Tanks Corps & Royal Fusiliers

[ProudRelative]

I would be so grateful for your assistance, please, in finding out more about two of my relatives who served in the First World War, as follows:

The first of these was my grandfather, Pte Joseph Silverston/Silverstone, whose medals I have inherited and whose Regimental Number appears to have been GS-75212, Royal Fusiliers. I have a photograph of him in his uniform and also a signed photograph of a nurse called JM Whitaker who looked after him in Belfast after he was wounded in the trenches in France, I believe. I believe that my grandfather may have been a machine gunner and that he was wounded by both bullet and shrapnel and gas in the trenches, resulting in his being transferred to Belfast to recover. Was it common practice to be sent to Belfast, as he lived in Manchester when he enlisted? He was a very gentle man and never spoke of his experiences. My understanding is that the War Records that relate to his service may have been lost in a fire?

The second family member who served was my Great-Uncle, Cpl Samuel George Strauss. I inherited a box of material that includes his Certificate of Demobilisation, which shows that he enlisted on 7/12/15 & was transferred to the Army Reserve list on 23/2/19. His Regimental Number was 205093 & he was a Cpl in the Tanks Corps. I can recall him saying that he was in the Royal Machine Gun Corps, before this became the Royal Tank Corps. When he was in his eighties, he moved to East Anglia from Manchester and I remember him saying that the only time he had been to this part of the world previously had been during the Great War, when he was testing tanks in Thetford Forest. (He claimed that he had managed to hit every tree that stood there!)

I have a number of black and white pictures of men standing beside their tanks, one which has the serial number 2846 painted on the side and another type of tank which has A303 painted on the side of it. There are pictures of buses and ambulances and ones of men embarking/disembarking from a ship, as well as pictures of what appears to be a large airship (?zeppelin) over a town. Are these of any interest to anyone?

I remember both of these relatives with great fondness and I would like to discover more about this time in their lives, which they never spoke of. I cannot imagine what hardships they had to face in serving King & Country but I remember sitting at my grandfather's knee and seeing the wounds that still caused him discomfort 50 years later, which he made light of and kept quiet about. This inquiry is made out of respect for them and their generation.

Any information would be very much appreciated, please.

[Gareth Davies]

I would be so grateful for your assistance, please, in finding out more about two of my relatives who served in the First World War, as follows:

The first of these was my grandfather, Pte Joseph Silverston/Silverstone, whose medals I have inherited and whose Regimental Number appears to have been GS-75212, Royal Fusiliers. I have a photograph of him in his uniform and also a signed photograph of a nurse called JM Whitaker who looked after him in Belfast after he was wounded in the trenches in France, I believe. I believe that my grandfather may have been a machine gunner and that he was wounded by both bullet and shrapnel and gas in the trenches, resulting in his being transferred to Belfast to recover. Was it common practice to be sent to Belfast, as he lived in Manchester when he enlisted? He was a very gentle man and never spoke of his experiences. My understanding is that the War Records that relate to his service may have been lost in a fire?

The second family member who served was my Great-Uncle, Cpl Samuel George Strauss. I inherited a box of material that includes his Certificate of Demobilisation, which shows that he enlisted on 7/12/15 & was transferred to the Army Reserve list on 23/2/19. His Regimental Number was 205093 & he was a Cpl in the Tanks Corps. I can recall him saying that he was in the Royal Machine Gun Corps, before this became the Royal Tank Corps. When he was in his eighties, he moved to East Anglia from Manchester and I remember him saying that the only time he had been to this part of the world previously had been during the Great War, when he was testing tanks in Thetford Forest. (He claimed that he had managed to hit every tree that stood there!)

I have a number of black and white pictures of men standing beside their tanks, one which has the serial number 2846 painted on the side and another type of tank which has A303 painted on the side of it. There are pictures of buses and ambulances and ones of men embarking/disembarking from a ship, as well as pictures of what appears to be a large airship (?zeppelin) over a town. Are these of any interest to anyone?

I remember both of these relatives with great fondness and I would like to discover more about this time in their lives, which they never spoke of. I cannot imagine what hardships they had to face in serving King & Country but I remember sitting at my grandfather's knee and seeing the wounds that still caused him discomfort 50 years later, which he made light of and kept quiet about. This inquiry is made out of respect for them and their generation.

Any information would be very much appreciated, please.

Proud Relative

The pictures of both your relatives will be of interest to lots of people including the Bovington Tank Museum. I suggest you drop them a line/give them a call: 01929 405096/ Librarian@tankmuseum.org

I think the tank 2846 was a Mk IV Female called Eager, crew E53.

[ralphjd]

By jove aren't you the LUCKY one Samuel George Strauss has 62 pages of service records on Ancestry. Get reading. Ralph.

[tanks3]

Proud Relative

I would very much like a copy of the photo showing tank A303. This will have been a Medium A or Whippet tank. Can I PM you with my email address so that you could send me a scan?

