WELCOME TO THIS PAGE ALL ABOUT A
HUMBLE MENU CARD .........
The Menu card below has been enlarged to make easier to view
its size would normally be
roughly 7x5 inches
the other cards have similarly been enlarged
Seen below is what most people would think of as an insignificant menu card from an old Cunard passenger liner named the R.MS. FRANCONIA
but how wrong they would be !,
the month and year feb 1915 set it apart from most liners, as at the time the Franconia had been requisitioned by the military as a troop ship,
the next thing is the ink signature across the ,
right hand diagonal section,
and the wording Hood Battalion 2nd RN Brigade
Royal Naval Division, the name was very difficult to decypher ,and it took the combined talents of my wife sharon my cousin Stephen R Norris,
and my self to crack the writings meaning ,
we tried word association various combinations,
and extensive research on the interweb ??,
and sharon had a "eurika" moment " and said try
say charles or charles james martin ?, which after a few trial and tribulations i did , and found 1 and ,
only 1 person with that name in the RND ,
And he was Sub LT Charles James Martin his
battalion is listed as "HOOD"BATTALION"
now it is known that the Franconia was on the run
from the uk to egypt as a troopship the troops then would have gone to Gallipoli as part of that campaign,
He had a relatively short commission as a sub leutenant,
as he was killed in action in the 3rd battle of Krithia,
on the 4th of june 1915,,
as seen by the short entrys on his service card,
also seen below, the Menu gives a facinating insight,
into how the higher class of passengers would have,
enjoyed the finer things in life, and officers were no,
different, as i doubt that most average junior ratings ,
would have had a clue what most if any of the fancy names,
meant , its not very often you can glean so much information from such a humble artifact,but its been a labour of love,
to have found out what we did, for this menu card,
this card ties in really well with the page i did on a,
hand engraved horn beaker that has "remember gallipoli"
on it along with other notable information on that,
campaign,
seen below are sub lt martins service record card ,
and a period rppc of the Franconia
in the Royal navy although the rank is written down
as leutenant , it is pronounced or uttered as Leftenant
i.e sub leutenant/ leutenant /leutenant commander.
I HAVE THE HONOUR AND PRIVILIGE TO BE ABLE TO,
ADD THESE 3 BRAVE MEN TO THE ROLL OF HONOUR PAGE,
2 WERE KIA (KILLED IN ACTION)
THE 3RD WAS EXTREMELY FORTUNATE TO HAVE SURVIVED THE WAR
WILLIAM BARCLAY
shows he had the,
mons star, He has no, known grave,
mentioned on the,
Helles Memorial
Petty Officer
Leedings Group
Has the Mons star,
and unusually a
Royal Fleet Rserve
long service&Good conduct Medal
The medal was presented for 15 or 12 years of service by Petty Officers and ratings
of the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve,
Royal Fleet Reserve, and Royal Naval Wireless Auxiliary Reserve
Below i have the privelege of adding these 2 Brave,
souls to this the Roll of Honour page,
to show that, those that served and survived the war often carried,the mental and physical scars for the rest of their ,
lives and have largely been forgotten and lost in the mists,
of time and the passing of a century until now !
Peter Holland
Has no known grave
Has the 1914-15
star , but we are
also very fortunate
to have his
memorial plaque
He is also Mentioned
on the Helles Memorial
Another soul remembered
Alfred James White 19 years old who hailed from a very small village (Beaworthy) Northwest Devon,
who transfered from the army reserve in august 1916
to the RNVR/RND Who seems to have been plagued ,
with the discease prevalent at that time ,
(hence the 3 RND Divisions) that being ,
"Trenchfever" the symptoms of which are listed below
After a 14- to 30-day incubation period, onset of trench fever is sudden, with fever, weakness, dizziness, headache (with pain behind the eyes), conjunctival injection, and severe back and leg (shin) pains. Fever may reach 40.5° C and persist for 5 to 6 days.
people often forget that apart from bullets and shells ,
combatents also had to cope with the disceases prevalent in that time, it does however show his determination to serve,
as back then medicine wasnt as well developed as it is today ,
so welcome Alfred j White you are not forgotten.....
WITH THE ADDITION OF
STOKER 1ST CLASS
EDWARD.EDWIN
THOMPSETT/THOMSETT*
TO THIS PAGE
I THOUGHT IT QUITE APT TO ADD THE,
POEM BY RUPERT BROOKE
THOSE THAT KNOW ME REALISE HOW ,
POIGNANT THE ADDITION ONTO THIS PAGE IS FOR ME !
* (Spelling mistakes were quite)
( common on)
( these record cards)
Established- December 1918 at the Government's Memorial Plaque Factory in Acton at 54-56 Church Road, London W3. Total awarded- approximately 1,150,000 memorial plaques have been Produced,
with those numbers of memorial plaques being made it does bring the cost ,
in lives more into focus , but the thing is although huge numbers were issued ,
in proportion to the other services , the ROYAL NAVAL DIVISIONS ,
are very rare to find these days, and as part of the ROYAL NAVAL DIVISIONS
ones attributable to the ROYAL MARINE LIGHT INFANTRY are just as rare,
and ones in memory of the RND/RMLI from Gallipoli are especially welcome on this site/ page and so we welcome Sergeant PO/15611 WILLIAM BEAUCHAMP,
to this august gathering
This is a very proud moment,in the History of the
friends of the Royal Naval Divisions in ww1
WebSite and in particular the
ROLL OF HONOUR PAGE
As We can now for the very first time Add
a very rare Military medal Recipient
Petty Officer C/Z2465 SAMUEL ORD
Samuel was born on the 7-08-1894 and lived in number 186 paisley road west in glasgow his next of kin is listed as his father also samuel ?
Samuels civilian occupation is listed as a "grocer"
The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award was established in 1916, with retrospective application to 1914, and was awarded to other ranks for "acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire".
on the right is a view of paisley road from around that time
The addition of the single Allied Victory Medal seen below,is perhaps the most poignant,one iv'e ever added to this roll of Honour page, back in november 2012,the first cemetery i went to on the somme was the Ancre Valley cemetery, and i would have walked past,
Ernests grave amongst others and have,
done so on numerous occassions ,
but now i now have a direct link to the,
cemetery and intend to take his medal,
out to the cemetery the next chance i have,
and in a symbolic way reuniting Ernest,
and at least one of his medals with him,
albeit for a short time, i am very proud to be able to add Ernest Alfred Sneller to this ,
August company ..........
It gives me great pleasure to be able to add,
A.B B.Z/ 4411 JAMES ROOME to this August company we find on this Roll of Honour Page
this is a very unusual grouping of Ephemera (see below)
containing as it does his medals his service certificate, a certificate about "ANSON"BATTALION" & their battle honours.
++ a RPPC of the lad him self (from 1915) and his Fibre DOG TAG
WITH HIS NAME /RANK/SERIAL NUMBER, & his Battalion (ANSON)
This is the 1st one of these ive ever seen ,
Above is a RPPC
of the lad himself
On the left is a close up ,
of his dog tag,
On the right the cap badge
he would have worn.
On the left is a typical street in nottingham from circa 1915 ,
Below left,
are 4 images of his record card
apparently he was a bit naughty now &
again as the notation 5 days pay/5 days leave for being over his allotted leave times
On the left is a section from james ,
service certificate, showing he was wounded on 3 occassions 2 being within 2 months of one another , also of note is the rubber stamped British War and ,
Victory medal, the reason he was entitled,
to just 2 is explained below
To be eligible for the medal, a member must have served on the establishment of a unit in a theatre of war during the relevant dates of operations in that theatre
IT IS WITH A GREAT DEAL OF PRIDE WE CAN, ADD ANOTHER GRONINGEN MAN TO THIS PAGE,
NAMELY SEAMAN P/4047/B DONALD MURRAY RND,
A NATIVE OF THE ISLE OF LEWIS SCOTLAND,
ALBEIT THE GROUP IS MISSING HIS MONS STAR IT DOES, HAVE HIS BRITISH WAR MEDAL AND THE VICTORY, MEDAL+ HIS LONG SERVICE MEDAL ,
The long service medal could be awarded to part-time Royal Naval Reserve /RNVR ratings after twelve years of efficient service, not necessarily continuous. Wartime service counted as double time for the purpose of reckoning eligibility for the medal.
