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In this month's episode, Col Andy Taylor and Rev Paul Roberts take a "deep dive" into a scarce and unusual award for the First World War made only to Territorial soldiers 1914-1919.  They investigate the origins and exacting criteria for this WW1 campaign service medal, common misconceptions and the many anomalies caused by it, along with the character of the men and women who were awarded it.  

A fascinating insight into policy of deploying Territorial troops to garrison the British Empire and the willingness of part time soldiers and nurses from Herefordshire - and across the country - to sign up to serve overseas, which they were under no obligation to do under Territorial Force Regulations until May 1916.  One of the illustrations they use is their shared ancestor, Charles Percy Taylor from Ledbury.

Paul and Andy discuss research possibilities for the military and family historian alike of this attractive and enigmatic award, by far the scarcest of all First World War service medals.  And how First World War service medals can still be claimed today, over a century later in certain circumstances.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

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If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

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In this month's delayed episode, Col Andy Taylor and Rev Paul Roberts take a walk out to Hoarwithy, between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye on the banks of the river Wye.  The impressive Byzantine / Romanesque / Tuscan beauty of St Catherine's Church catches their eye and they explore then local men commemorated on the War Memorial there.

The great great uncle of regular listener Steve Parkes was one on those commemorated here.  George Edwards of the Herefordshire Regiment is buried in St Catherine's Churchyard and in 2018 a service was held to rededicate his repaired headstone.  George was wounded at Gallipoli and in Palestine and died of wounds in Bristol.  Other men Andy and Paul look into include 61 year old Royal Naval Reserve officer Ernest Baker, who died in September 1945.

The next port of call is the New Harp Inn below the church in the centre of the village.  In 1908 the newly formed Herefordshire Regiment of the Territorial Force camped behind the pub as part of a recruiting drive.  The men repaired to the New Harp and managed to drink the pub dry.  A contemporary newspaper account reports that a fracas ensued and several windows were broken, which had to be paid for by the Regiment.  
 
 Despite their best efforts Paul and Andy weren't able to repeat this feat!

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

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Join us this month as we chat with Preb Jane Davies, a Fownhope-born retired vicar who has unearthed the First World War stories of two great-uncles.  Harry and Leonard Whittaker were sons of a Woolhope gamekeeper.  Leonard emigrated to Australia just before the war and Harry joined the Herefordshire Regiment in September 1914.  Both served overseas, Harry tragically dying of wounds at Gallipoli aged only 19.

Jane, Andy and Paul reflect on the conditions at Gallipoli, the impacts of losses on Herefordshire families and social relationships in village life.  Leonard's Australian service papers are examined and a picture is built of his service - including winning a gallantry medal at the Battle of Messines Ridge in June 1917.

Jane shares stories of her upbringing in nearby Fownhope, a farmer's daughter - including the Heart of Oak Society of Fownhope and this friendly society's impact all aspects of the village.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

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Join us this month as Col Andy Taylor and Rev Paul Roberts explore an exciting new resource for the military and family historian: the Second World War Campaign Medal Cards.  Containing valuable information including names, addresses, regimental numbers and details of units, these cards also confirm what WW2 medals the serviceman was issued with in recognition of service across the world during the conflict.  They were available after the war and up until the 1990s at post offices for ex-servicemen to use.

Paul and Andy, using a number of Herefordshire men as examples, explore the information, provide research tips and highlight particularly useful areas of research.  This includes many Home Guard medal recipients, where other records for the Home Guard are often very scarce.  Some mysteries are solved and top tips shared.

These records, released by the National Archives, can be found on the family history site Ancestry, by clicking here.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

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In this episode Col Andy Taylor and Rev Paul Roberts look back over the events of Remembrance 2024, including wreaths being taken down on the GWR's Poppy Train service to London Paddington on 11th November.  Andy was accompanied by museum assistant curator, Danny Rees and cadets of 124 (City of Hereford) Squadron, RAF Cadets.  

On the same day, Paul helped lead the remembrance service at Hereford Academy with 600 pupils and cadets of the newly formed Combined Cadet Force detachment at the school.

Andy and Paul reflect on the role of remembrance today and also discuss recent acquisitions to the museum, helping to keep alive the county's military history.  These include an original letter from Hitler's architect, Alfred Speer written to the Herefordshire Regiment to thank them for his treatment during his arrest after the end of the Second World War.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

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Join us this month at a recent meeting of the newly inaugurated Hereford Militaria Club - an opportunity for military researchers, collectors, military vehicle owners and family historians to meet over a meal and share no end of fascinating stories.  This lively bunch met at the Godwins Pub in the Herefordshire village of Bartestree - once the headquarters of the famous Godwins encaustic tile manufacturers. 

