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Remembered Today:

Indian Army officers att AIF


stevenbecker

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Mates,

I was after any Bio details on these three officers attached for a time with the AIF in 1915

HASTINGS    WH        Capt    Indian Army    92 Punjabis att Bde MG officer 1 LH Bde 3-15 (ROs) still with Bde on Anzac 6-15 (G) to staff officer ?

HOBART    Douglas        Lt    Indian Army    shown 11th Punjabs reported 11th Rajputs T/att Instructor MGs 1 LH Bde HQ 1-15 to Adjt 53rd Sikhs killed in Mespotamia NKG comm at Basra Iraq father George LtCol RMLI 

and

If possible this bloke shows up in 1918

FRAZER    D        Capt    Indian Army    Ex 18th (King George's Own) Lancers att 15 LHR  1918
 

Cheers

S.B

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Keith,

Cheers, I found some of them like

HASTINGS    WH        Capt    Indian Army    92 Punjabis Nov 14 to Mar 15 att Bde MG officer 1 LH Bde 3-15 (ROs) still with Bde on Anzac 6-15 (Gallipoli May to 20 Dec15) (G) to staff officer France and Belgium Apl 16 to Mar 17 to Bvt Maj & Lt/Col 1-1-17 to Mesopotamia June 17 to Jan 18 to Egyptian Ex. Force Jan to Oct 1918 DSO 3xMID  
 

But no first names?

Frazer I think maybe DS Frazer shown Operations with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force between 27 Mar and 31 Oct 18

Which maybe the correct officer? 

Again no first names?

As for Doug Hobart the basic from his death notices was all I could find

Its a start

S.B

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11 hours ago, stevenbecker said:

HASTINGS    WH        Capt    Indian Army    92 Punjabis Nov 14 to Mar 15 att Bde MG officer 1 LH Bde 3-15 (ROs) still with Bde on Anzac 6-15 (Gallipoli May to 20 Dec15) (G) to staff officer France and Belgium Apl 16 to Mar 17 to Bvt Maj & Lt/Col 1-1-17 to Mesopotamia June 17 to Jan 18 to Egyptian Ex. Force Jan to Oct 1918 DSO 3xMID  
 

But no first names?

Harts 1914 Annual Army List has a Captain William Holland Hastings, 92nd Punjabis on page 662. Previously on the unattached list he was a 2nd Lieutenant from the 21st January 1903, Lieutenant 21st April 1905 and Captain 21st January 1912.  (12 lines down you'll spot a certain Claud John Eyre Auchinleck :)
https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/100750843

In the actual entry for the 92nd Punjabis on page 723 he is shown as a Double Company Officer since the 6th April 1904 https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/100751575

The 1911 Census of England & Wales has a 27 year old Lieutenant William Holland Hastings, Indian Army, born Jamaica, West Indies, recorded living with his widowed grandmother, Margaret Josephine Hastings, at 22 Edith Villas, West Kensington, London - presumably William was on extended leave. Margaret was born Calcutta, so looks like an old Anglo-Indian family. William is recorded as a married man.

Colonel William Holland Hastings, born 17th March 1884, Jamaica, died 26th May 1930, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, in remembered in the Memorial Chapel at RMA Sandhurst. A mini-biography on FindaGrave that accompanies a picture of the plaque adds "Son of the late Commander W. C. H. Hastings, Royal Navy. Married in 1906 Mary, daughter of the late R. M. Kennedy, ICS, Commissioner, Northern Division, Bombay Presidency. Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Jan 1903. Awarded the DSO in the 1917. Commandant 4th/8th PWO Punjab Regiment. Died aged 46 years in Kamptee, Nagpur, India. Buried on 27 May 1930 at Kamptee, Bengal, India." https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/203696502/william-holland-hastings

The India Deaths and Burials record set also has him buried at Kamptee on the 27th May 1930. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGK2-F4M

Marriage to Mary Catherine Kennedy on the 30th June 1906 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGV2-15P

Children:-
William Holland Hastings, born 8th November 1907, Rangoon. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6VY9-C3LS
Guy Holland Hastings, born 28th October 1913, Mandalay. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6VY9-VCWP
may be others.

