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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

128 Oxford Heavy Battery


ALANJONES

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Kerry

Many thanks for that - I have not seen this before - can you let me know the reference you found this in. He does not mention it in his diary!

Others may be interested to know that the CWGC have very kindly amended his record on their website to reflect that he commanded 128 Heavy Battery (it originally showed him being from 128 Siege Battery).

Alan

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  • 1 year later...

An old topic restarted. I was recently looking at some material from a man who served with what he recorded as 132 Battery RGA, plus another man who certainly served with 132 Heavy Battery aka. one of the Oxford Heavies. I rather suppose that 132(Oxfordshire) Heavy Battery is the only part of the RGA bearing that number. I work as a volunteer with Soldiers of Oxfordshire, our largest component being the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry followed by the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars, and have now begun gathering info on the men of the variously numbered Oxford Heavies - I would welcome any names and info relating to these men and their wartime experiences.

Check us out at SOFO.

MC

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Hi Mike,

The research for these batteries could be quite lengthy. It would be fairly easy to obtain the KIA or DOW gunners using Geoff's Search engine. The gunners who enlisted with the batteries is also fairly easy;

128th Heavy Battery would have numbers, after the 1917 renumbering, 291350 to 291500

132 Heavy Battery 291780 to 292000

135 Heavy Battery 292451 to 292700

156 Heavy Battery 297101 to 297400

Those that had already left before 1917 of course have their original number.

I say enlisted because it does not mean that all of these gunners served with the battery they enlisted with went abroad with it. Many of these gunners records will have survived and give further information. I also have a small list of gunners whose records have survived and were posted to them on formation or who joined later. There is also the war diaries.

Although I can give you a small list of gunners who served with these batteries you would have to obtain their records and verify. Would these be of interest?

Kevin

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Hello Kevin

Our researchers have thus far compiled data records for 100,000 or so OBLI men and maybe another 2,500 men of the Oxford Yeomanry; a few hundreds of gunners might have to join a queue but I do like a challenge ! I would welcome whatever information you are able to supply on the understanding that this would be the beginning; the next challenge would be to populate their records with whatever I can gather from NA, MICs etc etc.

We have just received a wonderful donation of material that belonged to an early 20th century Yeoman who served in the Great War with 132 Battery.

Mike

Soldiers of Oxfordshire

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Mike

From the Wendover Roll of Honour:

HARDING: Sam Gunner 292628 48th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (Also served as Gunner 930 I35th Oxfordshire Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (TF).) Son of George Harding, widower, of Aylesbury Road. Brother of Edward and Sid. Enlisted at Aylesbury. Age 30 Died of wounds 29th November 1917 at 52 Field Ambulance, Canada Farm.

It has not been possible to identify the position occupied by the battery on 28th-29th November 1917. However, on I7th December the battery, already in the line, came under the command of 3rd Brigade RGA. The brigade had its headquarters at B 2if b 2 8, east of the Yser Canal near Hulls Farm. The front line had now stabilised on the Passchendaele Ridge. It seems likely therefore that the battery position was to the south or south-east of Pilckem. Other battery records show that Heavy and Siege batteries were engaged in barraging the German held portions of Passchendaele Ridge and on counter-battery work on 28th-29th November.

The Wendover Magazine of January 1918 included the following:

Sam and his pal Sam North had both been home on leave recently, so it came as a great shock to hear that he had died of wounds on November 29th so soon after returning to his RGA unit in France. His father and family have our deepest sympathy, for Ted is still prisoner of war in Asia Minor and Sidney was killed in the Spring. His wife died whilst the family was young, and his daughter Annie has faithfully fulfilled her task of bringing up the family; and to her also we tender our deepest sympathy. Sam was 30 years old and the picture of strength and energy. The youngest son Ewart is still in France, and may God spare him is our prayer.

Buried in Canada Farm Cemetery, Elverdinghe; Plot 3, Row F, Grave 34.

Photos to follow, assuming they are of itnerest to your researchers.

John

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post-25196-0-41742100-1299792256.jpg

With thanks to Graham Pare for this photo of his great uncle.

John

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Mike,

I do not know if you are interested in all the the Oxfordshire batteries or just the 132nd, but the following are those I have that have records available. Because I haven't (as yet) researched the various locally raised heavies I do not have many that would have specifically joined up for the 132nd Hvy Bty.

132nd Hvy Bty

41983 Butler, Robert

53227 Wall, George Alfred

59952 was RFA 48922 Fry, George

75723 Gall, Frederick

75857 Hems, William

75858 Bray, Edward

75862 Cook, Albert Edward

86407 Ayes, Horace

100632 Elsey, Thomas

116599 Mogg, Percival George

118825 was 21 Essex & Suffolk RGA Luck, Albert

125200 Atkinson, Francis John

125638 Beaney, George Thomas

555/291919 Burfoot, Walter Robert

630 Adby, Frederick

I will post the gunners I have found in the other batteries if you wish.

