World War 1 Family Heroes .. 201276 Lance Corporal. Peter Turnbull K.O.S.B

Port Said Memorial Cemetery

My second family posting from World War 1 is dedicated to 201276 Corporal Peter Turnbull 1st/4th Btn Kings Own Scottish Borderers aged 34, who died on the 9th July 1917 in Egypt. Peter was the 2nd son of Richard and Sophia Turnbull of Selkirk to be killed in World War 1 and was one of my Grandmothers older brothers

He is buried in the Port Said Memorial Cemetery, Port Said, Egypt.

Peter was a Don R (nickname for a motorcycle despatch rider)
He apparently did not hear the sentry challenge and unfortunately was shot while returning to camp on a motor bike and he died of his wounds. Such a sad waste of life and extremely sad for his parents in Selkirk who had already lost their youngest son Tom in Oct 1916

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THE REGIMENT 

The Kings Own Scottish Borderers

KOSB Badges

A Detachment of the 4th KOSB.

The Empress of Britain.

 Peter sailed on the Empress of Britain with the Regiment firstly to Gallipoli where they landed on Y Beach at Cape Helles on the 25th April 1915. Fierce fighting ensured many casualties and the KOSB were held up in a defile close to the beach named "Gully Ravine"

After the Regiment was withdrawn from battle they went to Mudros Island for R&R and then down to Egypt where they fought in the Gaza area. This was during the time of Lawrence of Arabia's famous exploits and Allenbys entry into Jerusalem. Peter was killed just after the 1st battle of Gaza.

KOSB at Gallipoli

In the ravine the 1st Battalion, Border Regiment did not advance as far as those troops on the spur since Ottomans there were somewhat sheltered from the deadly bombardment from the sea. Their final position was fortified with rocks and boulders and became known as "Border Barricade".
The KOSB is of course a famous Scottish Regiment and participated in many other memorable battles in World War 1 including the Western Front in France.

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PERSONAL DETAILS
Peter was engaged to be married and his fiancee apparently never re-married, however Peter's Father was presented with his medals after the War and he invited this lass to Selkirk and presented them to her as a keepsake. She kept the medals for over 40 years and then decided they should be returned to Selkirk, She gave them to the Selkirk Borders Museum where they are still kept. Recently I communicated with her relative who lives in Portsmouth and she suggested I get the Border museum to photograph the collection for me, which they kindly agreed to do.

 The collection also includes a decorative brass tin sent by Princess Mary to members of the British, Colonial and Indian Armed Forces for Christmas 1914. Over 426,000 of these tins were distributed to those serving on Christmas Day 1914. The tins were filled with various items including tobacco, confectionary, spices, pencils, a Christmas card and a picture of the Princess.

Click Here for a pdf of the Museum Collection.

Modern Egyptian "Garry"

 When my Grandmother and Mother emigrated to New Zealand in the 1920s, they were able to briefly leave the ship Orsova  at the Suez Canal and visited Peters Grave. Apparently they took a "garry" to the cemetery and my Mother was constantly touched by Arab children who had not seen a young girl with such white skin! It must have been quite an experience!



One interesting document I have, is the official CWGC handwritten requests for the next of kin to request an inscription on the grave stone and Richard Turnbull asked for the following sentence to be thus inscribed. "Faithful Unto Death"

CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL

#Note The history of these inscriptions is inconsistent. The inscriptions were originally limited to 66 characters (including spaces between words). Cost was 3 1/2d per letter. At some stage the British Govt capitulated and made the payment voluntary. There is evidence some were asked 3d per letter. One epitaph runs for 400 characters  -  a considerable excess to the alleged 66 character limitation. The proportion of headstones with inscriptions is higher for Officers, which may well indicate that payment was a factor and wealthier families could afford the cost more easily than some poorer families.It was very controversial. The Canadian Govt paid for the Canadian inscriptions.The New Zealand Govt banned inscriptions on the basis that some might not be able to afford it (although some do exist) 

At the Going Down of the Sun

and in the Morning.

We will Remember Them.

LEST WE FORGET

                                               Click Here for CWGC Memorial at Port Said

A tribute to Peter's brother Tom
http://briansbash.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/a-ww1-personal-family-tribute-for-3756.html

A WW1 Personal Family Tribute for 3756 L/Cpl Tom Turnbull. London Post Office Rifles

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
(Lieut Colonel John McRae, Poet)

I have started writing this tribute, 100 years to the day that World War 1 was declared. In recent years my wife Lyn and I have spent many hours researching our Family members who served in this "War to End all Wars" and over the past months we both have agreed that our knowledge of this conflict has not only been a time of reflection, but also a time of admiration for these relatives who interrupted their normal lives to travel overseas, some as volunteers and some as conscripts.

Of course there were exceptions to serving overseas. One of my New Zealand Grandfathers was relegated as "unfit" owing to his age and the fact that the family had seven young children to care for!

