I usually watch new episodes of the TV series “Who do you think you are?” as soon as they are shown, but for some reason I missed Sue Perkins and have only just seen it on BBC iPlayer. It immediately rang a bell, and I found I had researched her paternal grandfather Albert Edward Perkins for production company WalltoWall back in 2021. They very rarely tell me the celebrity whose soldier I am examining, so it came as a pleasant surprise. I thought you might like to know his military story.
Military historian Andy Robertshaw did the filming with Sue, no doubt as I have a face more suited for radio.
First period of service: Militia of the Wiltshire Regiment
On 14 January 1892 Albert enlisted into the Militia of the Wiltshire Regiment in Salisbury. He did so voluntarily. At his attestation it was recorded that he was 17 years and 11 months old, which was well within the minimum requirement for service. He said that he was employed as a watch maker, unmarried, and that he had no previous military experience.
Albert also underwent a medical examination at which it was recorded that he stood 5 feet 5½ inches in height (which was about national average), weighed 120 pounds and that he had an expanded chest measurement of 33 inches. He was evidently passed fit for service.
He agreed the standard terms of engagement in the Militia. This required him to commit for six years. He would undertake seven weeks of full-time training and after that it was essentially only required that he should attend an annual training camp.
Next day, 15 January 1892. Albert had been ordered to report to the regiment’s depot at the barracks in Devizes, where he was confirmed as the regiment’s Private 3641 and posted to its 3rd Battalion. This was the unit that carried out the administration and training of the Militia troops. His record provides no further detail but it can be assumed that he commenced his preliminary training and was discharged once he had re-enlisted into the regular army (below).
Second period of service: as a regular with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
On 5 March 1892 o Albert re-enlisted, this time joining the regular army for the standard engagement of twelve years. This was to be made up of seven years of full-time service and followed by five years on reserve. He re-enlisted in Bristol and requested that he join the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. This is likely to be because his brother, who he named as next of kin, was serving with the regiment. He also underwent another medical examination but the details are broadly unchanged.
New recruits were sent to the regiment’s depot at Bodmin in Cornwall, and Albert was confirmed as Private 3719. They would usually undertake three months of basic training there, but this could be cut short for those who had already completed the preliminary training course of the Militia.
Sadly, the dates of postings to units are no longer in existence, for his record is now only represented by a few documents. It appears that (from all else that follows) that after a period at the depot Albert was posted to join the regiment’s 2nd Battalion. Like most regiments, the DCLI had two battalions of the regular army. At most times, one of them was overseas on garrison duty somewhere within the British Empire and the other was at home. In 1892, the regiment’s 1st Battalion was stationed in Burma and the 2nd Battalion was in Dublin in Ireland.
In June 1893 Albert gained his Third-Class Certificate of Education. The army took the continuing education of its soldiers very seriously and men were obliged to attend school classes in a wide variety of subjects. These were principally in military applications: writing out orders, drawing maps, preparing financial accounts and so on. They had the opportunity to pass at three levels of tests, of which the Third-Class Certificate of Education was the first (lowest). This would not only be useful in later life but was mandatory if the soldier was to be promoted.
On 8 July 1893 Albert was appointed to Lance-Corporal.
The service record reports that Albert entered India on 1 February 1894. This implies that he had now been posted to the 1st Battalion, which was by now stationed at Chakrata. The date is misleading: it usually represents the first full day at sea after leaving home territory.
It was common practice to send a soldier overseas after about eighteen to twenty four months of service. If his unit was sent overseas he would remain with it; if not, he would be posted to the other battalion. The 2nd Battalion was still in Ireland. Newspapers report that a draft that was about to go out to India was inspected in Dublin on 25 January. They further report that the draft (Lieutenant Turner and 264 men) sailed with others on the Cunard ship “Bothnia” from Queenstown. The exact date on which the draft arrived at Chakrata is unknown but would be perhaps a month after sailing. The 1st Battalion remained at Chakrata throughout the period 1894-1896.
On 3 March 1894 Albert was awarded the first Good Conduct Badge. This was a standard award but not easy to achieve, especially in a regiment with exacting standards of discipline. It required the men to serve for two years without a blemish to his disciplinary record. The badge was a single chevron stripe, worn point uppermost on the cuff of the left sleeve of the tunic.
On 7 March 1894 Albert was reverted to Private. This would usually either be a disciplinary or organisational matterm or at the man’s own request. There is no evidence of the former (for example, he did not lose his Good Conduct Badge).
On 18 June 1894 he gained his Second-Class Certificate of Education.
He is known to have served with the Tirah Expeditionary Force. Albert was eventually awarded the 1895 pattern India General Service Medal with “Punjab Frontier 1897-1898” and “Tirah 1897-1898” clasps. The clasps, which were authorised in June 1898, have specific award criteria as follows:
Punjab Frontier: a number of clauses of which the relevant one is: “awarded to all troops forming part of the Tirah Expeditionary Force, who proceeded beyond either Kohat or Peshawar between 2nd October, 1897, and the 6th April, 1898.”
Tirah: “awarded to all troops forming part of the Tirah Expeditionary Force, including Kurram Moveable Column and Peshawar Column, who proceeded beyond either Kohat or Peshawar between 2nd October, 1897, and 31st January, 1898, inclusive.”
The official despatch describing the work of the Tirah Expeditionary Force was printed in the “London Gazette” of 5 April 1898. See https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26954/page/2171. The 1st DCLI was not heavily engaged but did sustain a number of casualties.
By mid-1898 the battalion was stationed at Lucknow and during 1900 it relocated to Dum Dum at Calcutta.
On 3 March 1898 Albert gained his second Good Conduct Badge.
During February 1899, more than 800 men of the battalion received their campaign medals in a special ceremony held in Lucknow.
On 22 December 1900, the the battalion began its journey from Calcutta on the ship “Clive” for a posting to Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Newspapers report the battalion’s good conduct and discipline while it had been at Calcutta. It was being sent principally to guard Boer prisoners of war who had been captured in recent fighting in South Africa. [The regiment’s 2nd Battalion was in South Africa but there is no evidence that Albert was sent to join it there and he does not appear in the campaign medal roll for that conflict.] The battalion remained at Ceylon throughout 1901 and most of 1902.
The service record reports that Albert arrived home on 30 December 1902.. It is likely to be his last full day at sea. A newspaper clipping (below) suggests that he was probably on board the “Wakool”.
The 1st Battalion relocated to South Africa during late December 1902 but it does not appear that Albert went with it, for he was due for a transfer to reserve. For a short time both battalions were in South Africa, but the 2nd returned to England early in 1903. Albert’s movements at this point are unknown but it would be typical that he had a period of home leave before reporting back to the Bodmin depot.
On 28 August 1903, in accordance with his terms (although rather later than expected, likely to be due simply to his distant posting), Albert was transferred to Section B Army Reserve. His only commitment was to attend annual training camp.
He was discharged on termination of his original engagement on 2 March 1904.
Third period of service: war time Special Reservist
On 22 August 1914, less than three weeks after Britain declared war, Albert completed enlistment at the depot of the East Surrey Regiment at Kingston-on-Thames in Surrey, agreeing to join the Special Reserve of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry for one year of full-time service.
At his attestation he said that he had been born in Axminster; was aged 40 years; was unmarried; had the occupation of watchmaker; and mentioned his previous period of service with the regular army. For next of kin, he named his brother Sydney Herbert Perkins. A recruit was not normally expected to provide evidence of the facts he gave at attestation. Albert did not mention that he was serving on the register of the National Reserve, but this is evident from the fact that he received a standard gratuity payment for a man of that reserve who then re-enlisted.
Once again, he also underwent a medical examination at which it was recorded that he stood 5 feet 6¾ inches in height, weighed 130 pounds and had an expanded chest of 35½ inches. His blue eyes and brown hair were noted, but no other distinguishing features. He was passed fit for service.
Albert agreed to a standard term of engagement in the Special Reserve which required him to serve for only one year. On completing enlistment, he was made the regiment’s Private 8696.
Whether it had been an error, or that he had requested an immediate transfer to his old regiment, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, is not clear. Albert was eventually given the DCLI number 6185, but judging from records of men numbered around him this was not issue before 9 September 1914.
Next day (23 August), he reported to the regimental depot of the DCLI at Bodmin. He was posted to join the regiment’s 3rd (Reserve) Battalion (his new number bore a “3/” prefix as a result). Normally based at the depot, it was moving to Falmouth where it remained until May 1915.
