Albert signed on in the Royal Artillery, perhaps because he had plenty of experience with animals. Guns then were usually drawn by horses though later in India he had to learn to cope with new challenges. So he found himself as a gunner and driver, training under Captain F.W.Hastings at Woolwich and then Norwich, until October. There were recruits from Exeter on his muster for the '13th Battalion', including Arthur Pearce, Thomas Amey, John Mugford and Absolem Dicker, none of whom have yet been identified.
On November 1st 1854 Albert was transferred to No.1 Company, 6th Battalion, under Captain J.E.Thring at Ipswich. The following January he spent in hospital at Woolwich, reason unknown, and was then moved first to the adjutant's detachment under Captain H.J.Campbell and on March 1st back to No.1 Company, Captain Smythe now being the C.O. There were always long waits for there were never enough ships -ndespite many requisitions of passenger and cargo ships - but at last he was on the move. On the 6th of March they set sail from Liverpool for Constantinople in SS Etna, arriving on the 23rd March. From there the new contingent sailed to Scutari in troop ships.
Scutari
There was another wait at Scutari. E.Mowbray was now made a Captain with Captain
J.E.Thring his second in command, the other officers being Lts F.G.Ravenhill
and M.Tweedie. It was here that Albert was in trouble for the only time in
his career. His offence - whatever it was - landed him in the garrison cells
for six days with a loss of pay during that time, his pay being reduced from
1s 3źd a day to 6d. Scutari was altogether a very unpleasant place for anyone,
overcrowded, hot, filthy, disease-ridden and full of flies. Sanitary arrangements
in such places were appalling. Now it was a staging post for recruits from
England who had never travelled more than a dozen miles from their homes before.
Balaclava
From Scutari it took another week, from April 22nd to the 26th, to sail, in
the troop ship Magnet across the Black Sea to Balaclava in the Crimea. The
long narrow harbour was crowded with boats of every description, from ships
carrying men and supplies - and of course horses - to the superb yachts of
the wealthiest of the senior officers or of the many sightseers. There was
probably little time for Albert to look around or enjoy a vicarious thrill.
The harbour must have been a continual seething crowd of men, wagons, guns,
horses and baggage struggling up and down the hill often in mud or in unbearable
dust and to Karani camp on the plain some distance away. At Karani camp there
were rows of white tents as far as the eye could see. The fresh columns of
marching men were no doubt a welcome sight for those already there who had
just returned from the second bombardment of Sebastopol.
It is not known but seems quite likely that Albert was moved with his group up to the Kadikoi camp to join the first depot of siege artillery. Sebastopol, a crucially strategic port still in the hands of the Russians, was a long encircling ridge bristling with forts which resisted all efforts at capture. No doubt the casualties from the constant heavy bombardment passed Albert on the way up, many carried on litters, on makeshift crutches, men deafened and subdued by the constant din, their bandages blood-soaked from being cut to pieces in their frequent near-suicidal attempts to storm the forts. They were the 'lucky' ones who had survived a winter more bitter than any they had ever known with inadequate food, clothing and shelter - and who had been presented - late in the winter - with shiploads of new boots sent out from England. The boots would have been fine if they hadn't all been left boots without one right boot among them!
Siege of Sebastopol
The siege of Sebastopol which had now begun after many months of bitter fighting
was the turning point in the war, the Russians finally evacuating the town
on September 8th. There could have been little distinction between new arrivals
and the 'old hands' - they were all immediately thrown into the action, for
a War Office record dated May 8th at the Karani camp names 'a nominal list
of officers, N.C.O.s and men of No.1 Coy. 6th Battalion R.A. as entitled to
receive a medal for service in the Crimea.' There was still another year to
go though most accounts give the impression that the dramatic events of the
summer of 1855 marked the end of the fighting. Albert's part in the action
is not recorded but he used to tell a story which was passed down in the family,
told to many of the regulars at the Rowbarge in Woking St John's in Surrey
and reported in the local newspapers describing his funeral.
'Of the deceased's narrowest escape his only son Mr George Albert Jackson who is foreman of the St John's section of the Woking Fire Brigade has an interesting memento in the shape of a brass blunderbuss pistol with flint lock. It was during the Russian war that this was presented at his head by a burly Russian. Fortunately the pistol missed fire, and before his assailant could snap the lock a second time, Mr Jackson felled him with the butt of his musket.'
The pistol was treasured by the family until about 1948 but it then disappeared.
From June 6th to 7th 1855 the artillery put down a huge barrage. Some 500 guns finally silenced the Mamelon, though the attempt to storm the Redan failed. The batteries at the Redan appeared to have been silenced but the fighting continued into August when the heat and the flies were at their worst. At some point in those long dreadful weeks 21 men died of cholera in Karani camp. Those like Albert who survived the war without so much as a scratch must have felt they bore a charmed life. There were so many casualties that a day's armistice was agreed in the middle of August to to bury the dead, essential not just for decency but to prevent more outbreaks of disease.
It was announced at Karani camp in November that 'those who have served with the army between 1st October 1854 and 9th September 1855 are entitled to receive the clasp for Sebastopol.'
There was still the bitter cold of the winter to endure. Perhaps by then the wooden huts sent out from England to replace some of the tents had arrived. One hopes so though nowhere would have any heating for there was no fuel and probably little enough for cooking Whatever scrubby bushes there were in the area must have long been burnt up. There was snow much of the time, never enough blankets, difficulty in thawing water and men still dying from inadequate and very basic food rations. It must have been impossible for individuals to wash themselves very often, let alone their clothes and they were probably crawling with lice and fleas.
Return to England
At last, on May 30th 1856 peace was declared in the Crimea. The first boat,
the Hydaspes, sailed for Portsmouth on May 26th. Perhaps Albert was still
at Kadikoi with Captain A.H.W.Williams who was now CO there, from April to
June in 1856. Albert's service in Scutari and the Crimea was dated as 24 Mar
1855-26 Jun 1856 but he still had to wait till July 11th before embarking
for home on the S.S.Terrable(sic), with the rest of No.1 Company 6th Battalion
under Lt Awley. It was about the end of the month that he is recorded as arriving
in Woolwich, the officers of his battalion still 'on duty' being Captain J.Singleton
the CO, 2nd Captain A.H.W.Williams his 2nd in command, along with Lts Ravenhill,
M.Tweedie, Awley and Hare. He had served in the Crimea for a year and three
months.
From October 5th to the 21st Albert was 'on furlough' from Woolwich. In three weeks there was time to travel to Tiverton by train to stay in Templeton. By this time his sister Emma had been married for just under a year and was living at Burton Park in Sussex. Albert was probably anxious to meet his new brother-in-law, George Mason, and could have visited both places quite easily. If not then he was even nearer to Emma the following year, spending April to November at Hilsea, Portsmouth under Captain Singleton. Captain Singleton was promoted to Major in October and Albert was designated Gunner instead of Gunner and Driver.
The records do not give quite so many details of travels from this time onwards. There are no furloughs listed but he could have visited Burton Park. He must have had one or two longer leaves before embarking again, this time for India where he was to spend the next 16 years. He sailed for India during the winter of 1857-1858.
| 1. Albert in the Crimea | 2. Albert in India | 3. Albert in Woking | 4. Newspaper Report |
