tstewa Posted 9 May , 2012 Share Posted 9 May , 2012 Were the Kite Ballon sections part of the RFC/RAF or were they part of Artillery units etc..... My Great Granndfather apparently was in the Kite Balloon section and was in France and Belgium for 3 1/2 years Sadly i dont have any other details than that, he survived the war. I have posted before to see if anyone one could locate him but no luck. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 9 May , 2012 Share Posted 9 May , 2012 Were the Kite Ballon sections part of the RFC/RAF or were they part of Artillery units etc..... My Great Granndfather apparently was in the Kite Balloon section and was in France and Belgium for 3 1/2 years Sadly i dont have any other details than that, he survived the war. I have posted before to see if anyone one could locate him but no luck. Thanks They were part of the RFC/RAF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstewa Posted 9 May , 2012 Author Share Posted 9 May , 2012 Thanks Centurion Do you know are theyre service records etc in the Archives or held by the RAF museum???? They were part of the RFC/RAF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 10 May , 2012 Share Posted 10 May , 2012 Thanks Centurion Do you know are theyre service records etc in the Archives or held by the RAF museum???? Can't answer that but will be held wherever all other RAF WW1 service records are/were held. No doubt some of our redoubtable tracers of men will be able to answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstewa Posted 10 May , 2012 Author Share Posted 10 May , 2012 Thanks for our help Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 10 May , 2012 Admin Share Posted 10 May , 2012 This article from the WFA magazine gives a good account http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/weapons-equipment-uniform/313-ob-bal-west.html You will see that, for a brief time the Kite Balloons were organised in much the same way as the other flying arms i.e. both RNAS and, as noted above RFC/RAF. So there is an outside possibility he was in the Navy. The RFC was Army and therefore he may appear in the online Medal Index Cards. As you haven't shared his name or rank assuming he was an enlisted man demobilised before 1922. The TNA has published a guide to finding RFC airmen http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/royalflyingcorpsairmen.htm and related guide for the RAF post 1918 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/airmanraf.htm The RNAS records are also at TNA and there are separate guides for researching officers. There is a photo of a section in the online Flight magazine taken at the Training school at Roehampton. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1915/1915%20-%200487.html [Google is your friend!]. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 10 May , 2012 Share Posted 10 May , 2012 This article from the WFA magazine gives a good account http://www.westernfr...b-bal-west.html You will see that, for a brief time the Kite Balloons were organised in much the same way as the other flying arms i.e. both RNAS and, as noted above RFC/RAF. So there is an outside possibility he was in the Navy. The RFC was Army and therefore he may appear in the online Medal Index Cards. As you haven't shared his name or rank assuming he was an enlisted man demobilised before 1922. The TNA has published a guide to finding RFC airmen http://www.nationala...corpsairmen.htm and related guide for the RAF post 1918 http://www.nationala...n/airmanraf.htm The RNAS records are also at TNA and there are separate guides for researching officers. There is a photo of a section in the online Flight magazine taken at the Training school at Roehampton. http://www.flightglo...20-%200487.html [Google is your friend!]. Ken I think that the RNAS did not operate kite balloons in France for very long so that if your man did 2½ years he'd be RFC/RAF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john-g Posted 10 May , 2012 Share Posted 10 May , 2012 If you know your grandfathers service number you can look him up in AIR79 on line, if you only have his name then it gets a bit harder but if could be worth looking for a medal card to if they list his number. Try posting his name on this site some one might beable to help. john-g www.66squadron.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstewa Posted 10 May , 2012 Author Share Posted 10 May , 2012 Thanks guys for your help. Unfortunatley I dont have any details on his service number, rank or unit. His name was Alexander Stuart (it may have been spelt Stewart also) and he was born in Edinburgh but was living in Carluke in 1915. Apparently my Uncle has a picture of him in uniform but Im struggling to get a copy from him. Thanks for pointing me toward the information Thanks again Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 13 May , 2012 Admin Share Posted 13 May , 2012 There is a medal card for an Alexander Stewart Pte 2363 Gordon Highlanders (4 digits suggests he may have been local if it helps). He was Pte 129297 RFC and entered theatre France and Flanders 10/5/1915 (which gives him 3 years +). The 15 Star is on the RFC roll RFC/5C Page 415 Can't find another with the spelling variant or Stewart. That might help with your search as at post 8 Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstewa Posted 13 May , 2012 Author Share Posted 13 May , 2012 Thanks Ken That sure does seem like a pretty good or close match, it sure gives me somewhere to look into. We know he