's Guild and School of Handicraft, originally in the East End, through to the socialist theorising of Ruskin, Crane and of course Morris, and the Garden City movement, with which Sir Herbert Raphael, the liberal MP and founder of 18/KRRC, was heavily involved.

So, Crinken, your grandfather's political beliefs are just as likely to be the reason he opted for 18/KRRC as his trade as a craftsman plasterer, but both may be relevant!

[wbremner]

The battalion's Arts & Crafts moniker may be misleading - it refers to the ideals of The Arts & Crafts Movement rather than being designed to cater for artists and craftsmen with a small 'a' and a small 'c'.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement

The difficulty comes in the fact that many men interested in that Movement would also have been practising artists and craftsmen whose beliefs aligned with the social and political principles of the Movement!

MBrockway, could I ask for your assistance with some 18/KRRC related questions in the following topic?This is regarding the tracking of SL and FSL Smith's service in the Sportsman's Battalions, 18/KRRC, and Irish Guards.

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=225103&hl=

Thanks,

WB