A Rose By Any Other Name.
Gunner Albert Bert Rose Royal Atrillery
1914-18 British War Medal. Victory Medal. India General Service Medal 'Afghanistan 1919'.
The Man Little detail is known about Gunner Albert Bert Rose, except that he was born in Warwick in about 1891. He enlisted into the Royal Garrison Artillery with service number 34369, his medal index card showing that he later had a different number 1406149, although this does not appear on any of his medals. By the 1911 census he was shown as being billeted at Golden Hill Fort on the Isle of Wight. Albert served during World War I and was posted to India, serving on the Afghanistan North West Frontier in 1919.
The Story This group of medals have a special place in my collection as they were purchased for me from the Trading Post, a second hand shop in Leamington Spa, by my Grandfather Dick Hardy, as a quite unexpected gift one Saturday morning on 5th November 1977 at a cost of £12.00! They sat in my collection for the next 33 years until Albert’s first name was uncovered from ancestry.uk. By chance his middle name, Bert was discovered when looking for his India General Service Medal roll, which in turn led to the uncovering of the 1911 census. Unfortunately it has not at the time of writing been possible to find any additional detail from ancestry, as the only matches have different middle names.
This group of medals is one I have only been able to find a minimal amount of detail on. They are in effect 'work in progress' as one day something additional may well be uncovered. Please feel free to contact me should you know of, or have any information on this man.
The Story This group of medals have a special place in my collection as they were purchased for me from the Trading Post, a second hand shop in Leamington Spa, by my Grandfather Dick Hardy, as a quite unexpected gift one Saturday morning on 5th November 1977 at a cost of £12.00! They sat in my collection for the next 33 years until Albert’s first name was uncovered from ancestry.uk. By chance his middle name, Bert was discovered when looking for his India General Service Medal roll, which in turn led to the uncovering of the 1911 census. Unfortunately it has not at the time of writing been possible to find any additional detail from ancestry, as the only matches have different middle names.
This group of medals is one I have only been able to find a minimal amount of detail on. They are in effect 'work in progress' as one day something additional may well be uncovered. Please feel free to contact me should you know of, or have any information on this man.
Golden Hill Fort
Golden Hill Fort was a defensible barracks built as part of the Palmerston defences by the 1859 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom to provide manpower to man the defences at the western end of the Isle of Wight, England. Built in hexagonal form, it accommodated 8 officers and 128 men, and had its own hospital. The Fort is a local landmark which is in a very prominent position overlooking much of the land looking south towards Afton Down. Whilst operational, the area was kept clear of vegetation to allow views out to the Solent. |
The name Golden Hill refers not to the spectacular golden display of gorse but to an historic landowner named Gauden. The garrison for the nearby Hatherwood Battery was held at the fort. The building, which is a Grade 1 Listed Building, is now in private ownership and not open to the public. It was derelict and had not been used for many years, passing through numerous owners. Planning consent was granted in 2003 for conversion to residential use, with the listed building consent updated in 2007. Golden Hill Fort is currently being converted into 18 luxury houses by Golden Hill Homes Ltd. The developers are working closely with English Heritage, to restore the Fort to its former glory. The Fort had half a page of editorial coverage in the Sunday Telegraph on 12 May 2008, detailing the project. The surrounding land is open to the public. It is managed as a country park by the Isle of Wight Council, and is an open grassland with bridleways, viewpoints and a small car park. The soil types on which it stands are complex and support a wide range of plants, including the chalk loving yellow-wort and dwarf thistle, dyer’s greenweed, a feature of neutral soils and gorse which is associated with more acid soils. These attract a good range of butterflies. The habitats vary and there is a transition between open grassland, scrub and woodland
Medal Details:
- 1914 - 18 British War Medal: 34369 GNR.A.B.ROSE. R.A.
- Victory Medal: 34369 GNR A.B.ROSE. R.A.
- India General Service Medal: 34369 GNR.A.B.ROSE. R.G.A.
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This page last updated 15 Aug 14