Battle of El Mughar Ridge: Berkshire Yeomanry participation

[Hawkeye28]

Hi!!

 

I have been asked to assist in preparing a book on those of Little Coxwell, Berkshire, who served and  survived  WWI.

 

As a descendent of the many Hawkins in the village in Victorian times, I am concentrating on the Hawkins family and in particular Percy Hawkins, Berkshire Yeomanry, who won a Military Medal at the Battle of El Mughar Ridge

 

http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/12735455.display/

Gives the Background the bulk of which was first  published in the Faringdon Advertiser in February 1918.

 

The Berkshire Yeomanry Review for 2017 states:

 

http://www.berkshireyeomanrymuseum.co.uk/BY%20Journal2017%20v8%20Final.pdf

 

The Berkshire Yeomanry had moved into Wadi Jamus as the other two regiments moved out. They were not

brought up earlier for the simple reason that the bed of the wadi was not large enough. As soon as the Dorsets

and Bucks had begun their advance on Mughar Ridge the Berkshire Yeomanry moved out and advanced rapidly

towards El Mughar village where they came under intense machine gun fire from the village itself and from the

cactus hedges around it.

It became necessary therefore to clear the village: A Sqn Berkshire Yeomanry skirted the hills to outflank the

enemy whilst B and D Sqns were sent up at a gallop and successfully fought their way into the village on foot.

This was a very unpleasant task amongst the cactus hedges and the mud houses where the enemy were hiding.

Fighting carried on in the village until 1700 hrs. By 1800 hrs all enemy resistance had been crushed and some

400 prisoners taken.

 

Other accounts are similar but not identical.

 

In the absence of any citation or the medal itself, how is possible to establish how Trooper Percy Hawkins gained his Military Medal,

at El Mughar, given that we do not know which squadron he was in??

 

regards Roger H 1947

 

 

 

 

Edited 4 January , 2018 by Hawkeye28
spelling!

[Eran Tearosh]

Hi Roger,

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to assist you finding the specific answers regarding Percy Hawkins, but I would like to add a few things about El-Mughar.

 

On November 13^th 2017, we conducted a centennial event at the El-Mughar ridge. The Society for the Heritage of WWI in Israel initiated this project over a year ago and we managed to bring in The Brener Regional Council and The National Parks Authority. The event itself was also the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of The Mughar hills national park (In Arabic the name Mughar is pronounced more like Merar).  

 

 

Over the last year, I visited the battlefield with the British ambassador to Israel, the Defence attaché and with Lt Colonel Vincent Connelly (Who wrote the foreword in the Berkshire Yeomanry Journal 2017) – All the mentioned above also participated in the centennial event, plus several other Yeomanry officers.   

 

 

 

The national park is under construction now, and I hope that within a few months visitors will also see the various signposts relating to the battle on and around the ridge. This battlefield is one of the more impressive ones as far of battlefield touring is concerned, as there are several great lookouts that cover all parts of the battle, and land development over the last century in this area is mostly agricultural.

 

 

 

Many people are not aware that a major part of the fighting that day was fought by the Scottish 155^th Brigade, 52^nd (Lowland) Division. The Yeomanry came in in the afternoon to assist another Scottish attempt to brake through the tough Ottoman resistance. While the Berkshire Yeomanry reached the northern part of El-Mughar village, the Scots managed to break through from the south. The Scots also took the villages Katra and Gedera, both just a bit south of El-Mughar ridge.  

 

All the photos attached are by courtesy of Barry Levinson, a member of The Society for the Heritage of WWI in Israel.     

 

Eran

Edited 12 January , 2018 by Eran Tearosh

[Stuart24]

Hello Roger,

 

Unfortunately the master set of Military Medal citations for the First World War were destroyed by enemy action in 1940.  It is now almost impossible to find out why a particular individual received one.  The only way I have managed it in the past (apart from newspapers) is when a copy of either the citation or the original recommendation have been preserved in the unit War Diary at The National Archives.

 

Cheers
Stuart

[AndrewFrench]

Good Afternoon everybody

Thank you for posting the photos Eran. They are good to see.