Post Office Uniform

My main interest at this stage revolves around 4x Family members that I have researched.
Tom Turnbull from Selkirk and his brother Peter Turnbull also from Selkirk, who both gave their lives, Andrew O'Brien (aka Bishop as he was adopted out as a child) and my Grandfather, Edmund Joseph Ramsey (aka Ramsbottom) who both survived and returned home.

My 1st chosen Family Member is Thomas George Turnbull from Selkirk in Scotland. Tom, was the youngest Son of Richard and Sophia Turnbull (Binnie)  Tom was born in 1894 and the family included older siblings William (b.1887), Jane Hogg Binnie (b1879) Richard (b1886) Peter (b1884) and Mary Stoddart Turnbull (My Grandmother b 1896) who was the youngest.

The Family had a number of addresses in Selkirk including Fuschia Cottage Tower Street in 1881, 4a Bleachfield Rd, 12 Dunsdale Haugh in 1901 and at 48 Ettrick Terrace in 1914.

London Regt. Badge

Tom left home and joined the Post Office and in 1915 along with other Postal workers he was recruited into the Territorial Force under its new title '8th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Post Office Rifles).

His Army number was 3756 and his date of enlistment was 6th February 1915 into 1st /8th Btn Post Office Rifles where he rose to the rank of Lance Corporal. The 1st Battalion embarked from Southampton on 17 March 1915 and after a period of training and acclimatisation, entered the trenches to fight in the battle for Festubert on 11 May that year.

The regiment saw further action at Loos in the same year and in 1916, POR battalions were involved in some of the worst carnage of the war at the Battle of the Somme. For their part, the PORs entered the hostilities late in the battle (October) but still sustained forty dead, 160 wounded and some 200 missing.


I have a booklet that I purchased from the UK  recently and it gives an outline of that particular day. It was during this period on Saturday 7th October, Tom was killed at the battle for the BUTTE De WARLENCOURT..... The official records state "The Battalion made a somewhat disasterous attack on the Butte De Warlencourt,  a mound that bristled with un-suspected machine guns. Two companies were completely wiped out, only seven men returning. On the 9th October the remnants were removed to Albert and from there to Ypres". Tom's body was never found.


The Post Office Rifles received 145 awards for gallantry including one Victoria Cross for Sgt. A.J. Knight.

At this stage of my research I don't know all the details of Tom's involvement before this battle, however it is apparent that his Regiment was totally involved in a number of major battles immediatley prior to The Butte de Warlencourt, including LOOS and VIMY RIDGE

CWGC Memorial

Tom is remembered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commision and his name is engraved on the famous Thiepval Memorial, which commemorates the 72,085 men who were killed on the Somme. 

There are numerous Post Office Memorials in London and in Scotland and Tom is remembered on these  also. (I hope to Visit Theipval in the next year or so to pay my respects to this brave lad.)

Red Spot marks where Tom was killed

The Map on the right, outlines the area where the

battle of the Butte De Warlencourt was fought.

Many of the wounded were taken to the nearby town of

Albert. The red marking highlights the area where

Tom Turnbull was killed.

Thiepval Engraving for L/Cpl Tom Turnbull

This is the plaque from the Thiepval Memorial with Tom's name engraved. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the upkeep of these Memorials in perpetuity and it
is quite a moving experience to view the Memorials and the surrounding Gardens.

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Further Research on Tom Turnbull

Kirkcaldy Post Office Memorial

During my research on Tom, I came across a number of Memorials to the Fallen in Post Offices throughout Scotland. When I found the Kirkcaldy Memorial with his name I wondered how he was associated with this Post Office, which is situated in the Fife Region, North of Selkirk.

I read that Post Office employess could be transferred to other regions and obviously, Tom was working in the area.



Tom was my Nana's favourite Brother and when an Aunt passed away in 2011, I was given a box of family memorabilia to sort through including a box with letters and cards sent to Mary. In 1912 Tom was working in the Burntilsand area, which is on the coast near the Firth of Forth and this explains his association with Kirkcaldy, which is close by! He wrote to Mary on a couple of Valentines post cards (a popular way of communicating in those days) and these treasures, written in pencil are still legible and in good condition.

A card to Mary

Rear of Card to Mary

To Mary from Tom

8th Btn Regimental Flag

The Recruiting Poster for the London Regiment

8th Btn Regimental Parade

Thank you for visiting my Blog and I invite you to return for a follow-up

blog on other Family members who were involved in World War 1

We are very proud of these Family Heroes and it is my fervent wish that they will never be forgotten.

In this Centenary Year of the beginning of this terrible tragedy it is appropriate to spend a quiet moment of reflection for these young men and women who paid the Ultimate Sacrifice and for those who returned home, forever scarred by the experience.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

LEST WE FORGET.

Please use this link to read my Tribute to Tom's Brother Peter Turnbull who died in Egypt 9th July 1918
https://briansbash.blogspot.com/2014/09/world-war-1-family-heroes-201276-lance.html