Guest Dolores Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 First thanks to Steve for his info on the PRO page that I needed, sorry that I misread your name in my reply. My husband's grandfather was in the 25th Batallion Royal Fusiliers. I understand that this was made up of men who had previously served in Africa. This fits as he was in the Boer War. None of the family agree on his history, where he was born even age etc. The only known facts about him were that he had served in the Boer War & WW1. Luckily his wife put his regiment on the birth certificate of their 3rd son who was born in 1915. I paid a researcher to find out if his records survived and wanted to do this medal search to confirm his findings, I can't find his reply at the moment but from memory they do. My husband's grandfather's name was Charles William Edwards and in 1916 he was awarded the Royal Humane Society medal for saving the life of a man off Kilindini, the man had got into difficulties whilst swimming. My next step, I suppose id to try to find out any Boer War records. The results of the medal search are as follows: Edwards C W 25/Royal Fusiliers, The Queens regiment rank private Regiment no.14991 G80885 Medal roll page Victory E/1/101B19 3762 there is a X with a dot in each section next to the word "victory" British as do I add ? to both these as are hard to read 15 star? E/1/2C 38 the ? is mine Theatre of war served in (4a) Africa Date of entry therein 10.4.15 Remarks Class Z 30.3.19 BM/34008 and someone has written Identical? on this part I understand some of this but not all, would be glad of interpretation. This man lived until 1955 and I can't believe his grandchildren, all of whom say they were close to him, can know so little about him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Ayup Delores, Well!! 25th Fusiliers (Frontiersmen) served in East Africa from 1915 to early 1917. Their commander being Jerry Driscol of the Driscol Scouts. http://www.frontiersmenhistorian.info/fusiliers.htm Kilindini is the harbour district of Mombassa and was the landing port for the East African campaign until Dar Es Salaam was captured late 1916. The 25th served with the 3rd East African Infantry Brigade under General Shepherd from March 1916 and after a campaign through the east of what is now Tanzania progressed down to the Rufigi River from where they were demobilised to South Africa for 3 months rest. A very interesting unit and worth getting the War diary for. NIGEL who is in the forum, his grandfather was with the 25th, Steve Eeeles also has some connection I believe so you will, no doubt get a few responses. My grandfather was also in East Africa but in a different Inf Bge. to the 25th. Roop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolores Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Thanks Roof, I had a potted history given to me about the 25th battalion. that they were called the Frontiersmen and took heavy casualties. How would I be able to obtain a copy of the war diary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Hi Dolores His children may not have known much as veterans rarely spoke of their activities, and as such, much info gets 'lost' down the years. Class Z is basically the 'lowest' class of reserves, suggesting he may have been wounded, or his age put him over the ideal limit for service perhaps? The rest, ill leave to the experts I think!! Good luck to you Dolores; hope you crack it & get to tell his story. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Hello Dolores Basically there isnt much left on the 25th Battalion Frontiersmen, most of the stuff i have found is from people like yourself who had a relative in this Battalion. The kind of official website is basically useless for info. The 25th was made up of special people who had had other military experience not only in Africa or the Boar war. At this present time i am trying to do something with the help of a friend which may bring more to light of this Battalion and at the same time unearth some more info before it disappears alltogether, and if you have anything you can let me see regarding your relative i would be very grateful, contact me off forum if you want via PM+email. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Nigel old son. Have you checked for war diaries on the 25th??? I havn't but it seems increasingly necessary that I may, as it interacts with stuff I'm doing. Roop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Hi Roop I have the diary up to when my gg grandad died which was very early on, it was care of Steve who may have the full diary, but he no longer replies to my emails so perhaps you may get through to him. Most of my stuff has come from the few people around the world who had relatives and i found these people on other forums and message boards all over the internet, so what i have is kind of personal imfo from those who served. One man was going to write a book, but didnt think it was very good reading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolores Posted 7 November , 2004 Share Posted 7 November , 2004 Hi Nigel I notice that one of your forebears switched services. The family story re Charles Edwards was that he was in the Boer Wat, then the Royal Navy until 1908, then the army again 1915-1918. I had been told that this was highly unlikely. You seem to show that it did happen though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 7 November , 2004 Share Posted 7 November , 2004 Yes Dolores, i didnt know it was supposed to be rare. What stuff have you on your relation in the 25th. PM or email me if you dont want to put