'Drill Stations' question

[Steven Broomfield]

In 1914, the 5th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment was centred on Southampton (TF battalion), with one of its 8 companies (F) based in Eastleigh. However, the Company also had a 'Drill Station' in the village of Fair Oak (where I live).

 

Now, I know tat Drill Stations were extremely common - pretty well every TF unit outside big cities had them - but what I don't know is is it's possible to track down where they were. I cannot find any reference to the Fair Oak one (local history society has no idea and the Royal Hampshire regt museum is steadfastly not replying). Is there a list anywehere, percahnce, does anyone know? Has anyone else wrestled with this problem to make other suggestions? All help/advice appreciated.

 

While I'm at it, any idea what size the sub-unit would be - how many blokes? Platoon? Section? Random number from 1 to 100?

All help gratefully received.

[Scalyback]

Have you looked on old OS maps? They may reference it as Drill Hall even though as you say it could be a small building. 

 

The Welsh 3rd VB had the HQ as Drill hall in Cardiff but A and B company at Dowlais at the "School rooms". Two companys in what I have identified as the school rooms I would say more platoon size.  In 1906 the address had changed to High Street for both companys. A commanded by a Major and B by a Captain. I can not find any ref to drill hall in dowlais for infantry(I'm aware of a yeomanry/cav

 

On formation of the TF in 1908 Dowlais is removed from the orbat and all men muster at Merthyr Tydfil Brecon road that was a large drill hall with two companys on formation of the TF in 1908. 

 

I'm inclined to think a drill "station" is a local suitable building where lectures and local admin can be done away from a full size drill hall. Much like the cadet force today. 

 

 

Edited 22 January , 2019 by Scalyback

[Steven Broomfield]

Thanks. I agree out the sort of building - there is a Scout Hut which is contempraneous so seems the most likely option.

 

Get the point about the OS.

 

One source of the size of the unit which i can explore is local: another company of the 5th battalion had a Drill Station at a neighbouring village, West End (where I used to live). That has a full Muster Roll as well as a Roll of Honour, and many of the blokes identified by battalion, so checking the number of 5th hants men might help.

[kenf48]

I could only find one reference to this section in the newspapers on FMP

There are probably more but this is from The Hampshire County Advertiser June 20 1914

 

"The local company of the 5th Hants held a church parade at Fair Oak on Sunday.  The band from Headquarters numbering 43, conducted by Bandmaster Buxey, was in attendance, and the local men to the number of 27, paraded under the command of Lieut. E.J.Fear.  The Fair Oak section, numbering 25 paraded at the schools, and subsequently the men attended St Thomas' Church.  After service the men marched back to the Drill Hall at Eastleigh, where tea was provided.  The local company is not yet up to full strength, but efforts are being made to attain that end.  There is the making of a strong contingent at Fair Oak and when a drill hall is provided for the section there will, we understand, be little short of a hundred men."

 

I guess they were overtaken by events, but I leave that to your local knowledge.  Though if they paraded at the 'schools' perhaps they used the playground and assembly hall as their local station.   I don't suppose the records of the County Association have survived?

The Advertiser also published ‘Territorial Notes’ regularly.

 

Ken

btw copied verbatim I can't explain the anomalous 27/25!

Edited 23 January , 2019 by kenf48

[Andy Wade]

Mighty be worth enquiring here, I believe this website is run by forum member Dragon, although I understand it's dormant at the moment. Perhaps a PM to her?

http://drillhalls.org/

[Dragon]

7 hours ago, Steven Broomfield said:

Is there a list anywehere, percahnce, does anyone know? Has anyone else wrestled with this problem to make other suggestions? All help/advice appreciated.

 

 

On our database on www.drillhalls.org towns and villages are listed within counties. Drill stations are listed with ds next to the name. Clicking on the name brings up the details we have, such as units. Most of the information came from Kelly's Directories of the end of the 19c up to 1914.

