Looking for information on the role of a batman

[amelialongcroft]

Hello all,

I understand that a batman was an officer's servant, but can anyone point me towards more specific information about this role? Would an ordinary soldier serving as someone's batman undertake ordinary military duties alongside other rank and file soldiers, or did he spend his entire time at his officer's side?

The husband of one of my great aunts was batman to Captain Sir Robert Filmer of the 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards - Filmer was hit by shrapnel in January 1916 and died from his wounds a couple of days later, but his batman survived the war (and there's rather a sad post-war story attached).

Just looking for some general background information, but web searches on "batman" inevitably come up with 8 million comic book hero results!

Any info would be gratefully received

[Copper6197]

Hi there;

I am surprised that no one has replied to this post as yet. You are correct when you say that "batmen" were officers' servants. The term batman appears between the wars (according to Wikipedia).. During the First war, batmen were referred to as simply "officer's servants"

In regards to your man, he most likely would have had his own batman. Officers of lower rank in the British Army would generally share a batman. Because your man was of higher rank and knighted (if what you say is correct) than he would have his own.

Again, according to Wikipedia, the rank would have been Lance Corporal or Corporal and it would be a desireable position to attain. Better rations and accomodations come first to mind. I don't believe that actual fighting at the front would be done by the batman, but I guess it depends upon how close to the front the officer found himself.

I Googled "Army Officer's servant" to find this information. Perhaps some of the Forum Members could supply some more first hand information if they have it.

Best of luck searching...

George

[amelialongcroft]

Hi there;

I am surprised that no one has replied to this post as yet. You are correct when you say that "batmen" were officers' servants. The term batman appears between the wars (according to Wikipedia).. During the First war, batmen were referred to as simply "officer's servants"

In regards to your man, he most likely would have had his own batman. Officers of lower rank in the British Army would generally share a batman. Because your man was of higher rank and knighted (if what you say is correct) than he would have his own.

Again, according to Wikipedia, the rank would have been Lance Corporal or Corporal and it would be a desireable position to attain. Better rations and accomodations come first to mind. I don't believe that actual fighting at the front would be done by the batman, but I guess it depends upon how close to the front the officer found himself.

I Googled "Army Officer's servant" to find this information. Perhaps some of the Forum Members could supply some more first hand information if they have it.

Best of luck searching...

George

Excellent information George, thank you for this: I should have thought of googling "Army Officer's servant"!

The man in question was a Private (Frederick James Lillywhite - I have his MIC), and he had served as Filmer's valet before the war, so he wasn't a soldier appointed to the task. I'll be looking up Lillywhite's service record at the NA when I can (hoping that the Grenadier Guards' records weren't amongst the burnt ones). According to my sources Lillywhite returned to Blighty after Filmer's death and was eventually discharged from the army.

Although he was one of the lucky ones in surviving the war, I'm afraid he rather went to pieces after Filmer's death and there was a protracted dispute with Filmer's brother-in-law, the MP Arthur Stanley Wilson, over an alleged promise Filmer made to provide for Lillywhite and his family in the event of his death.

Thanks again for your reply

[nhclark]

I think that this is the site to which George refers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahayak

Noel

[Ian Robertson]

I think that in the case of a front line officer his batman or servant was involved in the fighting as much as the next man although he may be excused some of the other duties while attending to his officer.

The following account may be of interest to you. It is from Lyn Macdonald's book "Somme" and is the account of William Jackman of the 3rd and 4th Coldstream guards.

"I was Captain Morrison’s servant. He was a multi millionaire and used to pay for a lot of the stuff that came into the officers’ mess. Before we went to France in 1915 I had to go to Fortnum and Mason’s and had to arrange for what you might call tuck boxes to be sent out to the battalion regularly. Then I had to go to Berry’s the wine merchant and place an order with them- a bottle of 1900 port to be sent to us every three days and cases of whisky and brandy. They used to arrive marked with a red cross. Medical comforts!

By the time we went down to the Somme Captain Morrison had left the battalion but he never cancelled the order and the stuff kept coming. It used to arrive in batches and sometimes we would have as many as a dozen boxes from Fortnum and Mason’s arriving at the same time. There were boxes of tinned stuff mostly, things like gelatine of chicken, soups, pudding, tins of fruit, tins of grouse and pheasant, ham-everything you could think of for the officers mess. We used to have that much stuff we couldn’t cart it about with us, so we had to make dumps here and there. Often we didn’t go back to the same place so there must have been some farmhouses that did very well from us.

After Captain Morrison left to go back to England, Lord Henry Seymour who was our commanding officer asked me to go into the officer’s mess on the catering staff. That suited me. It was a good job with plenty of perks. We were living like lords and I wasn’t looking for promotion, believe me! When the battalion went up the line on 9th September I went up with the battalion headquarters to look after the officers. We had a cook when we were out at rest but he didn’t come with us into the line. I used to take up soup cubes and dried eggs and make scrambled eggs for the Colonel and officers at H.Q. and before we went up I made up four sandbags, one for each company to take into the line to feed the company officers. They couldn’t do any cooking there, so they were filled with tinned stuff and a bottle of whisky, a bottle of brandy and one of port.

