The “Journey's End” Battalion: the 9th East Surrey in the Great Wa

[FROGSMILE]

19 minutes ago, PRC said:

In theory if it was taken before he was killed in action on the 16th August 1917, that commanding officer should be Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Victor Mottet De La Fontaine.

While there doesn't appear to be a surviving caricature of him by Private Cole, there are couple of pictures of him in the Surrey in the Great War website, which I've borrowed for comparison purposes. https://www.surreyinthegreatwar.org.uk/category/military/army/esr/?post_type=story

All image rights remain with the original sources.

Juries out for me on whether they are all the same man  - perhaps there's a drooping left eyelid that seems to become more pronounced with age, but with the picture resolutions available it could just be wishful thinking on my part.

There is a page on Private Cole's caricatures here - https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/people/writers/sherriff/original-cast/

It also includes a group picture taken just before the Battalion annual reunion dinner in 1930, when Sherriff treated 130 officers and men to a showing of Journeys End, and then took them backstage afterwards to inspect the "dugout" used as a setting. Captain Clark, M.C., is centre of the group. https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/people/writers/sherriff/original-cast/

Cheers,
Peter
 

I don’t feel confident about matching these three portraits either Peter.  The left and central photos seem the same man, whose left ear in particular is a distinctive feature, but it’s difficult to be confident in matching those two with the officer in the group photo. 

[EastSurrey]

6 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

Thank you Michael, with the in depth information that you’ve compiled, and in particular Clark’s background and age as a former ranker, I concede that your identification must be correct and that he’s sat to the left hand of the colonel as Peter suggested.  I suppose that leaves still open the question of which officer in the photo is Birch, the QM.

Sorry I can't help with identifying Lt. Birch. Not all the officers serving with the battalion would necessarily be with it at any one time.

I think I was right about Swanton having a substantive rank of  captain. I see, after acting as a locum CO with various units, he was summoned to the War Office and

was sent as  Chief Instructor at an Officers' Convalescent Hospital as Acting Major!

Michael

[FROGSMILE]

4 hours ago, EastSurrey said:

Sorry I can't help with identifying Lt. Birch. Not all the officers serving with the battalion would necessarily be with it at any one time.

I think I was right about Swanton having a substantive rank of  captain. I see, after acting as a locum CO with various units, he was summoned to the War Office and

was sent as  Chief Instructor at an Officers' Convalescent Hospital as Acting Major!

Michael

I don’t really understand what you mean by “Locum CO” Michael, as neither of those words were commonly used then, but more importantly temporary battalion commanders would usually be either, a Major, or Acting Lieutenant Colonel.  Is that what you’re referring to?  Unit and sub-unit have significant meanings, so understanding what you mean by ‘various units’ will give a context to his precise status.

Edited 15 May , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[EastSurrey]

17 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

I don’t really understand what you mean by “Locum CO” Michael, as neither of those words were commonly used then, but more importantly temporary battalion commanders would usually be either, a Major, or Acting Lieutenant Colonel.  Is that what you’re referring to?  Unit and sub-unit have significant meanings, so understanding what you mean by ‘various units’ will give a context to his precise status.

T.H.S. Swanton had been commissioned in the East Surrey Regiment in 1910, I seem to recall. He served as a lieutenant with 1st and 2nd Battalions from 1915.  He was promoted to captain. Lt. Col. de la Fontaine was badly wounded at Delville Wood. Lt. Col. Tew  ( who had previously commanded a brigade) took over command of 9/E. Surrey, but was badly injured in a riding accident on 17 October and Swanton was sent to take over command of 9/E. Surrey as an acting Lieutenant Colonel. He was a martinet who soon made himself unpopular.

After de la Fontaine's return in March, Swanton stayed on as his second in command, now being referred to as Major. De la Fontaine was killed in August and Swanton wounded. Swanton did not continue with 9/E. Surrey, but commanded a couple of other battalions on  a short term basis. He fell from favour, however, and was summoned to the War Office, ending up, as I said, as an acting major to an officers' convalescent hospital. 

Michael

 

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, EastSurrey said:

 

Thank you Michael, that all makes sense now.  There must have been a number of pre-war commissioned officers who filled temporary roles in that way, but who were not sufficiently collegiate to make the grade at a substantive level. 

