1916 RMC graduation named

[arantxa]

[FROGSMILE]

Thank you for sight of these interesting images.  Would it be possible, please, to provide some scanned copies of better quality using the professional photographic studio that you manage.  That way forum members who wish to carry out the research will have meaningful aspects to work with, enabling them to see insignia in the necessary detail.  It would be immensely helpful.

Edited 16 April , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[arantxa]

i dont manage it I own it ,I am ABIPP AMPA BA (they dont just hand those out ***) if i get a chance i will but they are quite large and at my house and i tend to cycle to work 

[FROGSMILE]

4 minutes ago, arantxa said:

i dont manage it I own it ,I am ABIPP AMPA BA (they dont just hand those out ***) if i get a chance i will but they are quite large and at my house and i tend to cycle to work 

You own it!  Oh that’s great.  Then you really can ensure that better copies are provided. That’ll be really helpful.

P.S. I always find school type rucksacks useful when cycling.  You know the ones, like school kids carry.  Where there’s a will there’s a way…

Edited 16 April , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[arantxa]

Well you must have had large print books in your days as they are approximately 30 inches x 24 inches..tell me would you suggest placing them horizontally or vertically into a ruck sack or as an ex Army officer maybe you would suggest folding them in half ?

[RNCVR]

Very nice photo!

Pls educate a naval mate - What exactly is an Under-Officer?  Never heard of that rank designation before.  He is front row, immediately behind the cup, & what is his sleeve insignia?

I thought perhaps similar to a Naval Cadet Captain in charge of the Company?

Thanks!

[arantxa]

Let’s leave it at that …Have a good Easter 

[FROGSMILE]

4 hours ago, arantxa said:

Well you must have had large print books in your days as they are approximately 30 inches x 24 inches..tell me would you suggest placing them horizontally or vertically into a ruck sack or as an ex Army officer maybe you would suggest folding them in half ?

Probably not a good idea for you to invoke the army, where the idle are punished until they are no longer idle.

Hope you have a happy Easter too.

Edited 16 April , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[FROGSMILE]

5 hours ago, RNCVR said:

Very nice photo!

Pls educate a naval mate - What exactly is an Under-Officer?  Never heard of that rank designation before.  He is front row, immediately behind the cup, & what is his sleeve insignia?

I thought perhaps similar to a Naval Cadet Captain in charge of the Company?

Thanks!

Bryan, under officers are students undergoing university officer cadetships, during which they must undergo attachments with regular army units in between terms.  During the periods of attachment they act as officers under instruction.  They are not saluted by soldiers, but they are addressed as sir.  As well as a period of learning for them it is also a time when they are assessed.

NB.  It was also used as a designation for officer cadets undergoing training at RMC Sandhurst and RMA Woolwich.  At those institutions it’s divided into two grades, junior under officer (JUO) and senior under officer (SUO).

Edited 16 April , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[PRC]

Starting from the first name on the top row, R. Burnier, there is only one set of possible officers long papers in the National Archive  - 2nd Lieutenant Richard Burnier, The Gloucestershire Regiment. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=Burnier&discoveryCustomSearch=true&_cr1=WO+339&_cr2=WO+374&_hb=tna

There is only one likely MiC however, and that is for a Second Lieutenant 9th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment \ Captain Royal Sussex Regiment Richard Burnier. The MiC is noted he died of wounds 21st February 1918.

A Mrs M. Burnier applied for his medals in March 1920, giving an address of 18 Hurst Road, Eastbourne, Sussex.

CWGC records that he died, aged 20, on the 21st February 1918 serving with the 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, and is buried in Tincourt New British Cemetery. He was the Son of Mrs. C. H. Burnier, of 18, Hurst Rd., Eastbourne. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/255220/richard-burnier/

He is remembered on the memorial in Magdalene College, Cambridge University. The Roll of Honour site adds that he Educated at Bradfield College, Magdalene College, Cambridge and Sandhurst. https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/CambridgeUniversityMagdaleneCollege.html
He is also remembered on the Eastbourne World War 1 Memorial.

A piece in the magazine for Bradwell College in the October 2018 edition remembers him. It notes he left Bradfield at Christmas 1915, having just won a Classical Exhibition at Magdalen College, Cambridge. He entered Sandhurst and in August 1916 received his commission in the Sussex Regiment. he died of wounfs incurred the day before https://www.bradfieldcollege.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/The-Bradfieldian-October-2018.pdf

Commission appears on page 8029 of The London Gazette dated 15th August 1916. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29708/page/8029

Its part of a long list of Gentleman Cadets of the Royal Military College to be 2nd Lieutenants, 16th August 1916. It looks like there are more names in the list than in the picture.

