My great Grandfather

[Guest stewartsear]

When I was a kid my nan would always say that my grandad's father had died during WW1 because he'd gun had blown up while he was cleaning it. I found him on the CWGC a few years ago, he died at Somme in October 1916. He was a Gunner L/45866 "D" Bty. 96th Bde., Royal Field Artillery.

is it likely that his gun blew up? Or was that just a story that had been told to my grandad, who was only 2 at the time his father died?

thanks

Stewart

[John_Hartley]

Stewart

Welcome to the Forum.

Anything is possible, but its unlikely a gun just "blew up". It is possible that it "blew up" whilst it was firing, or there was some other accident or your great grandfather was killed by incoming enemy fire (and this is the most likely cause).

If you click on the link to the Long Long trail (top left of this page) and then find the section "grandads war", you will find some useful information. Look out for references to the "war diary". this was written up each day by one of the officers and, if there was an accident, it's a good bet that it was recorded.

The war diary will be held at the National Archives in London but , if you can't visit there, it might be worth writing to the Royal Artillery museum "Firepower". They have copies of the diaries and are likely to be able to give you a copy of the day's entry (they may want to charge you a few pounds for this).

John