Mark Hone Posted 10 February , 2003 Share Posted 10 February , 2003 I am trying to obtain a picture of this officer, the CO of 8th Inniskilling Fusiliers who was killed in August 1917 and is buried at Brandhoek NMC near to Chavasse. He was the most decorated ex-pupil of Bury Grammar School to die in the Great War. He was a teacher at Christ's Hospital School before the war. The school in Horsham has a painting of him and offered to photograph it for me but at a price! Unfortunately I don't get down that way very often but if any forum member has links with the school or knows another source for this picture or a photo of Boardman I would be very appreciative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 10 February , 2003 Author Share Posted 10 February , 2003 Sorry, his rank should be Lt-Col. of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 10 February , 2003 Share Posted 10 February , 2003 Missed an important bit Mark - its not far from Gatwick - perhaps someone will have time to kill this spring/summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian.rogers573@ntlworld.com Posted 31 January , 2006 Share Posted 31 January , 2006 Hi Am unable to help with a photo but have an extract from the 8th Inniskillings war diary whichshows the report of the day and time of Lt.Col Boardmans wounding and subsequent death. The orders issued by the Colonel for the battle of Messines dated 4/6/17 I also have a copy, is this of any help to you? It seems strange that you are looking for photos of the C.O. and I looking for photos of my grandfather, William Afred McGuigan a private soldier of the 8th. Having visited the Enniskilling museum and spent a day in the archives no photos of the 8th are held there, but the other 12 battalions are represented. Not knowing the Colonels history is it possible that he was moved from one Battalion to another and this old Battalion could show him? Best of luck in your endeavours. Regards Ian Rogers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 27 September , 2009 Share Posted 27 September , 2009 Hello Ian I have a soldier on my war memorial who died the same day as Lt Col Boardman, and I'd be interested to see the war diary. Mark: we corresponded about this many years ago - did you ever pinpoint the trench Boardman was killed in? More importantly, did you get your picture? Best Simon Hi Am unable to help with a photo but have an extract from the 8th Inniskillings war diary whichshows the report of the day and time of Lt.Col Boardmans wounding and subsequent death. The orders issued by the Colonel for the battle of Messines dated 4/6/17 I also have a copy, is this of any help to you? It seems strange that you are looking for photos of the C.O. and I looking for photos of my grandfather, William Afred McGuigan a private soldier of the 8th. Having visited the Enniskilling museum and spent a day in the archives no photos of the 8th are held there, but the other 12 battalions are represented. Not knowing the Colonels history is it possible that he was moved from one Battalion to another and this old Battalion could show him? Best of luck in your endeavours. Regards Ian Rogers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 18 January , 2012 Share Posted 18 January , 2012 I have a couple of pages of the war diary for the 8th that pinpoint Boardman's death at the Regimental Aid Post at Potizje Chateau at 12.45am on the morning of the 5/8/17 and the battalion HQ where he was wounded was at Lancer Farm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 18 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 18 January , 2012 Fantastic-I'd be interested to see those. I might incorporate these sites into my 'mini-Ypres' tour with a small group of battlefield tour veterans in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 18 January , 2012 Share Posted 18 January , 2012 Still feeling my way with resizing pics - these are coming out a bit small. Cheers Simon Apologies for not replying to you Ian - hope these pages correspond with the material you have. Simon On 28/09/2009 at 05:17, Simon_Fielding said: Hello Ian I have a soldier on my war memorial who died the same day as Lt Col Boardman, and I'd be interested to see the war diary. Mark: we corresponded about this many years ago - did you ever pinpoint the trench Boardman was killed in? More importantly, did you get your picture? Best Simon <!--quoteo(post=390286:date=Jan 31 2006, 01:16 PM:name=ian rogers)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ian rogers @ Jan 31 2006, 01:16 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=390286"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hi Am unable to help with a photo but have an extract from the 8th Inniskillings war diary whichshows the report of the day and time of Lt.Col Boardmans wounding and subsequent death. The orders issued by the Colonel for the battle of Messines dated 4/6/17 I also have a copy, is this of any help to you? It seems strange that you are looking for photos of the C.O. and I looking for photos of my grandfather, William Afred McGuigan a private soldier of the 8th. Having visited the Enniskilling museum and spent a day in the archives no photos of the 8th are held there, but the other 12 battalions are represented. Not knowing the Colonels history is it possible that he was moved from one Battalion to another and this old Battalion could show him? Best of luck in your endeavours. Regards Ian Rogers.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> page 2 of 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 19 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 19 January , 2012 Thanks, Simon. By the way, I did get my picture of Boardman, courtesy of Christ's Hospital School. I must admit that I'd always assumed that he made it as far as the Casualty Clearing Station as he is buried at Brandhoek. His death at the Aid Post does fit more with the story in his obituary that one of his former pupils, now an officer in the same battalion, was with him at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 19 January , 2012 Share Posted 19 January , 2012 Great picture - really evokes what the biography suggests: a man dedicated to the service of others.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 It seems the battalion chaplain was the famous Father William Doyle SJ MC - do you think this extract from his diary refers to Col Boardman's fatal wounding? All the time we were pushing on steadily. Suddenly the storm burst. The enemy's guns had opened fire with a crash. I can but describe the din by asking you to start together fifty first-class thunder-storms. On we hurried, when right before us the Hun started to put down a heavy barrage, literally a curtain of shells. In the darkness I stumbled across a huge shell-hole crater. Into it we rolled and lay on our faces while shells burst on every side. We reached Headquarters, a strong blockhouse made of concrete and iron rails, a masterpiece of German cleverness. From time to time, all during the night, the enemy gunners kept firing at our shelter, having the range to a nicety. Scores exploded within a few feet of it, shaking us till our bones rattled, and one burst near the entrance, nearly blowing us over, but doing no harm, thanks to the scientific construction of the passage. The following morning, though the Colonel and other officers pressed me very much to remain with them, on the ground that I would be more comfortable, I felt I could do better work at the advanced dressing-station, or rather aid-post, and went and joined the doctor. The following night a shell again burst at the entrance to the block-house, but this time exploded several boxes of rockets which had been left at the door. A mass of flame and smoke rushed into the dug-out, severely burning some, and almost suffocating all, fifteen in number. You can imagine what I felt as I saw all my friends carried off to hospital, possibly to suffer ill-effects for life. I was delighted to find a tiny ammunition store which I speedily converted into a chapel, building an altar with the boxes. I had to be both priest and acolyte, and, in a way, I was not sorry. I could not stand up, so I was able for once to offer the Holy Sacrifice on my knees. It is strange that out here a desire I have long cherished should be gratified —namely, to be able to celebrate alone, taking as much time as I wished, and not inconveniencing anyone. I spent a good part of the day, when not occupied with the wounded, wandering round the battle-field with a spade to bury stray dead. Though there was not very much infantry-fighting, owing to the state of the ground, not for a moment during the week did the artillery duel cease, reaching at times a pitch of unimaginable intensity. We counted once fifty shells, big chaps too, whizzing over our little nest in sixty seconds, not counting those which burst close by. I have walked about for hours at a time getting through my work with "crumps" of all sizes bursting in dozens on every side. from http://goodjesuitbadjesuit.blogspot.com/2010/06/fr-william-doyle-sj-chaplian-of-battle.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 31 March , 2012 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2012 Following all the Excellent information I have received from Pals about him, I shall be including several sites associated with Boardman on my October school tour. We now know that he died at the Potijze Chateau Aid Post after being wounded at Lancer Farm. Why then did he end up buried at Brandhoek not one of the Potijze burial grounds? Would they have taken him to a CCS if he was already dead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 31 March , 2012 Share Posted 31 March , 2012 Headstone can be seen Here Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 31 March , 2012 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2012 Thanks-i've visited his grave on several occasions both privately and with my school tour parties. It's nice to see him commemorated on that website. Unfortunately it repeats the spelling mistake from the CWGC register entry: 'Ratcliffe' should