A close family friend is looking to find information on her grandfather Valentine Cecil William Long Born 1888. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction?
Valentine had a brother called Alfred and was one of 8 children. He lived most of his life in Sidney Street, Folkestone Kent. He had the nickname "Jinker Lomg".
He joined the 4th Battalion at Folkestone soon after the outbreak of war on 6th August 1914. He had previously served with the Battalion which was a territorial unit. He was aged 28 and was working as a carter for Bricknell and Son in Folkestone. He had married Edith in May 1908 and they had two daughters Gladys and Catherine
He signed the agreement to serve overseas in September 1914 which wasn't mandatory for territorials at the time. The Battalion left the UK in October 1914 for service in India. They qualified for the 1914-15 Star as a result of their fight with the Turks in Aden in August 1915
His service number was 1917 and when the territorial force was renumbered in 1917 it was changed to 200341
He was discharged on 29/7/1919 with debility following appendicitis and awarded a pension
When he received his medals in May 1920 he was living at 7 Mead Road
I have read this several times and have to say I am staggered with the detail you have provided. I am expecting his granddaughter here today and I will show her your comments and print them out for her. She will no doubt want to thank you herself so I will come back on line later. Can I ask where the information comes from please?
Good Morning. As I mentioned the granddaughter Valentine Long visited me last evening and was overwhelmed with the detail you provided and the style in which the information was presented. Far from a sterile listing of the facts, which we assume were complied from his service record, the detail was presented in such a way that it brought life back to the gentleman and painted a picture of the times. She has asked me to thank you on behalf of herself and the extended family. The information provided is to be copied and distributed to his other grandchildren and surviving relatives.
A question relating to his brother has been asked but I will cover this in a separate post. Again thank you.
Thank you for,your kind words. The information mainly came from his service record. The majority of service records were destroyed by fire following a bombing raid during WW2 so we are fortunate that his one survived.
It always gives me pleasure to help relatives of those that served with The Buffs. The Regimental History covering the WW1 period has been reprinted and is available fairly cheaply or via public libraries. It has chapters dedicated to the 4th Battalion which might help with putting his service into perspective. The author was RSH Moody.
Kitchener was not keen on the Territorial Force and so many of the units were sent to replace regular battalions who were garrisoned overseas rather than sending them to the Western Front. I know from reading about E Company of the 4th Battalion (Sittingbourne) in the local press that they were very disappointed not to be going to the main theatre of war.
