PJS Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 (edited) James Alfred Parker was commissioned into the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on 8th May, 1914. He was promoted to Lieutenant, along with several other junior officers, on November 4, 1914 while serving in Egypt. He landed with the 1/9th in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 as a Platoon Commander in “B” Company. Local newspaper reports indicate that he survived a bloody bayonet charge on June 18 and temporarily took command of B company after his company CO was wounded and evacuated. He was himself evacuated to hospital in Alexandria later that month suffering from enteric fever. The London Gazette of the 5th April, 1916 has the following entry: Manchester Regt. Lieut. James A. Parker is cashiered by sentence of a General Court-Martial. 29th Feb, 1916. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29535/supplement/3653 How can I find out anything more about this Officer and the reason why he was cashiered? Thank You Peter Edited 7 July , 2020 by PJS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acknown Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 The Manchesters' Gallipoli War Diary (TNA records on Ancestry) is a slender document. On 19 Jun, B Company and part of C Company under Capt H Sugden made an attack on the Turkish trenches at the Krithia Nullah, but a 'strong enemy attack' prevented the trenches from being taken. Sugden was mortally wounded, Lt JM Wade was wounded and missing, and nine ORs killed, 33 wounded and 17 missing. However, Parker is not mentioned at all in the WD. Acknown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 6 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2020 2 hours ago, Acknown said: The Manchesters' Gallipoli War Diary (TNA records on Ancestry) is a slender document. On 19 Jun, B Company and part of C Company under Capt H Sugden made an attack on the Turkish trenches at the Krithia Nullah, but a 'strong enemy attack' prevented the trenches from being taken. Sugden was mortally wounded, Lt JM Wade was wounded and missing, and nine ORs killed, 33 wounded and 17 missing. However, Parker is not mentioned at all in the WD. Acknown Thank you for that. As you say, the Gallipoli war diary is hardly extensive but Parker is notable for his absence in the war diary, both as temporarily commanding B Company and being medically evacuated. I assume that he spent some time in hospital in Alexandria and then was shipped home to the UK to recuperate. So, I'm very curious to dig into what he could have done at the end of 1915 or early 1916 to get himself court martialed and cashiered. He was promoted in the field (in Egypt) and was competent (and presumably brave enough) to be given command of the Company in Gallipoli. What did he do that caused the wheels to come off? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 I cannot get an MIC nor a TNA officer file reference. The court martial would be in his file The reason for removal from the army, I have found, is usually a civil crime (and there is nothing in the local papers) or an internal army matter, usually financial and probably involving bouncing cheques (but you would only get that from his officer file. I concede that it could be due to many other reasons, but the cheques is the most likely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 6 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2020 4 minutes ago, corisande said: I cannot get an MIC nor a TNA officer file reference. The court martial would be in his file The reason for removal from the army, I have found, is usually a civil crime (and there is nothing in the local papers) or an internal army matter, usually financial and probably involving bouncing cheques (but you would only get that from his officer file. I concede that it could be due to many other reasons, but the cheques is the most likely Yes, his Army record seems to have been obliterated. I wondered about bounced cheques or perhaps an unwillingness to return to action. Do you know if there are any separate records of court martial records for February 1916? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 Ancestry has a court martial register - click to see J A Parker in 1916 - but I do not see him. It may be worth your while exploring this cource Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 I would go along with corisande, that one or more bounced cheques caused his court martial under Section 16 of the Army Act, "conduct unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman". It seems a bit harsh, but for that offence cashiering was the only punishment permitted under the Act. There are registers of courts-martial in some of the WO classes at the National Archives, probably in WO84 or WO90. Neither of these are available online. As an officer, he would have been tried by either a General or Field General Court Martial. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 (edited) An officer could also be cashiered for drunkenness. TR Edited 6 July , 2020 by Terry_Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headgardener Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 I think “conduct unbecoming” covered a fairly broad range of offences. I thought (although I’m happy to be corrected on this point) that the WW1 courts martial case files had been destroyed and that only the records of sentences survived. From my relatively limited experience, the service papers of officers who were cashiered have been heavily weeded so there may be very few if any references to the offence that he was sentenced for. Local newspapers *may* have a brief report of his sentencing. Having lost his commission he would have become liable for service in the ranks (assuming he didn’t receive a custodial sentence, I suppose), so you may find that he had subsequent service as an OR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 4 minutes ago, headgardener said: Having lost his commission he would have become liable for service in the ranks (assuming he didn’t receive a custodial sentence, I suppose), so you may find that he had subsequent service as an OR. Yes that is very true I researched about 2000 officers who joined the Aux. Police in Ireland in 1920/1921 Of these 17 lost their commissions in WW1 - click for list This gives a list of reasons why these particular men lost their commissions (and does not cover civil crime). I was able to substantiate the reasons usually from the mans officer file Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8055Bell Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 Hi Peter, I recommend Lynda's Ashton Pals site. Lt Parker took part in the assault on 18th June 1915 and became acting OC B Coy. He was subsequently invalided from Gallipoli to Alexandria with Entric Fever. No records of being cashiered though. It would be worth asking on the Manchesters Forum. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 (edited) Could an officer be cashiered if he was declared bankrupt? Or would he be "asked" to resign his commission? (I once researched an officer in the Dragoons who had to resign his commission (at least I think it was that way) in 1856/57 having run up gambling debts of £87,000 which he couldn't pay.) Edited 6 July , 2020 by rolt968 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 6 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2020 5 hours ago, corisande said: Ancestry has a court martial register - click to see J A Parker in 1916 - but I do not see him. It may be worth your while exploring this cource Thanks for the link. I had reviewed that list from Ancestry yesterday and I did not find him. Since that exhausted my knowledge of Courts Martial it prompted my post. It's a pity his service record seems to be missing. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 6 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2020 3 hours ago, 8055Bell said: Hi Peter, I recommend Lynda's Ashton Pals site. Lt Parker took part in the assault on 18th June 1915 and became acting OC B Coy. He was subsequently invalided from Gallipoli to Alexandria with Entric Fever. No records of being cashiered though. It would be worth asking on the Manchesters Forum. Tim Hi Tim, Thanks for the input. I will take your suggestion and post this on the Manchesters Forum and see if that turns anything up. Another thing that's curious about Lt. Parker is that I could not find any obvious records for any James Alfred Parkers who were living in or around Ashton-under-Lyne in 1911. He was commissioned in May 1914 and all of the other pre-war Officers of the 1/9th lived in the area. He is quite the enigma. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrewer Posted 6 July , 2020 Share Posted 6 July , 2020 A little more about him from The Advertiser, July 9th, 1915. Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 7 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 7 July , 2020 11 hours ago, sadbrewer said: A little more about him from The Advertiser, July 9th, 1915. Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive Thank you. That's a very interesting letter and I had not seen it before. It again puts Lt. Parker in Gallipoli in early June. William Henry Foden was a 23 year old athlete, (sprinter). This letter clearly puts Foden's death as May 30, 1915 whereas SDGW has it as June 13 and the Register of Soldier's Effects gives June 1st. Something else for me to look into. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themonsstar Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 (edited) Court Martial Extracts from WO90/6 Judge Advocate General's Office: General Courts Martial Registers Abroad Lt JA. Parker 1/9th Bn The Manchester Regt (TF) trial date 14th Feb 1916. Where held (looks like) Shallufa? Nature of Charge Disobeying CC. Sentence Cashiered & 84 days Hard Labour Remitted 56 days Edited 7 July , 2020 by themonsstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrewer Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 Great find ....must have been quite serious to add on the hard Labour I would have thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJS Posted 7 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 7 July , 2020 1 hour ago, themonsstar said: Court Martial Extracts from WO90/6 Judge Advocate General's Office: General Courts Martial Registers Abroad Lt JA. Parker 1/9th Bn The Manchester Regt (TF) trial date 14th Feb 1916. Where held (looks like) Shallufa? Nature of Charge Disobeying CC. Sentence Cashiered & 84 days Hard Labour Remitted 56 days That is exactly what I was hoping to find. Thank you! The 1/9th arrived in Shallufa on January 29th and left Shallufa for Kabrit on February 10th. February 11 -22, Battalion engaged in putting the post into a state of defence. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 1/9th Bn Manchester Regt War Diary 1916 ( At Shallufa 29 January - 10 February): https://www.grandadswar.org/war-diaries/1-9th-battalion-manchester-regiment-1916/ JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 "Nature of Charge Disobeying CC. " So who did he disobey, the battalion's Colonel (who had rejoined on Feb 8) or C in C of whole area.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, corisande said: "Nature of Charge Disobeying CC. " So who did he disobey, the battalion's Colonel (who had rejoined on Feb 8) or C in C of whole area.? It is very intriguing and presumably will only be revealed by the charge sheet itself. Incidentally I was surprised to see the terms Cashiered and Dismissed in the same column of outcomes (sentences), because there is an entry in Hansard dated I think 1878 that sets out to deplore the introduction of 'Cashiered' as an elevated punishment above dismissal. It was apparently to be reserved for the most heinous crimes whilst not stipulating, for the most part, what those were to be beyond the few charges where it was the only prescribed punishment. Its implication was severe, because not only was it concomitant with dismissal from the service, but it added the refinement that a man so convicted and sentenced was to be prevented from holding any office in the service of the King (and ipso facto his government) whatsoever. In the prevailing terms of that year it also meant that, unlike dismissal, the convicted and sentenced man lost the deposit of capital invested in his rank so that he could not sell out his commission to others and recoup some of his original investment. Thus he was in every respect utterly ruined and to be pitied, in that it is very difficult to see any course open to him to make good. Clearly the latter aspect no longer applied, but I do wonder if the Cashiering still carried the same penalty as it did in 1878. The term cashiered no longer appears in the British Manual of Military Law so it must at some subsequent point have been removed from the military statutes. Edited 7 July , 2020 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acknown Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 For location of Shallufa, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_African_airfields_during_World_War_II. Scroll to LG-251 and click the Coordinate. Acknown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headgardener Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 This may not be a massively important point, but couldn’t the charge be read as “Disobeying C.O.”.....? The The writing is a little untidy, but I think the 2nd letter looks like it has a different form to the 1st. Unfortunately there isn’t a comparable capital ‘O’ on either page to compare it with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 7 July , 2020 Share Posted 7 July , 2020 (edited) I thought the letters might be LC in cursive script. If so, 'Disobeying [a] Lawful Command' is a common charge at courts martial. Edited 7 July , 2020 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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