Historic Records Men of 1914

Arrived overseas: 9 November 1914. Connection: Warrant, photo and ephemera. The 1901 census of England and Wales has two brothers, Francis Kellaway Bush Boon, aged 21, and Daniel Bush Boon, aged 20, serving as drivers with the ASC, and stationed at Devonport. The place of birth for both of them is recorded as Axminster, Devon. I cannot recall now, when or where I picked up the ephemera to Francis Boon but it fits my 1914 collecting theme well, and I would guess that the only photo I have of him, and which I have posted on this blog, probably dates to early in his army career. In 1914 he would arrive overseas on the 9th November and would survive the war, apparently unscathed, and having been mentioned in Dispatches. On the 14th June 1918 he had been appointed Warrant Officer Class I.

Arrived overseas: 30 October 1914. Connection: Medal group comprising 1914 Star trio. Almost immediately after Britain went to war with Germany in August 1914, the War Office realised that they had a shortage of men in key areas. As the British Expeditionary Force was assembling and being shipped out to France, and before Lord Kitchener had had time to draft his appeal, adverts started appearing in newspapers for drivers, chauffeurs, dockers and othere manual labourers. George Hammond was working as a docker in London. He'd married Sarah Alice Pittwell at St Michael's church, Stockwell, on the 2nd August 1914, and two days later Britain was at war. George must have volunteered for service shortly afterwards because by 30th October 1914 he was overseas with No 5 Labour Company, Army Service Corps. He remained with the regiment until 28 September 1917 when he transferred to the 15th Royal Irish Rifles (regimental number 47341). He was reported missing in action on the 21st March ...

Arrived overseas: 6 October 1914. Connection: Medal group comprising 1914 Star trio and Army LSGC. John William Beeby Gales was born at Ellington, Huntingdonshire in September 1877, the son of Angelina Gale (nee Smith) and Charles Gale who had married at Huntingdon in 1871. On 23rd October 1905 he enlisted with the Bedfordshire Regiment aged 18 years and one month, giving his trade as farm labourer. In the years prior to the First World War, John Gale served overseas in Gibraltar, Bermuda and South Africa, and the 2nd Battalion was still in South Africa, at Robert's Heights, Pretoria, when Britain went to war with Germany. The battalion was mobilised on the 10th August and Gale and the rest of the battalion set sail for England aboard  HMT Kenilworth  on the 27th of that month. After a brief stop at the island of St Helena, the battalion arrived at Southampton on the 19th September where it was assigned to the 21st Infantry Brigade in the 7th Division. The battalion saile...

Arrived overseas: 15 August 1914. Connection: PoW postcard, Doeberitz. Maurice Lowrey originally joined the army on the 18th September 1897 as a nineteen-year-old. He was working as a barman at the time and enlisted with the 5th Lancers, subsequently seeing service overseas in South Africa. He was still stationed there when Britain went to war with the Boers, and was severely wounded at Brandkraal on the 15th November 1901. By September 1904, Maurice had completed his seven years with the colours and was transferred to the army reserve where he remained for the next five years. He then re-engaged for a further four years as a Section D army reservist, and when this four-year period was up, re-engaged again for a further four years. When Britain went to war with Germany in August 1914, he was immediately recalled to the colours, and on the 15th August 1914 he landed in France. In common with many reservists, Maurice had not engaged in active soldiering for a number of years, and in his ...

Arrived overseas: various dates in 1914. Connection: PoW postcard, Doeberitz. I picked this photo up on eBay last week. It's difficult to read, but the names of the men appear on the notice that is balanced on the captain's feet. Two of the players are Belgian, but the rest are British, with at least four RMLI men, and others from different regiments. I've not identified all of them yet, but I'm pretty pleased with what I have found, particularly as I have a particular interest in men who became prisoners in 1914 - and all of the British men here fall into that category.  Here's who they are: Back row: 8627 Sergeant Arthur White, 1st West Yorkshire Regiment Gustave [Belgian] Lootiens [Belgian] 9659 Michael Collins, 1st West Yorkshire Regiment Giles, Royal Marine Light Infantry   Front row: 8357 Corporal M Tether, Royal Marine Light Infantry; captured Antwerp, 9 Oct 1914 9779 Private W Ryder, 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers; captured Guise, 27 Aug 1914 Howard, Suffolk Reg...

Arrived overseas: 17 August 1914. Connection: Interviewed in 1981. I met William Pink on 1st October 1981 when I was 19-years-old and he was 86. At that time, he was one of a dwindling band of Chelmsford Old Contemptibles, although he was originally from Hampshire and had been born in Southampton on the 10th December 1895. Prior to enlisting on 10th May 1912, he had worked as a groom. I took out my note pad and jotted down what he told me. "When war was declared we were immediately shipped over to Boulogne and went straight to Mons from there. There was a lot of troop movement all sorting themselves out because the Germans were heading straight for the Belgian Front. I fought at First Ypres and then la Bassee and there was no sign of an armistice although everyone expected the war to be over within a few weeks. "All of a sudden we were retreating and the might of the German Army was just behind us. We were impeded by the Belgian refugees fleeing in front of us; famili...