60% of the service records for soldiers from the Great War were lost in a fire during the Second World War. Fortunately, in terms of my research, those for Patrick Stanley were amongst the other 40%. My main interest, when I accessed the record for the first time, was to find Patrick’s place of birth.…
All posts in Military
North West Frontier
Many countries that appear on modern maps are relatively recent creations. Some peoples hold to the belief that no one owns land. We are all transient tenants. They have a point. Belgium was created in 1830. The map of Africa was mainly drawn in the 19th century. Much of the Middle East had lines drawn…
Jewel in the Crown
Following service in South Africa with the 3rd (line) Battalion of the Manchester Regiment (https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/military/boer-war-concentration-camps/ ), Patrick was transferred to the 1st Battalion on 28 October 1906. He was sent to join them in India. The 1st Battalion had also served in South Africa, departing in December 1904. They arrived in the port of Madras…
Wilfred Owen and Patrick Stanley
Patrick Stanley was posted to France to re-join the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment on 13th November 1916. He would have been just one of a number of ordinary soldiers sent as replacements for the casualties incurred. As such his arrival was not noteworthy in any way. It is extremely doubtful if there were…
He never talked about it
Patrick’s army record contains dates of his service and his postings. The regimental war diaries provide some details of actions and places. For example, we know that, on 25th August 1914, the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment made a stand at Le Cateau. Here they lost 350 men, representing more than one third of…
Poetry Please – Part 2
At school I studied poetry as part of the English Literature course. Having to analyse, criticise and deconstruct poems can drain the joy from reading them. Despite this handicap, there is one poem that sticks in my mind from that time. I read avidly, and have done so from an early age. My local library…
Poetry Please – Part 1
“Do not go gentle into that good night” Dylan Thomas “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky” John Masefield Robert Frost, Elizabeth Browning, Lewis Carroll, WB Yeats, John McCrae, the list of memorable poets and their works is a lengthy one. Poetry has the power to move, to…
Boer War Concentration Camps
It is easy to identify ways in which the British authorities could have done a better job in the Boer War. Well it is with the wisdom of hindsight. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, military leaders were slow to adapt to new tactics. The Boers knew that they could…
The small print
In October 1902, Patrick signed Army Form B217 for a short service enlistment. It was for a total of 12 years, part on active service and the rest on reserve. Question 1 asks for the recruit’s name. (Starting with the difficult ones!) Question 2 provided the key information about Patrick’s place of birth. Question 18…
2nd Eastern General Hospital
In September 1913, the staff and pupils of Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School took possession of new, purpose built premises on Dyke Road. In August 1914 they were forced to return to their old home. The building had been requisitioned. It became 2nd Eastern General Hospital. The building still exists. It is now a…