Royal Horse Artillery 1901 Queen Victoria

[dorothy]

Where can i find out about "S" battery Royal Horse artillery, i read an article that said that "S" battery members led the gun carriage at Queen Victoria's funeral.

My husband's grandfather John Adolphus Merrett was a member of "S" battery Royal Horse artillery on the 1901 census based at Aldershot, and we wonder if he was a member of the party that accompanied the great Queen on her final journey.

How can we find this out?

Any help appreciated

Dorothy

[OldBraggs]

1st Feb. 1901 S Battery escorted the empty gun carriage to Windsor Castle in preparation for the funeral.

The body was escorted on arrival from the Isle of Wight by Y Battery RHA and on 4 Feb. it was Y Battery that took part in the actual funeral procession. This is confirmed by the award of the Royal Victorian Medal in bronze to several men of Y Battery for services at HM The Queen's Funeral.

So he played a small part in the build-up to the funeral, but not on the actual day.

Steve

[dorothy]

Thanks for the information steve it is much appreciated.

We managed to get John Adolphus Merrett's attestation papers from WW1 when he re-enlisted, how can we find out more about his service before then, we know he was in the RHA in 1901 but nothing more.

He has 2 different service numbers, and 2 lots of attestation papers for WW1, one for the Royal Horse Artillery and one for the Royal Fusiliers.  One the RHA one he states that he had been in "E" battery RHA 3 years and 75 days and served in Mhow India.

We have a photo of him with Ripon South camp written on the back.

Can you help with any tips to find out more

thanks

Dorothy