Leading Seaman George Spencer MM

[Frank_East]

A couple of months ago I saw Item 212 to be auctioned at a local saleroom.

Item 212 was recorded as:

A collection of medals awarded to KP442 G Spencer LS; RNVR of the Rushey Arms,Babworth,Reford.These include the 1914-1915 Star,the British War Medal 1914-1920,the Allied Victory Medal and the Military Medal 1916,also his Death Plaque. A Certificate of Gallantantry at the Pyrenees Trench,Angres.Buckingham Palace Memorial Certificate,Birth Certificate,Royal Voluntary Reserve Service Service Certificate,Death Certificate.Photographs of himself ,his Bible and a hand written letter to himself sent from France by R Donaldson.

During the sale preview as I viewed this link with the past, a picture emerged of George Spencer,a rural hero and his background.

He was born to parents Charlotte Spencer (nee Day) and George Spencer, a Farm Labourer on 3 May 1892 at the Rushey Arms.His father George, apart from being a Farm Labourer also kept the Rushey Arms,an ale house incorporated into their home situated in a terraced row in Babworth.The terraced row still exists but the Rushey Arms is no more.

George enlisted on 10 September 1914 and joined the Crystal Palace 2nd Battery and served until 21 October 1914 at Victory V1.

From 22 October 1914 until 31 December 1914 he was transferred to Victory 1V and finally joined the Anson Battalion on New Years Day 1915.

There is no record when he went to France and the first evidence of this is the citation of 22 September 1916 which records on a Certificate of Gallantry that he "Behaved in a gallant and courageous manner in action on 14 September 1916 at the Pyrennes Trench, Angres". The Certificate was signed by Major General Sir Archbald Paris GOC 63rd RN Division.

He had also been awarded the Military Medal on a date in 1916 but the citation did not appear in the sale.

Shortly after this he was on leave when he received a personal letter from a R Donaldson whose address was "France" and who congratulated him on his bravery and suggested his award should be higher,hopes he is enjoying his leave and states that a Lieut Campbell and him are the only two people on leave from the battalion.

George returned from leave and within a few weeks was another casualty of the Somme.He was killed on 13 November 1916 and has now known grave .He is like so many, remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

M.G Sir Archibald Paris was wounded on 12 October 1916, retired in 1917 and died in October 1937 whilst living in Switzerland.

George's mother Charlotte received his Cerificate of Seaman's Will on 8 October 1919. In it it recorded:

Residue of Wages. £6 0 shillings 2d already remitted

Naval War Gratuity £13 10 shillings paid through PO Savings Bank.

Who was R Donaldson? I think it was Lieut Richard Donaldson, RNVR, Anson Battalion who was also to lose his life in France.He died on 5 September 1918 and is buried at Croisilles Railway Cemetery 8 miles south of Arras.

It would appear that Lieut Campbell survived the war.

The auction started at £300 and the item was knocked down for £1150.It was bought by a regular to these sales as I was informed and would likely to be sold on.

[michaeldr]

Frank,

Very many thanks for the above; a marvellous tale and one which immediately prompted me to go to my bookshelves. If I may, I would like to add the following.

The KP prefix indicates that George was 1 of the 2560 Kitchener’s Army recruits who were transferred across to the RND. Other prefixes were KW, and KX. Numbers KP/1 to KP/1002 were re-enrolled at Crystal Palace [hence the ‘P’ after the ‘K’ for Kitchener] on 10 Sep 1914.

The above is from John H. Morcombe’s book “If you’re alive speak, if your dead don’t bother” which also gives the additional detail that George was one of two casualties that day who were serving with the 188th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery. The other casualty was Sub-Lt Joshua Lawrence Oates.

The Muster Roll for the Anson Batt. At 3rd May 1916 gives Lt. A. Campbell and Sub-Lt R. Donaldson. However I think that the 188th Trench Mortar Battery may be the true clue to the relationship between these three, who were all members of it at some time.

Douglas Jerrold’s history of the RND informs that when the brigade Trench Mortar Batteries were formed from volunteers from the different battalions, the 188th was commanded by Lt Alan Campbell RNVR. At the same Battle of the Ancre, a large and heavily armed redoubt had caused devastating slaughter amongst the RND. This position was eventually subdued by tanks; “….the leading tank was steered into position by Alan Campbell himself and a brisk bombardment by six-pounders soon brought this formidable stronghold to reason. The whole garrison some 600 strong were marched back to our lines by a party of Dublin Fusiliers.”

