A Permanent Staff RSM with 1/7th Leeds Rifles

5987 Regimental Sergeant Major Harry Sedgwick, 1/7th Battalion.

The creation of the Territorial Force in 1908, under the Haldane Reforms is often referred to as the ‘birth’ of an organisation of part time soldiers fashioned in order to provide a home defence force which would be mobilised in order to allow the Regular Army to deploy in time of war, and for the purposes of many descriptions of it, that brief account is sufficient. In a blog which has the Territorial Force, and the officers and soldiers of one of the county infantry regiments at its core, however, that speedy summary is inadequate and needs to be explored in a little more depth.

While it is true that the Territorial Force (TF) was created in 1908, it did not become an entity out of a previous void. Across the UK, many local Rifle Volunteer units had been created in the period following the Crimean War, and by the time the Second Boer War began in 1899, much of the country could point to a local volunteer unit where men could be found to supplement the Regular Army units which were being sent to the war in South Africa.

The vision of Haldane was to standardise these disparate volunteer units and create a true citizen army, the units of which would be raised and administered locally but would train their men to pre-set standards overseen by the War Office. In order to do this effectively it was necessary to create nearly a hundred County Associations to play a central role in the scheme. The intention was these County Associations would recruit, kit out, and accommodate the local units, and in the case of Yeomanry regiments, additionally ensure that reliable sources for providing horses and the means of looking after equine welfare were found. The County Associations would retain some of the old autonomy of the volunteer units, but not so much that they were able to operate in total independence for the War Office, as this would have simply replicated the old inefficiencies of the volunteers. 

Viscount Haldane

Responsibility for military training would be wholly the responsibility of the War Office, and under its supervision. The idea was that a TF battalion from Yorkshire could meet with a TF battalion from Kent on Salisbury Plain to exercise alongside each other with the result being that both battalions could produce soldiering of the same high standard.

In the transitional period, when the old volunteer units were converting into TF units, their local benefactors often struggled with the loss of some of the independence and control they had previously enjoyed and jealously guarded, and in most areas, the imposition of War Office directives governing training and standards rankled somewhat. The formation of the County Associations did appease some of this feeling, and the makeup of the members of the County Associations ensured that some local character could be maintained despite the overall control of the military side of the organisation being held centrally at the War Office, even if that official influence was devolved somewhat to the local military representatives, strategically placed at the head of the County Associations. Their understanding of military needs, and their positions as War Office-nominated President, Chairman, and Vice-chairmen of each County Association, along with the military members of the associations, which were usually the commanding officers of the units within it, always meant that the obstructions which might emanate from the non-military members could always be overcome if need be. A brief study of the composition of the West Riding of Yorkshire County Association for the TF, over a period spanning 1908 – 1920 shows that the military members of the Association outnumbered the non-military members by some margin.

A further step by the War Office to retain some subtle manner of control over the TF was to place Regular Army officers and soldiers into key appointments within the TF units. These men would be responsible for the day-today running of the unit, outside of the part-time soldiers’ parade nights, weekend exercises, and annual camps. So it was that in a typical infantry battalion in the TF, the Adjutant (the officer in the battalion tasked with managing discipline and training standards within the battalion), an Administrative Officer, the Regimental Sergeant Major, and some of the Sergeant Instructors, would all be greatly experienced Regular Army personnel on the Permanent Staff. A posting for a regular soldier to a TF unit could be used as a means of re-settlement before that was a major consideration of the Army. Local men could serve out their last few years in the area they came from and use it to build local connections which would allow them to move from the Army into civil life more easily. Other key appointments, such as the Commanding Officer, the Company Commanders, Company Sergeants Major and the platoon officers and sergeants would all be found by appointing Territorial, part-time men, to those positions. This arrangement allowed the battalion to function. It allowed the admin work to get done, it kept the stores stocked, and the equipment serviced and ready to use. The part time soldiers could then attend their parade nights and training weekends knowing that, by and large, everything would be ready for them, and the training could continue unhindered. The influence exerted by a good team of regular officers and soldiers would be reflected in the standards of the remainder of the unit. It was also a very good way of seeding the traditions and ‘esprit-de-corps’ of the parent regiment into the TF units that wore their badges.

