In Memory - Drake Battalion, Royal Navy Brigade

2nd Clarinet · In Memory - Drake Battalion, Royal Navy Brigade

25th April.

The 25th April every year is known as ANZAC Day. The following members of the Royal Marines Band Service gave their lives while serving with Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Brigade, during the Gallipoli campaign.

Musicians S.J. Billings, B.l. Kensey and A.J. Harper.

I have posted below, the circumstances of that campaign.

Gallipoli War Memorial

Royal Naval Division 1914 (Band and Corps of Drums on right)

Royal Naval Division - Gallipoli Campaign uniform

Royal Naval Division going 'Over the top'

The Allied landing and subsequent campaign on the peninsula during World War I, is usually known in Britain as the Dardanelles Campaign and in Turkey as the Battle of Çanakkale.
In Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland, the terms Gallipoli Campaign or just Gallipoli alone are used to describe the eight month campaign.

In early 1915, in an attempt to seize the strategic advantage in the War, the British authorized an attack on the peninsula in an attempt to seize Constantinople.

The first phase was purely naval on the Allied side, as Lord Kitchener would not authorize troops to be shifted from the Western Front. The lead British Admiral had a crisis of nerves, and his second-in-command withdrew after one day with moderate casualties. Kitchener then authorized a combined naval-army operation, but the element of surprise was long gone.

On April 25, 1915, a force of British Empire and French troops landed at multiple places along the peninsula. The battles over the next eight months saw high casualties on both sides due to the exposed terrain, weather and closeness of the front lines. In addition, many casualties resulted from an epidemic of dysentery, caused by poor sanitary conditions.

The New Zealand Wellington Battalion reached, and briefly occupied, the high point of Chunuk Bair, before being beaten back by Turkish troops who were never again dislodged from the summit.

The subsequent Allied withdrawal meant an end to the idea of defeating the Ottoman Empire quickly, as well as the possibility of gaining a victory over the major Central Powers enemy -- Germany -- through an attack on the "soft underbelly" of its power.

The campaign is often referred to for its successful stealthy retreat which was completed with minimal casualties, the ANZAC forces completely retreating by December 19, 1915 and the remaining British elements by January 9, 1916.

Total Allied deaths were around 21,000 British, 10,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders and 1,370 Indians. Total Turkish deaths were around 86,700 - nearly twice as many as all the Allies combined.
New Zealanders suffered the highest percentage of Allied deaths when compared with population size, but the percentage of Turkish deaths was almost twice theirs.

This campaign has become a "founding myth" for both Australia and New Zealand, and Anzac Day is still commemorated as a holiday in both countries. In fact, it is one of those rare battles that both sides seem to remember proudly.

The Turks consider it a great turning point for their (future) nation and Australians and New Zealanders see it as the beginnings of the ANZAC spirit.

The Gallipoli campaign gave an important boost to the career of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a little-known army commander who became a national hero, was promoted to Pasha, and became the founder of the modern Turkish state with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, at the end of World War I.
Kemal halted and eventually repelled the Allied advance, exceeding his authority and contravening orders to do so.
His famous speech "I do not command you to fight, I command you to die. In the time it will take us to die we can be replenished by new forces" shows his courageous and determined personality.
Following Mustafa Kemal's command to die; the 57th Regiment led by lieutenant colonel Hüseyin Avni, fulfilled the order where the entire regiment fell.

Years after the war, mass graves of the deceased were being re-opened for identity determination and for carrying the soldiers to their final resting places. During this relocation for cemeteries, bodies of two men were found bayoneting each other and locked together.
They were identified as 1st lieutenant Mustafa Asim from 6th Company of the 57th regiment and Captain J. L. Woiters from British Corps.
They had fallen in a position where Mustafa Asim was holding the cross on Woiters’ neck and Woiters was holding an amulet of Quran on Asim’s neck. They were re-buried together.
Their name tags and weapons were handed to authorities.

To those named above, the other members of the Royal Naval Division, ships company’s and Commonwealth soldiers who also died…..R.I.P.

Nick B

Great bit of research Bob!

Rest in peace to all above

admin

Cracking stuff!

sticky blue

RIP to all

eric the red

Good work 2nd clarinet- it's often overlooked that members of the RMBS lost their lives in land actions as well as at sea.

RIP to all

Wee Mac

Thanks for that Bob ! Keep searching.

RIP

Hornblower

StickyBlue

StickyBlue

Well done yet again Bob,
Just to add my own personal note to your tribute, my Grandfather, CH 19329 Pte C.H. Puddle RMLI, served in the RND in the Dardanelles Campaign and I have the photo below of the lucky few from his Company that survived and returned the the UK via Egypt. He is the 2nd from the left rear rank.

Auxilio Divino = With the Help of God

Also the RND were made up of a great many Army ranks with the help from the Gurkhas (see below). The Gurkhas were in fact the only troops to make any real significant advance, only to be almost wiped out by the Naval Artillery support from the ships anchored off giving the Artillery support who did not realise how far forward the Gurkhas had got !!!

