The Buffs Database is complete

[martin barsley]

Mick

Thank you very much for the reply, with so much detail. I am sure my father will find this most interesting. I must now make a point of visiting this location when I visit Arras at the end of next week.

Martin

[Jengreig]

Hi Michael,

Would you have any information in your database about George Percy SCOTT Reg No. L/8289 who, according to the medal rolls on Ancestry, served as a Captain with the 6th East Kent regiment?

I would appreciate anything you can tell me about him.

Regards, Jeanine

[Vincent Borg]

I've now completed the transcription of the BWM and VM rolls for the Buffs. After a five year slog I now have the 1914 star, 1914/15 star and SWB rolls. Combined with the MIC index, SDGW/CWGC and various other tables there are now 1,032,880 cells populated on the database. I am confident it includes every man who served overseas with the Buffs.

Now I need to decide what to do with the database. Do I publish it, put on the internet, etc? In the meantime, I have previously offered lookups for completed rolls and am now offering the same for the BWM / VM roll. There are obviously a lot of men who transferred into the Buffs from other Regiments / Corps so if you send me your email address I can supply a small spreadsheet with your area of interest. Do not send me a private message as the inbox gets filled up quickly. Look ups for individuals can be posted on this thread.

Mick

Hi Mike,

You did a great job.

Mike, could you please assist me in obtaining information

on Lieutenant Eric Foster Clark - The Buffs - Royal Flying Corps.

Date of Birth - Monday 26th August, 1895

Date of Death - Monday 01st January, 1917

Whilst thanking you in anticipation,

Regards,

Vincent Borg.

Naxxar,

Malta.

[jandcr]

Mike,

What an amazing piece of work this all is!

Can you fill in any more details of Granddad please?

Name:- H.A.Haggar (Henry Alfred (Hagger actually))

Born:- 19th August 1877

Address:- Probably 2, Kenneth Road, Chadwell Heath, Romford, Essex. (from absent voters list)

Was conscripted under the Derby Plan (probably late 1915/early 1916)

Medal Card shows he was a member of the East Kent Reg. No G18923.

He made it home relatively unscathed and, nearly 60 years ago, told me tales of his exploits. Regretably, I didn't listen well enough, and have forgotten what I did hear with the passage of time.

Can You help?

Regards

Jimr

[Michael]

Jeanine

Scott joined the Buffs in late May or early June 1906. He arrived in France with the 6th Buffs in June 1915. He was commissioned on 18/6/1916 and The Buffs managed to hold onto him. On 13th July 1916 he was a 2nd Lieutenant with D Company of the 7th Buffs and attacked a strong point with his platoon near Trones Wood. A bombing party moved along the and entered it by a tunnel, but, on its entry, the enemy was encountered in strength and its force appeared to increase, reinforcements apparently coming in from the direction of the wood. The consequence was that Scott withdrew his party and reorganized it. He then proceeded to attack his objective over the open by parties from the flanks, but he was met by heavy rifle and machine gun fire and was compelled to withdraw with loss and established a barricade within 20yds of the strong point.

He disappears from the Buffs army lists from March 1917 until Jan 1919 when he is listed as a Captain in the 6th Buffs with seniority of 9/6/1917. He is bracketed as being a Lt in The Royal Scots.

Vincent

Clark was promoted to Lieutenant on 14/10/1915, the same month that he arrived in France with the 6th Buffs, but I do not know when he was commissioned. On 23/6/1916 he went for a test at Acheux with a view to a test for transfer to the RFC. Do you know the circumstances of his death?

Jim

All I can tell you is that Haggar (spelt that way on the medal rolls) served in the 6th Buffs and that he joined the Regiment in early October 1916. I don't suppose you have any photos do you?

Mick Mills

[Jengreig]

Jeanine

Scott joined the Buffs in late May or early June 1906. He arrived in France with the 6th Buffs in June 1915. He was commissioned on 18/6/1916 and The Buffs managed to hold onto him. On 13th July 1916 he

Mick Mills

Mike,

Thank you so much for all that information. George Scott was my friend's grandfather and she will be thrilled to have this extra information about his life.

