15th Siege battery, Royal Garrisson Artillery

[Kathie]

I am trying to find out where and why a member of teh 15th Seige Battery of the RGA would have "died of sickeness" and be buried at

Tincourt Cemetery 5th October 1917.

I can find nothing on 15th Siege Battery - to whom they were attached, what they were doing and where late September and early October 1917.

My soldieer is Second Lt Arthur Stephen Hayton Dell.

Any information about this unit.??

Kathie

[gem22]

Kathie

I think 15 Battery were part of 99 Brigade but I can't give you any more than that brief crumb of information.

Garth

[rflory]

Kathie wrote

I am trying to find out where and why a member of teh 15th Seige Battery of the RGA would have "died of sickeness" and be buried at

Tincourt Cemetery 5th October 1917.

I can find nothing on 15th Siege Battery - to whom they were attached, what they were doing and where late September and early October 1917.

My soldieer is Second Lt Arthur Stephen Hayton Dell.

Any information about this unit.??

The 15th Siege Battery RGA was attached to the 21st Heavy Artillery Group from 14 Aug 17 to 6 Oct 17. At the time it was armed with four Breach Loading 6" Howitzers (26 cwt). Unfortunately the War Diary for the battery for that period of time has not been traced.

I think you have somewhat confused the name of your officer - my information indicates that his name is actually Stephen Arthur Hayton Dell. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 17 December 1915. My information also indicates that he died of wounds, rather than from sickness as you indicate.

There are papers in the National Archives for a 2nd Lieutenant S. Dell at WO339/53493. This could possibly be your man.

Attached below is a photograph of a Royal Garrison Artillery officers course in 1915. 2nd Lieut SAH Dell is third from the left in the second row.

Regards. Dick Flory

[rflory]

A close up of 2nd Lieut. SAH Dell from the same photo. Dick Flory

[Kathie]

Many thanks indeed. You are right about Stephen Arthur Hayton as opposed to ASH - the difficulty is that his family have ASH, his school has ASH, the war memorial I am investigating therefore has ASH but his birth certificate is SAH. The SA Roll of Honour has the same confusion and has resolved it by recording two deaths, both in the 15th Siege Battery and one SAH adn one ASH. For a while I tried to hunt up the tw.

Thanks for photo.

I will see what I can do about getting to the records - I am building up a list and then will find a researcher in the UK who can do this.

Questiion - where can I find out about Heavy Artillery Group??

Kathie