The remainder of this blog post will be a study of the service of one man who served as a Sergeant Instructor with 1/7^th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment from 1910. His name was Harry Sedgwick.

British soldiers fighting in South Africa during the Second Boer War

Harry Sedgwick was born in Redcar on 19^th August 1884. He was the son of Henry, a paper mill engine tender, and his wife, Ellen. He was the fifth of nine children, who were born at various places across Yorkshire, but eventually, his parents settled the family at Otley. Ellen Sedgwick died in 1896.

Harry Sedgwick enlisted into the Army at Strensall, near York, on 19^th November 1900 as a Private Soldier with the number 5987, for Seven years with the Colours, and five years on the Reserve. He added two years to his age, declaring himself to be 18 years and three months old when he was actually only 16 years and three months old. After initial training he joined the 2^nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment on 26^th November 1900, and with the ongoing Boer War was posted overseas to South Africa with immediate effect.

Sedgwick was present on operations in the Transvaal, and whilst out in South Africa was awarded 10 days imprisonment, for some undisclosed crime, from 4^th to 14^th April 1901. The crime for which he was jailed, which was possibly for fraudulent enlistment, if he had been found out to have lied about his age, did little to damage his career and he was subsequently promoted to Lance Corporal and posted back home to the Depot on 16^th December 1901. A little over a year later, he was promoted to Corporal, on 1^st March 1903.

He was posted from the Depot to the 2^nd Battalion again on 11^th September 1904 and appointed as Lance Sergeant on 1^st June 1905. During his period of service at the Depot after returning from South Africa, Sedgwick served at York and had gained his 3^rd Class Certificate of Education on 14^th April 1902, his 2^nd Class Certificate of Education on 23^rd October 1902, and then gaining his Gymnastic Certificate at Aldershot on 1^st May 1904.

Harry Sedgwick extended his service to complete 12 years with the Colours from 6^th September 1907, and was promoted to Sergeant on 26^th September 1907, being then attached as a Sergeant to the 3^rd Militia Battalion from 15^th October 1909. During this time, he married Hilda Catherine Senior at the Parish Church in South Farnborough, equally well known as ‘North Camp’, on the edge of Aldershot, on 12^th August 1908. The ceremony was conducted by a military chaplain.

Cap Badge of the West Yorkshire Regiment

He re-engaged at York to complete 21 years with the Colours on 24^th January 1910 and was posted back to the 2^nd Battalion from 19^th March 1910, gaining his Musketry Certificate from the School of Musketry at Hythe on 19^th August 1910. He then went on to qualify as an instructor of the Enfield 1903 Pattern Rifle on 23^rd December 1911. This was the rifle on issue to TF units and was markedly different from the Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifles issued to the Regular Army. He would have needed to have this qualification as he had been posted to the 7^th Territorial Force Battalion, the Leeds Rifles, from 1^st October 1910. During his early days with the Leeds Rifles, Harry and Hilda Sedgwick lived at 102 Reuben Street, with their daughter Catherine Olive, who was born in York on 29^th November 1909. One end of the street was opposite the gate to Carlton Barracks, the home of the Leeds Rifles. Much of the housing of this period was cleared from the landscape of Leeds during the 1950s, and Reuben Street has not survived, even by name, but the houses here would not have been much better than slums in the first decades of the twentieth century, despite the best efforts of the people who lived in them and took great care to keep them presentable. Any TF soldiers living in the same street as Sergeant and Mrs Sedgwick, would be even more wary of letting standards slip. Within a couple of years of his arrival at Carlton Barracks, the Sedgwicks had moved to a larger house, in a somewhat nicer area, even though not it was much further away from the barracks, the Bagby Fields area, where their Leicester Avenue home was, was a great improvement, and more of a fitting situation for the, soon to be, acting Regimental Sergeant Major of the 7^th Battalion.

