1/8th Bn Hampshires IOW Rifles Unknown

[Charlie585]

Good evening Gents,

Whilst searching online for something unrelated I came accross the details of the following Soldier:

Sjt 758 Reginald Harry Groves, 1/8th Bn Hampshire Regiment (Isle of Wight Rifles) Killed at Gallipoli 12th August 1915.


On the website in question there is a photograph of Sjt Groves, I expected him to be wearing the standard IOW Rifles badge but if you take a look you will see that he isn't.

Is anyone familiar with the badge that he is wearing?

http://www.isle-of-wight-memorials.o.../groves_rh.htm

Ry

Ry,

It looks like an RFC badge, to me.

Peter.

[Alan O]

Ry,

I don't recognise it at all. Odd because I cannot see any stripes either and if he died in early 1915 he would not have time to have transferred from a VTC or something like that. If it is RFC then they have the wrong photo!

Originally Posted by Alan O

Ry,

I don't recognise it at all. Odd because I cannot see any stripes either and if he died in early 1915 he would not have time to have transferred from a VTC or something like that. If it is RFC then they have the wrong photo!

Agreed, Alan, and strangely enough, there is a record for a 'Reginald Groves' who was with the RFC...

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/d...st%5Fdate+desc

PJ

[Alan O]

Too much of a coincidence. Mistaken identity it may well be.

[2747andy]

Certainly looks like RFC!

Andy

[Charlie585]

Thanks for the replies gents,

Quite intriguing this one. I see your point with the RFC badge Peter but remain unconvinced. I have studied the badge and compared it against a RFC badge and although there are distinct similarities there are differences. A bit of a S.W.A.G I know but my first thought was that it looked like a figure 8 in the centre!

Quite a coincidence that there was a Reginald groves in the RFC as well.

I see from your link to the NA that the Reginald groves from the 1/8th was ranked as a sapper prior to Lance Sjt. The RFC as you know was formed from the RE, another coincidence, probably!

Please see the following link which gives the provenance of the photo:

http://www.isle-of-wight-fhs.co.uk/photos.htm

Also on the page is a great shot of troops either returning from the Boer War or embarking for the Great War, The badges look like RA??

Regards to all.

Ry

[cossack]

Hi Ry,
It could well be that the picture was taken prior to a transfer - my Grandad joined up in the RFC then transferred to the E Surreys & finally the MGC to try & get to the front quicker. He then got shot through the knee & sent home fairly quickly too lol!
It could be that the pic of this chap is earlier in his service too?

Btw, thanks for the e-mail about the RM Museum, I will definitely have to chase that up mate!

Andy

[Charlie585]

Originally Posted by cossack

Hi Ry,
It could well be that the picture was taken prior to a transfer - my Grandad joined up in the RFC then transferred to the E Surreys & finally the MGC to try & get to the front quicker. He then got shot through the knee & sent home fairly quickly too lol!
It could be that the pic of this chap is earlier in his service too?

Btw, thanks for the e-mail about the RM Museum, I will definitely have to chase that up mate!

Andy

Hi Andy,

It would make sense if the photo was an early one of the chap during service as a Sapper in the RFC prior to transfer. It must be as Peter suggests a RFC badge after all.

Good to hear of you Grandad's service, some luck though! As for the article, my pleasure. I don't know why some of these military museums exist if they don't want to share the information that they hold, too much trouble I suppose! It's good to know that things may be improving in this particular instance.

Regards

Ry

[cossack]

Originally Posted by Charlie585

Hi Andy,

It would make sense if the photo was an early one of the chap during service as a Sapper in the RFC prior to transfer. It must be as Peter suggests a RFC badge after all.

Good to hear of you Grandad's service, some luck though! As for the article, my pleasure. I don't know why some of these military museums exist if they don't want to share the information that they hold, too much trouble I suppose! It's good to know that things may be improving in this particular instance.

Regards

Ry

Yep Ry,
It is daft that they don't share the info - as you well know they claimed to have nothing on my Great-Grandfather & lo & behold he is mentioned in that booklet you sent me!!!
I'm still intending to make the trip down at some point & will of course liase with you when I do.
In regard to my Grandad, I am fortunate to have a pic of him in his RFC uniform & then one in his hospital blues with his MGC cap on. He always considered himself to be very fortunate that he survived even though he walked with a stick for the rest of his life.
Regards....Andy

[Charlie585]

Originally Posted by cossack

Yep Ry,
It is daft that they don't share the info - as you well know they claimed to have nothing on my Great-Grandfather & lo & behold he is mentioned in that booklet you sent me!!!
I'm still intending to make the trip down at some point & will of course liase with you when I do.
In regard to my Grandad, I am fortunate to have a pic of him in his RFC uniform & then one in his hospital blues with his MGC cap on. He always considered himself to be very fortunate that he survived even though he walked with a stick for the rest of his life.
Regards....Andy

Hi Andy,

I do appreciate that the military museums must at times be inundated with requests for details of former members of the units that they represent and understand that many of these could become tiresome. I do feel though that if someone has a genuine enquiry and has made the effort do as much research as possible prior to a request then they could be helped. The proposed electronic archive and faces recognition facility that the RM Museum are proposing for the future sound like the way forward and I hope that in time that other military museums will be keen to follow their lead.

As for your Grandad, I would imagine that the wound he carried for the rest of his life was a reminder of his relative good fortune. I'm sure that countless young men had their illusions shattered in no uncertain terms and carried the memories with them for life. My Mrs's G' Grandad was the sole survivor of a particular unit action early in the war as a 16 year old, he survived the war but was haunted until the day he died by the horrors that he endured.

Regards

Ry

[4966Ian]

Hi there,

The following is the only connection I can think of between Hants and the RFC. I expect it confuses matters more than it helps, but here goes.

At Aldershot a couple of months back I noticed that Rod Flood had a shoulder title : T/RFC/HANTS

I have just re-checked Westlake (Page 45) and this is what it says :

"The Royal Flying Corps only had one Territorial element which was formed from personel of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough. The unit was known as the Hampshire Aircraft Parks and was disbanded after the 1st World War." Shoulder Title : T/RFC/HANTS (Fig. 565).

No mention of what Cap badge was worn.

As I said, probably clouds issues.....but you never know.


Cheers

Ian

[REMEVMBEA1]

I have scoured the CWGC website using all the combinations I can think of and can find no record of a R Graves who died in August 1915 , there are only 4 Graves with the initial R listed ,none of whom seem to be this man.

Originally Posted by REMEVMBEA1

I have scoured the CWGC website using all the combinations I can think of and can find no record of a R Graves who died in August 1915 , there are only 4 Graves with the initial R listed ,none of whom seem to be this man.

Hello R,

Here is the SDGW entry for our man:

Groves SDGW.jpg

...have you perhaps misspelt the surname?

In addition, the link Ry provided also contains a link to the CWGC site showing Sgt Groves' entry.

Regards,

Peter

I believe the the RFC Groves, and the IOW Groves, to be two separate men. The Groves who served with the RFC later transferred to the Notts & Derby Regt, which could explain the photo in Ry's link (assuming it is of the 'wrong' man):

Groves.jpgGroves RFC.jpg

Peter