TOPIC:

Hi Ian,
Thanks you so much for taking the time to post the links, they have been so useful
For anyone else who is interested there is an online archive google book history:
archive.org/details/histroyalmunsterfusi...s-v2/page/3/mode/2up
It seems quite comprehensive and charts the whole history.
Rob

Thank you for that Rob, I’ll have a look.

There are a few group photographs for sale on EBay.

Rob - I think you were ahead of all of us & thanks for the link to the book.

Another link to the IWM which explains why the RMF were short-lived along with other Irish Regiments.

www.nam.ac.uk/explore/story-disbanded-irish-regiments

I have tried to find Henry Griffiths on census records etc but got nowhere. The military paperwork I found on FMyP shows he had a peripatetic life - born in Carnavon, attested in Colchester, Essex in December 1889 and gave his father's address as Plaistow, Essex. Died on 3 June 1943 in Dublin - as the following piece of paper, part of his military paperwork on FMyP, shows:



His service records show he was discharged to the army reserve in December 1896 and then was imprisoned on 24 October 1898 and released a month later - presumably a civil offence - do you know what he did?

Regards, David

Hi David,
This is taking pace!!. As stated I have his military records from a few years back, the same as you have shown. On the Irish side, have all the details. He isn't in 1901 as he is in SA. He appears in 1911 as a cobbler!! Have the marriage (1873) and death certificate and burial records (1943) etc. As I said, he was my great grandfather and his eldest John (also in the army, joined 2 weeks before the 1916 Rising!!) was my grandfather.

In relation to the imprisonment, if he was anything like his son, I would say the demon drink probably played a role!! However, it didn't seem to affect his eligibilty to play a role in the war effort!!
Your comment about Essex was intriguing! Explains the join up link, but raises the q why was the father away from Llanllechid in north Wales, where they had been for years? On a developed note, managed to track the family line back to 1801! The UK census records are to be commended! Not like my lot, who either burned or pulped most of them!
Thanks again for your help and keep in touch!
Rob

Hi Ian, thanks for that, will investigate
Rob

Rob - this is the header of your great-grandfather's attestation:



Note above his regimental number there is possibly "M.I." written - the I is rather fanciful but it is how capital I's were sometimes written. In this context M.I. would almost certainly stand for "Mounted Infantry". Alternatively it could just be "M.F." presumably for "Munster Fusiliers" but one wonders why anyone would need to add that.

Below a couple of para's from p21 of the regiment history you pointed us toward:



In the second para you can see the battalion did form a Mounted Infantry Company. Once formed, Mounted Infantry Companies more often than not did not fight alongside the battalion which had created them but in a separate Mounted Infantry Group usually consisting of several Mounted Infantry Companies drawn from different battalions.

I have included the para above because I find the second sentence rather incredible. I am currently trying to work out the composition of the 1st Battalion Worcester Regiment when they arrived in South Africa. Having examined the service records of 25 men (admittedly a too small sample) I am coming up with an even balance of Reservists (i.e. those recalled from the army reserve like your ggf) who I would call "old soldiers" and those who were serving when the war started who one could term as "lads" except all of them had a least 18 months service under their belts. Contemporary histories usually have biases because not only were they written by the victors but also by the establishment. It would be interesting to have a look at the service records of a sample of the RMF.

Also this can be found on the IWM website - half of a pair of stereoscopic photos: