liverpool annie Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 I would appreciate any help you could give me please ...... this is all I have on his WW1 service ... I don't have access to Ancestry right now but I did find his medal card on TNA In WW1 although only seventeen he eventually became a 2nd Lieut. in the Royal Field Artillery and after several postings in the British Isles saw service in Flanders on the Ypres Salient and in France at Cambrai and St. Quentin. In 1918 he developed bronchitis aggravated by chlorine gas and was invalided back to hospital in England. He recovered enough to be declared fit about the time of the armistice but was never posted or formally demobilised Medal card of Wheatley, Dennis Yates Royal Field Artillery Lieutenant Date 1914-1920 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=1 Thanking you in advance Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Annie, Is that Dennis Wheatley the writer? I'm pretty certain he wrote an autobiography if it is. I can't recall the name of the book but there is a photo of him in uniform on the cover. Regards, Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liverpool annie Posted 19 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Hi Scott ! Yes! ..... he is the writer !!!! I have quite a bit on him during WW2 but I'd like to find out more about his service in WW1 if I can ! Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Annie, I think its called "An officer and Temporary Gentleman". It definitely covers his First World War service. There may be a second part- I'm not sure as its been a while since I last saw it. That should give you enough to find the book though. My Dad's always been a big fan of his. His writing is a bit on the dark side. Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liverpool annie Posted 19 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Thanks Scott ! I'll look for it ! .... he had quite a career in WW2 .... interesting man !! Thanks for your help !! Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 That's the book, though I have the title as just Officer and Temporary Gentleman. In November 1916, Wheatley was with the 2/1st City of London Royal Field Artillery near Imber on Salisbury Plain. (That's the village that was taken over for military training in 1943).His unit suffered terribly in the wet conditions. He had been a bit happier in August at Heytesbury House, later to become the home of Siegfried Sassoon, and was even more so when billeted in Tilshead, where he got on very well with the wife of a local racehorse trainer. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redcar68 Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 I hope this works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 DW is featured in Chapter 6 of 'Famous 1914-1918' which I was given this week, but have not yet consumed. On page 105 it says '..serving with No. 1 Section, Diviisional Ammunition Column, 36th (Ulster) Div, RFA...' P. 108... arrived in France Aug 1917. He had earlier joined the Westminster Dragoons (Aug 1914)... There is more but it is lunchtime. Daggers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Armstrong Custer Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Coincidentally just yesterday I posted an insight into Wheatley's idiosyncratic personality in Skindles HERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 This is the first time since having my 's' removed from Old Sweats that I have missed out on a Skindles visit! D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Armstrong Custer Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 This is the first time since having my 's' removed from Old Sweats that I have missed out on a Skindles visit! D Just for you, here's the link to Wheatley material which I posted in Skindles, D: Letter To Posterity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 George Thank you for the material, which is referred to in 'his' chapter in the book I cited - it says that it was buried in his garden, and I expect that more will be uncovered when I click on the BBC link. Annie and others: Having digested some more of the Wheatley chapter and a sandwich, I can correct my statement that DW joined the Westminster Dragoons - he tried but failed as he could not ride. He had previously been sacked from Dulwich College, and was four years at the training ship HMS Worcester, where potential Merchant Navy officers were trained. After failing to get into the WDs, DW was recommended to the 1/4 City of London Bn, Royal Fusiliers, but when realising the amount of marching required, he turned to the 1st (City of London) Battery, RFA, and was in due course commissioned. The chapter (and probably the rest of the book when I get round to it) is well worth reading, as DW was not a typical officer, managing to cut off his horse's ear with a sword among other adventures. Daggers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Armstrong Custer Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 George Thank you for the material, No problem - it's Christmas! I must take a leaf through the 'Famous' book you mention - I'd seen it in Waterstone's but didn't have time to pick it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 I have the book somewhere, but haven't read it for a few years now. If I remember correctly, Wheatley spent quite a long time in the cushy job of RA officer in charge of a railway loop, where trains came in, equipment was unloaded, once or twice a day. This gave him lots of time off, and lots of opportunity for preeening himself as he walked around wearing his two Colt .45 automatic pistols. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liverpool annie Posted 19 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Thank you all so much for the information .... thank you Brian also for the MIC and welcome to the Forum ! Dennis ran with the "big boys" in WW2 but I couldn't find his WW1 service .... he had an interesting way of thinking that's for sure !! Now I have to get the book ! ..... he was supposedly gassed but I haven't found anything on that yet ! Thanks again for your help ! Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Banning Posted 19 December , 2008 Share Posted 19 December , 2008 http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...howtopic=109966 http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...howtopic=105559 There have been a couple of book reviews to the ‘Famous 1914-1918’ book by Richard van Emden and Vic Puik. It is thoroughly recommended and will give you the Great War service of many personalities. I was rereading the Wheatley section after reading this thread and am sure it will be of great interest to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liverpool annie Posted 19 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2008 Thank you J .... I'll look for it ! Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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