Military service of Pte A. G. Seary, Devonshire Regiment

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Albert George SEARY and Martha Selena HAWKINS

ALBERT GEORGE SEARY 1879-1940 

Albert served with the Devonshire Regiment in the Boer War, at Shahjahanpur and Chaubattia in India, the Channel Islands, and in France during the First World War. Much of this history has been pieced together by postcards sent from Little Coxwell to his wife Martha Selena HAWKINS.

Use has also been made of The Bloody Eleventh: History of the Devonshire Regiment, W.J.P.Aggett 1994 and 1995 (Three Volumes).

ENLISTMENT 

It is not known When Albert enlisted, but he was probaby aged 17 or even younger. It may be relevant that Albert's Uncle, James SEARY (b. 1862) also served in the Army and might have been a role model.

According to his son Arthur, Albert enlisted without his parents' prior consent.

Arthur recalled that when he himself had been sixteen he had fancied being a dashing cavalryman. He had run away from home, added another year to his age, and signed on with the Scots Greys. It was only when Arthur was dragged back home that he learned that his father Albert had also run away from home to join the Army.

Albert seemed to be prepared to let Arthur enlist, but he teased him that he should join his father's old regiment the Devonshires if he wanted to get the girls as in the Scots Greys his only friend would have a long grey nose. However Arthur's mother Martha was not amused, and insisted that the enlistment was void as Arthur was under age. 'We'll take him in a twelve-month then,' said the recruiting sergeant. 'Not likely!' retorted Martha having seen too many Army barracks to let her son follow that life.

1897-1899 

The first known reference to Albert is in a muster roll for the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment taken at Aldershot at the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Albert would have been just 18 years old. He was serving with 'D' Company.

The 2nd Battalion was considered the home battalion, training recruits and feeding them into the 1st Battalion which was then serving in India. It is not known if Albert transferred to the 1st Battalion at that time. In any event both Battalions were sent to Africa in 1899 to fight in the South African War - known informally as the "Boer War".

BOER WAR, 1899-1902 

Both Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment arrived in South Africa in 1899. The 1st saw action at various places including Lombard's Kop before having to fall back to Ladysmith where the town came under siege by the Boer army. They also took part in the assault on Wagon Hill. The 2nd fought at the Battle of Colenso, Spion Kop, and was involved in the relief of Ladysmith.

The conflict ended in 1901 and the 1st Battalion was transferred directly from South Africa to India at the end of that year . Reservists and men who had served their time were transferred to the 2nd Battalion which was to return to the UK, the embarkation beginning in June 1902. Presumably this is when Albert returned.

MARRIAGE. 1902 

On 27 August 1902 Albert married Martha Selena HAWKINS at Little Coxwell. As his occupation is given as Groom on the marriage certificate it is probable he had left the army. However, if so, he must have re-enlisted because Albert and Martha's first child was born in 1903 at Chaubattia, India, where Albert was once again serving with the Devonshire Regiment, this time with the 1st Battalion. At the time, British India was seen as a 'plum' posting.

Albert's Uncle, James SEARY (b. 1862) had married Martha's sister Agnes Sarah Hawkins KENT in 1897 and it is possible that Albert met his future wife through this connection.

BRITISH INDIA, 1902(?)-1905 

It is not known when Albert and Martha arrived in India, but from 1903 the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment were based at Shahjahanpur, a garrison town on the road from Delhi to Lucknow. Nearby was a Boer prisoner-of-war camp which required a 56-man guard: presumably Albert would have been liable for this duty.

[The British Empire was littered with prisoner-of-war camps and penal colonies, and Albert was involved in at least two - see Andaman Islands below. Boer prisoners of war were also held at St Helena in the South Atlantic where many died due to the climate.]

In order to minimise health problems companies of the Devonshire Regiment were rotated into cooler hill stations during the summer months. One such was Chaubattia at the foot of the Himalayas in the district of Almora, Uttar Pradesh. Chaubattia is north-west of Delhi on the road to Almora town which is about 3 km further on.

In 1905 the HQ and 6 Companies of the 1st Battalion were stationed at Chaubattia. The first two postcards are addressed to Chaubattia, but the postmarks show they were received after the Companies had left and forwarded to Shahjahanpur where the Battalion consolidated in September 1905 prior to leaving for Rangoon, Burma.

