Unknown tank instructor - France - early 1917

[delta]

Trying to identify the unidentified tank instructor in this image. 

He probably served with A, B or C Coy HS MGC in late 1916 and then was one of the original members of the tank training team established in France in early 1917

 

Thanks in advance for your interest and any input

[johntaylor]

Hi Stephen, I was interested to see this photograph as I'm sure you're aware a very similar one appears in The Tanks at Flers, except they're all wearing hats and look a bit more serious.  I can't identify the mystery man, but wasn't sure about the identification of the officer at front right as Hugh Swears.  I know there is a photograph in The Blood Tub by Jonathan Walker which shows the same person and names him as Swears, but I've always thought it looked rather like Major William Watson.

 

Can you be sure this really is Swears?

 

All the best, John

 

 

[delta]

John

 

Captions are always questionable but I based my identification of this image below. which I found on the web in 2013.

 

 

 

The unidentified officer rear right is (almost certainly) CNC Field

Edited 31 January , 2017 by delta

[Gareth Davies]

That's the photograph from the book "The Blood Tub" that John referred to above.

[delta]

Willie Watson's grandson posted a couple of images on the site some years ago.

This is a photo from his early time as a despatch rider

3 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said:

That's the photograph from the book "The Blood Tub" that John referred to above.

 

Thanks Gareth - did n't know the book was the source

[johntaylor]

Hi, this is indeed the photo I was referring to.  I don't think any source is given in the book, but the author says he was in touch with Swears' niece which would support this being an accurate identification.  My comment was based purely on the resemblance to William Watson (more so in some other photographs of him), and on the fact that it shows a group of officers from No. 11 Company and the layout of the photograph suggests that the person in front might have been their leader.

 

However I'm going to contradict my own view now - I've just noticed that the officer in front seems to have two pips, whereas Watson would have been a major.  I actually wish I hadn't noticed that, because the only conclusion is that I'm wrong!

 

As you were,

 

John

[delta]

Great news; 

I am in contact with the grandson of Capt  AGC "Mick" Wheeler who has a copy of a similar image in the family records. He tells me that the "unknown" officer is indeed his grandfather so the mystery is solved.

 

Wheeler was one of a family of gentlemen's outfitters based in Coventry and, before the war, he established a branch of the family firm in Epsom. 

Wheeler joined the MMGS in early 1915 as a gunner and saw service in France and Belgium with 10th Battery before being selected for a commission in Jul 1915.

Wheeler was transferred to the Heavy Section MGC on its formation and returned to France with C Company in Aug 1916.  he then commanded Champagne during the attack on Courcelette on 15 Sep 1916.

Wheeler's grandson Steve Butcher also has a copy of this photo, taken on the same day as the hatless image above; the notes on the back states that Wheeler is standing rear rank right next to Alec Arnaud. The London Gazette gives that date that Mick was appointed as an assistant instructor as 17 Jan 1917; the same as Stuart Hastie (seated front left) . 

Transferring to B Battalion, Wheeler commanded sections in No 6 Company at Messines, Ypres and Cambrai. In Feb 1918, he was again appointed as an instructor with the Tank Corps Training and Reinforcement Depot at le Treport; eventually being demobilised in Jul 1919.

After the war, Wheeler resumed work with the family firm at Epsom; he married in 1923 and had three children. They remained in Surrey until the 1970s when he and his wife retired to Las Palmas where he died in 1974, aged 85. .  .  

 

Edited 8 April , 2020 by delta

[fitz_merc]

I am taking a school group to the Battlefields next month (October 2023) and a pair of twins are descendants of Hugh Miller Swears.  There is a photograph of him at Jesus College rowing team but no one was sure which one he is.  The twins and their family,  would love a photo of him.  Is it agreed that the photo at the top features Hugh Swears?

 

The photo of Hugh at Cambridge is below.  

 

Edited 23 September by fitz_merc
spelling error

[PRC]

50 minutes ago, fitz_merc said:

Is it agreed that the photo at the top features Hugh Swears?

If I've understood things correctly there are two pictures of Hugh Swears posted above, and if you compare them and the faces of those present in the picture taken at Cambridge University then my best guess would be this one was Hugh.

No new IP is claimed for above. All image rights, (if any), remain with the current owners.

Cheers,
Peter

[fitz_merc]

Peter

That's a perfect way of comparing.  No question about it. The ears alone would prove the case.

[fitz_merc]

Anyone interested in knowing about Hugh Swears and how he died can read this excellent article

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://bjmh.gold.ac.uk/article/download/1690/1795&ved=2ahUKEwicrtCju5mBAxU3WEEAHXmrCPwQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1m4spAehco8of0SDLOdcdL

[FROGSMILE]

9 hours ago, PRC said:

If I've understood things correctly there are two pictures of Hugh Swears posted above, and if you compare them and the faces of those present in the picture taken at Cambridge University then my best guess would be this one was Hugh.

No new IP is claimed for above. All image rights, (if any), remain with the current owners.

Cheers,
Peter

Well done Peter, that’s him alright!  The side-by-side images you do are always a great help.👍

[PRC]

11 hours ago, fitz_merc said:

The twins and their family,  would love a photo of him. 

The War List of the University of Cambridge 1914-1918 by Gordon Vero Cary shows Hugh as previously a Sergeant in a Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers.

