Medal card

[Gilly52]

On my grandfather's medal card it says "Date of entry therein : 4/11/14". Does that mean he volunteered go to the front on that date - the day before they embarked for France - or was he likely to have been training as a Territorial up until that date?  Was it up to individual TA soldiers to decide whether they wanted to volunteer for the war, or did their Officer decide for the whole regiment? Thanks in advance.

[ainslie]

That is the date he was recorded as arriving in that theatre of war.  Do you know for sure that he was a Territorial?  What regiment/corps did he serve in?
Territorials were given the option of volunteering for service overseas.  Some did not, many did.  Some units volunteered 'en bloc' but I think it would be hard to establish how much pressure was applied in those cases.
This website will tell you lots about WW1 soldiers:
http://www.1914-1918.net/

A

[mmm45]

8th Division deployed overseas in Nov 1914 so if you can give any details we may be able to confirm

He Should have been entitled to 1914 Star Trio with clasp and roses if he fought before Nov 22nd 1914.

Ady

[Jardiner]

Thank you for your replies. My grandfather, Harry Ashbery Aiken, was in the 1/9th London Regiment. I think they were all Territorials?  The mystery is why he went to war in a London Regiment when he came from Belfast! I can place him there until late 1912 at least. He may have left his family then and gone to London - I don't know. How much extra training - if any - would he have got before going to France?  I'm trying to get some info on his whereabouts 1912-14. Not easy!

[mmm45]

5th Division 13th Brigade They were sent as re-inforcements from 1st London Div.

Training was pretty much basic Drill nights and weekend camps.I suspect they were rushed out as reinforcements after Mons.

Ady

[forester]

Their HQ was in Davie's St W1, which runs up from Berkeley Square to Bond St Tube Station, so he probably lived or worked fairly close by.

To avoid duplication, here are some of the other threads on him:

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=169667

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=170427

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,561460.0.html


Phil

[Paul Caswell]

... Was it up to individual TA soldiers to decide whether they wanted to volunteer for the war, or did their Officer decide for the whole regiment?...

My grandfather was a territorial in the 3rd London Field Coy. He wrote in his memoirs about this:

During this period the C.R.E., a regular officer, came to address his troops and to remind us of our patriotic duty to help the nation in its peril and to invite all ranks to volunteer for service overseas, which was not included in the normal territorial obligation.  The colonel’s address cannot have been very inspiring for I now remember only the part which emphasised that our wives and children would be cared for when we were killed and this information was not of much significance for probably not one in ten of us was even contemplating marriage and believed with youthful optimism that we should not be among the few inevitable casualties that might dim the glory of adventurous war.  His appeal to volunteers to take a pace forward must have been most disheartening and the off soldiers who responded must have felt very lonely.  In those days youth was not given to dramatics but the response in private was as anticipated and very few required more time settling their domestic affairs before volunteering to serve abroad.

Paul

[Gilly52]

Thanks for all the info, folks! Much appreciated.