Guest alanteece Posted 3 May , 2009 Share Posted 3 May , 2009 My father served as a private in the 8th East Yorks from Jan 1917 to February 1918 when the battalion was disbanded. I have compiled a fairly detailed account of his experiences during 1917 from his diary for that year, together with information from Battalion and Brigade diaries. When the 8th Battalion was disbanded most of its personnel were re-mustered as the 10th Entrenching Battalion. However, a note was added to my father's 1917 diary indicating that in September 1918 he was with the 7th Bn. East Yorks. I am now trying to discover what happened to him between February and September 1918. Thus far I have been unable to find any records or diaries relating to the 10th Entrenching Battalion, or information about any replacements that went to the 7th East Yorks. Any advice, guidance or help as to how I might proceed would be most welcome. Alan Teece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 3 May , 2009 Share Posted 3 May , 2009 Alan, Welcome to the forum, nothing much on your father, other than he joined the 8th Bn 20/01/1917 and on the Roll of D Company 8th Bn in Feb 1918. A substantial number on disbandment where drafted to other battalions immediatley 1st ,10th & 11th mainly, the next batch was early April to the 7th Battalion and the Lincolnshire Regiment, if he was in the 7th Battalion I suspect he went then as the men I have got transferring to the Lincs have it recorded on their Medal Index cards. Sorry no more help. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alanteece Posted 5 May , 2009 Share Posted 5 May , 2009 Alan, Welcome to the forum, nothing much on your father, other than he joined the 8th Bn 20/01/1917 and on the Roll of D Company 8th Bn in Feb 1918. A substantial number on disbandment where drafted to other battalions immediatley 1st ,10th & 11th mainly, the next batch was early April to the 7th Battalion and the Lincolnshire Regiment, if he was in the 7th Battalion I suspect he went then as the men I have got transferring to the Lincs have it recorded on their Medal Index cards. Sorry no more help. Regards Charles Charles, I have not used this Forum before and am not sure that this is the correct way to reply to you. But here goes. Very many thanks to your response to my query. It looks as though my father must have been in the draft that went to the 7th Bn. in April 1918. My last information was that he had gone to the 10th Entrenching Bn. about which I have been unable to discover anything. So it's great to have confirmation that he did indeed go to the 7th. I have also tried to discover if any medical records might still exist, but so far without success. He added a note to the 1917 diary as follows; Wounded 1st Sept. 1918 Operation in France for removal of shrapnel from head. 1st. Oct. In England- NGH removal of depressed bone and SEQUESTROTOMY. Medical Board 5 Feb 1919 Discharged 8 Feb 1919 Do you think that there is any likelihood of records pertaining to this might exist? Regards, Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 5 May , 2009 Share Posted 5 May , 2009 Alan, His Service Records may be available, they are being put on Ancestry, but at the moment are only up to the letter N, hopefully in the near future they will put the rest that are available on. I am not sure if they are at the National Archives at the moment. My opinion..... the 10th Entrenching Battalion was a way of keeping trained men available in the area behind the front line and as the German offensive started shortly after their formation a good move. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrenPen Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 QUOTE (joseph @ May 3 2009, 04:22 PM) My last information was that he had gone to the 10th Entrenching Bn. about which I have been unable to discover anything. So it's great to have confirmation that he did indeed go to the 7th. Hi Alan, My friend's ancestor was in the 12 West Yorkshire Regt. When this battalion was disbanded, some of its members were posted to the 10th Entrenching Bn, and when this unit also disbanded he ended up in 10th West Yorkshire Regt, dying near Gauche Wood Cemetary during the attack on Quentin Redoubt in the battle of Epehy. The diaries of some of these battalions have survived, but not the diary for the 10th Bn. All these units seem to have been dissolved in April, with their men being dispersed to other units. The diary of 8th Bn. East Yorks does refer to receiving a draft of officers and Other Ranks on 06 April 1918. This is what is showing in the diary for 10th West Yorkshire Regt: 5th April Pernois 'On the 5th the Battn received a draft of 7 officers and 174 O.R. 8th April Montrelet The Battn received a draft of 185 O.R 10th April Montrelet The Battn received a draft of 79 O.R Given there are a large number of officers and men on 5th and 6th, I am presuming this is when the 10th Entrenching Bn was disbanded. Regards GP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 "The diary of 8th Bn. East Yorks does refer to receiving a draft of officers and Other Ranks on 06 April 1918." The 8th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment ceased to exist on the 18 February 1918. 