Ernest Felmingham

[revdoc]

I am trying to find out about Ernest Felmingham who died in 1918 in France having been transferred to the MGC in August 1917. Prior to this his record states that he served with KRRC (Service number R39344). He was stationed on Diamond Island off the coast of Burma from 1916-1917. We know this because he painted a series of oil on board paintings of the island and these correspond to photos now available. However, KRRC was not in India after the start of the war and so I am wondering how we find out who he served with. Can anyone help? Revdoc

[Black Sapper]

R - King's Royal Rifle Corps. New Army men within the range R/1 to R/58003;

The Long Long Trail has all the New Army Battalions for KRRC listed - but that doesn't seem to help?

Go here & search for MOORE Thomas Richard - he served with 18th (London) Battalion (Territorial), Rifle Brigade. Accidentally drowned at Diamond Island, Burma, 15th November 1916.

http://www.roll-of-h...Massingham.html

and this ... from my favourite Long Long Trail .....

Battalions of the Territorial Force

18th (London); 19th (Western), 20th (Northern), 21st (Midland), 22nd (Wessex & Welsh), 23rd (North Western) and 24th (Home Counties) Battalions

Formed in accordance with an Army Council Instruction on 29 November 1915. The Bns were made up of supernumerary TF Companies, formed from National Reservists who were used for guarding vulnerable points in Great Britain. The Bns were posted for Garrison duty overseas in 1916. The 18th, 23rd and 24th went to India; 19th and 20th to Egypt. The 21st went to India via Egypt, and the 22nd Salonika via Egypt. The latter was attached to the 228th Brigade in 28th Division.

[sotonmate]

You may need to ask the KRRC Association or their Archives which unit(s) were at Diamond Island.

If your man was joining the MGC in Aug 1917 he would have likely gone into a training period before being posted to a unit.

He died of sickness as a member of 59 Battalion MGC and is buried at Achiet-le-Grand,France. That unit was the MGC unit for 59 Division from around 7 March 1918.

Before that each Brigade had a MG unit,one of which was 200 MG Company set up and joined the Division on 18 Jan 1917,and might fit your man's training time and posting.

You mention getting information from a record,perhaps there is more detail there which will help with dates and units.

I note that his Medal Index Card only shows the MGC and no reference to his KRRC number,though Soldiers Died in the Great War does refer to that.

Can't think that there will be much to read of his actions in the 59 Battalion War Diary as it only began on 1 Mar 1918 and he may have already been away sick.

[revdoc]

Thank you for this help. The KRRC museum have told me that none of their Battalions were in India after the start of the war. The paintings that I referred to were left in the care of a soldier who was there at the time and his family have recently returned them to our family. That soldier was in the Rifle Brigade. I had already found Thomas Richard Moore at Ancestry and been in contact with the family.

[stiletto_33853]

Did he have a brother or relation called Edwin Arthur Felmingham??? and were the oil paintings signed Ernest or E. Felmingham???

Andy

[revdoc]

I do not know of any relative called Edwin Arthur Felmingham, certainly not a close relative. The paintings are signed E Felmingham, there is a painting in Colchester Museum that is also signed E Felmingham but the signatures are different. IN any case the museum staff do not have any details of the artist of that painting.

[stiletto_33853]

Revdoc,

I would suggest then that these oils are painted by Edwin Arthur Felmingham, who was in the 18th Rifle Brigade, number 200105, and served with the battalion in Burma from the 3/1/16 when the battalion arrived there until 21/1/19.

An unusual surname, just wondered if he was a close relative.

Andy

[stiletto_33853]

18th RB

[revdoc]

Thank you for this suggestion.

I have two problems with it though.

The person who brought the paintings back always said that his friend was called Ernest Felmingham and his uncle was a Baptist minister. This fits with the person in my family tree.

Secondly there is no record in birth registers for this country for 1860- 1910 for anyone called Edwin Felmingham let alone Edwin Arthur so who it was serving in the Rifles at the time I do not know. There is a record of an Edwin Felmingham in 1881 in Liverpool, however, he had been registered as Edward and that is the name he was known by on the next census

Although Ernest was initially in the KRRC they have told me that, because of his medal card record, he did not serve in France with the rest of the KRRC. This would have fitted with him being near Burma but does not explain how he got there. His civilian occupation had been on the railways so that would not have been much use on the island.

