R.N.A.S. Mullion rugby team 1918/1919.

[high wood]

I found this photograph in a Welsh antique shop during the week. Looking online, another example of the photograph exists and was recently displayed in an exhibition in Mullion. Their photograph is in better condition than mine, but mine has the names of the individuals on the reverse. Sadly, some are difficult to read, others are very common names and most have no initials to narrow down the search. I would be grateful if anyone can decipher any of the names.

The first signature is that of a Chief Petty Officer. The name below it may be unconnected and is probably the man below him in the photograph.

Edited 8 September by high wood

[high wood]

The next three signatures are; L. M.  (Leading Mechanic?) Noble, Unreadable and Unreadable but possibly Prior.

 

Edited 8 September by high wood

[high wood]

The next three signatures are:

A.M. unreadable, A.M. Lee and A.M. Robinson.

 

 

[high wood]

Commander Booth (Vice Captain), Petty Officer Bailey, Petty Officer Francis/Frances.

 

[high wood]

Petty Officer Willis, Simson and Slater.

 

[high wood]

I cannot find anything in the local newspapers regarding the rugby match but have found details of a cricket match played around the same time. I was hoping that there might have been a few cricketers who also played rugby. However there seems to be no crossover. It would appear that Mullion R.N.A.S. were not very good cricketers.

Cornish Post 31st May 1919. Image courtesy of F.M.P.

Edited 9 September by high wood

[PRC]

This is speculation at this point.

Although Commander Booth is only listed as Vice-Captain of the team, as potentially the senior officer present is it possible that he might be the one seated centrally and holding the rugby ball - the sort of placement normally taken by the officer commanding in more formal group pictures?

There is a Captain Ralph Sleigh Booth who was posted to East Fortune to serve at RNAS Mullion on Rigid Airships with a recommendation to command on the 10th May 1918. He was born on the 20th January 1895 so he was then just 23 - believeable for the man holding the ball. Ralph was promoted Major on the 14th May 1918, and "commanded" \ captained airships. Although he would subsequently served with the Royal Air Force before returning to the Navy, this May 1918 part of his career is captured on his RNAS Officer records, possibly indicating he wasn't part of the initial transfer over. He also has two surviving Royal Navy Officer records held at the National Archive, and probably more at the MoD. There doesn't appear to be an AIR76 in the National Archive records, but his RAF career seems to have extended to the 1930's which might explain that.
RNAS https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9747199
RN: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8124340
RN: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7615868

FindAGrave has a picture of his headstone and the contributor has attached an obituary from the Flight Magazine, dated 25th September 1969.

One of the best-known men in British airship history, Wg Cdr R. S. Booth, died on September 12th at the age of 74. Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard, who knew him well, writes:—

"When the submarine menace loomed in 1915, the Admiralty directed Jellicoe to send midshipmen from the Grand Fleet to become captains of non-existent submarine searcher airships. Ralph Booth, aged 20, was the senior of the batch who, with blueprints, wire and fabric, rigged aeroplane fuselages to gas envelopes, made a fleet of 30 S.S. airships and flew them all within as many weeks. Booth's was S.S.I. That autumn she was destroyed by fire when landing in fog.

By the end of the war Booth had become captain of the R.24 and one of the first in the Air Force to win the AFC. As captain of the R.33 in 1921 he pioneered "mast mooring" and, when his ship was torn by storm from the tower at Pulham, he and a skeleton crew, after a three-day struggle with fabric and storm, brought her back; he was honoured by George V and promoted squadron leader.

Booth was the natural choice for command of R.100. He flew her to Montreal and back in 1930—a flight and a ship which marked the zenith of British airship achievement, soon to be terminated by the R.101 disaster.

Booth, already qualified as an aeroplane pilot in 1926, was "grounded" by deafness in 1932. The RAF then lost a potential high commander of outstanding quality. Relegated to the development of navigational instruments, Wg Cdr Booth exercised an influence both profound and unsung. Soon after World War Two he retired into civil voluntary public service, punctuated with occasional advisory excursions into airship and balloon ventures, until death overtook him on September 12.

