F G Coxen's Military Career

My grandfather may or may not have had an interesting military career but I believe that he did. He entered the service when he was either 17 or 18 by joining the Royal Field Artillery special reserves. I never had a chance to ask him why he choose the RFA but perhaps it was a chance to ride horses and fire canons.
  The training in the special reserves sounds much like that of the US National Guard. The reservist go each summer for two to three weeks of training and they can be called up for active duty when needed. Which was the case for my grandfather when he was called to active duty when Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914.
  When he was activated he had received training as a signalman for the RAF. This position required him to be in a forwards observation post to identify where the artillery shells were landing and report back to the battery so that they could adjust their effectiveness. In the beginning this was accomplished by using flags but by the time the war erupted they were using field telephones.  (see front cover on The Great Promise)
  My book, The Great Promise, is based upon my grandfather's memoirs of serving with the RFA during the early battles of the war. In one entry he describes how he and one of his close telephonist were called into their CO's office where he told them he was recommending them for a field promotion. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in August of 1915.
  According to his military records, he returned to England in September 1915 and was sent to review the AA (anti-aircraft) defenses around Liverpool; he was in this position from 5/1916 to 11/1916.   During this time he held the position of Adjutant and was responsible for the establishing and operating the defenses for Liverpool.  
  By December of 1916 he returned to the RFA and was responsible for training new recruits until November of 1917. At his time he was sent back to France and placed in charge of an anti-aircraft battery in Paris, France. He remained in this position until November of 1918 when he returned to England.
  In July 1918 he was temporarily transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force to be in charge of their payroll department. He was promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant and after partitioning the RFA he was given the permanent rank of Lieutenant. The RFA requested his return but the RAF needed him so he remained with the RAF until his departure from the service later in 1919. After his departure he requested that he receive the rank of Captain since his responsibilities with the RAF were that of someone with a captain's rank. He was given his permanent rank of captain later that year.
  So my grandfather served with the RFA, the AA defense battery and the RAF during his military career.
               

Additional Research

My grandfather received a field commission to 2nd Lieutenant in 1915 but after that his commissions were rather confusing. Case in point is the following letter.

In this communication he is requesting that he be considered for permanent rank of Lieutenant with pay reimbursement at a Lieutenant's pay scale retroactive to when he was promoted to Lieutenant on July 1, 1917, which must have been a temporary rank. I say this because this correspondence is dated June of 1919 and he uses 2/Lieut Hon Lieut F. Coxen. Yet, in this correspondence dated 10th December 1916 he uses "From t-Captain F. Coxen R.F.A, "t" possibly representing temporary.
  So was he promoted to the temp rank of Captain prior to his temp rank of Lieutenant?  Was he given this temp rank because he was Acting Adjutant, Liverpool A.A. Defenses.

Then in 1919 he partitioned for the permanent rank of Captain, which was awarded.

THE GREAT PROMISE

Blessed With Friends

Everyday I experience unexpected help and support from so many people. Today a fellow writer congratulated me on releasing The Great Promise. He pursued it further by including my story in his blog, http://www.lifeisabook.com/blog/?p=308  I now realize how many lives I've touched during the past four years and how they took the journey with me and find joy in helping me bring my dream to fruition. To ALL of you - Thanks 

Old George

The journal contains two Georges, the first being George Bramwell and the second is George Millington. If you purchase The Great Promise then you'll find the differences between the two. However, George Millington was a major character in my grandfather's writings and they were dear friends; as shown by the following letter. I don't know if my grandfather ever found "Old George" but I hope that he did.

More Research

Even after I completed the book I continued to look over my grandfather's military documents and in the process I've uncovered missing pieces of information; such as: Promotions

In April of 1915 his CO recommended him for a field promotion. According to his record book he was awarded the promotion to 2nd Lieut on 8/21/1915. Then when he was adjutant for the AA batteries defending Liverpool he was given the temporary rank of Captain. However, he was given the permanent rank of Lieut on 7/1/1917.

He was transferred to the newly formed Royal Field Artillery in 1918 and remained there until 1919. After leaving the service he partitioned the military to award him the permanent rank of Captain because of his position of responsibility during his time with the RAF. He was award his rank later in 1919.

Social Media Marketing

Spent time using social media sites for marketing. Since Amazon posted my book to their site today I was able to use this information for promoting the book.
  First I added my book to "GoodReads" website. For those that don't know about this site, it is one of the best sources for reviewing and rating books. If you're an avid reader and you know what books interest you, you can go to this website and pull up the appropriate category  for your type of book and presto books appear and you can checkout their review rating. It is a little risky for the author to post their masterpiece because your book may not receive favorable reviews, which is usually a death sentence for sales.
  Of course I posted information on my Facebook page and sent messages to everyone I could think of. The only problem is that CreateSpace doesn't report live sales numbers so I don't know how the book is selling. According to CS Amazon sales are reported within four days after the manufacture of the order. What this boils down to is a customer places an order and it is forwarded to production which schedules the book to be printed. Once printed it is boxed and shipped. The author's account isn't credited for the sale until the book is printed and your account is up-dated. Wouldn't it be nice if they credited the account when credit card is approved?

Now my loyal followers it is time to go to Amazon and order your copy of The Great Promise. If you've been following my posts, you know the work and time I spent on presenting an unforgettable book. Please check it out.

Post Partum Blues

Here I sit wondering what to do next. I released my book but it hasn't appeared on Amazon yet. Until that happens it really doesn't exist except in my e-store.

I order books for my book launch on August 24th but they will not arrive until, cross your fingers, August 22.

I thought I heard a drum roll when I clicked the button "I approve the proof". However, the cymbals never reported the results. How true it is that participation is ten-percent of  anticipation, or is it the other way around. Regardless of the structure, I was anticipating more of a response and it didn't happen!

It will never be known when or whom purchased the first book. I would like to know that information because that person purchased a part of me and I would like to thank them and find out why they did it; what made my book stand out from the rest.

So here I sit. All dressed up with nowhere to go. God! I'm beginning to sound like Eeyore!

The site "Good Reads" is brought up by many. They ask if my book will be listed on their site. Until they asked I didn't know it existed. I'm now a proud member but after trying several methods for adding my book it came down to, "only librarians can add a book"; I didn't pursue that avenue. I believe that a book has to be released by the publisher in order for it to exist - at least it seems that way.

So here I stand - got tired of sitting, pacing the floor wondering what I can do to make life move a little faster - at least in the realm of books.