We hear a tantalising snippet of Mick Atkinson's talk, showing Napoleon's personal Legion d'Honneur, worn in many famous battles and later in captivity. 

We also hear from Reg Gibson about his interest in military vehicles and the discovery of a poem written by his late mother Jean dedicated to a crew of an RAF bomber that was lost over Germany.  It was to be read to them at an 18th birthday party.  After finding the poem, Reg said he wanted to "bring the names of these young men back from the dead, to celebrate their lives and acknowledge their sacrifice".  Thanks to Reg's research and dedication, the poem was shared with the crew's family, nearly 80 years on and a recording played at their graveside.  For more information click here.

If you would like to join us at our next meeting of the Hereford Militaria Club, contact us: [email protected]

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

Send us a text

This month, Rev Paul Roberts joins the crew of the Sutton Voices HR1 Podcast, a community podcast from the Herefordshire village of Sutton St Nicholas.  Keith Lawton and Mike Winnell have recorded 33 episodes, winkling out the fascinating stories of local residents and cheering up the community in the face of relentless bad national and international news. 

Paul, Mike and Keith compare notes on podcasting and talk about the research work undertaken by Sutton Voices on men on the local war memorial and the men remembered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the two village churches - St Nicholas' and St Michael's.  They also discuss the impact of acts of remembrance services in the village.

One man - Robert Garrard, who died with RAF Coastal Command proved a mystery, but the 1939 Register held the key to tracking down his link with the village.

Mike Winnell shares his literary creations - he has just finished his third novel spanning the 1930s and the Second World War.  The central character being a member of MI8, radio security.  HIs books Transmissions and To America are available on Amazon.

This leads the trio to talk about the importance of radio interception, code breaking and Bletchley Park.  Both Paul and Keith having links - Keith's through work with British Telecom and Paul, whose grandmother was a Voluntary Interceptor during the Second World War.  Keith also shares his father's experience during the Second World War, including having responsibility for 6,500 Italian prisoners of war in Egypt.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

Send us a text

This month Rev Paul Roberts chats with Ledbury-born military researcher, Alyn Tanner. 

Alyn, who runs the Herefordshire Regiment Research Group, talks about how he became interested in the Herefordshire Regiment and shares several individuals he has researched, including Pte Tommy Fletcher, one of the "'intrepid three" who returned to Gallipoli in 1965 for the 50th Anniversary.  More information on these three veterans can be found in a short talk on our Youtube Channel. 

As someone who emigrated to the United States, Alyn also shows the medals of Pte Andrew Harton who made the same journey in 1921, settling in Chicago, where his medals turned up a lifetime later.

We also hear a little about Alyn's own military career as in the British Royal Corps of Signals, and latterly his 19 years in the Minnesota National Guard.  As well as the value of social media in connecting people with similar research interests together.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

Send us a text

A brief look forward to what will be coming in the second series of podcast episodes from the Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum, including chats with Aly Tanner, regimental researcher and founder of the Herefordshire Regiment Research Group on Facebook, Prebendary Jane Davies, and walks to explore the Cawley brothers of Berrington Hall and elite pathfinder, Wing Commander Tony Davies DSO DFC from Munsley.

Also details of our Museum Open Day on 7th September 2024 10.30am - 3.30pm at Suvla Barracks, Harold Street, Hereford.

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.

Send us a text

This month on the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted, Col Andy Taylor and Rev Paul Roberts reflect on the role the Herefordshire Light Infantry played in the days after 6th June 1944, including the Regiment's first casualties, among the Carrier Platoon, over the river Odon bridgehead.  They examine the role of the Regiment as part of the 11th Armoured Division, an example of an all-arms force, the extensive training undertaken ahead of the battle and the part the Regiment played in the approach to Hill 112, so important in the battle for Caen.

Our pair also discuss the changing nature of remembrance as the number of veterans from the Normandy Campaign dwindle and the British Normandy Memorial, first inaugurated in 2011.  Andy relates a recent hair-raising flypast by the Belgian Air Force at the memorial.

There is also some advice shared, given to British servicemen in 1944 who would soon be liberating a ravaged, war-torn and weary France... including some sound advice on strong wines and liquors! 

For more information about the Operation Blackout - last mission of WW2 - at Hereford Town Hall on 17th May 2025 at 6.30pm, click here:

https://herefordshirelightinfantrymuseum.com/events/op-blackout-presentation/

Support the show

If you like what you hear, don't forget to like and subscribe to help us reach a wider audience.

Visit our website - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum; follow us on Facebook Herefordshire Regimental Museum | Facebook or visit our Youtube channel Herefordshire Regimental Museum - YouTube.

Support the Museum? Become a Patreon supporter or a Become a Friend

Theme Tune - The Lincolnshire Poacher, performed by the outstanding Haverhill Silver Band.

This podcast generously supported by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust.