MicolStud Posted 27 March , 2009 Posted 27 March , 2009 Hi all, this is my first post so please bare with me. I am trying to research my gt gt uncle.......i was told by my nan some years back that he died during WW1 and that as far as she knew his body was burried in the trenches....i have since found that to be untrue and after much searching and checking that i have the right person i finally managed to find him burried at Duisans British Cemetery in Etrun France.....i visited his grave last weekend and stumbled upon the Wellington Quarry (what an AMAZING place!) i got chatting to a lovely man called Francois who works there and he suggested i join this site to get some help with my research. If i can find his war diary Francois said he would be very interested to see it.......thats my next challenge! I have his marriage cert and his death cert, i have also found his medal card but i cannot find out any more than that. ie when he joined? why he has two reg numbers? i'd love to find his war diary but i do not understand how the regiments, divisions, battalions and all that work? here are the details i have Edward Collard born dec 1881 Born in Shoreditch (have just ordered his birth cert to prove this as the census returns can be inaccurate) Parents were Henry Collard and Maria Britten He was married to Mary Ann Collard (nee Coney) The 1911 Census says he had a daughter called Mary Ann born 1909/10 War details are Edward Collard ~ Private 204040 (medal card says 204040 and 8361) ??????? 1/1st Battalion, London Regiment died 4th May 1917 @ 41 Casualty Clearing Station France (died of wounds) hope someone can shed some light on some dates and where he went with what reg/divisions ect as i have no idea! lol kind regards Michelle
ralphjd Posted 27 March , 2009 Posted 27 March , 2009 Michelle, Sorry cannot help with the diaries but according to Soldiers Died Great War cd he was born and enlisted Shoreditch. Reference his two numbers, the second one 204040 would have been allocated to him when the re-numbering of the armed forces took place sometime I believe after 1917/18 no doubt some other forum expert on numbering will be along to put me/you in the picture as it were. Regards Ralph. ps Welcome to the Forum.
ralphjd Posted 27 March , 2009 Posted 27 March , 2009 By the way number 41 CCS was based at AGNEZ-LE-DUISANS between the 19th February 1917 and the 15th July 1917. Ralph.
certacito79 Posted 27 March , 2009 Posted 27 March , 2009 Hi Michelle, As for the war diaries unless another member already has them (worth a search on the forum) then your best bet is the National Archives at Kew. I was where you are in January and I was very lucky to have a forum member meet me there and show me the ropes, which I shall pass onto to you now (Unless you use Kew a lot and I shall now look silly....... The catalogue number you need is WO95/2949 which contains the War Diary for the 1/1 London Reg. You will need a readers ticket which you can find out all about online. The Adjutant (Capt) would write the battalion war diary up whenever he got the chance. Some Months may only have a one line entry such as "Remained in Billets" buts its a good starting point. If you have a good digital camera, take it as you can photograph the items you need which is much easier than writing everything up. His Service Record may have survived which is worth a look. As for the rest I will have a look this evening and see what I can find, once you get the basic detective work done I can help with trench maps etc as well John
MicolStud Posted 27 March , 2009 Author Posted 27 March , 2009 By the way number 41 CCS was based at AGNEZ-LE-DUISANS between the 19th February 1917 and the 15th July 1917. Ralph. FANSTASTIC!!!!! thankyou so much.....im really getting into researching him and wondered where the station was.......i just wish i'd joined this forum last week before i went to France!
Chris_Baker Posted 27 March , 2009 Posted 27 March , 2009 His second number was issued in March 1917.
MicolStud Posted 27 March , 2009 Author Posted 27 March , 2009 Hi Michelle, As for the war diaries unless another member already has them (worth a search on the forum) then your best bet is the National Archives at Kew. I was where you are in January and I was very lucky to have a forum member meet me there and show me the ropes, which I shall pass onto to you now (Unless you use Kew a lot and I shall now look silly....... The catalogue number you need is WO95/2949 which contains the War Diary for the 1/1 London Reg. You will need a readers ticket which you can find out all about online. The Adjutant (Capt) would write the battalion war diary up whenever he got the chance. Some Months may only have a one line entry such as "Remained in Billets" buts its a good starting point. If you have a good digital camera, take it as you can photograph the items you need which is much easier than writing everything up. His Service Record may have survived which is worth a look. As for the rest I will have a look this evening and see what I can find, once you get the basic detective work done I can help with trench maps etc as well John Thanks John!......ive never been to Kew but plan to go at some point. I did try to find the a war diary online and downloaded the wrong one! lol....so if anyone is interested in cat ref W0/95/2219 73rd Inf Bde, 24th div, 9th Battn, The Royal Sussex Reg April 1918 with attached casualty list i can post it to you! lol where can i post this within the forum so it will stand out more to members who may want a copy of it? also while in Duisans i took some photos of some of the graves of men who were also in Edwards regiment in the hope of finding someone related to the men he fought alongside........i have managed to trace one via Genes reunited and have forwarded the pic on......where on this forum is the best place to put this info? thanks so much for the quick replies Michelle His second number was issued in March 1917. Cheers Chris!.......any idea how i would find out when he joined up with the number 8361?
Chris_Baker Posted 27 March , 2009 Posted 27 March , 2009 The battalion war diary is available via the National Archives' DocumentsOnline website and you can purchase a copy of April 1917 (and indeed the months before that). Go to www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Click on Search the Archives > DocumentsOnline Click on WW1 War Diaries Click on Search Enter "56 Division. 167 Infantry Brigade. 1/1 Battalion London Regiment" Choose April 1917. Add it to your shopping cart (at £3.50 a shot). Pay. Download. Enjoy. any idea how i would find out when he joined up with the number 8361? Only by some hard work, unless a Forum member has already done some work on the battalion numbering.
MicolStud Posted 30 March , 2009 Author Posted 30 March , 2009 Postmans just been and ive now got Edward's birth cert and his daughters birth cert..........its thrown a spanner in the works looking for his service record now because he is Edward on his birth cert but Edwin Edward on his daughters birth cert
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