Henry Action South Staffs

[Henry Martin]

Hello

 

I am new to this forum, so my apologies if I am asking in the wrong place.

 

I am putting together our family tree and have come across my Grandfather who served with the South Staffordshire Regiment.  He was Henry Acton (no middle name) and according to the London Gazette joined up in January 1916.  An extract above shows him with B Company being demobbed as an Acting Captain in February 1919.

 

So the question is what did he do in those 3 years.

 

My aunt (his daughter) still lives in Eccleshall, Staffordshire and is 92.  She would love to know more.

 

Can anyone help?

 

 

[clk]

Hi,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

What's left of his service file is held by the National Archives - see here. Unfortunately, it isn't available for download. If you can't visit yourself, I understand that using file copying services can be considerably less expensive than ordering direct from the National Archives itself. Several are available including this one - link. I can't personally vouch for him, but have read favourable comments about the service he provides elsewhere on the forum.

 

Hopefully, the file would enable you to establish the units and dates of his overseas service, from which you could cross reference to Battalion, Brigade HQ, and Division HQ war diaries to establish his likely war experience. For France/Flanders you should de able to download the diaries from the National Archives - link. the Battalion diaries often only contain a brief daily description of what happened, and where they were. The higher formation diaries can give you more context to the Battalion diary, as they can contain 'extras' such as orders, maps, and reports on operations.

 

Good luck.

 

Regards

Chris

[IPT]

His medal index card shows that he went to France 18/1/1918. 

[clk]

Hi Henry,

 

4 hours ago, Henry Martin said:

An extract above [nothing now there] shows him with B Company being demobbed as an Acting Captain in February 1919.

 

The topic is a bit confusing now. Earlier on I think that the post was tacked on to the end of another one relating to the 7/South Staffs, which suggested that (if I noted it correctly) he joined them on 4th May 1918.

 

The long number records appear to show him as...

                                                                   Unit                                            Admin Number

Image source: The National Archives - file WO 338/1/2

 

47 minutes ago, IPT said:

His medal index card shows that he went to France 18/1/1918.

 

So, perhaps - commissioned and served at home with the 10th Bn; overseas 18/1/1918 to serve with the 8th Bn but as they were disbanded in late February 1918*; was sent to the 7th on 4/5/1918.

 

*General info on the South Staffs Battalions here. I also wondered if he ever actually served 'in anger' with the 8th Bn. I would guess that having arrived in France he may have spent some time in additional officer training at a (Divisional??) School prior to being deployed in the field. Even if that happened, I think that the time between his arrival in theatre, and his joining the 7th Bn needs to be explained away.

 

I think that only his service file will really crack it.

 

Regards

Chris

[Chris_Baker]

It may be of relevance that a Second Lieutenant H. Acton joined the 8th (Service) Battalion in the field on 27 July 1916 [war diary].

[Henry Martin]

Thank you all for the feedback.  All very exciting.

 

I have now established that Henry Acton returned from Canada (where he had started work following graduation from Cambridge) to join the war effort.  He arrived at Liverpool in December 1915.  The London Gazette notice has him joining the Regiment (but no information on which battalion) in February 1916.  The monthly Army List has a bit more detail and stating 'Cadet or ex Cadet OTC to be temp 2nd Lt (on prob):- Henry Acton'

 

The extract that I had seen on another post (which led me to this forum) was about the identity of Officers in the 7th South Staffordshire in October 1917.  Andy Johnson had provided an extract from the history by Major Ashcroft which included a list of officers who served.  It is copied below:

 

Acton, Lieut. H. (8th S. Staff. Regt.).

Joined " B " Coy., 4/5/18. A/Capt., Feb., 1919. Demobilised, Feb., 1919.

Address— Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.

 

I have seen quite a few index cards on Ancestory for Henry Acton, so can't be sure which one is his.  Can I now be confident to search the Admin No.123617?