General Kitchener commanded fanatical loyalty & respect from the British people in 1914. He was a National Hero, made immortal during the Imperial Wars in Egypt & South Africa. His image, as seen here, was one of imposing authority; possibly the most highly respected Military man since Admiral Nelson. Kitchener's piercing eyes, which were such a powerful weapon in recruiting, are evident in all photos of the man. In August 1914, Kitchener's "Call to Arms" produced a massive surplus of recruits for the Army. The British people's response was totally overwhelming & the Army Barracks were full to bursting with proud & patriotic citizen soldiers. At Pontefract, volunteers were sleeping rough on the parade ground.
As the Admiralty had an immediate requirement for recruits for their new Royal Naval Division, Naval Officers were despatched & toured the Army Depots calling for volunteers. Commodore Henderson RNVR, made a soapbox speech to the men at Pontefract who, after a couple of hard nights outside, responded willingly. The RMLI & RNVR received around 3100 'Kitchener's men' in September 1914.

The 2500 Army transfers to the RNVR were split into three groups: KW's, KX's & KP's.
Approx. 1015 men were numbered KW/1 to KW/1015. 'K' = 'Kitchener'; 'W' denotes those intended for the four battalions of the 1st RN Brigade, RND (officially transferred 7/9/14).
Approx. 1002 men were numbered KP/1 to KP/1002. 'K' = Kitchener; but 'P' was for 'Crystal Palace,' the RND Depot where this batch were re-enrolled from Kitchener's Army 10/9/14.
Approx. 516 men were numbered KX/31 to KX/566. 'K' = 'Kitchener'; 'X' denotes those intended for the four battalions of the 2nd RN Brigade, RND (officially transferred 7/9/14).
An anomaly occurs in the 'KX' numbering system. 20 Bandsmen from Dundee, were enlisted with 'ZX' numbers, supplanting the 'KX' number blocks ZX/5 to ZX/25. Other men were also slotted in with 'ZX' prefixes supplanting the 'KX' (ZX/1 to ZX/4, ZX/26 to ZX 30, & ZX/519 to ZX539).

Wee Mac

Must have got a headache researching that JC. A good effort. Take a Make a Mend.

2nd Clarinet

Thanks for your comment JC and thanks for your contribution.

Two things........

1. It is nice to know that, occaisionally, we have someone on this forum whos family was touched/involved/affected by all the RMBS historical dates in this section.

2. It is also nice to see someone pasing on additional information about these events, which broadens our view and teaches us more on the subject of events now long ago.

As Wee Mac says....."Take a Make and Mend", but only for the afternoon, NOT the whole day. (Can't spoil you in your old age.)

Well done mate!

StickyBlue

I know it's a bit late but I came across this photo whilst doing my research and thought it may be of interest.
It's the RNSM Band when they came back from Gallipoli as the caption says pi$$ed off after being sent by Winston Churchill, negative instruments, as stretcher bearers.

Nick B

That's brilliant JC! Do you have any names to the men in the Gallipoli photo?

StickyBlue

Pusser

The photograph of Drake Band - returned from Gallipoli - is copied in John Ambler's book about the Band Service. The original is in the Corps Museum. It is frustrating no names are listed for the men in the picture. The Museum has the original handwritten diary - quoted from in John's book - with several days missing from the notes. These are not missing pages but missing days which coincided with heavy fighting dates. Some of the words look as though they were the result of great effort.

Anyway, the point of this is I was contacted in '04 by a lady in the USA who had her late father's Bible which was presented to him when he left Greenwich Royal Hospital School but never knew him having been separated when she was just 18 months old. I am currently the Sec of the modern Royal Hospital School 'Old Boys' Association. This was one William Ingham who joined the RM Band Service as a Boy Musician at Eastney. Suffered a gunshot wound to the leg - not mentioned in Cpl Allen's diary - but returned ashore from the hospital ship until the Band was recalled to UK. He was eventually medically discharged in about 1920. His trail went dead after he joined the London Fire Brigade - they have never been very helpful with further research.

Only a very weak feeling of 'family likeness' suggests William Ingham is third from the left in the back row. I have had the pleasure of meeting this lady's two sons and agree with the likeness.

Anyone out there likely to have access to old LFB records?

Hornblower

StickyBlue

Thanks Pusser, I found the photo on the web after searching about Gallipoli. I've got John Ambler's book, but didn't realise it was also in there. Hope you have some success finding out any names, it's always nice to know who the people are. If you do find out anything perhaps it would be nice to post it on here.

Nick B

Pusser

Hello Nick!

I have discovered that the LFB keeps its own archive and access is very tricky. The daughter herself failed to get information even though the LFB has said they have his details.

We searched extensively and found the shared grave of her mother and grandmother quite by chance but always seem to get dead ends when we look for the father. He would have been firefighting during WWII, of course, but his name does not appear on any casualty lists we have looked at including the CWGC site.

All a bit sad, really. I think she just wanted to cross the 'Ts' and dot the 'Is' before she passed the 75 point.

Nick B

Hi Pusser!

I have a friend who is a retired Ex Staion officer from Tottenham, I don't see Him too often but I when I do I will mention it!

chiefspotter · William Ingham

Hi Pusser

LFB Museum in Southwark boast a research service, try the website www.london-fire.gov.uk/Research.asp.
I will make some enquiries through my Fire Service contacts.
He did not die whilst in the Fire Service as he would be on the Fire Service Memorial Trust list and added to the Memorial near St Pauls.
Good Luck

StickyBlue

Hello again Pusser after your initial comment about the photo I raked through John Ambler's book to find it.
As an Ex-Bugle Major and a stickler for detail, did you notice that the photo in the book has been printed in reverse ? The Sgt and Cpls chevrons of the two NCO's in the front rank are on the wrong arm ie. left instead of right and the tunics' button up the girlies way ie. opposite way around from men? One that got past the proof readers ..........

admin

StickyBlue