Ralph Booth was probably the most admired and respected member of the Airship Service of the RNAS/RAF. The qualities which shone through his quietness in the air, in the field of sport and in all his work and relationships never failed." https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114725932/ralph_sleigh-booth

An image search for "Ralph Sleigh Booth" brings up a number of potential images, all hosted by the website "British Airship People". However that website is now defunct, and the snapshots on google images don't specifically state who the individuals are.

Turning to Archive Org  there is a (fascinating) book "R100 in Canada" by Barry Countryman, covering that airships maiden flight across the Atlantic in August 1930 in great detail, (the ' pinnacle' of Great Britains development of such airships, although considering the amount of patching up that needed to happen as a result of bits falling off and dodgy workmanship I don't think Boeing have anything to worry about!) The crafts Captain was Ralph Sleigh Booth.There are a number of pictures that include them, although they vary in quality considerably. Just three might be of any use to do a side by side comparison.

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

Sources.

a] Formal Studio portrait in RAF uniform. He appears to have less ribbands, so although the caption says rank is Wing Commander I believe the picture predates the ones related to the R100 flight.  https://archive.org/details/r100incanada0000coun/page/n5/mode/2up?q="Ralph+Sleigh+Booth"&view=theater

b] Cropped from a picture captioned "R100 Officers at Cardington with outward flight to Canada crew 1930". https://archive.org/details/r100incanada0000coun/page/44/mode/2up?q=Booth&view=theater

c] Cropped from picture captioned "Canada's early morning welcome to the R100 Officers and passengers 11st August 1930" https://archive.org/details/r100incanada0000coun/page/62/mode/2up?q=Booth&view=theater

All courtesy "R100 in Canada" by Barry Countryman via Archive org

So could this be our ball-carrying rugby team member?

Cheers,
Peter

[high wood]

Peter,

thank you very much for your invaluable contribution to this thread, it is appreciated. Ralph Sleigh Booth does indeed look to be the man holding the rugby ball. Thank you for providing his service history. I need to get the names on the back of the photograph in order so that I can match them up with the individuals depicted. Some are particularly feint and I have had to play around with the contrast. 

Presuming that the names on the reverse are written over the man depicted the middle row is as follows.

Left to right:

A.M. Lee, A.M. Robinson, P.O. Bailey, Com. Booth (Vice Capt), Thom, Wilson, P.O. Willis.

Front row.

Un-named, Slater, Simpson, P.O. Frances, (Francis or Marcus?).

The back row is much harder to decipher.

A.M. Paskin? (Capt.), unreadable but may be Cale or Cole?, Prior?, Morefield?, Whelan?, L.M. Noble, C.P.O. Everett? (secretary).

[PRC]

2 hours ago, high wood said:

Ralph Sleigh Booth does indeed look to be the man holding the rugby ball. Thank you for providing his service history.

Meant to add that in the two group photographs from the R100 book, Ralph is either amongst the tallest or indeed the tallest man present, even if only by an inch or so. I get the impression that the man holding the rugby ball similarly is amongst the tallest of the group.

The 1911 Census of England & Wales has the 16 year old Ralph Booth, born Prestwood, Buckinghamshire as a Student Naval Cadet at Dartmouth College. There is a lot of coverage of the sports teams of that college in the likes of the British Newspaper Archive.

I can't readily check them out, so I don't know if either of these British Newspaper Archive search matches are actually about the Mullion Rugby team.

Both images courtesy the British Newspaper Archive.

Cheers,
Peter

[high wood]

Brilliant. Thank you Peter.

The Cornishman of 5th February, 1919 lists the following team members.

Lieut. Largen

Roskrow. On the back of the photograph as A.M. (Captain).

Robinson

Lieut. Cave

Sutherland

Lieut. Todd

Lieut. Cordwent.

Terry, (Captain)

Sgt. Marcus

Sgt. Bailey

Slater

Whelam

Nobel

Burham

Owen

The underlined names are visible on the back of the photograph. I will correct the names on my earlier list and will look to see if other matches are listed as there will undoubtedly be team changes.

Image courtesy of F.M.P.

 

 

[high wood]

There was indeed a change in the team on the match played later in the month. The Cornishman of the 19th February, 1919 has the following names, which include that of Major Booth. The underlined names played in the previous match.

Lieut. Todd.

Lieut. Sunderland.

Capt. Terry.

Lieut. Evans.

A.M. Owner.

Lieut. Cordwent.

A.M. Robinson.