 

Could he have been sent into the field on 27 July 1916 (only 4 months after joining up)?  That would put him in France with the 8th in July 1916.  Why would a medical card them show him returning on 18 January 1918?  I can understand the suggestion that the 8th was disbanded and he joined the 7th on 4 May 1918.

 

Any chance that the 2nd Lt Henry Acton sent on 27 July 1916 is not the same one who is sent on 18 January?

 

Thanks in anticipation

 

Henry

 

[Henry Martin]

To all

 

Well I have just downloaded the War Diaries for the 7th and 8th Battalion and can see that a Lt H Acton did join the 8th on 27 July 1916 and the 7th on 4 April (not May as first reported) 1918.

 

Does this suggest he was 'in theatre' for probably over 2 years?

[clk]

Hi Henry,

 

5 hours ago, Henry Martin said:

 

I have seen quite a few index cards on Ancestory for Henry Acton, so can't be sure which one is his.  Can I now be confident to search the Admin No.123617?

 

Officer 'admin' numbers don't appear on their medal index cards/medal roll records.

 

5 hours ago, Henry Martin said:

Any chance that the 2nd Lt Henry Acton sent on 27 July 1916 is not the same one who is sent on 18 January?

 

This free download would usually give you your options (excluding Territorial Force officers). Why I picked on the man in post #4 is that there don't appear to be any other obvious contenders, and the '/38' stands for the 38th Regiment of Foot - i.e. the archaic name still being used in some places, for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The preceding numbers are Battalion numbers. The admin number cross references to the "Former reference in its original department" number for the service file linked in post #2.

 

5 hours ago, Henry Martin said:

Why would a medical card them show him returning on 18 January 1918?

 

That's the head scratcher, officer MICs would normally show the date (even if there wasn't a 'Star' medal entitlement) that they 1st arrived in theatre. Possibly a clerical error then?

 

Regards

Chris

 

 

Edited 28 November , 2018 by clk

[Chris_Baker]

Small correction: the old 38th is the South Staffordshire Regiment, not the Warwicks.

[Chris_Baker]

It may be of relevance that a Second Lieutenant H. Acton, South Staffordshire Regiment, appears as wounded in the War Office daily casualty list of 14 July 1917 and this is mentioned in the 8th Battalion's diary on 4 July.

Edited 29 November , 2018 by Chris_Baker

[Henry Martin]

Thank you both....

 

Pardon my ignorance but is the register in doc WO338/1/2 a full list of all Officers and their 'long numbers'?  If it is then there is only one H Acton and we know that is Henry Acton.  We can also be certain it was, my Grandfather, Henry Acton who joins the 7th in May (actually April as evidenced by the diaries) 1918 (as recorded by Major Ashcroft's history) as the extract refers to his residence as Tettenhall, which is correct.

 

We can also be sure from the 8/38 reference that he joined the 8th battalion of the 38th Regiment (South Staffordshire).

 

I have scanned though the diary  for the 8th and on 9 February 1917 there is a reference to 2 Lt H H Acton.  Slightly strange as he only had one first name (to the best of my knowledge).

 

If I went to Kew would they have the full file for Acton under WO/339/52692 also known under 123617?  If so I think it has to be done....

 

Thanks for your guidance and advice

 

Henry

[clk]

Hi Henry,

 

14 hours ago, clk said:

the archaic name still being used in some places, for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment

 

1 hour ago, Chris_Baker said:

Small correction: the old 38th is the South Staffordshire Regiment, not the Warwicks.

 

Whoops! Sorry, I don't know where I magicked that up from. 

 

54 minutes ago, Henry Martin said:

is the register in doc WO338/1/2 a full list of all Officers and their 'long numbers'?

 

The blurb associated with the file series says:

 

59 minutes ago, Henry Martin said:

If I went to Kew would they have the full file for Acton under WO/339/52692 also known under 123617?

