Historic Records Men of 1914

Arrived overseas: 15 August 1914. Connection: 1914 Star. I was fortunate to be the high bidder on Adolphus Glaire's 1914 Star at auction in January this year. He appears to have gone by the name of 'Dofey' rather than Adolphus, but even so, his name is unique. He was born at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight in 1887, and along with two of his brothers, he was educated at Lowtherville School, Ventnor. He joined the 5th Dragoon Guards in April 1907, arriving overseas with his regiment on the 15th August 1914. Dofey Glaire served throughout the war and in 1919 re-enlisted with the Tank Corps, serving for a further 1 year and 321 days. His original Tank Corps regimental number was 33621 and this was subsequently replaced with the army number 392129. One of Adolphus's brothers, Charles Glaire, was an early casualty of the war, being seriously wounded in September 1914 at the Battle of the Marne, whilst serving with the 1st Hampshire Regiment, and subsequently dying of his wounds ...

  Arrived overseas: 14 August 1914. Connection: Postcard. John Finlayson stands in the back row, fifth from left. He was born in Broadford, Inverness in 1889 and he enlisted with the Cameron Highlanders at Greenock, Renfrewshire - his place of residence - in 1907. He arrived in France on the 14th August 1914 and died of wounds a little over a month later on the 17th September 1914. He is buried in Villers-en-Prayeres communal cemetery in France.

Arrived overseas: 11 September 1914. Connection: Victory Medal. I paid the grand sum of £20 for George Thorpe's Victory Medal when it came up for sale on eBay in February 2022. George had enlisted with the RFA in February 1906 and although he arrived overseas in France on the 11th September 1914, he was back in England and getting married to Maud Eccersley in Wakefield at the end of the following year. A Wakefield man, George returned to France and was certainly a casualty in 1918. A surviving pension ledger entry gives his year of birth as 1887 and his date of discharge from the army as the 2nd February 1919. Neurasthenia, or 'shell-shock' is listed as the disability which caused his discharge, and he certainly received a pension as a result of this up to 1923. The 1921 census of England and Wales shows George living with Maud at her parents' home at 11 Harvey Street, Belle Vue, Wakefield, with George's occupation recorded as a coal miner at West Sherlaton colliery...

Arrived overseas: 14 August 1914. Connection: Army Challenge Cup photo, 1922. By the time that Harold Joscelin Baish posed for this Army Challenge Cup photo, he was a company sergeant major with 18 years' service under his belt. Born on the 28th January 1890 he had enlisted with the Wiltshire Regiment in 1904, and he arrived overseas with the 1st Battalion on the 14th August 1914. His service record almoste certainly still survives and, at the time of writing is either being accessioned by The National Archives, ior is being digitised by Ancestry prior to publication.  Harold Baish died in 1967, his death registered at Devizes, Wiltshire in the 3rd quarter of that year. He was 77 years old.

Arrived overseas: 13 August 1914. Connection: Postcard. The photo above was taken in September 1909 at Caterham and shows Coldstream Guards on the left, and Scots Guards on the right. Serjeant Archibald Tapster sits on the front row in the white jacket, fourth from left. Archibald - probably 'Archie' to those who were on familiar terms - was born on the 11th June 1882 and he enlisted with the Coldstream Guards on the 2nd February 1904. Five and half years later he was a serjeant; good steady career progress, and he arrived overseas as a serjeant with the 1st Coldstream Guards on the 13th August 1914. He appears to have survived those early hectic months unscathed and he was commissioned on the 23rd May 1917, ending the war as a second lieutenant. By the time the 1921 Census was taken he was still serving with the British Army but by now was a lieutenant with the Lincolnshire Regiment at the regimental barracks in Lincoln. Archibald married Marion Tapster - her maiden name was a...