Yorts Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 It is interesting to note that many who would have been instrumental in orchestrating Britain's part in WW1 volunteered in very early days to serve. This stands out to me in stark contrast to the current campaign in Iraq, with parliamentry opposition to the war very strong and even those who have made the politcal decision to send 'our boys' out there not actually fighting themselves. I wonder if Mr Blair would do a tour? Does anyone know of any MP / Lord who currently is serving in the armed forces / reserves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 28 April , 2004 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Secondly, if a serving MP was killed, there would presumably be a bye election. How did the absent voter system work exactly during the Great War? I'm well aware of the lists, using them as a research tool. Also, if a regular officer in the Indian army wanted to vote, could he? Given that he probably would not have been resident in the UK for a considerable period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Wedgwood Benn [the father of Tony Benn] fought at Gallipoli and wrote a book about it after the war. Another Wedgwood, J. C. [Josiah Clement (?)] no relation, but a close friend of Wedgwood Benn, was also an MP and he was the officer in charge of the maxims placed on the bows of the ‘River Clyde’ giving covering fire on the 25th April 1915. After the war J. C. Wedgwood, like yet another soldier MP – Churchill, crossed the floor of the house to join a different party, however whereas Churchill turned right, J. C. Wedgwood turned left, joining the Labour party and becoming a minister in one of the first Labour administrations. Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Not to forget:Lt Col; W.L.S.Churchill ,never one to miss a Good fight!In or Out of the house;who served with the Yeomanry Hussars, ;The Pics are they from War Ilustrated,They carried a whole series of Photographs of MPs & Peers Who Served & those who were KiA DOAS,Etc.Harold MacMillan won an MC,Clement Atllee was also an Officer,Very New Labour!As Far as "Tone" with Rifle & Bayonet,I cannot envisage him doing a "Johnny Rambo";Peter Mandelson possibly but thats another story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Michael, I saw an M.P. on TV recently talking about his experiences in Iraq. He is a Reservist(possibly Medic) but I can't remember his name or Constituency. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 An excellent example set by the men who sent the army to fight - I have visions of one Pte T Blair on foot patrol in Basra Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Following MP's are commemorated on the Menin Gate: O'NEILL, Captain, The Hon. ARTHUR EDWARD BRUCE, "A" Sqdn. 2nd Life Guards. Killed in action 6th November 1914. Age 38. Member of Parliament for Mid-Antrim and the first M.P. to be killed during the Great War. Son of 2nd Baron O'Neill and Lady O'Neill, of Shanes Castle, Antrim, Ireland; husband of Lady Annabel O'Neill (now Lady Annabel Dodds). BELL, Captain, WILLIAM HENRY DILLON, 1st King Edward's Horse. 31st July 1917. Age 33. M.P in New Zealand. Son of the Hon. Sir Francis Bell, G.C.M.G., and Lady Bell, of Wellington, New Zealand. Not a British MP but fought in a British Unit. Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john w. Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 A number came back and were elected as MPs later... does that count.. such as Ernest Thurtle I believe.. campaigner for the SAD issue John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 AUBREY HERBERT entered Parliament in 1911 as Conservative member for the Yeovil Division of Somerset, a constituency which he held till his death. He had resigned his commission in his yeomanry regiment, the North Devon Hussars, in 1913, and consequently on the outbreak of war he was free to obtain a commission in the Irish Guards. He landed with them in France on August 13th. His book ‘Mons, Anzac & Kut’ covered his early war years and afterwards he was an intelligence officer at Salonika, and later in Italy, and in the last months of the war he was the head of the English Mission attached to the Italian Army in Albania, when he had the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He died on September 26th, 1923. [cobbled from Desmond MacCarthy’s introduction to ‘M, A, & K’] Regard Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
priv Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Surely the most well known must be the following: Lt WGC Gladstone 1st Bn Royal Weslh Fusiliers KIA 13/04/15 MP for Kilmarnock Burghs from 1911 Grandson of the Prime minister Buried at the family plot in Hawarden, Clwyd. When reading this thread I recalled an article somewhere about how the family used influence to have his body repatriated. This as you can imagine caused considerable uproar and a bit of a headache for the Government. priv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Lt Col John Ward, MP for Stoke on Trent and Trades Union leader who raised three battalions of the Middlesex Regiment and who commanded the 25th Battalion in Hong Kong and Siberia. Terry Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 The top MP in the early war years got a 1914 star trio - click here to see the details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Quote Middlebrook: "Their most important captive was the only officer taken from the Ulster Division. This was Captain Charles Craig, MP for South Antrim, who has been on the leaders in the formation of the Ulster Division in 1914 when he had ordered the first 10,000 uniforms. He was badly wounded in the Schwaben Redoubt late in the afternoon just as the Ulsters were being forced back and had to be left behind. Craig was a large man whom the Germsn considered too heavy to be carried on a strecther. They found a wheelbarrow and pushed him back to an ambulance." I also think he became great champion of POW rights. Des PS I have a great pic of Arthur O'Neill in full dress uniform, breast plate etc. Will try and post. Shane's Castle RANDALSTOWN was a convalescent depot for Scottish soldiers during the war. It was also used at the start as a training area for Ulster Div. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Lt-Comdr. J. C. Wedgwood MA. MP. RNVR [see my earlier post] also got in into the action early, gaining the 1914 Star & Clasp with the RNAS. After Gallipoli, Wedgwood transferred to the Army, with the rank of major, and if anyone has any details of his army service then I should be pleased to learn more. I know that he was one of the driving forces behind getting, albeit belatedly, recognition and the VC for Sub-Lt A. W. StC. Tisdall. He wrote to Tisdall’s father signing himself “Major, formerly commanding Maxim guns on River Clyde” Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnethmont Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Des I would be most interested in having a copy of the picture of Capt O'Neill. His sister married Charles Leith-Hay of Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire. Their only son Charles, the last Laird of Leith Hall was killed in a tragic accident at the beginning of WW2, age 21. This brought the line to an end. Details on my website at www.kinnethmont.co.uk/soldiers/chas-leith-hay.htm Check links from images for further details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Sorted - check your e-mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 We don`t appear to have many soldierly types among modern politicians. Difficult to think how T.Blair and P Mandelson could be best employed in the service! There are a few though. Patrick Mercer MP is/was a full colonel and ex-CO of the Notts & Derbys. (He also has been a guide on battlefield tours in USA, Crimea etc) Phil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 28 April , 2004 Share Posted 28 April , 2004 Does anyone know of any MP / Lord who currently is serving in the armed forces / reserves? Current or at least recent ones are the Duke of Westminster and the Major the Lord Morpeth (Light Infantry). The latter was acting in a DS role on a course I attended at the School of Infantry in the late 80s. One of my 19th London officers was Rt Honourable Felix Cassell, MP for St Pancras who went to France with the 1/19th on 10 March 1915 and who was wounded at Loos. He became Judge Advocate General in 1916. There is more about him on this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Desmond6 Posted 29 April , 2004 Share Posted 29 April , 2004 First MP killed - pic as requested Cheers Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted 29 April , 2004 Share Posted 29 April , 2004 Des Unless I am greatly mistaken Captain O'Neill's son was Terence O'Neill the future PM of Nortern Ireland. Trooper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnethmont Posted 29 April , 2004 Share Posted 29 April , 2004 Trooper You are quite correct, Capt O'Neil went missing in Nov 1914, presumed killed, shortly after arriving in Flanders. His youngest son, Terence, was born in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Humphrey Posted 30 April , 2004 Share Posted 30 April , 2004 To answer the original question (although off the Forum's main topic) I know one MP and one member of the House of Lords who are in the Territorial Army and have both served recently in Iraq, although they could possibly have claimed exemption has they so chosen to do. (Links at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5470-603666,00.html and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3004920.stm). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stevenbec Posted 30 April , 2004 Share Posted 30 April , 2004 There are also numbers of both State and Federal MP's fighting in the AIF. There is now in Pariment a Labor back bencher who fought in Viet nam and had both legs blown off in a mine accident. We do have a small number of ex Reserve officers (Territorals) in differant levels of both State and federal goverments. But few if any with Regular service and few with war expirence. S.B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Northumberland Posted 18 June , 2004 Share Posted 18 June , 2004 Whatever the right's or wrongs of any conflict surely no-one would expect a Prime Minister to fight in it; as for the current lot of MPs unless one was a Territorial they couldn't anyway; even if we had a conscript army and an MP wanted to volunteer most wouldn't be accepted on age grounds as after the 2001 General Election, the average age of MPs at Westminster was 49.83 years. Over half of all MPs (340 MPs or 51.6%) were over 50. 10 MPs were over 70. 83 were aged 60-69 and 247 were aged 50-59. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 18 June , 2004 Share Posted 18 June , 2004 Tommy Agar-Robartes was, I am told, likely to have become Prime Minister if he had not been killed in WW1. Look at http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showt...l=agar-robartes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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