From a piece on the 8th Punjab Regiment

In 1922, the five battalions along with the war-raised 2/89th Punjabis were united to form the 8th Punjab Regiment:

1/89th Punjabis - 1st Battalion 8th Punjab Regiment
90th Punjabis - 2nd Battalion 8th Punjab Regiment
91st Punjabis (Light Infantry) - 3rd Battalion 8th Punjab Regiment
92nd (Prince of Wales's Own) Punjabis - 4th Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own)8th Punjab Regiment
93rd Burma Infantry - 5th (Burma) Battalion 8th Punjab Regiment
2/89th Punjabis - 10th Battalion (Training Battalion) 8th Punjab Regiment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Punjab_Regiment

The 1930 UK Probate Calendar adds:-
WilliamHollandHastings1930Probatesourcedprobatesearchservicegovuk.png.bc1c2f551c3767267fafb16727f887b7.png

Image courtesy https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk

Hope that helps,
Peter

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12 hours ago, stevenbecker said:

Frazer I think maybe DS Frazer shown Operations with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force between 27 Mar and 31 Oct 18

Harts Annual Army List for 1914 doesn't have anyone with the surname Frazer \ Fraser serving on the the Officer establishment of the 18th Lancers. (Page 684) https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/100751131

But the April 1919 Indian Army List, (page 909) shows why - he only joined the Indian Army on the 14th January 1914 and is shown as a Squadron Officer with the 18th Lancers from the 12th October 1914. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284965/page/n753/mode/2up?view=theater

The London Gazette dated 13th January 1914, page 337, in a list of Gentleman Cadets from the Royal Military College who were to be commissioned Second Lieutenants from the 14th January 1914 with a view to their appointment in the Indian Army, included a Donald Stewart Frazer. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28792/page/337/data.pdf

Cheers,
Peter

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1 hour ago, PRC said:

But the April 1919 Indian Army List, (page 909) shows why - he only joined the Indian Army on the 14th January 1914 and is shown as a Squadron Officer with the 18th Lancers from the 12th October 1914. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284965/page/n753/mode/2up?view=theater

The London Gazette dated 13th January 1914, page 337, in a list of Gentleman Cadets from the Royal Military College who were to be commissioned Second Lieutenants from the 14th January 1914 with a view to their appointment in the Indian Army, included a Donald Stewart Frazer. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28792/page/337/data.pdf

There is a notice in the Civil & Military Gazette, January 1915, that gives Donald Stewart Frazer "from the unattached list, appointed to the Indian Army" as a Second Lieutenant in the 39th Garhwals. I wonder if this indicates he was transferred to them for a short period to cover losses (both regiments would have been in France at this point and I think the 39th took quite heavy lossses over the winter of 1914-15, while the cavalry were unscathed). It's always possible this is a false positive and there were two of them, but it seems unlikely? Either way, by 1916 he was definitely back in the 18th KGO Lancers.

"Captain Donald Stewart Frazer, 18th KGO Lancers, ADC to the Viceroy" announced his engagement to Marjorie Moorsom in 1921; he is noted as son of Col. P.F. Frazer of Bedford. After his tenure as ADC he seems to have left the Indian Army and exchanged into the 14th/20th Hussars, reverting to the rank of lieutenant, in 1925. I can then turn him up in the newspapers as a Captain in the 14th/20th in the early 1930s, and then a Major in the 15th/19th Hussars by 1934 (when he was an instructor at the Small Arms School; a few other mentions indicate he was a competition shooter from his days at Sandhurst onwards). There is a photo of him in the Tatler in 1938 at a race meeting.

In September 1940 he was reported as taken prisoner - the 15th/19th were a reconnaisance unit during the retreat to Dunkirk and seem to have taken very heavy losses. This explains why nothing more is heard of him until he is appointed lieutenant-colonel in 1945 (backdated for seniority to 1941), and retired as an honorary colonel in 1949. There is a brief mention of him in 1950 as "director of welfare" (presumably a civilian post) for BAOR, when he is quoted talking about a dramatic escape attempt from a German camp by John Peyton - Peyton later published a memoir of his time as a POW, and it might be there is some mention in it of Frazer if they knew one another. Certainly they seem to have been in the same regiment and both taken prisoner in 1940, so were presumably acquaintances.

He may have been awarded a DSO at some point late in his career - I saw a few references, but I have failed to find a citation for it.

In 1953 the papers reported quite heavily on the daughter of Field-Marshal Slim marrying Peter Nigel Frazer, "younger son of Colonel D.S. Frazer of Brock Hall, Herefordshire" (his older son Simon Frazer had married in 1945). After this he occasionally shows up in the papers as a church organist over the next few years of his retirement. Definitely an interesting life.

Andrew.

Edited by generalist
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The earliest mention of Douglas Hobart that I can find in the Gazette dates from 9 September 1908, when he shows up in a list of gentlemen Cadets from the RMC to be 2nd Lieutenants with a view to their appointment in the Indian Army:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28175/page/6523

Confirmed in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on 26 November 1909, with seniority from 9 September 1908:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28362/page/3074

Promoted to Lieutenant with the 24th Punjabis on 9 December 1910:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28458/page/508

Promoted to temporary Captain on 1 September 1915, still with the 24th Punjabis, also noting he has since died of wounds:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29687/page/7498

And finally confirmed as Captain, well after his death from wounds:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30011/page/3342

CWGC also has him serving with the 24th Punjabis at the time of his death, although only as a Lieutenant, on attachment to the 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force).

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1659990/douglas-hobart/

Edited to add that he was also mentioned in dispatches, although it's not the one that headlines the issue of the Gazette his name appears in:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29536/supplement/3670

Edited by Tawhiri
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According to the CWGC, Douglas Hobart was the son of the late Lieutenant-Colonel G Hobart (Royal Marines) and Mrs L Hobart of 65 Hough Green, Chester. The birth of a Douglas Hobart was registered in the last quarter of 1887 in Omskirk, Lancashire, while he was christened on 23 November 1887 in the parish of North Meols in Birkdale, Lancashire. His christening entry records his parents' names as George and Louisa, with his father's occupation being given as what looks like Major of Royal Marines.

HOBART, DOUGLAS    Mother's maiden name: DOUGLAS  

GRO Reference: 1887  D Quarter in ORMSKIRK  Volume 08B  Page 790

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQ77-494

He can easily be found in the 1891 England and Wales census, living with his parents and four siblings in Grosvenor Road, Birkdale, Lancashire. Where it gets a little interesting is that a search on the British Newpaper Archive for Douglas Hobart produces a couple of hits for an interview with a theatre manager in the 1930's in Kent, in which it is implied that his brother was Douglas. It also implies that a second brother was also killed in action in the same year that Douglas was, although I can see no obvious candidate on the CWGC. The brother being interviewed is, I think, Nowel (Noel?).

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:77JT-XT2

In the 1901 England and Wales census, Douglas is with relatives in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, along with his mother, who is described as a sister-in-law, so presumably the head of the household is a sister of father George. Mother Louisa's birth place is given as the Cape Colony, whereas in the 1891 census it was given as England, father George having been born in India according to the same census.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSD5-P7B

Edited to add that according to FamilySearch brother Guy (transcribed as Gray in the 1891 census) Beauchamp Hobart died in Egypt on 1 July 1914, so not during the war. It does look, however, as though he was a serving British Army officer on attachment to the Egyptian Army at the time. 

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6 hours ago, generalist said:

In September 1940 he was reported as taken prisoner - the 15th/19th were a reconnaisance unit during the retreat to Dunkirk and seem to have taken very heavy losses.

Having survived the Great War and regular army soldiering in the inter-war period, his service as an active combatant in WW2 probably came to an end on the 18th May 1940.

