The Fighting Temeraire (& the Fighting 63rd)

Off message: This simply gorgeous sunset by J M W Turner of the old Battleship being towed towards the breaker's yard was once voted the "Greatest Painting in any British Gallery". I agree - and a canvass print of the painting is one of my 50th birthday presents yesterday.

Last weekend I went to the Portsmouth Historic Docks and visited HMS Victory and HMS Warrior. I found that there was a 23 year old John Gray who served in HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar  in 1805. I'll post pictures on Facebook of this visit, including a boat trip to look at a £400 million modern day Naval Battleship and older ones awaiting the same fate as the "Temeraire".

This weekend I am going to Ypres in Belgium with my nephew Matthew, his mate Ashley and my brother-in-law Rob. We are planning to visit the First World War Battlefield sites and museums. On this forthcoming Remembrance Sunday, we are going to show our respects to the British and Commonwealth dead at Menin Gate.

My Taid (Welsh for Grandfather) fought in the First World War in the Royal Naval Division (63rd). There was too many men volunteering for the Navy at the beginning of that war so Winston Churchill who was in charge decided to form a land fighting navy division. The RND was constantly in the thick of it in France (and Gallipoli) during the War. It lost the equivalent of four times its numerical strength in dead and wounded (stop and think about this figure) .

My Taid (who also survived Gallipoli) received this citation in 1917 "Temporary Lieutenant Frederick John Matthews RNVR for conspicuous gallantry and devotion in leading his company forward with ammunition under a heavy machine gun fire. He also attacked and captured a machine gun position, seizing the gun and taking about forty prisoners for which he was awarded the Military Cross".

I think this action took place in or around Ypres and I will try and find out further information. How on earth can any infantry unit under heavy fire attack machine gun positions? It would be fascinating to work out when and where this action took place and to visit the location.

My Auntie Di (daughter-in-law of Taid) wants to visit Flanders. I have promised her that this weekend will be a tester and if it all goes well then perhaps the wider Matthews Clan can organise a similar gathering next year?

My Taid in the Trenches

I was really pleased yesterday to receive this photo from my Auntie Diane in South Wales (via my Auntie Rose in North Wales).  On the back she had written "Taid as a young man in the Trenches". 

My maternal Taid (Welsh for Grandfather) Frederick Matthews, is sitting on the left of the picture alongside an unknown soldier. The family believe it is from First World War, during which he served in the Royal Naval Division in France and Gallipoli.

There are only two photographs of Taid that have survived from this time, so I assume that the Soldier he is sitting with must have been a good friend. They seem very relaxed and comfortable together. I wonder who he was and what happened to him?

She also sent me the original Apprentice Indenture dated 7 February 1910 that my Taid and his father signed with the Uskside Engineering and Rivet Company. Which is an equally fascinating piece of Labour history which I will post upon another time.

Captain Frederick John Matthews MC: Royal Naval Division

This is the scanned picture of my Teid (my Welsh maternal grandfather) which I received yesterday morning.  In the beginning of the First World War there were too many volunteers for the Royal Navy. So Winston Churchill created the Royal Naval Division which fought on land but retained Naval ranks and traditions.  

"It was regarded as a highly efficient fighting force and played a prominent part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war".

Teid had volunteered to join the Navy in 1915 and was sent to the RND.  He eventually became a Captain (temporary wartime commission RNVR). He fought in Gallipoli and on the Western front in the First World War. In 1917 he was awarded a Military Cross for attacking and capturing a German Machine Gun post and taking 40 prisoners.

After the War he became a Regular Warrant Officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and in the Second World War he was a Warrant officer in the Royal Air Force.  So he served in all three Armed Services.  I was 9 when he died in 1971.

This picture is important to me.  I have waited a long time to get a copy.  It was obviously displayed in pride of place in my grandparents' home in Denbigh, North Wales.  Together with the actual Military Cross and the Certificate of Honour from his hometown of Abercarn.  All my (seven) maternal aunties and uncles also had copies displayed prominently in their homes.  I am sure that many families can relate to this experience.

However, equally important to the Mathews family, Teid, was also known as someone who would stand up for ordinary people in the local community.  Someone who write and send letters to Landlords, employers, the Bank, the Council or whoever - on behalf of those who could not express themselves in this way.

In our family we took pride in him representing ordinary working people as well in his bravery in Battle.

The Last Fighting Tommy - my Taid’s Last Comrade

The recent death of the last surviving British World War One veteran Harry Patch has I think made many of us stop and stare for least a moment or two. There is a real sense that we have witnessed the end of a historical era.

The last living unwilling British participant and witness of trench warfare in the so-called Great War has now died.

Harry was a plumber who was conscripted into the army and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. After months of combat he was wounded in a shell explosion which killed 3 of his close friends. More than 70,000 British troops died in this one awful battle. By the time that Harry was fully recovered from his wound the war was over.

My Taid (my welsh grandfather, my mum’s dad) also served in the First World War. Like Harry, he was a machine gunner in the trenches. His division (The Fighting 63rd - Royal Naval Division) also fought at Passchendaele where they lost 2,000 men. I am not sure if my Taid was at this battle since he never talked about this or any of his war experiences (he volunteered in 1915). He had won a Military Cross shortly before the battle. Ironically this award which was for risking his life to capture a German machine gun post and sizing forty prisoners may have actually saved him. Since military records show he was given leave for the investiture at Buckingham Palace at the height of the Battle.

I remember my Taid even though he died when I was 7. My memory is of a very gentle man in a wheelchair reading me aloud childish children’s stories with great relish.

His Military Cross and picture of him as a young confident solider held absolute pride of place in the living room of my Nain’s Council flat in Denbigh. It was next to the “Certificate of Honour” from his home town of Abercarn. A copy of which I stare at now.

Goodbye then Harry Patch, if there is an afterlife, (which sadly of course I doubt) then hopefully my Taid, your comrade at arms, Frederick John Matthews, will be there to welcome you with your long lost mates.

Shall we shed a tear or two at the thought of that meeting?

The blog from the trenches

A link to the fascinating First World War blog by the grandson of Private Harry Lamin.

“This blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin's letters from the first World War The letters will be posted exactly 90 years after they were written. To find out Harry's fate, follow the blog!”

The latest post includes a link to a petition that there should be a national bank holiday each year to remember those who have died in the service of our country.

This site makes me remember my own Taid (grandfather) who won the MC while serving in the Royal Naval Division in 1917. This is still to my family, after all these years, an incredibly important episode and matter of family pride.

I will post on Captain Frederick John Matthews’ somewhat colourful, military history (he was an officer in the Royal Naval Division, a RSM in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and a Warrant officer in the RAF) at another time.