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Drake Battalion of the Royal Naval Division became the 1st Battalion of the 1st Brigade of the Royal Naval Division in Feburary 1915. They saw action at Gallipoli, upon their departure from England on the 28th February 1915 the Battalion comprised 33 officers and 996 other ranks, plus 14 riding horses, 64 draught mules, 9 pack mules and 5 spare mules. In 1916 The battalion moved to France and saw action in the battles of the Ancre and Passchendale.
Cap badge of Drake Battalion
Known Movements of Drake Battalion.
- 23rd Nov. 1914 to Duns in Berwickshire, where they lived in stables at Duns Castle.
- Jan. 1915 to the newly built Blandford Camp where they then lived in huts.
- 28th February 1915 to Avonmouth where they embarked on the SS Franconia. The Battalion comprised 33 officers and 996 other ranks, plus 14 riding horses, 64 draught mules, 9 pack mules and 5 spare mules. An assortment of twenty-five carts and wagons were taken.
- 8th March 1915 arrived Valetta, Malta
- 9th March 1915 departed Valetta Malta
- 11th March 1915, dropped anchor off the island of Lemnos.
- 17th March 1915 The ships took part in a diversion designed to distract the Turks from the attempt by British and French fleets to force the Dardanelles by naval power. The fleet returned to Lemnos
- 24th March 1915 sailed for Port Said
- 28th March 1915 arrived Port Said, and disembarked
- 10 April 1915 sailed from Port Said, intending to use the Lemnos anchorage once more. However on this occasion it was already full and they had to use the island of Skyros.
- 24th April 1915 the fleet sailed for the Dardanelles where the Franconia and other ships carrying the RND made a feint to land on the mainland whilst the actual landings took place on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
- 25th April 1915 The Franconia was ordered at full speed to Cape Helles.
- 26th April 1915 0800hrs The 1st Division, including the band as first aid party and stretcher-bearers, went ashore as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in the Dardanelles. Drake Battalion formed up on the beach and in silence, marched in single file to a place on the cliffs about a mile away. It was very cold and little sleep was had.
- 27 April 1915. They were bombed by two Turkish planes but the bombing was not sucessful. The Turkish artillery was also shelling the position. There was no shelter for the men as orders had been given not to dig-in for fear of digging up dead men. Bodies were strewn all over the cliffs.
- 7th May 1915. Drake Battalion left for the trenches
- 25th May 1915. Retired to the rest camp
- 24th December 1915. Recalled for Sea Service. Left camp for V-Beach at 8pm sailed at midnight
- 25th December 1915. Arrived Mudros early in morning and transfered to SS Aragon. (HQ Ship).
- 31st December 1915. Left SS Aragon and embarked SS Grampian.
- 1st January 1916. sailed from Mudros.
- 3rd January 1916. Arrived Alexandria and disembarked, were accommodated in tents at Mustapha Barracks.
- 16th January 1916. sailed from Alexandria in the SS Manitou.
- 29th January 1916. Arrived Eastney.
- 24th May 1918. As part of 189th Infantry Brigade, 2 copanies of Drake Battalion were to hold the line in support of a raid by Hood Battalion.
- Nov 1916. Cdr Sterndale Bennet assumed command of The Drake Battalion at Beaucourt
Thus photo was taken at either Netley Hospital or West Cliffe Hotel Hythe, Hants
My father, AB James Thomas Bunting joined the navy in August 1914. He was assigned to Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division. They did their training at HMS Victory III. Crystal Palace . The training was brief. The whole division was sent to Antwerp to defend the attempt of the Germans entering Belgium. They were very ill equipped for the task.. Many had no greatcoats. Some did not even have rifles. Little hope against the seasoned German Army. There were many losses but my father survived.
In February 1915 The Royal Naval Division left their new headquarters at Blandford Forum bound for Gallipoli in the Dardinelles Conditions were bad and by the end of March the whole division left for Egypt because of illnesses. By the end of April they were back at full strength but on the initial advance Collingwood Battalion was wiped out. July saw the depleted Division retreat to Larnos Island to recouperate . Everyone suffering from Diarrhoea Malaria and fly borne gastric infections. End of July saw them back again but campaign was declared a failure and all troops were withdrawn. Arriving at Marsailles in December 1915.
January 1916 moving up through France. February, The Battle of Verdun. September, The Somme. Then it became the end of the war for dad. He was wounded at Arras near the village of Gavrille. On the 23rd. of April 1917. Shrapnel wound left arm. Entering just behind the left elbow. Leaving an 8 inch cut up the tricep and exiting along the forearm Fracturing the Ulna and taking the end off the humerus. Hospitalised at Wimereux.
Departed on the26th. of May on the hospital ship “St. Denis” for Victoria hospital Netley, Southampton. After six months in hospital he went on leave in December 1917.
Overdoing his leave by six months he faced a court martial at Perham Down.
