William Algernon Tapsell DCM (and bar), MM

One name that stood out on the display at the Abbey Wood Memorial Garden was William Algernon Tapsell. He had served and died during the First World War and had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) twice as well as the Military Medal (MM).

The former medal was established in 1854 and ranked just below the Victoria Cross (VC). It was awarded to NCOs and enlisted personnel for 'distinguished, gallant and good conduct in the field', and its equivalent for officers was the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). During the First World War, 24,620 DCMs were awarded, with 472 personnel receiving it twice, and nine being given the award three times.

The Military Medal was instituted in 1916, although retrospective awards for 1914 onwards were made. It was awarded to other ranks for 'acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire'. During the First World War, 115,589 Military Medals were awarded, with 5,796 personnel receiving it twice, 180 being given the award three times, and one person receiving it four times! The latter was Private Ernest Albert Corey, a stretcher bearer in the 55th Australian Infantry Battalion.

William Algernon Tapsell was born on 6th January 1893 and he was baptised at All Saints Church, Belvedere, on 9th April that year. His parents were Algernon Tapsell (a coachman) and Mary Jane Tapsell. They were living at 12, The Grove, Abbey Wood. In 1901 William was living at 2, Grove Road, Abbey Wood, and attending Plumstead High Street School (now Bannockburn School), having previously attended Knee Hill School, Abbey Wood.

William joined the Army underage (his birthday is recorded as being 11th January 1891 and his service number indicates that he was recruited in 1909) and served with the 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. When war broke out in 1914, the battalion was in Bermuda. It returned to England on 3rd October 1914, and was deployed to France as part of the 25th Brigade, 8th Division, landing at Le Havre on 6th November 1914. The battalion took part in the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915 and the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916.

By 1917 William was a Corporal serving with the 6th (Service) Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, a Kitchener battalion that had been raised in Lincoln in August 1914. The battalion had taken part in the Gallipoli campaign as part of 33rd Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division before spending time in Egypt. It was deployed to France in July 1916 to the Somme and subsequently took part in the Battles of Fleurs-Courcelette and Thiepval. During 1917 the battalion took part in operations on the Ancre (January to March) and the Battles of Messines (June), Langemarck (August), Polygon Wood (September to October), Broodseinde (October), and Poelcapelle (October).

He was awarded the Military Medal by August 1917 as it appeared in the London Gazette on 21st August 1917. This was followed in September that year when he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 17th September twice for separate acts of gallantry.

The citation for the first award was as follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in assisting to dig out nineteen men who had been buried in a dug-out by a gas shell. Finding it impossible, owing to darkness, to work in a gas helmet, at imminent risk of his life he removed his own, and by his efforts successfully extricated some of the men. The dug-out was full of lethal gas fumes, and six of the men affected subsequently died. He set a splendid example of fearless devotion and self-sacrifice.

The citation for the second award was as follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of battalion scouts. Having been ordered to reconnoitre in front of our advancing patrols, his party came under heavy and unexpected rifle and machine gun fire. In spite of this, however, after warning the patrols behind him, he continued to push forward until, owing to several casualties, further advance was impossible, whereupon he withdrew very skilfully with all his wounded back to our lines. Throughout the action he displayed splendid coolness and presence of mind and an utter disregard for personal safety.

William was promoted to the rank of sergeant and then commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 1st battalion 'for service in the field' on 27th April 1918. He died of his wounds on 18th September 1918, and was buried in St Sevre Cemetery, Rouen.

William's medals were sent to his parents, who were living at 3, The Grove, Abbey Wood ... although his dependent is listed as Mrs Rose, Dundonald House, Hamilton, Bermuda, who is thought to have been the mother of his illegitimate child, and who received his weekly death pension of six shillings and six pence.

I have been to … the Abbey Wood Memorial Garden

I moved to the Woolwich area in 1975, and from 1976 until 1982 I lived on the Abbey Wood estate.

Abbey Wood is now well known for being the south-east London terminus of the Elizabeth Line, but back in 1976 the estate was surprisingly isolated. The council-built estate is roughly triangular is shape, with the southern edge being delineated by the railway line from Woolwich to Abbey Wood and the north side by the Southern Outfall sewer bank. The eastern side is bounded by a road - Harrow Manor Way - and the westernmost part of the former GLC Thamesmead estate. There is one road onto and out of the estate, Eynsham Drive, and local bus services connect the estate to Woolwich, Plumstead, Erith, and Bexleyheath. There is a small local shopping area, a comprehensive school, several primary schools, a number of churches and public houses, a library, and a medical centre. As a result, many of the local residents tended to stay within the Abbey Wood area and it developed its own unique community outlook.

