macfarro Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Pls find attached MIC of Sidney H Kempson born 1896 Totternhoe Beds. The entry to theatre reads 'M.E.F 26.7.15'. Having tried the 'trail' part of the site I can find no reference to MEF but assume this is Middle East. Could somebody help explain this and what other info can be gleaned from the MIC? many thanks in advance Rob Sorry having trouble with attachment details are Bedfords pvt - 3418 RFC - 407669 Lab Corp 77017 15 Star RFC Roll British/Victory Lab Corp Roll entry to theatre MEF 26.7.15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombowcock Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Hi Rob, As far as I am aware the M.E.F stood for Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and was a term used by the Australian Forces to denote Galipolli, although I'm sure my more educated colleagues will put me right if this is not the case. ! So I guess this begs teh question was the chap attached to an Australian Unit or perhaps the clerk annotating the MIC was from down under :-) As for other information on the MIC. There is very little useful information other than to give details of medal entitlements which you seem to have. If you are lucky it mat give discharge date or a kia date (if appropriate) but this was not always the case. The only other useful stuff is the actual Medal Roll reference. But this is only useful if you are going to visit TNA and look up the medal rolls themselves. This may give more detail about dates that he was attached to various regiments. Hope this is of some minor help Best Wishes James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 The date on the MIC is the date that the 18th Division went to France and hence the date that the 7th Bedfordshires in 54th brigade went to France. Could "MEF" be F&F ? From the 7th Bedfordshire War Diary: Codford 25-7-15 9am Transport of regiment left CODFORD for service abroad 106 men and 3 officers 26-7-15 1.45pm 7th Bedfords left Codford for service abroad. Marching out strength 820 and 31 officers arrived Folkestone at 8.30 and embarked with 54th Bde HQ on S.S.Onward. On arrival at Boulogne sur Mer the battalion marched to Ostronove Rest Camp His low number does however suggest a Regular or Territorial. The 5th Battalion (Territorials) went the Gallipoli in 1915 and Egypt/Palestine in 1916. They went to Malta and then Alexandria in Egypt in early August 1915. I'm not sure exactly what date the majority of the battalion would have for arrival in the Theatre of War. Steve Fuller is more knowledgable than I on both the 7th and the 5th, and I'll leave it to him (or Raster Scanning) to give you some better info. If they don't pick the Topic up I'll post some more info, but I'd rather you had the proper info rather than my mad musings... Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macfarro Posted 17 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Steve & james, thanks for your comments, I'll try and attach again but am not too hopeful. Having reread the MIC, it is definitelt M.E.F regards Rob Sid_Kempson.doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombowcock Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Steve & james, thanks for your comments, I'll try and attach again but am not too hopeful. Having reread the MIC, it is definitelt M.E.F regards Rob <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi Rob, Further to my last post this may be of interest:- The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) was a World War I British Army headquarters formed in March 1915 that commanded all Allied forces at Gallipoli and Salonika. This included the initial naval operation to force the straits of the Dardanelles. The MEF was originally commanded by General Sir Ian Hamilton until he was dismissed due to the failure at Gallipoli. Command briefly passed to General William Birdwood, commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, but for the duration of the Gallipoli campaign it was General Sir Charles Monro who led the MEF. While the Gallipoli theatre was the only active Mediterranean theatre, the MEF was used to refer to the forces at Gallipoli. With the opening of the Salonika front in October of 1915, the forces at Gallipoli were referred to as the Dardanelles Army and the Salonika contingent became the Salonika Army Also this fits in with the 1st/5th Bedfordshires who set sail from Devonport on 26/7/1915 for Gallipoli following the normal route, Malta, Alexandria, Lemnos and then Gallipoli. Thay arrived in Gallipoli on 11th August 1915. Cheers James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Forum member Steve Fuller has a Bedfordshires website with the war diaries transcribed here: http://bedfordregiment.org.uk/index.html All his own work! Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Hellooo ... Curious - 3418 is a Terrier number, implying 5th battalion but they were absent from proceedings in the Med until August 1915, landing at Suvla early on the 11th. The number suggests enlistment in the first wave of August 1914 or MAYBE in the summer running up to it ... As Steveo rightly says though, the 7th disembarkation date matches with his MIC entry date & Ive not seen a Beds terrier MIC with "Theatre of Entry M.E.F" yet. Kempson is a name Ive seen before, unless its so close to Kempston (Beds) Im thinking about that!! Back in a while, gonna rummage through some papers ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 17 November , 2005 Share Posted 17 November , 2005 Nope, you got me there!! Its evaded me ... Oh, the MEF stands for Medit' Expeditionary Force, before I forget again! James (Tombowcock) is right in that the 5th left St Albans early in the morning, embarking onto troop ship at Devonport and leaving old Blighty on the evening of 26th July but that wouldnt be the entry date. Whatever way you look at it, they just werent there until August & an entry date means the date they entered the theatre in question. Also, the use of MEF - Ive seen almost 1,000 5th Beds MIC's and gord knows how many Roll entries now, yet I havent seen that reference anywhere. 2 b Balkans is the (until now) 100% popular one for 1915 Star holders, and even the 100 or so men left at Alexandria 4th August had 2 b on their cards (although techincally being in Egypt ..) The only thing I can think of is that Your man Sidney trained in the 5th but got frustrated (as many of them did) or something & got himself moved to the RFC perhaps? That way he would have still retained the Beds uniform & title whilst serving in the RFC, as the RFC didnt get their own distinct image etc until later on. Did the RFC have units in the Med in July 1915? Id guess so ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 21 November , 2005 Share Posted 21 November , 2005 Found out why I recognised the name Kempson - not Sidney but: Pte G Kempson 3/7489 2 Beds awarded MM (Gazette issue 30188, page 73) for their part in the Battle of Messines Rdge. Thought Id post it in case hes one of Sidney's brthers / cousins as empson isnt that common of a name ... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macfarro Posted 22 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 22 November , 2005 Steve You're right, Kempson is not a particularly common name I'll see if I can track him down, I dont think he's a brother but he may well be a relation. In answer to the question you posed above, according to a couple of threads on the air war ''the Dardanelles area was the province of the RNAS, and it remained so until the creation of the RAF'' - so that's still a bit of a mystery. I have a horrible feeling that the NA is the only course of action. By the way thanks for all the thoughts/info and well done for the Beds website, lots of interesting stuff. regards Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 22 November , 2005 Share Posted 22 November , 2005 Welcome Rob - good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 27 November , 2005 Share Posted 27 November , 2005 Found out why I recognised the name Kempson - not Sidney but: Pte G Kempson 3/7489 2 Beds awarded MM (Gazette issue 30188, page 73) for their part in the Battle of Messines Rdge. Thought Id post it in case hes one of Sidney's brthers / cousins as empson isnt that common of a name ... Steve <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The above man, Pte G Kempson MM came from 35 Melville Road, Sonebridge Park, NW10. He had 2 (presumably) brothers who served, neither called Sidney. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedfordyeoman Posted 2 December , 2005 Share Posted 2 December , 2005 Sidney Kempson lived at 12 Chapel Path, Dunstable (which I think is/was near Church Street). He had at least one other brother , Percy, who served in the 5th and Royal Defence Corps. Sidney's MIC shows his date of embarkation rather than disembarkation. A common error on MICs. About 30% of all Beds Yeo MICs show the embarkation date. Clearly not an issue to a post-WW1 clerk when the chap's service record would have confirmed the position in the event of doubt. Regards to all David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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