Major J C Haslam

[Gareth Davies]

Maj Percy Haslam was a Hussar before he joined C Bn The Tank Corps. (we know this from a C Bn WD entry that mentions his move from C Bn to I Bn in Jan 18).

In the book War Letters of a Public-School Boy, Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones, who was in C Bn The Tank Corps in 1917 (he was killed on 31 Jul 17), talks about his company commander thus: "The O.C. of the company, stroke of good luck for me, is an old Hussar officer and ex-member of the Cavalry Brigade which I have just quitted".

After HPM Jones's death his OC wrote to the family. The letter is included in the book. But the letter is attibuted to:

J. C. Haslam (Major),
No. 7 Compy., "C" Battn., Tank Corps.

Is this a simple typo; did Percy Haslam call himself JC Haslam; or might it be a different man? My money is on the former. Is my money safe?

 

 

[DavidOwen]

Gareth

Courtesy FMP

No record of a Major J C Haslam in the Tank Corps or elsewhere on that site. Nothing found on Ancestry or TNA either.

Cross checked against Hallam too just in case.

Looks like your money may be safe...

[DavidOwen]

As a completely off tangent comment I searched FMP Newspapers and found his appointment as Captain in the same article as one Captain C R Attlee whom I would presume later went on to higher office as Prime Minister.

From The Scotsman 8 January 1917 (courtesy FMP)

 

Could someone have miss read Percy's signature transcribing it to J C instead of L C?

[Gareth Davies]

Yes, that's Clem. He (briefly) commanded (as a Major) a Tank Bn in the UK.