it here Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmsk212 Posted 7 November , 2004 Share Posted 7 November , 2004 Hi Dolores On the Medal Index Card the small cross with a dot in each corner will be next to the Regiment, Rank and Number that will be marked on his Medals. This is done when a man has several ranks, numbers or Regiments listed on the Card so that you know which one is relevant to his medals. If his 1914/15 Star was marked differently to the War & Victory medals this will probably be indicated by a small cross, without dots in each corner. Class Z (Army Reserve). This was the most common form of Reserve and I believe it meant that after demobilisation the Soldier was in the Reserves for the period of one year and could in theory be re-called at any time during the year. Their paperwork on discharge to Class Z usually had an address for them to report to should they be re-called. Theatre of War 4a Africa was :- British East Africa, German East Africa, Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Uganda. The numbers after Victory are the reference numbers to the War & Victory Rolls in which your husband's grandfathers medals will be noted. The "do" in the War Medal section simply means "ditto". The 1914/15 Star reference number is for the Roll in which his Star appears, these were seperate Rolls to the War & Victory rolls. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 7 November , 2004 Share Posted 7 November , 2004 He couldnt have been recalled for the 25th, it was a voluntary Battalion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmsk212 Posted 7 November , 2004 Share Posted 7 November , 2004 He couldnt have been recalled for the 25th, it was a voluntary Battalion. I didn't say he was serving with the 25th Battalion Royal Fusiliers when he was discharged. If you look at his Medal Index Card you will see that in fact he was serving as Private G/80885 The Queen's Regiment when he was discharged. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 9 November , 2004 Share Posted 9 November , 2004 Dolores Could you answer my question please---What info have you got on the 25th and your relatives time with them ???? Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolores Posted 9 November , 2004 Share Posted 9 November , 2004 Hi Nigel Sorry meant to do it then forgot - old age! I am attaching the report that I received from the researcher that I employed. I can tell you nothing more for the moment. The man in question was also in the Boer War and apparently any records for that would have been in his WW1 records, which must be amongst those that were destroyed. All we know is that he received a medal from the Royal humane Society for saving a mans life in March 1916, the officers & crew of a ship presented him with a watch in recognition of the act. We have this watch. The only elderly member of the family still living is Charles William Edwards' daughter-in-law and she hated the older members of the family and refuses to talk about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolores Posted 9 November , 2004 Share Posted 9 November , 2004 Sorry will try attachment again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolores Posted 9 November , 2004 Share Posted 9 November , 2004 Well Nigel I tried attaching the report many ways before I realised that whichever format I saved it in it was too large for the attachment limit of 200Kb I have Jpeg, word & Adobe Acrobat, all formats were too large. So here goes the old fashioned way! Basically the family knows little of their grandfather's war experiences. He was in the Boer War & supposedly received many medals & a gift of land. Family stories! Then we knew he had been in WW1 because we have a watch inscribed by the men & officers of SS Bandra for a plucky deed at sea March 1916, on this he is described as Pte Edwards. I put the inscription out on another forum and was directed to the Royal Humane Society's website where it explained that he & a sepoy had saved two men from drowning off the coast of Kilidini. Then on his third son's birth certificate it names the battalion. So I engaged a researcher to find his records. This is a summary of what he wrote: "Private 14981 Charles William Edwards, 25th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, later Pte G/80885 Royal West Surrey Regiment. Unfortunately no service record survives - the relevant PRO film references were (burned series) WO363/E132 and misfile film no 36, (unburned series) WO364/1108, 4913, 5179 and 5803. First overseas date was 10/4/15 (embarkation) Transferred to RWS Regt, date and batallion number not given. Discharged to Class Z Army Reserve 30/3/19. The 25th RF returned to UK at the end of 1917 and were disbanded in England 29/6/18. This will explain the transfer to the RWS Regt." This is only a summary of the pertinent points of the report, I have posted an enquiry about the medal cards on another posting in the forum, there I have put all the details from the card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolores Posted 9 November , 2004 Share Posted 9 November , 2004 To Nigel, Roop & the 2 Steves Thank you for all the help that you have given me, I feel that I am getting to know more about this man from you than I get from his family. All I need to do now is find out where he came from & I'll be away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 10 November , 2004 Share Posted 10 November , 2004 Dolores Try www.rootschat.com and post info there someone may help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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