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Captain
LESLIE JACK NEWBERY CHANNING
(formerly 1869416 Lance Sergeant)[1]
Royal Engineers  

by  

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, P.E., MInstRE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(May 2022)

Figure 1.  Leslie Jack Newbery Channing.
(Photograph courtesy of Mrs. Barbara Channing)

  1. INTRODUCTION

            Captain Channing’s military service is typical of many men who joined the Royal Engineers in the 1920s and who rose through the enlisted ranks to be commissioned as officers at the beginning of, or during, World War 2.  I purchased his medals in 1998 knowing at that time that he had served in the ranks and had risen to the rank of Captain.  In 2018 I wrote the story of Channing’s life and military service using the information that was then available.  In 2022 Royal Engineers Tracer Cards became available on the Internet from findmypast.com.  These cards provided additional information regarding Channing’s military service and therefore this narrative of his story has been written to replace the previous one completed in 2018.  Detailed information regarding his promotions and postings has been obtained from these tracer cards and from numerous issues of The Sapper magazine.  All other sources of information are indicated in the ENDNOTES and in the REFERENCE sections of this work.

  1. EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION

Early Life (1911-1929)  

Leslie Jack Newbery Channing was born on 21 September 1911 at Castle Hill in Axminster in the County of Devonshire.  He was the son of John Samuel Channing (1887-1918) a nail brush finisher, and Elizabeth Channing (née Heydon).[2]  No information could be uncovered regarding L.J.N. Channing’s early life.  Unfortunately there is only one family tree on Ancestry.com that includes him and it is a private tree; that is, it is not available to the public without the permission of the creator of the tree.  The family tree is listed as the “Rowlands Family Tree” (Private) and attempts to contact the creator of the tree have been unsuccessful to date.

            As a point of interest, Channing’s birthplace, Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England, some 28 miles from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Axmouth, and is in the East Devon local government district.  Axminster gave its name to a type of carpet. An Axminster-type power loom is capable of weaving high quality carpets with many varying colours and patterns. While Axminster carpets still are made in the town by Axminster Carpets Ltd, this type of carpet is now manufactured all over the world.

Family Information

            As with his early life, the lack of a family tree precludes the inclusion of detailed family information in this research.  Since Channing was born in September of 1911 and the 1911 Census of England and Wales was completed in April of that year, no information regarding his family members could be obtained from that document. 

            Findmypast.com indicates that Leslie’s father also had been born in Axminster, Devonshire in 1884 and his mother Elizabeth had been born on 30 July 1887.[3]  His father is also noted to have served as a Lance Corporal, Regimental Number 1416, in the 4th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment (see Figure 2 below).  On Leslie’s birth certificate his father is listed as a “Nail Brush Finisher” in 1911.  The exact nature of this occupation or its modern day equivalent is unknown.    He appears to have joined the Devonshire Regiment for service prior to the Great War of 1914-1918 and is listed in the Commonwealth War Graves Memorial as having died on 29 December 1918 at the age of 34 as a Lance Corporal.  His age at the time of his death agrees with his years of birth and death.  This information is in conflict, however, with the document authorizing the Silver War Badge to one John Samuel Channing, 1416 Private, 4th Devonshire Regiment, who enlisted on 1 April 1908 and was discharged on 1 April 1915 due to sickness.  It is difficult to reconcile the differences found in these two references.  Further confusion is added by findmypast when they list information from the WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, that shows that 1416 Lance Corporal John Samuel Channing had served in the 3/7th Devonshire Regiment.  The 3/7th was a cyclist battalion formed in late 1915, possibly only as a depot rather than a fully-fledged training battalion. It was disbanded March 1916.[4]  

            One might conjecture that John Samuel Channing had enlisted in the 4th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment in 1908 and then fell ill and was discharged in 1915.  He then recovered from his illness and re-enlisted or was reinstated in the regiment with the same Regimental Number.   

3. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION  

             Since Channing’s military records were not obtained for this study, no detailed physical description of him was available.  However, his service papers may be available from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow, and attempts to retrieve those papers may be made in the future.  Photographs and descriptions of him provided by his wife, Mrs. Barbara Channing, indicate that he was a big man, both in stature and in build.

