15305 Pte Albert Edward Causon - 1st battalion South Wales Borderers

[PyroraptorOlympius1945]

Albert Edward Causon was cousin to my great great grandfather John Sidney Causon. He enlisted into the 4th Glo'sters, landing in St Helena in 1900 and was awarded the Queens South Africa medal for participation during the 2nd Boer War 

 

During the Great War, he served in the 1st battalio South Wales Borderers, D coy, under the service number 15305 and was KIA during the Battle of Aubers Ridge.

 

Any further information on Albert would be greatly appreciated 

[Dragoon]

His medals were sold in 2019 I assume you know this from your write up?

 

Chris 

https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/special-collections/lot.php?specialcollection_id=820&lot_uid=328912

[PyroraptorOlympius1945]

Just now, Dragoon said:

His medals were sold in 2019 I assume you know this from your write up?

 

Chris 

https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/special-collections/lot.php?specialcollection_id=820&lot_uid=328912

Indeed, my cousin John Reynolds tried to purchase them but unfortunately was unsuccessful in doing so.

 

Thanks!

Willow

[sotonmate]

War Diary for 9 May 1915 (WO95/1280/3) gives position at Rue-de-Bois and advancing on enemy. The day's casualties were 9 Officers and 224 ORs. Soldiers Died in the Great War gives just over 50 men killed on the day. There are named casualties in Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner, where graves from elsewhere were concentrated after the war. Some are unknown and come from a possible two cemeteries which were concentrated into the Guards Cemetery. 42 UK soldiers from 1915 exhumed from Point Fixe South Cemetery, Cuinchy, and 15 from May-Jun 1915 exhumed from Indian Village North Cemetery at Festubert.

 

[Keith_history_buff]

I'd question some of the content of that write-up, and would like to know what sources were available.

As with a recent thread, there were two types of service in 1914, as I understand it. The first was regular service, seven years with the colours, regardless of war or peace. The second was "short service" with the Special Reserve. There were two similar sets of service numbers being issued by the regiment for both types of service. I don't know when this was abolished for the South Wales Borderers.

A cursory glance at numbers shows men enlisting in September 1914, not December 1914. It does not seem plausible to me that with three weeks post-enlistment experience, a new recruit would be sent to the front.

Men serving with the 1st Battalion in 1914-15 were a mixture of Regular and Special Reserve men. There was no such thing as a Special Reserve battalion. Could it be that his name appears in the Special Reserve section of the BWM & VM medal roll?

 

How interesting that the men on St Helena got the QSA, and their peers in Malta got the Queen's Mediterranean Medal.

[ss002d6252]

3 hours ago, Keith_history_buff said:

As with a recent thread, there were two types of service in 1914, as I understand it. The first was regular service, seven years with the colours, regardless of war or peace. The second was "short service" with the Special Reserve. There were two similar sets of service numbers being issued by the regiment for both types of service. I don't know when this was abolished for the South Wales Borderers.

The SR was separate to the war time short service of 3 years so in theory a man could attest on a 6 year SR (different periods offered during the war), a 3 year war-time enlistment to the New Army or a 12 year regular army enlistment (And then any TF enlistments). Thinking back, I vaguely recollect that the SR enlistment was halted and re-started at some point in 1914, after the outbreak of war.

 

Quote

A cursory glance at numbers shows men enlisting in September 1914, not December 1914. It does not seem plausible to me that with three weeks post-enlistment experience, a new recruit would be sent to the front.

Several years ago I did some bits with some work that MG was doing and we did come across some men who enlisted on SR terms and were at the front within a matter of a week or so - some of these had Boer War experience but there was no prior military service that could be found for some of them.

 

Craig

[Keith_history_buff]

Medal roll confirms that he engaged under Special Reserve terms of service, so you would need to identify the other SR men, and work through that list to source enlistment dates from either surviving service records or Silver War Badge rolls.

Image courtesy of Ancestry, fraction of original image reproduced under fair usage terms. 

[ss002d6252]

#15301 (SR) attested 2 Sep 1914
#15303 (SR) attested 15 Dec 1914
#15306 (SR) attested 14 Dec 1914

 

Craig

[Keith_history_buff]

Interesting... that would tie in with Special Reserve enlistment being curtailed. Thanks Craig.

[Keith_history_buff]

On 25/10/2020 at 09:29, Keith_history_buff said:

I'd question some of the content of that write-up, and would like to know what sources were available.

As with a recent thread, there were two types of service in 1914, as I understand it. The first was regular service, seven years with the colours, regardless of war or peace. The second was "short service" with the Special Reserve. There were two similar sets of service numbers being issued by the regiment for both types of service. I don't know when this was abolished for the South Wales Borderers.

A cursory glance at numbers shows men enlisting in September 1914, not December 1914. It does not seem plausible to me that with three weeks post-enlistment experience, a new recruit would be sent to the front.

  

On 25/10/2020 at 11:55, ss002d6252 said:

Several years ago I did some bits with some work that MG was doing and we did come across some men who enlisted on SR terms and were at the front within a matter of a week or so - some of these had Boer War experience but there was no prior military service that could be found for some of them.

Craig

I completely retract my first statement, and concur with what Craig has observed. I have made a number of posts in the past 6 months on the subject, mostly on the "Special Reserve - Recruiting" thread.

Men who reenlisted in the Special Reserve were being fast-tracked to the front. Even men who reenlisted as "Kitchener men" were in some instances being sent quickly to the front. Older, already trained men with experience were needed to make good the casualties being suffered by the BEF. The younger inexperienced men were kept back in the New Army battalions, to undergo lengthier training prior to being deployed.

Given that he had enlisted after 7 November 1914, he had enlisted under the old terms, of a 6 year term in the Special Reserve.