I wanted this post to be about James
Riddell’s service during the First World War, but I regret that I have very
little in the way of firm facts. Having been born in 1890 he would have been aged
24 at the outbreak of war, but the father of an infant and with another on the way.
As an agricultural worker he would have been expected to stay in that role in the
early years of the war. Conscription was introduced in 1916, and as far as I am
aware there was no formal “reserved occupation” exclusion.
I don’t know whether James was eventually
conscripted or whether he voluntarily signed up. But I do know that he joined
up, probably in 1917 – I believe in the Gordon Highlanders, and probably
joining up at Huntly. I know that he was in France at the end of the war, but
the one time he started to speak to me about this, his wife (my Granny)
interrupted and discouraged the telling of the tale.
He would have received at least a service
medal at the end of the war, but I don’t know what happened to this. Nor do I
know his service number. Many service records were destroyed in a major fire at
the National Archives at Kew; so it is unlikely that we will ever manage to
know much more, but I will have a go at the Gordon Highlanders Museum in
Aberdeen. I stopped in there a few weeks ago and am pleased to report that it an
interesting place, staffed by very helpful volunteers. The only real evidence
of his service that I have is this photo in uniform, wearing the cap badge of
the Machine Gun Corps (MGC). The MGC was formed in 1915, and many ordinary soldiers
were compulsorily transferred from infantry regiments. I also attach a picture of the MGC cap badge,
just to confirm what he is wearing.
His brothers Frederick and Hugh would
have been aged 22 and 15 respectively at the start of WW1, and so it is quite
likely that at least Fred would have undertaken some military service. But he
too was in agricultural employment, and was married with a very young family. I
have no knowledge of WW1 service by either of the brothers, but I will see what
I can find in due course.
