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Remembered Today:

Wounded solders at Desford


Jane Hayward

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Thanks, I'm glad to have got that correct. Seems an earlier photo than I thought.

I'm now having problems with Nos. 61, 62 & 63.

63 seems a good match to Sgt. Hugh C McKail HLI

62 marked as Hurd 9190 East Yorks. I found a F Hurd 9901 Devons. Cap Badge seems to be neither.

61 should be Cleary with his number erased but possibly Bernard Cleary 9190 East Yorks.

TEW

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12 minutes ago, TEW said:

Thanks, I'm glad to have got that correct. Seems an earlier photo than I thought.

I'm now having problems with Nos. 61, 62 & 63.

63 seems a good match to Sgt. Hugh C McKail HLI

62 marked as Hurd 9190 East Yorks. I found a F Hurd 9901 Devons. Cap Badge seems to be neither.

61 should be Cleary with his number erased but possibly Bernard Cleary 9190 East Yorks.

TEW

I’m not sure which numbered photo you’re working from but if it’s the 63 seated, in kilt and without headdress, then he could be 9th (Glasgow Highlanders) HLI, who wore the same government tartan kilt as the Black Watch.  No 62 is Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Edited by FROGSMILE
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Yes, that's the correct man for #63.

It's #62 that I think is marked as East Yorks but I came up with a possible ID for a Devons. Cap Badge is neither?

Can you give a cap Badge ID for #62?

Assuming I'm matching up the correct names and faces.

TEW

62.jpg.1937a6b8c28366c9fde33b0a0c342b24.jpg

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2 minutes ago, TEW said:

Yes, that's the correct man for #63.

It's #62 that I think is marked as East Yorks but I came up with a possible ID for a Devons. Cap Badge is neither?

Can you give a cap Badge ID for #62?

Assuming I'm matching up the correct names and faces.

TEW

62.jpg.1937a6b8c28366c9fde33b0a0c342b24.jpg

Yes, Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Unfortunately there’s no identifying feature for No 61.

IMG_2825.jpeg

Edited by FROGSMILE
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Picture 2 intrigues me a great deal and I think it reflects something specific, dress policy wise, going on at the time.  All the men wearing hospital blue have been permitted to go without shirt collars and ties, something exceedingly rare and I cannot recall when I last saw similar.  It suggests a policy of relaxed dress for the bedridden or early stage patients, as it seems unlikely for so many men to lack an issue of shirt collars and ties.

The other striking aspect is the sight of so many injured men, who are clearly still dependent patients, wearing service dress uniform.  There was a period when the army became concerned about the perceived softening of men immersed in a female influenced nursing environment, which subsequently led to the creation of Command Depots to get the men out of hospitals and convalescent homes as soon as they were sufficiently mobile enough to be adequately independent.   I suspect that the men in uniform had moved up to an intermediate recovery stage beyond being bedbound, or still reliant on bed rest, and that they’d been told to wear uniform, even though some injuries were still bandaged, or in slings, etc.

There is thus a noticeable contrast between this photo and photos 1 and 3.

Edited by FROGSMILE
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4 hours ago, Bob Davies said:

Thanks Jane, just having a quick look around comes up with a book telling us of his 'induction' Dec 9th 1880.

https://archive.org/details/historythurlast00hulmgoog/page/n104/mode/2up?q=Townshend

and the Cricket connection courtesy of; Association of Cricket Statisticians.

TOWNSHEND, William 33390
born 16 November 1849 Sehore, Central India (now Madhya Pradesh), India
died 19 July 1923 Kirkby Mallory, Leicestershire
Ed: Rossall S; Brasenose College RHB
Oxford University 1870-72 Blue all three years
14 matches 399 runs @ 15.96, HS 55 6 catches Did not bowl
First-class career record 1870-74
16 matches 460 runs @ 15.86, HS 55 6 catches Did not bowl
Played for Cheshire 1866-78, Denbighshire 1867, Shropshire 1869, Herefordshire 1879, and Leicestershire (pre first-class) 1881-85
Entered the Church of England. Rector of Thurlaston, Leicestershire 1880-1908, and of Kirkby Mallory 1908-23.

