Having completed my transcription and posts on the 801st MT Coy, I am now looking at the units they supported, particularly the Yeomanry, in this case the Surrey Yeomanry and the Derbyshire Yeomanry. I have acquired copies of their regimental history books, read the Surrey one and I have started a new thread 'Yeomanry in Salonika' on the 'Salonika and Balkans' sub forum, if anyone is interested.
As well as finishing transcribing the 801st war diary I have now finished posting about it on the Salonika and the Balkans sub forum. I have started putting together a book about my Grandfather's time in the Balkans, I think it will only be of interest to my family, he didn't get any medals, nor was he mentioned in dispatches and he missed most of the main battles and actions when he was an infantryman. I do sometimes wonder what the old boy would think about my interest in him, I hope he would
It's taken 5 months working weekends and evenings as family and other commitments have allowed but I have finally finished transcribing the 801st M.T. Company A.S.C. war diary. There are some place names, soldiers names and text that I am uncertain of, largely due to blurred images and poor handwriting, a difficult combination. As I progressed I have been posting questions and interesting information in a thread that can be viewed in the 'Salonika and the Balkans' sub forum, a very useful exerci
Following on from my entry about my visit to Kew, I am now about half way through stranscribing the war diary of the 801st M.T. Coy. A.S.C. It took about 3 months to do the first year of the diary, bear in mind I have a full time job and a family. What I have found particularly useful was to start a topic in the 'Salonika and the Balkans' sub forum and post anything I found interesting along with queries about content. Thanks to the help of other members of the forum I have been able to interpre
On Saturday 5th of October I caught the 07:55 train from Manchester to London along with my wife and son for a long weekend. We arrived at London Euston at 10:00 and took the underground to Earls Court and dropped off our cases at our hotel. Then back on the underground to Kew station where we split up, my wife and son heading for Kew Gardens while I took the short walk to the National Archives building arriving at around 11:30.
After leaving my belongings in a locker on the ground floor keepin
I have just acquired 2 new books to read; ’ Macedonia Memories’ by Henry C Day SJ HCF MC purchased at a reasonable price from Turner Donovan Military books and ‘The History and War Records of the Surrey Yeomanry’ by E D Harrison Ainsworth also purchased at a very reasonable price from forum member Martin G. I am hoping that both will help my research now I have moved on to the next stage when my grandfather was in the ASC supplying the Corps Cavalry troops in the Struma Valley.
My first trip to
The Wipers Times drama on BBC2 was excellent, typically British humour in adversity without trivialising what was going on, I urge you to give it a look on the Iplayer or see if it is repeated, well worth a look.
My research has now moved on to the second part of my Grandfathers war service when he was transferred from the infantry to the ASC. I have finished re-reading Michael Young's 'Army Service Corps 1902-1918' the ASC bible and have made significant progress today.
First the unit he was transferred to was 801 Co ASC MT this unit was the 16th Corps Troop Supply Column. 16th Corps were the divisions based in the Struma Valley and the Corps Troops according to 'Under The Devils Eye' were the 1/1st Su
As promised I have now posted lists of all the men mentioned in the 9th East Lancs war diary between 1915 and 1917 in the Salonika and the Balkans sub forum. If anyone would like a copy of the page photo on which a name appears that they are interested in, send me a direct message with your email address and I will send you a copy.
I have been working my way through the photographs I have of the 9th East Lancs war diary and have created a list of all the men who are mentioned. I have decided to post the list on the Salonika sub forum to help anyone who enters one of the names in a search, I can then provide details of the entries if requested. I may also do the same for the units that are mentioned. A thought occurred to me as I was doing this, if a battalion war diary is missing, it would be possible to use the diaries of
I have finished 'Adventures of a Despatch Rider' and very enjoyable it was too. Looking for another book to read, my wife had just finished Victoria Hislops novel 'The Thread' which starts in Thessaloniki in May 1917 and although she warned me that it is a romantic novel aimed more at a female audience it was nevertheless a good read and I should give it a go. Once I have read it I will post a review on the Salonika and the Balkans sub forum.
