Tony

Reference to their losses in the South London Press, January 1916.

22nd London Regiment memorial outside the drill hall down Jamaica Road (now old Jamaica Rd.) in Bermondsey.

Looking towards Curley Crescent from Dud Corner Cemetery. The front in December 1915 was about 3km from the cemetery.

Dud Corner British Military Cemetery and one of the many panels stretching along the walls of the cemetery with the names of 20633 men killed between 25 September 1915 and October 1918 who have no known grave. The panel with John?s name was, I think, number 135.

Looking towards to the Hohenzollern Redoubt (northwards, just off the map) and back to Le Rutoire.

The following pictures show the battlefield today, just over 90 years since John Henry Houlding was killed. The front towards the left and right, parallel to the front line.

The original (copy of the) sketch from the battalion diary.

The following is from the Battalion diary (I believe Curly Crescent should be Curley Crescent): Place: C 2 Date: 29.12.15 Hour: 6.30am 22nd relieved 23rd Battalion in VERMELLES and CURLY CRESCENT. 9.30 am 22nd relieved 21st Battalion in C.2, front and support line trenches Dispositions: A, B & C Coys. in front line, A on left, B in HAIRPIN, C on right. D Coy. in support ? 2 Coys. OBI, 2 Coys. OGI HQ?s junction of STANSFIELD ROAD and OBI Bombers in HAIRPIN On our right ? 24 Battn. On our left 141st Bgde. Extent of Batl. Frontage ? G.5.D.1.3. ? G.11B.8.4. HAIRPIN held as per rough sketch Germans shelled frontline communication trenches during relief. 1 ? 3.30pm Enemy shelled frontline communication trenches, our artillery retaliated. Day spent in salvaging & clearing up Place: C 2 Date: 30.12.15 Hour: am Somewhat severe enemy shelling. 6 casualties. A B M.G. team 24th Battn) knocked out in A Coy. lines. 2 killed, 2 injured. 11.00 am 7 sailors from Grand Fleet arrived for 24 hours stay. Sent to companies to look round generally. 3.45pm CO went up to front line. 4.20pm Enemy blew up 5 mines under and around the HAIRPIN. Most of bombers and 2 B Coy platoons are casualties. Simultaneously a terrific bombardment of our front line, support and communication trenches. No attack on our front line trenches but enemy occupied crater and LOVERS LANE. Organisation of counter attack impossible owing to: Decimation of bombers Decimation of B Coy Intensity of enemy bombardment After first 5 minutes of amazement at explosion, men and officers settled down and stood bombardment well. Very severe casualties. 6pm CO returned from front line to Br. HQs. All telephone communication with front line cut off in first 2 minutes of bombardment. 7.30pm Adjutant went to see how things were in front line. Found trenches very badly knocked in; in places level with ground. B Coy. only 15 men left in trench. D Coy. had come up to reinforce. Bombers ? 6 men left. Many dead and wounded. C Coy. about 12 casualties. A Coy ? nil. D Coy about 10 casualties. The men were holding on well and keeping cheerful but of course were considerably shaken. 9.30pm B.G.O. came to see CO for counter attack. Idea was abandoned on Adjutants report of front line conditions. 11pm G.O.C. Brigade arranged for 23rd to relieve 22nd before dawn. 2 Coys. 23rd battn. already come up to reinforce 22nd in front line. Still enemy shelling though quieter now. Communication by wire with front line not regained before Battn. was relieved. 31.12.15 1.30am Guides reported at Battn. HQs and went to bring down rest of 23rd Battn. from CURLEY CRESCENT to front line. Meanwhile evacuation of wounded going on and repair of the battered trenches. VERMELLES TRENCHES 31.12.15 7am Relief of 22nd Battn. By 23 Battn. completed. Relief had been badly held up by the numbers in the C.T.s, and also of the bad state of the trenches. Whole of 22nd Battn. (about 240 men) went back to CURLY CRESCENT. 1pm Party of 100 men under Lt. Tomlin went to VERMELLES to fetch bombs and carry up to O.G.I. NOYELLES 5pm A weary Battn. relieved by 2 Coy?s 21st. Battalion went back to billets at NOYELLES. Total casualties 30th and 31st December: Killed 12 Wounded 68 Missing 36 Total 116 Signed by Lt. Col. N.A. Hoon commanding 22nd Battalion The London Regt. The Queen?s The number of casualties in the 22nd Battalion?s diary doesn?t quite tally with those known to have been killed that day. I would imagine a number of the missing were later found alive somewhere. A trench map section of the area showing Curley Crescent and roughly the position where I took the following photos. Each square represents 500 yards.

1109 Private John Henry Houlding of "C" Coy. 1st/22nd Batl. The London Regiment, killed on 30.12.15 at Loos aged 19. John was born in the first quarter of 1897, at the time of the 1901 census he was living with his parents, George Thomas (a fish monger) and Amelia Houlding and his sister Fanny, at 5 Rephidim St. in Bermondsey, London. He enlisted in Bermondsey but at the time of his death his parents were living at 13 Mary St., Shadwell (just a quick walk through the Rotherhithe tunnel to the other side of the river). His bayonet fighting award was presented to him in 1913, this award was found in Gallywall Rd., Bermondsey during the 1960s and given to me about 20 years ago. 31 other men of the 22 London?s saw their last sunrise that day in 1915. All were killed in action, the majority as a result of the blowing of five German mines north of Loos. All have no known grave except for Cpl. Rangecroft who is buried in Vermelles British Cemetery near Loos. The other men including John Houlding are remembered on the Loos Memorial. No officers of the 22nd were killed that day. 998 Pte. Charles Richard Simson Aplin age 22, from Bermondsey 3885 Pte. Sidney Brock age 29, from Bermondsey 889 Pte. Walter Chandler age 21 from Southwark Park Rd. Bermondsey 3821 Pte. Daniel Cook from Bermondsey 2861 Pte. John Cook from Bermondsey 1579 Pte. George James Dean age 19, from Tower Bridge Rd., Bermondsey 2121 Pte. Frank Walter East, age 20 from Bermondsey 1362 L/Cpl. Frederick Thomas Freeman, age 26 from Bermondsey 1550 Pte. John Gibson from Grange Rd, Bermondsey 2031 Pte. James George Jay from Bermondsey 2972 Pte. Charles James Kelehar from Bermondsey 3366 Pte. Henry Francis King, from Bermondsey 1091 Pte. Charles Kirby age 22, from Great Dover St., Bermondsey 681404, Pte. John Millar, from Bermondsey 2471 James Samuel Payne, from Bermondsey 2797 Drummer Henry Charles Thomas from the Old Kent Rd., Bermondsey 2075 L/Cpl. George Frederick West, from Bermondsey 2047 L/Cpl. Frederick George Worden, age 21, from 28 Cadbury Rd., Bermondsey 1907 Pte. William Wykes, from Bermondsey 2114 Pte. Henry Richardson, from Rotherhithe 3433 Pte. Joseph James Bolton, from Rotherhithe 2474 Pte. Arthur Brown from Rotherhithe, KIA 1937 Harold Victor Miller age 19, from 224 Lower Rd., Rotherhithe 1855 Cpl. Arthur Leonard Rangecroft from the Borough, Bermondsey Vermelles Brit. Cemetery 2532 Cpl. George Daniel Scannel, from the Borough, Bermondsey 2557 Pte. William Clare, from Nunhead 2958 Pte. Lawrence Charles Obbard age 18, from 38 Tappesfield Rd., Nunhead 2007 Pte. Edward Keys, aged 25 from 98 Mann St., Walworth 1810 Pte. William Edward Mortimer, from Finsbury 2054 Sgt. Ernest George Coleman, age 24 from Nazing in Essex 2298 Edward Power, aged 22 from New Church St. (don't know where that is, isn't in London)

My clasp is 20mm x 4.6mm, the ribbon is 15mm wide and the medal itself is 19mm. tony

Heiko, Thanks for the confirmation. Don't suppose it's a rare piece is it? Tony

Hello, I'm interested in opinions on the clasp of this mini 1870/71 KDM. I've had it a long time and have never given it a second thought. Thanks Tony

The last of my 57 awards is a stickpin. Tony

The bar to the 39 EKI Don't know if this is from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, or 90s.

A nice early 1939/57

Here are all my 57 awards, obverse and reverse. First up is a 1957 version of the 1914 EKI

Could it be Nieppe, just south of Ploegstraat?

Okey dokey Joe! anemia comes from many sources.... this is an archaic term probably related to those who were anemic and found to have enlarged spleens on physical exam or autopsy. since the spleen is one of the filters for the blood, there may have been something in the spleen that was making them anemic, quite possibly from a crappy or nutrient deficient diet.

I have my Grandad's 1943 dated heavy vehicle and tank licence but he was in the Royal Tank Regiment so it doesn't really count here. That licence at the top looks just like my wife's licence, no, it's not her in the photo.

That was an eye opener.

But Gordon, Imagine joining the 'right' army 60 years earlier and getting the wrong girl. Now that would be a bummer. Tony

Albert Evans, Lancs. Fusiliers and Labour Corps. Here?s a nice little group that I picked up, it consists of: Pair (only entitlement) named to 307167 Pte. Albert Evans of the Lancashire Fusiliers Lancashire Fusiliers cap badge Card roll for papers from the Labour Corps Record Office addressed to Mrs. Evans Buckingham Palace condolence slip with the King?s facsimile signature Condolence slip from W. Churchill with facsimile signature Letter sent with medals awarded to Pte. Albert Evans of the Lancashire Fusiliers addressed to Mrs. E. Evans. Signed by Lt. Col. CRS Woods of the Record Office Letter informing Mr. Price Evans of the death of his son Memorial scroll (but no plaque ) 307167 Pte. Albert Evans was in the 2/8th battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers which was formed at Mossborough on 29th September 1914. They were attached to 197 Brigade, 66th Div. on 8 February 1915, they were disbanded in France on 31st July 1918. Albert was transferred to the Labour Corps probably due to wounds, his rank and number was 671031 Pte. Evans of the 533rd. Agricultural Coy. I?m afraid don?t know when he was transferred. He was the son of Price Evans of 40,Mackworth St. Bridgend, Glamorgan, South Wales and died as a result of Chronic Splenic Anaemia at Pembroke Dock Military Hospital on 7.2.19. He is buried in Molleston Baptist Chapel yard in Narberth, West Wales. Question for Joe or anyone else who may know. What is chronic splenic anaemia and is it something that can be caused by mustard gas or similar? Tony

Hello Johnny, I would think your best bet would be Kew or a good researcher depending on if you want to know more about the 108th Battery or what happened on the day of your great uncle's death. The battalion war diary could be a good place to start. Tony

Dave, Isn't the 925 (sterling silver) silver content stamp usually a lion or similar animal on English silver? Could it be an Austrian or other central power stamp? Tony

I have his medals too Rick. Ok I'm telling fibbs. Here's a scan of the senders name, Uffz. Dinkelacker I think and a scan of them all. It's a shame but someone had stapled the card to something.