The Buffs Database is complete

[Michael]

David

I don't have much on Dormer. He was one of a number of men transferred to the 5th Buffs in Jan / Feb 1916 from the Bedfords before going overseas.

SDGW states that he was born and lived at Colney Heath and enlisted at St Albans. CWGC state that he was the son of Charles and Dorceas Dormer of Low Hill Roydon Essex Born at Clippness Oxford.

Stephen

You have a near impossible task. You need to go through the BWM rolls to find those that served with the 8th Bn and then cross reference them to the 1914/15 star roll to find when they went overseas. This will take you a long long time. Then you will have to track those that transferred out of the Buffs because they will be on other units' rolls - a near impossible task. You will also encounter difficulties tracking men who initially served with another Buffs Bn before transferring to the 8th because the transfer dates are unknown.

I can track about 800 of them in the database which leaves a couple of hundred transferees.

Unfortunately there are no known nominal rolls for the 8th Battalion. Maybe one day I'll find one but until then I don't think it is possible. Sorry I can't be more positive.

Mick

[David Yates]

David

I don't have much on Dormer. He was one of a number of men transferred to the 5th Buffs in Jan / Feb 1916 from the Bedfords before going overseas.

SDGW states that he was born and lived at Colney Heath and enlisted at St Albans. CWGC state that he was the son of Charles and Dorceas Dormer of Low Hill Roydon Essex Born at Clippness Oxford.

Useful as we've just discovered my Mother's Father (Walter Barnes) also transferred from Bedfords to 5th Buffs about the same time. Fortunately we are able to view the remains of his service record online. I wonder why so many transferred at that time?

Many thanks.

EDIT

Discovered today that he (Dormer) enlisted at Hertford and joined the 8th Bedfords in Sep 14 but was discharged under Para 382 (iii) after 69 days for dry skin of the legs. He obviously made it back into the Bedfords in 1915 via St Albans but we have no record of that.

[Michael]

David

An excellent example of my campaign to dispel the myth that WO364 is only for men who left with pensions. It also disproves that often heard phrase "If he died, he won't be in WO364"

Two more examples are David Gear and George Axtell whose papers are in WO363 which might help to determine the pattern. I don't have time at the moment to look at them

Mick

[Guest sheffdave2002]

Hi Mick,

Please could you do a lookup for me? The man in question is my Great-Grandfather, Pvt Walter Farnes 14509 - I've located his service record that shows he transferred into B Coy 7th Bn The Buffs on 8/8/18 and was subsequently wounded in action on 22/8/18.

I'd be grateful for any information you'd be able to give me from your database.

Many thanks in anticipation,

David

[Michael]

David

I have nothing in the database than you will have in the service records

Mick

[louisapsy]

Hi Michael,

I'm trying to resolve a family mystery regarding my 2x great-grandfather, Frederick Morris.

On his second marriage certificate he notes his occupation as 'soldier, 'the buffs'' with an illegible number. Frederick survived WWI but i've been unable to find any definititve evidence he actually served with The Buffs! My Uncle remembers he had a couple of medals but is unable to locate them!

All I can give you is family details i'm afraid: Frederick was born in Margate in 1875. His father was Frederick Owen Morris and mother was martha Psyden. Frederick's first wife was Henrietta Haines and his second, Alice Bradbear.

In 1917, he was apparently sent to a typhoid hospital in Croydon where he met his second wife.

Any help you can give me to resolve this would be much appreciated.

thanks

Louisa

[Rob Hill]

For the record here is a photograph of my grandfather, 2/Lt William Matson Hill, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs), taken at his wedding in 1920.

Michael tells me he was commissioned into the 4th Battalion (Territorial) in December 1916 and appears to have spent the war attached to the 7th Battalion. We know that he was invalided out of the trenches because of a skin infection, but I don't have details of when this happened. I do know that he was in the trenches as I saw his pocket book with the names of his men written in it, annotated wounded or killed sometimes. I am still trying to locate this artifact from another family member. I wish I knew whether he was in any actions. I have a copy of his medal card with the BWM and VM. Could anyone confirm that this picture shows the two medals?

Rob

[Michael]

Louisa

The 3 F Morris's who went overseas with the Buffs are;

Morris F T East Kent Regiment 242589 Private

Morris Frederick East Kent Regiment 472 Private Royal Flying Corps 127431 Private Labour Corps 153759 Private

Morris Frederick C East Kent Regiment G24887 Private Hampshire Regiment 58163 Private

The only one I have extra info on is FT who was with the 1st Battalion

[L.arnold]

Hi

Can anyone check this man for me im trying to research him as i have his medal's and his brother's who served in the CEF. Thanks for any help

G-2659 SGT Stewart Algernon Clarke 6th Btn E.Kent Regt. K.I.A.1915.

