County of London Yeomanry

[pteverett001]

I have been researching my Grandfathers WW1 service and while luckily his pension records still survive some of the writing is difficult to decipher. I had been assuming that his service was with various battalions of The Royal Fusiliers however on closer inspection of the document I am pretty sure the first line of his service record says "1 Co of Ldn Yeo" 16.11.15 to 12.12.16, so this was before he was subsequently transferred to The Royal Fusiliers.
His name was Thomas Thatcher and his regimental number 62273. He enlisted 16.11.15 and was wounded on 26 September 1917 while serving with 4th battalion Royal Fusiliers. He was then sent home and discharged. I don't know if this link will work but if it does it is to the section of his pension records dealing with his service records.
www.rootschat.com/links/0xob/

So I have a pretty good idea from the official War Diaries etc about what he was doing from Dec 1916 to September 1917 but I am at a bit of loss with the earlier period. There seem to have been three battalions of 1st County of London Yeomanry and I don't think its possible to tell which one he was posted too. If it was to 3/1 then that was a training battalion based at Ranealagh Park during that period, but it seems odd that he should spend almost a year training when the battles were raging across the Channel. By contrast my Great Uncle enlisted with the The Rifle Brigade in February 1916 and was in France by August and had died of his wounds by early October that same year
Any help with information about the County of London Yeomanry would be very welcome.
Paul

[Peter J]

I have been researching my Grandfathers WW1 service and while luckily his pension records still survive some of the writing is difficult to decipher. I had been assuming that his service was with various battalions of The Royal Fusiliers however on closer inspection of the document I am pretty sure the first line of his service record says "1 Co of Ldn Yeo" 16.11.15 to 12.12.16, so this was before he was subsequently transferred to The Royal Fusiliers.
His name was Thomas Thatcher and his regimental number 62273. He enlisted 16.11.15 and was wounded on 26 September 1917 while serving with 4th battalion Royal Fusiliers. He was then sent home and discharged. I don't know if this link will work but if it does it is to the section of his pension records dealing with his service records.
www.rootschat.com/links/0xob/

So I have a pretty good idea from the official War Diaries etc about what he was doing from Dec 1916 to September 1917 but I am at a bit of loss with the earlier period. There seem to have been three battalions of 1st County of London Yeomanry and I don't think its possible to tell which one he was posted too. If it was to 3/1 then that was a training battalion based at Ranealagh Park during that period, but it seems odd that he should spend almost a year training when the battles were raging across the Channel. By contrast my Great Uncle enlisted with the The Rifle Brigade in February 1916 and was in France by August and had died of his wounds by early October that same year
Any help with information about the County of London Yeomanry would be very welcome.
Paul

Paul,

Here is some info on the 1st County of London Yeomanry, which may be of use:

http://www.1914-1918.net/county_london1.htm

[km1971]

Hi Paul

He could have been with either the 2nd or 3rd Battalion, or indeed with the headquarters of the 1st Bn, which stayed at Home. He may have been a poor rider or he may have had a speciality or job that kept him at Home - batman to an officer based at Home for example. The fact he was transferred to an infantry regiment tends to suggest a lack of horsemanship. But you probably will never know.

Unfortunately it seems pages 3 and 4 of the attestation form are missing. Page 3 lists the movement between regiments and battalions, and may have given his yeomanry battalion. Regarding war diaries he served in a large number of Royal Fusiliers battalions. Here is their page on 1914-18.net - http://www.1914-1918.net/royalfus.htm

For each posting you need to follow the divisional link top right.

Ken

[pteverett001]

Thanks for both of the replies. On looking closer at the pension papers I have it does say 3/1 County of London Yeomanry, so on that basis it looks like he probably spent some or most of 1916 in Dublin maybe at the time of the Easter Rising.
_____________________________________________________________________________

"Cavalry Reserve Regiments (United Kingdom)
Although nominally cavalry, many of the drafts ended up being converted into infantry in order to satisfy the manpower demands of trench warfare.
Despite being training and not combat formations, several were involved in the putting down of the Easter Rising in Dublin in April 1916. A little after noon on Easter Monday, a mixed troop of 9th and 12th Lancers, attached to the 6th Cavalry Reserve Regiment at Marlborough Barracks inPhoenix Park, was dispatched to investigate a "disturbance" at Dublin Castle.[2] As they cantered down Sackville Street, they were fired upon by rebels who had taken up positions in and on the roof of the General Post Office. Three troopers were killed instantly and one was mortally wounded, becoming the first military casualties of the rising. The same evening, 1600 men of the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Brigade (consisting of the 8th, 9th and 10th Cavalry Reserve Regiments) arrived from their barracks at the Curragh to support the local Dublin garrison.[3]
6th   Dublin
5th (Royal Irish) Lancers
12th Lancers
City of London Yeomanry
1st County of London Yeomanry
B Sqn comprised mainly of a draft of 160 NCOs and men from 3/1st Welsh Horse   Absorbed into 1st, 1917"

"3/1st County of London Yeomanry
•   Formed in April 1915 as a "third line" (training, draft-supplying reserve for the 1/1st and 2/1st) and located at Ranelagh Park.
•   1916: affiliated to 6th Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Dublin.
•   Early 191 7: absorbed into 2nd Reserve Cavalry Regiment at the Curragh"
_____________________________________________________________________________

After he was posted to the Royal Fusiliers he was eventually wounded on 26th Sept 1917 during the attack on Hill 40 near Zonnebaeke during the battle for Polygon Woods.

Thanks again

Paul