A Sharp Exit
Corporal Harry Victor Puddefoot 2/16 London Regiment
Harry Victor Puddefoot
The Man Harry Victor Puddefoot was born on 24th May 1897 in Hendon, Middlesex, son of John Webb Puddefoot, an Ivory Merchant and Maud Mary; John was 22 years older that Maud and had been married previously. Harry had one brother, Harold, born in1901 and four half siblings from John's previous marriage, John junior born in 1875 and who was only two years younger than his step mother! Agnes Mary 1877, Amy M 1879 and Irene 1889. On the 1901 census the family were living at 13 Oxford Road, Hillingdon, with two servants, Kate Evans and Hannah Lloyd; by 1911they were living at 41 Dartmouth Road, Brondesbury Park, with two new servants, Margerite and Emily Osborne. It appears that Harry had an interesting and varied youth that included playing cricket and travelling abroad extensively, possibly due to his fathers business connections. It happened that Harry was travelling as a student in Germany during 1914 and on 1st August, just three days before the outbreak of World War I was issued with a passport by the Consul General for the district of Westphalia and Rhenish Provinces, presumably in order for him to be able to leave German quickly before the start of hostilities. Barely a month later on 1st September 1914 and aged only 17 years and 3 months old, Harry enlisted as a Bugler into the newly formed 2/16th Battalion London Regiment, Queen's Westminster Rifles, at Queens Hall, 58 Buckingham Gate. His service number was 2693, later changed to 550602. He was described as 5'.8" tall with a 34" chest and expansion range of 3". His physical development was good and medical category A1.
Harry trained and served at home, and posted to Sandhills Camp No 13, Longbridge Deverill, Warminster. On 22nd June 1916 he embarked at Southampton sailing for France and landing at Le Havre, entering theatre the next day. He served on the Western Front and was appointed Lance Corporal 'in the field' on 20th September 1916. On 13th November 1916, Harry was placed in charge of three soldiers as part of a Divisional Advance Party proceeding to Marseille by train from Amiens via Paris. On 19th he sailed from Marseilles landing in Salonica, Greece on 30th. He was taken ill a number of times during 1917, suffering from diarrhoea and then dysentery in January followed by a sebaceous cyst in May. Harry left Salonica on 21st June and travelled to Alexandria in Egypt, as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force landing on 25th. He was granted 48 hours leave in Cairo on 25th May and on 16th December hospitalised again in the Field Ambulance with Ankle Synovitis, an inflammation of the joints, rejoining his unit on 10th February 2018. During his time in egypt he also served in Palestine and involved in the the raid to Es Salt in Jordan.
On 17th March he was appointed Acting Corporal and granted substantive rank on 1st May. A month later on 17th June Harry was on the move again leaving Alexandria and landing in Taranto, Southern Italy on 21st. A month later he was granted 14 days leave returning to the UK via Calais and on the 6th August rejoined his unit again back on the Western Front. On 6th September he was taken ill again with diarrhoea but returned to duty two days later. On 28th September, still only 21and barely six weeks before the Armistice was signed, Harry was seriously wounded in action. He received a bullet wound to his right buttock and treated at No 8 Station Hospital in Boulogne. He was returned to England on 3rd October for further treatment at the War Hospital, Bradford. He remained there for six months and in March 1919 claimed eligibility to be transferred to a dispersal hospital prior to demobilisation. On 1st April he was transferred to Keighley War Hospital for one day, being disembodied and demobilised on 30th April 1919, as 'surplus to military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the Service'. In February 1920 Harry applied to the Ministry of Pensions to be examined by a medical board for his wounds. It seems that a previous medical examination had stated he had a 20% degree of disablement due to the wound and a 10" long scar. His claim was successful and he was awarded 8 shillings and 8 pence a week. He was also awarded three blue chevrons, for three years service overseas, a wound stripe, the Silver War Badge number B271822 and the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals. During the third quarter of 1923 Harry married Mary Victoria R Smart in Marylebone and during the next few years they lived in a number of different places within London. In 1924 Harry was at 70 Priory Road, 1927 at 83a Alexandra Road, 1929 48a Primrose Hill Road and in 1930 at Widdies, Copeswood Way, Northwood.Harry worked in the family