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Military Service

But while Colonel May has always been passionately fond of sports and recreation, he has never neglected the more serious side of life which helps to make a true Englishman. For forty years he was connected with the reserve forces of the country, and no one has rendered better service to his Sovereign and country in that way than he has. He doubtless inherited his patriotic spirit from his ancestors, who, as already mentioned, were not less devoted to the defence of the country than to the good government of their own locality. The subject of this sketch began on the lowest rung of the ladder of military service, and worked his way up by sheer hard work and patriotism. On June 29th, 1859, when he was but twenty-two years of age, he was present at a public meeting held at the Town Hall, and moved a resolution in connection with the formation of the Basingstoke Corps of the Hampshire Volunteers, then known as the 18th Hants. But he did not content himself with merely talking about the force and urging on others the desirability of joining; he was one of the first to join as a private, and went "through the mill." He was promoted to sergeant in the following year, and in 1862, on June 3rd (his twenty-fifth birthday), he was gazetted Ensign of the Corps. But the Volunteer force got little but cold water from those in authority in those days, and so little interest was taken in the Corps that Ensign May sought other means of giving effect to his military ardour, and so, in 1864, he transferred to the Hampshire Militia, and in that force he rose to the rank of Captain. He is never tired of relating with pride his connection with the old constitutional force, and avers that the days he spent at Winchester at the annual trainings during his nearly fifteen years in the Militia are among the happiest recollections of his life. Some of the features of those days of training at Winchester, however, were none too pleasant, though Lieut. May, with that bon homie so characteristic of him, made the best of them. In those days the Militia were billeted at the various inns in the City, and it was his duty, as the junior officer, to go round every day and inspect the billets. The public-houses were very different places to what they are now, and to go in and out of the whole of them every day was not a very enviable task. Neither were the Militiamen of those days particularly steady, and Colonel May relates that it was quite common for practically the whole of the men to "fall in" on the first day in a manner which suggested a ship rolling on a heavy sea.

Lieut. May used to take his horses and traps down  to Winchester for the training, and as there were no military duties to be performed in the afternoon, he was in the habit of taking long drives, frequently going as far as Southampton. But he was never absent when duty demanded his presence. Sometimes his commanding officer would remark, "You seem to go away a good deal, May," but the answer was, "I never fail to turn up at mess, Colonel," and the C.O. had to admit the truth of this. By the way, it would have been rather unfortunate for some of the other officers, if not for himself, if he had not been at mess regularly, for forty years ago officers sometimes required "a, guide, philosopher, and friend" after mess. Lieut. May was exceedingly popular with his brother officers, but once he had to be reminded that though all were equal at the table, seniority must be recognised on parade. On one occasion he omitted to bring his company to the salute on the approach of his captain, and received such a wigging" as he never forgot.

In 1878 Captain May left the Militia, and on June 26th, 1880, returned to his first love, the Hampshire Volunteers, and took over the command of the Basingstoke Company. He had not long taken this command before he set to work to provide the Company with proper quarters, and the result was the splendid Drill Hall, to which reference is made further on. On February 8th, 1890, he was promoted Hon. Major, and five years later (February 6th, 1895) was given the rank of Major and Hon. Lieut.-Colonel. He continued the command of the local Company down to September 27th, 1898, when lie retired with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and the usual right to wear his uniform and the Volunteer Decoration, for which he had that year resigned the Long Service Medal. On his retirement he was presented with a handsomely framed photographic group of the officers (including himself), non-commissioned officers, and men of the Company. During the eighteen years he commanded the Company Lieut.-Colonel May was most assiduous in his duties, and was devoted to the welfare of the Corps. He was regular in attendance at camp and battalion drills, and was regarded as a most useful and efficient officer.

The Gazette of the 1st V.B.H.R. for October, 1897, in referring to the celebration of the "May Centenary" at Basingstoke, after alluding to the Mayoralties of Colonel May's great uncle, went on to remark, -

"It is, however, of more interest to us to record that this same uncle, Thomas May, was an officer in the Yeomanry in 1798, while his brother Charles, the grandfather of Lieut.-Colonel May, was gazetted an ensign in the Volunteer Infantry Corps, raised in Basingstoke in 1802. The son of this officer, named Charles after his father, was born in 1801; he married Mary, the daughter of John Simonds, Esq., and our present gallant Colonel is their only living son. It will thus be seen that Lieut.-Colonel May inherited the instincts of a Volunteer not only from his father, but from his mother. He is first cousin of Colonel John Simonds, V.D., 1st V.B. Royal Berks Regiment (retired), and also of Colonel James Simonds, V.D., the present second in command of that Battalion. For thirty-eight years Colonel May has served either in the Volunteer or Militia Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment.

After alluding to the way in which Colonel May entertained all the military veterans in the town and neighbourhood, as well as the rank and file of K Company and a number of regular soldiers, on the occasion of the May Centenary, the Regimental Gazette concluded, -

"Although Lieut.-Colonel. May has arrived at the age limit for an officer of Volunteers laid down in the regulations, we are glad to say that the terms of para. 11 are very properly of a nature that admit of exceptions being made in special cases. This discretion has been wisely exercised in the case of Colonel May, and official sanction has been given for him to continue in the Volunteer Force. He is, we rejoice to say, younger in mind and body than many men much junior to him in years."

Thirteen months later, in November, 1898, the same paper thus alluded to Colonel May's retirement:

"We have so often had to express our appreciation of Colonel May's services as an officer of the Auxiliary Forces, that it leaves little to record but our sincere regret that he has retired. He did not do so, however until he had completed a record it would be difficult to beat; first as an officer of Volunteers, then as one in the Militia, and lastly in the Volunteers again. We gave a full account of Colonel May's patriotic service on the occasion of 'the May Centenary' at Basingstoke.

"Since that time the long-service medal he so well earned has been superseded on his breast by the Volunteer decoration. Colonel May carries into retirement the very heartiest best wishes of all his comrades, whether officers or men.

"His excellent service and unbounded generosity will be still present with the K Company, for, as we have before pointed out, its splendid headquarters and drill hall are solely due to the gallant officer's liberality."

Though no longer actively connected with the Volunteers, Colonel May still takes a great interest in the force, and indeed in the "Soldiers of the King" generally. He is one of the most liberal subscribers to the Prize Shooting Fund of the K Company, besides which he some years ago gave a cup known as the May Cup, which is one of the most coveted trophies in the annual shooting competition. In various other ways he has displayed his interest in the military service. Soon after the war broke out in South Africa he gave a Grand Concert at the Drill Hall, the whole of the proceeds of which - about £60, he handed over or the benefit of the wives and children of men of the Hampshire Regiment, and he gave his hearty support to a bazaar which was held in the Drill Hall on May 1st and 2nd, 1901, in aid of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families' Association, on which occasion he was publicly thanked by Sir Redvers Buller, who opened the bazaar, for his kindly interest in the soldiers. As recently as January of this year (1904) he provided a splendid Concert at the Drill Hall, with the view of liquidating the debt on the Yeomanry and Volunteer Rifle Range at Chineham. The Concert was a grand success, and as Colonel May defrayed every penny of the expenses, he was able to hand over £60 odd to the Rifle Range Fund.

When Lord Roberts came home from South Africa, Colonel May was presented to him at the railway station at Basingstoke, and the gallant Field Marshal expressed his great pleasure in meeting one who had done so much for the military forces of the country. To the part he took in the celebration of peace in South Africa, the welcome home to Lord Kitchener, and the permanent remembrance of those Basingstoke men who voluntarily served in South Africa, reference is made elsewhere.

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