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Cadet Norfolk Artillery


NRP.HKP

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I have a Cadet Norfolk Artillery " For Services rendered in the Great War " medal to Captain H.Savory.Can anyone tell me anything of their role during the Great War or perhaps the good Captain's part in it ?

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Caistor

Cadet Norfolk Artillery was a Cadet Unit of the Artillery officially recognised in 1913, wearing the shoulder title CNA they were affiliated to the 1st. East Anglian Brigade Royal Field Artillery. Similar to a unit of the modern Army Cadet Force they provided training to lads some of whom would when of recruiting age go on to serve in the Army.

Dave

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Caistor

Cadet Norfolk Artillery was a Cadet Unit of the Artillery officially recognised in 1913, wearing the shoulder title CNA they were affiliated to the 1st. East Anglian Brigade Royal Field Artillery. Similar to a unit of the modern Army Cadet Force they provided training to lads some of whom would when of recruiting age go on to serve in the Army.

Dave

Heritage Plus - My most gratefull thanks for this,now to find out more on Captain Savory ! Caistor.

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Caistor

The CNA is still in existence see under the 'locations' link on this site:

http://www.norfolkacf.com

Dave

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  • 17 years later...

Could evening all,

I've stumbled across this post and completely understand that this was in 2007. I'm the Battery Commander of Cadet Norfolk Artillery and I'm trying to find out more information about our past. Did this topic go anywhere? Did anyone manage to make contact with us!? I'd love to know more. Thanks in advance. 

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14 minutes ago, MajorCarter said:

Did anyone manage to make contact with us!? I'd love to know more. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the 'GWF' MajorCarter,

@HERITAGE PLUS aka Dave still visits the forum but @NRP.HKP has not visited the forum since 2020 but my tag may alert them?

That is the forum member who will have the answer.

Regards,

Bob.

 

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Hi Bob,

 

Thanks ever so much for coming back to me. Hopefully, members might be able to help me find anything about the unit. Unfortunately, there isn't too much online that I can find!

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Hi MajorCarter

As the original query which started this thread was not mine, I did not do any follow up work on it.

The links below will be of interest to you:

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums//attachment.php?attachmentid=258895&d=1634664226

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums//attachment.php?s=aeee67548f69197ae54e17fa63eca563&attachmentid=258896&d=1634664236

Dave

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Hi @MajorCarter and welcome to the forum :)

5 hours ago, MajorCarter said:

Unfortunately, there isn't too much online that I can find!

Depends where you look!

1] The British Newspaper Archive, (subscription but the local Library service in Norfolk allows free onsite access to members), has a selection of Norfolk titles.
In addition the County Archive has a number of newspaper titles available on microfilm. Some like the Norwich Mercury are available for part of the period, ( I believe it currently ends in 1913), on the British Newspaper Archive, and afterwards on microfilm. A selection of the titles  - Eastern Daily Press, Eastern Evening News, Norwich Mercury, Norfolk Chronicle - are also available in the Local Studies section of The Forum.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

I don't subscribe so can only see the thumbnail images. Don't be put off by the primitive software used to transcribe images into text. Here's a few sample images.

1913.

1913samplescreenshotsourcedBNA.png.127bc909893640db4f33781f0348a3e9.png

1914

1914ScreenshotsamplefromBNA.png.1e9f9f1d6af2f75345f0e0bc8dd8825b.png

19142ndScreenshotsamplefromBNA.png.d91af005e67dca9b7ac024ad45d4ae4f.png

With regard to the Crosskill’s mentioned, there is a possible related instance of Second Lieutenant C.R. Crosskill in the edition of the Norwich Mercury dated 2nd February 1918. (This come from my notes on titles and editions that are not yet digitised but are available at the County Archive and in the Local Studies section of The Forum).

GASSED AND SEVERELY WOUNDED.
Sec.-Lieut. C.R. Crosskill, of Norwich, has been admitted to hospital in France, gassed, and shell wounded severely. He had been in France nearly twelve months, and was formerly in the Inns of Court O.TC.

Cyril Riches Crosskill was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Norfolk Regiment when he landed in France on the 12th March 1917. Looks like he may subsequently have received a disability pension. When he applied for his medals in December 1922 he gave a c\o a business address in London.

On the 1901 Census of England & Wales there is an 8 year old Cyril R. Crosskill, born Norwich, who was recorded living at 13, College Road, Norwich. This was the household of his parents Charles R.Crosskill, (42, a Cork Merchant, born Norwich), and Anna E.Crosskill, (37, born Downham, Norfolk). The family were to be found living at Highbury Lodge, 27 Thorpe Road, Norwich on the 1911 Census of England & Wales. Among those at home that night were father Charles Robert Crosskill, (52, Cork Merchant), and son Cyril R., (18, Bank Clerk).

1915.

1915SampleScreenshotsourcedBNA.png.7aaea13767f493e6a064692f83f4ff65.png

1915SampleScreenshot2sourcedBNA.png.bb74fb9a6259ad87f41c512e0e107708.png

All images courtesy The British Newspaper Archive.

Post-war there are records of a Frederick Alexander Giles serving with the RAF as a Flying Officer.

There are plenty of other references in later years.