Thanks

Tanks3

[Sidearm]

Proud Relative

Yes, your photographs are definitely of great interest to me. If at all possible I would be very interested in scans of any photos showing tanks.

As Gareth says, 2846 was a Mark IV Female. Here's what I know of it: E53 "Eager" 11 Section 15 Coy E Bn 2/Lt SHIRES 20.9.17 fitted with 10 spuds, initially developed radiator trouble, but repaired before action, unditching gear smashed off by shellfire, direct hit on starboard fore part of tank and tank abandoned, crew included Cpl Edward C. OAKEY; "Eager" recovered by 15 Coy E Bn 24.9.17; presentation tank, Colchester. (To be honest I'd like a bit more confirmation about the Colchester part.)

A303 was, as Tanks3 has said, a Medium A but I have never seen a photograph of it and nor have I seen any reference to it in any surviving documents.

I shall PM you wwith my e-mail address, if you don't mind?

Gwyn

[johnboy]

Could you post some of the pics?

[ProudRelative]

I will see if I can scan some of the photos in and post them for you all. Any information on the photos would be much appreciated.

[delta]

An interesting story.

A young NCO, aged over 18 years and serving with C Coy Heavy Section MGC (which was one of the first two "tank" units to go to France and which were both in the first tank action on 15 Sept 1916) is claimed by his father about six weeks before the unit deploys to France. His Company Commander, Allen Holford-Walker, tries to keep Strauss in his unit but is convinced by the Headquarters to release him.

The young man the serves in training units for the rest of the war, first at Wool then at the Gunnery School in France, reaching the rank of Sergeant.

Although there were not many 18 years old in the First Tank Crews, they went into action and several stayed with their units throughout their time in France.

[ProudRelative]

Thank you so much for the information on my Great-Uncle Sam. I will scan some of the photos that I have & post them, as I presume that they feature the officers and men in his unit.

[ProudRelative]

I have scanned some of the photos in & uploaded them into a folder entitled "Royal Tank Corps" in Members Gallery, which I hope that you will find of interest.

[delta]

Some interesting photos - will comment on a couple

Do the pictures give any details of where or when they were taken?

[delta]

It's a little difficult to make out a lot of detail but......

I think the crew with tank Genny are wearing MGC cap-badges which would place the image as taken before Autumn 17.

The group of five, standing in front of the "wriggly tin" are as officer (centre) and NCOs. One may be a WO. The NCO standing left of the officer has a leather belt of the type issued to the MMGS crewmen and a tank arm badge; the other NCOs wear no belts.

The two officers do not seem to be tank corps

The picture "bus 1" was probably taken in France, given the style of building

[ProudRelative]

Unfortunately, there is little in the way of information on the back of the photos. What I thought was captioned "Genny" reads "A group of mechanics repairing a sprocket. Note "Jerry" in centre". Indeed, when I looked at the photo again, there is a chap in German uniform amongst the group.

[delta]

Can you identify which one is your relative?

[ProudRelative]

I suspect that he is the one taking the photos.

[delta]

Thanks

I thought he might have been the NCO standing left of centre in the group of five.

[tanks3]

ProudRelative

Gwyn is indeed correct. E53 did ends its days as the Colchester Presentation Tank

Tanks3

[Sidearm]

I'm not sure that the photo of Genny can be before Autumn 1917. Isn't it a Mark V or V*? That would make the earliest date around April 1918, IIRC.

Gwyn

Delta

Do you know when Strass was at Wool, and when he moved to the Gunnery School? Just wondering if the Mark IV might have been photographed at Merlimont.

Gwyn

[tanks3]

ProudRelative,

Do you know for sure which relative took the photos? I ask because, if it is your Great-Uncle, we now know he never served overseas. The photos would therefore have to have been taken in this country. The tanks show the white/red/white service stripes that were introduced in 1918. So the photos (at least of the tanks) would have had to have been taken after the war in 1919. If it was your grandfather, then they would date after March 1918 when the service stripes were used and could have been taken either in France or UK.

Tanks3

[delta]

Gwyn

He was posted to the Depot Bn at Bovington on 15 Feb 1917 and then to the Schools of Instruction on 28 Jul.

He was posted to the BEF on 15 May 1918 and posted to the Gunnery Sch on 4 Jul.

He was posted back to the UK for demob on 24 Jan 19.

Stephen

[ProudRelative]

Thanks for all the information. My understanding is that my Great-Uncle did spend some time in France, as an Instructor. I checked his Demob Certificate against his Birth Certificate & it appears that he enlisted at the age of 17. I believe that his brother was also in the Army, which may be why his father may have "claimed" him, perhaps?

[tanks3]

Delta & ProudRelative

Missed the fact he served for a short time in France. Blows my theory to pieces!!

Tanks3

[Sidearm]

Looks to me like the Mark IV must have been photographed at the Gunnery School at Merlimont then. Photos of the tanks there are scarce. I wonder if it was one of the ones they had that was fitted with Hotckiss gun mountings. So far as I know they were the only unit to have such a thing. A photo of one would be beyond scarce.

Thank you all

Gwyn