Thanks again Luke.

[Michael]

Rob

Not sure about the medals I'm afraid. I'm sure one of our medal experts will be able to help if you post the picture in the section for uniform / equipment (I can't remember the exact title)

Mick

[louisapsy]

Thanks Michael, i think it must be the middle Morris as i know he didn't have a middle name!

Louisa

[Michael]

Louisa

IF it is him, I've just checked his medal card and he went overseas with the 6th Battalion on 1/6/1915. He was an early volunteer of Aug/Sept 1914

Luke

Clarke joined The Buffs in Sept 1914 and only served with the 6th Battalion and went overseas with them on 1/6/1915. He was killed during their disastrous attack on the craters at Hulluch on 13/10/1915. I presume you have the CWGC and SDGW details

Mick

[louisapsy]

Thanks Michael, he would have been sent over even at age 39?

[Michael]

Louise

Yes, and I imagine he would have been a good influence on some of the younger recruits.

I would get your uncle to search harder for the medals and check that number again on the certificate to see if it looks anything like G 472. Until then, I would be very careful about assuming that this is the man. My database only includes men who went overseas. It is possible that he didn't go overseas and he won't be in the database (and the medals may not be relevant). Sorry if I cast doubt but I'm always cautious about men I can't definitely identify.

Mick

[louisapsy]

I'll do that, many thanks for your help, hopefully I can get further forward with this now!

[L.arnold]

Mick

Hi and thanks for that info very kind.

Luke.

[malangston]

I realise this might be an old post but my Great Uncle Stephen Charles Langston SR/92 "C" Coy 6th Bn Buffs (East Kent) died in Germany a POW and is now buried near Arras

He died 10 Apr 1918 after some time as a POW.

Have you info on him as a Buff or info on where the 6th Bn fought

Thanks

Mike Langston

[Private Butler]

Hi there

I have a photograph of a man whose name I only recently found out, one Horace Waghorn. He was married to my paternal Grandfather's mother in 1917 but died in 1918, I believe, of leukemia but I am not sure about this. He would have been about 26 (he was 25 when married in April 17').

I have found 3 Waghorn's who served with the Buffs during the years 1914-18 but none with his initials and his name is on his 1917 marriage certificate so must be right. Also, the Waghorn's I found were for those who died in combat or of disease, I presume, in the theatre of war. I think he died after the Armistice in December 1918.

I only know he was a Buff because of the photo and the obvious marking of his cap badge. Can you help with this name? Any help would be most appreciated.

[Charles Fair]

Charles

Nice find. How come I never see anything like that? He joined The Buffs late Oct / early Nov 1916. He only served with the 6th Buffs.

You just need to be in the right place at the right time. I'm hoping you will find some 19th London letters next

Here are some notes on his service which I have written from notes in his diary and letters, with added details from SDITGW, CWGC and the divisional history. He features in a small exhibition called A Life At War which is on at the Folkestone People's History Centre in Folkestone High Street. (For more details click here.) I would love to track down a photo of him.

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Charles William Holloway was born in Brighton and was the son of Frederick and Rose Holloway of Brighton. He was married to Ethel Rose Holloway, of 65, Ewart St., Brighton, and may have had a baby daughter called Irene.

It is not known for certain when he enlisted, but it is likely to have been in early to mid 1915. He enlisted in Brighton and appears to have joined the Middlesex Regiment with a regimental number of G/24529. He trained with 28th (Reserve) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.

A list of dates in his pocket diary states that he left England on 7 October 1915 and arrived in France the next day. He spent the next two weeks in a depot before joining a battalion (probably of the Middlesex Regiment) on 23 October 1915. He went into the trenches on 25 October and was then “in and out of trenches until 16 December [1915]”

There is no information about his service in 1916. However, his regimental number indicates that he was transferred into the East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) sometime around late October or early November 1916. He was allocated the regimental number of G/19050 and sent to the 6th Battalion, The Buffs who were part of 37th Infantry Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division.

January 1917 found him in and out of trenches in the Arras area with the 6th Buffs. His diary reveals that on 3 February he arrived in the front line at 9 am, but was wounded at midnight. He was evacuated via Etaples and Calais, arriving at Dover on 14 February. He was sent to convalesce at Tankerton near Whitstable in Kent.