 

Please be aware that the website is dormant at the moment and is not complete.

 

Gwyn

 

 

Edited 23 January , 2019 by Dragon

[Steven Broomfield]

Thanks all. Looking good.

 

The school (still there) was a thought I had so a route well-worth investigation. The number of 25 seems reasonable: although the village was quite small in 1914 there were a lot of outlying farms and smallholdings, and Horton Heath (a hamlet now incorporated into the village of fair Oak & Horton Heath) would have had blokes, too, who might have been recruited.

 

The Hampshire Chronicle archives look a good bet, too.

[Dragon]

Kelly's Directory for Fair Oak in 1898 lists four places which might be possibilities for the drill station. There is the church, which I assume would have had a hall of some sort, a Wesleyan Chapel at Crowd Hill, a Union Chapel at Horton Heath and the 1867 school. There are also several farms. It would be worth looking in the records of the school (possibly stored in county archives) and of the chapels (eg Methodist Heritage).

 

It can be useful to look at the town / village / hamlet in Kelly's Directory, where the drill hall will usually (but not always) be listed in the town description, and then to look through the list of people, particularly the commercial listing, where you may find an entry like this:

 

 

… which will often give you the address of the officer(s). In this case, it gives you the address of the drill hall in Eastleigh, which wasn't stated in the town description. You can then cross check the address(es) with any other information. It's often a matter of piecing together clues and triangulating snippets, because the recorders for directories sometimes made mistakes or left things out because of time pressure or because they were confused by conflicting information. So, if a Captain Smith was listed as resident at High Street, Anytown, you can then go to the old OS maps site (www.old-maps.co.uk) and look on High Street to see whether a drill hall is marked. They usually are because they were key buildings in the street scene and in the life of the community. It would then be a reasonable working assumption that he lived at the drill hall. As for drill stations, they are recorded and you may find the location by back searching on the name(s) of the personnel involved in the unit.

 

In this case I haven't followed through where Mr Harrison Hogge and Mr J E Dawe lived.

 

I wouldn't recommend trying to carry out a free text search (eg "drill station") on the directories archived at Leicester University's digital collection, which has now been mothballed. You would be better using Ancestry https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3145 The Leicester University collection is here: http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4 Searching is slow, but you can also browse it on a page by page basis, which is what I've just done because I don't have an Ancestry subscription. Find the directory you want, guess which page the village might be on (eg for Fair Oak, being F, page 175 might be a starting point - I don't know whether it is or not) then use the arrows to move back and forward.

 

Another thing to bear in mind is that communities did change their names as they expanded, so a hamlet called Anyhamlet might have been part of a village called Anyvillage until it grew and was split off administratively and renamed New Hamlet, maybe even with its own train station. So it's worth exploring the adjacent communities.

 

Gwyn

 

 

 

Edited 23 January , 2019 by Dragon

[David_Underdown]

Just to note that some may find the National Library of Scotland maps https://maps.nls.uk/ a useful alternative to the Old Maps site.

[Dragon]

Another point is that local employers sometimes set up their own drill halls or drill stations, perhaps for the vanity or patriotism of the business owner. (Eg Bestwood) Often they may have had space for a unit to train in. It can be worth looking out for local examples.

[Steven Broomfield]

Again, thanks, especially Gwyn.

 

I suspect the school looks favourite. The church had a tin shed as a church hall, but it was very small, by all accounts. the two non-conofmist chapels were also both quite small - the Weslyan one still exists (as a parivate house)

 

I will start following the suggestions.

[Terry_Reeves]

It might be worth contacting forum member Marc Thompson who is a serious Hampshire Regiment researcher.

 

TR

[Dragon]

8 hours ago, Steven Broomfield said:

 

 

I suspect the school looks favourite. The church had a tin shed as a church hall, but it was very small, by all accounts.

