Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : Private

Army Number : 11421

Unit : 6th Bn

Biography :

Ex-Pte. Pope died in London 16.2.1948. Arrived in France 25.8.1915.

To The Memory Of

Private 1142 Herbert S. Pope

Remembered with Honour
In Perpetuity

6th (Service) Battalion Leicestershire Regiment
&
Private 206590 British Labour Corps

On 26th April 1919 Herbert S. Pope became a Reserve soldier Private Z 206590 with Leicestershire Regiment

A Survivor of the Great War 1914 - 1918
Died on 16th February 1948

Buried at Tottenham Cemetery, North London

Brother in Law to Mrs Muriel Tate (nee Berry)

Uncle to Dr Graham Tate

Formative Research Background

Family Background of Herbert Pope:
Date of Birth – Unknown
Family Residence Address – Unknown
Parents Names – Unknown

Nothing is known of Herbert Seymour Pope prior to his enlistment into the British Armed Forces in 1914 following the outbreak of World War1 – known as the Great War. However, further genealogical family research can be conducted to ascertain relevant information and family background that is held on the published 1901 and 1911 national census records. These census records are now digitised and can be accessed on line. (See National Archives web site)

Herbert—s Service Record - the Known Facts:
Thus far we—ve been able to ascertain that Herbert served as a front line soldier with the Leicestershire Regiment, experiencing direct combat action in France and Belgian Theatres during WW1. We also know that sometime during late 1916 or early 1917 Herbert transferred to the British Labour Corps as Pope H. S Private 206590. After the cessation of hostilities and the Armistice in 1918, we can identify from records that Herbert volunteered as a Reservist soldier with the Leicestershire Regiment as Pope H. S. Private Z 206590 – Z being the British Army prefix given to the service numbers of reserve soldiers.

Military Service

Medals:
For his honourable and distinguished service in WW1 Herbert was awarded the following campaign medals“

• The Victory Medal
• The British War Medal
• The 1915 Star Medal

These three medals along with their original ribbons are held in the safekeeping of Dr Graham Tate. These medals were issued to serving officers and men of the British Forces serving in France and Belgium during key specific dates, in particular the 1914-1915 Star Medal. These campaign medals and the War Office criteria under which they were awarded, offers a research indicator into the precise dates and time-frames that Herbert would have served in various campaign battles, thus experiencing combat action and trench warfare at first hand.

(Source: National Archives – Medal Roll Record Card of Pope, H. S. Private 11421 serving in Leicestershire Regiment (The Tigers) - later transferring as Pope H. S .Private 206 590 to the British Labour Corps and then, after the end of the war, being retained as a Reservist soldier with Leicestershire Regiment as Pope, H S Private Z 206590.

The Leicestershire Regiment in the Great War 1914 – 1918
Leicestershire Regiment, known as The Tigers, had a long and distinguished history throughout World War 1. From the beginning of the war and the British Expeditionary Force embarking onto French soil in August 1914, The Tigers engaged in many battles including The Battle and Retreat from Mons with the BEF. These early Battalions and units of Leicestershire Regiment were all regular enlisted soldiers. Herbert Pope was not one of these.

Leicestershire Regiment – Battalions of the Regular Army
The Tigers had three Regular Army Battalions each consisting of
Approximately 1007 men of whom 30 were officers. Each Battalion
comprised a head quarters and four separate Companies.

In order to identify which particular battalion Herbert served with, I have
researched the early formations of each battalion, and then tracked each
battalion—s movements, comparing against known dates and time-lines of
Private Pope—s service record. and medal roll. This informs us of the actual
service Battalion Herbert was enlisted into as the key dates and timelines
must match accurately.

1st Battalion
August 1914 – in Fermoy, Ireland. Moved to St Nazaire France 10th
September 1914

2nd Battalion
August 1914 – in Ranikhet India. Landed Marseilles France 12th October
1914

3rd (Reserve) Battalion
August 1914 – in Leicester. A training unit it remained in UK throughout the
War.

Battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment Territorial Force
These Territorial Forces were made up reserve and part time soldiers, just as
they are today.

1/4th Battalion
August 1914 – in Leicester. Part of Lincoln and Leicester Brigade North
Midland Division. Moved to Luton and in November 1914 was in Bishop—s
Stortford. Landed Le Havre France 3 March 1915. 12 May 1915 became
part of 138th Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division.

1/5th Battalion
August 1914 – in Loughborough. Part of Lincoln and Leicester Brigade,
North Midland Division. Record and movements the same as 1/4th Battalion.

2/4th Battalion
Formed at Leicester in September 1914 as a second line unit. Part of Lincoln
and Leicester Brigade, 2nd North Midland Division. Moved to Luton in 1915
and then by July 1915 was in St Albans. Moved to Ireland. Didn—t land
in France until 24th February 1917.

3/4th and 3/5th Battalions
Formed Leicester and Loughborough respectively early in 1915. Became the
4th and 5th Reserve Battalions staying mostly in UK during the war.

Note: Many soldiers in reserve battalions did transfer to active duty on the
front lines, particularly as casualty number rose significantly as the war
progressed.

Battalions of the New Armies
On the same day that BEF landed in France in August 1914, the famous
Kitchener enlisting battle cry was launched throughout the UK. …Your
Country Needs You‘ poked Kitchener—s finger at every male in the UK
urging every able bodied man to …to do the right thing for King and
Country‘ and sign-up by enlisting into the British Army. This was done
throughout the UK using the existing ”Shires Regiments— as a basis for
active service recruitment.

Lord Kitchener was Minister for War with a Government mandate to recruit,
form and train up to six New Armies in 1914. These were known as the
Kitchener Armies (prefixed K1, K2, K3, K4 etc) as opposed to the regular
army soldiers in BEF already fighting in France since mid 1914.

The BEF regular—s were what the German Kaiser called Britain—s
”Contemptible Little Army—. 80,000 Old Contemptibles stood firm in
supporting occupied Belgium and France against over 1 million strong
German and Axis Powers Armies. The BEF retreat from Mons, when pushed
back nearly to Paris by overwhelming German numbers, necessitated the
recruitment into the K armies of considerably more manpower back in the
UK“.and quickly. Hundreds of thousands men enlisted across Britain.

Enlistment of Herbert Seymour Pope

After detailed cross-checking of known dates and timelines sourced from Herbert—s medal and Tigers Regimental records I conclude with a high degree of accuracy that Herbert enlisted into“

6th Battalion (Service) Leicestershire Regiment as Private 11421 H S Pope
Regimental records and Battalion movements state“.

Formed at Leicester in August 1914 as part of K1 and attached as Army troops to 9th (Scottish) Division.

April 1915 – after training transferred to 110th Brigade, 37th Division

The full 37th Division commenced departures from Portsmouth on 22nd July 1915, landing Marseilles France on 23rd July. The full compliment of 37th Division continued deployment from UK and was, in full compliment, in France by end of August 1915. From historical factual records we know Herbert—s time in France started 25th August 1915, (medal records) as such, this places him with 6th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, formed in compliment as 110th Brigade, 37th Division.

The 37th Division in 1914 – 1918

Although Herbert probably enlisted in 1914, the formation of the 37th Division came later. Raised for the 6th Army, 37th Division began forming in March 1915. It was originally known as 44th Division, but following the War Office decision to convert Kitchener—s 4th Army into training and reserve units this led to 37th Division being ”promoted— as part of the 2nd New Army with a Divisional HQ established at Andover on 12th April 1915. Many units that had been formed for a while, including Herbert—s, came into its command. In April 1915 37th Division concentrated at Cholderton on Salisbury Plain. On 25th June 1915 the 37th Division, including Herbert, were inspected in barracks by King George V at Sidbury Hill. All units of 37th Division were firstly concentrated and billeted at Tilques France., later moving to billets in the Ypres Salient. (Sources: the Long, Long Trail, references cited in WW1 day by Day, Alex Hook)

The 37th Division remained on the Western Front for the entire duration of WW1, taking part in many campaign engagements.

Late 1915, after arrival in France
Battalions of the 37th Division undergoing combat training; probably at Etaples

1916
The Battle of the Ancre
This was a phase of the Battle of the Somme

1917
The First Battle of the Scarpe, including the capture of Monchy-le-Preux
Second Battle of the Scarpe
The Battle of Arleux
These are all phases of the Battle of Arras

The Battle of Pilkem Ridge
The Battle of Menin Road Ridge (Where Hitler fought and was wounded)
The Battle of Polygon Wood
The Battle of Broodseinde
The Battle of Poelcapelle
The First Battle of Passchendaele
The are all phases of the Third Battle of Ypres

Detailed accounts of each of these battles can be read in full at The Long Long Trail web site, along with the full reports of Field Marshal Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief, Western Front Forces.

The 37th Division continued to engage in many more battles during 1918, leading to German surrender and the Armistice in November 1918. Herbert—s records show that he transferred into the British Labour Corps sometime late 1916 or early 1917. However, as a front line Private in these Corps he would still have been engaged in all the above battles with the Tigers; and often be called upon to supplement infantry units as casualty numbers escalated. The reasons behind Herbert—s transfer are, as yet, uncertain and require further research (Perhaps Herbert was classed as medically unfit for combat duties due to injuries sustained)

Note: From the battles of Pilkem Ridge to Passchendaele in 1917, this is the very same territory that we will be visiting on our trip in May 2014. As such“.

…We can walk in Herbert—s footsteps‘

Footnote:

I—ll try and explore in more detail what Herbert Pope did during his service period with British Labour Corps attached to Leicestershire Regiment. We know Herbert was seriously wounded/injured sometime, but stayed on at the Western Front rather than be repatriated home.

According to Graham, sadly Herbert—s WW1 injuries overtook him on such a colossal scale that he eventually took his own life in 1948; no doubt as a direct result of his WW1 injuries and the terrible experiences he witnessed.

A very sad end to a very brave man.

Roger Jones. March 2014

Date of Death : 16.2.1948

Place of Death : London & &

Period of Service : 1910s

Conflicts : WWI

Places Served : France and Flanders