Pte 5544 Charles Marshall born 1879, his number shows he attested February or March 1900.
Newspaper report says he rejoined his unit ( 1st Bn Wiltshire Regiment ) in August 1914. His date of entry into theatre is given as 21/9/1914. I presume he would have been re trained, tested for fitness etc, this would account for his late arrival. I take it his entry into theatre would have been the day he reached the shores of France. There was a 4th draft of reinforcements reached the Bn at Braine, on the 23 of September. Given that Braine is around 150 miles from the coast, do you think Pte Marshall would have made this draft of men?

Cheers Mike

Mike

Yours is a very reasonable assumption,to me it would fit perfectly !
Have you tried The Wardrobe (Wilts Regt Archives) to see what they know ?

Sotonmate

Sotonmate - From 1915 onwards, I would have agreed but the BEF doesn`t look to have been in fixed positions by 23/9 and finding a battalion might have been difficult?

Thanks Sotonmate, I have had a look at the Bn diary on the Wardrobe site, there were other drafts, and I think this is the earliest possible, just trying to get the date as accurate as possible.
Phil, that's the kind of thing am wondering about. I'm not sure how it worked. This draft seem to have arrived with an officer, would they just have been put on a train and sent in the general direction, then told find your unit?

Cheers Mike

Sotonmate, thanks, have just sent the Wardrobe a £15 donation, in return ( I hope ) for any more information on Pte C Marshall. What a fantastic website, I wish I had a site like that for every Regiment am researching.

Cheers Mike

He disembarked at Nazaire on 21/9/14 and joined the battalion on the 14/10/14

Grant

Thank you Grant, how do you know that then?

RIP Charles Marshall, KIA 95 years ago today.

Mike

Three weeks wandering around France, what a way to travel.

Ard,
Indeed.
As one Soldier recounted.
"7th to 14th November 1914-Fully loaded the trains left while we sat with our legs dangling out of the sliding doors.Detrained and marched to Heuringhem
,met Frenchman,now my acquaintance.Stayed Heuringhem 3 nights.Marched to Outersteen(3 quarters of a mile from Merriss).There we joined the 22nd Inf.Brigade of the 7th Division of the First Expeditionary Force and marched to Fleurbaix.Today the Battalion went into the trenches.
We moved into the line in a section of what was really no line at all at that time,on the way to Armentieres-a place called Bois Grenier.One man killed at night,by a sniper."
George

Cos Im really clever

It was amongst the info that I picked up when I was at the Wardrobe looking for my GWR chaps, I got him confused with a Charles MARSH (who is one of mine) - I came away with lots of big long lists of names and dates of possable GWR Swindon men.

When Iv'e finished my GWR database a copy will be going to the Wardrobe as a thank you

Grant

Rest in Peace.

Grant, that is fantastic, and yes, you are very clever
That is great information.
George, that too is very interesting, where did you find quote, any more?

Per ardua... Yes, I hope he can rest in peace. The new information from Grant, proves he had an even shorter war than I had thought, 14th October to 27th October. He was living in Aberfeldy when war broke out, working as a surfaceman. He had been through most of Boer war, held the Queens SA medal and 5 clasps. Not sure if he was a reservist, or whether he just just went and joined up. Any thoughts on how he may have ended up back in army?

Cheers Mike

Mike,
It's from the Diary of 4585 Boy J.M.Marchbank,8th Royal Scots.
You'll find more about him and hear him speak of his war experiences in the "Boy Soldier" section of John Duncan's web-site-Newbattle at War.
To whet your wistle.
"5th November 1914-Arrive Le Havre and marched up to rest camp.The following morning,Alarm given and we marched from rest camp,halting on the road side where I fell asleep.At the goods entrance of Le Havre Station we were bundled into cattle trucks marked 40 Hommes or 8 Chevans.
(While the transport was being loaded up we just wandered about the yard.Outside the gates,the local youngsters were milling around offering to get things,even including the services of their sisters.I wanted some bread so I asked a wee boy who said he would get me me some.I gave him my half crown and this wee character set off across the road and disappeared round the building.I said to my self,"I wonder if he will come back?",and just at that he looked back and thumbed his nose at me.He was gone.)"
George

Thanks George, will have a look for it. My bookshelf is beginning to creak.

Mike

Mike,
It's not a literary Classic,merely the jottings of a 14 year old who went to War,with his Battalion in 1914.
The first couple of pages capture the innocence of the time but as it covers the whole War the later entries merely record the daily facts he experienced but not his feelings and it is not a full time-line.
The original loose-leaf copy was found in a Local Library,so I do not think any attempt was made to have it formally published,merely support his desire to have the diary preserved for posterity.Partly in response to the traumatic experiences he witnessed but also in memory of friends and colleagues he lost.
For the serious WW1 Student,I don't think it adds to any current published works.
You're probably better off listening to him recount his experiences in the recorded excerpt on John's Web-site.It gives a flavour of the Man.
George

Ok, thanks George. I will do that.

Cheers Mike