[ilkley remembers]

On 15/05/2022 at 11:08, PRC said:

Going from the War Diary entry you have posted the candidate for the Captain with an Military Cross would appear to be G.S. Tetley. And looking at the extract I posted from the February 1917 Nominal Roll of Officers, he is not shown there with an M.C.
From his MiC that would appear to be Gerald Spence Tetley. I couldn't readily track down his London Gazette entry for his MC award, but while searching the internet I came across an summary of entries of military awards for men like Gerald who had a connection to Ilkley. The local newspaper in its edition of the 29th June 1917 noted that "Wounded 17/6/1917 & right leg amputated below knee - going on well. Wounded twice before."http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/34017/4/504836_004.pdf

 

The Tetley family moved to Ilkley from Elland near Halifax some years before the beginning of the war. They were wealthy worsted manufacturers and like many of the rich families in this part of the West Riding sent their sons to Uppingham.

 

Gerald’s father, Thomas Spence Tetley, is buried in Ilkley Cemetery, along with his wife (I think). I have a photograph of the headstone somewhere. The father was an England Rugby international in the 1870s.

 

Edited 23 May , 2022 by ilkley remembers

[PRC]

59 minutes ago, ilkley remembers said:

The Tetley family moved to Ilkley from Elland near Halifax some years before the beginning of the war. They were wealthy worsted manufacturers and like many of the rich families in this part of the West Riding sent their sons to Uppingham.

Gerald’s father, Thomas Spence Tetley, is buried in Ilkley Cemetery, along with his wife (I think). I have a photograph of the headstone somewhere. The father was an England Rugby international in the 1870s.

On 15/05/2022 at 18:18, EastSurrey said:

In correspondence with Roland Wales (who wrote an excellent biography of Sherriff), we came to the conclusion that the following identifications could be made, additional to those in JEB:

front row, extreme right Captain Tetley;

Gerald Tetley also is the subject of one of Private Coles' caricature drawings.

All image rights remain with the original sources. Private Cole's drawing is courtesy Exploring Surreys Past. https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/people/writers/sherriff/original-cast/

Cheers,
Peter

[EastSurrey]

Gerald Tetley won his MC in March 1916. During a heavy German bombardment at Hooge, along with several ORs (two of them awarded DCMs) he rescued the wounded and buried and reorganised the defences under heavy artillery and trench mortar fire.

Tetley was a barrister, but died comparatively young, of TB, I seem to remember, leaving a quite considerable estate. Unfortunately, my files are out of reach at the moment, as we have the builders in! Sherriff's papers at Surrey History Centre include some correspondence from Tetley.

Michael

[ilkley remembers]

@PRC and @EastSurrey thank you both for the updates. Rather an interesting thread and the caricatures are excellent. I've made a note of the papers in the Surrey Collection, doing some geneological research on my fathers family who hailed from Limpsfield so may be able to 'kill two birds with one stone'.

 

Thanks again and regards

 

Edward

[bierast]

For those who missed the post in the Classified section - please note that my father @EastSurrey has just self-published his biography of Major General Mitford, commander of 72nd Brigade (including 9th ESR) at Loos and on the Somme. He subsequently commanded 42nd Division for six months, only to be sacked due to its undistinguished performance in the Passchendaele campaign.

There's a dedicated page for the new book here: https://www.royalsaxonarmy.co.uk/index.php/our-publications/45-the-real-general-mitford
A fully up-to-date bibliography of mine and my father's Great War publications can be found here: https://www.royalsaxonarmy.co.uk/index.php/our-publications

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

I first came across this book because its author, Michael Lucas, asked my permission to cite a few short pieces from A Lancashire Fusilier’s First World War by Norman Hall, and also to quote some unpublished extracts from Norman’s diary (Norman was an officer in the 42^nd Division for a period of about four months while General Mitford was its Divisional Commander, namely June to October 1917).

I have read with great interest not just the part of the book which relates to the period when my grandfather was in the 42^nd Division under Mitford, but the entire work. I am a comparative newcomer to WW1 research, but I am sure that this book will appeal not only to amateur historians like myself but also to readers with a more professional interest. The author quotes extensively from original material, especially from Mitford’s own diaries, which, because of the modest character of the man, do not appear to be merely an exercise in self-justification, and are therefore the more valuable as a resource. I also found particularly fascinating the material quoted in translation from German Regimental Histories; these give a perception of the effectiveness of the Allies’ attacks which is sometimes quite surprisingly different from the perception of the Allies themselves. The book is well worth the read.