1/4th Loyal North Lancs

[johnsammc]

Hi Guys,

Can any of you LNL experts help me with the whereabouts of the 1/4th from late Feb through March.Know they were part of 164th Brig,55th Div.Were they involved in the defence of Givenchy or would that be too late for a soldier who DOW on the 29th March at St Omer.

Thanks

John

[Ian Riley]

John,

I am not a LNLR expert but am hoovering up 55th Division material at the moment.

I do not have the diary for 1/4 LNLR for this period at this time but Wylly (LNLR Historian) quotes the War History of 1/4 LNLR (published immediately after the war and quite hard to come by) as saying that from 21 March 1918 (I presume that it is 1918 in which you are interested) '... to fill the hole thus made [by the retreat of Fifth Army] the FDirst and Second Armies were denuded of reserves and as a direct result of this, 164 Brigade, which was in Divisional Reserve, was constantly being rushed forward to points of concentration at nioght in case the Boche attacked.'

They appear to be behind the line Givenchy - Festubert. There appear to be no specific actions at this point of significance and your man must have been one of the casualties that occured day to day in trench warfare. The Defence of Givenchy, in which 164 Brigade was intimately involved, began only on 9 April 1918

I do have a copy of the War History of 1/4 LNLR and if you would like a photocopy of the relevant few pages please PM me. Unfortunately, I do not have time at the moment to type chunks of it into GWF. It might be worth asking for it on inter-library loan and I can give you the exact title. It is a better read than Wylly's cut and paste job of the a global history of alol battalions of the LNLR

Ian

[johnsammc]

John,

I am not a LNLR expert but am hoovering up 55th Division material at the moment.

I do not have the diary for 1/4 LNLR for this period at this time but Wylly (LNLR Historian) quotes the War History of 1/4 LNLR (published immediately after the war and quite hard to come by) as saying that from 21 March 1918 (I presume that it is 1918 in which you are interested) '... to fill the hole thus made [by the retreat of Fifth Army] the FDirst and Second Armies were denuded of reserves and as a direct result of this, 164 Brigade, which was in Divisional Reserve, was constantly being rushed forward to points of concentration at nioght in case the Boche attacked.'

They appear to be behind the line Givenchy - Festubert. There appear to be no specific actions at this point of significance and your man must have been one of the casualties that occured day to day in trench warfare. The Defence of Givenchy, in which 164 Brigade was intimately involved, began only on 9 April 1918

I do have a copy of the War History of 1/4 LNLR and if you would like a photocopy of the relevant few pages please PM me. Unfortunately, I do not have time at the moment to type chunks of it into GWF. It might be worth asking for it on inter-library loan and I can give you the exact title. It is a better read than Wylly's cut and paste job of the a global history of alol battalions of the LNLR

Ian

Thanks Ian.Thats excellent.I was looking previously and i couldnt find any actions around this time.

Much appreciated

John