Major Booth.

Lieut. Cave.

Lieut. Davis.

Sgt. Marcus.

Cpl. Opie.

A.M. Wheelam.

A.M. Harris.

A.M. Noble.

Image courtesy of F.M.P.

[horatio2]

The Navy List of December 1918 lists the Mullion officers:-

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92327990

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92328002

[high wood]

14 minutes ago, horatio2 said:

The Navy List of December 1918 lists the Mullion officers:-

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92327990

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92328002

Thank you very much for posting the links, it is very helpful.

[horatio2]

Navy List Feb 1919 - https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92383510

[high wood]

208410 Joseph Edward Marcus, the second man in the photograph to be positively identified. He went from A.M. 1 to Petty Officer in a very short time and was sent to Russia in 1919, stationed in Murmansk. Image courtesy of F.M.P.

 

Edited 10 September by high wood

[horatio2]

52 minutes ago, high wood said:

He went from A.M. 1 to Petty Officer in a very short time

Rated AMI on joining the RNAS on 28 September 1915, he was not rated Petty Officer until 1 February 1918 - well over two years in the lower rate,

Awarded Silver Medal for Zeal on ribbon of St Anne (Russia) for  service in North Russia.

Edited 10 September by horatio2

[PRC]

8 hours ago, high wood said:

Roskrow. On the back of the photograph as A.M. (Captain).

Possible - RAF Day 1 Muster Roll has a T. Roskrow., service number 227105.
Old trade classification: Engineer.                   Old rank: Acting Air Mechanic Class 1              Rank held from: 1st January 1918.
New trade classification: Fitter (A.E.)               New rank:  Air Mechanic Class 2.
FindMyPast hold an Airmans Service record for 227105 Thomas Muskrow, born Exeter, Devon c1883 and commencing 1917.

Aged 28 and married, there is a Thomas Roskrow, born Exeter, who was recorded on the 1911 Census of England & Wales as the head of the household at Elm Terrace, Plainangwarry, Redruth. He is described as a Manager to a Boot Dealer - one of the other members of the household is his maiden aunt Eliza Jane Phillips, who is described as a Boot Dealer and Employer.

In the British Newspaper Archive there looks like there could be some Great War era reports of a Thomas Roskrow, a proprietor and manager of a boot... (tbc) who first applied for exemption from conscription, and then had this appealed by the military (Western Morning News, December 28, 1916).

He appears to be back in Redruth by the time of the 1921 Census of England & Wales.

Cheers,
Peter

 

Edited 10 September by PRC
Brain fog

[PRC]

I don't know if this will encourage anyone else to have a go at putting names to faces, but I've added numbers to try and make it easier to match things up. And yes I know I'm a one trick pony when it comes to these sorts of group shots

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

On 10/09/2024 at 09:10, high wood said:

Presuming that the names on the reverse are written over the man depicted the middle row is as follows.

Left to right: A.M. Lee, A.M. Robinson, P.O. Bailey, Com. Booth (Vice Capt), Thom, Wilson, P.O. Willis.

Front row. Un-named, Slater, Simpson, P.O. Frances, (Francis or Marcus?).

The back row is much harder to decipher. A.M. Paskin? (Capt.), unreadable but may be Cale or Cole?, Prior?, Morefield?, Whelan?, L.M. Noble, C.P.O. Everett? (secretary).

Could be mistaken \ misunderstanding but while there are 19 individuals present that appears to be only 18 names from the reverse. The discrepancy seems to be in the hard to read back row. Is that the A.M. Roskrow you refer to later as the team Captain?

Working through the various possible names on the back of the picture, the two newspaper reports and the two navy lists I tried to look for similarities. One line that might be worthwhile investigating is whether the "Capt. Cale or Cole" might be the Lieutenant Cave recorded playing for them in the two newspaper reports, and that they in turn might be the Lieutenant (RAF) F. Cave-Browne-Cave shown as stationed at Mullion in the February 1919 Navy List. There is an AIR76 for a Lieutenant Frank Cave Browne Cave who was transferred from Airship School to Mullion on the 6th November 1918. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8199983

This is where I think we've got to so far, based on the information posted in the thread.

And reading it through again before posting I'm wondering if Owen from the first newspaper team listing is A.M. Owner in the second.

Cheers,
Peter