4.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING  

Enlistment

            Leslie Jack Newbery Channing enlisted in the Royal Engineers on 11 December 1929.[5]  His enlistment was for a period of six years with the Colours and six years in the Army Reserve.  He enlisted as a Sapper and was issued Army Number 1868416.  His Corps Trade was shown as “Normal rates” indicating that he would receive the pay of a Sapper without any additional pay as a result of any technical skills that he may have had when he entered the Army.  On 12 December 1929, once his attestation papers were finalized, he was sent to the School of Military Engineering at Chatham where he was posted to “B” Company of the Royal Engineers Training Battalion (R.E.T.B.).

            When Channing arrived at Chatham the training battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel O.H.B. Trenchard, R.E.[6]  Second-In-Command of the battalion was Major R. Hamilton, MC, R.E.  His company commander was Captain W.E.A. Masters, MC, R.E.[7]  Other officers in “B” Company included Lieutenants W.H. Waring, R.E., H.H.C. Withers, R.E.,[8] H.C.W. Eking, R.E.[9] and E.L. Kellett, R.E.[10]  

Training

             Channing’s training began with the basics that were required for each man to learn to be a soldier.  This involved military customs, the wearing of his uniform and insignia, military discipline and the use, care and maintenance of his weapon, the short, magazine Lee-Enfield rifle (SMLE).  Following a period of basic training, Channing then received the training necessary to make him an engineer soldier.  This involved such field engineering subjects as tunnelling, trench-building, camouflaging techniques, barbed-wire entanglements, construction and clearing of obstacles, bridging, explosives and demolitions and other skills necessary to support the infantry and artillery in the field.

            Before Sapper Channing completed his recruit training in “B” Company, a number of changes in the officers’ ranks had been made.  Lieutenant Colonel G.G. Waterhouse, MC, R.E.[11] assumed command of the training battalion and Major Ǣ.F.Q. Perkins, R.E.[12] took over as 2IC of the battalion.  Lieutenants Waring and Kellett had left and Lieutenants S.St.D Skinner, R.E. and J.E.C. McCandlish, R.E. reported into “B” Company as replacements.

            Channing completed his recruit training and it appears that he received some specialized training in railway construction, maintenance and operations, as his next posting was to the Railway Training Centre at Longmoor.  Many subsequent postings during his military career also would be to railway units.

  1. POSTINGS, ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Longmoor (1930-1934)

            Sapper Channing was posted to the Railway Training Centre (R.T.C.) at Longmoor Camp in Hampshire on 14 October 1930.  The units stationed at the Railway Training Centre at that time were the 8th and 10th Railway Companies of the Royal Engineers.   Upon reporting to Longmoor, Channing was assigned to the 10th Railway Company.  He was further assigned to the Blockman, Shunters and Signalling Section within the company.[13]

            At the time that Channing was posted to the R.T.C. the centre was commanded by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Lionel Manton, DSO, OBE, R.E.  The Officer Commanding 10th Railway Company was Captain J.C.B. Wakeford, R.E.[14] and other company officers were Lieutenant L. Waasbrough-Jones, R.E. and R.E. Bagnald-Wild, R.E.[15]

            Lieutenant Colonel Lionel Manton became the new Commandant at Longmoor during the same year that Channing arrived at the camp.  Manton was an officer of immense ability and drive.  In addition to his technical skill, he was the outstanding advocate of the day of Movement Control of all forms of transport.  Manton served as Commandant of Longmoor from 1930 to 1935[16] and later as the Director of Transport in India.     

While at Longmoor Channing’s duties involved participating in training exercises for the Railway Supplementary Reserve Operating Units of the Royal Engineers.  One such exercise took place in June of 1931.  The performance of Channing’s company on this exercise was so outstanding that it received special praise from Lieutenant Colonel Manton.  In a Special Order dated 25 June 1931, Lieutenant Colonel Manton had this to say:[17]

“I wish to express my warm appreciation of the work done by all ranks in arranging for and carrying out the Operating Exercise for the Supplementary Reserve Operating Units.  The work was done well and in good spirit, long hours were worked and the result is a credit to the Railway Training Centre, R.E.”

“Every man has, by willing co-operation, earned his share of the credit, and ‘done his bit’ towards upholding the high reputation of the Corps of Royal Engineers in general and of the Railway Training Centre in particular.”     

