Deserter/good soldier/POW/infantry to camel corps - one man service over 22 yrs!

[Noor]

Thomas Rice

5945, Private

Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Thomas was born St.Catherine’s parish (St.Catherine’s church, Thomas Street) at 1873. He had a sister Agnes who lived at 127 Thomas Street, according to the 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland. They were Roman Catholics. Based on his enlistment documents, Thomas was a professional cricketer. He was 5 feet 5 ¾ inches tall, he weighed 161 pounds, and his eyes were hazel and he had hair brown.

He enlisted in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in Dublin on the 2nd December 1896 aged 23 for 7 years with the Colours and 5 years in Reserve. Private Rice was assigned on 5th December 1896 to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers garrison depot in Naas. After his initial training, Thomas was posted to the 1st battalion on 8th January 1897. At this time, the battalion was stationed in Portsmouth at Anglesey Barracks. But in April of that year, they were moved by rail to Aldershot, quartered in Ramillies Barracks, North Camp. When the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations took place, they were taken up to London and were lining up in Piccadilly from Hamilton Place to the Naval and Military Club, Lord Palmerston’s old house.

One of the biggest changes at this time for a regular soldier was the move to the Lee-Metford Rifle, Mark II in autumn 1898 and also new pattern cap badges were issued with the scroll “Royal Dublin Fusiliers” surmounted by a flaming grenade, on the ball of which were the tiger and elephant.

Thomas was granted his first good conduct badge on 2nd December 1898. The following year, the Boer war broke out and the 1st Battalion was attached to the 5th (Irish) Brigade under Major General Fitzroy Hart. On the 10th November 1899, the battalion sent three companies out to South Africa. Somehow, Thomas wasn’t one of the soldiers who were sent abroad.

Instead, his service papers reveal that he deserted on the 13th July 1901 and was in prison after a trial from 25th October 1901. On the 27th December 1901, however, he returned back to duty.

His next change took place on the 10th November 1903, when he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of Royal Dublin Fusiliers. At the same time, the 2nd battalion returned from South Africa and were stationed in Buttevant, county Cork.

The following month, on the 26th December 1903, he was granted a Good Conduct Pay. He was permitted to extend his service to complete 8 year’s service with the colours on 31st March 1904 and received a Class I Service Proficiency Pay on the following day on the 1st April 1904.

He must have been an excellent soldier because this change was made and his period of desertion and prison time became counted as service as well (233 days). The following year, on the 11th March 1905, he extended his service again to complete 12 year’s service with the colours. Other wise his stay in Buttevant was uneventful.

On the 27th September 1905, Private Rice was posted back to the 1st Battalion. At this time, the battalion were stationed in Malta but he was ready to move to Egypt, where four companies had already embarked. Thomas served 50 days in Malta and was shipped to Egypt on the 16th November 1905 on board the Assaye, where the whole battalion was reunited. This was routine for peace soldiering in Alexandria. On the 5th April 1907, Field-Marshall H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught visited Alexandria and presented new Colours to the 1st Battalion.

Towards the end of September 1907 orders were received for Headquarters and “A”, “C”, “F” and “H” companies were sent to Khartoum, the Sudan. Thomas left for the Sudan on the 17th October 1907. Here, they became the first British Camel Corps in the Sudan. Soldiers from this formation took part in operations against the Abd-el-Kader.

All the companies were sent back to Alexandria the following year. Private Rice arrived back in Alexandria on the 4th September 1908. The whole battalion were stationed together in the Citadel Barracks in Cairo. Early the next year Private Rice signed a new contract with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in order to complete 21 years with the colours.

On the 25th March 1909 Field-Marshall H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught visited Cairo in order to present the Khedive’s Sudan Medals to soldiers who were entitled to them for their participation in the Sudanese campaign. But something happened a few weeks before with Thomas because he was sent back to England as an invalid on the 13th March 1909.

After his recovery, he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion on the 15th June 1909. At this time they were still based at Buttevant, county Cork, but the following year they were moved to Aldershot, England. On the 10th April 1912, he became Lance Corporal.

When the Great War broke out on the 28th July 1914, on the 4th August 1914, 5.5 p.m. the order for mobilization was published. At this time, the 2nd Battalion was in Gravesend as part of 10th Brigade in 4th Division, commanded by Brigadier-General J.A.L. Halden C.B., D.S.O.

On the 8th of August at 12:30 a.m. the unit was moved to Harrow, where the whole Division was concentrated. After a short period of preparations, the division was attached to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and on the 20th of August orders were announced that Saturday 22nd Division will be departed. On that day, the 2nd Battalion embarked on the S.S. “Caledonia” and at 11:30 a.m. started sailing to France which included Thomas on board.

Private Rice landed in France on 23rd August 1914 where the whole battalion found themselves in heavy battles almost immediately. They took part in the retreat following the Battle of Mons, taking part in their first engagement on 26th of August 1914 at Le Cateau that helped delay the German advance towards Paris, inflicting such heavy casualties that the Germans thought they faced more machine-guns than they actually did. But many soldiers were taken prisoner during the retreat and including Thomas Rice who became a POW on the 27th August 1914. He was held in the Giessen prison camp in the Province of Hesse, Germany. Giessen was a well ordered camp with good sanitary conditions and clean water. It also had a church, Roman Catholic choir, etc. From this camp, the men were sent out to work as labourers on local farms. A typical routine of the POW camp was as follows: Reveille sounded at six. The prisoners got up and dressed and were given a bowl of coffee. Those who were wise would save their issue of bread from the night before, and so able to have it with their coffee. After morning coffee, there was a roll-call, when prisoners were given a chance to volunteer for work. At noon there was soup, and another roll-call. Interestingly, the POWs answered the roll-call, either with the French word "Présent" or the German word "Hier," pronounced the same as "Here". At five o’clock, there was usually an issue of black bread made mostly from potato flour.

He was released on 17th November 1918 and was sent back to Royal Dublin Fusiliers depot. On the 23 November 1918, he received a special furlough and was posted to the rest camp in Dublin from 1st December 1919. But because of his age, length of service, he was discharged on the 30th March 1919 and medical commission gave him a degree of disablement 10%.

Most likely, Thomas started to work on the sporting field because the military issued an “Employment Sheet” that stated “Character Very Good. Is a very good cricketer and was a good footballer until age prevented playing. Would make a very good trainer or ground man”.

Finally, in 1920 he received a Long Service and good Conduct Medal for his service with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. That also gave him £5 extra pension payment. For his 1914 Star he applied a “Clasp and Rose” and this was granted for him on the 27th September 1920.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Noor

[IrishGunner]

Well done history!