John Rowley Posted 30 May , 2022 Author Share Posted 30 May , 2022 29 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: Yes Royal Artillery. Both have a wound stripe and are wearing overseas service stripes on their lower right sleeves. They both have the rank of gunner and the fellow on the left has 5-years service without disciplinary sanction marked by the two inverted stripes on his left lower sleeve. These latter were known as good conduct badges (GCB). There were four branches of the RA determined by their shoulder titles and unfortunately we cannot see what they are. Afternote: I agree with Michelle that the fellow with GCB has the ribbon of the 1914 star, so when viewed together with overseas stripes the photo can be dated to 1918+ with some confidence. Fantastic - looks like the chap on the left is the likely candidate for James. Leaves me with the mystery of the Northumberland Fusilier. Grandad had a younger brother, William, so he may be the chap on the right.. Thank you again for your help! Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 30 May , 2022 Share Posted 30 May , 2022 (edited) 55 minutes ago, John Rowley said: Fantastic - looks like the chap on the left is the likely candidate for James. Leaves me with the mystery of the Northumberland Fusilier. Grandad had a younger brother, William, so he may be the chap on the right.. Thank you again for your help! Regards John Glad to help a little John, they are nice family history to have. So many people threw old photos away as families became separated, especially in the early decades after WW2 (bombed out and moved on). Edited 30 May , 2022 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David26 Posted 30 May , 2022 Share Posted 30 May , 2022 45 minutes ago, John Rowley said: Fantastic - looks like the chap on the left is the likely candidate for James. Leaves me with the mystery of the Northumberland Fusilier. Grandad had a younger brother, William, so he may be the chap on the right.. Thank you again for your help! Regards John Hi John, to earn the 1914 Star you had to go overseas to a theatre of war before the end of 1914. James did not do that and his MIC shows no evidence of the Star, so the chap on the left cannot, in my view, be James. Looking at the man on the right, he has three overseas chevrons. Again, I have my doubts unfortunately that this might be James. James attested on 10 Dec 1915 but was not mobilised until 7 Jan 1916. His service record is, as with all surviving records, damaged but here is the best view we have of his service history (image courtesy of Ancestry): It's not fully clear when he first went overseas - possibly on 18 August 1916 when he was assigned to an Army Service Corps unit (the details of which I'm afraid I can't work out - though others with better eyesight and knowledge may be able to), otherwise it was not until 23 Jan 1917 when he was posted to 178 (Howitzer) Bde RFA, part of 40 Division. But since James was evacuated wounded from France back to the UK on 31 Mar 1918 and demobilised a year later, it would be my understanding (again, very happy to be corrected here!) that he would not have been eligible for that third chevron. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rowley Posted 30 May , 2022 Author Share Posted 30 May , 2022 8 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: Glad to help a little John, they are nice family history to have. So many people threw old photos away as families became separated, especially in the early decades after WW2 (bombed out and moved on). Yes I am lucky, I have lots of photos from both sides of the family. We must be hoarders! (Although a couple of spinster aunts keeping family records intact probably helped). The problem is identifying the subjects! Thank you again for your help. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rowley Posted 30 May , 2022 Author Share Posted 30 May , 2022 6 minutes ago, David26 said: Hi John, to earn the 1914 Star you had to go overseas to a theatre of war before the end of 1914. James did not do that and his MIC shows no evidence of the Star, so the chap on the left cannot, in my view, be James. Looking at the man on the right, he has three overseas chevrons. Again, I have my doubts unfortunately that this might be James. James attested on 10 Dec 1915 but was not mobilised until 7 Jan 1916. His service record is, as with all surviving records, damaged but here is the best view we have of his service history (image courtesy of Ancestry): It's not fully clear when he first went overseas - possibly on 18 August 1916 when he was assigned to an Army Service Corps unit (the details of which I'm afraid I can't work out - though others with better eyesight and knowledge may be able to), otherwise it was not until 23 Jan 1917 when he was posted to 178 (Howitzer) Bde RFA, part of 40 Division. But since James was evacuated wounded from France back to the UK on 31 Mar 1918 and demobilised a year later, it would be my understanding (again, very happy to be corrected here!) that he would not have been eligible for that third chevron. David. Hi David I did wonder about the Star medal. I know he got the Victory and British war medals and wondered if the ribbons are sufficiently distinguishable on this poor photo. If so, the mystery continues..! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aim Posted 30 May , 2022 Share Posted 30 May , 2022 4 hours ago, FROGSMILE said: Yes Royal Artillery. There were four branches of the RA determined by their shoulder titles and unfortunately we cannot see what they are. Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery and ........ Surely not Royal Marine Artillery? aim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 30 May , 2022 Share Posted 30 May , 2022 (edited) 22 hours ago, aim said: Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery and ........ Surely not Royal Marine Artillery? aim No, just Royal Artillery, which comprised some specialists maintained on a separate management and promotion roll, such as the Artillery Clerks and Armaments Artificers. They wore “RA”. Edited 31 May , 2022 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aim Posted 31 May , 2022 Share Posted 31 May , 2022 Dear Frogsmile, I never knew that! Many thanks, aim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rowley Posted 31 May , 2022 Author Share Posted 31 May , 2022 On 30/05/2022 at 16:29, John Rowley said: Hi David I did wonder about the Star medal. I know he got the Victory and British war medals and wondered if the ribbons are sufficiently distinguishable on this poor photo. If so, the mystery continues..! Regards Hi David I see there is also a 14-15 Star for anyone who served prior to 31 December 15. This may not be significant for James (doesn’t show on his medal record) but I am now looking into his brother William and adopted brother Alfred Ogden, b1884 (there are a few with that name in the RFA). Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Steward Posted 6 November , 2022 Share Posted 6 November , 2022 John, my grandfather Mark Steward was a driver on a howitzer team with A/178 RFA. He was wounded by a shell which killed both his horses on 22 May, early in the Spring Offensive, and was also taken to Dannes Camiers. He was sent home around the same time as James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rowley Posted 7 November , 2022 Author Share Posted 7 November , 2022 15 hours ago, Dave Steward said: John, my grandfather Mark Steward was a driver on a howitzer team with A/178 RFA. He was wounded by a shell which killed both his horses on 22 May, early in the Spring Offensive, and was also taken to Dannes Camiers. He was sent home around the same time as James. Hi Dave. That’s interesting. Where was he from? Did he return to Catterick? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Steward Posted 7 November , 2022 Share Posted 7 November , 2022 No, he was a horseman on a farm in Suffolk. I remember him talking about serving with Yorkshiremen. He mentioned some who were miners. Here's the postcard that my great-grandmother received from the Ward Sister at Camiers. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 7 November , 2022 Share Posted 7 November , 2022 On 30/05/2022 at 16:20, David26 said: on 18 August 1916 when he was assigned to an Army Service Corps unit (the details of which I'm afraid I can't work out It's *9 Coy ASC. We don't know how much paper is burnt off there, so it could be any of 1200 companies that end in 9 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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