Kind regards,

Jeanine

[Vincent Borg]

Jeanine

Scott joined the Buffs in late May or early June 1906. He arrived in France with the 6th Buffs in June 1915. He was commissioned on 18/6/1916 and The Buffs managed to hold onto him. On 13th July 1916 he was a 2nd Lieutenant with D Company of the 7th Buffs and attacked a strong point with his platoon near Trones Wood. A bombing party moved along the and entered it by a tunnel, but, on its entry, the enemy was encountered in strength and its force appeared to increase, reinforcements apparently coming in from the direction of the wood. The consequence was that Scott withdrew his party and reorganized it. He then proceeded to attack his objective over the open by parties from the flanks, but he was met by heavy rifle and machine gun fire and was compelled to withdraw with loss and established a barricade within 20yds of the strong point.

He disappears from the Buffs army lists from March 1917 until Jan 1919 when he is listed as a Captain in the 6th Buffs with seniority of 9/6/1917. He is bracketed as being a Lt in The Royal Scots.

Vincent

Clark was promoted to Lieutenant on 14/10/1915, the same month that he arrived in France with the 6th Buffs, but I do not know when he was commissioned. On 23/6/1916 he went for a test at Acheux with a view to a test for transfer to the RFC. Do you know the circumstances of his death?

Jim

All I can tell you is that Haggar (spelt that way on the medal rolls) served in the 6th Buffs and that he joined the Regiment in early October 1916. I don't suppose you have any photos do you?

Mick Mills

Hello Mike,

Thanks for the information.

Here are the circumstances of death of Liutenant Eric Foster Clark.

Monday - 01st January, 1917. Lieutenant John Keith Grant Robertson (Pilot)

and Lieutenant Eric Foster Clark (Observer) took off from Chipilly Airdome

in France in an RE8 - SERIAL A82 of the 52 squadron, due to low clouds and

strong winds all day made service flying impossible. They both died from

injuries sustained in this flying accident.

Regards,

Vincent Borg.

Naxxar,

Malta

[jandcr]

Jim

All I can tell you is that Haggar (spelt that way on the medal rolls) served in the 6th Buffs and that he joined the Regiment in early October 1916. I don't suppose you have any photos do you?

Mick Mills

Mick,

Thanks for that.

I understand that the 6th Buffs was a service batalion. What does that mean? Granddad was a carpenter/joiner in later years, and he spoke of "going up with the limbers to fetch the corpses back".

Does that make sense?

Regards,

Jimr.

[PhilB]

Mick, anything for 2/Lt E.F.Corner 8th E Kents, KIA 25/9/15? Thanks in advance.

[Michael]

Jeanine

Glad the info will be of use. I wonder if you could ask your friend for any family details or photos that I could add to the database

Vincent

Thanks for the additional info. I have since found the following details of his service in AIR 76

Started 1 S of A

19/7/1916 to 16 RS

25/9/1916 to 46 Sqn

12/10/1916 to 52 Sqn

Jim

A service Battalion was an infantry unit formed during the war and initially comprising mainly volunteers. The infantry carried out many tasks when out of the line and it is conceivable that collection of corpses could have been one of those tasks, although I have never seen any reference to it.

Phil

Corner was commissioned on 22/9/1914 and was with A Company of the 8th Buffs when they arrived in France on 31 August 1915. His body was never recovered and death was accepted as being on 25/9/1915. His name remained in the monthly Army Lists until July 1916. His father was E Corner of 48 Blenheim Crescent, North Kensington. What is your interest in him?

Mick Mills

[Jengreig]

Jeanine

Glad the info will be of use. I wonder if you could ask your friend for any family details or photos that I could add to the database

Mick Mills

No problem Mike. She's overseas at the moment but I'll ask her when she get's back in a couple weeks.

