Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 1. pg91

THE GREATER CONTEST.


A n y com plete h istory of sport w ritten h erea fter m ust con
tain an a ccou n t of the m agnificent w ay in which devotees of
o u td oor pastim es rallied round B rita n n ia ’ s flag and proved
th em selves sportsm en o f th e noblest type.
There is n ot a
cricket, a football, a tennis, a rowing or an athletic club in
Berkshire w hich has n ot th row n its quota of fightin g men in to
the scale, and m any o f th em , a la s ! h ave lost one or m ore
com rades. Ronald Poulton Palmer, Giles Ayres, A . F . Todd,
M . G. Jameson -€” these are b u t a few o f our prom inent amateur
players w ho to o k part in the greater game of war and made
th e supreme sacrifice. T o fill th e gaps th e re has been a steady
and con tin uou s stream o f men, all eager t o share th e hardships
o f soldiering. T he accom panying photographs w ere sent hom e
by Second Lieutenant H . P . Tate, hon. secretary of the
Reading Amateur Regatta , and as g ood an all-round ath lete
as one cou ld m eet in a d a y ’ s m arch.
A t th e tim e he rwas a
m em ber o f th e Honourable Artillery Company, from w hich he
was tran sferred to th e 4th Batt. Royal Berks Regiment on
receivin g a com m ission.
T he first p h otogra ph shows ou r
gallant frien d and a com rade on a snow -clad mound and the
second th e billet of th e Hon . Artillery Company, w ith w hich
valorou s regim ent he spent nearly a year of hard camp aigning.

32 YEARS A VOLUNTEER.
One of th e best-know n m em bers of th e -4th Battt. Royal Berks
Regiment is Sergt.-Drummer J . Davey, of Reading, who joined the
Berkshire Volunteers 32 years ago. H e has trained th e band t o a
high state o f efficiency, and is very popular w ith all ranks.
He volunteered fo r foreign service, but men of his ca pa city are
im m ensely useful in training recruits, and Colonel O. P . Serocold
tran sferred him t o th e 2 /4 th Batt. Royal Berks Regiment. There w as a rou sing dem onstration by his old com rades.
The drum s played him t o th e railway station and gave him a trem endous sendoff.
In a speech Sergt.-Drum m er Davey thanked th e drum s fo r
th eir loya lty and support, and said he would cherish m em ories o f
his associations as lon g as he lived. In th e above photograph Sergt.Drummer Davey is accom panied by his three sons, tw o of whom are in th e signalling section o f th e 4th Battalion and the oth e r of
whom is in th e R .A .M .C .


HUNTING REBEL BOERS.
Rfn . WILLIAM EIGHTEEN , of R eading, one of
th e m any Berkshire men in South Africa who volun­
teered to fight Germ an colonists or t o quell Boer
rebellion.
A mem ber of th e Natal Light Horse, he
to o k part€œ in a few lively little scraps €™ and once his
horse was shot beneath him.


M E M B E R S OF A MACHINE GUN SE C TIO N
TH E ROYAL BERKS REGIMENT .