In the run up to the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War it was suggested that a local Garden of Remembrance be created in Abbey Wood. In February 2014, the London Borough of Greenwich donated a small piece of derelict land for such a garden, and by April work had begun to clear the site. The original intention was that the memorial would be a simple one a that listed the names of fifteen servicemen who had links with Abbey Wood and who had died during the First and Second World Wars. Finance for the project came in the form of a grant of £200 by C2K Community Centre and a £300 donation by Network Rail.

The Memorial Garden was officially opened by the Mayor of Greenwich on the 30th August 2014. The Mayor was accompanied by soldiers from the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich as well as a number of local Royal Air Force Cadets, and the blessing and dedication was performed by the Vicar of William Temple Church, Abbey Wood.

In September 2016 it was decided to fully redevelop the garden, and work began to assemble the necessary materials and funds. By the middle of November 2016, the original garden had been stripped bare and the ground dug over, and by the end of the year over a thousand used bricks, twenty-seven barrow loads of paving slabs, and hardcore had been collected. In February 2017, Crossrail (now the Elizabeth Line) contractors Balfour Beatty offered their assistance, and local people raised almost £10,000. There was also a donation of £1,500 from Skanska Costain, who were also one of the contractors involved in the building of Crossrail.

In addition to the help of workers from Balfour Beatty, members of the Thamesmead & Abbey Wood Royal British Legion helped with the work of rebuilding and re-modelling the garden. This was completed by the beginning of July 2017, and on 2nd July 2017 - the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein - the memorial garden was formally reopened.

The ceremony was performed by Dr Pieter Van Der Merwe - the Deputy Lord Lieutenant - and Greenwich's Mayor, Peter Brook, A large number of organisations, including the Royal Air Force, the Royal Artillery, the Royal Navy Cadets, the Royal British Legion, and Councillors from the London Borough of Greenwich, were in attendance, and as two of the people commemorated in the memorial garden were Canadian, Colonel Rory Radford of the Canadian High Commission also attended the ceremony.

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The entrance to the Abbey Wood Memorial Garden.

One plaque in the part of the memorial garden dedicated to children commemorates the children killed by the Germans during the Lidice massacre.

One large board in the memorial garden lists the personal details of those people from Abbey Wood who died during the numerous conflicts that occurred from 1900 onwards.

A new YouTube video: The War of the Triple Alliance and the Imperial Brazilian Ironclads

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

It lasts approximately thirteen minutes.

The video can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

I have been to ... the Memorial Hospital, Shooters Hill

A couple of weeks ago, Sue and I were part of a group who visited the Memorial Hospital on Shooters Hill.

The hospital was built after the First World War as a lasting memorial to the local people who died during the war. At the time, Woolwich and Plumstead Cottage Hospital was need of replacement and a fund was set up to raise the sum of £50,000 to build a replacement. The site selected was near the top of Shooters Hill and was known as Telegraph Hill because a semaphore station had been built there during the Napoleonic Wars.

The foundation stone was laid in 1925 by the Duke of Connaught, and two years later, the 112-bed hospital was opened by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). At the time, the hospital was known as the Woolwich and District Hospital Association Cottage Hospital, but by 1930 it was known as the Woolwich and District War Memorial Hospital, then - a year later - it was called the Woolwich and District Hospital Association War Memorial Hospital. It was renamed yet again in 1938 when it became the Memorial Hospital.

The original plans for the hospital included two additional wings, but although £24,000 was raised towards the cost of this extension, it was decided to use the funds to build a Nurse's Home in the hospitals grounds. The space previously used to house the nurses in the main building as then freed up, allowing the number of beds to be increased to 300, although this did not actually take place.

When the the Second World War broke out, the hospital acted as an annex to the nearby Royal Herbert Military Hospital and its capacity was increased to 137 beds. When the National Health Service was set up in 1948, it became a general hospital. In 1953 a new Out Patients Department was opened by Princess Marina of Kent, and two years later the hospital underwent refurbishment and a two new X-ray machines were installed. It had its own Casualty/Accident and Emergency Department until 1969, and by the 1965 the hospital had specialised in surgery. However, during the 1970s these services were transferred to the nearby Brook General Hospital and it became a 128-bed long-stay geriatric hospital.

Since at the early 2000s, it has been run by the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, and it now provides:

• Community health care (e.g. district nursing and speech and language therapy).
• Care for people with learning disabilities.
• Mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies.
• A day centre for the elderly.
• Administrative support

During our visit we spent time looking at the main memorial in the hospital entance before going up to the St Nicholas Chapel on the first floor. The chapel opened in 1986 after St Nicholas Hospital in Plumstead shut down. The fittings from that Hospital's chapel were installed in the new chapel along with windows from the chapel at the Goldie Leigh Hospital, Abbey Wood, and a tondo (a circular relief sculpture) from the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies, which had closed in 1984.

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The entrance to the hospital's main building

The memorial shrine in the main entrance to the hospital

The memorial shrine. Books of Remembrance for those who died during the First and Second World Wars are respectively displayed on the left and right sides of the altar

The dedication plaque is displayed behind a grill above the altar.

A ceramic plaque showing an injured person being treated is positioned above the memorial. 

A plaque that commemorates the opening of the hospital by the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George V and Queen Elizabeth) in 1927.

A plaque that commemorates the President and various committee members involved in the building and management of the hospital.

Plaques that commemorate the staff of local hospitals who died as a result of enemy action during the two World Wars..

The hospital's chapel

The chapel's altar.

One of the wnidows that were originally fitted in the chapel of the Goldie Leigh Hospital.

The second of the two windows that were originally fitted in the chapel of the Goldie Leigh Hospital.

The tondo from the British Home for Mothers and Babies.

A photograph of the hospital's main building after a heavy snowfall

The Battle of Omdurman refought using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

Background to the battle

Following the fall of Khartoum in 1885, the British and Egyptians withdrew from the Sudan. Under British leadership, the Egyptian Army was reformed, better trained, and expanded, and by 1896 the Khedival forces - led by General Herbert Kitchener, the Sirdar (or Commander) of the Egyptian Army - were ready to return to the Sudan and destroy the Mahdists.

The offensive was a relatively slow but very deliberate one, with each stage planned to prepare for the next. On 21st September 1896, Dongola was captured, and Abu Hamed followed on 7th August 1897. At the Battle of the Atbara River on 7th April 1898, Mahdist forces - led by Osman Digna and Khalifa Abdullah - were decisively beaten and the line of march along the River Nile to Khartoum was open. On 1st September 1898, the Anglo-Egyptian army - with the support of a powerful flotilla of gunboats - arrived at Karary, some seven miles from Omdurman - the capital of the Mahdist state - where the Mahdist army was encamped.

The British force comprised:

• Attached British troops
• 21st Lancers
• 32nd Field Battery, Royal Artillery
• 37th Howitzer Battery, Royal Artillery
• Two 40-pounder guns, Royal Artillery
• First Infantry Division (commanded by Major General Gatacre)
• 1st Brigade (commanded by Brigadier General Wauchope)
• 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
• 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
• 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders
• 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders
• 6 Maxim guns
• Detachment, Royal Engineers
• 2nd Brigade (commanded by Brigadier General Lyttelton)
• 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
• 1st Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
• 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade
• 4 Maxim guns
• Detachment, Royal Engineers
• Attached Egyptian troops
• 9 Squadrons, Egyptian Cavalry
• 1 Battery, Egyptian Horse Artillery
• 4 Field Batteries, Egyptian Artillery
• 10 Maxim guns
• 8 Companies, Camel Corps
• Second Division (commanded by Major General Hunter)
• 1st Brigade (commanded by Colonel Macdonald)
• 2nd Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• IX Sudanese Infantry Battalion
• X Sudanese Infantry Battalion
• XI Sudanese Infantry Battalion
• 2nd Brigade (commanded by Colonel Maxwell)
• 8th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• XII Sudanese Infantry Battalion
• XIII Sudanese Infantry Battalion
• XIV Sudanese Infantry Battalion
• 3rd Brigade (commanded by Colonel Lewis)
• 3rd Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 4th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 7th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 15th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 4th Brigade (commanded by Colonel Collinson)
• 1st Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 5th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 17th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• 18th Egyptian Infantry Battalion
• Camel Transport

It is estimated that the Mahdist force numbered approximately 50,000.

The course of the battle

The battle began around 6.00am. Some 8,000 men under Osman Azrak advanced straight at the waiting Anglo-Egyptian force. These were followed by a similar number of troops who had been waiting to the northwest. The Anglo-Egyptian artillery opened fire when the advancing Mahdists were just under two miles away from the leading Anglo-Egyptian troops, and inflicted severe casualties on the Mahdists. The latter continued their advance until they came into range of the Anglo-Egyptian Maxim guns and infantry. This frontal attack faltered in the face of this firepower and none of the attackers got closer than 50 yards from the Anglo-Egyptian frontline units. A flanking move on the right was also checked, and there were bloody clashes on the opposite flank that scattered the Mahdist forces there.