Just starting for now with the names on page 8029, these appear to match.

East Surrey Regiment.
Francis Barre Beresford Dowling (Second Row from top)

Border Regiment
Edwin Pease Houghton Mitchell (Centre Row)

Royal Sussex Regiment.
St Cyprian Churchill Tayler. (Centre Row)

Hampshire Regiment.
Francis John Whaley. (Top Row).

Royal Highlanders.
William Rupert Edolph Andrews Uthwatt.(Centre Row).

Middlesex Regiment.
William Henry Victor Jones. (Centre Row).

Seaforth Highlanders.
Charles Elphinstone Fordyce. (Top Row).

Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
George Francis Gradwell. (Centre Row).

Unattached List for Indian Army.

John Steventon BallEntine. (Top Row).
Edwin Athelstan Hamlyn. (Centre Row).
Henry William MELLES Schofield. (Top Row).
Vivian Lewes Parker. (Second Row from bottom).
Lancelot Claude Prendergast. (Centre Row).

A number of the same surnames also turn up on the page but with different initials. For now I’ve not investigated those further

I’m on cookhouse duties, so have to take a break there.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited 16 April , 2022 by PRC
Typo

[PhilB]

I just chose 3 names at random.  2 out of the 3 were killed. 

George William Ambrose Kingham.  Age 22.  Lt. The Buffs.  9 Nov 1917.  Buried at Old Paddington Cemetery.  

George Francis Gradwell.  Age 18.  2^nd Lt. Royal Dublin Fus.  28 Feb 1917.  Thiepval Memorial.  

[arantxa]

Blimey thats sad....ive never looked any of them up...ibought a pile of them i dont know if there is any connection between them ....some of them have Super names dont they

[arantxa]

I hope this is a bit better as I borrowed my wife’s phone 

[arantxa]

Regiment Richard Burnier. That chap if he is the Sussex man from Hurst Rd lived not far from me ....some of the Eastburne medals i have for casualtys ive looked at their houses and thought of them comming out and also the telegram arriving to say killed or wounded ...when you look at what he had done in a short period of time and what his life could have been its very humbling isnt it 

[arantxa]

I looked up the second chap in your list

Major, MC. Born 26.10.1897, 1st son of Henry Barré Dowling and Alice Dowling, stepson of Eva Stanley Dowling née O’Meara, of Surbiton, Surrey. He was at Charterhouse [G] 1911 – 1915 and went on to RMC Sandhurst. He joined the East Surrey Regiment in 1916. In the Great War he was mentioned in despatches, and earned the MC. He was killed in action on 15.12.41, aged 44, while in command of 2nd Bn East Surrey Regt at Gurun, Malaya. He is commemorated in Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore, on the Singapore Memorial, column 67.

3 hours ago, PRC said:

oughton Mitchel

 

[arantxa]

St Cyprian Churchill Tayler  flying Ace 9 Victories

Tayler attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst as a cadet, before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment on 16 August 1916.^[3] He was soon seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, and after completing his flying training he was appointed a flying officer on 6 February 1917.^[4]

Posted to No. 32 Squadron, he scored his first aerial victory on 14 May 1917 while flying an Airco DH.2 single-seat fighter in Arthur Coningham's flight.^[5] His squadron was re-equipped with the Airco DH.5, in which he scored twice more in early July, before he was appointed a flight commander on 13 July 1917, with the acting rank of captain.^[6] He shared in three more victories before a report of his being wounded in action on 31 July^[5] was published on 16 August 1917.^[7]

Tayler's exploits earned him the Military Cross, awarded on 26 September 1917.^[8] The award was gazetted on 9 January 1918, his citation reading:

Second Lieutenant St. Cyprian Churchill Tayler, Royal Sussex Regiment and Royal Flying Corps.

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in leading offensive patrols against enemy aircraft. On five occasions at least he and his patrol have attacked and brought down hostile machines. These successes were almost entirely due to his very skilful piloting."^[9]

In late 1917 Tayler was posted to the newly formed No. 80 Squadron, to fly the Sopwith Camel single-seat fighter. He returned to combat in France with them in January 1918,^[5] serving as commander of "C" Flight.^[10] He was promoted to lieutenant on 16 February 1918.^[11] Tayler gained his last three victories on 10 and 11 March.^[5]

On 17 March 1918 he was shot down and killed in combat by Heinrich Kroll of Jasta 24.^[12] Originally reported as missing, his death was not officially confirmed until 12 November 1919.^[13] Having no known grave he is commemorated at the Arras Flying Services Memorial.^[2]

Francis John Whaley

Oswald and Mary Whaley had four children but only two boys, Oswald Stanley Whaley (1890-1915) and Francis lived to adulthood. The boys went to Eastbourne College. Francis entered School House in 1910, played in the rugby XVs of 1914, 1915; was placed 2nd in “The Run” in 1915; reached the rank of CSM in the OTC; was an editor of the College magazine and Head of School. He won an open exhibition in history to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and went up in 1915. However his university career was interrupted a year later when he was drafted into the military. He was sent to RMC Sandhurst and commissioned into the Royal Hampshire Regiment. He served in France and Italy and was promoted to Lieutenant (Acting Captain). In 1917 he was cited "for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" and was awarded the Military Cross. In 1918 he was wounded and invalided out of the army.

William Rupert Edolph Andrewes Uthwatt (1898-1954)

 

William Rupert Edolph Andrewes Uthwatt was born at Great Manor House on November 14th, 1898, to William Francis Edolph Andrewes Uthwatt and Catherine Jane Bouverie. He inherited the estate in 1921 upon the death of his father. For reasons not yet entirely clear, in later years he styled himself as Uthwatt-Bouverie.

William was married on October 3rd, 1934, to Mary Evelyn Adams, daughter of a Muswell Hill dairy farmer named Peter Milgate Adams and his wife Caroline Mary Whiting. The wedding was of sufficient interest to rate a front cover photograph in the Daily Mirror newspaper of the following day, with the couple surrounded by the hounds of the Otter Hunt and fellow hunt members forming a guard of honour with hunting sticks. The reporter spelt the name as Outwaitt, (which must have been annoying to the family) but assuming it was not another error, the picture caption reveals that the bride went by the sobriquet Molly. It is interesting that unlike previous Uthwatt marriages that united large, landed families, this seems a more middle class liaison, though still celebrated in grand style.

Marriage of William Rupert Edolph Andrewes Uthwatt and Mary Evelyn Adams

They appear to have had a single child, a son named William Rupert Anthony Andrewes Uthwatt, born March 4th, 1939. The family are recorded at the Manor House on the 1939 register, a document that was prepared in aid of the imposition of ration cards during World War 2. William is noted as a “landed proprietor.”

Perhaps because the role of Lord of the Manor had by now diminished significantly in stature and importance, there are fewer column inches in the local press devoted to the families’ activities, though William can still be found occupying a number of local and civic posts, including that of Chairman of a branch of the British Legion, the inaugural meeting for which was held in the village on November 20th, 1928. He also occupied the post of Rector’s Warden in the village.

Under William, the family continued to be a driving force behind the Bucks Otter Hounds, with William occupying (as had his father) the post of master of the hunt. Various society magazines such as the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News and The Tatler carried reports and photographs of the hunt during William’s tenure. He was also active in Fox Hunting, riding with the Whaddon hunt, as well as being master for a time of the Grove hunt; he hosted Princess Margaret at one meet in November of 1944.

William served in World War One as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Highlanders (the Black Watch), being promoted to full Lieutenant by 1918. The 1921 census places William in the household of his brother Gerard and makes reference to his continuing service in the Royal Highlanders. He was a reserve during World War Two and in later life was known as Major Uthwatt-Bouverie.

William died at the relatively young age of 56, on December 17th, 1954 at Northampton Hospital after an illness of five weeks. He was buried at Great Linford on the 21st. He had not been living at the manor house, but at Grange Farm where he farmed. He left his Otter hound pack to the hunt committee and was succeeded by his 15 year old son William Rupert Anthony Andrewes Uthwatt, though it is not entirely clear if he ever assumed the role of Lord of the Manor. However, this was not quite the end of the family’s influence at Great Linford, as Gerard Uthwatt’s daughter Stella seems to have become the preeminent Uthwatt in the village and master of the Otter hounds. She would be the last of the Great Linford Uthwatts.

[arantxa]

I think ive chosen easy ones with long unusual names but interesting to put names to faces

[PRC]

Page 8028 of the London Gazette dated 15th August 1916 adds the names of these Gentleman Cadets who were to be commissioned to the mix.

Royal West Surrey Regiment.

Ivor Thomas Percival Hughes (Second Row from bottom).
MiC of Lieutenant I.T.P Hughes, M.C. Royal West Surrey Regiment. First landed France 16th December 1916. Also qualified for the Indian General Service Medal – difficult to make out but I think the clasp is for Waziristan 1919-21.Contact address for medal application in January 1922 was c\o 2nd Bn, The Queens Royal Regiment, Lucknow, India.

East Kent Regiment.

William Franklin Beavan (Centre Row).
MiC for Lieutenant W.F. Beavan, Buffs. Victory Medal and British War Medal only.
A Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Beavan, of Halkyn Castle, near Holywell, was made Sheriff of Flintshire in 1954. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40115/page/1316/data.pdf
From a piece on a family history website  - “He was born on 10 September 1898 at Nannerch Hall, Flintshire, went to Sedburgh School 1911-15 and Royal Military College Sandhurst 1915-16, served in The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) during the First World War, was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Cambrai, November 1917.   After repatriation he served in Ireland until he resigned in 1919 but stayed on the Regular Army Reserve of Officers until 1935. He married Dorothy Esme Bentley Mellor in Chester Cathedral on 8 October 1925”. http://www.langstone-court.org.uk/jones-robert-miles-christopher.html

Image courtesy of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
 https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/5077232/3/2/
see also https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/3915822/3/2/

Cecil Martin Sankey (Second Row from top)

Inquiry MiC originally raised in the name of E.C.M. Sankey, East Kent Regiment and marked no trace.
Second MiC for 2nd Lieutenant Cecil Martin Sankey, M.C., 16 London Regiment, subsequently Lieutenant East Kent Regiment attached R.A.F. It is noted that he was accidentally killed 15th May 1918. No details on the MiC about who applied for his medals.
He is buried at Hanwell (City of Westminster) Cemetery.
 https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/389052/c-m-sankey/
Biog and picture of him as a schoolboy at Westminster School here  - he died in an aero accident at Northolt. http://firstworldwar.westminster.org.uk/?p=1329
The death of a Cecil Martin Sankey, aged 21, was registered in the Uxbridge District of Middlesex in the April to June quarter of 1918. Not seeing an accident card in the RAF records.
Several contemporary newspaper reports that might be worth following up..

Image courtesy Find My Past - will also be available on the British Newspaper Archive website.

West Yorkshire Regiment.

William Paget L’Estrange Clayton (Second Row from top)
MiC for Lieutenant W.P.L.E Clayton, 1/West Yorkshire Regiment. First went to France 16-10-17. He applied for his medals in 1921 giving a contact address of Fulford Barracks, York, but didn’t follow through. His mother subsequently took up the claim in 1928 as her son had deceased and his wife had remarried.
The death of a William Paget L’Estrange Clayton, aged 28, was recorded in the Edmonton District of London in the October to December quarter of 1926. No obvious civil probate.

Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Possibly James Coster Lloyd Edwards for J.C. Le-Edwards.
No obvious officers long papers in either name serving with the Royal Weslsh Fusiliers.
MiC for James C. Lloyd Edwards, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. MiC for Victory Medal and the British War Medal only. Contact address for medal application in May 1921 was Trevor Hall, Near Ruabon.

South Wales Borderers

Eric Norcliffe Grassett Earle (Centre Row).
MiC for Eric Norcliffe Grassett Earle, (National Archive have catalogued as Grassell), shows him 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd South Wales Borderers, then Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment and finally Captain, South Wales Borderers. There is something written before “Capt” on the card but it’s not clear what. He first went to France 23rd September 1916. He applied for his medals in July 1922, when his contact address was 2nd S.W. Borderers, Jhansi, India. He would serve on into WW2, retiring as Lieutenant Colonel in the SWB in October 1945.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited 16 April , 2022 by PRC
Formatting

[PRC]

Penny drop moment - if the picture was actually taken in March 1916 and the individuals I've identified so far were not commissioned until August 1916 - either its a mixed Company with some of the cadets at different stages of the course, or there is a possibility that not all of them were commissioned.

Or was it standard practice for a course to be known by the month it started?

Cheers,
Peter

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, PRC said:

Penny drop moment - if the picture was actually taken in March 1916 and the individuals I've identified so far were not commissioned until August 1916 - either its a mixed Company with some of the cadets at different stages of the course, or there is a possibility that not all of them were commissioned.

Or was it standard practice for a course to be known by the month it started?

Cheers,
Peter

Courses were usually known by the start month, but not all cadet’s who started would finish at the same time.  Through physical exertion and exposure to germs pre antibiotics, some would get injured (sprains and breaks) and some sick, (mumps, measles, and various), and others would miss (e.g. compassionate leave) or fail to pass certain key aspects of the training and be required to undergo it again with a course that started behind.  Ergo each course contained a mixture of all these factors within it, and would pass out as commissioned officers in accordance with their own peculiar circumstances, and not necessarily alongside the same cadets that they started with.

