Baileys South African Sharpshooters momento

[PJT]

Hi,

I wondered if any of the SA enthusiasts might be able to throw some light on the occasion this may have been made for.

The engraving reads
Auld
Lang syne
From
Baileys
Sharpshooters

followed by an elaborate cypher.

They were something of a small elite squad attached to one of the Northants btns but not much has been written about them.

Grateful for any info.

[Frank Kelley]

A superb and very rare, rather interesing item, I wonder who the lucky recipient was and why it was given?

Originally Posted by PJT

Hi,

I wondered if any of the SA enthusiasts might be able to throw some light on the occasion this may have been made for.

The engraving reads
Auld
Lang syne
From
Baileys
Sharpshooters

followed by an elaborate cypher.

They were something of a small elite squad attached to one of the Northants btns but not much has been written about them.

Grateful for any info.

[Brian Conyngham]

Frank

Hi I know William Endley would love this, he is a collector to this unit and has a lot of info on them, unfortunately he is I believe stuck in Southern Sudan and they cannot connect to this site from there???

I will try and contact him for you.

A very nice piece, well made!

Brian

[PJT]

Frank/Brian,

Thanks for the replies.

The case is dated June 1918

I found it in amongst some bric a brac in a shop in Stamford 20 years ago.

Stamford is on the border of Northamptonshire and I wonder if it was given as a Cheerio to somebody in the Northants before they left to go back to SA?

Paul

[Jibba Jabba]

Looks like a 1 pounder QF 37mm shell case. Used on land and at sea, by both sides. Common.

Sharpshooters would suggest 3rd County of London Yeomanry to me?

There was a "Bailey". Clifford Thomas Bailey. Started as a private in the Sharpshooters, he was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment in 1915 then was sent to the Kings African Rifles.

[melcross]

Hi,
I am the granddaughter of a Bailey Sharpshooter, William George Hunt who was KIA in the Battle of the Somme on 16 July 1916. It was a South African unit raised by Sir Abe Bailey who funded the unit himself. It was initially agreed that he would send 100 men but selection was slow as each man was thoroughly tested so initially only 17 went and 6 of them were killed. They were lead by Lt. Neville Methven.
I can give you a bit more info about them if you want it. Do you still have the shell and would you consider selling it? I would love to have it - I live in Cape Town.
Kind Regards
Mel

[PJT]

Mel,

Many thanks for the information.

There isn't much reference material on them, so it would be good to hear from you further.

I do still have it, but to be honest I hadn't really thought of parting with it.

Paul

[melcross]

Hi Paul
Do I put the information here or is there some other way to contact you? I would also like to hear from the William Endley mentioned previously as it sounds like he knows a lot about the Sharpshooters. Please let me know if he contacts you.
Mel.

[PJT]

Mel,

I'm sure some of the other forum members will be interested, so please include the info as a reply to this thread so that they can see it.

I don't know William, or whether He is a forum member. What you could do is send a PM to Brian who does seem to know him.

I'm sure you are proud of your Grandfather. He deserves a lot of respect.

Paul

[melcross]

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF BSAS
Information from the SA War Museum, Johannesburg.
Bailey's Sharpshooters by D G Trotter

The First World War started in 1914 and after the first initial maneuvers, the Retreat from Mons and the 1st Battle of Ypres, both sides started to dig in. This trench warfare was to last until 1918 when the final German March Offensive was beaten and the Allies now supported by the Americans advanced until the Germans sued for peace.

The trench war saw the rise of the sniper. Initially the Germans were far ahead of the British. They were better organized, had far better equipment both in rifles and more importantly telescopic sights. Despite the popular perceptions of the dour Teutonic soldier, the Germans inflicted heavy casualties on front line troops with some battalions losing 18 men a day. Besides the losses there was obviously a huge drop in morale in the troops. The British realized that they had to turn the tables, which is a story in itself.

However one avenue they did follow was to use the assets of the Empire. They recruited big game hunters and others from Canada, Australia and South Africa until the training of regular snipers could be completed. Certainly by the end of the War the Allies mainly the British had turned the tables completely and were far superior.

In 1916 the British Government either approached Abe Bailey directly or the Union (South African) Government and asked for assistance. Abe Bailey was a self-made multi millionaire who had made his fortune on the Rand. In addition to being involved with numerous projects and charities generally, on the military side he had raised troops for the Anglo Boer War and the Bambata Rebellion of 1906 as well as being involved with the planning of the Jameson Raid. He held rank in the Union Defense Forces. In this regard he was the ideal man to approach, as he believed in the Empire and Great Britain and he had experience and a track record in this type of endeavor.