“In that at Blandford camp on the 21st. of January 1918 he absented himself. Until surrendering himself to Goole ( his home town) police on the12th. of June 1918. Losing by neglect his equipment and regimental necessities. Sentenced to undergo detention for one year and to be put on stoppage of pay until he has made good the value of the articles valued at £2/6/9
On the 2nd. of August 1918 The Lords Commision of the Admiralty quashed the charge. Returning the good conduct badge which had been confiscated when charged!! What had brought about the turnaround to the serious charges against him? It may have been his contract which he had signed on enlistment 8th. August 1914. Which had clearly stated that, “I undertake and bind myself till the end of the war.Or for three years, whichever comes first.
So legally his service had ended whilst he was hospitalised at Netley. Also consider he had served in three fierce campaigns. He was at that time rated as being 50% disabled.It would have being a travesty to have convicted him.
In November 1918 he was declared unfit for service and discharged after 4 years and 82 days. On his discharge he was still rated50% disabled. But after visiting different hospitals and appeal boards he was finally awarded a final pension assessment of 30% for life on the25th. of July 1923 The wound, which never healed caused problems all his life Quite often flaring up and needing hot fermentations and poultices. My sister became an expert. When he became fit for work and had regained some of the grip in his hand he went back to his trade as boot repairer. But finally found work on the docks.
This is the story of a Grandfather I never knew. In 1997 I was given a photograph of my Grandfather and decided to find out details of his life.
According to his death certificate, John Milburn was 34 when he died at Newbiggin by the Sea in 1932; this would make his date of birth 1898. He was one of a family of seven with three brothers and three sisters. After leaving school he worked for a short time as a miner at Newbiggin Colliery.
He volunteered for the Royal Naval Division in January 1915. I suppose he like many other local men, thought that this would be a great adventure and an opportunity to see the world. What a terrible shock he must have had when he discovered the horror of total war.
JJ Milburn Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Drake Battalion
After a period of training he was sent on an ill-fated expedition to the Dardenanelles, where he landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula with the Howard Battalion of the RND.
In September 1915 he was struck down with dysentry, a common occurrence among the filth and unsanitary conditions of the bridgehead. He was sent back to the greek island of Mudros for hospitalisation, after treatment he was posted back to the Howe Battalion, where he was seriously wounded by a fuse cap from an exploding shell. He was transported back to England on the hospital ship Aquitania for treatment due to the extent of his injuries.
After recovering from his wounds, in April 1917 he was posted to the Drake Battalion in France. There was a huge turnover in men owing to the ferocity of the fighting. He was involved in the third battle of Arras in 1917 and was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery in the field; I believe it was for the part he played in the action at Gavrelle. Over a thirty-nine day period, the casualties during this battle amounted to 159,000.
This must have been taken after he received the MM as you can see the ribbons on his uniform
In March 1918, the German Army mounted a series of counter attacks against the Allies, and there was a general retreat by the whole of the French and British armies. Much of the territory gained by them in nearly four years of war was regained by the Germans. It is true to say that the Allies came extremely close to loosing the war, and it was only the belated entry into the war by America and a concerted fight back by the British Army that saved the day.
During the battle, between Courcelette and Thiepval, my Grandfather received a gunshot wound to the knee which resulted in him being sent to the 3rd Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne. Two days later he was invalided to England. His part in the war was over.
After the war ended in 1918, many men came home faced with the prospect of unemployment, so in January he enlisted in the 39th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers and was sent to Ireland where there was a great deal of civil unrest and IRA activity.
In December 1920, he volunteered for the Royal Irish Constabulary, stationed in Galway, until its disbandment in 1922 following the partition of Ireland.
I assume he came back to the mines until his early death in 1932 of Pneumonia. I have most of his service documents from the Ministry of Defence, Royal Naval Records and Royal Irish Constabulary. They all state that his conduct throughout was very good. Although he did receive a sentance of fourteen days No.1 feild punishment in March 1917 for accidentally wounding another member of his Battalion, an example of the stress and danger that is engendered by war when people are mucking about with live ammunition. I do kno wthat the man he injured was invalided back to England and took no further part in the war, and in a strange way you could say that he could have saveed this man`s life.
John Milburn was buried at St Bartholomew`s Church in Newbiggin, Northumberland, he left behind a wife and four children. It is sad to learn of the conditions that these men had to endure during the Great War, only to die at an early age, of a disease that can be easily cured these days with antibiotics.
John Russell.
List of those who served with Drake Battalion the during The Great War.
- Corporal John Allen. musician.Read his story
- Musician Allingham
- Cdr Sterndale Bennet
- Musician Billings
- AB James Thomas Bunting Read his story
- Pte Arthur E Eye. att. from 17th btn Welsh Regiment. (d. 26th May 1918)Read his story
- Bertram Kinsey. musician
- Bandmaster 1st Class Mr W E 'Pop' Faithfull Read his story
- Musician Harper
- John J Milburn. MM. Read his story
- Major Wilson (d. 24th May 1915)
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