Campbell was promoted to Lt-Commander and transferred the Howe Battalion where he was 2nd in command to Commander West. These two were killed together at Welsh Ridge by a shell falling just outside their battalion HQ [30 Dec 1917: Lt-Comdr Alan Urquhart Campbell RNVR is buried at the Metz-en-Couture Communal Cemetery, British Extension]

Jerrold wrote “Alan Campbell who with his genius for friendship, his inevitable high spirits, his audacious temperament, equally auspicious on the battle field and at the card table was a tradition in a division where personalities were not rare.”

George’s correspondent, Lt. Richard Donaldson was killed in action at Inchy on 5th Sept 1918 while serving with the Anson Batt., attached 188th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery. I note that the CWGC do not mention his decorations, however Len Sellers’ “RND” gives DSO and MC.

Len also has Alan Campbell as receiving the MC.

Donaldson is the lean, pale face at the centre of the photograph below.

The photograph and additional details are from Len Sellers’ “RND” magazines.

Best regards

Michael D.R.

[michaeldr]

Quote: “George’s correspondent, Lt. Richard Donaldson was killed in action at Inchy on 5th Sept 1918 while serving with the Anson Batt., attached 188th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery. I note that the CWGC do not mention his decorations, however Len Sellers’ “RND” gives DSO and MC.

Len also has Alan Campbell as receiving the MC.”

My apologies to the CWGC – I failed to complete the second part of the trace

The CWGC do in fact show Donaldson’s MC which was gazetted 1 Jan 1918 [but not a DSO (?)]

They also show Campbell as having been awarded the MM and the French Croix de Guerre. I wonder if the MM shouldn’t be MC? [As I understand it the MM was instituted on 25 March 1916 for NCOs]

Regards

Michael D.R.

[michaeldr]

I am still reading around this fascinating subject and have on Campbell, from a paper first given at Sandhurst by Capt Christopher Page RN, former Head of Defence Studies at the Min of Defence;

“In the night, the three survivors of the six tanks which set out from Beausart on the afternoon of the 13th had arrived in the British front line area from Auchonvillers before dawn on the 14th. Here they were met by Lieutenant Alan Campbell RNVR, of the 188th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery, (son of the actress Mrs Patrick Campbell), who had been charged with directing them towards the enemy redoubt. Campbell boarded the leading tank and personally steered it towards the enemy line: a chance 5.0 inch shell knocked out one of them but under cover of darkness and a thick, benign mist, the two surviving tanks, directed by Campbell, pressed on doggedly over No Man’s Land. But both stuck in the thick mud before being able to overrun the German position, but the psychological effect of their arrival so near to the strongpoint, reinforced by close range bombardment from the tanks’ 6 pounder guns caused the Germans to raise the white flag immediately. There was some delay in the surrender, but when the tank crew advanced down the trench with their Hotchkiss guns, 2 officers and 400 men gave themselves up.”

From Len Sellers “RND” magazine No.2, Sept 1997

If I find anything further on George then I will of course get back to you

Regards

Michael D.R.

[michaeldr]

the citation of 22 September 1916 which records on a Certificate of Gallantry that he "Behaved in a gallant and courageous manner in action on 14 September 1916 at the Pyrennes Trench, Angres". The Certificate was signed by Major General Sir Archbald Paris GOC 63rd RN Division.

Frank,

I am attaching a photograph below which shows the

“Trench Cross Roads, Angres Sector, Bully Alley and Pyrenees [sic] Trench. Royal Naval Division, August – September 1916. Imp War Mus. Ref Q 14740”

From Len Sellers’ ‘RND’ magazine No.11 December 1999

I cannot find a ref to the specific incident for which George got his Certificate of Gallantry, however Jerrold has the following which [caveat] almost coincides with the date mentioned

“The life of the Division in the new sector was almost uniformly without incidents of individual importance. The Brigade and Divisional diaries chronicle, indeed, only one which can be characterized as an active operation – a highly successful raid by the Anson Battalion, on September 10th, carried out to secure an identification, badly needed to check enemy movements to and from the main battlefield of the Somme. The raid was carried out by Lieutenant F. C. Mundy, Sub-Lieut. W. B. Moir and twelve other ranks of the battalion at 5 a.m. on an enemy sap opposite the northernmost Angres sub-sector, and the party captured a prisoner belonging to the 103rd Saxon Regiment, 23rd Saxon Reserve Division, 12th Reserve Corps. In the course of the raid Lieutenant Mundy was seriously, and Lieutenant Moir and one man slightly wounded. But the information had been gained.