company of Puddefoot, Bowers and Simonett of 162-172 Kennington Lane, London, SE11. Telephone: Reliance 3071. Cables: "Puddefoot, London" and they had a showroom at 92 Regent Street, London, W1. The company was described as Brushmakers, Silversmiths and Cabinet Makers in Ivory, Tortoiseshell, Fancy Hardwoods, Onyx and Shagreen. Proprietors of G. Betjemann and Sons and Corke and Apthorp Ltd. On the day World War II was declared, 3rd September 1939 aged 42, Harry was appointed an Air Raid Warden in the Urban District area of Ruislip-Northwood and in 1941 became a member of the Voluntary Fire Fighting Party, for which he was awarded the Defence Medal at the end of the War. Harry's company had been heavily involved with the war effort and received a telegram from Lord Beaverbrook in 1942 urging continued unfaltering energy and commitment during the war. In 1947 the company had a stand on the ground floor, No D.1634 at Olympia during the British Industries Fair and by 1953 Harry and Mary were living at 9 West End Court in Harrow. Harry died during the last quarter of 1972 aged 75 he was survived by Mary who died five years later in the last quarter of 1977. Click here to see more pictures from Harry's collection
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The Story The interesting set of three medals and silver war badge awarded to Harry Victor Puddefoot, were acquired from E-Bay on 17th October 2006. They were of interest be because of the unusual paperwork contained within the lot. On a visit to The National Archives in July 2007, Harry's World War I service records were discovered which, coupled with the original paperwork and later research on ancestry.uk allowed a quite extensive biography to be pieced together. What is particularly interesting with his story is the unusual passport document issued to Harry in Germany three days before the outbreak of WWI! The interesting theatres he served in during the war, before being injured and his family business of, amongst other things, Ivory importation. Harry's father's will will be extracted which may lead to further research in due course.
Es Salt Raid
30 April 1918 - 03 May 1918 Es Salt, a village in Palestine 23 km west of Amman, was the scene of heavy fighting between 30 April and 3 May 1918. The fighting occurred as part of the second "raid" mounted east of the Jordan River by General Sir Edmund Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force. The actual raiding troops - the Australian Mounted, ANZAC Mounted, and British 60th Infantry Divisions, and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade - were commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel and their aim was to secure a launching point for operations against the key railway junction at Deraa. The operation progressed well initially with Es Salt being seized by the evening of 30 April. Increasingly determined Turkish resistance, including counter-attacks that threatened the flanks and rear of the advanced elements of the raiding force, eventually forced a withdrawal back to the Jordan on 3 May 1918. The raid failed in its objectives but did serve a purpose in that it encouraged Turkish commanders to believe Allenby's next major effort would be launched across the Jordan, when in fact it would be launched along the coastal plain.
30 April 1918 - 03 May 1918 Es Salt, a village in Palestine 23 km west of Amman, was the scene of heavy fighting between 30 April and 3 May 1918. The fighting occurred as part of the second "raid" mounted east of the Jordan River by General Sir Edmund Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force. The actual raiding troops - the Australian Mounted, ANZAC Mounted, and British 60th Infantry Divisions, and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade - were commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel and their aim was to secure a launching point for operations against the key railway junction at Deraa. The operation progressed well initially with Es Salt being seized by the evening of 30 April. Increasingly determined Turkish resistance, including counter-attacks that threatened the flanks and rear of the advanced elements of the raiding force, eventually forced a withdrawal back to the Jordan on 3 May 1918. The raid failed in its objectives but did serve a purpose in that it encouraged Turkish commanders to believe Allenby's next major effort would be launched across the Jordan, when in fact it would be launched along the coastal plain.
Puddefoot, Bowers and Simonett, 162-72 Kennington Lane, London
Medal Details:
- 1914 - 18 British War Medal: 2693 CPL. H.V.PUDDEFOOT. 16-LOND.R.
- Victory Medal: 2693 CPL. H.V.PUDDEFOOT. 16-LOND.R.
- Defence Medal: Unnamed as awarded.
- Silver Wound Badge: B271822
Page last updated 31 May 19