Training for the men of the 10th Company was undertaken on a continual basis in order for the men to maintain their proficiency in their railway duties and their skill as soldiers.  While serving at the R.T.C. Sapper Channing was awarded a 2nd Class Certificate of Education in January of 1932.[18]   In March of that same year his company fired the annual musketry courses and in July the units of the Railway Training Centre participated in an annual training exercise at Gatton Park in Reigate, Surrey.  In March of 1933 the 10th Railway Company began the annual training cycle again with the men of the company involved with trade training.  The annual training cycles for the individual companies and the men were usually completed by June of each year.  Following the completion of the annual training, the 8th and 10th Railway Companies again became involved with the training of the Supplementary Reserve units.

            In November of 1933, a friend of the author’s, the late Warrant Officer Class I Jack Firth was assigned to the 10th Railway Company.[19]  Firth was assigned to No. 5 Section of the company that consisted of the Fitters, Turners, Welders, Blacksmiths, Iron and Brass Moulders.  Jack Firth remembers Channing as “a well set bloke.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2.  Jack Firth

as a Staff Sergeant, c. 1930s.

(Photograph from the author’s collection)

 

 

Singapore (1934-1937)         

                On 24 February 1934 Channing was posted to the 41st (Fortress) Company, Royal Engineers at Pulau Brani and on1 January 1935 he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.  At the time that Channing joined the 41st (Fortress) Company the unit was commanded by Captain T.G.R. Makeig-Jones, MC, R.E.  Other officers in the company included Lieutenant H.C.W. Eking, with whom Channing had previously served at Chatham during his recruit training, and Lieutenant I.L.H. Mackillop, R.E.[20]

            As with his service in the 10th Railway Company, service in Singapore involved a routine annual training cycle for the men and the units.  In August of 1935 the 41st Company was involved with fieldworks followed by musketry training.  In September, following the completion of the training cycle, the company moved from Pulau Brani to Changi.  Before the end of 1935, Lance Corporal Channing received orders to return to England, having completed about two years of service in Singapore. 

            Channing was much more fortunate than Jack Firth with his transfer back to England.  Jack Firth subsequently was transferred to Singapore where he was posted to the 30th (Fortress) Company, R.E.  Jack was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore and remained a prisoner for the remainder of the war working on the dreaded Siam to Burma Death Railway – and the “bridge over the River Kwai.” 

Longmoor (1937-1939)

           Lance Corporal Channing returned to England on 9 April 1937 and was again assigned to the 10th Railway Company at the Railway Training Center in Longmoor Camp.  In January of 1936 he had extended to complete 12 years of service with the Colours.  During Channing’s second posting to Longmoor the Commandant of the Railway Training Center was Lieutenant Colonel D.J. Mc Mullen.[21]

            Channing remained with the 10th Railway Company until November of 1937 when he was posted to attend a Drill and Duties Course at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, Kent.  Verification of Jack Firth’s description of Channing as a strongly built or “well set bloke” came in December of 1937 when the following was published in The Sapper magazine upon the occasion of Channing’s departure from Longmoor:

“The weight of the Coy has been considerably reduced now that L.-Cpls Channing and Collins have left us for a Drill and Duties Course at Chatham.”

Again, one can assume from this little quip that Channing was a big man.

            Channing was promoted to the rank of Corporal in December of 1937, probably upon his successful completion of the course at Chatham.  He did not return to Longmoor after leaving Chatham.  His next duty station was Palestine.

            Channing had served at Longmoor from 1930 to 1934 and again from 1935 to 1938.  The years between 1930 and 1939 were the years of the greatest growth of the Longmoor Military Railway and Camp; hence, Channing served there during the most interesting periods of Longmoor’s history.  During the 10-year period of growth at Longmoor much work was done on building both the railway and the camp.  A program was instituted during this period to reconstruct Longmoor Camp as a permanent establishment.  The artillery stables were converted to tractor and gun sheds during the mechanization of the Army and the Boer War vintage living huts were replaced by two-story brick barrack blocks.  In addition to the normal buildings associated with a military camp, construction also included two officers’ messes, St. Martin’s Garrison Church, the headquarters block and the signals school.  As a member of one of the two companies of Royal Engineers at Longmoor, Channing certainly was involved with many of these projects.

 Palestine (1939-1941) 

            Channing arrived at Haifa in Palestine on 12 April 1939 where detachments of both the 8th and 10th Railway Companies were operating railway installations for the British forces there.  Known as the Railway Detachments Palestine, these detachments had been in Palestine since the 19th of April 1936 and would remain there until 3 September 1939. 

            British involvement in Palestine began in 1936 as a result of efforts on the part of the Arabs to counter Jewish infiltration into the area.  Arab leaders organized a general strike designed to paralyze the civil government, while militant Arab bands attacked Jewish settlements, disrupted all forms of communications and damaged the pipeline to the Haifa oil refinery.  Roads became impassable except by escorted columns and the railways were liable to interruption by sabotage.

            Corporal Channing served with the 8th Railway Company, Royal Engineers in Palestine in 1938 and 1939.  In 1936–39 Palestinian Arabs opposed to Jewish mass immigration revolted against British rule. Railways were a particular target for sabotage.  The British built blockhouses to protect bridges and regular military patrols of railway lines.  Patrols were initially on foot, then in armoured freight vans propelled by locomotives with armoured cabs, and finally with dozens of rail-mounted armoured cars built at Qishon works. After one was blown up by a mine, killing a soldier, the front of each armoured car was fitted with a long bar propelling a pony truck intended to detonate any mine safely without injuring any of the armoured car's occupants.  British soldiers made Arab hostages ride on the pony truck to attempt to prevent attacks, as shown below.  The use of hostages for this purpose certainly would not be condoned today, but in the late 1930s it appears that there was little criticism of this practice.

Figure 3.  Arab Hostages in Front of a British Armoured Train.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

            Security measures failed to stop attacks on the railway. One attack damaged a Sentinel railcar.  In October 1937 a more serious attack damaged a passenger train and prompted a further decline in passenger numbers.  In 1938 sabotage derailed 44 trains, damaged 33 rail-mounted armoured cars, destroyed 27 stations and other buildings, damaged 21 bridges and culverts and destroyed telephone and signalling equipment and water supplies.  A member of the Survey of Palestine recalled that "nearly all the stations on the railway had been burnt".  For more than one period night running became so dangerous that it was suspended.  In September 1938 first the Jerusalem line and then El Kantara line were closed by extensive sabotage.  After the latter was reopened in October, Haifa – El Kantara trains were run only three days per week compared with the previous daily service.  The worst year was 1938, in which 13 railway workers were killed and 123 injured.   Channing had been there during some of the worst times.

Figure 4.  L.J.N. Channing in Palestine, c. 1939.
(Photograph courtesy of Mary Matthews via Ancestry.com)  

            The engineer problems resulting from the action of the militant Arab bands fell into three categories, as follows:

·         Work required to keep open the railway and roads that were constantly mined and ambushed;

·         Providing immediate accommodation for the large number of troops being assigned to the area; and,

·         The longer-term problem of building hutted camps before the winter for those troops who could not be billeted in permanent quarters.

            The work of the railway companies was not only to repair and to keep open the railway lines, but for a time they were responsible, with the help of naval personnel, to man trains and the pilot trolleys that preceded them.  Once the country had been partially pacified and the hostile Arabs driven into the hills, the railway units undertook the reopening of the meter-gauge railway from Haifa to Jenin, Massoudieh, Nablus and Tulkarm[22].  This then, was the work undertaken by Corporal Channing and the men of his company during his tour of duty in Palestine. 

            Channing earned his first medal at this time.  He was awarded the General Service Medal 1918-1964 with clasp [PALESTINE], as were all men who served in Palestine during the period of time mentioned above.[23]  On 4 July 1939 he was promoted to the rank of Lance Sergeant.

  1. COMMISSIONED SERVICE

Egypt and Ethiopia (1940-1942) 

            In October 1935 Italian troops invaded Ethiopia –  then also known as Abyssinia – forcing the country's Emperor, Haile Selassie, into exile. Ignoring protests from the League of Nations, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed a new Italian empire in East Africa, comprising Ethiopia and the pre-existing territories of Italian Somaliland and Eritrea.  It was this action on the part of Italy that ultimately resulted in British involvement in the war and in Channing’s posting to Ethiopia on railway work at the conclusion of the war.

Figure 5. The Franco-Ethiopian Railway.

(Map courtesy of The Franco-Ethiopian Railway Web Site)

 

            Following early successes by Italy's ally, Germany, in the Second World War, Mussolini declared war on Britain in June 1940. This meant that British possessions in East Africa, as well as British-controlled Egypt and the vital supply route of the Suez Canal, were now threatened.

