Who are these men, and what were they doing during WW1?
Q
I volunteer at the Local Studies and Archives Centre for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. We found this local photograph, and are trying to identify the men and regiment without any success. A note attached says: “C. Cooper, W. Rush, H. Durrant, J. Bailey, H. Mills – Home Guard 1914 War Searchlight”. Can you help?
David Porter
A
The photograph isn’t very clear, though the three men in the front appear to have different cap badges, possibly from different battalions of the London Regiment. A search of the Medal Card Index at The National Archive (TNA), available online at bit.ly/ TNAguideMedalIndexCards, using the names given and ‘London Regiment’ gives too many options. Of course, if the men didn’t serve overseas (and many didn’t), they wouldn’t have a card anyway.
The caption “Home Guard 1914 War Searchlight” might offer some clues. Home Guard was a phrase used in the First World War, although not commonly, and probably refers to soldiers engaged on Home Defence. “1914 War” just means it was the First World War, but “Searchlight” might be important. I’ve looked for a magazine of that name but drawn a blank, so it probably refers to a searchlight unit.
London entered the war defenceless against aerial attack. The Royal Navy took responsibility and created a mobile brigade of guns and searchlights, which was taken over by the Army in 1916. As the threat from Zeppelins and day and night bombers increased, a sophisticated defence including aircraft, guns, searchlights and balloons developed surrounding the capital, but was particularly strong in the east and north. There were almost certainly searchlights in your borough.
However, Army searchlight men were Royal Engineers and I can’t see an RE badge among them. They are wearing brassards (armbands) often worn by troops carrying out unusual duties. Possibly they’re men in the process of transferring to the RE, or perhaps local support troops.
I’d suggest referring to the various files at TNA in Kew on the air (or aerial) defence of London or simply searchlight, most of which are in the series AIR1. These should say which units were stationed in the borough, and might offer clues as to where you can look next.
Phil Tomaselli