By early April 1917 he had recovered enough to be able to walk and was posted to Shorncliffe on 4 April 1917. His diary gives an indication of how he occupied himself there. After nearly two weeks at Shorncliffe he was sent to Epsom in Surrey where he spent several more weeks convalescing. He was given 10 days home leave before being posted to the Eastern Command Depot at Shoreham in Sussex where he would have been able to undertake light duties. He spent the next few months at Shoreham from where he was able to go home for a day most weekends.

By mid-October 1917 he had recovered enough to be considered for active service. He was sent to join the 3rd Battalion of the Buffs in Dover on 15 October. On 7 November he crossed from Folkestone to Boulogne and on 10 November he left the base at Etaples and rejoined 6th Buffs.

On 20 November 1917 the 12th Division took part in the opening phase of the British offensive at the Battle of Cambrai. Charles Holloway noted in his diary that the 6th Buffs had reached its objective by mid-day. On 27 November he made a last entry in his diary, and wrote a final field postcard to his wife. The battalion was still in the front line when the German counter attack opened on 30 November. He was wounded at some point during the period 27-30 November and was evacuated to a Casualty Clearing Station in the rear. He died of wounds on 1 December 1917 and is buried at Rocquigny-Equancourt Rd British Cemetery, Manancourt which is a few miles East of Bapaume. He is buried in Grave VI.A.28. He was 28 years old.

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[OpsMajor]

Mick

To save me hours of searching (I'm sure you will be able to give me a near instantanious answer!) where, when and who said "Steady the Buffs!"?

Krs

Mike

[Michael]

Mike

Langston joined the Special Reserve shortly after the war started. He went overseas to join the 1st Battalion on 16/3/1915 and later transferrd to the 6th Battalion. You could read the war diaries or Historical records of the Bufs but as we don't know the date of transfer or the date of capture, you won't be able to place him at any particular actions.

Abraham

There were no Horace Waghorns overseas with the Buffs during WW1. He may have been on home service - these men rarely appear in the database unless they were discharged.

Charles

Thanks for posting the info. I'll keep my eyes peeled

Mike

I have heard a few versions and I'm not convinced about any of them so I can't give you the definitive answer

Mick

[Private Butler]

Mike

Langston joined the Special Reserve shortly after the war started. He went overseas to join the 1st Battalion on 16/3/1915 and later transferrd to the 6th Battalion. You could read the war diaries or Historical records of the Bufs but as we don't know the date of transfer or the date of capture, you won't be able to place him at any particular actions.

Abraham

There were no Horace Waghorns overseas with the Buffs during WW1. He may have been on home service - these men rarely appear in the database unless they were discharged.

Charles

Thanks for posting the info. I'll keep my eyes peeled

Mike

I have heard a few versions and I'm not convinced about any of them so I can't give you the definitive answer

Mick

Many thanks to you Michael, when I get my scanner up and running I will post the photo of him but of course all I know is that my paternal Grandfather's mother was married for just under 2 years to one Horace Waghorn and it may not be the same guy in the photograph (but I was always told that that was him). Still at least the experts, like yourself, here can tell me for sure (and I'm pretty sure) that he was in the Buffs; presumably, like you say, on home service.

[Neil Clark]

Mick,

Did you get my message re - Private G/2322 GEORGE JOSEPH WHITE. The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). The chap who commited suicide in an asylum (Napsbury)? I'm now able to start my case research - reading Peter Barham's book "Forgotten Lunitics of the Great War...

Is there a photo of Cory's Roll of Honour anywhere? I also need to order his DC if you don't already possess a copy. I shall need to make a good convincing case making full use of various legal precedence, medical facts and stats etc...

[ajwakelen]

i wounder if you could help me. you found some information on another relation of mine, and i have found another relation who has also in the buffs. his name is Arthur George Wakelen. the only information i have got is that he was a L/Cpl had was with the TA from 1908.

If you have any information about him would be very useful

thanks

Alex Wakelen

[Michael]

Alex George Wakelen (or sometimes Wakelin?) joined the 4th Buffs on 31/12/1908 at Sittingbourne. He was a fitter working for Lloyds Mill and living at 102 William Street, Sittingbourne (the street is still there - not far from the 4th Buffs Drill Hall). He sailed with them in October 1914 for service in India. Whilst there they were sent to Aden in August 1915 and he qualified for the 1914/15 star.

In November 1915 he was admitted to hospital in Aden with a hernia. He was sent home and had an operation for it at the Military Hospital Lewisham in December 1915.

He was discharged having reached the termination of his engagement on 28/1/1916. By now his address was at Railway Terrace, Sittingbourne.

Mick