I am trying to find details of this Officer from any source. He Joined Princess Beatrices Isle of Wight Rifles in WW1 as a 2nd Lt, but around 1917 moved to the Royal Artillery. He worked his way up the ranks but stayed as Lt Col Baass till Sept 1941 when he changed his name to GWG Baillie. By this time he was the CO of 6th HAA Regt. He stayed with them till they became engaged in actions against the Japanese in Sumatra and Java at which point he left for India My only details so far are recorded in the Book 6th HAA Regt RA but there has to be more of his career than this. A photo of him or contact from relatives would be most useful. It is a rather unusual name and must be recorded somewhere. Patrick Walker
Presumably him, seems to be mentioned quite a bit, where have you looked so far? Record set British Army, Royal Artillery Officer Deaths 1850-2011 Rank Lt Col First name(s) G W G Last name Baillie Birth year 1896 Age 59 Death year 1955 Death date 19 Apr 1955 Place Camberley
Lt-Colonel Geoffrey William Gray Baillie (formerly Baass) was born in Forest Hill (Lewisham) on the 31st of August 1895. It is not clear who his father was but his mother Maud Gray Baass was living in Oxted in Surrey in 1901 with Geoffrey his younger sister Ettie and his older sisters who were born in Australia. They are likely related to Andrew Henry Julius Baass who was the Austrian Consul in Sydney in the 1870s. In 1911 he was a boarder at the United Services College in Windsor in Berkshire. He joined the Royal Artillery serving in France and Belgium during WW1. He was made Captain in October 1926 and Major in November 1935. He married Norah Grimshaw Greer at Kensington in 1933. In 1941 he gave his address as Bishton Manor in Albrighton in Shropshire when he changed his surname from Baass to Baillie. Post-WW2 they moved to Camberley. They lived at a house known as Strathmore in Upper Gordon Road in Camberley. Geoffrey was living there in 1955. He died on the 19th of April 1955 and was buried at Frimley on the 31st of August. His widow was living in Onslow Square in London after his death. She died in Switzerland in March 1964. Research: Mary Ann Bennett Photographs: Whispyblink Flowers Geoffrey William Gray Baillie (1895-1955) - Find...
You could apply for his service records there may be a photo in them - Request records of deceased service personnel England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Geoffrey W G Baillie Death Age: 59 Birth Date: abt 1896 Registration Date: Apr 1955 [May 1955] [Jun 1955] Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun Registration District: Surrey North Western Inferred County: Surrey Volume: 5g Page: 656 TD 6 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 Cant find any family trees on Ancestry that include him
Grade II* Listed Bishton Manor, in Patsull, near Albrighton, During the Second World War it is said that about 11 officers lived in the house and more than 100 soldiers lived in the service wing. Historic manor house on the market for £1.5 million
War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen First name(s) G W G Last name Baass Birth year 1895 Age 21 Admission year 1916 Admission date 30 Nov 1916 Hospital 2nd General Hospital Disease Neurasthenia Rank Second Lieutenant Company / squadron 23 Btty Corps Royal Field Artillery Transferred to HS Gloucester Cas Transfer year 1916 Transfer date 02 Dec 1916 Piece MH 106/1004 Register type Hospital admission and discharge registers Description British officers. Record year range 1916 Sept. 4-Dec. 31 First name(s) G W G Last name Baass Birth year 1895 Age 21 Admission year 1916 Admission date 02 Dec 1916 Hospital Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital At Millbank Disease Neurasthenia Rank 2nd Lieutenant Service number - Corps Royal Field Artillery Transferred to 11 Palace Green Discharge year 1917 Disharge date 27 Mar 1917 Piece MH 106/1664 Register type Hospital admission and discharge registers Description British Expeditionary Force, officers Colonials, Nurses and Royal Navy. Record year range 1916 Nov. 16-Dec. 28
Capt G W G Baass, Royal Artillery, to be staff captain, 53rd (Wellsh) Division, February 7, 1934. Major G W G Baass, RA, from staff captain, 53rd (Welsh) Division TA, to be staff officer, RA Western Command, (GSO 3rd Grade), January 2, 1936
His WW1 Medal Card is available (free of charge at the moment) on Discovery. There would also appear to be a group photograph with him available at the Royal Logistic Corps Museum: Staff College, Sandhurst | The National Archives Tim
If anyone has Fold3 subscription UK, World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 Name: Geoffrey William Gray Baass Rank: LIEUT Record Type: Card Corps, Regiment or Unit: Royal Fusiliers Title: WWI Pension Record Cards and Ledgers Description: Officers Survived Ann E-Balkwill R ?? Next of Kin: Name Relation to Soldier Geoffrey William Gray Baass UK, British Army Records and Lists, 1882-1962 Geoffrey William Gray Baass 1922 Royal Artillery Lieutenant G. W. G. Baass 1940 Royal Regiment of Artillery Major G. W. G. Baass 1914 THE HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT 2nd Lieutenant Geoffrey William Gray Baass 1918 Royal Artillery Lieutenant G. W. G. Baass 1939 Royal Regiment of Artillery Major G. W. G. Baass 1941 Royal Regiment Of Artillery Major Geoffrey William Gray Baass 1917 Royal Artillery Lieutenant Geoffrey William Gray Baass 1916 Royal Artillery 2nd Lieutenant G. W. G. Baass 1932 Royal Regiment of Artillery Captain TD
His career is easy to track in the Gazette as Baass - there are 25 mentions of him, including those for the name change, but Baillie will take more patience. He is listed as a Major in the Coast Defence and Anti-Aircraft Branch in the October 1941 edition of the Army List as Baass; and as a Major and temporary Lieutenant Colonel in the Coast Defence and Anti-Aircraft Branch in the next, January 1942, edition as Baillie. The Half-Yearly Army List, January, 1942 He finished the war as a Major and honorary Lieutenant Colonel. The Army List, December, 1946
