A Ploughman's Pension
Lance Sergeant Thomas Redpath Cameron Highlanders
1914-15 Star. 1914-18 British War Medal. Victory Medal.
The Man Thomas Redpath was born in Prendergast, Ayton, Berwickshire on 14th June 1892, son of William and Isabella. He was one of five children, Elizabeth, Margaret, Archibald and Ellen and his religion was Presbyterian. In the Scottish census of 1901 he was living with his parents and siblings at 3 Elmseleugh Cot, Innerwick and was listed as a Scholar. He became a Farm Servant and Ploughman working for Allan Stevenson at a farm in Luffness, East Lothian. Following the outbreak of World War 1 Thomas enlisted into the 7th Battalion Cameron Highlanders on 23rd November 1914, with Regimental Number S/15763; enlisting at Haddington, East Lothian, he was aged 22 years 5 months old and described as being 5’.9” tall, weighing 180lbs, his chest measurement was 43” when fully expanded and his physical development and pulse rate very good. He had one vaccination mark on his left arm from childhood, his vision was D6 in both eyes and his medical category A1. He was inoculated on 23rd December and vaccinated on 30th March 1915 prior to active service. Thomas entered France on 8th July 1915 and was promoted Lance Corporal on 25th September. He contracted influenza on 7th December and following convalescence at Etaples was sent to the Front on 29th December and promoted to Corporal on 9th March 1916. During the course of the war Thomas was injured several times, he suffered gun shot wounds to both legs and his right knee on 24th June 1916 and also contracted scabies. He returned to England where he was admitted to Norfolk War Hospital, Thorpe, Norwich on 19th July, he was discharged 18 days later on 5th August and sent to the Convalescent Hospital, Woodcote Park, Epsom where he remained until 14th September being discharged as fit for general service “A” (111). He was injured again on 11th April 1917 when he was shot in the left arm and received shrapnel wounds, suffering soft tissue injury. He was sent to Kitchener Hospital in Brighton where he spent 17 days until 10th May when he transferred to Leaside Hospital, Leaford and was sent back to Kitchener Hospital on 14th July, with his injuries described as ‘healed’, although he needed some additional treatment and may have had problems with his fingers. He was finally discharged on 23rd July 1917. Thomas was transferred to the 5th Battalion Cameron Highlanders on 4th April 1918 and was shot a third time on 26th April this time in his left hand and admitted to Devonport Military Hospital on 30th April 1918 where he spent 30 days and discharged on 29th May 1918 with the wound healed movement good. He was granted 10 days special leave by the Medical Officer and following this on 7th June 1918 was transferred to the Depot and on the 19th was posted to the SCD at Nigg. He was classified as medical category A.111 and on 19th August was granted a further 7 days leave under ACI 819/18. Thomas was promoted to unpaid Lance Sergeant 31st October 1918 and applied for a pension as a result of his various wounds. He was examined on 20th January 1919 where his injuries were detailed as a 3” long scar down the centre of anterior surface of left forearm. He also complained that he could not move his wrist backwards when his hand was clenched and suffered from pain in the cold weather. Following the examination his application for a pension was rejected! Thomas transferred to the 3rd Battalion and on demobilisation was transferred to the Z Class Reserve on 21st February 1919 having served 4 years and 91 days. His military character was described as very good and his address was given as Hopefield, Macmerry, East Lothian. Following the war Thomas now aged 29, married Mabel Gertrude Weber on 20th August 1921 at Edinburgh and they had three children William, Etta Meldrum and Nancy. Thomas died on 15th October 1959 at Romford, Essex aged 67. He was survived by Mable who died on 19th June 1977 in York.
