Historic Records Men of 1914

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...

  Arrived overseas: 5 November 1914. Connection: 1914 Star trio and Princess Mary tin. Sadly, Lorimer Headley ticks two of my collecting themes: men who arived overseas in 1914, and men who have a connection to July 1916. Lorimer arrived overseas on the 5th November 1914 and he was killed in action at Delville Wood on the Somme on the 15th July 1916. Later, this obituary was published in De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, also enabling us to see a photo of the man. He was just 20-years-old when he was killed in action. RIP.

Arrived overseas: 14 August 1914. Connection: Postcard. David Lumsden is one of several Cameron Highlanders who I have identified as having served overseas in 1914, and I shall get to the others in due course. In this undated postcard photograph - which probably dates to about 1913 -  he is seated on the front row, second from the left. He was born in 1892 and enlisted in 1909, arriving overseas in France on the 14th August 1914. He had certainly become a casualty by October 1914 as he was reported to have been admitted to the 4th Northern General Hospital at Lincoln on the 6th of that month. David Lumsden, who hailed from Balvaird, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, subsequently transferred to the Seaforth Highlanders (regimental number S/14604) and ended the war as a sergeant with the 1st Garrison Battalion. He was discharged from the army in 1919 suffering from malaria and orchitis, and appears to have been in receipt of a pension until at least 1927.

Arrived overseas: 14 August 1914. Connection: 1914 Star. Robert Holt enlisted with the Highland Light Infantry on the 18th May 1903, almost certainly signing up for three years with the colours, and nine years on the reserve. Unless he had extended his service to complete eight years with the colours, this would have meant that by the time he arrived in France on the 14th August 1914 he may not have soldiered for over eight years. He was certainly a casualty in 1914 and by July 1915 he had been discharged from the army as a result of wounds. No service record survives for this man and I would be interested to hear from anyone who can shed further light on him or his career. His 1914 Star was purchased from an auction house in January 2025.

Arrived overseas: 12 August 1914. Connection: Large archive of medals and ephemera. I have dozens of items relating to George Anderson's service before and during the First World War, and also for his son, Lewis Anderson, who died as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during the Second World War. Despite the wealth of material, however, I can only guess at who George Anderson might be in the various photographs I have of him. He is possibly this man, who appears in a number of photos, but he could also be one of several other candidates who also appear multiple times: My hunch, however, is that this is the man in question. George was born on the 6th October 1879 and he enlisted with the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in May 1905. He served in India and appears to have been an active member of the Old Contemptibles Association, appearing in a large group photo of OCA members taken at Aldershot in 1927. George served overseas in France from the 12th August 1914, later transf...

Arrived overseas: 31 Oct 1914. Connection: Interview in January 1982. Richard Edward Worrall, better known to his friends as 'Alf' or 'Bumble' ended the First World War as a sergeant, but he was a lance-corporal when he set foot ashore in France on the 31st October 1914. He was a Chelsea Pensioner when I interviewed him, and I note that on that cold January day there was a seventy-year age gap between interviewer and interviewee. He said "On August 4th 1914 until 24th August 1914, an army of 75,000 men, with all their equipment: guns etc, were shipped from England over to Belgium and they actually started fighting on the 22nd August 1914.  That was when the first shot was fired and that shot was fired by the big drummer of my regiment. Up at Mons, Jerry had got there with [160,000] men and he had got everything right up in the front; big guns and everything. "As British soldiers there was one God that we had and that was the Sam Browne belt which was worn ...