Mortiroloboy
New Member
Cunobelin said:
I rather hope he's underneath it, the thought of him being behind it is frankly quite spooky!
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- Thread starter surfgurl
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I rather hope he's underneath it, the thought of him being behind it is frankly quite spooky!
Mortiroloboy
New Member
surfgurl said:
My great Uncle lost a leg during the battle of the Somme, when he was returned to England to recuperate , he was sent to a Hospital in Lancashire, his home town (and mine) is Lewes in East Sussex, so I expect he went to Lancs as that was where the most appropriate location was for his particular type of wound.
The returning wounded did tend to be put all over the place and not necessarily near to home, which may explain why Pte DUDLEY ended up in lovely Burnham-on-Sea ( I will be be holidaying at Brean shortly, after a week on Mallorca, and may well be in Burnham at some stage, which Church Yard is he in?)
I don't know if you are already aware, but his headstone is a standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission style. I suppose he could have had personal reasons for wishing to be buried there, as an alternative to being buried in one of the UK's CWGC cemeteries, are there any other CWGC
headstones locally?
Brookwood Military Cemetery and monument to those with no known grave is very near to where I work, in fact I have a key to the gate ( following a spate of drug abuse going on in the cemetery there are some real low life people about) I often have a quite moment of reflection when I'm around on patrol. For a military historian it is a fascinating place, with graves from ALL the combative nations, including German and Italian, Russian and American, plus some other European nations.
When I joined the army there were still army bicycles about. They weighed about a ton and would do about 10mph as long as you had a hill you could go down. They were, however, soldierproof. Baby officers were still tought bicycle drill at Sandhurst (I remember one poor sod who had no balance being made to push his everywhere!).
The military use of cycles had begun in the mid 1880s when some of the old Volunteer Battalions had set up Cyclist Sections whose brief was to defend our island should invaders strike - a kind of Home Guard on wheels. However, their role changed in the Boer War, when cyclists effectively carried out a number of vital tasks and by the start of the 20th century there were some 8000 cyclists in various Companies and Volunteer sections.
In 1908, major reorganization abolished local Militia and brought the Yeomanry and these Volunteer groups together under the banner of the Territorial Force. At this point, ten Territorial Cyclist Battalions were incorporated into the Army Cyclist Corps:.
The machine was designed to enable the rider to travel as a completely self-contained one-man fighting unit. Everything he needed could be stowed away on the machine from his rifle to his cape and ground sheet. A small kitbag carried behind the seat held rations and personal items and an emergency toolkit hung from the crossbar. On tarmac roads, in spite of its heavy iron frame, the machine provided fairly fast and effective transport but on rough terrain and in muddy conditions, riders often had to abandon their machines.
"Cycle Artificers" were used to maintain the machines. These were members of each Battalion who were specially trained as mechanics.
By the end of 1915 the advent of trench warfare rather blunted the use of bicycles and most cyclist Bns were redeployed as infantry re-inforcements.
None of the territorial units saw service overseas in the first months of the war, all being used for coastal defence work inside the United Kingdom. In 1915, the Army Cyclist Corps was founded to encompass these battalions; it later extended to cover a dozen more battalions raised from second-line yeomanry regiments which had been converted to cyclists.
Most units of the Corps served out their time in the United Kingdom, providing replacement drafts to infantry battalions; some were converted back to conventional infantry and saw active service, such as the Kent Cyclists (on the North-West Frontier) or the 10th Royal Scots (in northern Russia).
Formed units of the Corps were not sent overseas; this was done in small groups of men, with the divisions possessing individual cyclist companies and composite battalions later formed at corps level. These were rarely committed to action, rather being held back in preparation for the resumption of "normal" mobile warfare. On the occasions that cyclists were employed in combat, they were generally found to be ineffective; the terrain on the Western Front was unsuitable for them, causing the bicycles to be discarded early on and the unit proceeding as normal infantry.
Following the war, cyclists were perceived to have little value, and the Corps was disbanded in 1919; by 1922 all remaining Territorial cyclist battalions had been converted back to conventional units.
A S Dudley did not serve overseas. ( The poor man hardly had time) as there is no medal card in the National Archive for him and all soldiesr serving overseas qualifies foe medals of some sort. He would have been one of the volunteers called for in 1915, sometimes called Kitcheners New Army and probably died of illness or accident. There are 18 military burials from both world wars at Burnham on Sea including Alan Martin, a "Boy 2nd Class" in the Royal Navy, who died aged 16 in 1915; and Pte Mark Wills of the Home Guard. I think there were two "auxiliary hospitals" at Burnham on sea in WW1, at buildings called Hart House and The Gables. It is likely that most of the WW1 Burials are from those hospitals, where people were sent for long term recovery. Perhaps someone from Burnham knows more?
