Remembering Guardsmen

Hi All.

You maybe are aware I live on the Somme, and have always been keen on my Regiments Proud and Costly Heritage, I recently found a few WW1 Guards with new replaced stones marked as Private, in WW1 they where indeed Privates, joined as Privates and died as Privates today if you visit a CWGC cemetery you read in the register Private Smith  2^nd Grenadier Guards, on the Stone it will say Guardsman.

On 22^nd November 1918, just 11 days after the Armistice, the King decreed that a private of the Guards would henceforward carry the title of “Guardsman” as “a mark of His Majesty’s appreciation and pride of the splendid services rendered by the Brigade of Guards during the war”. 

When I raised the question with the Commonwealth war graves the answer was that as the King stated “henceforward” all foot Guards Regiments of WW1 will have the stone replaced with the rank as Private, I brought this to the attention RHQ Grenadier Guards.

And sent all the below.

“Together with the help of the 5 Regimental Colonels and Major General Household Division, you may be able uncover the truth or myth of the current situation and in doing so save the CWGC a lot of money and solve once and for all the reason why, although in WW1 those joining and dying as Privates in the Guards had their stones engraved as Guardsman.

The current Commission policy is to amend headstones from Guardsman to Private for all men who died before 1 January 1919.  However, because of the status of the Guards Regiments, the CWGC has started a thorough review of this policy to ensure that everything is being done correctly.  This will take some time to complete, as the CWGC will need to consult with outside resources as well as searching the CWGC own archives.

Post war communication between HM the King and the Guards (Household Division) and the CWGC (IWGC) must have taken place on the subject, directing that Privates of the Guards should be marked as Guardsman having joined, served and died as Privates but having won the rank of Guardsman. I know the Guards will have their views, if not evidence on the subject, it could not have happened by mistake or without a directive.

The Household Division HQ should be able to confirm from Household Division Standing Orders or other correspondence, Buckingham Palace archives should be able confirm any correspondence from the King on the subject.

I have an original booklet "The Guards Division 1914-18" published by S.Kellaway, it simply has by Regiment and Rank the names of all KIA of the Guards, I have only counted each of the Grenadier Guardsman (Private) there are 3595 listed, just taken as a guess that if half- 1795 have named graves, and the other half 1795 are recorded on the various memorials to the missing, if half of those being 898 are buried and marked as an Unknown Grenadier Guardsman, potentially we have 2693 Grenadier Guardsman Grave stones.

Can you the CWGC confirm how many Guardsman headstones from the five Regiments of foot Guards will need to be replaced.

If all avenues of investigations fail to solve the mystery, I wonder if asked would Her Majesty on the anniversary of the Great War be so gracious to belatedly bestow the honor on the Privates of the Guards Division in the Great War.”

As below from the CWGC, I’m very pleased that after some time the MOD and the CWGC confirm, WW1 Privates will be commemorated as GUARDSMAN.

Dear Mr Bedford,

Arrangements for the Commemoration of Guardsmen

I am writing further to your correspondence of earlier this year on this matter with my colleagues.

I am sorry it has taken some time to establish the relevant facts but, following on from correspondence with the MOD, Commission policy in relation to the commemoration of Guardsmen has been reviewed. Consequently I can confirm that from now on the headstones of Privates of the Guards Regiments will record the rank of Guardsman in accordance with their original format. Any headstones which have over time been altered to include Private will be reverted to Guardsman as they fall due for replacement.

I trust that you will approve of this course of action and thank you for bringing this matter to the attention of the Commission.

To all those who called me Regimental Rod, It was worth it.

Happy Christmas to you and all those you hold dear.

Rodders

Scottie celebrates winning the Chandler Award

 Scottie with the cake his wife baked to celebrate him being awarded the Chandler Prize!

Mystery VC

Paul Oldfield writes:

This mystery VC picture has so far flummoxed a VC research group. Can anyone in the Guild identify him?

Apart from the VC, I’m told the following other medals can be seen - Crimea + 3 clasps, Mutiny + 2 clasps, Egypt Medal + 2 clasps. If these are correct and looking at the picture in general, it would be reasonable to assume:

He was alive in the years 1856-82 to have taken part in the Crimean, Mutiny and Egyptian campaigns.
Born 1840 or earlier and still living in 1882.
He was an Army officer.
He was unlikely to have been Indian Army due to the spread of campaigns.

If these assumptions are correct, it narrows the field to:

Luke O’Connor – doesn’t look promising.
WO Lennox – can’t rule him out, but doesn’t look promising.
G Graham – ears look similar.
Evelyn Wood – many facial similarities but the ears are different.
Hugh Shaw - eyes, mouth and chin are similar, but the mystery man had a pointed bit at the top of the ear, which Shaw didn’t have.