"During the late afternoon (of the 17th) a message was received from the British Mission at Belgian Headquarters saying that as the latter had only received late in the afternoon General Billotte's confirmatory order to move that night, there might now be some delay in completing the move. They asked therefore that their flank might be protected while the move was in progress. This was promised and an order to provide flank protection was presumably issued to II Corps. But there is no note of its issue in Command Post records and no note of its receipt in II Corps records and at one point or another a costly mistake seems to have been made. A report sent from General Headquarters to the War Office that night says that both the British and the Belgian armies are withdrawing to the Dendre on the night of the 17th/18th and that a flank guard will be maintained for the Belgians as far forward as Assche until eight o'clock in the morning of the 18th. But the II Corps order for the formation of the flank guard says that the Belgians are not retiring from the Senne line till the night of the 18th/19th and that their open flank between the Senne and the Dendre will be guarded throughout the 18th. No record exists to prove whether the Command Post or II Corps was initially responsible for this mis-statement of Belgian intentions, and the question is unimportant now. What is important is that the misrepresentation of fact contained in the II Corps order led to unfortunate consequences. For the Belgians did retire during the night, and by nine o'clock in the morning they were back at the Dendre–Escaut line on the British left. But the flank guard (acting on the information in II Corps order) believed the Belgians to be remaining all day on the Senne line, to be on their left when in fact they were in the their rear; they tried (in accordance with the II Corps) to maintain their position instead of falling back at eight o'clock in the morning as the General Headquarters Report to the War Office had foreshadowed. They failed, naturally enough, to make contact with the Belgians (who were already behind them on the Dendre); and they were soon engulfed by the enemy forces who were pressing forward in pursuit with nothing to oppose their approach to the Dendre except the misinformed flank guard, now out in the blue.

The withdrawal during the night had not been easy, for north of Brussels the enemy were attacking at nightfall in an effort to capture the crossing Vilvorde and other crossings in the Belgian sector. The 10th and 11th Brigades (4th Division) had to fight hard to hold them off and only got away with difficulty in the early hours of the morning. The flank guard meanwhile had taken up a position a few miles back from the Senne, and when 4th Division troops were clear they moved to the country between Assche and Merchtem. The force consisted of the 2nd Light Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade, now comprising the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and the 15th/19th Hussars; the 32nd Army Field Regiment and the 14th Anti-Tank Regiment of the Royal Artillery; and a machine-gun battalion (the 4th Gordon Highlanders) with the 4th Division. At six o'clock in the morning, patrols sent to gain touch with the Belgians, who were wrongly expected to be on their left front, ran instead into German armoured cars moving west. Soon they found that the enemy were round and between them and their supporting artillery and machine guns. Fighting went on all morning and when orders to withdraw were issued at noon they failed to reach some units for several hours. By then those units were surrounded. When those who were able to extricate themselves reached the Dendre they found the enemy already there and some of the bridges they had relied on already blown and under attack. The 4th Gordons' casualties amounted to about the strength of a company. The 14th Anti-Tank Regiment lost seven guns. But the 15th/19th Hussars were reduced to one squadron, two tank troops, and two carrier troops—only about a fifth of their strength remained."

From pages 66-67 The War in France and Flanders 1939-1940 by Major L.F.Ellis (my highlights). https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-NWE-Flanders/UK-NWE-Flanders-4.html

The BBC in their WW2 Peoples War series carried an interview with two despatch riders of the Regiment, Trooper Norman Williams and Trooper George Knowles Devlin.

"Upon rejoining their Regiment, the 15th / 19th King’s Royal Hussars were given the task of holding the bridge at Louvain so that the British 3rd Division to pass over. After this, the Royal Engineers destroyed the bridge. The next position for the 15th / 19th was to cover an area near Ashe, Alost and Brussels.

Waterloo, where the French Emperor Napoleon I gave his final surrender, is a short distance to the south of Brussels. Given that it was not so far away that the 15th / 19th ultimately had to surrender to the Germans in May 1940, it was Trooper Norman Williams who in 1997 referred to this as the place where they had ‘met their Waterloo’. They were stationed with their backs to the River Dendre.

It turned out the Germans had better tanks with greater firepower. The line the British troops were trying to defend from the evening of 17 May had many places that were open to infiltration by the fast moving and greater numbers of German armoured vehicles. Early on 18 May 1940 the Germans attacked in strength. George and Norman were still acting in the role of despatch riders, George having been given another Combination Motorcycle. During a Stuka attack George’s ‘Comby’ was destroyed but George survived the attack and was taken prisoner.

