Long Service In The Civil Service Rifles.

1914 - 15 Trio.
George V Territorial Efficiency Medal.
737 Cpl. F. Plaster, 15th London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles).

Frank Plaster, the son of Robert Plaster, a draper and clothier, and his wife Caroline, was born on 2nd September 1888. The family are recorded on the 1891 Census as living at 36-37 King Street, Twickenham, and Frank appears on the 1901 Census as a 12 year old scholar at Christ's Hospital School in Hertford. Frank's father had died at the age of 48 in 1891 and his mother passed away, aged 56, in 1905. In 1906 he was a 17 year old, again living in Twickenham, and working as a boy clerk in the Post Office Savings Bank. On 6th February that year he joined the 12th Middlesex (Prince Of Wales' Own) Volunteer Corps. In 1907, the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act was passed, whereby the Volunteers and Militia were incorporated into the newly-created Territorial Force. The 12th Middlesex now became the 15th (County of London) Battalion, the London Regiment (Prince Of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles). Frank joined the new formation on 10th April 1908. One of the obligations placed on men in the Territorial Force was attendance at the annual training camp, usually held for two weeks during August. Frank attended camps at Salisbury Plain in 1908 and 1909, Minster Camp in 1910, Dover in 1911, Firth Hill in 1912 and Abergavenney in 1913.

Following the outbreak of war, the 15th Londons left for France on 17th March 1915, the members of the original battalion henceforth being entitled to call themselves "17th of March men", which became the "highest of distinctions in the Regiment." Frank Plaster, serving in 'B' Company, had by this time achieved promotion to Corporal and would serve with the Battalion for the next 15 months. The Londons saw action at Festubert in May 1915 and 'B' Company in particular played an active part in the Battle of Loos in September, as described in an earlier post.

On 21st May 1916, a gloriously sunny Sunday, the Battalion was in reserve at Camblain L'Abbe when a German attack was launched on Vimy Ridge. The Londons were ordered forward and a counter-attack hastily organised. Captain Farquhar with 'B' Company was in position by 1.30am and was ordered to counter attack at 2.00am. His men were organised into two waves and began the advance up the slopes of Vimy Ridge, unsupported by artillery or machine guns. In the darkness, having had no time for proper reconnaissance or liaison and advancing over unfamiliar ground, the attack had little chance of success. The men were met with a murderous fire from artillery, trench mortars, machine guns and rifles and few survived unwounded. The Germans, having captured the British front line trenches earlier in the evening, had fortified them with barbed wire and the few British troops that reached this far were unable to get any further. The men of 'B' Company, realising their position was hopeless, took cover in shell holes to await developments and the attack petered out.
This incident on Vimy Ridge was a relatively minor operation but had far-reaching consequences for the 15th Londons, particularly for 'B' Company, who lost many of their long-serving members. In the words of the Regimental History: "Hitherto the Battalion had succeeded in preserving more or less its original identity, but here, in the short space of twenty-four hours, practically all that was left of the original 'B' Company had been swept away. " Frank Plaster was perhaps one of the lucky ones; he was wounded by a shell during the attack and on 7th June was back in England. He was discharged from the army on 30th March 1918 and lived to the ripe old age of 90, dying in 1979.