My word to all of you.!! You certainly have a lot more researching powers and resources than I have ever imagined! It is very interesting . My main interest was for what he did after leaving Java to go to India in March 1942 The icing on the cake would be to find the picture of him. He does not appear in any records at the RA museum at Larkhill .despite having been in the RA for many years.. I visited Bishton manor several years ago when researching the book on the 6th HAA and they had no records other than the owner saying he thought during the war there had been American service people there as well. It is a lovely old manor with stone floors and beamed ceilings and very beautiful. It is not that far from RAF Cosford where most of them worked. The Officers had the best part and the men were squeezed into multiple bunks in a near by barn.!! They also had a tented area for others close to the house. Quite a variety of posts from all the bits and pieces you have discovered for me. I knew he had been born in Australia but the possible Fathers connection is also very interesting. I will thank you all again and will now try and digest all the new information you have discovered. He was a temporary Lt Col when in Java but reverted to Maj on his posting to India. 6th HAA was taken over for the rest of the war by Maj Hazzell and sadly this was all spent in Japanese POW camps. so hardly an inspiring career for him. Losses from Japanese treatent caused them hundreds of casualties, far more than from being in action.
Hi Patrick, Good to see you are still researching 6 HAA. I'd love to see Baillie's/Baass's, service records. The burning question is how did he get away, when none of his men did. His men suffered, as did all who were captured by the Japanese. Regards, Robert
Dear Robert, Thanks for the help to discover this mans story. I have kept quiet so far as to how he got away and his men did not. Sadly when Gen .Sitwell took over in Java he was not impressed by Lt Col Baillie and relieved him of his command Baillie then was flown out from Andhir ? and joined a ship on its way to India.. He got out by a whisker and got to India where I have no idea what he did. As we know his Unit 6th HAA were all captured by the Japanese in Singapore and Sumatra and Java and had the hell of three and a half years of Japanese treatment.. I have no doubt it finished his career. What I am keen to try and find is the photograph mentioned by Timuk. This would be the icing on my cake to see the man who I have read about and followed in the Far East.
Looking at the Army List further, he doesn't appear to have relinquished his temporary rank until the 2nd quarter 1944, which may have more to do with the changing priorities and the scaling back of his branch than any issues arising from Java two years previously. I noted also that Sitwell, who was a temporary Brigadier and local Major-General, held the substantive rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the same branch as Baillie, so maybe there was already some animus between them. Perhaps you could share your source with the group.
You may be right. I notice that the photograph I referred to at #8 also contains Capt HDW Sitwell. They were therefore both of the same rank and on the same Staff Course at Sandhurst in 1931 so will have known each other before Java. Tim
I did notice too that one name in the photo if we can find a copy is that of Lt Col AE Percival. ( of Singapore fame ) I have no details of the two Captains knowing each other before Java other than what has been pointed out.. II came across the report written after the war by Gen Sitwell and he states " ...I was not impressed by Lt Col Baillie so relieved him of his Command " This was at the height of the preparations to ward off the impending Japanese invasion of Java. Again many thanks of all the help given so far.
Slight disagreement with MAB, I believe that Geoffrey's mother was Marian Grace, born 26 August 1856, in 1939 she is a widow living at Homelands Hotel, Brighton. My quick interpretation of the family is: Marian Grace Baillie married William MacDonald Maciver Campbell in 1878, Victoria, Australia. James R Baass married Marian G Mcs Campbell in 1892, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The key census is 1901 Maria G Baass / Head / Single / 43 (c1858) / Living On Own Means / Victoria, Australia Elizabeth G ? Campbell / Daughter - 21 (c1880) / Victoria, Australia Marjorie W Bass / Daughter / 7 (c1894) / Victoria, Australia Geoffrey W Baass / Son / 5 (c1896) / Forest Hill Effie Pa Basse / Daughter / 3 (c1898) / St Leonards on Sea, Sussex In 1911 Marian (age 50 and a widow) ) is living with her daughter, Marjorie Helen Mary Baass (age 17). The census states that she had 4 children, all still living. The Australian birth record for Elizabeth Grace Campbell (1879) gives the father as William Mcdona and the mother as Marian Grace Baillie. The GRO birth records for Geoffrey and Effie Patricia give the mother's maiden name as Baillie. There is a death for Marian Grace Baass 1942, St Albans, Hertfordshire. She died 8 October 1942 and Probate on 27 November 1942 was to her daughter Marjorie Helen Mary Baass. Note that the Australian records mentioned above are from transcriptions, certificates will be needed to positively confirm, they can be ordered online, but if nothing else I believe it shows where his change of name to Baillie came from.
A very bad day I would say - we all have them and they become more common the older you get But keep smiling TD