A Zeppelin, Cleethorpes and the Manchester Regiment

[mack]

pte eddie foulkes received cuts+bruises,he went on to win the DCM+MM with the Northumberland fusiliers

CSM 5000 george holland was wounded,he died at cleethorpes of natural causes on 7-1-17

mack

[Elizabeth Mills]

My Great Grandfather, Lt Colonel Harry Kendall Oram CBE was born at South Bersted, Bognor, Sussex on 31st October 1866.  He was the 3rd of the 7 children of William S Oram and Mary Anne nee Naylor.  His father started life as a brushmaker, moved into stationery and eventually (with his mother) ran a successful millinery, haberdashery and drapery establishment, first in Sussex and later in Bristol.  After leaving school - Clifton College - Colonel Oram seems to have started his career as a ship's purser.  He married a Jamaican heiress, Alice Maud Mary Sewell in 1892 at St Mary's Bryanston Square.  Her planter family had money, but her father succeeded in spending most of it and he hadn't consented to the marriage which was effectively an elopement.  So Alice brought very little money into the marriage.

Colonel Oram was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd & 4th Battalions King's (Liverpool Regiment) Militia (gazetted 10 Aug 1897) so he served in the Militia which, according to his son, Captain Harry Percy Kendall "Ken" Oram RN (in his biography The Rogue's Yarn) "Being in the Militia was only a part-time job for a soldier.  I was not aware of my father being in any kind of permanent employment when I was small.  He enjoyed a full social life, he was very fond of the races and he had a large moustache.  This was stuffed into a moustache corset at night to keep it flat and was a source of some wonder to my sister Peggy (my grandmother) and me.  When the Boer War broke out in 1899 my father went off to serve his country. "  Ken described his father as a "born-again Micawber" when it came to money!! 

In August 1902, his name appears in Hart's Army List as a Major in the 5th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.  This was absorbed into the 3rd Battalion in 1908 when he is still gazetted as a Major.

He and his wife parted company,  and on 4th August 1914, at the outbreak of WWI, he became commanding officer of 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment (Special Reserve).   During that time he was stationed in Cleethorpes when the Zeppelin raid took place.  He was responsible for organising the clear up, informing relatives and organising the mass grave.  Family tradition says that the experience broke him, and retirement due to ill-health followed on 26 Aug 1917.

On 13th October 1918 he returned to Cleethorpes, to unveil the brass commemorative plaque which can still be seen today in the church of St Michael and All Angels. 

On 3rd June 1919, Lt Col Harry Kendall Oram, 3rd Bn The Manchester Regiment, became a Commander in the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) Gazetted 12th December 1919. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31684/supplement/1545

He enjoyed the honour for only a year because on 21st August 1920 Colonel Oram died in London at 4 Boyle Street Savile Row.  His wife Alice predeceased him by a year.

I am interested to know more about his service in South Africa, so will be glad to hear more from any who can help me.

[charlie]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Your Great Grandfather has a struck out entry on the 3rd (Militia) Bn Queens Own (Royal West Kent ) Regt medal roll for the Queens Mediterranean Medal which was awarded to officers and men of the Militia who served in Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt during the South Africa war, thus enabling regular soldiers to be relieved. He is recorded thereon as being attached from the 6th Bn Liverpool Regt, there is also a remark recording Manchester Regt. The West Kents Regimental museum may be able to tell you exactly where he served https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/our-museums/queens-own/

I am assuming he has been struck off the roll as he also qualified for the Queens South Africa Medal with the clasps Cape Colony and Orange Free State. I am not 100% sure, but I expect a soldier could not be awarded both medals, perhaps one of our medal experts can provide clarification.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_South_Africa_Medal
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_Mediterranean_Medal

Charlie

[Elizabeth Mills]

Thank you so much.  That is very interesting.  According to casus-belli.co.uk (British Army Ancestors) his medal entitlement was the Queen's  Mediterranean Medal 1899-1902.  The Medal Roll Entry for the Mediterranean Medal is 368/0 but I haven't a clue what that number refers to.  There is no sign of other South African War medal entitlement on the Register of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902.  He is listed as 6 Battalion The King's (Liverpool Regiment) and atttached to 3 Battalion The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). 

With good wishes, and renewed most grateful thanks.
Elizabeth

[charlie]

Elizabeth,
Attached is part of the medal roll for the QSA medal. Even though the the column headings are covered the checked boxes are for the clasps CC and OFS.

Charlie

[Elizabeth Mills]

Thank you again Charlie - please can you tell me what are the clasps CC and OFS?  I don't know enough about medals to know what these letters stand for!
Elizabeth

[charlie]

Sorry Elizabeth
CC - Cape Colony
OFS - Orange Free State

Charlie