I have just started reading 'Adventures of a Despatch Rider' by Captain W.H.L. Watson as part of my research. My Grandfather became a despatch rider and used to tell me stories about the various motorcycles he used. Although the book is about the early months of the war on the western front, it does give you an incite into the day to day activity of these brave men and is well worth a read even if you have no specific interest in Despatch riders or like me your relative served in a different the
I have started a new series of 9th E Lancs war diary posts in the Salonika and the Balkans sub forum. Initially they will be from September 1916 and include the battle of Machukovo, I may also add another at a later date for April and May 1917 (first battle of Doiran).
I read a very moving article in yesterday's Independent about four men from the Honourable Artillery Company being laid to rest with full military honours. Two of the men were identified as Lieutenant John Harold Pritchard and Private Christopher Douglas Elphick, family members were present at the ceremony. Well worth a read at the following link.
http://www.independe...st-8584635.html
I have now completed the first part of my research into my Grandfather Corporal William Hodgson's life; from his birth in Preston in 1892 to his transfer from the 9th East Lancs to the Army Service Corps in April 1917. As a result I did a show and tell to my Mother and her brother my Uncle a couple of weeks ago. I had managed to get photographs of many of the streets where the family had lived pre-war from the Preston Digital Archive now available on-line through Flickr, as well as photographs r
When researching my Gandfather's war record I have stumbled on another unexpected find. I was reading the Battle of Doiran chapter in the 9th East Lancs regimental history last night and it mentioned the sad death of Captain Chowne and how greatly he would be missed, not only by the battalion, but by the artistic world as well as he had been a fine artist. Intrigued I Googled him and found to my surprise that the Tate have one of his watercolours and a brief biography, here's the link:
www.tate
I was at the Lancashire regiments museum again on Saturday morning to photograph the rest of the 9th East Lancs war diary. I was taken aback when, instead of the typed copy I had been working from, I was given the original. They couldn't find the typed copy, it wasn't on the shelf where it should have been, the moral here is ring first to make sure they have what you want available. However seeing the original was a delight, it had some beautiful hand drawn trench maps and brought me just a lit
I was back at Fulwood Barracks on Saturday to photograph pages from the 9th East Lancs War Diary. No weather problems this time. I now have 109 photographs to work through which should keep me quiet for a while. I am particularly interested in September 1916 (Battle of Machukovo) and April/May 1917 battle of Doiran, but I have the diary from October 1915 to December 1917 and now think I may as well go back and photograph it all, then if anyone else is interested I can let them have a copy.
The Salonika Campaign Society's Map disc arrived in the post yesterday and far exceeded my expectations, I was like a kid in a sweet shop. I only skimmed through the content as there are a dozen folders containing maps, documents and photographs. For me the maps were always of most interest and as I glanced through them the familiar names from books and war diaries appeared. I consider it £40 well spent already and would recommend it to anyone interested in the Salonika Campaign, as an added bon
Due to unforeseen circumstances, (the weather) I wasn't able to go to the museum at Fulwood baracks on Saturday, however I spent some time with my mum who is keeper of the family archive. It turns out, unbeknown to me, that my great grandfather Thomas Bradley fought in the Boer War with the West Lancashire Regiment and she has his attestation form. She then mentioned that a relative on my Father's side Edwin Draycott served with the Sherwood Forresters in WW1. I am delighted, 2 more research pro
Haven't had much to report since before Christmas but I am off to Fulwood Barracks and the Lancashire Infantry Museum again tomorrow to try Photgraphing the war diary that I am researching. Called my mum to arrange to call in on her afterwards and she mentioned that she had given my draft accounts of Gandad's war record to my uncle to read. He mentioned in passing that Grandad had told him 'he saw a German Staff car with a white flag so he knew the end must be near' (it could have been Bulgarian
I have just received confirmation of my membership of the SCS along with the autumn edition of the new mosquito. Next on my list is to acquire the Societies Map CD can't wait.
I have finished posting entries from the 9th East Lancs War diary on the Salonika sub forum for the time being and I plan another trip to Fulwood in the new year where I will try out photographing the records, then it's off to Kew for the ASC records.
I have started reading Charles Packer's 'Return to Salonika', after reading only 1 chapter I would already recommend it. A personal account gives you insight and detail you cannot get from a history book.
Although I have covered the period that my Grandfather was in the 9th East Lancs, I plan another trip to Fulwood (Lancs Regt Museum), I have formed an attachment to this little known Battalion and I find I want to know what happened next.
I may try Photographing the records next time as has b
