2Lt. George Follett, 6th Rifle Brigade attd. 1/10th London Regt. d. 19 Sept 1918 Palestine

[John Vickers]

2 Lt. George Follett

b. 4/6/1891, Pamber, Hants.

 

I could do with a bit of help on this man for a memorial project.I have good civil data but don't have access to his NA records, which are not digitised. What I know is:

 

• Joined 1914 (Western Daily Press 30/10/1918 obituary)
• First served in France, entering theatre of war 16/11/1915
• He was 23rd Btn. Royal Fusiliers (Pte. 1493, then Cpl. G8/47962) - Sportsmen's Battalion?
• Commissioned to 6th Btn. Rifle Brigade on 28/8/1917 (though Western Daily Press 30/10/1918 obituary records it as Commissioned in 1916)
• Then Attd. 1/10th Btn. London Regiment
• KIA 18/9/1918
• Buried at Ramleh War Cemetery

 

Any further details would be most gratefully received.

 

[ss002d6252]

What does the soldiers effects record show for his 'other ranks war gratuity ? From that you can confirm length of service in the ranks before commission. It should be shown in red, next to a red stamp.

Craig

[wbremner]

48 minutes ago, John Vickers said:

• He was 23rd Btn. Royal Fusiliers (Pte. 1493, then Cpl. G8/47962) - Sportsmen's Battalion?

 

 

I don't have much on this soldier in my Sportsman's Battalion database, but I can tell by looking at adjacent soldiers that he enlisted in the battalion (by then the 23rd Royal Fusiliers), around January 30-Feb 1st 1915, not 1914. It's possible that he sent in his information to the battalion in late 1914, but based on his number I believe he enlisted / attested in early 1915.

[John Vickers]

@ss002d6252He has a Type 1 War Gratuity of £15 10s. I think that calculates as 8/1914 enlistment.

[ss002d6252]

8 minutes ago, John Vickers said:

@ss002d6252He has a Type 1 War Gratuity of £15 10s. I think that calculates as 8/1914 enlistment.

Amount seems a little odd on first thoughts - can you post the image so I can take a look ?

Craig

[stiletto_33853]

Enlisted 5/2/15 according to his papers. They also state 4/7/1891 as D.O.B.

 

Andy

Edited 24 January , 2018 by stiletto_33853

[ss002d6252]

17 minutes ago, stiletto_33853 said:

Enlisted 5/2/15 according to his papers. They also state 4/7/1891 as D.O.B.

 

Andy

What date is given for the commission ?

Craig

[stiletto_33853]

Craig,

 

29/8/17 there were a few claims against his estate.

 

Andy

[John Vickers]

Here's the Effects entry

[ss002d6252]

The gratuity as a Corporal (it has been paid gross rather than net*) should be £6 for 12 months + £10 for 20 months to give 32  months in total. What I suspect has happened is that they've dropped a month from the calculation, it does happen, which would then give the £15 10s rather than the correct £16.

* The officers stamps are often stamped as Type 1 even where payments were made as Type 2 - not sure why.

Craig

[stiletto_33853]

Little bit more for you John, he previously served in the 4th Hants as a Territorial serving his time. Wounded in action 3/8/16 Gunshot Wound to the Right Knee.Find attached his family details.

 

Andy

[John Vickers]

@stiletto_33853 That is so helpful - is there any information on when he received his gun shot wound?

 

The DoB I had was via a third party so may have been a typo in the month.

@ss002d6252  Thanks – that presumably would put his enlistment as January 1915, around the time given by @wbremner (for which – I negelected to say thank you!).

[stiletto_33853]

No problem John, if you would like his papers let me know. By the way what memorial are you working on?? I note that he was a teacher and you have posted about another teacher.

 

Attestation forms give 16/1/15.

 

Andy

Edited 24 January , 2018 by stiletto_33853

[ss002d6252]

11 minutes ago, John Vickers said:

@stiletto_33853 That is so helpful - is there any information on when he received his gun shot wound?