Thank you for all the help you have been so far, I really do appreciate it. I have struggled with trying to find out more about Edward for quite some time and any snippets are a great help

Roger

[stiletto_33853]

Hi Roger,

Welcome regarding the suggestion, with the 18th RB being based in Burma, the name and the time of the paintings being done in 1916 - 17, not sure of the R series and enlistment dates, the nearest number I can find in the SWB rolls which is about 100 from the number you have given is May 1917.

You really have a bit of a conundrum on your hands here, working overseas on railways before he enlisted??? What was the code on his MIC denoting the area??

Andy

[Black Sapper]

Just a point.

The MIC is for Edward A Felmingham, Acting Sergeant, Rifle Brigade. #111 & #200105

Awarded the British War Medal TP/105A page 7 - but this was returned (1743KR) 7956 /Qdt

I don't quite see where you got the 'served with KRRC' from? His MIC has simply Ernest E Felmingham, MGC #108346 - awarded the V &BW Medals.

CWGC has Ernest Edward Felmingham, Private, #108346, Date of Death: 19/03/1918, Age: 34, Regiment/Service: Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 59th Div. M.G. Bn.

That fits okay but no mention of that R39344 KRRC number anywhere else except on SDGW (does anyone know if they made mistakes?)?

It is possible that your Ernest Felmingham is not the painter Edward A Felmingham who was on Diamond Island because nothing fits for him except the ref. to KRRC in SDGW, & we also know that KRRC weren't in Burma but the 18th Rifle Brigade were?

It is a mystery ........

[stiletto_33853]

Certainly is

Andy

[ss002d6252]

There is a MIC for a Edwin Freeman - 39344 , Rifle Brigade.

http://discovery.nat...ls?uri=D2242498

I wonder if he was next to Felmingham in a record set and the number has been transcribed against the wrong man ?.

Craig

[revdoc]

To answer some of the points raised in the above replies for which I am most grateful.

The prefix R on a number I am told by the Rifles Museum denotes soldiers who enlisted into the New Armies from 1914 onwards.

The first mention that I had for Ernest Edward Felmingham being in the KRRC was through Ancestry and their record of his death. In 2009 a description was published of the Dover Marine Station War Memorial on which Ernest is mentioned. In the description (found on www.kentfallen.com) he is described as working, prior to enlisting, as a porter with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company and that he was first in the KRRC and his number is given there. I do not know where they got the number from.

In June/July1917 the painter left Diamond Island and was transferred to France, knowing that he would not be able to take the paintings with him he left them in the keeping of a friend. He joined the MGC between the 1st & 3rd August 1917 which allowing for travel puts his departure June/July. The friend did not leave until 1918 and brought them back and the family have been trying off and on since to find Ernest's family.

Roger

[revdoc]

In relation to Rifleman Moore who died on Diamond Island and Ernest Felmingham, the Rifle Museum have made the following comments

R39344 Rfn Ernest Edward Felmingham KRRC and MGC

The unit with which Rfn Moore was serving was (in full) 2/18 (County of London) Bn (London Irish Rifles) The London Regiment, which was an affiliated battalion of The Rifle Brigade. A group of battalions numbered from 17 to 25 were part of the Territorial Force created in 1915 but manned by soldiers who were not graded medically fit for front line service. The duties which these battalions carried out included the protection of ‘Vulnerable Points’ and the 18^th certainly served in India. Records for these units are unknown to this museum and the focus of regimental histories has, quite naturally, focussed on the battalions which served on the Western Front or other areas of hostility.

Basic training for the two Green Jacket regiments (KRRC and RB) was carried out by the 5^th and 6^th Bns of both regiments which were based on the Isle of Sheppey and there was some interchange between the two cap badges.

If I was to speculate I would suggest that when Rfn Felmingham was going through training, for some reason he was medically downgraded and transferred to The London Regiment, or perhaps discharged and subsequently he re-enlisted. If he later recovered his health or became fitter so that he could be posted to a front line unit he may have been transferred, or himself applied for a transfer to the Machine Gun Corps. Unfortunately, in the absence of his service record, certainty about the facts is not possible.

Do you have information about his death? It is reported he ‘died from sickness’ and is buried at the Achiet-le Grand cemetery extension in the region of Nord Pas de Calais. His grave is at plot II.F.23.

[Neil Clark]

I probably obtained that service number from the local paper in Ashford (Kentish Express).

[revdoc]

Neil, thank you for this information. How can I get hold of the original notice in the paper to see if it gives any more details of how Ernest Felmingham died? All I know at the moment is that he died of "illness" which can cover so many things from disease to gas attacks.