The Union Government agreed to the British request and authorized raising a unit of 100 sharpshooters. What made this unit unique is that Abe Bailey raised, selected and financed the unit for the duration of the war for which he later received a peerage (Baron of Craddock). It was therefore a private unit with its own shoulder badge.

The personnel were selected from Northern and Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa. There were stringent shooting requirements. Looking at some of the selection tests (see Pegler) the average person today would be hard pressed to pass them with an automatic rifle let alone a bolt-action rifle. The majority of men were either successful target shooters or big game hunters (which gave them stalking and camouflage skills).

Selection was slow because of the requirements and also because many men had already signed up with other units. Eventually 17 men under Lt. Neville Methven were sent to France. They were assigned to the 1st Division under Maj. General Strickland and served for the next two and a half years being attached to several British regiments. From research these British units were all with the second brigade of the First Division. By all accounts they had a hard war spending much time (two and a half years) in No Mans Land summer and winter.

Other members went up later in separate drafts. Eventually a total of 24 men were qualified or which 23 went to France. Certainly Methven regarded the initial group including Corporal Hunt as the unit and the others as replacements.

Methven received an MC for sniping and good scouting and training work. He is stated to have received his medal personally from Strickland but that may be that Strickland was doing the medals parade as opposed to an individual presentation. However Digby and Trotter refer to a letter of praise written by Strickland and dated 17 February 1919, which means that the BSAS were with the First Division as part of the Army of Occupation. In the letter Strickland praised Methven personally for sniping work, some fine reconnaissance work and training. He praised the unit especially for their work at Passchendaele and the March 1918 offensive.

Methven claimed in an interview after the war that the unit had killed over 3000 Germans and that he had a personal tally of well over 100. There are lists which credit Methven with either 100 or 103 or 115. Whether he believes that is well over, or he exaggerated I do not know. It is possible that he knew his total was more. Either way doing the maths and assuming that the unit wasn't credited with kills made by calling down artillery fire etc some of the other members of the unit must have had 200 kills or more. The top Allied WW1 sniper is believed to be Francis Neville Pegahmagabow a Canadian Indian with 378 kills.

William George Hunt attested into the Baileys South African Sharpshooters at Wynberg in the Cape on the 20 April 1916 with the rank of Lance Corporal. His army number was S15. (S for Sharpshooter, number 15 to be attested). He would have previously done the obligatory shooting test to qualify for the Sharpshooters and he embarked with the original contingent of 17 men under Lieutenant Neville Methven on the RMS Saxon (ship) from Cape Town on the 22 April 1916.
They arrived at Borden in the United Kingdom on 10 May 1916 and were assigned to the second Brigade of the British First Division, which the 2nd Battalion was assigned. They were issued with Purdey SMLE sniper rifles which Sir Abe Bailey purchased for the sum of £13 6s 5p each, including a leather case and offset Aldis telescopes.

On the 07 June 1916 the BSAS were attached to the 2 Battalion Kings Royal Rifles which was part of the 2nd Brigade Ist Division of the British Army. It appears that they were split up into small groups to bolster various parts of the line as a counter to the German snipers.

The Baileys badges are exceedingly rare. The description given is oval (brass not cloth) with Baileys in the middle and South African Sharpshooters around the edges. These were shoulder badges and the cap and collar badges were standard SA Army.
(I would love to find one)
Mel

[Traist]

Hi Mel, I do have a badge in my collection. It is one of my prized possessions in my World War 1 collection. I will attach a picture. Regards Andrew

[PJT]

Mel,

Thanks very much for the info.

I only collect British WW1 infantry badges........thank goodness I don't collect SA badges as I can imagine the Sharpshooters title Andrew shows is virtually impossible to find.

Very, very nice.

All the best

Paul

[melcross]

Thanks Paul and Andrew for the photos.
The one of the badge is really lovely and the first one I have ever seen so at least I now have a photo of it.
As you say they are virtually impossible to find so no wonder you treasure it.
Mel

[Traist]

Thanks Mel, It is the only 1 I have ever seen. I hear tell that a guy in Jo'Burg also has one, but I don't know of any others. Regards Andrew

[Frank Kelley]

Mel,
I think it is very important to remember these are actually shoulder titles, the example here, worn by a member from Durban and shown along side a SAI Brigade title to illustrate that point, whilst they are not common, you would certainly expect around one hundred pieces actually being made at that point in time all those years ago, they would have all had a couple of pairs each.
Kind regards Frank

Originally Posted by melcross

Thanks Paul and Andrew for the photos.
The one of the badge is really lovely and the first one I have ever seen so at least I now have a photo of it.
As you say they are virtually impossible to find so no wonder you treasure it.
Mel