The Story The medals awarded to Corporal Thomas Redpath of the Cameron Highlanders, were located in a junk / house clearance shop on Gosford Street in Coventry. They were spotted on Thursday 28th July 2011 from a bus whilst the vehicle had stopped to pick up passengers. Most unusually, and reminiscent of the ‘good old days’ they were in a tray in the shop window and were obvious even from a distance, by the distinctive World War one ribbons. The next day the shop was visited and the tray contained five medals, a 1914-18 British War and Victory medal pair to Cpl Thomas Redpath, Camerons. Another WW1 pair to Pivate Edgar P Elliott of the East Surreys and a single Victory Medal to Private Harold E Franklin of the Suffolk Regiment. The dealer asked for an offer stating he could achieve quite a high price for the items if sold individually. The medals went back onto the tray and into the window for a further week, until another visit was made and an offer made, which was accepted. So three soldiers from the First World War, who had undoubtedly suffered depravation and hardship and no doubt earned their medals, were now to find their historical fortunes transformed from junk shop window to being cared for and cherished for posterity. The first priority was to check their details on the Commonwealth War Graves and Medal Index Cards (MIC) on Ancestry.com. There was nothing on the CWG and ancestry confirmed the award of the WW1 pair to Elliot and Franklin, the latter obviously missing a British War Medal. It also of course gave both men their first names. The final search however to Thomas Redpath, was more successful and revealed about 15 pages of World War 1 pension records, which enabled a biography of his early life and war service to be put together. Sadly however the MIC showed that Thomas was also entitled to a 1914-1915 Star which was clearly missing, making it a broken group. However a copy replacement was acquired to restore the full entitlement. A further cursory search on ancestry on 25th September 2011 revealed that a family tree had already been completed on Thomas Redpath by the ancestry community which gave further useful, albeit brief, detail on his post WW1 life. More useful information can undoubtedly be obtained from his birth, marriage and death certificates, which must remain a future project as and when time and money permit! Another example, if it were needed, of how a concatenation of events lead to the reconstruction of a man’s life and deeds from very little initial detail.
The Story The medals awarded to Corporal Thomas Redpath of the Cameron Highlanders, were located in a junk / house clearance shop on Gosford Street in Coventry. They were spotted on Thursday 28th July 2011 from a bus whilst the vehicle had stopped to pick up passengers. Most unusually, and reminiscent of the ‘good old days’ they were in a tray in the shop window and were obvious even from a distance, by the distinctive World War one ribbons. The next day the shop was visited and the tray contained five medals, a 1914-18 British War and Victory medal pair to Cpl Thomas Redpath, Camerons. Another WW1 pair to Pivate Edgar P Elliott of the East Surreys and a single Victory Medal to Private Harold E Franklin of the Suffolk Regiment. The dealer asked for an offer stating he could achieve quite a high price for the items if sold individually. The medals went back onto the tray and into the window for a further week, until another visit was made and an offer made, which was accepted. So three soldiers from the First World War, who had undoubtedly suffered depravation and hardship and no doubt earned their medals, were now to find their historical fortunes transformed from junk shop window to being cared for and cherished for posterity. The first priority was to check their details on the Commonwealth War Graves and Medal Index Cards (MIC) on Ancestry.com. There was nothing on the CWG and ancestry confirmed the award of the WW1 pair to Elliot and Franklin, the latter obviously missing a British War Medal. It also of course gave both men their first names. The final search however to Thomas Redpath, was more successful and revealed about 15 pages of World War 1 pension records, which enabled a biography of his early life and war service to be put together. Sadly however the MIC showed that Thomas was also entitled to a 1914-1915 Star which was clearly missing, making it a broken group. However a copy replacement was acquired to restore the full entitlement. A further cursory search on ancestry on 25th September 2011 revealed that a family tree had already been completed on Thomas Redpath by the ancestry community which gave further useful, albeit brief, detail on his post WW1 life. More useful information can undoubtedly be obtained from his birth, marriage and death certificates, which must remain a future project as and when time and money permit! Another example, if it were needed, of how a concatenation of events lead to the reconstruction of a man’s life and deeds from very little initial detail.
Medal Details:
- 1914-15 Star: Copy
- 1914-18 British War Medal: S-15673 CPL.T.REDPATH. CAMERONS
- Victory Medal: S-15673 CPL.T.REDPATH. CAMERONS
This page last updated 5 Jun 14