Kevin

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Thanks John.

Info and photo saved thank you. Good to see his MIC is written in the same hand as a man of 132 Battery that I have been working on today (Webster 442, 291815).

Your contribution is appreciated.

Mike

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Hello Kevin

My SOFO project is to collect info/names for all Oxford Heavy Batteries, so whatever you have will be of value thanks.

Interesting that Walter Burfoot is numerically very close to the man I mentioned in my previous message.

Mike

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Mike,

Some names that served with 135 HB. I think I have more for 128 and 156 HBs for some reason.

I suppose you have battery photos, for 132nd Hvy Bty at least, which would be interesting to see. If I PM you my email address would you send me a copy?

135 HB

68852 Barber, James

70240 Bent, Francis Herbert

73083 Inman, Joseph

79950 Allen, James

91282 Littler, Decimus

93196 Hawes, Alfred

95320 Glennie, James

96730 Bull, Henry John

103851 Bailey, James William

105711 Mahon, W on casualty list

112497 Rudge, Thomas

114999 Sweeney, Joseph

122106 was 852 Warwick RGA Brain, Arthur

123273 Shaw, Alfred

156607 Rudd, William

872/292574 Wallis, Thomas

880/292582 Hines, Harry

882 Clark, Frank

977/292671 Horley, Alfred L in records of 197182 Gardener serving 59 Sge Bty

1010 Smith, Cyril Gladstone

1022 Madden, Charles Victor

1023/292714 Eden, George Thomas

Some of the above men enlisting straight into the 135 HB did not serve abroad.

Kevin

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Thanks again Kevin

I took a quick view of George Eden's record to find on his Attestation that he was a local(to me) man with previous service of 4 years QOOH and 3 years Oxford Volunteers. Good stuff !

No photos yet but I have a few newspaper photos to scan when I get to our Research Centre later in the week. Happy to send you copies.

Mike

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Mike,

156th Heavy Battery

47051 Salmon, James

55753 Batty, George Henry

59317 Blackburn, Nicholas

63694 Balchin, Frederick

69165 McCaw, Alexander

83427 Barber, William Frank

84961 Brown, Henry Marshall

86590 Bantock, Edward

87859 Cundy, Harry

87993 Bannister, Frederick Alexander Henry

90764 Carlton, Robert William

119399 Howden, Robert William

129960 Grant, William Skinner

Will post the gunners who enlisted straight into the 156 HB when time allows.