 

DSC03764.JPG

DSC03765.JPG

DSC03766.JPG

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Wow, great pictures you have found there @stiletto_33853, many thanks. :thumbsup:

I am pretty sure we have the correct Reverend, albeit less his hair mutton chops and tache.

One more screenshot courtesy of; https://archive.org/details/alumnioxonienses04univ/page/1432/mode/2up

book page 1432, top left hand of page.

It seems he is the second son of Edward Dupre, whoever that is?

image.png.390e2292c7c0f58e94e55f55cfefe489.png

Possibly Lieutenant E Dupre Townshend 9th Regt.    The 9th Regt of Foot being Norfolk I believe, @PRC s'  men!

From this book. Top of book page 279.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.68294/page/n275/mode/2up?q=Dupre

 

Edited by Bob Davies
To add more..
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Apologies @Jane Hayward.

As Charlies' request to number the pictures only mentioned three photo's that had this requirement, I hadn't realised there were more pictures that were unnamed until I saw the comment from @TEW about soldier 81 appearing in photo 6.

On the off chance that adding numbers to those other pictures might increase the chance that it would lead to more of those matches I went back through the thread and picked up the pictures on page 3. The Belgian one I suspect will be a separate exercise, although from memory there were a number of newspaper references to the Belgians resident at Desford including concerts where some of the residents are named.

And I wonder if the civilian pictures are pre-war or very early days of the conflict before Desford Hall was given over entirely to the military.

So turning to the British Army pictures, my first thought was that picture 5 and picture 8 were identical, just that picture 8 was in a better condition. But closer inspection shows just enough expression and positional changes while Matron Havers dress in picture 5 has billowed out behind the soldier stood beside her but in picture 8 is under control.

Picture5vPicture8DesfordHallcomparisonv1.png.235fd3f5d0275e76f354d52cac0f3aed.png

No new IP is claimed for the above and all picture rights, if any, remain with the current owner.

Unless anyone has any objections I'll keep the same images together and apply the same numbering to the same individual in each picture.

Cheers,
Peter

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5 minutes ago, PRC said:

 

Picture5vPicture8DesfordHallcomparisonv1.png.235fd3f5d0275e76f354d52cac0f3aed.png

No new IP is claimed for the above and all picture rights, if any, remain with the current owner.

Unless anyone has any objections I'll keep the same images together and apply the same numbering to the same individual in each picture.

Looking at the number of soldiers pictured I wonder if they relate to the trip to Enderby Hall. I post the article from the paper again. Also is the picture with the vehicle related?

 

Image courtesy of FMP

IMG_6625.jpeg

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146 Lear in Picture 3 and front row, second from left in Picture 8?

image.jpeg

Desford soldiers 8 copy.jpeg

Edited by Jane Hayward
added pics
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1 hour ago, Jane Hayward said:

146 Lear in Picture 3 and front row, second from left in Picture 8?

image.jpeg

Desford soldiers 8 copy.jpeg

Cheshire Regiment I think, although there are other regiments with a similar badge.

13 minutes ago, Jane Hayward said:

image.png.98f4e2ea8fe92c6d7f5922efa059277a.png

Empringham in Picture 8 and Picture 3? He went to Enderby as well as .Lear

Looks like the Hampshire Regiment Tiger over Rose.

I concur with your matches.

IMG_2833.jpeg

IMG_2834.jpeg

Edited by FROGSMILE
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Numbered versions of pictures 5 and 8. I suspect the two images were taken no more than a few minutes a part. As exactly the same individuals are present they have been given the same identifying number.

151 is Matron Havers.  158 is Sister Harper. I believe all 15 of the inpatients shown are present on the named pictures but for now I'll leave the matching to others.

Picture5vPicture8DesfordHallcomparisonv2numbered.png.20594450698350be331fdcd13abb7234.png

No new IP is claimed for the above, and all image rights, if any, belong to the current owner.

