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12 February 2017

No 2 RFA officer cadet school - Four MMs on show


I bought this photo in Cambridge last week.  What's interesting - and unusual - about it is that the men are named. There is no location noted but I believe it to have been taked in 1918 at the No 2 officer cadet school at Topsham Barracks, Exeter. A number of the men have prior service and four of them are recipients of the Military Medal. I have carried out some research but there is still more to be done.  Here are the bare bones.

Robert Fletcher. Formerly 2/1714 Dvr NZFA.
William Sinclair Barbour. LG 4 Sep 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 19 Aug 1918.
Leslie Robinson Sampson. LG 21 Oct 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 30 Sep 1918
Ellis Ivan Prime MM. Formerly 2/2239 Gnr, 10th Battery, 4th Bde, NZFA. LG 09.12.1916. Citation for 20th Sep 1916 on the Longueval-Flers Road
Liddle. Nothing found on Google search of Liddle/gazette/artillery/1918.
John James CrottyFormerly 2/2803 Cpl NZFA
William Gordon MacClintock MM. Formerly 2/2211 Cpl, 3rd Battery, 1st Bde, NZFA. LG 02.11.1917. Citation for 25th August 1917, south of Messines.
Henry Archer Pascall MM. Formerly 8618 Sgt, RFA & G Battery AA Group. From East Dulwich. LG 02.11.1917, an award for 3rd Ypres, August 1917.  [LG 4 Sep 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 19 Aug 1918]
Hermann Henry Osmers MM. Formerly 2/232 Gnr, 1st Battery, NZFA. LG 21.09.1916. Citation for 8th June 1916, near Houplines.
Alastair Stewart MacWhirter. LG 4 Sep 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 19 Aug 1918.
Roland William L'Estrange Heppard. LG 9 Nov 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 24 Oct 1918.
Dawson. Nothing found on Google search of Dawson/gazette/artillery/1918.
Captain Louis Alfred Pantlin. RFA, WO 339/78359.
Sgt Finch
George Malcolm Thomson. LG 4 Sep 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 19 Aug 1918.
Howard Carston Catcheside. LG 30 Aug 1918. To be Temp 2nd Lt 15 Aug 1918]
Reid. Unknown.

Howard Catcheside (1899-1987) would later play rugby for England, making his international debut in January 1924. He was the first player to score a try in each round of the then Five Nations Championship, a feat not equalled by another Englishman until 2002 by Will Greenwood. 

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