RSM George Armstrong, Leeds Rifles

This photo is from the collection of Leeds postman Tom Wheldon (also spelt Weldon) who served in 1/8 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment during WW1 and was a veteran of the Boer War. 

Tom Wheldon received this photo in 1905 in the form of a postcard from his brother-in-law Harold Shillito who was away at camp. The photo shows "G Armstrong Sgt-Major" although I am reliably informed his uniform is, in fact, that of a Regimental Sergeant Major. "G Armstrong" was George Armstrong, a career soldier and mainstay of the Leeds Rifles for many years. He received his discharge in 1905 after nearly 35 years service but it seems he still hadn't had enough........................

George was born in Mullingar, Ireland, in around 1854 and, by 1858, was living in the barracks in Chester with his father William (an army pensioner, ex-14th Regiment of Foot, and a sergeant in the militia), mother Dora (or Dorothea), elder brother William and new-born brother Samuel.

George followed in his father's footsteps, enlisting in 14th Regiment of Foot at Sheffield in 1871. He claimed he was 17yrs 6 mths but, assuming his age was correct in the 1861 census, he was probably a year younger.

He made an encouraging start with rapid promotion to corporal but some sort of indiscretion (a last night out maybe), before a posting to Aldershot and India, saw him demoted to private. He spent four years in India, where he was stationed at Sutapore (Sitapur) and Ranikhet and then a year in Aden. During his time in India, he was promoted to lance corporal, then corporal, and was made a lance sergeant on his return to the UK just before Christmas 1879. He was stationed at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, and it was there that he signed up for another 21 years in March 1880 with a promotion to sergeant.

Weymouth and nearby Portland were his next postings (from Feb 1881) and it was probably around this time that he was sent to Hythe in Kent on a musketry course - he married Annie Stone in Aldington (about 7 miles from Hythe) on 14 December 1881.

A transfer to 1st West Yorkshire Regiment followed, along with promotion to colour sergeant and a move to Bradford (where son Sydney was born in Oct 1882). However they were soon on the move again - first to the west coast of Ireland (Castlebar and Galway) and then Dublin (where another child, Dora, was born).

On 10 Feb 1887 George was transferred to 7th West Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers and moved to Leeds with a promotion to acting sergeant major. Their third child, Frank, was born in Leeds four months later in June 1887.  In 1892 he was given permission to extend his service beyond 21 years and he was eventually discharged on 10 Sep 1905, by which time he was regimental sergeant major in 3rd Volunteer Battalion West Yorks Regiment (the Leeds Rifles).

Although it looks like he originally intended to retire to Kent, his association with the army continued - by 1911 he was living at 188 Burton Lane York and working as a clerk for the Territorial Force.

On the outbreak of war in 1914, George, by then about 60, lost no time in enlisting. On 7 Aug 1914, he signed up as a private for four years service with 5th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment. So keen was he to serve, that he seems to have been slightly economical with the truth, giving his age as 52 years 15 days and his birthplace as Chester rather than Ireland.  His address is correct though - 188 Burton Lane, York - so it is the same man.  His medical report described his apparent age as 52 and declared him fit for service.

He was rapidly promoted to sergeant but remained in the UK and was transferred to the reserves and then 26th Provisional Battalion. Sadly, he was discharged on 8 Oct 1915 as physically unfit (his discharge papers gave his age as 63) and he died in York late the following year.  

Sources: military service papers, censuses and birth, marriage and death records relating to George Armstrong are available on Ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk.

Rev. Archibald Ean Campbell MA

This photo is from the collection of Leeds postman Tom Wheldon (also spelt Weldon) who served in 1/8 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment during WW1 and was a veteran of the Boer War.  

Rev. Archibald Ean Campbell (1856-1921) was Vicar of All Souls, Blackman Lane, Leeds, from 1891 until 1901 and acted as chaplain to the Leeds Rifles. All Souls is not far from the centre of Leeds and close to Carlton Hill Barracks, the former home of the Rifles.

The son of a colonel, Rev. Campbell was educated at King William's College, IOM, and Clare College, Cambridge. After being ordained in 1881, he became a curate in Aberdare, and then rector of Castle Rising in Norfolk, before his move to Leeds.

He was Provost of St Ninian's in Perth from July 1901 and was elected Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway at the end of 1903, taking up the post the following year.

According to Dr Patricia Morris in her 1983 thesis on the Leeds Rifles* "[his] passion for Volunteering led him into joining musketry practice and field days at every opportunity" and it seems he "remained in post as assistant chaplin when he became Provost of St Ninian, Perth (in 1901) and even after becoming Bishop of Glasgow (in 1904), resigning with the greatest of regret on 31 March 1908, when the new TF regulations compelled him to do so.”

She describes him as "immensely popular" and quotes the Yorkshire Post on 17 Aug 1900 which said "The Rev A E Campbell, the cheery chaplain, has so popularised his ministrations that the entire corps has voluntarily attended his early morning short service preceding the working day". He was also "very active in the Temperance Movement" and was appointed chaplain to the Leeds Battalion of the Church Lads' Brigade on its founding in 1897. 

*Leeds and the Amateur Military Tradition: the Leeds Rifles and their Antecedents.  The University of Leeds School of History 1983.  This can be found at http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/880/

William Winters

These photos are from the collection of Leeds postman Tom Wheldon (also spelt Weldon) who served in 1/8 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment during WW1 and was a veteran of the Boer War. 

This photo is of Sergeant William Winters of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (the Leeds Rifles). Like Tom Wheldon, William fought with the Rifles in the Boer War. Their names are included in the Boer War Memorial in Leeds Town Hall.

Back in the UK, William continued to serve in the reserves and returned to work as a painter.

William also appears (seated on the left) in this photo of five Leeds Rifles sergeants probably taken at a training camp in the years before WW1.

He married Nellie Blanshard in Leeds in 1902 but life was to take a tragic turn. On Saturday 12 Sep 1908, William was away from home, working on a job in Ilkley. It was in the early hours that 17-year-old Lawrence Berry, a billiard ball marker at Leeds YMCA with whom Nellie had become friendly, shot her in Chestnut Avenue, 100 yards from her house in Brudenell Road. Berry then turned the gun on himself. He had borrowed the weapon from his employer saying that he wanted to practice at a miniature firing range. William gave evidence at the inquest saying that Berry had been a "visiting acquaintance" whom he had first met on Boxing Day.

On the outbreak of war, William re-enlisted in 1/8 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, arriving in France on 16 April 1915.

By the time this photo was taken, William had been commissioned, shaved off his moustache, joined the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) as a temporary 2nd lieutenant and travelled to Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine which was set up in March 1919 to occupy the Rhineland. "Yours sincerely, Billy, Cologne 24.4.19" is written on the face of the card. He was transferred later to the East Yorkshire Regiment and was promoted to temporary lieutenant on 28 May 1919.

The London Gazette reports that he relinquished his commission on completing his service on 11 March 1920, retaining the rank of lieutenant.

William lived at 1 Moorfield Terrace, Woodhouse, Leeds for the rest of his life and died in 1933.

The Shoesmiths

These photos are from the collection of Leeds postman Tom Wheldon (also spelt Weldon) who served in 1/8 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment during WW1 and was a veteran of the Boer War. The handwriting on the face of some of the photos is Tom's.

Arthur Shoesmith, a Leeds printer, joined 3rd Volunteer Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Leeds Rifles) in 1891. He was promoted to sergeant in 1896 and then colour sergeant in 1903. Arthur was one of their best marksmen winning the Gresham Challenge Cup (a competition for  sergeants in the Regiment) in 1900.

He is shown here in his dress uniform - at 6ft tall he must have looked impressive. I understand that the crossed rifles and a crown on the cuff indicate that he was a sergeant in the "best shooting company" in the battalion.

When the territorials were re-organised in 1908, Arthur enlisted in 7th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment.

At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Arthur was 40 - past the age at which he was expected to fight. However he signed up again and is shown here in his colour sergeant's uniform in 1914. It seems likely that the picture of his wife Edith was taken around the same time.

Arthur was promoted to company sergeant major in January 1915 and is shown here in his CSM's uniform with his son Reginald who looks to have been in the Army Service Corps. Both Arthur and Reg survived the war. Arthur was given his discharge in October 1916 after two spells on the Western Front.

The following photo was sent as a Christmas card in 1917 and shows Arthur with Edith and their children Ena, Reg and Marjorie. It may have been taken around the same time as the above photo, although Arthur has a waxed moustache in the one below. 

Finally, this is a photo from happier times - the wedding of Arthur and Edith's daughter Ena in 1933. Arthur and Edith are on the far right.  It looks as though Marjorie is one of the bridesmaids.