            The Italians attacked border posts in Kenya and Sudan, and captured British Somaliland in August. The Italian Viceroy, the Duke of Aosta, then ordered his troops to halt, allowing the initiative to pass to the British.

            General Archibald Wavell, British Commander-in-Chief Middle East, planned a three-pronged counter-offensive to dismantle Italy's East African Empire. His force was outnumbered, but he had air support from the Royal Air Force.

In January 1941 Lieutenant General William Platt led forces from Sudan into Eritrea. The Italians quickly retreated and, in March, Indian and British troops won an important victory at Keren.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham advanced north from Kenya into Italian Somaliland, while a third force crossed from Aden to retake British Somaliland by amphibious assault. These then linked up and pushed deep into Ethiopia. In April British troops entered the capital Addis Ababa, and Haile Selassie returned in triumph on 5 May. The Duke of Aosta chose to fight on, and led his men to the mountain stronghold of Amba Alagi, near the Eritrean border. Here they held out for a further two weeks before surrendering.[24]

            Probably because of his proximity to North Africa while serving in Palestine, Lance Sergeant Channing appears to have been assigned to serve in Egypt during the early years of the war.  He served in the ranks during the war from 1940 through 1942.  Since he had gained considerable experience with railway work he was posted to work on the Abyssinian Railways on 1 September 1941 following the end of hostilities in the area.  Specifically he was assigned to work on the Franco-Ethiopian Railway, probably to repair damage caused by the war. 

Figure 6.  The Franco - Ethiopian Railway.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Commissioned War Service (1942-1945)

            On 5 December 1942 Channing was selected to attend an Officer Candidate Training Unit (O.C.T.U) to prepare him for an Emergency Commission.  On 13 January 1943 he was made an Emergency Commissioned Officer with the rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, Army Number 287643, and on 2 September 1945 he was promoted to the rank of Captain.  For his service during the Second World War Captain Channing was awarded the 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal and War Medal.

            The highest rank shown on Channing’s Royal Engineers Tracer Card is Lance Sergeant; however, the photograph below, believed to have been taken in late 1942, shows him wearing the slip-on wrist rank insignia of a Warrant Officer Class II.  He probably had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant and then Staff Sergeant before being promoted to W.O. Class II, although it is possible that he had been given an accelerated promotion to Warrant Officer without passing through the lower ranks.  In the photograph he is wearing an insignia much like the one shown below.  The dates of his promotions to the senior non-commissioned officers’ ranks were not determined during this research project.  If he had been promoted to these ranks, then it is strange that the promotions are not shown on his tracer card.  His service papers, if available at the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow, could solve this problem. 

 

 

Figure 7.  Leslie Jack Newbery Channing as a Warrant Officer Class II.

(Photograph courtesy of Mary Matthews via Ancestry.com)

 

 Figure 8.  Slip on Warrant Officer Class II Wrist Badge.
(Photograph courtesy of British Military Badges web site)  

Post-War Service (1945-1949)

            Channing appears to have been posted to Egypt following the end of the war.  The passenger list for S.S. Strathmore shows that his wife, Barbara Channing, age 34 years and 7 months, departed Southampton for Egypt on 24 May 1946.  Her address in the U.K. is listed as Summerland Avenue in Langleigh, a suburb of Slough in Berkshire.  Her occupation is shown as “Wife of Army Officer.” 

            The Channing’s daughter, Shelah Elizabeth Channing, age 7 years and 11 months, accompanied her mother on the voyage.  However, Shelah’s last address in the U.K. is shown as Minehead, Somerset (see Annex A ).      

            Captain Channing was granted a Regular Army Short Service Commission with the rank of Lieutenant in 1947.  During this same year he completed 18 years of service with the Colours and was awarded the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (GVIR) with bar [REGULAR ARMY] without gratuity.  This award was published in the Supplement to the London Gazette dated 18 June 1948.

            On 13 January 1949 Channing was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Royal Engineers (Regular Army).[25]  He relinquished his commission on the completion of his service on 1 October 1956 and was granted the honorary rank of Captain.[26]  

6.  RELEASE FROM SERVICE

            Channing’s total service with the Royal Engineers was reckoned as shown in the tables below.  