Battalion headquarters was in a shell hole- a huge shell hole. You could put a bus in it. of course we were a bit to the rear of the companies and that saved us although when they started throwing shells and stuff you had to take it the same as the rest"

regards

Ian

[amelialongcroft]

Thank you Ian: the Lyn Macdonald extract is indeed interesting and helps to give a sense of what Fred's duties might have involved.

I was also intrigued to read a touching anecdote in Malcolm Brown's IWM Book of the Western Front about Lieutenant Alan Lloyd of the RFA and his servant, one Gunner Manning. When Lloyd was killed on the Somme, "Manning made a rough cross from the wood of an ammunition box and scoured an epitaph on it: 'He Died as he Lived / Brave and Fearless / A True British Hero' and put it on Lloyd's temporary grave. The cross was later retrieved by his family, who preserved it over the years, finally donating it to the Imperial War Museum. When a permanent headstone was erected by the IWGC the first two phrases of Manning's tribute were engraved on it, though the family clearly drew the line at claiming him a true British hero." (p.197)

In the case of Filmer and his servant, Fred, they had been together for some years before the war and I believe there was a strong bond between them: according to Fred, Filmer had promised that he would not be expected to travel overseas (Fred did not want to be parted from his wife), but nonetheless they travelled extensively together before the war, Filmer having been ordered abroad on the advice of his doctor. As I mentioned previously, Fred - who was of good character before the war - seems to have gone to pieces after Filmer's death. Arthur Stanley Wilson, Filmer's brother-in-law, helped to set Fred up in business as a grocer after the war, but evidently the business failed and Fred fell on hard times. In the mid 1920s Fred was bound over to keep the peace twice following two incidents in which he threatened Wilson with a revolver and sent Wilson a letter threatening to burn the family mansion down if he did not honour the promise Fred claimed that Filmer had made to him before he died. Of course there was no evidence of this promise in Filmer's will. In press reports of the case Wilson appeared to be sympathetic towards Fred, despite the threats, and acknowledged his faithful service to Filmer, particularly in caring for him during his last days (he died in hospital at Merville on 27 January 1916).

Thanks Noel for the wikipedia link. You've all been a great help, as always!

[Hambo]

Couldn't resist adding another example of how the officer's servant served alongside their officer in most circumstances

Riflemen George Head of the 18th Londons died of wounds on the 26th of September 1915 at Loos

His officer (to whom he was acting servant) wrote; “He was a splendid little fellow. Absolutely without fear and the cheeriest man in the company. He was at my side as we left the front line trench for the attack on Loos, and he fell very early in the charge.”

[amelialongcroft]

Couldn't resist adding another example of how the officer's servant served alongside their officer in most circumstances

Riflemen George Head of the 18th Londons died of wounds on the 26th of September 1915 at Loos

His officer (to whom he was acting servant) wrote; "He was a splendid little fellow. Absolutely without fear and the cheeriest man in the company. He was at my side as we left the front line trench for the attack on Loos, and he fell very early in the charge."

Hambo, what a touching quote. Very helpful to know that officers' servants did normally serve alongside their officer: thank you.

[Waffenlandser]

The batman or servant was responsible in taking care of the officer's comforts and needs. Many officers came from extremely wealthy homes and were accustomed to their "man" or butler. The batman was responsible for the upkeep of their charge's valise or clothing suitcase. The valise contained spare uniforms, toiletries and other home comforts. In the event of the officer's death, the batman would send the valise home and inform the family of the circumstances of death. The batman would almost always accompanny his officer into battle.

[Copper6197]

Hello again:

I knew once things got going that other Forum members could fill in some blanks on this string. I think that we are all a bit wiser now and have a little more insight into the batman role. You have all related some really touching anecdotal evidence regarding the relationship of the batman to his officer, his dedication, his loyalty, and bravery, and his humanity.

On all, to the next topic!

[Ron Clifton]

Hello all

A couple of final points:

War Establishments 1914, which laid down the manpower, horse-power and transport of every type of field unit, says:

"Batmen are fully armed and trained soldiers and are available to serve in the ranks"

This confirms also that the title batman was in official, as well as unofficial use, before 1914.

According to the same source, EVERY officer with field units had his own batman, and those with a horse were allowed a second one as groom. It is possible that later in the war junior officers shared a batman, but not in 1914.

Ron

[RFT]

In the case of the RAF, 47 Squadron (1919/1920) in particular, the role of Batman fell to the ranks of Aircraftman 2nd Class, the majority of whom had only been in the force for a matter of months.

Rob