Map showing Carlton Barracks, with Reuben Street running away from them to the north east

Musketry competitions between units of the TF were hotly contested, and great importance was placed on them by the battalion commanders of the TF infantry battalions. A good Musketry Instructor would be a very highly valued man in the battalion especially a battalion following the Rifles traditions. Harry Sedgwick trained his men to shoot well and there was much pride in being a member of the Leeds Rifles shooting team during his time. Harry Sedgwick also managed and trained the battalion boxing squad.

In June 1913, the Sedgwicks had a son, whom they called Phillip Harry, but unfortunately, he died aged 21 months in March 1915.

Houses on Carr Street, a row in front of Reuben Street, with the Barracks entrance to the left of the photograph

Soon after the Great War was declared, Harry Sedgwick was promoted Colour Sergeant and appointed to Acting Sergeant Major on 26^th September 1914. Hilda Sedgwick gave birth to a daughter, Marjorie Joan on 16^th November 1914. Harry Sedgwick went overseas to France with the 1/7^th Battalion on 16^th April 1915, the battalion landed at Boulogne. Sedgwick was slightly wounded by a shrapnel graze to his face on 11^th October 1915 when the battalion was in the Yser Canal area, north of Ieper, and received treatment at the 1/3^rd West Riding Field Ambulance, being returned to his unit the very next day. He was slightly wounded again in January 1916. On 12^th April 1916 he was admitted to the 1/1^st West Riding Field Ambulance suffering from an illness and was eventually evacuated home on 12^th May 1916.

On his recovery, RSM Sedgwick attended an Officer's Commissioning Course, having been recommended by both Lt Colonel Kirk, and his successor, Lt Col Tetley, and forwarded with further recommendations by the brigade commander, Brigadier-General Goring-Jones.

Having applied for a commission in the Regular Army, Harry Sedgwick was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant into the 18^th Service Battalion, Manchester Regiment - the 3^rd City Pals on 23^rd October 1916.  

The badge of the Manchester Regiment

Given his background as a Regular Army instructor, his previous appointment as a RSM, and his previous commanding officer’s recommendations to appoint Harry Sedgwick to a commission because he was a good disciplinarian, his new CO may have been pleased to be able to call upon his services to act as a prosecuting officer in the upcoming trial by Field General Court Martial of two of his soldiers who had deserted the battalion and been caught working on ships at the port of Dieppe before, presumably, sailing away from France, and away from the war to safety.

Privates Albert Ingham, and Alfred Longshaw were best friends from before their time in the Army. Both men worked at the goods yard of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway company, in Salford. As such close friends, they had enlisted on the same day, and managed to get to serve alongside each other in the same platoon of C Company. Both men had been warned that they were to be transferred to the Brigade Machine Gun Company, and they would be soon moving back into the Battle of the Somme.

Historians have speculated as to which man had the greater influence over the other, and which of them might have made the final decision to desert, but what is an undeniable fact is that both men were absent from the roll call made during the evening of 5^th October 1916. The men quickly formed a plan that would take them to Dieppe and from there, aboard merchant shipping, back home to England, where, they would see family at home before leaving to try to join the Royal Navy, in which Pte Longshaw’s brother was stated to be serving.

Because both men had consciously done all they could to evade capture, by moving at night and hiding during the day, as well as disposing of their uniforms and disguising themselves in civilian clothing, and by initially lying to the authorities about who they were when they were caught aboard a neutral Swedish ship, the court dismissed the convicted men’s pleas for leniency, and sentenced both to be executed by firing squad.

Despite having the title of ‘Prosecuting Officer’ at both trials, 2Lt Sedgwick’s involvement in both was minimal, and was limited to confirming the length of service each man had in France prior to his desertion.

The verdict of the court, and it’s recommendations as to the sentences for each man were passed up the chain of command, until, ultimately, they arrived on the desk of the Commander in Chief, General Sir Douglas Haig for confirmation, which he duly gave. 

