George V Army Long Service & Good Conduct Medal.
4665 C. Sjt. A. E. Saw, Royal Fusiliers.
Arthur Edward Saw, the son of Frederick, a bricklayer, and Louisa Saw, was born on 30th May 1874 and baptised on 28th June of the same year in the parish of Uxbridge Moor. The family appear on the 1881 Census and are recorded as living at 14 Culvert Lane, Hillingdon, Uxbridge Moor. Six-year-old Arthur had three younger sisters: Annie (4 yrs), Caroline (3 yrs) and Lucy (10 mths).
By the time of the 1891 Census, the Saw family had moved to 28 Waterloo Road, Hillingdon, and two more daughters had been born: Jane (8 yrs) and Alice (1 yr). Arthur, now aged 16, is recorded as working as a gardener and domestic servant.
Two years later, on 1st June 1893, Arthur enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers at the depot in Hounslow, initially agreeing to serve 7 years with the Colours and 5 years in the Reserve. His Attestation Papers give some basic details. His physical development was described as fair; he was 19 years old, 5' 6" tall, weighed 133lbs and had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. He gave his occupation as florist and his religion as C of E.
Arthur was allocated service number 4665 and, on 15th August 1893, posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. There now began a period of home service during which Arthur made steady progress in his army career. He was soon appointed Lance Corporal (1st January 1894), qualified for promotion to rank of Corporal (21st June 1894), was awarded his 1st Good Conduct Pay (1st June 1895), was promoted to Corporal (1st August 1895), was appointed Lance Sergeant (7th January 1898) and was promoted to Sergeant (13th April 1898). During this time, he obtained his 3rd Class Certificate of Education (14th November 1893), 2nd Class Certificate (6th May 1895) and 1st Class Certificate (16th September 1895) and also passed classes of instruction in 2nd Class Gymnastics (31st December 1897), Musketry (14th June 1898), and Rudiments of Fencing (30th June 1898) and completed a further Musketry Course at Hythe (30th June 1898).
Following the outbreak of war with the Boers, the 2nd Royal Fusiliers embarked for South Africa in October 1899 and arrived at the Cape around 18th November. They were present at the Battle of Colenso on 15th December 1899 but were not heavily engaged. Sergeant Arthur Saw got his only entry on his Regimental Conduct Sheet when he was severely reprimanded for "neglecting to call the Sergt. Major when in charge of the regt guard" at Chieveley Camp on 18th January 1900.
On 17th March 1901, G Company of the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, together with the Fusilier machine gun detachment and some signallers remained with the column at Steynsburgh under the command of Lieut.-Col. Crabbe of the Grenadier Guards. On 20th May, the column was attacked by 600 Boers, the situation being saved by the section of the 85th Field Battery, and the Fusilier machine gun detachment under Sergt. A. Saw, who was mentioned in despatches for his services that day. 5796 Pte. A. Martyn was killed, whilst holding the mules in the open, 300 yards from the enemy's position. The officer commanding 2nd Royal Fusiliers received a letter from Lieut.-Col. Crabbe in which he expressed his high appreciation of the services rendered by the Royal Fusiliers' machine gun detachment in the action at Dwarshoek, on 20th May. It was magnificently handled, and supported the guns most efficiently, covering them while limbering up. Col. Crabbe further stated that he had forwarded Sergt. Saw's name to headquarters, and hoped he would get the Medal for Distinguished Conduct.
Arthur did not receive the DCM but he was mentioned in Army Orders and Lord Kitchener's Despatches of 28th July 1901 as follows: "Sergeant A. Saw, Royal Fusiliers, at Dwarshoek, Cape Colony, on 20th May 1901, for skilful and fearless working of machine gun within 1,000 yards of enemy."
On 24th February 1902,
Arthur Saw was promoted to the rank of Colour Sergeant. On 31st March, at Steynsburg in Cape
Colony and having served
8 years 9 months, he signed Army Form B.221 stating that he was “desirous of extending his period of Army
Service to complete 12 years’ service with the colours.” In October 1902,
after three years’ service in South Africa,
Arthur was on his way back to England,
where he would spend the next two years. On 24th August 1904, he
signed Army Form B.136, re-engaging to complete 21years’ Army Service. On 5th October, he married Anna Westacott in St George's Church, Aldershot.