Cheers,
Peter

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image.png.316ebfbf7a9ab9a87479b2f71c41724a.pngimage.png.3112ae620bd28fe39a455c4d601743dd.png

Sergeant Robert Everitt in both pics 2 and 3. But I don't think I see him in pics 5 or 8. He was on the Enderby outing.

Edited by Jane Hayward
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1 hour ago, Jane Hayward said:

image.png.316ebfbf7a9ab9a87479b2f71c41724a.pngimage.png.3112ae620bd28fe39a455c4d601743dd.png

Sergeant Robert Everitt in both pics 2 and 3. But I don't think I see him in pics 5 or 8. He was on the Enderby outing.

Royal Berkshire Regiment I think, but I’m not 100% certain.

IMG_2841.jpeg

Edited by FROGSMILE
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2 hours ago, Jane Hayward said:

image.png.316ebfbf7a9ab9a87479b2f71c41724a.pngimage.png.3112ae620bd28fe39a455c4d601743dd.png

Sergeant Robert Everitt in both pics 2 and 3. But I don't think I see him in pics 5 or 8. He was on the Enderby outing.

My first thought was Leicestershire Regiment:

 

Leicestershire Regiment Cap Badge

And a search of the MIC's does show an Acting Sergeant Robert Everitt of the Leicestershire Regiment:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D2165977

image.png.39de4a5016790bf907307b1d1bdf8bd5.png

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1 minute ago, Andrew Upton said:

My first thought was Leicestershire Regiment:

 

Leicestershire Regiment Cap Badge

And a search of the MIC's does show an Acting Sergeant Robert Everitt of the Leicestershire Regiment:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D2165977

image.png.39de4a5016790bf907307b1d1bdf8bd5.png

Yes I believe you’re right Andrew.  Well spotted.  The arching top scroll just about visible clinches it I think.

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I found a photo in my grandma's album that is likely No 155. At Enderby playing croquet? No name unfortunately.image.jpeg.511685d9456e816ee76b71e4c49e52b0.jpeg

155.png

Edited by Jane Hayward
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Picture 7 sees a welcome return for Deefer - I know my PM inbox has been full of your concerns and offers to pay the vets bills :)

Desfordpicture7sourcedGWFownerJaneHaywardcroppedandnumbered.png.618f5bc56e48bf36f73859f2cf77bfb1.png

Matron Havers is 199 and Sister Harper is 201.

When I first saw them on picture 2 I thought 175 (98) and 205 (97) were civilian helpers stood at the back, and that may still be the case. However 205 appears to wearing the same in-patient slippers as 197.

98and175plus97and205comparisonv1.png.720f836a9503ab3460884815af0ef76c.png

No new IP is claimed for either of the above and all image rights, if any, remain with the current owner.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited by PRC
Typos
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The numbered pictures are fantastic, Peter, thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to do them. I will go through all the lists in the morning and try to do one long list of numbers and names. 

I heard from Leicester Record Office that they only have a couple of pictures with soldiers on, so this is all way more than they hold. They have financial records that show that Fanny Harper started work as assistant matron in 1912, transferring from Leicester Home Hospital, so some of my photos will be pre-war.

On the last pic, are those cigarettes being smoked (172, 174) or just dots on the photo?

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?image.jpeg.60b66cb3b34b6474d647baf7a19e8596.jpeg

Monsieur 98/175? I've got a thank-you postcard from a Belgian soldier dated October 1915. Clement Conti, I think.

 

 

Scan 2.jpeg

Edited by Jane Hayward
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43 minutes ago, Jane Hayward said:

On the last pic, are those cigarettes being smoked (172, 174) or just dots on the photo?

From the way the men are pursuing their lips they’re definitely smoking cigarettes Jane.

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2 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

From the way the men are pursuing their lips they’re definitely smoking cigarettes Jane.

They certainly are, as are 181 and 193.

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Picture 10, Deefer  Dog and Ceefer  Cat. :D

@PRC

image.png.0817221ca20895f7adee5062c0aafbe1.png

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1 hour ago, Bob Davies said:

They certainly are, as are 181 and 193.

I wonder what they’d have thought of vaping Bob. 😂

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