8 replies to this topic

[georgeelliott]

My grand uncle Walter James HORNAL No. 1523 was CSM of "A" Coy., 1st/12th Bn., London Regt (The Rangers) who died aged 21 on Saturday, 9th September 1916, he is buried at COMBLES COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, Somme, France. He also was awarded the Military Medal ( London Gazette 27/10/1916). As I live in Australia i find it difficult to find any more information. Has anyone any further information?

[connaughtranger]

_{From the history
Regards
Martin
 IMG.jpg   89.96K   3 downloads}

[LarsA]

He is also mentioned in the history "The Rangers Historical Records" on page 36. This concerns Second Ypres in may 1915, when the battalion advanced in support of the Monmouths, 200 strong (counterattack near Frezenberg). After this action it is recorded that "Of survivors there were ultimately collected by sergeant W J Hornall (every officer having been either killed, wounded or taken prisoner) 53, mainly pioneers and signallers.

In the list of Military Medals to the battalion, there are 11 Gazetted on the same day as Sgt Hornals. For at least one of these, to Riflemanl W E Taunt, the pension records survive. He is recorded as wounded on 8th May 1915, and not serving outside Britain again. So Taunts MM is probably for this action or another during second Ypres.

Still have a few of the other 11 to check for papers on, so far I've checked 5, with one hit. (Taunt)

ATB,
Lars

[LarsA]

Page 37 starts:

"There were many sad and many glorious days to come, bur for sheer tragedy the Second Battle of Ypres stands out most prominently from the many vicissitudes through which the Rangers went during the war. The brave effort on the Frezenburg ridge had brought about the end of the original battalion.Of the officers and men which had so whole-heartedly and unselfishly prepared themselves for war during the days of peace, only 53 men, headed by Sergeant Hornall, struggled out of the mud and slush in front of Ypres."

Another MM recipient on the same date was Sergeant , Arthur Milton Copping. He was commissioned into the 6th London on 26/11/1915, so must have earned his MM before this date. Sergeant N Marriott also has papers, but no further leads as he came out in april 15 and stayed for the duration. Rifleman Gregory, another MM from the same gazette lost an arm in the second Ypres, and was pensioned later in 15.

/Lars

[Anthony Gorst]

George

He was a member of the Polytechnic Company of the Rangers - the Polytechnic being a educational/social/sporting/cultural institution founded by Quintin Hogg and now the University of Westminster: he is mentioned several times in the Polytechnic magazines - if you read this I'll root out the details

[sotonmate]

georgeelliott

The London Gazette entries seem generally to be posted around 3 months after the citation. It is possible that it was for something achieved at the start of the Battles of the Somme in July 1916. MM citations were lost in a 1940 bombing of the London building in which the records were kept (same one as all those service records which also went up in smoke).
There is a War Diary for 1/12 Londons under WO95/2743 but it seems not yet to be digital,so a read on site at Kew is required. That may give some idea of what occurred,sometimes a citation is shown in the file,sometimes not.
Can't guarantee anything but I will see if i get time next week to look.

Sotonmate

[MBrockway]

For info, the Poly terriers Rangers Memorial is in Chenies Street in Bloomsbury:
http://goo.gl/maps/8vRuq

[sotonmate]

George

The War Diary seems scheduled to be out of circulation for digitisation from 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2012 so unlikely to get a peek this year.
Remind me by PM in Dec and I will list it for a later visit.

Sotonmate

[MBrockway]

A link to a more informative webpage on the Rangers Memorial is here:
http://www.londonrem...et-war-memorial

It includes detail of the inscriptions and a bit of explanation as to how the memorial became swamped by the entrances to the Goodge Street Deep Level Shelter.
Cheers,
Mark