Jeanine

[Vincent Borg]

Jeanine

Glad the info will be of use. I wonder if you could ask your friend for any family details or photos that I could add to the database

Vincent

Thanks for the additional info. I have since found the following details of his service in AIR 76

Started 1 S of A

19/7/1916 to 16 RS

25/9/1916 to 46 Sqn

12/10/1916 to 52 Sqn

Jim

A service Battalion was an infantry unit formed during the war and initially comprising mainly volunteers. The infantry carried out many tasks when out of the line and it is conceivable that collection of corpses could have been one of those tasks, although I have never seen any reference to it.

Phil

Corner was commissioned on 22/9/1914 and was with A Company of the 8th Buffs when they arrived in France on 31 August 1915. His body was never recovered and death was accepted as being on 25/9/1915. His name remained in the monthly Army Lists until July 1916. His father was E Corner of 48 Blenheim Crescent, North Kensington. What is your interest in him?

Mick Mills

Hello Michael.

Thanks for the information,

Much appreciated,

Regards,

Vincent Borg.

Naxxar,

Malta.

[shorncliffe]

Mike

Please could you look in your records and see if you have any info on Charles Rolfe The Buffs.

Not a lot to go on i know but his name appears on a church War Memorial in Folkestone and we have been unable to find any record of him.

Regards

Annie & Peter

[lucky451]

Mike

Do you have any information on my Great grandfather, Number 9335 PTE WJ Smith, I know he served with the East Kent Regt but I do not know which battalion, I believe that he fought on the Somme in 1916. Thanks in advance for any info that you can give me. I've just started out trying to trace a member from each side of the family, quite a daunting task.

Many thanks for your help

[AJ_Briant]

Mike

Have you any information about the following Soldier:

G/26849 Private William James Lane

12^th Battalion East Surrey Regiment.

Born in Willesden on the 3^rd August 1900.

Enlisted in West London sometime in 1918.

Killed in Action 4^th September 1918.

Buried in Enclosure 3 Voormezeele, Belguim, Grave XV.K.8

Thats the only information I have found so far. I would like to confirm his enlistment date especially, and hopefully find any other information that may be 'out there', especially any photo's. There doesn't seem to be any in the family, but maybe someone has a 'group shot' or something of the battalion in Flanders in 1918. Sadly as you can see he died within a month of his 18th birthday, so it seems likely that he had only just arrived 'in theatre'.

Now that I am getting into this, I have one other 'possible' family member I'd like to confirm if you have any details:

Serjeant JOHN THOMAS LANE

L/6773, 2nd Bn., The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)

who died on 18 December 1914.

In the case of John, I would very much like to find his age. Extra info will be fantastic, if you know where I can find it.

Any info you can throw back would be very helpful.

Aj

[clalou]

Dear Jon

Just registered on this site. See you were transcribing the West Kent Regiment back in December. I wonder if you could give me any information on my great uncle Sargeant John W. Spencer from the Royal West Kents - Regiment No. GS/8567 - what did the GS stand for please? I have managed to access his medal card - awarded Victory & British. Not killed during WW1 but would like to know his whereabouts during this time. Any info would be much appreciated. Many thanks Clalou

No requests - but well done on the effort. I am a little behind you on transcribing the Queen's Own Royal West Kents ... but have collated most of the info.

Between us we have Kent covered.

Regards,

Jon s

[Michael]

Annie and Peter

There is only one Charles Rolfe on the database. His number was T201130 which indicates a post 1917 entrance to a theatre of war. He was with the 4th Battalion and is not recorded as a casualty. I wonder if he died between the end of the war and the date that the names were collated. There were two Rolfe casualties from Hythe; Benjamin and Percy, both regular soldiers.

Lucky451

WJ Smith was transferred at some stage to the Labour Corps so I'm afraid I do not have his Battalion noted. If you know the prefix to his number I may be able to help with enlistment date.

AJ

I can't help I'm afraid as my interest is the Buffs, not the two Regiments that you mention

Calou

Might I suggest that you contact Jon directly in case he doesn't see this thread

Mick

[Jengreig]

Jeanine

Glad the info will be of use. I wonder if you could ask your friend for any family details or photos that I could add to the database

Mick Mills

Hi Mike,

I've got a little bit of information and two photos of George Percy Scott for you.

