Spent another frantic 3 hours at Fulwood Barracks Preston scribbling notes on the 9th East Lancs War diary on Saturday morning.
Once again the volunteer staff were really helpful and friendly. I now have another 17 pages of notes to transcribe for my sins.
While I was there, there were 3 chaps researching their great uncles and grandfather, 4 brothers they believe all died on the western front. They had with them a diary their grandfather had kept and they let me have a look at it, what a priv
Another excellent television programme in 2 parts. A new pipeline is being laid at Messines and the archaeologists have been called in to dig along the route. The firsat program was all about the trench systems that they unearthed soem in remarkable states of preservation, the second part is about the tunnels that were dug to lay charges under the German lines. Both programs well worth a look on either a repeat or Demand5.
There was a very interesting Time Team special yesterday about the Machine Gun Corps. As is often the case the dig, at Belton House where the Machine Gun Corps was based, didn’t find much, however, the pictures, stories and reconstructions would be of great interest to anyone researching a Machine Gunner. Well worth a look either on the Iplayer ro if it's repeated.
I have finished reading 'Birdsong' and thoroughly enjoyed it, I would recommend it to anyone interested in the western front and particularly the tunnelling units. A word of caution, some of the pre war narrative in the first part of the book contains some fairly graphic sex scenes, however, if these scenes offend then just skip past them as the rest of the book is well worth the effort.
I have now started reading Alan Palmer's 'Gardeners of Salonika' and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I
Yesterday I visited the museum at Fulwood Barracks, home of the East Lancs Regiment until its disbandment. The purpose of the visit was to read the Battalion war Diary of the 9th East Lancs and make notes. Again I took my son but this time he had a book with him so when he had seen everything he wanted to see in the museum he patiently sat and read while I frantically scribbled notes on the 4 months that my Grandfather was with the battalion. I would recommend a visit to the museum if you are in
Given my moniker on this forum 'Gardenerbill' I thought it was about time I read Alan Palmer's classic book on the Salonika campaign 'The Gardeners of Salonika'. I was able to pick up a new paper back version quite cheap on Amazon, however, I was slightly dissappointed to find that the pictures are printed on the same paper as the text and consequently the reproduction quality is very poor, in fact the book generally has a cheap feel to it. I suppose I will have to keep a look out for a secondha
I found an interesting reference to Salonika in Mike Young’s A.S.C. book last night. In the 1916 section he states that the shortage of manpower in the front lines led to the transfer of able-bodied men from A.S.C. units to infantry Battalions. The A.S.C. shortfall was then made up from men who were no longer fit for front line duty and locals, in Salonika, Greeks and Mesopotamians presumably to do the more menial tasks. Interestingly a year later my GF went the other way because of his trade, s
Watched the Hugh Denis ‘Who do you think you are?’ program last night that I had recorded a few weeks ago. Both his grandfathers served on the western front, very interesting program well worth a look, you can probably still catch it on the BBC Iplayer.
I have just finished reading Peter Caddick-Adams excellent Monty and Rommel Parallel Lives. Both these giants of World War 2 were heavily influenced by their experiences in the Great War and a large part of the book is given over to this crucial part of both their lives. I can highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the wider impact of the Gereat War or who like me is just fascinated by both the World Wars and their leading characters. Even though the book is a properly referenced and
Well my book finally turned up 5 days later than the estimated delivery, but it was well worth the wait, for anyone interested in the Army Service Corps during the Great War it's a must have. I started looking for the book as a result of reading about it in forums on this site, but quickly became aware of how difficult it is to find at a reasonable price. As I type there is a new copy available for £47.50 on Amazon, and 3 used for £45.99, £46 and an eye watering £119.85. I managed to find a copy
I have ordered Michael Young's 'Army Service Corps 1902-1918' from AbeBooks for a very reasonable price, unfortunately it hasn't turned up, I was hoping to write about it here, it's such a difficult book to find without paying over the odds, so 'Sods Law' it's the first book order I have had go missing.
Although I have my grandfathers medals I decided to get copies of the medal cards to add to my records. Interestingly, when I downloaded the cards from the National Archives website, there were 6 of them. Careful examination led me to conclude that 5 were for other William Hodgsons, the 6th card was an exact match with the details engraved on the medals and the information in his war records. I think this shows that you cannot draw conclusions from the medal cards alone and need further supporti
Last year I visited the museum at Fulwood Barracks, home of the East Lancs Regiment until its disbandment. To my delight I discovered that they have the war diary of the 9th Battalion in which my Grandad served. I had my wife and 12-year-old son with me at the time and so was not able to study the diary in any detail, so I plan another trip to find out more. I am particularly interested in where they were when my Grandad joined them in late 1916 to May the following year when he was transferred.
Once again I would like to thank David and Peter of the Old sweats for their prompt answer to my query about William Hodgson’s service numbers. The number at the top of the attestation form (24836), was issued when he enlisted into the 11th (2nd Reserve) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancs Regt. The number on his medals (34870) would have been issued when he was transferred to the 9th Battalion of the East Lancs regiment. The third number (M/280525) was issued when he transferred to 801 company A
The service records show that after mobilisation, my Grandad William Hodgson was posted to a reserve battalion of the Loyal North Lancs Regiment and then on the 16th of October 1916 he was transferred to the 9th battalion of the East Lancs Regiment, then serving with the Mediterranean Expeditionary force in Salonika. After a few months with the East Lancs he was transferred again, this time to 801 Company A.S.C. MT due to his trade as an electrician. He rose to the rank of Corporal with A.S.C. a
The first significant document in Williams service record is the ‘Short Service Attestation Army Form B 2512 a google search on ‘Army form B2512’ led me to a very useful explanatory document on:
‘gordonhighlanders.carolynmorrisey.com/Recruitment.htm’
From this information I worked out that the form was introduced under the Derby or Group scheme a last effort to raise voluntary recruits before conscription was brought in. The number 6 entered in the Card No box refers to group 6, men born betw
A closer look at my Grandad’s medals revealed the first clue. Engraved around the edge of both medals was his name rank and serial number:
34870 A.Cpl.W.Hodgson.E.Lan.R. Using this information my mother enlisted the help of a researcher who for a fee attempted to find his service records but drew a blank. Then a few months later My mothers cousin found his records, I think by using a name search on the Ancestry website.
When my Grandma died in the 1970’s my Grandad came to stay with us. He used to tell me stories about the motorcycles, Douglas and Triumphs that he had ridden in his time in Salonika in the Great War. Like many from his generation he never talked about the horrors just the funny stories about things he and his friends got up to. Of course I regret that I never asked the right questions before he died, so when my Mother acquired copies of his service records I wanted to find out more. This blog wi
