Lt. A.G.Pape 2nd Royal Fusiliers

[EDWARD1]

Is it possible to know the fate of the above Officer that was tried by Court Martial, without having to visit Kew.

Lt A.G.Pape was arrested on the 15th April 1918 for deserting the line from 4pm the 12th to noon the 13th and was put under the charge of 2nd Lt J Pearson.On the 17th April 1918 he was tried by special Court Martial, and on the 21st He and 2nd Lt Pearson went to XV Corps Reinforcement Camp at Linghem. There are no further mentions of either in the remainder of the War Diary.

Lt Pape had been with the Battalion from 1915 and was MID LG 22/5/17

Any help gratefully received

Eddie

[Colin W Taylor]

Eddie

I had seen this a few months ago in the 2nd RF war diary as well and had wondered what it was about. I have his mention in the courts martial ledger which states he was tried by FCGM on 17 April 1918 in the field for cowardice, desertion and leaving his post. He was sentenced to be cashiered and to serve either 3 or 13 years penal servitude (the pencil marking slightly obscures this). However, this sentence was quashed by the Adjutant General at some time after 28 May when the files were received in London. Sadly that's all the detail I'm aware of. I presume after advice from legal brains at the war office there was either insufficient evidence or there was fault with the case was brought. I presume he was sent back to the UK with Pearson as escort until his sentence was confirmed.

He bounced back though - he was awarded a Croix de Guerre in Dec 1918 and served in some capacity in the Second World War though he was declared bankrupt in the 1920s - all from London Gazette.

I'd planned to get a look at his file next time I was at Kew but it hasn't been released yet due to his subsequent service.

Kind regards

Colin

[EDWARD1]

Colin

Thank you so much for providing the details you have. I know it seems silly but when transcribing diaries you do (well I do) form a small attachment to those who are mentioned more than others and you feel it when they are wounded or killed in action. It was not knowing the outcome which you have now answered. Re-reading the diary Lt J Pearson does reappear later in October 18 as a Capt J Pearson MC commanding X Company

Again many thanks

Eddie

[Ebmwilson71]

Hi Eddie. I'm new to this forum. My Great Uncle 2nd Lt Frederick T A Wilson was part of the same Company (z) in the 2nd Fusiliers during that battle and we believe was killed on April 12. I have read the regimental diary and his school obituary but I would be really interested to learn more about events on that day. I've looked at some really helpful information on the Nick Powley website that tells the story of another Fusilier officer killed in that part of the Battle? Frederick has no known grave and I believe the CWGC records for date of death are wrong. Any info would be helpful.

[Colin W Taylor]

Ebm

Would that be F T A Wilson - WILSON, FREDERICK THOMAS AUSTEN

His service records at the National Archives will likely give more information if you are able to visit or wish to hire a researcher to get them. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1149184

Kind regards

Colin

[Ebmwilson71]

Dear Colin

Thanks for that.yes; FTA Wilson. As you say I need to make a trip to London.

Many thanks for your help. I will follow the link and arrange to go and see what they hold.

Ed

[Wallis]

I am also fairly new. I'm an assistant archivist for Felsted School and Frederick attended the school May 1913 April 1917. We have very little on him and trying to update his records including tom find out any siblings and father's name. We are currently updating all those who fell and fought in WWI, so any further information will be most appreciated, especially father's details and any siblings etc. (Photos would be a bonus as we have no photo to add to his records http://archives.felsted.essex.sch.uk/of/warmem/2014/) 

 

All we have is as follows: b.: 1898-07-03 d. 12 March/April 1918 (disputes with Ancestry records and CWGC. Felsted has recorded him as April)

 

Son of Ethel Wilson; born in Manila?. 1911 attended Ovingdean Hall, Brighton, Sussex?. Felsted School: Scholar, Prefect. Cricket XI 1916, Football XI 1916, Running VIII. 1917 Classical Scholarship, Downing College, Camb.  WWI: 2nd Lt 5th Bn, Royal Fus (City of London Rgt) attd 2 Bn. KiA in France 12 Apr 1918 (March 12th also mentioned: great-nephew Edward tells us that was a mistake). He is remembered at Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium. Panel 3. (Probate 9 Sep 1918)