definitly was in France, as there is a couple of embroided cards he sent my Grandmother but unfortunatley with no detail re: Service number etc and my Grans records mention Kite Balloon section I doubt thats something she wouldve made up... Thanks for looking into that for me, its a great place to start. Thanks again Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 15 May , 2012 Share Posted 15 May , 2012 The RAF record for this man can be found in AIR 29/1158/129297 (not digitised, can be seen at Kew) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 15 May , 2012 Admin Share Posted 15 May , 2012 The RAF record for this man can be found in AIR 29/1158/129297 (not digitised, can be seen at Kew) Think you'll find thats AIR79 not as per your typo As the OP is in Oz he'll need to get a quote from TNA http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-6861974&j=1 Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 15 May , 2012 Share Posted 15 May , 2012 Oops, yes. Don't know how I managed that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstewa Posted 16 May , 2012 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2012 Thanks Guys i will request a quote through TNA. Im assuming it would be his service or pension record? Im not sure if hes the right person but its sure worth the look. Thanks for the help Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 24 May , 2012 Share Posted 24 May , 2012 It's a service record, but they're not usually so detailed as army records, just two sides of a single sheet of paper (though you sometimes find original attestation papers annexed). This set of photos on Flickr is an example of what you might see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon01 Posted 5 February , 2015 Share Posted 5 February , 2015 I would like to know if this forum has any details on the Kite Balloon Wing based in Mont Rouge. How far from the front line were the kite balloons deployed to and were all balloons deployed from Mont Rouge or throughout the Western Front sector? My wife's great uncle in March 1916 was attached to the Royal Flying Corps. He was appointed to the command of No. 5 Kite Balloon Company (Sections 2, 25 & 34), 2nd Kite Balloon Wing. He also appears in the 3rd Battle of Ypres Orbat – 31.07.1917 (Passchendaele). Balloon Officer – Capt HM Meyler, MC from Adjutant. 26.06.1916 Flight Commander – 08.08, 1916 Capt HM Meyler, MC Border Regt, from Balloon Officer. Balloon Wing Commander.—Capt. (Temp. Major) H. M. Meyler, M.C., Bord.R., from a Coy Comdr. (graded as a Sqdn. Comdr.), and to be Temp. Lieut.-Col. while so employed ; Nov. 22nd.1917. The below list is extracted from AIR1/1214/204/5/2630 – Nominal Roll of R.F.C. Units (Overseas) With Lists of Officers and Aerial Gunners. Jan.1918. (More accurately Nov. 17 to Jan. 18). - 2nd Balloon Wing Headquarters. Lt.-Col. H.M. Meyler, M.C. Border Regiment. Wing Commander. Capt. C.B. Baker. Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Adjutant. Lt. G.R. Nicholson. R.F.C. (S.R.) A/E.O.2. 5th Balloon Company (2 & 25 Sections). 6th Balloon Company (16 & 32 Sections). 7th Balloon Company (15, 18, 36, 38 & 47 Sections). 8th Balloon Company (23 & 39 Sections). 11th Balloon Company (9 Section). 13th Balloon Company (3 & 4 Sections). 17th Balloon Company (13 Section). – Many thanks Gordon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nieuport11 Posted 5 February , 2015 Share Posted 5 February , 2015 The Balloon Sections operated close to the front line, as their job was to observe Allied and enemy gunfire and positions. They moved regularly as the line moved and their positions were identified usually by map pinpoint reference. They were linked by telephone to the various batteries in their area as well as the Company and Wing HQ Meyler was originally Wing Adjutant with 12th Army HQ He trained as a Balloon Officer and qualified 26.6.16 He left for France by sea with 23 Kite Balloon Section on 20.10.16 He subsequently served with 8 Balloon Co and 5 Balloon Co as Commander before becoming 2 Wing Commander There is a casualty report for him in the RAF Museum Archive: http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/?7000280119 when he descended by parachute from 3500' after being attacked by an enemy aircraft There are various files in the National Archives detailing the activities of the Sections, Companies and Wings The history of 2 Balloon Wing is in AIR 1/163/15/126/1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topgun1918 Posted 5 February , 2015 Share Posted 5 February , 2015 Meyler was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette number 29200) and the MC with the Middlesex Regiment (London Gazette number 29202). He subsequently transferred to the Border Regiment (see London Gazette number 29337). His service with the RFC/RAF was rewarded with the DSO (London Gazette number 31098), having been mentioned in Douglas Haig's Despatch of 8 November 1918 (continuation list in Gazette number 31089) and the Order of Leopold and Croix de Guerre avec Palme (London Gazette number 31457). Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon01 Posted 5 February , 2015 Share Posted 5 February , 2015 Thank you to both of you for this information, that fills in quite a few holes in my reserach. I requested his service record from the national archives which goes into more detail about his service history. from 1916 I'd like to know what happened in Curragh. That's in Ireland, though I think he was part of 12 Brigade. I then searched to find that 12 Brigade was in Curragh where there was an artillery unit, so it may well have been that following his air observation course, he went on to study artillery. I will definitely order the casualty report. 