farrar

I am researching my family history and have come across an interesting character that I thought I would share with the members on this site.

My great grandfather Edward Hills was born in Epping in 1851. He joined the Commisariat and Transport Corps (regimental No 2526) in 1870 and served most of his time in Cyprus. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was court marshalled on 18/2/1879 and demoted to private. He also has many entries in the regimental defaulter book. He died in 1890 of Delirium Tremens, He was at the time of his death, 2nd corporal in Army Services Corps.

The interesting part of the story is the family stories that Edward Hills was a bit of a rogue. it is reputed that, on the day he died he 'borrowed' a horse without permission and rode off to a party on the island and on the way back to barracks, fell off his horse, probably drunk, and died on 1/2/1890.

He had a wife and 6 children. the wife and two younger daughters returned to UK. The eldest daughter became companion to the governors daughter on Cyprus and the three sons were taken in hand by the free masons and sent to Egypt.

Can anyone shed any light on where I can get additional information on Army Service Corps in Cyprus, particularly , where I can get clearer and more detailed records than those on Ancestry.com. I am also looking for information on why the freemasons took control of the three sons and particularly why the boys were sent to Egypt.

I am the grandson of the eldest daughter who stayed in Cyprus and eventually married a Hussar in India, and that is another story...

My Grandfather William John Farrar Ward joined the fusiliers at the outbreak of 1914/18 war. He was injured in during the war in a battle in which the british soldiers except a handful of soldiers were wiped our. We are trying to find out some information about the battle which was in Ypres or paschendadal and we know he served in the royal fusiliers and the gloucestershire regiment.

We know he married in July 1918 and was demobbed at the end of the war. He died in 1973.

Does anybody know which battle this was and any extra information would be appreciated as the information is needed for a school project for my son

George Gerald Rush you refer to?

Name: G. G. B. Rush

Rank: Sapper

Army Number: 1868924

Regiment: Royal Engineers

POW Number: 12037

Camp Type: Stalag

Camp Number: 344

Camp Location: Lambinowice, Poland

Record Office: Royal Engineers Record Office, Ditchling Road, Brighton, Sussex

Record Office Number: 9

That's my dad. The years as a POW nearly killed him. His daily diet for 5 years was a small bowl of rice and a piece of bead with two or three cups of water. He was on a famous 1000 mile route march of prisoners from Poland into Germany, as a result, he suffered knee and back problems for the rest of his life. He told me that, on the march, if any prisoner fell over from exhaustion or any other reason , they were shot where they lay. It is very hard to imagine what these guys went through.

Regarding the RE records office, do they charge for the records and what sort of detail do they keep.

There's more in the way of photos, I will email you.

Any resemblance to your photo aged 70?

Was there another Charles Rush, possibly a son or nephew of your grandfather, who was a Staff Sergeant Artificer in The Royal Army Ordnance Corps?

1 The photo on the right is identical to the on I have got.

Charles rush has two sons and a Daughter. The eldest son was Charles born in 1912 He went to an Army school near Newport and joined the Army . He eventually became a fairly senior officer, I would need to check what rank he finally reached but it was at least Major, I think it was higher.

George Gerald also went to the Army school near Chepstow. He joined Royal Engineers and served in Egypt before WWII. He was captured in 1940 destroying roads and bridges to cover the evacuation from Dunkirk He was held prisoner in Poland stalag VIIIB. He resigned from the army in 1945

Hopefully this gentleman in the photo of 14th Hussars, Bangalore, India, 1912?

Just the one medal ribbon worn, I think, & I think it's the QSA.

The photos are probably him, I always remember him as a grey haired old man. I only have one photo of him after he left the army and about 70 years old but the picture is similar. I will check with my aunt (his daughter, she is 94 but is the only living relative) this will test her memory!!!

Thanks ever so much for this it is fantastic

1891 England Census shows:

Name: Charles Rush

Age: 15

Estimated birth year: abt 1876

Relation: Servant

Gender: Male

Where born: Howden, Yorkshire, England

Address; Prickett Hill

Civil parish: Wressell

Ecclesiastical parish: Wressell

Town: Newsholme

County/Island: Yorkshire

Registration district: Howden

Sub-registration district: Howden

Household Members: Name Age

Thomas Hatfield 34

Ellen Hatfield 30

Albert Harrison 19 (servant)

Charles Rush 15 (servant)

Son of Edward Rush & Mary McGinn, husband of Cecilia Alice Hills? Died in 1955?

Possible his Grandfather was Charles Rush of Howden died 1872?

Could be........

Photo of Charles Rush with wife Cecilia:

his grandfather was Mark Rush who lived in Ireland, no records on him at all but he is listed on the Edward rush Marriage certificate.

The other stuff and the photo...WOW!! thank you

A possibilty, 14th Hussars & Corps of Hussars........

14th Hussars were India, Mesopotamia 14/11/1915.

His medals should have 14th Hussars as the unit on them.

This is good evidence, as the regimental number on this document, matches one which is on his enlistment document in 10th Hussars and on one of the documents when he was in 20th Hussars. This also seems to tie up with other evidence provided on this site.

Unfortunately we do not have his medals anymore ( I am told he had 5) as they were sold in the late 1950s after his death.

The medals we know about were

Long service

Good conduct

South Africa (QSA I think)

I do not know what the other two were, can anyone help with this?

I also cannot find any details of his 'best rifle shot in India' medal, which was probably best rifle shot in the british army in India. Can anyone help with this please?

What a great site this is.

Farrar

Hello Farrar!