Kevin

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And some more Mike,

128 HB

40156 Glennon, Patrick

49038 Hustwaite, Pannett

49175 Gyles, Robert

56110 Barker, Philip Henry

60870 Kett, Alfred Sydney

68637 Robertson, William

70235 Billing, Volney

72079 Eachus, Charles Edward

72355 Webster, Robert George

73078 Butters, William

75758 Richards, Arthur Fenwick

75901 Websdale, Arthur John

75936 Hollington, Samuel John

79830 Belyn, Joseph

96730 Bull, Henry John

118399 King, George Frederick Hamilton

124936 Coppock, Robert

316349/6501 Essex RGA Archer, James William

Gunners enlisting into 128 HB

39/291355 Sumner, Ernest James

40/291356 Simmonds, George

69/291381 Harris, Albert Edward

102 Mustow, John William

110/291419 Sollors, Albert MM

145/291452 Leech, Allan

156 West, Richard George

176/291479 Hounslow, Benjamin Edward MID

194/291496 Florey, Milton Mark

207 Hunt, Herbert Richard

213/291512 Finch, Walter Cave

214 Fisher, Frederick Charles

Gunners enlisting into 132 HB

405/291786 Townsend, Albert Edward George

407/291787 Arthurs, Cecil Frank

409/291789 Wren, William

412 Roberts, Richard

429/291805 Bolton, William Joseph

433 Brain, William John

444/291817 Vyles, George Herbert

481/291851 Perrin, Henry Joel

504/291873 Webb, Charles Henry

525 Bush, James Henry

551/291916 Parslow, Francis

555/291919 Burfoot, Walter Robert

556/291920 Fleetwood, Robert William

563/291927 Brockland, Harry DSM, MM & Bar

582/291945 Simmons, Charles Walter Frederick

592/291955 Longford, Arthur Edwin

611/291972 Berridge, Thomas William

630 Adby, Frederick

631/291991 Belson, Frederick

Gunners enlisting into 135 HB

836/292540 Bonner, Thomas Edward

872/292574 Wallis, Thomas

880/292582 Hines, Harry

882 Clark, Frank

891 Badger, William

908 Timpson, Albert Edward

910 Honey, James

940 Parsons, Reginald William

958/292655 Ruddle, Martin Theodore

984 Green, Walter

999/292693 Eldridge, Thomas Henry

1010 Smith, Cyril Gladstone

1022 Madden, Charles Victor

1023/292714 Eden, George Thomas

Gunners enlisting into 156 HB

8801/297064 Chapman, Frank William

8813/297075 Adams, Arthur

8830/297092 Hector, Edgar George

8841/297103 Pittman, Henry James

8843 Crook, Frederick John

8886 Wiggins, William Francis

8892 Higgs, Walter

8905/298167 Webb, William Frederick

8989 Wilsdon, Arthur Thomas

9056/297313 Busby, Norman

9085 Slatter, Herbert Percy

9099 Bonner, Frederick Septimus

9115/297372 Bowne, Frederick Walter

9116/297373 Joyce, Frederick John

9117 Surman, John Thomas

Kevin

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Thanks again Kevin; very welcome. This is a photo of the Drum and Bugle Band of the 128th & 132nd RGA - not good quality I am afraid but the best I have at the moment. Mike

post-10-0-71926400-1300907495.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Hi Kevin,

My name is Keith and am a volunteer with SOFO and work with Mike Cross, remotely, as I live in Sussex. My grandfather, father and uncle were QOOH men. I have been working with Mike for about a year now and have researched QOOH officers in the Great War and we have uploaded the info into the SOFO database. I am now turning my attention to the men who served with the Oxfordshire Heavy Batteries RGA. A project mentioned by Mike In previous communications with you. Yes, it looks a long job given all the names you have identified. I intend to simply create a spreadsheet of pertinent info. of all the men's details from Medal Index Cards, Service Records (where they exist), pension records etc etc. You have, obviously done a great deal of research yourself. Would you be willing to impart any information that you have, please? I will certainly take the list of names and reg. nos. that you have already listed to Mike and start looking at each one. Any help, guidance would be most appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you.

Keith

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Keith,

Am I mistaken in thinking that you are duplicating what Mike was doing. I am afraid I have no further info to help you, but would suggest reading the various war diaries that MIke may have already obtained.

I never did see a copy of the 132nd Hvy Bty photo that SOFO holds. Perhaps like some other museums they do not like advertising what that hold, or let anyone have a copy.

Kevin

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Hi Kevin,

Yes, I am picking up where Mike had started and now intend to run with it. If all you have is a list of names that's fine it'll start me off. I just wondered where you got the lists from. They are very helpful, thank you. Regarding the photo you mention we have a bit of a problem. Mike believes the photo you referred to is a framed 4ft x 1ft group photo. We don't have any digital copies of it. If we we had we'd have been pleased to send you a copy free gratis, although SOFO normally levies a charge for them. We have no problem letting anyone know what we have in our archives but as you'd appreciate we are still working through identifying/cataloguing etc what we have. Unfortunately, the photo is stored off-site some miles away. To get access to the photo, copy it and return it into store is half a days work for someone. I hope you understand our predicament. We really would like to help you. Please let me have your comments.

Keith

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Keith,

All the above named gunners have service records available. These names have been compiled from reading many many records. For those enlisting locally one can search using the batch numbers for each battery I gave in an earlier post. The regular numbered gunners may have been posted to the Oxford Batteries at various times.

Good luck with the project.

Kevin

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  • 2 months later...

Mutley,

I've been looking for the War Diaries of the 128th Battery but can only find one for Aug-Nov 1917. However, I've been informed that "We know very little about the detailed history of the 200 heavy batteries and 545 siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery which served in the First World War. This is mainly because the official records, the War Diaries, were not to be maintained by the batteries but by the next level of command, the Heavy Artillery Group (HAG).....The war diaries of these HAGs are all stored at the National Archives, Kew." You probably already know this. What I can say is that 128 Battery moved from 11 HAG to 12th HAG on this very day 5th Jun 1916.

Keith

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  • 5 months later...

Hi Gents

My great uncle served with the 128th (Oxford) heavy bty RGA, He was Albert Edward Harris No 69/ 281934, Born in King Street, St Peter in the East Oxford, Attestation was on the 25th of March 1915 at Oxford, according to his records he had Malaria ??? and was admitted into 23 Gen Hospital, any body know how he would have cought Malaria in France ??? , he had also served with the Oxford Light Infantry 12 Vrs, I cannot find anything about this unit, if anybody can enlighten me I would be most greatfull .

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I think the reference is to '12 years' of previous service with the Oxfordshire Light Infantry. He may already exist in the records of Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) but his service with this Oxford Heavy Battery will ensure that he will as soon as we are able.

MC

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Thank you Mike

At least (SOFO) is not far from me, my father told me that one of our relations was in the Bore war so this could be that man, it would also explain why he had Malaria in France

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