Iggy Posted 15 February , 2009 Share Posted 15 February , 2009 Mine is the colour patch of the 42nd Infantry Battalion, First AIF. In honour of my Gt GT Uncle 2042 Pte Mark Button 3 Reinforcements / 42nd Battalion AIF. A potted history of the 42nd: 42nd Battalion The 42nd Battalion was raised at Enoggera, on the outskirts of Brisbane, in December 1915 and became part of the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Australian Division. Due to sharing its numeric title with the famous Scottish regiment the Black Watch, the battalion became known as the “Australian Black Watch”. This association was recognised with a bagpipe band. After training in Australia and Britain, the 42nd deployed to France on 26 November 1916 and entered the frontline for the first time on 23 December. The winter of 1916–17 was horrendous, and the 42nd spent much of it in the front line, the remainder being spent alternating between training and labouring in the rear areas. In 1917, the operations of the 3rd Division were focussed on the Ypres sector of Belgium. The 42nd participated in major battles at Messines on 7 June, Warneton on 31 July, Broodseinde on 4 October, and Passchendaele on 12 October. Even though the battalion was in a reserve role, the battle of Passchendaele proved particularly costly. It lost over a third of its strength, principally from German gas attacks, and trench foot caused by the sodden condition of the battlefield. Belgium remained the scene of the 42nd Battalion’s activities for the next five months as it was rotated between service in the rear areas and the front line. When the German Army launched its last great offensive in March 1918, the battalion was rushed south to France and played a role in blunting the drive towards the vital railway junction of Amiens. On 4 July 1918, the 42nd took part in the battle of Hamel and captured all of its objectives with only three fatal casualties – demonstrating what a well-planned and supported attack could achieve. The Allies launched their own offensive on 8 August 1918, and the 42nd played an active role both in the initial attack and the long advance that followed. This advance, though, sapped the strength of the AIF. On 20 September 1918 the 42nd was ordered to disband to provide reinforcements for other battalions. Its men mutinied winning the Battalion a temporary reprieve. It fought its last battle – St Quentin Canal – between 29 September and 2 October. On 2 October the order to disband was once again issued. The men still disobeyed, but pressure from the AIF hierarchy eventually forced compliance. The 42nd Battalion was disbanded on 22 October 1918. Mark Button was wounded twice in 1917, in February while on raiding activities and in July on the Warneton Stunt, both times suffering gun shot wounds. He fought in some of the big battles including Broodseinde, Hamel and the assault on the Hindenberg Line. He survived the war and still had shell splinters exiting his body in the 1930's. Mark died in 1971 and is buried in the Murrundi Cemetery, NSW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPAE Posted 15 February , 2009 Share Posted 15 February , 2009 Dad. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilEvans Posted 15 February , 2009 Share Posted 15 February , 2009 Mines now the Shropshire Cow of the Muller Yoghurt adverts. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-ted Posted 16 February , 2009 Share Posted 16 February , 2009 Bristols Own Memorial Cross. Interesting thread! Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 16 February , 2009 Share Posted 16 February , 2009 Currently gorgeous, pouting Betty Marsden. Aka Dame Celia Volestrangler........many men...many, many men...many, many, many men... I'll change it when I get bored. maybe to ageing juvenile Binky Huckaback,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryn_Hammond Posted 16 February , 2009 Share Posted 16 February , 2009 Doh! Before Homer Simpson, there was the World's Greatest Scotsman* and Baldie, Jimmy Finlayson Bryn * No doubt it will now all kick off again with the Tayside WFA and the Black Watch because of this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theloft Posted 16 February , 2009 Share Posted 16 February , 2009 Mine is the regiment badges of my relatives who been killed during WW1 and in the Nimrod accident in Afghanistan! (In my signature below) Apart from the The buffs badge... thats my G Grandfather's regiment, he surived the war! Thats my avatar! Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPAE Posted 7 March , 2009 Share Posted 7 March , 2009 My Dad has moved aside for his brother Arthur. Uncle Arthur lived his whole life for horses, beer and fags. He lived with their widowed[twice] mother in Carbis Bay, St.Ives, and ran a riding school in Lelant. Aged 61 in 1955 he rode his 8 year old Chestnut mare Goldflake from Lands End to John O'Groat's over the course of a couple of months. He'd promised mother he'd do it after the war, but kept putting it off. I love the photograph for its vitality and Arthur's sash which gives him a gaucho look. However, he fell off three times and his health nosedived afterwards. I know he served in the War, possibly with Dad in the RGA, but nothing recorded. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesis Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 Mine is the medals and memorial plaque to Private Alexander Fisher 16th Royal Scots. Killed on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. The book by Jack Alexander, " McCraes Battalion " follows the operations by the 16th Royal Scots and is well worth a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 Currently mine is one of the greatest comic creations in English literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admssrchr11 Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 It's my grandfather, Sgt William Taylor Soutar, DCM, 13th Battalion, Royal Scots, who enlisted Jan 1, 1915 and was discharged Dec 14, 1918. His discharge states : He is discharged in consequence of being surplus to military requirements (Having suffered impairment since entry into the service) Para 392 (xy1a)KR. Would this have meant that he was possibly wounded? Would he been eligible for some kind of pension based on being wounded? Thanks Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longboat Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 Steven, Have you ever played a game of "Cutlets"? Mine at the moment is a sketch of the Vincent HRD Series A Rapide, also known as the "Snarling Beast." HRD are the initials of Lieutenant Howard Raymond Davies who served with the Royal Engineers and the RFC in the war. Got a thread at the moment about him elsewhere. Stuart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Hazell_Great_Grandson Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 Mine is Steve and Ali. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 18 March , 2009 Share Posted 18 March , 2009 Steven, Have you ever played a game of "Cutlets"? Not as such, but I am a believer in the Great Mogul. Yes, oh yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 25 March , 2009 Share Posted 25 March , 2009 I thought we were supposed to give up avatars for lent and/ or computer power? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie-Q Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 This is my Grandad, Arthur Rawlinson, who served with the QRWS, and who died 14 months before I was born. This was taken not long before he passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacM Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 My Grandfather, Francis Joseph MacMahon (or just 'Cobber' to his grandchildren), of the North Irish Horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinhat47 Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 The sappers of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 My Grandfather Arthur Hollingworth - somewhere in France or Belgium Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Kastner Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 My avatar represents the unit my great uncle served with. 89th Division, 177th Infantry Brigade, 341st Machine Gun Battalion, AEF The colors of the patch denote which battallion they were assigned, artillary, infantry, machine gun etc. I cannot remember all the specifics, but the segments created by the "W" were colored to indicated battallion. I could not find a sutible example to use an an avatar so I created this one myself... ...and after writing all that, I googled up the correct patch...there's a great description of how the patch was utilized to indicate unit and who the best was... http://www.asmic.org/asmic_v1/articles/cloth/89th.htm EDIT: Updated my avatar to represent the correct patch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebriggs Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 For the last year or so mine has been the picture of a wrecked car in a junk yard in a small town in Arizona that is on the old Route 66. It was over 15 years ago and we were driving from New Orleans back to Los Angeles trying to see a bit of small town America; a bit like the film 'cars' Just next to the 'Thunderbird Cafe' if I remember........................a great road trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piorun Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 I seek to honour those, including my father, who served in Polish Cavalry, indeed in all Polish forces figthing for fredom down through history, by using the emblem of 1st Polish Armoured Division and its 10th Armoured Reconnaisance Brigade, reconstituted in Scotland in 1940 under General Stanislaw Maczek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Connolly Posted 22 June , 2009 Share Posted 22 June , 2009 Is that emblem a Winged Hussar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piorun Posted 23 June , 2009 Share Posted 23 June , 2009 Is that emblem a Winged Hussar? Hello, Rob: It's a Winged Hussar's helmet in the circle with, obviously, the wings projecting upwards. I appreciate your interest. Antony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARRAS1917 Posted 23 June , 2009 Share Posted 23 June , 2009 Mine is the first memorial at vimy ridge April 1917 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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