129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluch Regiment 1914

[seaforth78]

Could anyone supply me with the disembarkation strength of the officers of this Regiment in October 1914?

I have an officers' pipe banner which looks pre-1914 with the coat of arms of the officer concerned and I'm trying to connect a name for this period to the arms.
Because only a Captain or Major would have commanded companies, pipe banners were peculiar to them.

Thanks

[seaforth78]

Here is the Piper's Banner of the Regiment

[Steven Broomfield]

Difficult to say from the regimental history (The 4/10th Baluch Regiment in the Great War by W S Thatcher) as it doesn't list the names of those who landed, but the appendices contains a list of officers, with dates of joining, so your possibilities might be

Maj J A Hannyngton

Maj H W R Potter

Capt W F Adair

Capt F A Maclean

Capt P C Hampe-Vincent

Capt R F Dill

There was also a Maj G G P Humphreys, but he'd joined from the 127th Baluchis on the outbreak of war, so probably unlikely.

Nice piece of kit, by the way.

[seaforth78]

Hi Steven,

Nice to hear from you as always. Thanks for the list, I will cross check this against Hart's to get a wide enough names as possible. Will get back to you soon!

Merry Christmas!

[aboode]

Would the 129th regiment have Pipes & Drums (and a Pipe Major) during the war or just a single piper?

Aad

[seaforth78]

I've finally figured out what the initials of AWA are: They are the initials of the Duke of Connaught and his Coronet which is shown in the cap badge. All these years I thought it was the initials of the officer whose pipe banner I thought it had belonged to. So these initials stand for:

(A)rthur (W)illiam Patrick (A)lbert

Mystery solved for that part, but the family crest remains a conundrum. Fairbairn's shows that this crest and its motto are for the Nugent family. Was there a Nugent who served in the Regiment post 1914?

[Ron Clifton]

Difficult to say from the regimental history (The 4/10th Baluch Regiment in the Great War by W S Thatcher) as it doesn't list the names of those who landed, but the appendices contains a list of officers, with dates of joining.

Interesting! I actually met W S Thatcher, as he was once the head of my college. Although he had retired when I was there, he often used to turn up for Evensong in the college chapel. His deputy, W W Williams, had fought in the war, in one of the Highland regiments, and was Bursar in my time.

Ron

[seaforth78]

Interesting! I actually met W S Thatcher, as he was once the head of my college. Although he had retired when I was there, he often used to turn up for Evensong in the college chapel. His deputy, W W Williams, had fought in the war, in one of the Highland regiments, and was Bursar in my time.

Ron

Small world! Fascinating.

[westkent78]

Does anyone have a good copy of Thatcher's history where the photo of the Officers of the 129th at Karachi in August 1914 is clear and are able to scan the photo? The digital history is badly blurred, and I fear that the N&M reprint would be almost as bad. I have one of Mir Badshah of the 127th's medals (seconded to 129th) and would like a clear photo of him.

Also, any ideas if 'my' Mir Badshah is the recipient of the I.O.M. for December 19th 1914? I'm thinking that it's the 129th's own Jemadar Mir Badshah, as 'mine' was wounded in the first 10 days but I have no idea how long he was out of action or what he did for the rest of the war. It appears he made Subedar and transferred to the 58th Rifles in the 1920s.

Best regards,

Matthew

[seaforth78]

Westkent78,

Have you seen this?

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235421&page=2

I didn't check to see if your Mir is among them...

[westkent78]

Seaforth78,

Yes I'd seen that wonderful photo.

Unfortunately 'my' Mir Badshah was attached to 129th when they received a double company from 127th just before travelling to Europe so wasn't with them in 1911. The 'other' Mir Badshah doesn't appear to be there either.

Thanks for the redirect though as I'd missed your post on the varieties of turban which is very instructive.

Best regards,

Matthew