A.A.Savery Posted 28 January , 2007 Share Posted 28 January , 2007 I would be glad of some help in identifying these soldiers. I am pretty sure that the young man sitting on the right of the senior member is Claude Robbie. It's most likely to be somewhere in London, 1915 or before. Thanks, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 28 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 28 January , 2007 Here is a close up of the cap and badge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 28 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 28 January , 2007 Sorry, but I don't think that I can get it any better as I don't have the original. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 28 January , 2007 Share Posted 28 January , 2007 I am certainly not an expert here but it looks to me as though these chaps are Royal Marines? (Perhaps RMLI although I cannot make out the horn on the badges) I am sure someone will be able to tell you for certain. I think changes in the badges may help someone in the know date the picture too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 28 January , 2007 Share Posted 28 January , 2007 Not on the MIC - naval , a marine perhaps ? Well 2 of us think so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 28 January , 2007 Share Posted 28 January , 2007 Just noticed - looks like the bayonet of the chap kneeling front left (as we look) of the group still has its curved quillon which would tend to suggest earlier rather than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 28 January , 2007 Share Posted 28 January , 2007 They look like RMLI. Could your man be the following? :- Chatham/18792; ROBBIE, CC; Enlisted RMLI 24/08/1914; Discharged invalided; D.o.b. 15/08/1896; P.o.b. MARYLEBONE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 28 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 28 January , 2007 Thanks anyway 4thGordons. It's a start! Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 28 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 28 January , 2007 They look like RMLI. Could your man be the following? :- Chatham/18792; ROBBIE, CC; Enlisted RMLI 24/08/1914; Discharged invalided; D.o.b. 15/08/1896; P.o.b. MARYLEBONE Great stuff Horatio2! Marylebone looks very good indeed. Thanks, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 28 January , 2007 Share Posted 28 January , 2007 As worn by the lads in the photo, one R.M.L.I. cap badge. Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 28 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 28 January , 2007 As worn by the lads in the photo, one R.M.L.I. cap badge. Graham. Nice work Graham! My thanks also to Coldstreamer. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 30 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 30 January , 2007 They look like RMLI. Could your man be the following? :- Chatham/18792; ROBBIE, CC; Enlisted RMLI 24/08/1914; Discharged invalided; D.o.b. 15/08/1896; P.o.b. MARYLEBONE Hi Horatio2, I feel pretty certain that this is the man that I was looking for. I take it that Chatham would have been the name of his regiment. I wonder if you would happen to have any more information on him? There does not seem to be anything in the National Archives, Documents On Line and I had thought that he may have been entitled to medals. Does that mean that he had not served outside of Britain? Is there nothing given on when he would have been discharged? Thanks for your help, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 30 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 30 January , 2007 Here is another photo of him from Christmas 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 30 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 30 January , 2007 And another from Christmas 1918 so it does seem that he served the war out. Sorry! I should have found these before. Thanks, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 30 January , 2007 Share Posted 30 January , 2007 Hi Horatio2, I feel pretty certain that this is the man that I was looking for. I take it that Chatham would have been the name of his regiment. I wonder if you would happen to have any more information on him? There does not seem to be anything in the National Archives, Documents On Line and I had thought that he may have been entitled to medals. Does that mean that he had not served outside of Britain? Is there nothing given on when he would have been discharged? Thanks for your help, Tony Tony, The 'Chatham' register number means that he was in Chatham Division of the RMLI (the other divisions being Portsmouth and Plymouth. He enlisted right at the start of the war on a 12-year engagement (short service was not available when he volunteered). He could have been invalided as the result of combat injuries (perhaps with the Royal Naval Division) or because of ill-health and it could have been long after the war. His engagement, in the normal course, would not have expired until 1926. There is nothing available on-line at the NA for RMLI. Naval personnel do not have MICs - you have to view their medal rolls at the NA. You also need to visit there to get a copy of his Record of Service - normally a single sheet. The Fleet Air Arm Museum definitely has his original attestation and probably several other papers including Conduct Record Sheets, discharge details and more. I do not know why he was invalided from the service but details of that should also be at the FAAM. See http://www.fleetairarm.com/pages/research/archivep1.htm for what might also be there on him. Well worth checking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 30 January , 2007 Share Posted 30 January , 2007 Just to expand: there were 4 RMLI Battalions in the original Royal naval Division: Chatham, Deal, Portsmouth and Plymouth. After the battles of June and July, 1915, the 4 battalions were merged into the 1st RM Bn (Chatham and Deal), and 2nd RM Bn (Plymouth and Portsmouth). The blue uniform in the original photo was the uniform worn at the beginning of the war; certainly in Antwerp in late '14; subsequently (on the Western front), they adopted army style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A.Savery Posted 31 January , 2007 Author Share Posted 31 January , 2007 My thanks here to Horatio2 and Steven for this well explained additional information. Hopefully an e-mail to the Fleet Air Arm Museum will bring some results. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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