Location

Period of Service

Chatham

11 December 1929 – 13 October 1930

Longmoor

14 October 1930 – 23 February 1934

Malaya

24 February 1934 – 8 April 1937

Longmoor

9 April 1937 – 11 April 1939

Palestine

12 April 1939 – 31 August 1941

Abyssinia/Ethiopia

1 September 1941 – 4 December 1942

O.C.T.U. (24 E.A.C.O.)(3)

5 December 1942 – 12 January 1943

Egypt/East Africa(2)

13 January 1943 – 15 April 1947(1)

Reserve of Officers

16 April 1947 - 1 October 1956(1)

 

Location

Period of Service

Home

15 years, 8 months and 2 days

Abroad

11 years 1 month and 19 days

Total Service

26 years, 9 months and 21 days

NOTES:

1)      The dates of his service in Egypt, East Africa and in the Reserve of Officers have been estimated from information available regarding his military career and on the travel dates of his family to and from Africa.

2)      His whereabouts from January 1943 to April 1947 also are in doubt.  It appears that he might have been in Egypt and East Africa during this period, but precise dates have not been found.

3)      Where the Officer Candidate Training Unit he attended also is not known.  The designation 24 E.A.C.O. may indicate a course number in East Africa.  

________________________________________________________________

                        The following sections are presented in tabular form to summarize Channing’s   promotions, appointments, and qualifications and the medals that he was awarded during his time in the Army.  They are provided to give the reader easy access to these aspects of his military career.  The tables are followed by sections dealing with his marriage, personal information and post-service life.

__________________________________________________________________________

7.  PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

            Channing received the following promotions during his time in service:

Date of Promotion or Appointment

 

Rank or Position

11 December 1929

Sapper, upon enlistment in the Royal Engineers.

1 January 1935

Promoted Lance Corporal.

1 November 1937

Promoted Corporal.

4 July 1939

Promoted Lance Sergeant.

Not known

Promoted Sergeant

Not known

Promoted Warrant Officer Class II

13 January 1943

Commissioned Lieutenant

13 January 1949

Promoted Captain

 

8. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

Figure 9.  The Medals of Captain Leslie Jack Newbery Channing, R.E.
(Photograph of medals from the author’s collection)

            Captain Channing earned the medals shown in Figure 11 above.  They are, from left to right:

            General Service Medal 1918-1964 (GVIR) with clasp [PALESTINE], 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (GVIR) with bar [REGULAR ARMY].  The General Service Medal and Long Service and Good Conduct Medal are named to Channing on the rims in impressed upper case letters as follows:

GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL[27]

1869416 CPT. L.J. CHANNING. R.E.

LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL

LIEUT. L.J.N. CHANNING. R.E.

All the other medals in the group are un-named as issued.

9. POST SERVICE LIFE

            After his retirement from the Army, Captain Channing resided with his wife Barbara at Flat 2, 64 Bodenham Road in Hereford.  He was employed for some time by Courtaulds Ltd., manufacturers of nylon products.  He later took a position with Sun Valley Foods Ltd., a firm dealing with poultry farms and poultry dressing.[28]

Figure 10.  64 Bodenham Road, Hereford, c. 2022.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)  

            Captain Leslie Jack Newbery Channing died on 14 July 1995 at St. Michael’s Hospice in Bartestree, Hereford.  He was 83 years of age.  His death was certified by J.A.F. Evans, MB as having been caused by cancer of the pancreas.  His wife Barbara was the informant of his death. 

10.   MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

Marriage  

            Leslie Jack Newbery Channing married Barbara Prescott of Honiton, Devonshire in 1937.[29]  As noted in Section 5 above, Mrs. Channing visited her husband in Egypt following the war and while he was still on active service.  The passenger list for R.M.S. Winchester arriving at Southampton on 10 April 1947 shows that Barbara also had visited Mombasa, Kenya, perhaps because Channing had been posted to East Africa at that time.  This list shows her permanent address in the U.K. as St. Margarets, Seafield Road, Seaton, Devonshire.  On this ship’s manifest her occupation is shown as “Housewife” rather than “Wife of Army Officer.”  Daughter Shelah was with her mother on this voyage and her address in the U.K. is shown as the same as her mother’s. 

            Honiton, where the Channings were married, is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, 17 miles north east of Exeter in the county of Devonshire.  The town grew along the line of the Fosse Way, the ancient Roman road linking Exeter to Lincoln on which it was an important stopping point. The location is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Honetone, meaning Huna's tun or farmstead.  Honiton grew to become an important market town, known for lace making that was introduced by Flemish immigrants in the Elizabethan era. In the 17th century thousands of people produced lace by hand in their homes, and in the 19th century Queen Victoria had her wedding dress made of Honiton lace.  The town also became known for its pottery.       