RANGOON, 1905-1906 

At the end of September 1905 the 1st Battalion left Shahjahanpur for Burma, arriving at Rangoon on 11th October.

ANDAMAN ISLANDS, 1907-1908 

When the 1st Battalion relocated to Rangoon, three officers and 140 Other Ranks were sent on detachment to guard the penal settlement at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. This may have involved some form of rotation, so Albert may not have gone to Port Blair with the initial detachment. All that can be discovered from the correspondence is that Martha was still in Rangoon at the end of 1906, that Albert was in Port Blair in April 1907, and that Martha was with him in October.

They stayed in Port Blair until the 1st Battalion returned to England in December 1908. Presumably this is where they obtained many of their souvenirs: they certainly brought home with them several of the distinctive Andaman Island bows. These are round at the grip, then flatten out rather like paddles, to return to being round at the tips from where they are strung. They are used for fishing with extremely long arrows.

TIDWORTH, DEVON, 1909-1911 

The 1st and 2nd Battalions Devonshire Regiment arrived Southampton 22nd January 1909 and were billeted at the Luckworth Barracks, Tidworth, Hants. Tidworth is now usually known as South Tidworth.

A contemporary records: We arrived in Tidworth in the snow and to us at any rate it seemed more than bitteryly cold. We were immediately packed off into Barrack rooms where fires had been lit, there to huddle up in groups around the fires bemoaning the day we had had to leave the Shiney where we had spent so many happy years.

(Amongst soldiers, India was known as the 'Shiny' or the 'Sunny' whilst the UK was known as 'Blighty'. The word comes from the Hindi 'bilayati' meaning foreign, but the pronunciation has the appropriate wintery connotations.)

From 8th August to 24th September 1909 the Battalion were on formation exercises on Salisbury Plain. A participant states this involved much marching with greatcoat, blanket and rations ... one manoeuvre entailed a rapid march of twenty miles in five hours ... The longest march was 39 miles ... continuous marching for 24 hours ... Raw meat rations carried on the man were collected (at the end) and handed over to the Master Cook ... but when the meal was ready, there was no one awake to eat it.

Albert and Martha's second child, Arthur Henry George Seary, was born at Tidworth on 12 January 1911.

JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS, 1912-1914 

On the 23rd September 1911 the 1st Battalion moved to Jersey to relieve the King's Own.

Albert and Martha's third child, Vera Irene Seary, was born in st. Helier, Jersey on 30 January 1913.

WORLD WAR I, 1914-1918 

On the 29th July 1914 a Warning Order of mobilisation was issued for the 1st Battalion. 450 men qualified for service, including Albert. They embarked on the 21st August 1914 for Havre.

Albert was invalided out following a gas attack, but the date is not known. During the war Martha and the children stayed with her parents Henry and Emma Hawkins at Little Coxwell. They were there in June 1915. By May 1918 the family were living at Woodbine Cottage, Coxwell Road, Faringdon, so Albert must have returned before then.

SUMMARY 

As far as is known, Albert remained a private throughout his military service. The reason can now only be a matter of speculation, but it is possible his character had something to do with it.

He appears to have been somewhat inflexible. He was a staunch Royalist (after demobilisation a large picture of George V hung in pride of place in the living room) and according to Martha was too proud to apply for an invalidity pension after being gassed during World War I (to Martha's annoyance). He was also a resolute total-abstainer from alcohol, which may have counted against him in an organisation where strong drink was the norm and social drinking functioned in maintaining camaraderie.

According to Albert's son, Arthur, Albert's teetotalism was absolute. Arthur related how one day when Albert was extremely ill and not expected to live, he had been sent to fetch the local doctor (Dr. Pullen) but when he returned could see that his father was having great trouble breathing. On his own initiative Arthur had fed Albert with a solution of brandy, sugar, and hot water (the usual remedy for most ailments in those times). By the time Dr. Pullen had arrived Albert's breathing had improved, and Dr. Pullen told Arthur that his action had saved his father's life - but Arthur knew that his father would not be pleased with the method used. His mother said she would take the blame, but Arthur would have none of it and told his father what he had done. Arthur said it was a month before his father would speak to him again.