04.02.16 - 25 Squadron, Thetford – for course in air observation 04.02 to 28.02.16 Curragh – on appointment as Wing Adjutant 28.02.16 to 18.06.16 Roehampton – for instruction in balloons 18.06.16 to 26.06.16 Kite Balloon Training Depot – on appointment as Balloon Officer Balloon Officer – Capt HM Meyler, MC from Adjutant. 26.06.1916 26.06.16 to 08.08.16 Flight Commander – 08.08, 1916 Capt HM Meyler, MC Border Regt, from Balloon Officer. 08.08.16 to 21.10.16 From KBTD to 23 Kite Balloon Section 01.01.17 to 30.06.17 From 23 Kite Balloon Section to 8th Balloon Company – on appointment as Balloon Company Commander. 01.07.17 to 31.10.17 From 8th Balloon Company to 5th Balloon Wing on appointment as Balloon Wing Commander. Gordon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nieuport11 Posted 5 February , 2015 Share Posted 5 February , 2015 I think that last entry should be to 5 Balloon Company He was listed as 5 Balloon Co Commander on the September 1917 nominal roll He only became Wing Commander in November 1917, when he led 2 Wing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon01 Posted 9 February , 2015 Share Posted 9 February , 2015 Thanks very much for that, will make the necessary updates. I am none the wiser as to why he appears in a uniform of the Border Regt, particularly in which battalion (I had a look at the London Gazette 29337 and it has him down as a Special reserve from the Middx Regt). His service record only seems to start in Feb '16 when he was in Thetford. Does anyone on the forum have any ideas how I can go back another year in his service records or where to look? Cheers Gordon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topgun1918 Posted 9 February , 2015 Share Posted 9 February , 2015 Curious; the entries in the London Gazette relating to H M Meyler are: London Gazette number 27200, page 3633: The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), To be Second Lieutenants. Dated 5th May, 1900: — Second Lieutenant Hugh Mowbray Meyler, from 2nd Volunteer Battalion the Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry), and from Corporal, Imperial Yeomanry, in succession to Lieutenant W. C. C. Ash, promoted. London Gazette number 27200, page 5063: NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between the undersigned, Herbert Byard Sheppard and Hugh Mowbray Meyler carrying on business as Solicitors, at 8 Hammet-street, Taunton, under the style or firm of Sheppard and Meyler, has been dissolved by mutual consent as and from the 5th day of May 1900. All debts due to and owing by the said late firm will be received and paid by the said Herbert Byard Sheppard who will continue the said business.—Dated this 8th day of August, 1900. H. BYARD SHEPPARD. London Gazette number 27323, page 4003: The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), The promotions to the rank of Lieutenant of the undermentioned Second Lieutenants are antedated to 26th February, 1901, to complete establishment:— H. M. Meyler. London Gazette number 27523, page 846: The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), Lieutenant Hugh M. Meyler resigns his Commission. Dated 11th February, 1903. London Gazette number 27595, page 5600: RESERVE OF OFFICERS. Hugh Mowbray Meyler, Gent., late Lieutenant, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), to be Lieutenant. Dated 9th September, 1903. London Gazette number 28456, page 321: GENERAL RESERVE OF OFFICERS. Lieutenant Hugh M. Meyler. resigns his commission. Dated 14th January, 1911. I can then find no further mention of him until his Mention in Despatches in Gazette number 29200. Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierssc Posted 9 February , 2015 Share Posted 9 February , 2015 I wonder if there were two H.M.M.s, dad being a Solicitor, and son joining the army? In order to have been in partnership, he would have to have been a qualified solicitor and the length of time he would have had to spent training for that wouldn't necessarily tie in with a subsequent pre-GW army career. But you never know. If it is the same chap, there is a book which someone on the forum is bound to have with details of solicitors and articled clerks who served called "Record of service of solicitors and articled clerks with His Majesty's Forces 1914-1919: (+ supplement bound at back of volume) - see http://wv-tls.hostedbyfdi.net/webview/?oid=195858 . Also see http://tinyurl.com/o37c75s Cheers Piers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topgun1918 Posted 9 February , 2015 Share Posted 9 February , 2015 The entry in the "Record of Service..." reads:HUGH MOWBRAY MEYLER.Admitted Feb. 1898. Member of Sheppard & Meyler, of Taunton. Joined Sept. 16, 1914, as Capt., 5th Batt. Middlesex Regt., transferred to Border Regt. Oct. 1915, and to Royal Flying Corps March 1916, promoted Major June 1917, Lieut. -Colonel Nov. 1917. Twice mentioned in Dispatches. Awarded the M.C., D.S.O., Croix de Chevalier of the Order of Leopold (Belgian) and Belgian Croix de Guerre. Served in France, Belgium, and Germany. Gassed June 1915, wounded Oct. 1917, injured in parachute descent in Belgium Sept. 1918. Appears the Solicitor and the Army/RFC/RAF officer are one and the same person. Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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