In November 1904, the 2nd Royal
Fusiliers, together with Arthur and his new wife, were on their way to India. The
Battalion was first stationed in Darjeeling and
later moved to Secunderabad (Hyderabad),
arriving there in November 1905. It was here that Arthur and Anna’s two
daughters, Marjorie Lilian and Kathleen Dorothy were born on 26th January 1908 and 8th March 1909 respectively. The 1911 Census
records the four family members at Pachmarhi Depot, a hill station in the
central Indian province
of Madhya Pradesh. Arthur
was now 36 years old and the Census notes that he was a gymnastic and fencing
instructor. Also in 1911, he was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct
Medal with gratuity.
At some point the Battalion had moved
to Jubbulpore, where Arthur’s health began to
suffer. On 12th January 1911, he applied for his discharge, stating
that he was “desirous of returning to England in an
early transport.” He had two spells in hospital: 19 days in February 1911
and 15 days in January 1912. His medical records mention a history of fever,
debility, feeling out of sorts, loss of appetite and being unfit for duties.
Arthur Saw arrived back in England in March 1912 and on 31st March he was “discharged to pension at
own request after 18 years service” at Gosport.
His conduct and character were described as exemplary and a note in his file
states that he was “a very good clerk.
has been colour sgt for 10 yrs. a sober, reliable, hard working man. very well
educated.” His intended place of residence was Kensington
Park Road, Brislington, Bristol.
When war broke out in August
1914, Arthur Saw again came forward to serve his country. On 3rd September 1914, he attested as a Private in the Royal Fusiliers and was given
service number 746. He was now aged 40, working as a bookkeeper, 5’ 7” tall and
weighed 154lbs. The next day, he joined the 9th Battalion and was
immediately advanced to his old rank of Colour Sergeant. Sadly, at this point,
things started to go wrong for him. On three occasions, he was reprimanded by
his commanding officer, Lieut.-Col. J. C. Robertson, firstly on 12th October for not complying with an order the previous day and leaving camp
without permission, secondly for being drunk in camp at 11.45am on 17th October and finally for gross neglect of duty as president of the Sergeants’
Mess. A note in the Service Papers by
the Battalion’s Medical Officer states, “There
is a history of sunstroke in India.
The man admits to recently having had more drink than he ought to have done.
From his C.O.’s report it appears that he has been mentally incapable of
carrying on his work since enlistment. It is doubtful to which of these factors
his unfitness is mostly due. He was an old soldier of 21 years service. I now
consider him unfit.” Consequently, Arthur Saw was discharged “as not likely
to become an efficient soldier” on 28th November 1914 after serving
just 87 days.
However, the story does not end
here. Following his unsuccessful stint in his old Regiment, Arthur later appears
to have joined the Gloucestershire Regiment and been promoted to Company
Quarter Master Sergeant. An entry in the London
Gazette on 3rd July 1916 states that Coy. Qrmr. Serjt. Arthur Edward
Saw from the Gloucestershire Regiment had joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment
as a 2nd Lieutenant (on probation) on 30th June 1916. Arthur
was sent to the Western Front on 7th November 1916 and joined the
2/4th Berkshires.
On 22nd August 1917,
the 2/4th Berkshires supplied 13 platoons to take part in an attack
on enemy defences south east of St. Julien. Their job was to deal with numerous
strong points in the area to be attacked as other troops continued the advance.
2nd Lieutenant Arthur Saw’s Platoon was to act as left flank guard
for the 2/4th Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. It is
most likely that it was during this action that Arthur suffered a gunshot wound
to his right arm that necessitated 66 days treatment in hospital. At the end of
December 1917, Arthur was promoted to Lieutenant and attached to the 51st Northumberland Fusiliers.
Arthur Saw appears on the 1921 Census
as a 47-year-old clerk (Grade III) in the Ministry of Pensions. He was living
at 43 Wick Road, Brislington with his wife, Anna, and two daughters Marjorie and
Kathleen. He died on 10th November 1933 at the General
Hospital in Bristol. He was 59 years old and left effects
valued at £716 7s. 2d. His death was briefly reported in the Western Daily News
the following day.
Interestingly, in 1983 Arthur Saw's KSA Medal was purchased for £15 from the Liverpool Coin & Medal Co. by a gentleman called Roy W. Rushbrook, who subsequently wrote up Arthur's story and had it published in the OMRS Journal Vol 38 Number 4 (245) Winter 1999. The KSA came up for sale again in a Spink Medal Auction in November 2011, when it hammered for an impressive £210. In April 2015, I was able to buy Saw's KSA from author and medal collector Roy Dutton and thus reunite it with Saw's LSGC Medal, which was already in my collection. The whereabouts of Arthur Saw’s
QSA Medal, British War Medal and Victory Medal are unknown.
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