204 Other Ranks and 11 Officers joined the 7th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment on the 5th April 1918. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrenPen Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 Charles, thanks for the correction. It appears as though the 10th Entrenching Bn was broken up on 05 April 1918. When I was looking at WO95/2004 today, there appeared to be very little (if anything) for the 7th Battalion's activities in September. Was it the case that the September sheets for 50 Brigade were misplaced? I was hoping to see a surviving trench map for Villers-Guislane. (I've got a map from the CD, but wondered if the Sept 1918 map would have differred). Thanks, GP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 3 October , 2010 Share Posted 3 October , 2010 GP, The 7th Battalion did not get as far as Villers-Guislane in September 1918, I have the 7th War Diary for September 1918, the latest Trench map I have seen is August 1918. What are you after. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrenPen Posted 3 October , 2010 Share Posted 3 October , 2010 Hello Charles, Wyrall's book (The West Yorkshire Regiment, Volume 2) states on page 334 that all three battalions of the 50th Brigade were in the assaulting line, for the capture of the sunken road. Although the next order was for the 50th Brigade to attack and capture Quentin Redoubt, it must be that only two of the three battalions were used. Furthermore, the 50th Brigade dead who are interred at the Gauche Wood cemetary are from the Dorsets and the West Yorkshires; there are no East Yorks men. I had been hoping to see a trench map in the diary of the 10th, showing both the sunken road and the Quentin Redoubt. (The redoubt is situated west of Villiers Guislane, due north of Gauche Wood.). My particular interest is to see whether the redoubt had changed much since 1916. Thanks, GP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 3 October , 2010 Share Posted 3 October , 2010 GP, Extract from a privately published history 1920 By 7 am on the 18th September, the 50th Brigade of which the 7th East Yorkshire Regiment formed part had successful taken the second objective and were in touch with the divisions on the right and left. The battalion suffered heavily from shell fire when the objective was gained. At 1-30 it was reported that the 5lst Brigade had carried the third objective, and about the same time the 50th Brigade were warned to be ready for a further attack that evening to capture "Quentin Redoubt," a strong and dominating position east of Gouzeaucourt. Detailed orders came later to advance at 9 p.m. "Quentin Redoubt" was captured by the 6th Dorsets without loss. The situation during the night remained somewhat obscure and the position of the leading troops was not verified till 7 a.m. on the l9th. The captures made by 7th Battalion on 18th were 280 prisoners, 20 machine guns, one anti—tank rifle- on the morning of 19th the Battalion were in trenches south of Gouzeaucourt, west of the railway, the town being strongly held by the enemy. The day was spent in consolidating the line and the battalion was also called on to establish a post on the railway as near Quentin Redoubt as possible to protect the left Hank of the Dorsets who had two companies isolated in the Redoubt. Attacks by the enemy were all repulsed- September 20th-—Brigadier-General A. R. C. Sanders, CMG., D.S.O., who had commanded 50th Brigade since 8th September, was killed at dawn whilst returning from visiting the companies of 6th Dorsets in Quentin Redoubt- Heavy attacks were made on both 20th and 2lst by the Germans using flammenwerfer and phosphorus bombs, but they were driven off. Trench Map surveyed 11 August 1918 Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrenPen Posted 3 October , 2010 Share Posted 3 October , 2010 Hello Charles, Many thanks for the extract from the privately published book, and also for the trench map. This map does differ slightly from the 1916 map which I have. Regards GP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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