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Remembered Today:

Pte Horton Hampshire Regt WW1 Service


Guest Ian Bowbrick

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Guest Ian Bowbrick

I appreciate that entries in the National Roll can be a bit questionable, but found the entry for this soldier to be interesting:

HORTON, H., Private, 1/9th Hampshire Regiment

He joined in May 1917, and in due course was sent to South Africa, where he saw service. He was transferred to India, and thence to China and Siberia and finally did duty in Canada. He returned to england and was eventually demobilised in February 1920, holding the General Service and Victory Medals.

Apologies, I do not have a scanner at home, but have quoted verbatim.

There appears to be quite a bit of variety here!

Can anyone explain what was going on in China?

Ian

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Guest Pete Wood

Britain owned (leased) a bit of China - now known as Shandong. This is where most of the Chinese Labour Corps was recruited from.

It would have had a garrison.

Wasn't the 9th Hants the cyclists battalion? I seem to recall that Lee (as well as Marc) has a fondness for this unit....

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Ian

The 1/9th Hants were the Hants Cyclist Battalion although they left their bikes behind when they went to India in Feb 1916. After garrison duty in India they sailed from Bombay on 29th October 1918 for Vladivostok to form part of the Allied intervention force in Siberia, calling at Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong en route. They landed at Vladivostok on 28th November 1918. The battalion crossed Siberia on the Trans-Siberia railway and were stationed at Omsk and Ekaterinburg (where the Czar & family had been murdered). They left via Vladivostok on 1st November 1919 and returned to UK across the Pacific, Canada and the Atlantic arriving in Southampton on 5th December 1919. They were overseas for 3 years 9 months (without home leaves!) and the History of the Hants TF Association reckons that they had travelled about 45000 miles in their wanderings!

Mike

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Guest Pete Wood

Please excuse my awful geography, but which bit of the Cyclists travels, that you mention above, includes China....??

Hong Kong was British then, I know - but was it still 'classed' as China (rather than Hong Kong)?

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Guest Ian Bowbrick
Ian

The 1/9th Hants were the Hants Cyclist Battalion although they left their bikes behind when they went to India in Feb 1916. After garrison duty in India they sailed from Bombay on 29th October 1918 for Vladivostok to form part of the Allied intervention force in Siberia, calling at Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong en route. They landed at Vladivostok on 28th November 1918. The battalion crossed Siberia on the Trans-Siberia railway and were stationed at Omsk and Ekaterinburg (where the Czar & family had been murdered). They left via Vladivostok on 1st November 1919 and returned to UK across the Pacific, Canada and the Atlantic arriving in Southampton on 5th December 1919. They were overseas for 3 years 9 months (without home leaves!) and the History of the Hants TF Association reckons that they had travelled about 45000 miles in their wanderings!

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for that - what a war!

Did any of the Battalion write and publish a first hand account?

Thanks - Ian

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I appreciate that entries in the National Roll can be a bit questionable, but found the entry for this soldier to be interesting:

HORTON, H., Private, 1/9th Hampshire Regiment

He was transferred to India, and thence to China and Siberia and finally did duty in Canada. He returned to england and was eventually demobilised in February 1920, holding the General Service and Victory Medals.

Apologies, I do not have a scanner at home, but have quoted verbatim.

There appears to be quite a bit of variety here!

Can anyone explain what was going on in China?

Ian

Ian

This may be a red herring, but one of my great uncles was in China and then Siberia.

He returned to Italy from London, and was in the Italian Army for WW1. The Italian troops that were to go to Siberia gathered at Tien Tsin, China. When the Expeditionary Force was ready they went on to Siberia.

Maybe the British element of the intervention forces staged in China too?

Canada fits in too, as a lot of the troops involved in Siberia were evacuated to Canada. I believe that that is where the famous "Czech Legion" ended up.

I did post a group photo of assorted Allied forces in Siberia in the "Baker Pals", requesting more information, but never had a reply.

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Ian

I don't know of any published personal account - In "the Fate of Admiral Kolchak" the author Peter Fleming mentions having access to the diaries of M C Howgrave-Graham and Evelyn Baring, both 1/9th officers who served in Siberia. That was in 1963 and I don't know if those diaries are now in the public domain in an archive (IWM? NAM? or R.Hants Regt museum?) Must follow that up as I only re-read the book and noticed the acknowledgement a few weeks ago.

Mike

Teapots - I reckon you can call Hong Kong part of China - and can't think of any other part of China a 1/9th man's record would include. As it is an unofficial mention in the National Roll I think that they just printed whatever was submitted for inclusion.

M

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The later 'Summary of Events' for 1/9th Hants in the TF History mentioned by Mike does state that when the battalion left Bombay, they called at Ceylon, Straits Settlements and China. I tend to agree with Mike, that in this case you can call Hong Kong part of China.

I have been told that several articles covering the 1/9th's experiences during this expedition can be found in a local paper. I will have to find time to look for it.

Marc

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Ian

WO95/5433 will refer for 1/9 Hants - November 1918 only.

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