TOPIC:

Seen in a medal drawer at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.

Group to W A Knowles.



Apologies for the poor picture. No other information readily available at the Museum.

David Good to know where Knowles group is, including the disappointing news that it is out of the reach of collectors! William Arthur Charles, to give him his full names, served with Essex Yeomanry in WW1. I will dig out my notes on him. I know he served under a Dragoons number, 18431, prior to transfer to Tank Corps as 307591 in January 1918. He was 439 Cpl with City Imperial Volunteers for the QSA (should have CC, OFS, Tvl) and appears to have been issued with (or rather his widow was issued with) the KSA. Knowles appears on the roll of the Provisional Transvaal Constabulary, serving from 22 Sept to 19 Oct 1900. The QSA roll is annotated that he earned the KSA with "SHS" under what appears to be the number 1072. I can't remember if I have managed to decode that reference before.
While I knew he died in 1931, I have just discovered that he died at the military hospital at Bovington and was still serving as S/Sgt, Royal Tank Corps, although he was over 50 at that point (only 49 on the burial register). Doubly apposite that his medals are still there!
(A sad footnote is that his son, Basil, a 19 year old Sgt Observer with 37 Sqn, RAF, was killed on 1 May 1940
His Wellington was shot down in a bombing raid on Stavanger, Norway)
Ian

Ian,

That is amazing information. What a story for a group of medals lodged in the top right hand corner of a drawer.

Ian,

I am not clear to what those two units refer





There is a W A Knowles in Steinaecker's Horse but that William Andrew was Australian.

Smethwickian QSA/MM Combinations.

My confirmed database contains 206 Smethwickians who served in the ABW, 3 forfeited their QSA’s leaving 203 who received them. Of the 203 one was an officer and 4 were killed in action and 7 died of disease.

36 went on to serve in WW1 and 4 received the MM – making a ratio of 1 MM to 50 QSA’s in round figures.

They four were:

Joseph Fripp who served in the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in the ABW and the ASC in WW1. He was attached to the 56th Field Ambulance when he was awarded the MM. QSA with 3 clasps – Cape Colony, Orange Free State & Belfast (he went out as a draft) & KSA with both date clasps. MM gazetted 29/08/1918, rank Sergeant. (Biography nearing completion.)

Thomas Winter who served in the 2nd Battalion KRRC in the ABW and was serving in the Labour Corps in WW1 when he was awarded the MM. QSA with 1 clasp – Cape Colony (he went out as a draft). MM gazetted 13th November 1918, rank Sergeant. (Biography in preparation.)

William Cleaver who served in the 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment in the ABW and the 2nd Battalion in WW1. QSA with 5 clasps – Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 & South Africa 1902. MM gazetted 11/11/1916, rank Private. He was presented with his MM whilst in a VAD hospital in Shrewsbury in early March 1917. He was also mentioned in despatches.

George William Taylor who served in the Volunteer Service Company, 1st Battalion in the ABW. He emigrated to Australia before the start of WW1 and served with 1st Field Company of the Australian Engineers. After being awarded the MM (gazetted 17/12/1917) he was awarded the DCM (gazetted 06/02/1918). He died on 19th August 1918 from wounds received a few days earlier when a stray shell landed next to him whilst he was in billets. His rank at death was Sergeant. QSA with 5 clasps – Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 & South Africa 1902. I don’t need to write his biography as there are already two detailed versions in existence. His medals and other memorabilia were presented to the Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum, Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. As you can see from the photo below his ABW medals have suffered, a clasp has been lost and a medal to which he was not entitled has been added. The museum are aware of these issues.



There is no doubt that Cleaver & Winter qualify as Smethwickians as they were both born there. Fripp and Taylor were born elsewhere but both lived in Smethwick and Fripp died there. All four made the local paper at the time for their exploits but they are all now forgotten in Smethwick, something I hope to rectify. Taylor as a member of the Smethwick Militia who volunteered, along with 25 others, to go overseas and fight in the ABW was commemorated in 1903 in Smethwick Town Hall. When I lived in Smethwick the Town Hall had become the Central Library and I passed the memorial many times without giving it much, if any, thought. The building now houses the Sandwell Archives and the memorial is still there. Other members of the Taylor family died in WW1 and Fripp had a son who he named after General Joffre and went on to fly Spitfires in WW2 and is a listed Battle of Britain pilot.

David I am inclined to read the unit as S H S although have not managed to trace the KSA in the rolls. Some more on Knowles. MM for Oct 1918, jointly with another Sgt who commanded tanks and cleared a quarry of the enemy, 11th Bn. But by far the more exciting news is of a direct connection between Knowles and T E Lawrence. Text from National Trust website about the cottage where Lawrence lived from 1923 till his death: "Lawrence discovers Clouds Hill
Pioneer Sergeant Arthur Knowles had recently taken on the small cottage and started repairs with a plan to make it his family home.

By the summer of 1923 Sgt Knowles had made temporary repairs to the roof and was starting to paint the woodwork when TE Lawrence walked past. Over the next week, Lawrence managed to persuade Knowles to sublet it to him, with Lawrence paying for the rest of the rebuilding and repairs.

TE Lawrence rented the cottage from September 1923 for 10 shillings a month"
There are some papers in an American collection which involve Knowles and Lawrence.
Returning to his medals, they were reissued to his widow so are these the original medals or late issue from 1931? Perhaps the museum has details of naming. If they are the reissues, not obvious why the clasps would be missing from the QSA.
The museum need to give this group more prominence and a write up, IMHO.
Ian