I'm not saying that he transferred out of the regiment, but by your story and the postings of the 20th Hussars, it's plausible. You might want to post your grandfather's personal information here, as there are several forum members who might help you looking into the registers. It seems like you have an interesting story to unveil!

/Jonas

My grandfather was Charles Rush. He was the son of an irish agriculture worker and was born in 1876 in Howden Yorkshire. He joined the army in 1896 in the Corps of the Hussars of the line, 10th Hussars. In 1898 he transferred to 20th Hussars and was posted to India.

He was sent to south Africa with 20 Hussars where he as caught up in the siege of Mafeking. One of his favourite stories told to his grandchildren, was how he saved the army in Mafeking by making jam sandwiches for the troops.(apparently there was plenty of fruit available for the jam and wheat to make bread, but not much other food available) like I said Grandfather could embellish a good story.

He then went to Egypt in 1903 and back to UK in 1904.In 1910 he went back to India where he served until 1915 with, I am now pretty sure, 14th Hussars. (we have found a document which appears to say he transferred in 1910 but does not say from which company or to which company but he was still a Hussar). In 1915 he was taken severely ill in Mesopotamia and retired from the army in 1916 after 21 years service.

In terms of service record he received 5 medals. Unfortunately the medals were sold in the late 1950s. He was promoted to corporal in 1900 and to sergeant in 1905. He was made sergeant cook in 1906 which was his position for the remainder of his service.

Another true story was how he met and marries his wife. She was the daughter of Edward Hills a soldier (a bit of a rogue) who served in Cyprus. Which is where Cecilia was born. Charles first met Cecilia in Cyprus in 1898/9 while he was traveling to his posting in India. There was no contact again until 1910 in Cyprus, when Charles was again travelling to his new posting in India. He went on to India alone and Cecilia, a few months later, decided to follow him. She travelled to India and eventually found him in 1911. They married in Bangalore in early 1912 and had two sons one in 1912 and one in 1914 both born in India and a daughter born after they returned to UK. Of course they lived happily ever after. (Charles died in 1955 and Cecilia died 10 years later).

After having raided the book-shelves again, I also took a look at some old notes, which yielded some more information on the 20th Hussars, as well as the 14th Hussars (which seems to be of some relevance for the topic at hand):

20th Hussars postings;

-1896 England (last station Colchester)

1896-1902 India (Mhow)

(1901-1902 South Africa)

1903 Egypt (Abbasia Barracks, Cairo)

1904-1906 England (Brighton, det. in Canterbury)

1906-1908 England (Shorncliffe Camp, relieving 14th Hussars and providing a draft of 72 enlisted men for them)

1908-1911 Ireland (The Curragh)

1911-1914 England (Colchester)

1914-1919 WW1 (Western Front only)

1919 England

1919 Egypt

1920 Turkey

1920-1922 Egypt (?)

1922 England

14th Hussars postings;

1903-1904 England (Aldershot)

1904-1906 England (Shorncliff Camp)

1906-1911 India (Bangalore)

1911-1914 India (Mhow)

1914-1915 India (Meerut)

1915-1919 WW1 (Mesopotamia 1915-1918, Persia 1918, Mesopotamia 1919)

1919-1920 England (Tidworth, providing a draft of 378 enlisted men for the 20th Hussars)

1920-1922 Germany (Cologne, Düsseldorf, Silesia)

1922 England

The 20th Hussars went to France in 1914 with 24 officers (+ MO and Veterinary Officer) and 519 OR (I have seen war establishment figures amounting to 26 officers and 523 OR).

(Sources: The Ramnuggur Boys 14th/20th King's Hussars 1715-1992, John Pharo-Tomlin + own notes and collections)

/Jonas

Thank you for this it is extremely informative. I will re-investigate my grandfather's records because your information points to him being transferred to the14th Hussars sometime between 1906 and 1910 and then joining his new regiment in India. In 1906 he was promoted to sergeant cook so quite why they would transfer a cook all the way to india seems odd, Intriguing!

I have got the war records for Thomas Henry Rush, my grandfather's brother.who was killed in France in 1915 serving in the royal horse artillery. I have seen a series of interesting letters between his widow and the Regiment. He was killed after the creation of the Oak Leaf award for mention in dispatches. His widow spent a few months battling to get him the Oak leaf after the war, which she finally achieved.

Can anyone shed any light on this award and how it ranked in importance ie. the was it issued for bravery?

My grandfather joined the 20th Hussars in 1896.

He went to India in1898 for 3 years

then to south Africa in 1901 for 18 months

then to Egypt for a year before spending 5 years back in England

In 1910 He went to India (Mhow) where he was stationed for 5 years before going to Mesopatamia where he was taken ill and retired from the Army after 21 years.

My grandfather served in 20th Hussars for the whole of his career and, as previously stated, was stationed in Mhow 1910 - 1915. The 20th Hussar website says that they were in France in 1914 so I am confused as to whether the 20th Hussars were in Mhow or France at this time. My grandfather married in mhow in 1912, my uncle was born in Mhow in 1913 and my father was born in Kailano (somewhere near Mhow) in 1914.

One story that is accepted as fact by the family is that my grandfather won a medal as the best rifleshot in India (we have seen the medal). However he became too fat to be a cavalry soldier so became sergeant cook, in the 20 Hussars, because they did not want to lose such a good rifleman. Could this be true? my grandfather was an irishman with a gift for embellishing stories. I would really appreciate any info on Mhow, Kailano and 20 Hussars. Specifically

1) where were 20 Hussars in 1914 - 1918

2) how many men were actively serving in the hussars in 1914

3) comments on the story of him being too good a rifleshot for the 20 Hussars to lose

4) what were the conditions in Mhow at this time

Thanks, Farrar