 

The DoB I had was via a third party so may have been a typo in the month.

@ss002d6252  Thanks – that presumably would put his enlistment as January 1915, around the time given by @wbremner (for which – I negelected to say thank you!).

It would tie in with the 16 Jan 15 date in his service record.

 

Craig

[John Vickers]

@stiletto_33853 It's writing biographies for all 60 former students who were the Fallen of Winchester Training College, Winchester (became King Alfred's College and the University of Winchester). All were teachers. It's a handful of us old students doing this (all there in the 1970s).

 

Thanks again for your help. Yes, the papers would be great.

[wbremner]

1 hour ago, stiletto_33853 said:

Wounded in action 3/8/16 Gunshot Wound to the Right Knee.

 

Nothing in the 23rd War Diary for 3/8/16 regarding any casualties. So either it happened on that day and wasn't reported (which is possible, the 23rd War Diaries can be terse), or it happened earlier and was not reported until later (also possible because it was just after the Battle of Delville Wood, which resulted in great confusion and a huge number of casualties in the battalion, many of which were not reported until later).

Edited 24 January , 2018 by wbremner

[wbremner]

2 hours ago, stiletto_33853 said:

Enlisted 5/2/15 according to his papers.

 

I wonder if that is when he was appointed to L/Cpl, as it now looks like his actual enlistment was 16/1/15.

[stiletto_33853]

Yes, his application for admission to an officer cadet unit states 5/2/15 filled out by himself. Officialdom as in his Military History sheet and other papers state 16/1/15.

Lance Corporal 8/7/15

 

Andy

Edited 24 January , 2018 by stiletto_33853

[wbremner]

19 minutes ago, stiletto_33853 said:

Yes, his application for admission to an officer cadet unit states 5/2/15 filled out by himself. Officialdom as in his Military History sheet and other papers state 16/1/15.

Lance Corporal 8/7/15

 

Andy

 

 

Andy,

 

Thanks for sharing all of this - there's some great info in here which is v. helpful for my Sportsman's Battalion database and blog.

 

William

[stiletto_33853]

William,

 

No problem. I have a few more ex 23rd if interested. Norman Ramsay ex 719, 23rd RF, 16th RB KIA 3/9/16. Donaldson, Charles Ashleigh, ex 694 23rd RF, 16th RB, KIA 3/9/16.

 

Andy

[wbremner]

1 hour ago, stiletto_33853 said:

No problem. I have a few more ex 23rd if interested

 

Would love to see those, thanks! Can you message me with the info so we don't clog up this post chain?

[stiletto_33853]

John,

 

 

Does Harold Arthur Livingstone Raynor feature in your feature in your Winchester College fallen.

 

Andy

[John Vickers]

20 minutes ago, stiletto_33853 said:

John,

 

 

Does Harold Arthur Livingstone Raynor feature in your feature in your Winchester College fallen.

 

Andy

Andy,

No. This is Winchester Training College (became King Alfred's College and now University of Winchester), not Winchester College (Public School).

John

[Guest]

Just found this very useful thread -- am editing a non-profit book about WWI dead on 4 war memorials in West Leicestershire, one of whom is George Follett. Have been searching for his service number as 2nd Lt. Is it 257620 as in the URL for this thread? I want to get a service number (at time of death) for each entry in the book, but some seem difficult to find for officers. Any help much appreciated. Kind Regards, Colin

[John Vickers]

@Colin Lester My apologies - I've been away from the forum for some time.

 

When he died he was a Commissioned Officer (2nd Lt, as you say) so no service number. He was attached to 1/10th London Rgt when he died. I believe it would have been at Oghlu Tepe, capturing two howitzers on high ground overlooking Wadi Kanah.

I'm puzzled by his inclusion on a Leics. memorial. He spent his life in Hampshire, trained at Winchester and then taught in Bath. I haven't traced any activity by him or a family member north of Basingstoke.