I attach a photo of Thomas Pittock who joined the Royal West Kents (3rd Battalion) in June 1916. His service records show he served with the regiment in Mesopotamia. The photo (undated) was taken in Poona, India. What might a RWK soldier have been doing there? Would it have been rest or active service?

Any ideas would be of interest.

Wesmo.

3rd Bttn was the Depot/Reserve bttn that supplied troops to the fighting bttns (as did the 9th bttn). The 4th Bttn and 5th Bttn - both Territorial bttns served in India, releasing the 2nd Bttn for service in Middle East. I believe the 5th Bttn later served in Mespot, fighting the Turks and therefore Thomas Pittock almost certainly served with the 5th. In India their role would have been to police and protect the Imperial dominion.

Nice photo.

Regards,

Jon S

Hello Wesmo,

Great photo.

I assume that you have a copy of his service papers from WO364 which confirm him as G/15911 RWK and ex-Essex Yeomanry, ending up as an acting C.Q.M.S. in the Northumberland Fusiliers. Here's my reading of his file for what it's worth.

So he enlists on 10/12/15, is put into the Army Reserve (in this case 3rd RWK) on 11/12/15 until 6/6/16 when he's called up and sent to 'Mespot' on the "Franz Ferdinand", leaving Devonport on 9/10/16, arriving 2/12/16.

Here's the interesting thing: unless I'm missing something his papers don't show him being in India with the RWK. He's mentioned as being at Busra and Magil, both of which are in Iraq. He transfers to the Northumberland Fusiliers in Feb 1917 but it is not until March 1918 that he "proceeded on one month leave to India". At this point I don't think he should have a RWK badge on his helmet when in India. So either he went to India in the couple of months prior to transferring to the Northumberland Fusiliers and it's not mentioned in his records, or the photo was actually taken in Iraq by a photographer who originated from Poona.

I'm wondering if he actually made it to any RWK battalion at the front- it would have to be the 2nd at this time in 1917, and they were desperate for men in this period after the surrender at Kut. It certainly looks like he was present at No.7 Base Depot but was classified a certain way due to an "old GSW to head" and didn't go to the 2nd battalion- this "GSW" may be a reference to his boyhood fractured skull injury.
It looks like he was sent to the 2nd (Garrison) Bn of the Northumberland Fusiliers, probably due to his old injuries and age, and they were based in India. But his file indicates that he was serving in "Mespot" and not India, so I'd guess he was utilized in some rear-area capacity at the Basra and Magil bases.

Hope this makes sense,
Matthew

Nice photo...

Have a look at this site - http://www.kentfallen.com and Geoff Sullivan's work here - http://www.kentfallen.com/west%20kent%20pages.html

Pittock, Thomas Royal West Kent Regiment C/15911 Acting Corporal [1] Royal West Kent Regiment C/15911 Acting Corporal [2] Northumberland Fusiliers 48923 Acting Corporal

Neil

Dear Wesmo
Sorry for being slow (!) in picking up your posting.

Here is some info on Thomas Pittock:

He enlisted as 1055, A Squadron, Essex IY on 18 March 1908; age 27, a dealer. He lived at 2 Enmore Terrace, Clacton-on-Sea
He re-enlisted two weeks later as 15, A Squadron, Essex Yeo (TF) on 1 April 1908. He served with the Clacton troop, who obviously had their training on 1 April and bagged all the low numbers! (I have the TFEM to number 10 who would have been with him that night!)
Pittock was discharged on termination of his engagement on 22 March 1911.

I hope this helps.

Ian