 Children

            While Corporal Channing was in Palestine in 1938, Barbara Channing gave birth to their daughter Shelah Elizabeth and that the birth took place in Honiton.  After their marriage in 1937, the Channing’s must have maintained a home in the town.  It also is possible that Honiton was Barbara’s home town before they were married.

            The death register for the fourth quarter of 1967 lists the death of Shelah E. Channing in Upper Agbrigg, Yorkshire at the age of 29. [30]   In an interview, Barbara Channing indicated that her daughter had become a doctor.  She is listed in the register with the surname Channing, so obviously she did not marry before her death.  

11. EPILOGUE

From the time of his retirement from the Army, the Channings lived in the flat at 64 Bodenham Road in Hereford.  Mrs. Channing was still living there in August of 2000.          Mrs. Channing also was originally from Axminster, Devonshire as was Captain Channing.  In an interview with a friend of the author[31] in 2000 she described her husband as “a very nice man and a good companion.”  She also confirmed that he was a man of considerable physical stature as has been mentioned elsewhere in this narrative.  Mrs. Channing had traveled all over the world with her husband during his time in service.  According to Mrs. Channing, her husband had only one weakness – fast motor cars.


ANNEX A.  

             In May of 1946 Barbara and Shelah Channing left England for Egypt.  Although it has not yet been verified, Captain Channing may have been serving in Egypt following the end of World War 2 and his family may have visited him then.  What is curious about the ship’s manifest of S.S. Strathmore (departure date 24 May 1946) is that Mrs. Channing declared that she and her daughter intended to take up permanent residence in Africa.

Figure 11.  S.S. Strathmore.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)    

 

            Barbara and Shelah made the return voyage to England, arriving at Southampton on 10 April 1947.  The manifest of the R.M.S. Windsor Castle shows them embarking at Mombasa for the trip home.  It is likely that they were returning home at this time because Channing was being posted home from East Africa.

Figure 12.  Royal Mail Steamer Windsor Castle.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)


REFERENCES:

Army Lists  

1.  Monthly Army List, August 1949, p. 604t.

2.  Annual Army List, 1953, p. 604n.

3.  Monthly Army List, August 1956, p. 604g.

4.  Monthly Army List, September 1959, p. 604d (in the index but no entry on page 604d).  

Books  

1. JOSLIN, E.C. LITHERLAND, A.R. and SIMPKIN, B.T.  British Battles and Medals.  Spink, London, 1988, p. 234.

2. RONALD, D.W. and CARTER, R.J.  The Longmoor Military Railway.  David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1974, p. 98.

3. The History of the Corps of Royal Engineers.  Volume VII.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1952, pp. 237-239.  

Internet Web Sites  

1. A History of Courtaulds Textiles.  Internet Website, 29 April 2000.

2. Devonshire Regiment

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/devonshire-regiment/

3. The Franco-Ethiopian Railway.

https://www.train-franco-ethiopien.com/voie_en.php

4. Imperial War Museum: How Italy Was Defeated in East Africa in 1941.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-italy-was-defeated-in-east-africa-in-1941  

London Gazette  

1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 18 June 1948, p. 3583.

2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 29 March 1949, p. 1594.

3. Supplement to the London Gazette, 2 October 1956, p. 5554.  

Medal Rolls  

Detachment 8th (Railway) Company, Royal Engineers.  Roll of Individuals entitled to the Palestine General Service Medal and Clasps.  Army Order No. 247 of 1939.  Lydda, Palestine, 2nd January 1940.  War Office File: WO100/502.  

Official Documents  

1.      Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth for Leslie Jack Newbery Channing.  General Register Office, Certificate Number BXBY 756051, dated 9 November 1999.

2.      Certified Copy of an Entry of Death for Leslie Jack Newbery Channing.  General Register Office, Certificate Number QBDX 002637, dated 9 November 1999.