After the executions, the men were buried in the communal cemetery a short distance outside the village of Bailleulmont, roughly ten miles southwest of Arras.

Bailluelmont Communal Cemetery CWGC Plot

Although the deaths of the executed men were reported in the press, they were listed as ‘Died of Wounds’, and when the father of Private Igham, George Ingham discovered his son’s true fate, he is said to have been enraged and requested that the personal inscription, that families were invited to have included at the foot a casualty’s headstone, should read ‘Shot at dawn, one of the first to enlist, a worthy son of his father’. Ingham's headstone is unique among more than three hundred executed men, in that it makes mention of the fact that the soldier in that grave had died in front of a firing squad, and it is largely for this reason that the executions of Privates Ingham and Longshaw are among the better known names of those who executed during the war.

The graves of Albert Ingham and Alfred Longshaw at Bailleulmont

On 11^th November 1916, Harry Sedgwick was appointed Acting Captain and made Company Commander, before being posted as an instructor to the 30^th Infantry Brigade Depot from 30^th March 1917, followed by service with the 2^nd Training Camp. Sedgwick relinquished his acting rank in March 1917, being then attached to the 30^th Divisional Depot at Rein Camp where a report on his instructional duties written on 10^th December 1917 reads: 'Exceptionally good instructor. In charge of Bayonet fighting area. Responsible for instruction of reinforcements in parade and bayonet training.'

On 13^th February 1918 he was cross posted to the 16^th Service Battalion - the 1^st City Pals, and on 20^th February 1918 was attached for parade and bayonet training to the Headquarters of the 5^th Army at Nesle, south of Peronne, but was then struck off strength and seconded for duty to the 13^th Corps at Rein Camp, followed by the Base HQ at Etaples on 5^th April 1918. Sedgwick was then posted to the 2^nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment after leave in the United Kingdom, having been promoted to Lieutenant on 23^rd April 1918, he was back at the HQ at Etaples from 30^th June 1918, and was eventually appointed Temporary Captain until 25^th January 1920, when he relinquished his commission with the rank of Captain. Sedgwick was transferred to the Reserves, being recalled for two weeks during the National Emergency in 1921 prompted by a coal and associated rail strike. A confidential report for 29^th August 1921 recommends his removal from the Reserve of Officers.

Leicester Avenue, off Blackman Lane, where the Sedgwick's lived after he had been promoted RSM

After his military service came to an end, Captain and Mrs Sedgwick moved out of Leeds to Rothwell Haigh, and by 1921 had been granted the license to run the Bowling Green Hotel. They also had a final child soon after arriving; a boy the named Patrick, but he too died in infancy.

Rothwell was to be the home of Captain Sedgwick for the rest of his life. He ran the pub, and was prominent locally in the British Legion, leading the Rothwell contingent of veterans at the unveiling of the Woodlesford and Oulton War Memorial in 1926. 

Captain Harry Sedgwick's medals for service in South Africa and the Great War

He died, suddenly, on 3^rd August 1927 at his home in Oakfield Avenue, Rothwell Haigh, at the age of 43. The funeral took place at Rothwell, but as the Leeds Rifles were away on annual camp, they were unable to provide full military honours for their former RSM. The local British Legion, and the Leeds Rifles Comrades provided a semi-military ceremony instead, with Colonel Kirk in attendance. Two buglers from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Depot at Pontefract sounded Last Post over the grave.

Following her husband’s death, Mrs Sedgwick moved back to the south of England, and occupied a number of addresses in the Farnborough and Aldershot area. It seems that the suddenness of her husband’s death meant that no planning had been done for her financial security in the future. The War Office refused her request for half of her husband’s pension, but she was granted periodic payments from an emergency relief fund. She may still have been in receipt of payments from the fund at the time of her own death in 1963 (she had certainly received a grant in 1961), as her daughter, (Catherine) Olive wrote to the War Office to inform them of her death and to request that they cease further payment in respect of her mother.