Troops in Abbots Langley area - London Scottish casualty identified

Military

One of the reasons I have a lot of photographs of WW1 troops on my web site is so that they can be remembered 100 years later. This photograph, one of a number on my "London Scottish" page, had been provisionally been dated to August/September 1914.

I have just had the following letter from Andrew Waterston, who writes: The young man in the coveralls sitting on the bucket at the front of your picture is my Great Uncle, 1847 Pte George Alexander Waterston.  He joined the London Scottish in 1913 and was posted to G Company.  He had grown up around army horses as his father had been awarded the DCM serving in the Royal Horse Guards and had gone on to run the canteen above Horse Guards in Whitehall, so the coveralls suggest he may have been employed looking after the officers' chargers - or he may have just been a messy eater!

Yours is the last photograph we have of him. He transferred to D Company and was killed less than 3 months later on the night of 31st October 1914 in the attack on the burning Windmill at Messines.  He was 20 years old.  His elder brother, Will was killed at Festubert in May 1915, unaware that his younger brother was already dead.

The London Scottish were the first territorial battalion, from those who trained in Hertfordshire, to see action. Some senior officers in the 2nd London Division felt that they had insufficient training and after the high casualties on 31st October (undoubtedly involving other as yet unidentified soldiers in the picture) most of the other battalions did not go to France until March 1915.

Many people in Hertfordshire are researching Hertfordshire men who fought and died in the war. Let us not forget the many others who came to Hertfordshire to train or to recover from their wounds. Any postcards (as digital images) and other information about these "forgotten" heroes would be welcome - as every extra clue could help identify both the military units and individual soldiers.

Identifying WW1 post cards of soldiers in Hertfordshire.

The Military

Before Christmas I posted Something for you to do over Christmas to raise money for charity - the idea being to try and identify more soldiers who were in Hertfordshire from old post cards and other pictures. I report on three responses below.

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8th London (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery

The First is a post card showing soldiers grouped round a howitzer. Fiona tells me that the officer standing behind the gun is Eustace Nugent Fitz-George de Radcliffe Cooper. This confirms that the picture shows the unit which was based at Apsley, Hemel Hempstead between August 1914 and March 1915. As a result I have posted an old newspaper report from 1914 which mentions several soldiers who were members of the Brigade. Because a number of names are on record it should be possible to identify further officers and men who are in the picture - but I put this up as a challenge for visitors to this site.

More Information

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2/14th Battalion, London Scottish at North Mimms

Peter has kindly provided five digital images of the London Scottish on a musketry course at North Mimms in August 1915, Information on the back of one of the post cards allows the soldiers to be identified as part of the second line battalion, the first line battalion having been one of the first battalions to see action in October 1914. While there is not definite evidence it seems likely that the musketry course involved shooting on the Chalk Hill Firing Range..

More Information

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Jon has suggested that this picture of the Imperial Service Division at St Albans shows them on parade on the former St Albans School playing fields at Belmont Hill. The large house in the middle background with multiple chimneys would therefore be Torrington House - close to the site of Holywell House owned by the Marlboroughs/Spencers well into the 1800s. It would have been close to the White Hart HQ.

More Information

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Donate Here

I am still interested in any further information on troops who were based in Hertfordshire in the 1914-1919 period - and as promised in the earlier post I have made a donation of £20 to support the Mentally ill in Hertfordshire.

The London Scottish go into Battle ... but the response is poor

The London Scottish in Action

Military

In December Valerie kindly sent me a digital scan of a picture of some soldiers of the London Scottish Regiment, taken by Harry Cull of Watford.  I was delighted as it all help to document the period when the Territorial Force was based in Hertfordshire for training during the First World War, as many of the official records have not been preserved. In addition the local newspapers (from 1915 onwards) were heavily censored to ensure they did not publish news of identifiable troops posted in the area. For instance we have many pictures of troops in Britton's Camp but all we know is that it was in the St Albans Area. Officially approved cards of the action often take the form of propaganda  - celebrating the undoubted heroism  and failing to mention the pain.

Much of the detailed surviving information about which units were billeted in Hertfordshire (when and where) undoubtedly rests in the post cards taken of the troops at the time, and other cards and letters, almost all of which are in the hands of the families, who kept them, often as a memory of someone who never came home. But when the family owners die such small paper items often end up being destroyed or orphaned in house clearance sales, because they relate to people the executors never knew.

So when I  updated the London Scottish page I suggested that over Christmas readers might look to see if they had any old post cards which could help build a better picture of what was going on in Hertfordshire during the First World War. The response was. to put it mildly, disappointing. While there is still eighteen months to the remembering the outbreak of the First World War I would like to have identified a lot more units / locations / dates before then.

O.K. I know that most of you are researching further back in time - but you also have a duty to ensure that information in your family's possession is not lost, but put on record so that it can available to future generations researching their long dead ancestors.  So why not share it - by ensuring it is available now to others researching their First World War ancestors ...

London Scottish Regiment

Something to do over Christmas

Valerie's grandfather was in the London Scottish Regiment and she has kindly supplied a picture of some of the soldiers who were trained in Hertfordshire during the First World War, photographed by the Watford photographer, Harry Cull, who took so many photographs of troops training in the area. The negative number suggests that the picture was taken after the first line of the London Scottish went to France, and this picture may show new recruits of the second line. 

Such contributions to this web site can help to make it more useful to more people. So how can you help over the Christmas Holidays?

My current plans are to significantly increase my coverage of the First World War in time for the anniversary of the outbreak of war in August 1914. I would like to include one or more pictures of soldiers in each of the units who trained in Hertfordshire, and also of the military hospitals. and not just Napsbury, but some of the many smaller Military Hospitals based in large private houses, such as those at Boxmoor, Gustard Wood and Kings Walden. Pictures of camps such as Britons Camp and the one at Hitchin, and of military training will be included when I can get them.

If your ancestor was in the First World War and was trained in Hertfordshire, or was a member of the Hertfordshire Regiment, why not.over the Christmas holiday, look out any relevant photographs to add to the online Centenary collection I am preparing. Tell me what you have, and I will send you instructions for sending digital copies - and I may be able to tell you more about what he was doing or what the picture shows. Simple information, such as the address where he was billeted can be useful, while messages home on the back of post cards can be most helpful in revealing .

In addition, if you know of web sites or books which have World War 1 pictures of troops training in Hertfordshire tell me the URL or book details. The more information you can let me have the better we can celebrate what our ancestors did to protect this country in 1914-1918.

More WW1 Army pictures by Cull of Watford

Hilary has kindly provided a picture of the Hampshire Regimental Band  at Watford in the summer of 1915. 

I have added a picture of some London Scottish soldiers - who may be some of those who were the first territorials at the front and were slaughtered. (with quotes from the London Gunners come to Town). 

There are also two pictures which may date from 1916, representing the City of London Rifles and Middlesex regiments, including one portrait of a single unidentified soldier. I have also moved the pictures of the Isle of Wight Rifles to another page.

It is now possible to draft an initial time line for Harry Cull's First World War photographs - but if you have any additional photographs of troops in Hertfordshire, especially where the unit, place, date and/or Hertfordshire photographer is known let me know as every little helps to improve the time line of which troops were based where in Hertfordshire,  and when.