 

His obituary in the Felstedian said:

It is hard to believe that 'Ranji' has fallen. It was just a year after he had been seen winning the Mile; many have in memory the tall, dark figure forcing himself along the track. He was to have gone on, as a Classical Scholar, to Downing College, Cambridge. He went, however, to an OC Battalion, and in due course, after a hurried visit to us, to France, where he fell, still 19, on April 12th. He entered with a scholarship in May 1913 from Mr Marshall's School near Brighton; he gradually climbed in school and games, getting his School colours for cricket and football and ending as a Prefect. He was a boy with ideas of his own, sometimes giving them play, generally holding them under restraint, especially when any call came home to him in the cause of House or School. Then he gave freely. Outside School interests, his holiday hobby was architecture and he was often to be found studying the old London churches. His military service was short, but of it his Major writes his testimony: "He was very popular with all ranks and was a keen sportsman, always helping his men in every possible way. He is a great loss to the Battalion, where his energy and keenness were a great example to everyone."

He had joined up immediately he left Felsted, being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) but then attached to the 2nd Battalion. He died during the 1918 Battle of the Somme in the action of Villers Bretonneux. The German breakthrough of 21st March 1918 came to a halt before reachign Amiens and on a line running south from Albert (now in German hands) across the Ancre marches through the outskirts of Villers Bretonneux to Montdidier. Some indication of the depth of the enemy's advance lies in the statement that the 2/2nd Londons were now to defend the ground whereon had stood their peaceful back-area billets of two months go, fightng over the ground on which they had been practising a few weeks earlier. Following reinforcements, the first task of the reconstructed battalion on the Villers Bretonneaux front was the consolidation of a reserve line east of Gentelles Wood. This work was rapidly pushed forward, but under conditions made difficult by the enemy's constant and heavy bombardment which was not confined to the forward areas alone but even made Amiens itself very unpleasant and unsafe, deserted by all except troops and transport that were compelled to pass through it.

This was two or three miles from where Edwin White died two weeks later fighting with the French Foreign Legion.

He is remembered on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Panel 3 stone 7B (the original CWGC register entry and certificate show 12th March but their current database says 12th April).

 

JULES 

[Colin W Taylor]

Jules,

 

I think the battalion (2nd RF) was in the area of Merville fighting during the Battle of the Lys - not on the Somme as part of the 21 March German offensive.

 

Also - the 2/2nd Battalion of the London Regiment was  a completely different unit - the London Regiment (1st to 4th Battalions associated with the RF) and Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regt) are easily confused.

 

Have you looked up his service files at Kew or have you enquired of EBM whether he got them when he was looking into this before?

 

Kind regards

 

Colin

[Ebmwilson71]

Thanks all.  I still need to look at the service files but can confirm that the 2nd Royal Fusiliers war diary (PRO) for April 11th-14th 1918 names FTA Wilson as one of the killed officers.  They were apparently falling back towards Outtersteene at that time and I suspect if recovered he may be one of the many unidentified burials in the cemetery there.  He definitely wasn't involved in the Somme and survived March, but not April.

 

I would be interested to know if anyone has seen any contemporary documents from the grave recovery teams operating in this area after the war.  I've seen bits of the CWGC Burial Record Forms but not the notes that record how individual bodies were identified in this cemetery.  Does anyone know if these exist or are accessible?

 

I visited Outtersteene with my father two years ago and walked through the battlefield which appears to be remarkably undisturbed.  We navigated using the 1918 map and found that most of the farms and houses are still present.  We are planning to go back for the centenary of Fredericks death next year.

 

The only other breakthrough has been the identification of a family memorial to him on his fathers headstone in Hampstead Cemetery. 

 

I suspect what I also need are some recommendations of good researchers to gather up any relevant documentation at the National Archives!

 

Thanks

 

Ed