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Territorial Army. Royal Warwicks, 6 Battalion, 'O' Compnay (BSA)

Old Boy

Old Boy

master brummie
Morning All!

My uncle , Arthur John Beresford, was in the above unit of the territorial army. I have a card for the unit entitled 'Programme of Drill and Training for 1913. The only names are those of the officers.:-

Captain F M Chatterley - Lt Kenneth R Davis and 2Lt W Martineau

My Uncle was killed at Passchendale on August 28 1917. I wondered what had happened to the three officers but there is no record of them in the Commonwealth War Graves so I presume they survived the war if, in fact, they served. I suspect that Capt Chatterley was possibly a Boer War veteran and was probably getting on in years. I also wonder if 2Lt Martineau was a member of the well known family of that name. If anyone has information about any of these men I would be interested.

Finally the card says "Regimental Orders are published each week in Thursday nights 'Mail' and Fridays 'Post# and also on the Companys notice board and must be carefully read as ignorance of orders cannot be taken as an excuse. Any change of address must be immediately reported to Colour Sergeant Vincent, Small Arms Factory, Small Heath.

The above suggests that although membership of the TA was entirely voluntary the discipline was fairly strict. Also, being non commissioned, Colour Sgt Vincent was not entitled to initials of his Christian name.

Old Boy
 
Captain Frank Martin Chatterley went to France with with the battalion on 22 March 1915

He was later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given command of the 5th Reserve Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment in UK. He was in command when the reserve battalion were in Northumberland and the battalion was allowed to visit Blythe Sands on 24 August 1917. He gave permission for the men to go sea bathing. Around 700 in total. Many had never seen the sea before. Several got into difficulties comrades tried to help resulting in 9 men drowned. One being a Private Jesse Blunn aged 17 of Highbury Road, Kings Heath. Another was Sgt John Riley of Ladywood. Others were Lt Brown, other privates were Beavan, Noy, Southern, Shale and Foley.
Sgt Riley had previously spent 18 months in France.

It appears that there was a heavy swell from the south, and soon some of the men were being carried out to sea. Sergeant Riley and others rushed their assistance, but the sergeant and Lieutenant were quickly overcome and drowned. Other soldiers then formed a chain of hands and succeeded in rescuing five of their comrades.

Terry
 
Hi Terry,

I must have missed this when it was first posted. What a tragic event but probably little noticed amongst all the other goings on in that war.

Reverting back to my uncle (Post 1) he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps when it was formed. Is there any way of finding out if he stayed with his original unit as machine gunner?

Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
 
hello Chris

when he went over with the 5th Royal Warwickshire to France on 22 March 1915, a battalion would have a machine gun section and he was still a Royal warwickshire soldier. Later in 1915 and early 1916.
Four battalions made up the 143 infantry Brigade that served in the 48th Division.

What happened was that each machine gun section of the 143 brigade amalgamated to form the 143 Company Machine Gun Corps he then became a member of the Machine Gun Corps with a new service number 23261. No doubt he would have have come into contact with his former comrades of the 5th Royal Warwicks but not actually served with them. In 1918 the machine gun companies of the 48th Division combined to form the 48th Battalion Machine Gun Corps.

Hope it makes sense

Cheers

Terry
 
Hi Terry,

Thank you very much. Sorry for the delay - the New Year has intervened. I have been told that shortly after the war my grandparents were visited by an old friend of my uncle who told them that he had been killed by a shell landing nearby and had died instantly. Of course I do not know if this is true or not but it does not matter now.

Al the best - Chris
 
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