Royal Horse Artillery

[Messina1915]

One of my chaps, Ernest Reynard, was in the RHA. When he was killed on 31 August 1916 he was with "T" Bty. 14th Bde.

On the LLT it says T Bty joined 14th Bde from Egypt in December 1914 - but Ernest, a reservist, arrived in theatre on 5 October - so clearly he was not originally with T Bty. I'm hoping to find out which Battery he was originally with.

Some clues:

3 of his letters home were published in a local newspaper and give some details of the fighting he was involved with, although no place names are mentioned. They can be found in this thread.

A letter from a W. H. Breare published in the Harrogate Herald on 29 December 1915 gives some more details of Reynard's service:

I believe Reynard's Division was the only one that went straight through from Antwerp up to and through the Loos affair.... He was under Haig, for whom he is full of admiration. Reynard says he is a second Kitchener.

Looking at the information on the RHA on the LLT (see here) I wonder whether he was with 14th Bde from the beginning and simply moved batteries within it, as the 7th Division (see here), of which 14th Bde was a part, seems to fit in with the letters and the comments in the Breare letter.

Either that or he was with C Bty which was originally with 14th Bde before being transferred to 3rd Cavalry Division (see here) - which fits all the facts I have and certainly landed in theatre at the correct time - and the link to Antwerp is there are well. It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that he was transferred to T Bty, 14th Bde after his leave in December 1915 or later.

The only thing I am not certain about is whether these divisions were under Haig's command. I suppose if both were, it is guess as to which of them he was with...

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers,

Carole.

[Messina1915]

Just glanced at his MIC and it only mentions 14th Bde - could someone better versed in these things tell me how conclusive or not that is?

Cheers,

Carole.

[sjustice]

Hi Carol,

This will help you. I think TTF is off there. Farndale has C, F and T Btys (14th Bde RHA) and the rest of 7 Division's artillery disembarking at Zeebrugge on 6th October 1914. This followed 'three weeks of training as a division before being landed in Belgium'. Most of 7 Division's units had been overseas and received TF reliefs in order to get to F&F.

Ernest got there the day before his guns arrived. Let's hope he had time to get a beer in.

Farndale has quite a bit of detail regarding 14th Bde RHA movements through 1915 to 1918 so it's worth consulting a copy. As an example they were definitely in action at 1st Ypres, Festubert, Aubers Ridge, Loos etc:

Farndale, M., Sir, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery : Western Front 1914-18 (London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986).

Becke's OOB may add even more.

I hope that helps and good luck.

Kind Regards,

SMJ

[Messina1915]

Hi Simon,

Many thanks - that is fantastic.

I have ordered the Farndale book from the library.

Many thanks,

Carole.