East Surrey 7th Bn

[jd2511]

I have recently found the grave of my great uncle who was killed near Arras. His date of death is 30/07/1917 and he is burried in Monchy British Cemetery, however I can't find a battle near that date. His name was Ashley George Jackson and a private in the regiment. I have a service number, 10807, however extensive research is not throwing any light on his time in France or his cause of death. Again, any help would be greatly recieved.

Many thanks

John Dunbar

[Hambo]

John

Welcome to the forum

No doubt you have seen the regimental history which to quote

"there was considerable activity throughout this period particularly at night, but casualties were light and nothing noteworthy occured"

The proverbial "All Quiet on the Western Front"!

My SDGW is down at the moment but if you haven't checked that out ( a number of members have a copy) it should say whether he died of wounds or was killed in action. having said that it looks like they were doing general line holding duties for a couple of weeks leading up to his death so it looks like he was a victim of the "attrition" of trench warfare

All I can suggest is the war diary if you can track it down through the National Archives or check out the Document Repositry section of the forum and see if anyone has it.

Good luck

John

[sotonmate]

John

You might have to get a read of the unit War Diary at Kew,or through someone here who might have a copy for the day you require. The Kew ref is WO95/1862 and runs from May 1915 to Feb 1918. Between battles was still a dangerous time,with artillery, snipers,trench raids etc.

Sotonmate

[DMannus]

Hello, welcome and I'm sure you'll get stacks of help in your search!

SDGW says 'Killed in Action'.

This is his MIC which really hasn't much to add.

Sotonmate and Hambo have some good advice re the war dairy which, I'm sure, will help.

This link is great for the Regiment in general - Note Ashley joined 3/ ES but was a member of 7th when he was killed.

http://www.1914-1918.net/eastsurreys.htm

Regards and good luck with your search.

David

[sotonmate]

John

A quick scan of the Cemetery records of MONCHY shows that only one other soldier from 7ES was killed on the same day and is buried next to your GU. It suggests a shell to me. A further twofrom 7ES were killed in July,one on the 31st and one on the 25th. Two more died on 2 August.

Sotonmate

[Phil996]

Hi John

If you go to the National Archives they have the 7th East Surreys war diary. It isn't online but you can get it via their Digital Express service, which costs £8.50 for up to ten copies. If you select a date you can ask for the pages forwards, backwards or either side. It's unlikely to mention private soldiers by name but might give you an insight into the events involving your great uncle.

It's a good service - I've used it recently - but you have to be careful to be very specific about what you want from them. As Sotonmate says the reference is WO95/1862. You'll get a link from which you can download digital images of the pages you've ordered.

Digital Express - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...e/about-sod.asp

War Diary - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalog...5636196&j=1

My grandfather was with the 7th East Surreys from June 1917 until he was taken prisoner at Cambrai - he and your great uncle might have known each other!

Best wishes

Phil