The Mystery VC’s buttons appear to be crossed swords, or a crossed sword and baton (like a Maj Gen rank badge) or perhaps crossed guns.

Frank van den Bergh - the final parachute jump

All pictures copyright of Robert Brink

Tonie & Valmai Holt write

We thought Guild Members would appreciate these pictures of the final parachute jump of our dear friend and GBG Member, the late Frank van den Bergh.  They were sent to us by Frans Ammerlaan, an extremely knowledgeable Arnhem local and enthusiast we have known for many years and who is tireless in his desire to keep the Market-Garden flame of memory alight. He was very much instrumental in this glorious venture.

Frank's ashes, contained most appropriately in the carton of an expensive bottle of malt whisky, were parachuted onto Ginkel Heath by No 47 Air Despatch Sqn, Brise Norton, on Sat 22 Sept. They were then scattered by his sisters in front of the Air Despatchers' Memorial near the Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery which Frank had been instrumental in getting erected.  Frank, whose vocabulary and drinking habits had been educated by Paras (whom he absolutely adored) over the years, would have LOVED this final send off.

Guild Validation Day Mytchett 1st September 2012

Mike Peters writes:

I have just returned from the very successful Guild validation session at the Army Medical Services Museum. What an enjoyable and educational day all round, well done to Alison Hine and the VT for organising the day and keeping us all on the straight and narrow.

The standard of assignments was very good and I was pleased to see so many passes attained by our intrepid candidates. Congratulations are due to Craig Hallam-Baker for his Assignment 1 presentation on Flodden 1513, hopefully Clive has made back to the borders by now? Well done to Bob Shaw for his gripping presentation on the battle for Mount Longdon 1982, and to Ron Lyons who advanced the Australian banner in the Guild with his Assignment 1 on Bullecourt 1917. So we now have three new candidates on the validation trail - don't hang about chaps, go for your badges!

Assignment 5 - Problems on Tour, produced another clutch of strong passes from John Hamill, Ray Wilkinson, Adam Williams, and Tony Smith. The latter two also produced two very good Normandy based Assignment 6 sessions to secure a double whammy each...can they get their remaining assignments done by the AGM? It was pleasing to see a healthy number of new members in attendance, all watching and learning from their peers.

Overall it was a thoroughly good day rounded off with a pub lunch in a beer garden (picture on twitter @GuildofBG) - what's not to like? 

Hopefully we will see some of today's candidates collecting the coveted red badge in November at Bromsgrove.

Members gathered at a local pub after the event.

The true essence of the Guild at Dieppe; 106 passengers, 6 veterans and 6 Badged Guides working together, oh and Royalty to be guided!

Culminating at Dieppe and marking the 70th anniversary of that battle, Guild members Clive Harris and Julian Whippy with their Company Battle Honours Ltd, were proud to lead a tour party of 106 Canadians across North West Europe as the group retraced the steps of their Regiment (The Essex Scottish) and the Battle Honours it won during the later stages of World War Two. Perhaps a first for the Guild was the fact that 7 guides were used on the one tour and 6 were Badged guides! 

After 10 days battlefield touring including Groningen, Xanten, Hochwald, The Scheldt, Nijmegen, Normandy and a day at Ypres the party was joined by the Colonel in Chief His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent who arrived on HMS Charger.  

Clive enjoyed the honour of guiding the Prince around Dieppe and Canadian Guild member Kirk Drew (Captain in the Essex Scottish) conducted a stand on Red Beach for the Prince, not knowing that he was later to be informed that he too had passed his final Guild validation and was to now be a “badged member” –No pressure then!

Clive guiding at Dieppe

Beneath a blazing sun, superbly orchestrated ceremonies marked the end of the tour at Dieppe on August 19th. As a Spitfire flew overhead Prince Michael spoke proudly of his Regiment, its losses and achievements and the locals hugged and kissed the veterans. It was remembrance in pure form.

Guild Badged Guides on tour were Clive Harris, Mike Sheil, Terry Webb, Dudley Giles, Kirk Drew and Julian Whippy. GBG member Rory Stephens shone throughout as a new guide and is undertaking his part one soon. Clive and Julian pointed out that it was the Guild that brought all these Guides together and without it the trip would not have been the resounding success that it was.

For those interested some further pictures are available at

https://twitter.com/bhltours

Dr Chris Scott receiving his PhD

Chris Scott recently received his PhD from Cranfield University. Here he is at the Graduation Ceremony

Marking the Centenary of the First World War - An Update from Dr Andrew Murrison MP

14 June 2012

Dear Centenary Colleague,

It’s a while since many of us met in Portcullis House to discuss how we might mark the centenary of the First World War and I thought you might appreciate an update.

