Another Holiday, Another Gun Port!!

 Madeira 2025.

A very short walk from our Hotel in Funchal was Palacio de Sao Lourenco, a 16th Century Fort.

The Battle of Kings Norton, 17 October 1642.

 24 days after the battle of Powick Bridge (23rd September) and 6 days before Edgehill there was a small battle between Royalist horse under the command of Prince Rupert and Parliamentarian horse under the command of Lord Willoughby of Parham. Both forces were marching to join their respective armies and clashed at King’s Norton (now a suburb of Birmingham).  Not an action that gets talked about much as the supposedly invincible Royalist horse, lead by Rupert, must have been having a bad day! Lord Willoughby didn't seem to have got much praise for his achievement, he wasn’t placed to face Rupert’s wing at Edgehill, in fact he seems to have missed the battle as he was part of the escort of the heavy guns.

Two 95th Officers killed on the same horse?

 Lt Harry Smith, when serving in the Light Division in the Peninsular War, tells us that 2 officers in 1/95th, both called Stewart, were killed riding the same horse and only a short time apart.  I thought this was worth looking into.  He says it took place in March 1811 during the pursuit of Marshal Massena out of Portugal.  There were 3 officers with the surname Stewart in 1/95th at that time.

Cpt Hon James H K Stewart, commander of No:1 Coy 1/95th, he survived the war and seems to have been away on staff postings most of the time.  So it can not be him.

Maj John [Jack] Stewart, commanding the left wing of the Battalion in the 2nd Brigade, was severely wounded at Casal Nova 14 March 1811 and died 2 days later.  As a field officer he would have normally been mounted in combat.

Lt James Stewart, Adjutant of the 1/95th [and possibly acting Brigade Major in the 1st Brigade], was killed in action at Freixadas 28 March 1811, 2 weeks later.  As the Adjutant, again, he would have normally been mounted in combat.

So could they have been riding the same horse?  I think they could, because at the time it was customary to auction off a dead Officer’s possessions within the Regiment and send the money home to his family.  So Lt Stewart may well have bought Maj Stewart’s horse that way and so been riding it when he was killed.  It would be interesting to know if the horse was then auctioned off a second time and if anyone dared buy it?

Remembering today.

 Remembering today the four soldiers buried in Sapcote Churchyard.

Victorian period.

Sergeant Thomas Marshall, Leicestershire Regiment. He served in the Burmese War 1887-89 and the Boer War 1899-1902. Family grave and headstone.

WW1.

Pte Thomas Tite, Leicestershire Regiment. Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) grave and family headstone, very unusual.

Rifleman J Davis, KRRC. CWGC grave and headstone.

WW2.

Pte C Bishop, RAOC. CWGC grave and headstone.

RIP.

The life of E.C.Goves update.

My Great Uncle E C Groves(link), one of the three Groves brothers, had his will changed (because his army number had been changed), on 28/8/1917 when he was at Floriana Military Hospital in Malta. These were formerly the Floriana (Lintorn) Barracks. 

Photos of one of the 3 barrack buildings which were the Floriana Military Hospital during WW1. These are now Government buildings so access is limited.  The top parts of these were visible from our Hotel balcony. 

The view today. A car park, a football pitch and the Government buildings part covered in scaffolding.

Dad's view in 1954.  A parade ground and two barrack blocks.  This was the parade for Queen Elizabeth (seated) and the Duke's visit to Malta.

The view in 1917.  The barracks were used as a hospital and the parade ground a tented hospital.

Malta 2024.

Holiday 2024. Malta.

Our 1980s map from our first visit. H71 is our 2024 Hotel. The Grand Hotel Excelsior.  Fortifications are shown in black and Fort Manoel is on the other side of the harbour.
 

View of our own gun embrasure! (gun port in the wall of the bastion).

The rest of the view of the bastion, from our balcony. 

Model of Valletta's outer defences.  Our hotel replaced the curtain wall running to the bastion bottom right.  This was called 'The Quarantine Bastion' where visitors, who had been held in quarantine, over the harbour in Fort Manoel, were first allowed to land and enter the city.

Michael Palin's new book.

 I got this book for Christmas.  It is a very good read.  

Most interesting for me is the fact that Harry Palin (Michael Palin's great uncle), although he was an ANZAC, was killed during the latter stages of the battle of the Somme, very close to Eaucourt L'Abbaye.  In fact he was killed with in a few days and a few hundred yards of my Great Uncle, Reginald Groves.  See earlier post.