Whilst the Anglo–Egyptian infantry were causing significant casualties on the Mahdists, the cavalry and camel corps that were deployed to north of the main force were threatened by about 15,000 Mahdists. The commander of the Anglo-Egyptian mounted troops attempted to use his cavalry to draw away some of the advancing Mahdists whilst the camelry moved towards the infantry’s zariba. Two gunboats moved so they could use their guns to support the cavalry and prevent a Mahdist attack on the zariba’s flank.

Kitchener then ordered his army to advance on Omdurman in several columns. The 21st Lancers were sent ahead to clear the route to Omdurman. Unfortunately, they were attacked by 2,500 Mahdists who were hidden in a depression. After a short but bloody skirmish clash, the Lancers drove the Mahdists off.

The Anglo-Egyptian force moved left in echelon towards the Surkab ridge and then towards the south. During the advance, the rear was a brigade of 3,000 mainly Sudanese troops was at the rear, and this force was unexpectedly threatened by 15,000 enemy troops who came from behind the ridge. The brigade turned to face the oncoming Mahdists, and despite intense pressure, they held their position and caused considerable casualties. Further infantry and the Maxim guns were diverted to support the Sudanese, and the Mahdist forces were forced to retreat in considerable disorder.

Now that this threat was eliminated, the advance continued and Omdurman was occupied.

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THE REFIGHT

The forces involved

Mahdists

• 1 x Cavalry
• 5 x Spearmen

British

• 1 x Cavalry
• 1 x Dismounted Cavalry (Skirmishers)
• 2 x Elite Disciplined Infantry

Opening positions

Turn 1

The Mahdist Spearmen attacked the British Line Infantry in the left sector. The Mahdist Spearmen threw a 3 ...

... and in reply the British Line Infantry threw a 4 (plus 1 for being Elite) and destroyed the Mahdist Spearmen.

The Mahdists moved a unit of Spearmen into the left sector to replace the destroyed Mahdist Spearmen.

The British Line Infantry attacked the Mahdist Spearmen in the centre sector. The British Line Infantry threw a 6 (plus 1 for being Elite) ...

... and destroyed the Mahdist Spearmen.

The Mahdists moved their remaining unit of Spearmen into the centre sector to replace the destroyed Mahdist Spearmen.

Turn 2

The Mahdist Spearmen attacked the British Line Infantry in the left sector. The Mahdist Spearmen threw a 2 ...

... and in reply the British Line Infantry threw a 1 (plus 1 for being Elite).

Neither side suffered any casualties.

The British Line Infantry attacked the Mahdist Spearmen in the centre sector. The British Line Infantry threw a 6 (plus 1 for being Elite) ...

... and destroyed the Mahdist Spearmen.

The Mahdists moved their Cavalry into the centre sector to replace the destroyed Mahdist Spearmen.

Turn 3

The Mahdist Cavalry attacked the British Line Infantry in the centre sector. The Mahdist cavalry threw a 1 ...

... and in reply the British Line Infantry threw a 5 (pus 1 for being Elite) ..

... and destroyed the Mahdist Cavalry.

The British Line Infantry attacked the Mahdist Spearmen in the left sector. The British Line Infantry threw a 6 (plus 1 for being Elite) ...

... and destroyed the Mahdist Spearmen.

... and won the battle!

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A video version of this battle report can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

An eBay bargain

I recently won an auction on eBay and bought six ready-painted 15mm resin buildings. They cost me just under £25.00, including postage and packing.

I bought them with the intention of using them on my floating shelf model railway layout ... and I think that they will fit in rather nicely on it.

The Budget Model Railways Challenge ... now has a backscene!

I managed to cut a piece of 3mm plywood to the size I wanted for my floating shelf model railway's backscene (60mm x 20mm). I then cut down part of the backscene I had recently purchased from THE MODEL SHOP in Faversham to the same size as the piece of plywood.

Once that was task was completed, I affixed the self-adhesive backscene to the plywood, which I then propped up behind my layout to see what it might look like when it is finished. I also placed a few of the trees I had also bought from THE MODEL SHOP and my border fortress on the layout, and the result looked like this:

I am having second thoughts about whether or not to use the border fortress on the layout. It looks a bit bigger on the layout than I expected and I do have some other buildings that might be more suitable.