There are three A Dudley's recorded in the National Archive WW1 Army records, although only about 40% of the records are still in existence. If anyone has a subscription to the Ancestry web site you could possibly check.
The military use of cycles had begun in the mid 1880s when some of the old Volunteer Battalions had set up Cyclist Sections whose brief was to defend our island should invaders strike - a kind of Home Guard on wheels. However, their role changed in the Boer War, when cyclists effectively carried out a number of vital tasks and by the start of the 20th century there were some 8000 cyclists in various Companies and Volunteer sections.
In 1908, major reorganization abolished local Militia and brought the Yeomanry and these Volunteer groups together under the banner of the Territorial Force. At this point, ten Territorial Cyclist Battalions were incorporated into the Army Cyclist Corps:.
THE ARMY CYCLIST CORPS
7th (Cyclist) Battalion Devonshire Regiment
Kent Cyclist Battalion (Formerly known as "West Kent")
Essex and Suffolk Cyclist Battalion
Highland Cyclist Battalion
7th (Cyclist) Battalion The Welsh Regiment
10th (Cyclist) Battalion The Royal Scots (Lothian) Regiment
25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion The London Regiment
6th (Cyclist) Battalion Norfolk Regiment
Northern Cyclist Battalion
5th (Cyclist) Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment
7th (Cyclist) Battalion Devonshire Regiment
Kent Cyclist Battalion (Formerly known as "West Kent")
Essex and Suffolk Cyclist Battalion
Highland Cyclist Battalion
7th (Cyclist) Battalion The Welsh Regiment
10th (Cyclist) Battalion The Royal Scots (Lothian) Regiment
25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion The London Regiment
6th (Cyclist) Battalion Norfolk Regiment
Northern Cyclist Battalion
5th (Cyclist) Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment
The machine was designed to enable the rider to travel as a completely self-contained one-man fighting unit. Everything he needed could be stowed away on the machine from his rifle to his cape and ground sheet. A small kitbag carried behind the seat held rations and personal items and an emergency toolkit hung from the crossbar. On tarmac roads, in spite of its heavy iron frame, the machine provided fairly fast and effective transport but on rough terrain and in muddy conditions, riders often had to abandon their machines.
"Cycle Artificers" were used to maintain the machines. These were members of each Battalion who were specially trained as mechanics.
By the end of 1915 the advent of trench warfare rather blunted the use of bicycles and most cyclist Bns were redeployed as infantry re-inforcements.
None of the territorial units saw service overseas in the first months of the war, all being used for coastal defence work inside the United Kingdom. In 1915, the Army Cyclist Corps was founded to encompass these battalions; it later extended to cover a dozen more battalions raised from second-line yeomanry regiments which had been converted to cyclists.
Most units of the Corps served out their time in the United Kingdom, providing replacement drafts to infantry battalions; some were converted back to conventional infantry and saw active service, such as the Kent Cyclists (on the North-West Frontier) or the 10th Royal Scots (in northern Russia).
Formed units of the Corps were not sent overseas; this was done in small groups of men, with the divisions possessing individual cyclist companies and composite battalions later formed at corps level. These were rarely committed to action, rather being held back in preparation for the resumption of "normal" mobile warfare. On the occasions that cyclists were employed in combat, they were generally found to be ineffective; the terrain on the Western Front was unsuitable for them, causing the bicycles to be discarded early on and the unit proceeding as normal infantry.
Following the war, cyclists were perceived to have little value, and the Corps was disbanded in 1919; by 1922 all remaining Territorial cyclist battalions had been converted back to conventional units.
A S Dudley did not serve overseas. ( The poor man hardly had time) as there is no medal card in the National Archive for him and all soldiesr serving overseas qualifies foe medals of some sort. He would have been one of the volunteers called for in 1915, sometimes called Kitcheners New Army and probably died of illness or accident. There are 18 military burials from both world wars at Burnham on Sea including Alan Martin, a "Boy 2nd Class" in the Royal Navy, who died aged 16 in 1915; and Pte Mark Wills of the Home Guard. I think there were two "auxiliary hospitals" at Burnham on sea in WW1, at buildings called Hart House and The Gables. It is likely that most of the WW1 Burials are from those hospitals, where people were sent for long term recovery. Perhaps someone from Burnham knows more?
There are three A Dudley's recorded in the National Archive WW1 Army records, although only about 40% of the records are still in existence. If anyone has a subscription to the Ancestry web site you could possibly check.
gbb
Legendary Member
- Location
- Peterborough
Sorry to go slightly OT, but i saw this memorial in Uruguay....i did wonder if the guy had been killed in the particular town, or whether he maybe came from there....
Hilldodger
Guru
- Location
- sunny Leicester
For info on the Army Cyclng Corps you should read Bicycles in Wartime by Jim Fitzpatrick.