The War To End All Wars

12/2/2011

My grandfather stopped journal entries in May of 1915 leaving me wondering why. From other military documents I know he was transferred back to England because the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) loaned him out to the anti-aircraft defense unit for Liverpool. This took place in May, 1916 and lasted until November. During this time he was placed in charge of developing and managing the AA batteries. Again he disappeared  until July of 1918, this is when the RFA loaned him out to the newly found Royal Air Force. He remained with the RAF until the end of 1919.

Among his documents I found a piece of brown paper that had a hand written note on it. The note was written in pencil and it described the downing of a bird by two AA batteries. I thought that the note was related to the AA batteries that defended Liverpool and referred to the downing of a Zeppelin. However, the sharp eyes of the "old sweats" on the Great War Forum determined that the term "bird" referred to an airplane not a Zeppelin, and they said that the AA batteries mentioned in the note were stationed in France not Liverpool. The date stamp on the note was difficult to read until I expand the image size and found that the date of the note was 1917. This accounts of some of the missing time but it didn't tell me the how or when he was transferred back to France.

My grandfather must have gained a great deal of management experience, especially in accounting, because it was this knowledge that prompted the Royal Air Force to request his transfer from the Royal Field Artillery. By the end of the war my grandfather was promoted to the permanent rank of Captain.