be Radcliffe. Incidentally I discovered that his wife's maiden name appears to have been Boardman. I haven't researched this but assume that she might well have been a cousin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpf1958 Posted 31 July , 2015 Share Posted 31 July , 2015 Does anyone have any information on the service record of Lieutenant ColonelThomas Henry Boardman, DSO, prior to taking command of the 8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers? Thanks. Wilhelm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 31 July , 2015 Share Posted 31 July , 2015 Does anyone have any information on the service record of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Henry Boardman, DSO, prior to taking command of the 8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers? Thanks. Wilhelm Wilhelm, Lt.-Col. T.H. Boardman, D.S.O. was educated at Huish Grammar School in Taunton, then served in Christ's Hospital O.T.C., and was for a long time in the Auxiliary Forces before taking command of the 8th Battalion R.I.F. He died of his wounds 5.8.1917. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 31 July , 2015 Author Share Posted 31 July , 2015 There have been several threads about this officer, most of them started by me. Unfortunately, the biographical details given in Post #2, above, are slightly inaccurate. Born in Lancashire in 1877, he was actually educated at Bury Grammar School and was an original member of our school cadet force (still going strong) when it was founded in 1892. He won a County Council scholarship to read Natural Sciences at Peterhouse, Cambridge, gaining his BA in 1897. He was a science teacher at Huish Grammar School, not a pupil, and Blair Lodge School in Scotland before moving to Christ's Hospital School, Horsham in 1902. There, he was a House Master and was involved in the formation of its Officer Training Corps (OTC), as mentioned above, becoming its Commanding Officer in 1909. Several former cadets volunteered to serve alongside him when he took up a commission in the Royal Fusiliers at the outbreak of war. He transferred to the Inniskillings in 1916. He was the highest ranking old boy of Bury Grammar School to die in the Great War. We have visited his grave on several of our school battlefield tours. I have a lot of biographical detail about him, including details of his earlier military service, if you PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 29 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 29 July , 2016 Reviving this old thread, I plan to include Colonel Boardman's story in detail on my 2017 tour, visiting Lancer Farm and Poitijze Chateau as well as his grave at Brandhoek. For various reasons, it did not prove possible on the 2012 tour which I mention in an earlier post. I have subsequently discovered that his wife was his first cousin through both his mother and father, as two Boardman brothers had married two Wood sisters. It would be interesting if it could be confirmed whether the account by Father Doyle does indeed describe the incident in which Colonel Boardman was fatally wounded. Looking at the excellent Trench Map Grid Reference Converter it appears that the original Lancer Farm was a bit nearer the main road than the modern incarnation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 30 July , 2016 Share Posted 30 July , 2016 I don't know the book, but this 2013 biography of Doyle seems well informed in the military context https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worshipper-Worshipped-Across-Chaplain-1915-1917/dp/1908336862 The 'search inside' function seems to have two refs to THB as a Major during a gas attack at Hulluch in April 1916... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 30 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 30 July , 2016 (edited) Thanks, I'll look into that book (literally). Edited 1 March , 2020 by Mark Hone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 31 July , 2016 Share Posted 31 July , 2016 Any relation to the Boardman family of How Hill in Norfolk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 31 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 31 July , 2016 Not as far as I know-these Boardmans all hail from the northwest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 31 July , 2016 Share Posted 31 July , 2016 Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 1 August , 2017 Author Share Posted 1 August , 2017 T.H. Boardman has been added to our Centenary Roll of Honour in time for the 100th anniversary of his death: http://bgsarchive.co.uk/authenticated/Browse.aspx?SectionID=164&tableName=ta_boys_rollofhonour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 28 February , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 February , 2020 Colonel Boardman is one of four former pupils of Bury Grammar School featured in an exhibition at the Fusilier Museum in Bury which can be seen until the autumn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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