Have just got this reply from the regimental museum:
"Sadly I can tell you nothing about Osborne himself as he was a Territorial Force soldier of a battalion for which we have few records. All I can do is to let you have a few details of the service of the 2/4 th Battalion Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (Territorial Force) during the Great War.
Pre 1914 there were two DCLI Territorial battalions of the DCLI – the 4 th and 5 th DCLI. The former recruited in the west of the County (including Truro) and the latter in the east of the County. TF soldiers had no liability to serve outside the United Kingdom unless they had signed an agreement to do so. When war was declared on 4 th August 1914, all those who had signed such an agreement were formed into two battalions, regardless of whether they were originally from the 4 th or 5 th . These battalions were known as the 1/4 th and 2/4 th DCLI (TF). They were to be employed in India to relieve regular battalions for service on the Western Front.
The 1/4 th sailed for India on 4 th October 1914. After a tough period of training in India, it embarked for Aden on 22 nd January 1916. There it was involved in a desultory campaign against the Turks which gave these Territorial soldiers a taste of operational soldiering. In January 1917, the Battalion again moved – this time to Egypt, where it became part of General Allenby’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force which was about to set out on the campaign against the Turks in Palestine. This is now a little known chapter of the war, but one which tested the British and Colonial troops severely, fighting several major battles against a determined enemy in a mountainous, hostile environment. The campaign was an unqualified success, leading to the surrender of the Turkish army on 31 st October 1918.
The 2/4 th sailed for India on 12 th December 1914. It did not experience any of the excitements of its sister battalion, but remained in India till 1919, providing reinforcement drafts for units fighting in the Middle East theatres of war. Most of these drafts went to the 1/4 th to replace casualties, however, a significant number of 2/4 th men found themselves with units fighting in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia."
I have tried to find mention of CSM Osborne amongst the few 2/4 th records. Because this battalion never saw action it did not keep a War Diary; the Regimental Journal was not published during the war; and, surprisingly, we have no photographs. Messes appear to have been very generous in their appreciation of members who left after long service. It is impossible to say where CSM Osborne was posted, but it is not unlikely that he ended up with the 1/4 th in Palestine."
Best
Gene
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