With the battle going badly for the 15th / 19th, Norman had been ordered to deliver orders to the Regimental Transport that they had to jettison surplus fuel and relocate to a new position. Unfortunately, the Germans had already overrun this position and Norman had then tried to avoid capture by hiding under a stationary tank. This proved to be a futile venture. Norman’s left leg became firmly wedged, and trapped, in the gap between the tank and the road. It took half a dozen Germans to free Norman. He was lucky to come out virtually unscathed, but unlucky in that he was then taken prisoner." https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/25/a8810525.shtml

There is an announcement in ths personal column in the edition of The Times dated Thursday, July 25th, 1940, the Lieutenant Colonel D.S. Frazer, the 15th/19th Kings Royal Hussars, previously reported missing, was now a prisoner of war in Germany. It would seem likely that Donald Stewart Frazer was the Regimental C.O.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited by PRC
Typos
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Looks like another one of those cases where a person is recorded as being in two different places at the same time in the census. Mother Louisa Hobart isn't only in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on the night of the census, she is also in Paddingon, London, with husband George and unmarried daughter May. She is also either 55 or 46, depending on which one you look at. Her husband went with 55 :).

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW2R-9WC

Edited by Tawhiri
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2 hours ago, PRC said:

There is an announcement in ths personal column in the edition of The Times dated Thursday, July 25th, 1940, the Lieutenant Colonel D.S. Frazer, the 15th/19th Kings Royal Hussars, previously reported missing, was now a prisoner of war in Germany. It would seem likely that Donal Stewart Frazer was the Regimental C.O.

Yes, I think you're right.

According to the footnotes of Sebag-Montefiore's book on Dunkirk, he wrote a report of this which was used as the base for the section in the regimental history here (pp. 26–34). (Incidentally, that site has copies of the First World War regimental histories for 13th, 15th, & 18th Hussars)

Meanwhile, RHQ had met with misfortune. At 1300 hours permission was given by Brigade HQ for the Regiment to withdraw over the Dendre : but it was then too late. The Commanding Officer was not by now in touch with any of the squadrons, nor with 5 Innis DG (who had in fact already withdrawn from their position on our right). Bad communications had been general all day and all Squadrons had suffered, both from enemy wireless interference and from failure of batteries in carrier sets.
A DR had reported to Colonel Frazer that the enemy was in Leuvenstraet and he therefore decided to lead RHQ by side-roads to the river. After going less than half a mile his party ran into enemy anti-tank guns and an armoured car. The Commanding Officer's tank was destroyed and he was thrown out, fortunately unwounded, though badly stunned.
It now only remained to try to reach the river on foot. RHQ therefore split up into parties to work towards the river. Many pockets of enemy were met and fine spirit was shown in attacking them : but eventually weight of numbers told and our small parties were rounded up. Colonel Frazer, with RSM Lyons and Lieutenant B. Mera, our French Liaison Officer, succeeded in eluding the enemy for twenty-four hours, but they were eventually captured on
the following afternoon. Lieutenant W. C. G. Peterkin (Signal Officer) and 2 /Lieutenant Peyton were also taken prisoner.

It looks like Frazer was second-in-command at the outbreak of war and took over on 28 September 1939, just before they sailed for France. The history indicates he received the DSO after the end of the war, but awarded for the action in France.

There is also a photo of him:

Screenshot2023-05-15at22-03-1215th-19thHussarsdoc-History_of_15th-19th_The_Kings_Hussars_1939-1945_pdf.png.3aa1f2007dd31e87aba80d745710e6f5.png

Taken presumably in the late 1940s - he's wearing the WWII medals, though not sure what the very last one is.

Andrew.

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Gentleman, Thank you so much for that more then detailed history of these men, who for a short peroid served with the ALH 

I did wonder why we, (Australian records), would record Hobart as coming from the 11th Punjabs reported 11th Rajputs, when you show him as 24th Punjabis 

I went looking throw my book on the Indian Army by Mollo, and see there was no 11th Punjabs, but after the changes in 1903, the 11th Bengal was called the 11th Rajputs.

So the 24th Bengal was then changed to 24th Punjabis

That of cause does not explain why we (AIF records) record the wrong unit?

Most interesting

S.B

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