Born 8-10-1890 West Ham. Married 1912 to Margaret Williams and had 5 children. Died 1972 Norfolk.

Worked as a fruiterer in Hampstead till at least 1935, then moved to Birmingham where he worked at the gasworks. Retired to Norfolk where he died.

He is believed to have also served in WW2 along with two of his sons. At some point he was stationed in Ireland, but whether that was during the 1st or 2nd war I don't know.

I'll send the photos to your email address. Neither photo is dated but he's in uniform in both.

Regards, Jeanine

[Jengreig]

Jeanine

Glad the info will be of use. I wonder if you could ask your friend for any family details or photos that I could add to the database

Mick Mills

Mick,

I'm trying to figure out how to send you the photos of George Percy Scott. I hope I've attached them to this message, but if it doesn't work you can contact me direct at greigs17 at hotmail dot com and I'll send them to you directly.

Regards, Jeanine

[Michael]

Jeanine

Thanks for posting the photos and detail. I'm not a uniform expert but it looks like the left hand one is him in officers uniform and the other one is pre ww1

Mick

[rws1918]

Hi Mike

appreciate your help

G-2404 Pte W R C Prizeman, East Kent Regiment:

Entitled to 1914/15 Star and SWB

Question: What unit did he belong too and what are SWB details?

G/5015 Pte Harry Thomas Akhurst 2/east Kent:

when did he land in france

Any information would be greatly appreciated

Regards and thanks

CK

[Neil Clark]

Jeanie & Mick,

This is my Great Grandfather Private 5019 William Charles CLARK who served in South Africa with the 2nd Buffs. You will see he is wearing an identical uniform in 1903. He is wearing his Boer War Medals (which I now have) - Clasps for Driefontein, Paardberg, Tranvaal, Relief of Kimberley. The photo was taken in Snargate Street, Dover, Kent when the 2nd Buffs returned to Dover from South Africa in 1903. He went on to serve during the Great War as a Sergeant in 9th Buffs at Dover.

I wonder if he knew your relative here? It's certainly possible isn't it.

[jandcr]

MIke,

re G18923 Haggar H. A.

Another scrap of info. My brother says that Granddad won the war by making comfortable toilet seats for the officers to use whilst they pondered the next move.

Coupling this with the collecting of corpses, could Granddad have been transferred to a Labour company within the 6th Buffs?

My cousin has a large photograph which we are trying to get down to postable size.

Regards

Jimr.

[Michael]

Neil

A fine photo. Undoubtedly they would have known each other.

Mike

There were no labour companies within the 6th Buffs but as with all infantry units, they were often used as labour when out of the line. It would be great to see a photo when it is available

CK

Prizeman joined the Buffs on 9/9/1914. He has a number in the range of the Cory Company who all joined from Wm Cory and Son. They formed D Company of the 6th Buffs. Prizeman was in the 6th Buffs and went overseas with them on 1/6/1915 but is not on the Cory roll of honour. I will have to look into this one. I don't suppose you know who he worked for do you? He was discharged with sickness on 28/12/1915 and given Silver War Badge number 12493.

Akhurst arrived overseas on 14/4/1915 to join the 2nd Buffs who were about to be engaged in the 2nd Battle of Ypres. He joined the Buffs in the 2nd week of December 1914. He was too late to be placed in one of the service battalions which is why he ended up with the 2nd Buffs, a regular battalion.

At 8pm on 28th April the Battalion moved up to occupy trenches in Berlin Wood. This area had now become an untenable salient and the commander of V Corps, Plumer, had started to plan a withdrawal. On May 1st the enemy’s attention was drawn to the Battalion’s front. For the next two days they were under heavy artillery fire. Communication lines with their own artillery had been cut and with the guns 5 miles away they were unable to counter the German guns.

At 7.30am on May 3rd the German infantry assault commenced. They advanced on Berlin Wood from both sides of the salient. The bombardment that accompanied the advance was so intense that it sounded like machine gun fire. It was not long before the Germans had outflanked the Buffs and were infiltrating Berlin Wood from behind them. One trench occupied by Capt GR Howe and 80 men was taken by the Germans. All the Buffs were either killed or injured.

