190th Machine Gun Company - 63rd Royal Naval Division

[Matty]

HI Everyone, 

I have just joined the forum & wanted to drop you a line to say greetings!

Also to hopefully gather some more information after having spent the last six months extensively researching my Great Grandfather who served in France & Belgium with the 63rd Royal Naval Division, 190th Machine Gun Company. I obtained the 190th MGC war diary from the national archives which has been incredibly insightful to say the least & very helpful on a recent battlefield tour I made with my father to pin point exact locations of the companies movements.

I have an original group photo (now framed with my Great Grandfathers medals) from when he was with the Royal Marine Light Infantry dated 1915 before he set off for Grantham for Machine Gun Training but would love to see any more period photos or information that you guys might have that you feel may be of interest to me.

Any information no matter how small would be greatly appreciated

Best regards

Matty

 

   

[horatio2]

Welcome to the GWF.

I would be interested to know his name and an outline of his service dates, if you are prepared to share.

Edited 7 September , 2019 by horatio2

[Matty]

1 hour ago, horatio2 said:

Welcome to the GWF.

I would be interested to know his name and an outline of his service dates, if you are prepared to share.

Good Evening & Thank you for the Welcome to the forum!

Yes of course! I was very lucky recently to receive a very detailed pack from the Fleet Air Arm archive which gave me a lot of information with regards to his service history.

My Great Grandfather Lance Corporal George Thomas Sutton (CH 1053) enlisted with the Royal Marine Light Infantry Chatham Division on 11th October 1915 before moving to the Machine Gun Corps at the end of May 1916 and trained at Grantham. Following training he was mobilized & left for Le Harve via Southampton on 6th September 1916 as part of the expeditionary force serving in France & Belgium. He survived the war and served a total of 3 years 174 days with the MGC & according to his records was granted leave back to the UK for Christmas 1917. George left for the UK and demobilization on 3rd March 1919.

If anyone has any information/photos or knows of relatives who may have served alongside or close by to my Great Grandfather I would be very grateful if you could take my research & knowledge to new heights!   

Thank you for your interest.

Best regards

Matty

 

[horatio2]

Thank you for the extra detail. His full register number was CH/1053 (S) - (S) for short service (duration of the war).

Is this also your GGF, who served as a Special Service stoker in the RN 1905-1905? Date and place of birth (near Maidstone) seem to match:-

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7087074

190th MG Coy was formed by drafts from the three RMLI Divisional HQs and, although the RMLI probably remained the majority in 190^th MG Coy, significant numbers of RNVR officers and ratings and MGC officers and ORs would also serve.

During its existence, from September 1916 to February 1918, 190th MG Coy had 46 officers and ORs killed: 8 officers (4 RMLI  and 4 RNVR) and 30 RMLI ORs and 8 RNVR ratings. 

From your study of 190th MG Coy, I assume you discovered that on 1 Mar 1918 190th MG Coy became ‘C’ Coy of the new 63rd MG Battalion.

[Matty]

1 hour ago, horatio2 said:

Thank you for the extra detail. His full register number was CH/1053 (S) - (S) for short service (duration of the war).

Is this also your GGF, who served as a Special Service stoker in the RN 1905-1905? Date and place of birth (near Maidstone) seem to match:-

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7087074

190th MG Coy was formed by drafts from the three RMLI Divisional HQs and, although the RMLI probably remained the majority in 190^th MG Coy, significant numbers of RNVR officers and ratings and MGC officers and ORs would also serve.

During its existence, from September 1916 to February 1918, 190th MG Coy had 46 officers and ORs killed: 8 officers (4 RMLI  and 4 RNVR) and 30 RMLI ORs and 8 RNVR ratings. 

From your study of 190th MG Coy, I assume you discovered that on 1 Mar 1918 190th MG Coy became ‘C’ Coy of the new 63rd MG Battalion.

Horatio!

Until now I had not yet been made aware of this other document in the National Archive relating to my Great Grandfather!!
This has brought new light upon the man he was and his exploits before The Great War.
Do excuse my ignorance but would you be able to explain a little more to me about this role & decipher the wording on his section of the form?
The information you have passed on to us today has been very helpful & your guidance has been much appreciated.
Best Regards
Matty



  

 

[horatio2]

He enlisted on 13 Nov 1905 on a Special Service (SS) engagement as a Stoker 2nd Class. The SS engagement would have required him to serve 5 years in the Fleet, followed by 7 years in the Royal Fleet Reserve (RFR) while following his civilian occupation. However, your GGF was discharged 'invalided' after a little over one year on 18 Nov 1906 with "Tubercle bones of Tarsus" (tuberculosis in the ankle ??).

He initially  trained as a stoker at Chatham in the old frigate HMS ACHERON (formerly NORTHUMBERLAND) but then transferred to the RN Barracks at Chatham (HMS PEMBROKE II). He never served at sea.

Ignore the record of Stoker Luckhurst below the line.

Edited 8 September , 2019 by horatio2

[horatio2]

11 hours ago, horatio2 said:

(tuberculosis in the ankle ??).

After a quick Google - apparently nothing to do with tuberculosis

[Matty]

12 hours ago, horatio2 said:

He enlisted on 13 Nov 1905 on a Special Service (SS) engagement as a Stoker 2nd Class. The SS engagement would have required him to serve 5 years in the Fleet, followed by 7 years in the Royal Fleet Reserve (RFR) while following his civilian occupation. However, your GGF was discharged 'invalided' after a little over one year on 18 Nov 1906 with "Tubercle bones of Tarsus" (tuberculosis in the ankle ??).

He initially  trained as a stoker at Chatham in the old frigate HMS ACHERON (formerly NORTHUMBERLAND) but then transferred to the RN Barracks at Chatham (HMS PEMBROKE II). He never served at sea.

Ignore the record of Stoker Luckhurst below the line.

Good Morning Horatio

Thank you once again for taking the time to pass on that information & your guidance on my GGF! It has been a very interesting & thought provoking last 12 hours to say the least!

 

It would be interesting to know the kinds of treatment & the period of recovery that George may have undertaken for this ankle problem between being invalided & passed fit for service some 9 years later, particularly as his civilian occupation was a Bricklayer! It perhaps cannot of hindered his life too much as in the local town of Offham, Kent, where he lived, a beautiful stone dividing wall which he built is still standing today!

The internet can be a wonderful thing at times as I have now found what I believe to be photos of that old frigate that he trained upon, HMS ACHERON (formerly NORTHUMBERLAND).

Thank you once again

Matty