Lieutenant Colonel S.F. Sharp, MC, C.de G., MID

[Dez]

Does anyone have a photograph of Lieut. Colonel S.F. Sharp, MC, C.de G., MID, of the Seaforth Highlanders. After WW1 he joined the Auxiliary Division of the R.I.C. as a Company Commander.

Dez.

[janecavell]

He's in a group photo of officers of The 9th Seaforth Highlanders in 'The Sword Of The North: Highland Memories Of The Great War', by Dugald MacEchern, according to this commercial site offering downloads for a fee. (NB he's listed there with double-barrelled surname Forbes-Sharp.)

[Dez]

He's in a group photo of officers of The 9th Seaforth Highlanders in 'The Sword Of The North: Highland Memories Of The Great War', by Dugald MacEchern, according to this commercial site offering downloads for a fee. (NB he's listed there with double-barrelled surname Forbes-Sharp.)

Thanks for that, poppy3, I see he is listed as a major, but I will follow it up.

Dez

[IPT]

http://www.archive.org/stream/warillustrat...ch/forbes+sharp

[IPT]

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[IPT]

BALL AS " REPRISAL."

COLONEL'S NOVEL SCHEME. DANCED WITH SINN FEIN A fancy dress ball, as a "reprisal," given by a company of the Auxiliary Police, under Colonel S. Forbes Sharp, stationed at Boyle (Ireland), has caused some amusement locally and has done much to disarm those of the inhabitants who are antagonistic to the so-called "Black and 'rails, says a London paper. The policy adopted is that mentioned by Mr Lloyd George in a letter to the Bishop of Chelmsford. The country around Boyle, he was told, was almost as bad as it could be. The roads frequently were blocked by tree trunks, but in the town itself "you would hardly know there was a war on." The only exciting thing that had happened recently was the fancy dress ball. "What with the auxiliary jazz band and the auxiliaries' piano and the costumes the young officers and cadets wore, it was a grand affair," said the colonel. "There has been nothing like it in Boyle for years." They showed him a lengthy report of the:' "Fancy Dress Ball Masque" in the local paper: — "The Black and Amber Jazz Band of the Ist Bedfords provided the music. Too much praise cannot be given to their wonderful performance. Even when daylight broke it was difficult to get either the dancers or the band to finish." "The affair of the fancy dress ball," Colonel Sharp soid, "was only one of my reprisals. The rebels in the district spend a great deal of time trying to persuade the inhabitants that we are a terrible lot of villains. We reply by entering into the social life of the town, and proving that we are not so black as we are tanned. We send our piano, which is the best in town, to anybody who wants it, and treat the people to a display of football on Sunday afternoons. At first, not a soul came to see us ; but now we have as near an approach to a cup-tie gate as one is likely to get in a small town in the wilds of Roscommon. "This fraternisation," the colonel went on, "reached the climax at the fancy dress ball, and led to at least one amusing incident. I had for partners in two dances a very handsome young lady in gypsy costume. She was unknown to me, and I to her. When masks were she was pointed out to me as the Sinn Fein leading lady of the town. — "She pretended to be very annoyed at having leant on the arm of the person in charge of the Auxiliaries, but I'm sure she wasn't really." The leader of the rebels in the district is an ex-R.I.C. constable, who was once, the correspondent was informed, champion prize-fighter in the force. He still retains his sporting instincts, and not long ago sent to Col. Sharp a challenge to an open fight on equal terms. "If you win," the letter went on, "we surrender and give up the fight in this area. If we win you are to evacuate from this area, and not to enter it except through a permit granted by the republican army. Trusting you will favour me with an early reply accepting the challenge. "(Signed) On behalf of the men on the run." . , As the man was obviously not in a position to guarantee the fulfilment of his conditions the challenge was not accepted, though most of the Auxiliaries at Boyle and elsewhere declared that they would only be too glad to finish the fight in open battle.

[Dez]

Hello ITP,

Thank you so much for the photographs and 'reprisal' story, I am familiar with the story but in a much briefer form. Stories like this one help to give a different slant on the Auxiliaries and those troubled times in Ireland.

Dez

[IPT]

I was looking at a casualty list for the Palestinian Police, as one does, and I knew this name rang a bell.

Many men who had served in Ireland seem to have followed the work over there.

http://www.policememorial.org.uk/Colonial_Police/Palestine/Palestine_Police_Roll.htm

[44fish22]

hi i would suggest that you look up a book from the regimental headquarters in which you will find a fascinating record of the seaforths.you will i am sure find some fascinating data on the seaforths and lieutenant colonel sharp.the details to apply to the regiment for this book are as follows. regimental h.q. queens own highlanders.and most importantly the isbn number is 0 9508986 0 0 printed by sunprint 36 tay street. perth. regards hartleyc