Norfolk Rhapsody at Gaza

[rob carman]

This is from another Neil Storey book:   Storey, N. 2009. The Pride of Norfolk.  Halsgrove, 176 pp. ISBN-10: 1841148776

 

Storey may be worth contacting.  He is on facebook

[Slingo]

Hallo Peter,

Raymond was a Lance-Corporal with the 10th Essex.

kind regards,

Gunther

[Slingo]

Hallo Rob,

Thanks a lot for sending me this report of Sgt. Theodore Randall.

kind regards,

Gunther

 

Unfortunateyl I'm not on facebook

 

 

[Slingo]

on Theodore:

1/5th Norfolk fought at Suvla Bay, was sent to Egypt and then back to England for reconstitution.

Is it plausible that Theodore back in England was ordered to become a Royal Engineer 281946

before he was sent to Egypt again ?

How may we find his unit that he was assigned to in Egypt and Sgt. Theodore's  duties there ?

 

kind regards,

Gunther

[PRC]

13 hours ago, Slingo said:

on Theodore:

1/5th Norfolk fought at Suvla Bay, was sent to Egypt and then back to England for reconstitution.

Is it plausible that Theodore back in England was ordered to become a Royal Engineer 281946

before he was sent to Egypt again ?

How may we find his unit that he was assigned to in Egypt and Sgt. Theodore's  duties there ?

 

Gunther,

 

I've not forgotten you - it's just every line of enquiry I follow so far brings up more questions and no answers :-(

 

Do you have anything on the family side, (letters, personal papers, etc), to confirm he came back to the UK during the war? If so when?

Do you have anything to show he ever served with the Royal Engineers in Egypt?

 

Knowing the answers to those questions would help turn my best guess into something a bit more solid.

 

Thanks,

Peter

[PRC]

Guther,

 

I've mailed you a document with more detail but the summary of his Army career was:-

 

·       I believe Theodore was a pre-War Territorial Soldier and possibly serving even earlier with the Volunteer Battalion.

·       He opted for Overseas Service in September 1914 and became part of the 1st/5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment.

·       Sailed with the Battalion and landed on Gallipoli in August 1915.

·       Through ill-health, (most likely dysentery), he was repatriated to the UK, probably before the end of 1915.

·       Recovered during 1916 and probably served with the home service battalions of the Norfolk Regiment.

·       In April\May 1917 he was transferred to the Royal Engineers to work in Signals.

·       Most likely went to France & Flanders between May 1917 and October 1917, probably to work for a Signals Section at the Army \ G.H.Q. level..

·       Most likely went to Italy at the end of October 1917.

·       Hospitalised in Genoa in April 1918.

·       Survived the war.

 

That timeline would mean he was most likely back in the UK before his brother even reached Egypt, and the two did not take part in any of the Battles of Gaza. I suspect he may have been renumbered by the Norfolk Regiment at the start of 1917 but given the low level of detail on the Royal Engineers Service Medal Rolls and that, at the time of the renumbering, his records may well have been in transit between the Warley Office that dealt with the Norfolks and the Chatham Office that dealt with the Royal Engineers, it may simply have got missed.

 

Cheers,

Peter