 

Over the years, the file will probably have been weeded, so I don't know what would be left. I would guess that it would probably still include his 'joining up' papers, and his statement of service.

 

Regards

Chris

[Henry Martin]

To all

 

Thank you.  I had not seen the reference to ACTON being wounded in July 1917 most impressive of you to find it.  Perhaps he served from 27 July 1916 with the 8th, was injured in July 1917, returned home, went back on 18 Jan 1918 and joined the 7th later that year.  If that was true, he never told his daughter (my aunt) any of it....

 

I have asked the archivists at Kew to look at his file and advise it their is anything of relevance.

 

Regards

 

H

 

 

 

 

[clk]

Hi Henry,

 

If you do manage to progress your research, can you post an update? For no real specific reason, other than a general interest, I'd really like a read. Incidentally, if you weren't already aware, Chris Baker was the original founder of this website, and his 'go to' Long, Long Trail site is pretty much the number #1.

 

Regards

Chris

[Henry Martin]

Chris

 

No problem....

 

H

[Henry Martin]

All

 

I have now received 34 individual jpg files for pages in Lt Henry Acton's war record.  It is mainly extracts from Medical Board reports relating to the injury he received on 3 July but there are interesting other scraps including a note from the CO confirming he would accept him into the Regiment and a note from the matron in the hospital!  Together with other information on Ancestory and the mentions within the war diary, I have put together the following summary for our family tree records: 

 

Henry Acton returned from Canada on board the Adriatic landing at Liverpool on 16 December 1915.  He wasted no time seeking a commission and signed application papers on 20 December and secured supporting letters from the Lt. Col. Commanding the 10^th Battalion of The Staffordshire Regiment on 4 January 1917 and the Colonel for Military Education at Cambridge on 6 January 1916.  On 3 February 1916 The London Gazette reported that Henry Acton joined the South Staffordshire Regiment on 27 Jan 1916.

The war diaries for the 8^th Battalion show 2nd Lt H Acton arriving on the front line in July 1916.  On 9 Feb 1917 he is mentioned in the Battalion diary leading B Company to reinforce the front line.  On 3 July 1917 he was wounded at Arras (recorded in the diary on 4 July).  On the 6 July he was evacuated back to England arriving in Dover on board the Newhaven.

Whilst his wound was ‘slight’ (a bullet to the upper left arm causing no muscle or bone damage) he was treated at The Rutland Hospital, Mayfair before being moved to Sunninghill, Berkshire and then being granted leave to convalesce.  On 19 November 1917 he was signed off by a Medical Board as being fit for active service.

He returned to France on 18 January 1918, probably to re-join the 8^th Battalion but this was disbanded in February 1918 and Henry Acton was transferred to the 7^th Battalion arriving 4 April 2018 where he probably served until the Armistice on 11 November.  Henry Acton was demobilised as an Acting Captain on 20 February 1919 and was awarded both The British War medal and The Victory medal.

 

Clearly the Medal Card only recorded his second arrival in France and missed that he had also been posted in July 1917.

I have just spoken to his daughter, my 92 year old Aunt, who knew nothing of the above.  She remembers a troubled man who drank too much whisky but remained quite and polite.  Having read the diaries I think I now know why.

Thank you for your help if you would like to see copies of the papers I will try and collate them into a single file.

Regards

 

Henry Martin

[Henry Martin]

All

 

I have just finished writing up my research on Henry Acton and went on to read the diaries for the 8th in the months after he returned to England.

 

The action on 12 Oct 1917 seems to have taken a very heavy toll on the 8th Battalion with 4 officers killed and 14 wounded that day (and only 3 left standing).  Also 340 other rank casualties.  It must have been truly dreadful.

 

If it had not been for Henry Acton's 'slight' injury, his fate might have been very different.  I wonder how it affected him mentally to know so many of his comrades fell that day.  This modest research project makes you appreciate what we have and how they sacrificed.

 

Regards to all

 

Henry Martin