The battle continued all day and by mid afternoon the Buffs were fighting a rearguard action in Berlin Wood as the remaining troops in the salient withdrew. It is testament to the courage of the Buffs that the withdrawal was so successful that by the next day most of the troops had escaped from the salient to form a new defensive position nearer to Ypres. On 4th May the remnants of the 2nd Buffs moved back to a wood near Poperinghe for a well deserved rest.

The casualties for the Buffs make depressing reading. Between 22nd April and 4th May, 198 officers and men had been killed with many more wounded and of these 175 have no known grave. They are remembered on the Menin Gate. On 3rd May alone, 141 men died. Only six of them have marked graves. One of those is Akhurst who rests in Perth Cemetery. Presumably the other 135 still lie in Berlin Wood or in unknown graves. Nearly half of the Buffs dead (92) were either New Army volunteers or recently recruited Special Reservists. These were men that had not been allotted to the Kitchener Battalions and had been in the Buffs for around 6 months.

Mick

[rws1918]

Neil

A fine photo. Undoubtedly they would have known each other.

Mike

There were no labour companies within the 6th Buffs but as with all infantry units, they were often used as labour when out of the line. It would be great to see a photo when it is available

CK

Prizeman joined the Buffs on 9/9/1914. He has a number in the range of the Cory Company who all joined from Wm Cory and Son. They formed D Company of the 6th Buffs. Prizeman was in the 6th Buffs and went overseas with them on 1/6/1915 but is not on the Cory roll of honour. I will have to look into this one. I don't suppose you know who he worked for do you? He was discharged with sickness on 28/12/1915 and given Silver War Badge number 12493.

Akhurst arrived overseas on 14/4/1915 to join the 2nd Buffs who were about to be engaged in the 2nd Battle of Ypres. He joined the Buffs in the 2nd week of December 1914. He was too late to be placed in one of the service battalions which is why he ended up with the 2nd Buffs, a regular battalion.

At 8pm on 28th April the Battalion moved up to occupy trenches in Berlin Wood. This area had now become an untenable salient and the commander of V Corps, Plumer, had started to plan a withdrawal. On May 1st the enemy’s attention was drawn to the Battalion’s front. For the next two days they were under heavy artillery fire. Communication lines with their own artillery had been cut and with the guns 5 miles away they were unable to counter the German guns.

At 7.30am on May 3rd the German infantry assault commenced. They advanced on Berlin Wood from both sides of the salient. The bombardment that accompanied the advance was so intense that it sounded like machine gun fire. It was not long before the Germans had outflanked the Buffs and were infiltrating Berlin Wood from behind them. One trench occupied by Capt GR Howe and 80 men was taken by the Germans. All the Buffs were either killed or injured.

The battle continued all day and by mid afternoon the Buffs were fighting a rearguard action in Berlin Wood as the remaining troops in the salient withdrew. It is testament to the courage of the Buffs that the withdrawal was so successful that by the next day most of the troops had escaped from the salient to form a new defensive position nearer to Ypres. On 4th May the remnants of the 2nd Buffs moved back to a wood near Poperinghe for a well deserved rest.

The casualties for the Buffs make depressing reading. Between 22nd April and 4th May, 198 officers and men had been killed with many more wounded and of these 175 have no known grave. They are remembered on the Menin Gate. On 3rd May alone, 141 men died. Only six of them have marked graves. One of those is Akhurst who rests in Perth Cemetery. Presumably the other 135 still lie in Berlin Wood or in unknown graves. Nearly half of the Buffs dead (92) were either New Army volunteers or recently recruited Special Reservists. These were men that had not been allotted to the Kitchener Battalions and had been in the Buffs for around 6 months.

Mick

Thanks and very much appreciated

based on Prizemans service Record he was a lighterman and before he joined was appreticed with his father for 6 months

He has discharged due to Elipesy and was admitted to hosptial in november. It may have been triggered by the stress of the October 13 attack on hulluch

Regards

Curtis