As regards Percy Hawkins I can tell you that unfortunately no M.M. citation exists in the war diary.

Percy served in 4th Troop of the Berkshire Yeomanry's "D" Squadron which prior the to WW1 was recruited from North Berkshire. The 4th troop being based on Faringdon. He is believed to have been serving by the Autumn of 1914, but original record for his regimental number does not seem to have survived so we cannot say for certain; his number suggesting he was serving in the 3/1st Berks Yeo at Tidworth before being sent overseas in 1917.

 

Roger - any information or photos you have on Percy will help me give you some greater details.

 

Below is a picture we have of him

Regards

Andrew

 

 

 

Edited 4 January , 2018 by AndrewFrench

[AndrewFrench]

Hi Roger

Just as a supplementary, you mention that Percy Hawkins MM was won on the field at El Mughar. Do you have information on this date specifically as the Berkshire Yeomanry were in continuous action his the advance from 7th November until the 30 November first around Beersheba, then in the plains and finally dismounted in the Judean Hill.

D (Wantage) Squadron comprised

SHQ

1 Tp

2 Tp

3 Tp 

4 Tp

We know the o. c. Squadron was Captain W.H. Thomas (killed in action 21-11-1917) but unfortunately have no record yet of the which officer commanded which Troop apart from Lieut A.W.M. Budgett as o.c. 3 Troop

I was recently privileged to see the photograph album of the Bde GOC Br-Gen Godwin and from which I attach the photo below

 

 

Regards

Andrew

 

 

[Hawkeye28]

Hi All, particularly Andrew,

 

Many thanks for the photo of Percy Hawkins. A wonderful surprise!!

 

As to any information or photos we have on Percy that will help to obtain greater details.

Unfortunately very little at present, particularly in a military context,  as this is another branch of the  Hawkins of Little Coxwell, albeit the last branch to actually lived in the village. 

 

I am basically staring out on following up the HAWKINS in the article in Oxford Mail first  published in the Faringdon Advertiser in February 1918.

 

Percy was youngest of the  14 children of Henry and Emma Hawkins of Little Coxwell, Berkshire. Six of the known seven sons alive at the time of the 1911 census served in  H.M. Forces during the Great War, all whom came home alive. Hence the article in Faringdon Advertiser.  It is that article that mentions El Mughar. One  son, Walter Hawkins was discharged  with a crushed foot in 1917 after serving with the 1/4th Berkshire Regiment throughout 1916 and being wounded twice,

 

I will endeavour to update you as more info is found...

 

One question. Would awards of the Military Medal be note in the London Gazette?

 

My editor in chief, Miss A Preston has been instructed to make contact with you at Windsor. She is a mine of information on civilian life at Little Coxwell, particularly the Hawkins, Preston and Mulcock families.

 

regards Roger Hawkins 1947

[Hawkeye28]

Please note that the Faringdon Advertiser article sates that Allenby himself presented the medal

[Hawkeye28]

London Gazette has a mention of the action at El Mughar. However not enough detail

 

 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30492/supplement/1192

[AndrewFrench]

Roger I will look at this for you over the weekend - Regards Andrew

[Roo hawkins]

Hi l have just found this.  I have been looking into to my family tree. Leicester bred but know my great grandad was from hampshire but have found out his dad and family came from little coxwell. From a John Edward Hawkins circa 1821 .not sure if there is a link to the same family. 

 

 

 

 

[kenf48]

48 minutes ago, Roo hawkins said:

Hi l have just found this.  I have been looking into to my family tree. Leicester bred but know my great grandad was from hampshire but have found out his dad and family came from little coxwell. From a John Edward Hawkins circa 1821 .not sure if there is a link to the same family. 

 

 

 

 

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[Roo hawkins]

Thanks 

[Hawkeye28]

re  .a John Edward Hawkins circa 1821

Apologies for the delay in replying

As far as I am aware John Edward Hawkins (1821 -1884) of Little Coxwell, though married had no children. His brother Vincent Hawkins (1818-1906) was the sub postmaster, parish clerk and sexton for the village.