Image courtesy archive.org https://archive.org/details/warlistofunivers00careuoft/page/186/mode/2up

Is it known which public school he attended? The school archive may hold additional images of him.

I can see him on the 1901 Census of England & Wales, aged 7, born South Kensington, and “boarding” with his parents at Linden Hall, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth. Father Charles J. is recorded as living on own means. Mother Jessie hails from Melbourne, Australia.

According to this collection of pictures on Flickr, Linden Hall had opened Hotel in 1890 and existed in various guises until 1983. https://www.flickr.com/photos/alwyn_ladell/albums/72157624239688677/

By the time of the 1911 Census of England and Wales parents Charles James and Jessie Barbara, along with two daughters and four live in servants were recorded living at Puddavine, Dartington, Totnes, Devon. Charles describes himself as a retired engineer. The couple state they have been married 18 years and the union has produced 3 children, all then being still alive – the absent child I think can be safely assumed to be Hugh.

But no obvious match for Hugh.

Cheers,
Peter

[fitz_merc]

Apparently Hugh was taught abroad in Germany and Switzerland which would explain his absence from the Census.

My first teaching post was at Totnes school and Puddavine was next door.  A fine looking house which I think is now a nursing home.  They certainly seemed to  gave done well out of engineering if they had 4 servants and had Hugh educated abroad.

 

Thank you for the research.

[fitz_merc]

It seems we are not the only ones who have been identifying Hugh Swears.  He appears in a film made in WW1 that has a good look at tanks- http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/node/6126.  He named the tank after his sister, Dorothy so the tank is called HMLS Dodo.  Rather nice touch. I did not realise that HMLS was used for tanks.

the very tall pipe-smoking officer standing in front of HMLS 'Dodo' in the shot following the caption 'Men of the "Tanks" - Are they downhearted?' has been identified as Lieutenant Hugh Swears of No 11 Company, D Battalion, Heavy Branch. The identification is made in a letter to Roger Smither from Jonathan Walker, written 18/9/1995. Researching a book he was writing on the Battles of Bullecourt (April/May 1917), Walker had been given access to Swears's letters home by his niece, Anne Davison. The letters explain that 'Dodo' was Swears's pet name for his sister Dorothy, and that the film was taken "at our dump, about 1500 yards behind the front line". By mid-February 1917, Swears wrote that he had "heard from lots of people that they have seen me in [the film]". Swears was killed in action at 1st Bullecourt, in April 1917.

 

[fitz_merc]

Can anyone translate the award he received whilst he was in the Royal Fusiliers?

[FROGSMILE]

3 hours ago, fitz_merc said:

Can anyone translate the award he received whilst he was in the Royal Fusiliers?

In red ink: British War and Victory medals - issued.

[PRC]

3 hours ago, fitz_merc said:

Can anyone translate the award he received whilst he was in the Royal Fusiliers?

Do you mean “BW +Vm^s issued” with a date in 1923 or in translation, British War and Victory Medals issued.

All three men were commissioned, with Stiven having his British War Medal and Victory Medals issued by the Leicestershire Regiment while Suggit had his issued by the Gloucestershire Regiment.

It looks from the Roll like it was the Royal Fusiliers rather than the Tank Corps or Machine Gun Corps who issued the medals for Swears.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited 23 September by PRC
Formatting

[fitz_merc]

“BW +Vm^s issued” 

 

[PRC]

11 hours ago, fitz_merc said:

It seems we are not the only ones who have been identifying Hugh Swears.  He appears in a film made in WW1 that has a good look at tanks- http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/node/6126.  He named the tank after his sister, Dorothy so the tank is called HMLS Dodo.  Rather nice touch. I did not realise that HMLS was used for tanks.

The five reels of the film can be viewed on the Imperial War Museum website.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060008185

I've just skimmed through but didn't spot the sequence referred to - some of the film quality looks good enough that a screen capture might produce another picture of Hugh.

Cheers,
Peter

[fitz_merc]

Thanks Peter.  I have just watched 3 reels via Youtube and a quick glance the IWM is  much better quality.  Nor did I see a tall pipe smoking Hugh.  I will try the IWM when I have time.  I did see the Officer pass through a cat mascot into the tank.  The cat cannot have been anything like the cats I know!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited 23 September by fitz_merc

[delta]

A screen shot from the fifth reel showing Hugh Swears [centre right], standing head above two smoking officers, and other tankers with Dodo. 

Edited 25 September by delta

[fitz_merc]

Well it now appears Hugh Swear appeared in a film as the tall pipe smoking Lieut. in front of a tank, which was named after his sister Dorothy “Dodo”.

 

 

 

That’s a fine screenshot.

I will make sure the family see it.

What a wonderful site this is.

 

[delta]

Something I had not spotted before (but should have recognised) - many of the tank crewmen (identified by their wearing leather waist belts with pistol holsters, and small ammo pouches) are also wearing steel helmets.  These were not issued to the men of C and D Companies - possibly they were issued to Dodo's crew whilst they were waiting at the MGC Base Depot at Camiers to be called forward to the Somme. , 

Edited 25 September by delta

[fitz_merc]

I was actually looking at the photo and wondered why so many were wearing helmets. Hadn’t realized how to recognize a Tanker but lesson learnt.