NB.  These principles are still largely extant, although advances in modern medicine have helped with illness, but not with injury, where a combination of some aspects of training that are more vigorous, and less robust feet via softer modern footwear has created its own problems.

Edited 17 April , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[arantxa]

Gosh Peter you were up late working I hope the Easter bunny brings you some chocolate ..I’m up early thinking of clues for my daughters egg hunt ***

[PhilB]

If C C Tayler was commissioned 16/8/16 from a March 1916 squad, can we assume the course to have been of some 5 months? Unless there’s an earlier commission in there!

Edited 17 April , 2022 by PhilB

[PRC]

10 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

Courses were usually known by the start month, but not all cadet’s who started would finish at the same time.  Through physical exertion and exposure to germs pre antibiotics, some would get injured (sprains and breaks) and some sick, (mumps, measles, and various), and others would miss (e.g. compassionate leave) or fail to pass certain key aspects of the training and be required to undergo it again with a course that started behind.  Ergo each course contained a mixture of all these factors within it, and would pass out as commissioned officers in accordance with their own peculiar circumstances, and not necessarily alongside the same cadets that they started with.

Thanks @FROGSMILE - understood. As with all these training course pictures the obvious rationale for these pictures is for them to be taken showing the bulk of those who satisfactorily completed the course in the allotted time. And it looks like they have won some sort of shooting related trophy, which would also argue against the picture being a historical record from March 1916 of those who started the course.

To me it looks like these cadets are all wearing the same capbadge, so predates their commissioning into their units.

Would those whose successful completion of the course was delayed for the reasons you have stated still have been referred to as the intake of March 1916, or would they have been merged into another intake? Just wanted to get it clear in my mind whether this picture might have included men from an earlier intake.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited 17 April , 2022 by PRC
Typo

[FROGSMILE]

4 hours ago, PRC said:

Thanks @FROGSMILE - understood. As with all these training course pictures the obvious rationale for these pictures is for them to be taken showing the bulk of those who satisfactorily completed the course in the allotted time. And it looks like they have won some sort of shooting related trophy, which would also argue against the picture being a historical record from March 1916 of those who started the course.

To me it looks like these cadets are all wearing the same capbadge, so predates their commissioning into their units.

Would those whose successful completion of the course was delayed for the reasons you have stated still have been referred to as the intake of March 1916, or would they have been merged into another intake? Just wanted to get it clear in my mind whether this picture might have included men from an earlier intake.

Cheers,
Peter

Yes you’re correct that the wearing of college or academy cap badges indicated photos taken prior to commissioning, as does the standard service dress worn by the cadets (i.e. no Scottish cuts, although bizarrely those destined for Foot Guards had their special button arrangement).  Every photo would usually contain some cadets from a previous course.  This was due to a policy of “dropping” cadets who failed the examinations at the end of each term*, plus those who had been sick/injured but then recovered.  Cadets with the highest scores went to the Indian Army, which had a cachet rather like Oxbridge**.  Pressures led to the course being reduced in length but the basic principles of regular examination remained and there was a strong desire to retain what were seen as regular army standards.

*terms were reduced in length during the war but examinations remained.

**a higher intellect was required to lead native troops that involved learning at least one and often two dialects to a working level.

6 hours ago, PhilB said:

If C C Tayler was commissioned 16/8/16 from a March 1916 squad, can we assume the course to have been of some 5 months? Unless there’s an earlier commission in there!

The wartime course was truncated to 18-weeks, so with end-of-course/embarkation and any other leaves of absence factored in, 5-months is about right Phil.

Edited 17 April , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Tawhiri]

20 hours ago, PRC said:

The death of a Cecil Martin Sankey, aged 21, was registered in the Uxbridge District of Middlesex in the April to June quarter of 1918. Not seeing an accident card in the RAF records.

Accident card is this one I think. Turned down wind, stalled, and spun from 50 ft into the ground while flying Sopwith F.1 Camel B7396 at Northolt.

http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/sankey-c.m.-cecil-martin

There are actually two accident cards for him, side by side, and referenced separately.

There is also this record, once again indexed as E.C.M Sankey, which seems to indicate he initially transferred to the RFC as an observer in late 1916, if I am interpreting it correctly.

https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/21199

Edited 17 April , 2022 by Tawhiri