The Prime Minister wanted to have personal oversight of what he rightly identified as an extraordinarily important set of anniversaries for this country. To facilitate this he appointed a Special Representative and, accordingly, I have been reporting to David Cameron. 

The UK has taken a leading role with international and Commonwealth partners. A secretariat has been established within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and a core working group has been meeting regularly involving relevant government departments, arms length bodies and lottery funders under my chairmanship. The Prime Minister has been briefed and is absolutely committed to ensuring that government does all in its power to mark the centenary in a proper and enduring manner.

The Imperial War Museums has taken an early lead and, since it was established in 1917, it is right that it, and particularly its Regeneration project, should be at the epicentre of the centenary. The Heritage Lottery Fund has undertaken to act as lead lottery funder for the centenary, establishing a dialogue with the other lottery funding bodies that have an interest in 2014-2018. 

The high level of public interest shown in the centenary of the sinking of Titanic in 1912 is instructive. Scale it up many times and we begin to get a feel for how big the series of anniversaries from 2014 will be. Indeed, the emergence already of a large number of excellent grassroots projects has been striking. These are forming a tapestry of intensely local initiatives based around the personal, human side of the conflict. The IWMs’ Centenary Partnership with its inclusive logo (see below) is an excellent way of drawing these together in an appropriately light-touch way. 

I’ve been round a large number of London’s Embassies and High Commissions in the course of my work and it has been interesting to see how the other belligerents of WWI are approaching the centenary. Each country has its own agenda, desired outcomes and solution for delivering them. I am clear from our preparatory work that the UK’s contribution should focus on remembrance, youth and education.  

There have been a few dissenting voices. Some say that we should only mark the end of conflict, not the beginning or points along the way. One or two commentators have even said that WWI was too long ago, that it is irrelevant to modern life and that we should move on. I think very few of us would agree and the public certainly does not, as recent IWM commissioned polling data has shown.

It would be appropriate to mark the point of entry of the UK into the conflict which means during the first week of August 2014. Naturally, the big event for the UK will be Armistice Day 2018 which, by happy chance, falls on a Sunday. 1 July 2016 leaps out as the centenary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Our partners assume, with good reason, that this will be a prime focus for the UK. So, the three nationally driven anniversaries are shaping up to be 4 August 2014, 1 July 2016 and 11 November 2018.

Naturally, many of the sites of interest are in Belgium and Northern France and there will be much commemoration on the continent. However, it is sometimes forgotten that we have large and historically significant Commonwealth War Grave Commission sites here – Brookwood and Lynness spring immediately to mind - together with other locations of relevance to WWI, notable Folkestone which was the main port of embarkation for men and material. It is important that these are given the full prominence they deserve in our national commemoration. 

Each of us will be able to suggest a number of additional events that are worthy of commemoration. Some will require national governance and others will benefit from more local arrangements. Within our timeframe lie important non-WWI anniversaries that we will want to observe. Some of these relate to ancient conflicts, others will involve living veterans and their families, notably the 75^th anniversary of Britain’s entry into WWII and the 70^th anniversaries of D Day, VE Day and VJ Day.

The UK differs from our continental partners in having a unique relationship with the Commonwealth which is, naturally, informing our perspective on the centenary. The UK’s relationship with the Republic of Ireland has taken a dramatic turn for the better following the Queen’s hugely successful visit to Dublin and the centenary offers an opportunity to develop this further.

Part of the challenge of the centenary is to anticipate the expectations of partner nations and to plan accordingly.  With this in mind, work is underway in collaboration with the UK’s representatives abroad, particularly in Paris and Brussels. 

There is a strong appetite for a centenary focussed heavily on youth. After all, those on the frontline in WWI were young and it is appropriate that they are in the van of our commemoration. 

Consequently, we are looking at an enduring educational vehicle that will be named for the centenary.

I anticipate a formal announcement by government of its proposals later this year, allowing a two year run-up to the start of the centenary. In the meantime, I hope that you will continue to provide input as plans are brought to maturity over the summer. Tim Scott is the project’s desk officer and his contacts are; 0207 2116148; TIM.SCOTT@Culture.gsi.gov.uk. Alternatively, please contact me on 01225 358584 or by email; andrew.murrison.mp@parliament.uk

Best wishes,

Andrew Murrison

Gallipoli Memorial at the National Arboreatum

The picture shows the Gallipoli Memorial at the National Arboretum.