Sergeant Albert Arthur Curtis's Medal Grouping.

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

The medal grouping to Sergeant Albert Arthur Curtis. Albert Curtis must have been quite a remarkable man the military figured in his life for over 26 years. He was born in Maisemore Gloucestershire in 1876 and lived locally to us in the town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and first joined the army at the tender age of just 16. He joined up in 1891 with the 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment and on 12th July the following year was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment. With this Regiment Albert who at this time was at the rank of Private went to Egypt in March 1893 and from there proceeded to India. Owing to a shortage of Drummers young Albert was sent home from Wellington in India with the 1st Battalion South Staffords as an acting drummer and remained in England til he finished his term of service in June 1897. On the outbreak of the 2nd Anglo Boer War 3456 Private Albert Curtis was recalled to service from the 1st Class Reserve and left Tewkesbury in February 1900 and re-joined his regiment at Aldershot. During the 2nd Boer War Private Curtis served under Sir Leslie Rundle and in what was then known as "The Starving Eighth Division. Although his unit were not engaged in any full scale battles with the Boer's their long stay in the orange river colony meant that they suffered every conceivable hardship, men died from disease, malnutrition and some fell victim to the natural hazards of South Africa. A good number became so desperate to escape the privations of the campaign that they deserted. At the cessation of the Boer War Private Curtis left South Africa via Durban on August 2nd 1902. For his service during the Boer War Private Curtis received the Queens South Africa Medal with clasps "Transvaal", "Orange Free State" and "Cape Colony" and the Kings South Africa Medal with the date clasps "1902", "1901". His Kings South Africa medal was particularly special to him as he would remark later on in a local newspaper interview that it was "a very hard medal to earn as you had to do 18 months of un-broken service to get the medal"! War and the army entered Albert's life again in 1914 when he joined up at Lichfield and sent to Tidworth and served with the first Kitchener Army. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal and sent to Egypt. On 25th May 1915 8593 Corporal Albert Curtis re-joined his battalion now the North Staffordshire Regiment and was sent to fight in Gallipoli and to relieve the famous 29th Division. His battalion served under General Maude and Albert was again promoted this time to the rank of Sergeant for "devotion to duty on the field of action". Albert was in the 39th Brigade of the 13th Division of his regiment and was also involved in the evacuation of Suvla Bay and Keep Ellis and when that was over was sent to Port Said where his battalion was re-organised and re-equipped and sent on to Mesopotamia modern day Iraq. Albert's regiment  landed at Basra on 22nd March 1916 and took part in the last charge to relieve General Townsend and his forces who were besieged in Kut. Unfortunately they were too late to save the position. The Turks shelled the position and during this time Sergeant Albert Curtis was himself hit by a shell fragment and wounded. He embarked on a hospital ship and left for India where he spent some time recuperating. He grew to like and respect the Indian people and their customs and of course their cooking! Sergeant Albert Curtis was transferred to the fledgling Royal Air Force serving as a "Disciplinarian" and this was the last of his military service. He returned home to Tewkesbury on 22nd June 1917. For his service during WW1 Albert was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, The War Medal and The Victory Medal. Albert and his wife Mary Jane Curtis had six children but only two would survive to adulthood a daughter named Minnie and son named Albert Alec Curtis. Albert was a popular figure in his home town of Tewkesbury where he became the Town Crier and Sergeant of the Mace. He passed away at Holm Hospital on 7th January 1955 aged 79. Xmas 2015 I open one of my presents from my partner Paula which reveals an old blue leather bound box and when opened there were the medals which belonged to this remarkable man left exactly as he had last worn them. This was a truly memorable present and certainly one which I myself will treasure. We spent the next few months gathering every piece of research material we could on Sergeant Albert Arthur Curtis from the medals rolls to service records and local newspaper material and it was after an appeal on the Tewkesbury Town Online Noticeboard that I received the photograph of Sergeant Albert Curtis as Town Crier taken in 1939 and wearing the very medals which I now own. Sadly his grave has all but disappeared in the municipal cemetery at Tewkesbury as no headstone is present. I did bring this and Albert's story to the attention of the local newspaper the Gloucester Echo but sadly they have chosen to ignore my email-shame on them but RIP Sergeant Albert Arthur Curtis-a true warrior in every sense. Regards Tim Heath, MIA Group, Evesham, Worcs.

Edited March 2, 2016 by timjonheath@gmail.com
Mistake

[Waffenamt]

Bloody great stuff! Thank you Tim for persevering with the forum whilst the big cheese irons out teething problems. Your input is valued.

[Bil4338]

Fantastic piece of research! Great read...but Christmas 2016? Wee typo there...

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

23 hours ago, Waffenamt said:

Bloody great stuff! Thank you Tim for persevering with the forum whilst the big cheese irons out teething problems. Your input is valued.

That's ok mate and thanks for helping to sort things out for me

 

22 hours ago, Bill said:

Fantastic piece of research! Great read...but Christmas 2016? Wee typo there...

2015 most definitely lol!!!

 

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

Sergeant Albert Curtis's only brush with the Beak!!! Obviously on an evening out with some of his mates from the army and a tad too much ale. Made me chuckle this!!!

[Lenny]

That's a fantastic post @timjonheath@gmail.com  Worthy of a stripe, in the field promotion no less...

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

Ahh thank you Lenny that's very kind and glad you enjoyed that post