On 29 August 1914, Albert was once again appointed Lance-Corporal. Then on 13 September he was promoted to Corporal. His rapid promotion was assisted by the fact that he had gained his Second-Class Certificate of Army Education back in 1894.
On 6 March 1915 and by now back at the Bodmin depot, he was appointed to Lance-Sergeant. His promotion to Sergeant came on 19 July 1915.
On 21 August 1915, Albert’s one-year engagement became due to expire, but as he was still on mobilised service the army was permitted to keep him for another year.
It appears that Albert was one of a number of men at the depot who were transferred to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 6 November 1915. He was renumbered as Sergeant 24398. The draft was to embark for service with the regiment’s 7th (Service) Battalion. Under under orders of 30th Infantry Brigade of 10th (Irish) Division, the battalion had recently moved from Gallipoli to Salonika. Records of men who were transferred with Albert reveal that they sailed from Devonport next day.
The draft landed at the port of Salonika on 18 November 1915 and after a short while at a holding camp proceeded to join the battalion. Men’s records show that the joined the battalion in the field on 25 November 1915.
It is evident that Albert’s time with the battalion at Salonika was cut short. His record provides no details, but he was not officially classified as a casualty. He was eventually awarded a disability pension arising from lasting effects of “trench foot”: it would appear very likely that this was the root cause of him being returned home. Exactly when he left the battalion is unknown but is unlikely to have been as late as, say, 10 February and may have been considerably earlier. It was on 27 February 1916 that he landed back in England.
26 May 1916. Having been medically rated as fit to return to duty (although possibly not considered fit enough for a return overseas) Albert was posted to his regiment’s 4th (Reserve) Battalion. It was located at Mullingar in County Westmeath in Ireland. From this point onwards, it is less straightforward to determine Albert’s exact role. Assuming that his physical problem with his foot or feet made it difficult for him to be involved with, for example, squad drill, there were many other roles he could usefully fulfill in battalion administration or technical training.
His military service ended with his being employed at two Dispersal Units, handling the demobilisation of soldiers after the war, and his own transfer to reserve on 18 April 1919. Lasting effects of his “trench foot” were agreed to be grounds for payment of a disability pension. He was rated as 20% disabled (the rating being a notional assessment of the impact on his ability to earn a wage in civilian life). This appears to have been paid up to a date in 1922. And as viewers of the episode will know, by then he was employed at Bulford Camp near Salisbury and his wife was about to begin a significant career as a midwife.
Albert in Salonika
The 7th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers was raised in Ireland in August 1914; came under orders of 30th Infantry Brigade of 10th (Irish) Division; landed at Suvla Bay at Gallipoli in August 1915; and relocated to Salonika in October 1915.
The 10th (Irish) Division had a difficult time over the period of winter 1915-1916. After completing its arrival, the division was ordered to move north to the valley of the River Vardar, being held at the time by the French ally. On 10 November the division took over part of the front line. It was now holding what at the time was the extreme right hand of the allied front. Albert’s draft arrived to join the battalion just over two weeks later. The timing could not have been worse.
From the British Official History of Military Operations:
The documentary evidence no longer exists to confirm it, but it appears highly likely that Albert Edward Perkins was one of the victims of this harsh weather. The condition of “trench foot” used in his pension record is a terrible physical ailment in which the flesh of the toes and foot rots as a result of lengthy immersion on cold water, most typically while held tightly in a boot.
The route of medical evacuation from the front to the various base hospitals near the port of Salonika had not been fully established when so many men had to be sent rearward for treatment of frostbite, trench foot and exposure. They would eventually be taken at least part of the way by the railway that ran down from Kilindir, south of Lake Doiran, but the first part of the journey from the hills to Kilindir could be lengthy, mainly by stretcher and horse-drawn wagon via dressing stations, and then by convoys of motor ambulances.
After the blizzard, the French on the division’s left found themselves under enemy pressure and began to withdraw southwards. Inevitably, the division complied. On 7 December 1915 it came under a heavy attack, known as the Action of Kosturino. Albert’s battalion had been so hard hit by the loss of men that it had been brought into a reserve position and played only a relatively minor role in this affair, although one of its companies was in the front line and on the left hand of the division’s front, south of Kosturino. The enemy attack broke the division’s front line and advanced towards the battalion’s reserve position. I cannot rule out the possibility that Albert was still present: it depends on whether he had already been evacuated for medical treatment, which we do not know.