3.      England and Wales Birth Index, 1837-1915.

4.      England and Wales Marriage Index, 1916-2005.

5.      England and Wales Death Index, 1916-2007.

6.      WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.  

Periodicals  

1.      The Sapper, December 1930, p. 141.

2.      The Sapper, August 1931, p. 20.

3.      The Sapper, March 1932, p. 224.

4.      The Sapper, April 1932, p. 245.

5.      The Sapper, April 1933, p. 251.

6.      The Sapper, July 1934, p. 330.

7.      The Sapper, September 1934, p. 385.

8.      The Sapper, January 1935, p. 496

9.      The Sapper, June 1935, p. 637

10.  The Sapper, April 1935, p. 578.

11.  The Sapper, September 1935, p. 48.

12.  The Sapper, March 1936, p. 214.

13.  The Sapper, December 1937, p. 128.

14.  The Sapper, June 1947, p. 190.

15.  Supplement to the Royal Engineer Journal, December 1995.  

Personal Communications  

1.      The Recollections of Warrant Officer Class 1 Jack Firth as told to the author in a note dated 15 May 1999.

2.      The notes of Mr. Ralph Wilkins of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire from an interview with Mrs. Barbara Channing made in April 2000.  

Registers  

1.      Births Registered in October, November and December 1944, p. 218. 

Channing, Leslie J.N.  Mother’s Maiden Name: Heydon. District: Axminster.

2.      Marriages Registered in July, August and September 1937, p. 255

Channing, Leslie J.N.  Wife’s Maiden Name: Prescott.  District: Honiton.

3.      Births Registered in April, May and June 1938, p. 175.

Channing, Shelah E.  Mother’s Maiden Name: Prescott.  District: Honiton.

4.      Deaths Registered in October, November and December 1967. 

Channing, Shelah E.  Age 29.  District: Upper Agbrigg, West Riding of Yorkshire.  

Royal Engineers Quarterly Lists  

1. January 1930, p. xxi.

2. October 1930, p. xxi.

3. January 1934, pp. xx and xxiii.  

Ship Passenger Lists  

1.      S.S. Strathmore Departing Southampton, 24 May 1946.  Passengers: Barbara Channing (34 years of age), Wife of Army Officer, and Shelah Elizabeth Channing (7 years of age) bound for Africa. 

2.      S.S. Winchester Castle Arriving Southampton, 10 April 1947.  Passengers: Barbara Channing (age 38) and Shelah Elizabeth Channing (age 8) from South and East Africa.


ENDNOTES:

[1] This is the last rank shown on his Royal Engineers Trace Card.  There is some evidence, however, that he actually reached the rank of Warrant Officer Class II before being commissioned.

[2] Birth Certificate.

[3] WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.

[4] The Long, Long Trail.  Devonshire Regiment.

[5] Royal Engineers Tracer Card.

[6] Later Colonel.

[7] Later Lieutenant Colonel. Deceased, 6 October 1986.

[8] Later Colonel, DSO.

[9] Later Major General, CB/CBE/MC.

[10] Later Colonel.  Also known as Marsh-Kellett.

[11] Later Major General, CB, MC, French Legion of Honor.

[12] Later Colonel Ǣnas.F.Q. Perkins, killed in action in 1940.

[13] Reminiscences of Warrant Officer Class I who served at Longmoor at the same time that Channing was there.

[14] Later Brigadier, CMG.  Deceased, 13 October 1989.

[15] Later Brigadier. 

[16] RONALD and CARTER, 1974.

[17] Ibid.

[18] The Sapper magazine, March 1932, p. 224.

[19] He was a Sapper at the time of his posting to the company.

[20] Later Brigadier, CBE.

[21] Later Major General Donald Jay McMullen, KBE, CB, DSO, U.S. Legion of Merit.

[22] The majority of this work was undertaken by the 8th Railway Company.

[23] War Office File: WO100/502.

[24] Imperial War Museum.

[25] Supplement to the London Gazette, 29 March 1949, p. 1594.

[26] His name appears in the index of the September 1959 Army List (p. 604d), but his name does not appear on the indicated page.  All officers listed on this page are Majors.  One may assume that his name was erroneously published in the index.

[27] WO100/502.  Medal Roll for a Detachment of the 8th Railway Company, Royal Engineers, dated Lydda, Palestine, 2 January 1940.

[28] Information provided by Mrs. Barbara Channing.

[29] Register of  Marriages in the 3rd Quarter of 1937, p. 255.

[30] Register of Deaths in the 4th Quarter of 1967.

[31] Mr. Ralph Wilkins, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.