This incident, apart from life of the trenches, or in support in Bully Grenay, in Noulette Wood, or on Lorette spur, became a matter of routine, varied only by occasional activities on the part of the specialists, who would discharge gas, or conduct a ten minutes’ intensive bombardment, or blow up a crater, with no very great interest in the result, but just to keep their hand in and annoy the enemy.”

Regards

Michael D.R.

The sign to the left of that showing 'Bully Alley' reads

"To Firing Line"

Regret that even on the large repro I cannot make out what the sign beneath 'Pyrenees' says

Edited 8 August , 2004 by michaeldr

[Frank_East]

Michael,

Many thanks for your very informative contribution to the battle operations of the Anson Battalion and the personalities involved. It is just a snapshot of the endeavours experienced by the ordinary men at the front line but representative of what had to be endured as the trench warfare on the Western Front

George Spencer looked so splendid and smart in his naval uniform.His mother must have kept the personal collection intact and in the family.It is so disappointing to see such an historical collection, so complete end up in a third party hands.

As for George,he probably thought that he was destined to join the Sherwood Foresters as so many from this area did in both wars.When we are next at Thiepval,I will seek out his name and remember him,

The question I would ask is,why were army recruits transferred to the navy if their future role was one of being soldiers. Why were they not ranked as marines?.

Regards

Frank East

[michaeldr]

As for George,he probably thought that he was destined to join the Sherwood Foresters as so many from this area did in both wars.When we are next at Thiepval,I will seek out his name and remember him,

The question I would ask is,why were army recruits transferred to the navy if their future role was one of being soldiers. Why were they not ranked as marines?.

Frank,

I think that I can best answer your question as follows:

Some years before the outbreak of the war the Committee for Imperial Defence agreed on a force of RMs to seize, fortify and defend any naval bases required by the Fleet or an Army in the field. At the outbreak of war it was decided to strengthen this force of RMs with the addition of Naval Brigades. This was possible because of the availability of a considerable number of Naval reservists for whom no sea-going berth was available. [ I believe that a large proportion of these reserves were stokers no longer required by a fleet which was rapidly changing over from coal to oil fuel.]

Kitchener welcomed this idea and said so in one of his first speeches in the House of Lords as Secretary for War. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, then got the bit between his teeth and decided that his Naval Brigades should form a Royal Naval Division with a strength equal to a regular Army division, however to match the latter objective he needed yet more men.

Fortunately there had been an overwhelming response to Kitchener’s call for volunteers to the extent that many could not be absorbed into the Army at once and were sent home as reserves. Kitchener agreed that Churchill could take over some of these men to make up the numbers in his Royal Naval Division; Churchill wanted about 4000 and Kitchener gave him just over 3000. * These men were drawn from the rolls of regiments in the north of England such as the Notts & Derby, the DLI, the Northumberland Fusiliers and the KOYLI. I do not know exactly how the choice of regiments was made, however John Morcombe suggests that being made up primarily of miners and labourers these men provided the entrenching skill which would otherwise have been lacking in the Naval Brigades.

Churchill in some of his Admiralty Minutes of September 1914 refers to these men as “Kitchener recruits” and for most of them that designation remained with them for the rest of their service, in the form of the ‘K’ prefix to their number.

[sources as previously.]

Once again Frank, many thanks for raising this topic; it has given me a great deal of pleasure to read around it for the last few days. It was particularly nice to learn of the close relationship between George and his officers. This is not something which one automatically thinks of as possible in those class ridden days, however perhaps the small, compact nature of a Trench Mortar Battery allowed all parties to work/live closer together and in a more ‘normal’ relationship?

I am not a medal collector and know little of such matters, but I cannot help wondering if the [albeit remote] connection to the actress Mrs Patrick Campbell might increase the price of this group when it is sold on.

It will be nice if can see his name when next you visit Thiepval; I shall have to content myself with raising a glass to George, Richard and Alan who gave so much.

With best regards

Michael D.R.

* George was one of aprox 2550 men who were transferred from the Army on or about 10th Sept 1914. They were required by the Naval Brigades and so were enrolled into the RNVR. A further aprox 600 men were transferred from the Army the next week and these men entered the RMLI

Edited 11 August , 2004 by michaeldr