9th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps
Joseph Scorfield Beatty was an Ulsterman, born in Armagh in 1873. He was the son of William and Catherine A Beatty.
The CWGC ‘Debt of Honour’ Register gives an unusually large amount of information on Joseph. From this we know that he was a pre-war professional soldier who had served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC), with the number A/3727, during the South African (or Boer War) of 1899-1902 and had been awarded the Queen’s Medal (five clasps) and King’s Medal (two clasps). Overall it would appear he served for twenty-five years and was the recipient of Long Service and Good Conduct Medals.
It is not known when he originally joined the KRRC but it is known, from the 1891 Census, that he was then living in Yorkshire with his mother (who ran a boarding house) and his elder sister, Kathleen. He was a general labourer at that time. It is possible that he enlisted in about 1893 and when he finally left military service in 1918, this would have amounted to twenty-five years.
In 1904 he married June Hannah Luke at Bishop Auckland in Co Durham and they had one son, William Scorfield Beatty, born in the following year.
At the time of the 1911 Census he was listed as being located at Woolwich Barracks, with the 6th Battalion of the KRRC and it is believed that he was discharged from the regiment in March 1913.
According to the Silver War Badge issuance records (a badge which signified discharge due to wounds or sickness) he served in the Great War from 8 September 1914 until 4 April 1918, when he was discharged due to sickness, having attained the rank of Acting Regimental Serjeant Major. Whether he was recalled from the Reserve or re-enlisted in September 1914 is not known, in the absence of any Army Service Record. However, according to the Medal Roll he served with the 9th Battalion, KRRC from 21 May 1915 until 7 December 1915. The 9th KRRC was part of 42 Brigade, 14 (Light) Division and landed in France on 21 May 1915 to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Thereafter, certainly until mid summer it was located in the Ypres Salient and took part in an attack on Hooge (Menin Road) on 16 June.
In December 1915 Joseph would have been 42 years of age and was probably seen as being too old for front line duty and was posted back to the UK where he joined the Royal Defence Corps (RDC) as a senior NCO, with the number 49241. When he was discharged due to sickness on 4 April 1918, he had achieved the rank of Company Serjeant Major. The RDC was very similar to the Home Guard in WW2 and undertook various guard duties, including at prisoner of war camps, throughout the UK.
Joseph Scorfield Beatty died in Cheltenham on 11 March 1919, aged 45. What connection he had with Cheltenham is unknown and he is not named on the town’s war memorial. The CWGC Register states that his widow lived at Ennersdale, Naunton Lane, Cheltenham. The cause of death is unknown. A recently released Pension Record Card records myalgia as being his disability, not attributable to military service. He was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery on 14 March 1919, where a standard CWGC headstone now marks his grave.
Researched by Graham Adams 28 April 2020