2] Archive.Org. Free to join, although many titles there don't even require membership to be able to read \ download. https://archive.org/

Search query results for "Cadet Norfolk Artillery". https://archive.org/search?query="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"&sin=TXT&page=3

A Register of Territorial Force cadet units, 1910-1922 by Ray Westlake, adds "Cadet Norfolk Artillery: Rec. 12.4.13 (Norfolk) (AO 187/13) and aff. to Ist East. Anglian Brigade RFA. Absorbed Ist Norfolk Volunteer Cadet Corps and inc. to nine companies 16.7.19 (AO 419/19).https://archive.org/details/registerofterrit0000west/page/12/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

According to a sales catalogue there was a "Bronze medal of Cadet Norfolk Artillery for services during Great War 1914-15."https://archive.org/details/catalogueofmilit00glen_49/page/18/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

Plunkett's pictures of Norwich and Norfolk on page 43 has a 1930's picture of the Cadet Norfolk Artillery headquarters on All Saints Green, Norwich. https://archive.org/details/plunkettspicture0000plun/page/42/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

The same picture is on the George Plunkett website. http://www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norwich/agr.htm#Allsg

Neil Storey's "The little book of Norwich" includes this piece from 1913 "Marathon Ride of Cadet Despatch Riders. Colour Sergeant Vickers and Bombardier Strett of the Cadet Norfolk Artillery, both just 15 years of age, carried a despatch from Captain R.C.O. Crosskill, their commanding officer, to the Mansion House in London — a distance of 112 miles. Designed to be part of a training exercise, their journey began at 3.10 p.m. on the afternoon of Thursday, 30 October 1913 and they arrived in London the following day at 6 p.m., despite bad roads and inclement weather. The Lord Mayor entrusted them with return messages, which they undertook to convey to their commanding officer. Their achievement was even reported in The Times." https://archive.org/details/littlebookofnorw0000stor/page/36/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

The biography of Dick Joice recalls his joining the Cadet Norfolk Artillery in 1919 - "Training was a six-month crash course on how to be a good soldier. This entailed several nights a week and most weekends rushing about with a dummy rifle, marching up and down in disused gravel pits, and learning how to read maps. At the end of this training period we were given one pip, and were expected to buy our own uniforms and take a medical, which I always failed. There were five of us budding officers on my course, under a splendid chap called Colonel Crosskill — a distinguished ex-army officer who in civilian life headed the firm of Crosskill Cork Manufacturers in Norwich. The cadets occupied a disused part of a factory and our actual training was in the hands of Sergeant Major Reynolds, who lived at Foulsham and was a retired professional soldier. Your blood ran cold with the sound of his voice. In fact, he was a very kindly man, but dedicated to getting England ‘ready’ and settling old debts with the Germans and Boers. He had very unpromising material with me though and, like the masters at Culford, was on to a ‘loser’. But despite my soldierly shortcomings I stayed with the Cadets until joining the Home Guard in 1942." https://archive.org/details/fullcircle0000joic/page/100/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

While the Officers serving with the Cadet Norfolk Artillery don't get a mention in the Monthly Army List, it is shown which Territorial Force units it was affiliated to.
So for example in August 1915 it was the 1st East Anglian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. https://archive.org/details/monthly-army-list-1915-aug/page/n287/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

And in March 1922 it was the 84th (East Anglian) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. https://archive.org/details/monthly-army-list-1922-mar/page/n257/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

By July 1936 that was the 84th (East Anglian) Brigade, Royal Artillery, Territorial Army. https://archive.org/details/monthly-army-list-1936-july/page/n225/mode/2up?q="Cadet+Norfolk+Artillery"

The 1913-1919 Monthly Lists and some of the quarterly and half-yearly army lists are also freely available on the National Library of Scotland website. https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/88735803

Hope that gets' you started,
Peter

Edited by PRC
Typo
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From eBay in 2005.

cadet norfolk artillery back.jpg

cadet norfolk artillery front.jpg

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On 29/09/2024 at 18:46, MajorCarter said:

Could evening all,

I've stumbled across this post and completely understand that this was in 2007. I'm the Battery Commander of Cadet Norfolk Artillery and I'm trying to find out more information about our past. Did this topic go anywhere? Did anyone manage to make contact with us!? I'd love to know more. Thanks in advance. 

The OC and founding father of the CNA was 

Reginald Charles Osborne

Crosskill I have a picture of him it’s too big to scan though. 

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On 29/09/2024 at 23:45, HERITAGE PLUS said:

Hi MajorCarter

As the original query which started this thread was not mine, I did not do any follow up work on it.

The links below will be of interest to you:

 

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums//attachment.php?attachmentid=258895&d=1634664226

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums//attachment.php?s=aeee67548f69197ae54e17fa63eca563&attachmentid=258896&d=1634664236

Those are my badges I actually was in the CNA in the 80s as a teenager. 

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On 13/05/2007 at 21:48, NRP.HKP said:

I have a Cadet Norfolk Artillery " For Services rendered in the Great War " medal to Captain H.Savory.Can anyone tell me anything of their role during the Great War or perhaps the good Captain's part in it ?

Cap badge and medal they were cadets affiliated as explained by others the medals were issued to former cadets serving in active units not the cadets. 

IMG_0091.jpeg

IMG_0833.jpeg

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