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Showing posts with the label Frederick Vincent Keen

56296 A/Bdr Frederick Vincent Keen, Royal Field Artillery

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Arrived overseas: 23 August 1914. Connection: Victory Medal. Frederick Vincent Keen was technically still a boy - he was 17 years and 10 months old - when he attested with the Royal Field Artillery at Oxford on the 8th March 1909. He signed up for six years' service with the colours and six years on the reserve and so was still in uniform when Britain went to war in August 1914. He served in France from the 31st December 1914 and remained there until 1915. A detailed service history does not survive for this man but we know that he was in Salonika between 1915 and 1917 and then in Egypt from 1917 until 1919. He was discharged on the 7th March 1921, 12 years to the day since he had attested, and having been issued with a new army number, 1003005, in the interim. Notes in a Royal Artillery enlistment register record that his rank on discharge was that of corporal and that his character was rated as very good. There is also a note that prior to service as a career soldier, he had serv...

Historic Records: Men of 1914

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For some while now I have been building a collection of British Army soldiers who arrived overseas in 1914. The 'collection', which is incomplete, is comprised of single medals, medal groups, postcards, photos, autograph album entries, letters, and interviews with surviving veterans. In short, anything tangible, that connects a man to an arrival date overseas in 1914.  Great Britain went to war with Germany on the 4th August 1914 and within days, men of the British Expeditionary Force were arriving overseas, even though the first shot fired by the British Army would not occur until the 22nd August. Ascertaining when a man arrived overseas is easy enough, as the date appears on medal index cards. At the time of writing this post - 8th April 2025 - I have a connection for the majority of dates in 1914. The earliest date I have is the 6th August 1914 when Frederick Thomas Gris disembarked with the 6th Dragoon Guards -  I have his medals and those of his father too - whilst the la...