 

Good luck. We have a fair number of Victorian schools used as drill stations. Eg Middlewich: Kelly, 1914, records the 7th Battalion Cheshire Regiment (Middlewich Detachment of E Co.). The Drill hall was the Council schools, King Edward street. This school is still there.

 

As for tin sheds, this pink corrugated iron shed was the drill hall at Connah's Quay. It's a photo from the 1960s and was given to me by the former caretaker. The building was considered an eyesore and demolished.

 

 

Edited 23 January , 2019 by Dragon

[Steven Broomfield]

4 hours ago, Terry_Reeves said:

It might be worth contacting forum member Marc Thompson who is a serious Hampshire Regiment researcher.

 

TR

 

Thanks. I know he volunteers at the museum, so I'm hoping my (so far unanswered) email might wend its way to him.

[Scalyback]

As an aside. I have Riflemen Form by Beckett and Kitchener's Army by Simkins. Is there any covering 1908 to 1914 for the TF?

[Bordercollie]

On 23/01/2019 at 21:18, Scalyback said:

As an aside. I have Riflemen Form by Beckett and Kitchener's Army by Simkins. Is there any covering 1908 to 1914 for the TF?

There is Ray Westlake's "The Territorials 1908-1914" but the approach is rather different to both Beckett and Simkins. The dustcover notes describe the Westlake approach as providing "... an accessible introduction to the Territorial Force and a directory of the units raised in each county and each town."  So it provides a useful summary of the organisation and geographical spread of the Territorial Force but provides no detail on recruiting, training etc.

[kenf48]

On 23/01/2019 at 21:18, Scalyback said:

As an aside. I have Riflemen Form by Beckett and Kitchener's Army by Simkins. Is there any covering 1908 to 1914 for the TF?

 

Westlake is an invaluable reference but the most accessible account of the TF for that period is second volume of K.W. Mitchison's trilogy of Britain's Auxiliary Forces:-

 

'England's Last Hope' The Territorial Force 1908 -1914'.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Englands-Last-Hope-Territorial-1908-14/dp/0230574548

Blimey! Better look after my copy!

 

The other two volumes are 'Defending Albion' 

https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781403938251

Unavailable on Amazon

 

and 'The Territorial Force at War'

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Territorial-Force-War-1914-16/dp/1137451599/ref=pd_sim_14_2/260-5950732-6543927?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1137451599&pd_rd_r=28097937-23d0-11e9-933e-eb3eb131eee2&pd_rd_w=7p4UM&pd_rd_wg=U9ISE&pf_rd_p=1e3b4162-429b-4ea8-80b8-75d978d3d89e&pf_rd_r=ZZYYAJ7A3FVQM9XKDK13&psc=1&refRID=ZZYYAJ7A3FVQM9XKDK13

A little less expensive!

 

Hunting around you can probably pick up copies for less than the price quoted on Amazon I've not read 'Defending Albion' but recommend the other two,.

 

Beckett and Simpson ' A Nation in Arms' has a chapter on the TF (Beckett) which is a good introduction.

 

Ken

 

 

Edited 29 January , 2019 by kenf48

[Bordercollie]

Thank you for drawing our attention to "England's Last Hope" Ken. I had not come across it before but I have read "Defending Albion". My main interest in that work was the Volunteer Force but it does also cover planning for Home Defence stretching back to 1908 and the TF's pre-war planned role. Although there is the usual list of works by the same author in "Defending Albion" there is no mention there of "England's Last Hope". "Defending Albion" was first published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2005. "England's Last Hope" is a later work published in 2008. Concerning price it is available from Palgrave MacMillan at a slightly lower (but still eye-watering) price than Amazon's. One for the wish list I think.    

 

https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9780230574540

[Scalyback]

Thank you both. Indeed Ken, that is a pricey option England's Last Hope. I think I have a copy of Nation at Arms kicking about on the shelves. The joy of no children, we buy lots of books and then think where did that come from. Just finished If the Kaiser Comes a bit in there also but in regards the home defence plans.