Cheshire Regiment

[Zaffira]

I wonder if anyone could help me with a query re the Cheshire Regiment please.

My grandfather was with the Cheshire Regiment 3rd Brigade, also a note on his paperwork saying 29th Rifle brigade.

Throughout 1916 he was at various places in India.

Is there any way I can find out if part of this brigade were missing presumed dead between 1917-1918 ??.

[John_Hartley]

I think you may be mis-reading whatever documents you have.

The 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, was in India pre-war, arriving back in the UK on 29/12/14. To the best of my knowledge, no other battalion of the regiment saw service on empire garrison duty in India.

If you have records suggesting that he served with the 3rd Battalion (not Brigade - that is a higher level of organisation comprising 4 battalions, often from differing regiments), then he will not have served abroard with it. The 3rd was a reserve training which remained in the UK.

I don't think there was a 29th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade but its 18th, 21st, 23rd and 24th Battalions were all posted to garrison duties in India for at least part of the war period.

Men serving on garrison duty would, of course, die - usually from illness. I'd have thought it fairly rare that a man died and was posted missing - maybe a drowning where the body was never found, that sort of thing.

John

[Zaffira]

I think you may be mis-reading whatever documents you have.

The 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, was in India pre-war, arriving back in the UK on 29/12/14. To the best of my knowledge, no other battalion of the regiment saw service on empire garrison duty in India.

If you have records suggesting that he served with the 3rd Battalion (not Brigade - that is a higher level of organisation comprising 4 battalions, often from differing regiments), then he will not have served abroard with it. The 3rd was a reserve training which remained in the UK.

I don't think there was a 29th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade but its 18th, 21st, 23rd and 24th Battalions were all posted to garrison duties in India for at least part of the war period.

Men serving on garrison duty would, of course, die - usually from illness. I'd have thought it fairly rare that a man died and was posted missing - maybe a drowning where the body was never found, that sort of thing.

John

Thank you John

Ive taken a further look at Grandads army book and it says..No. 28136 3rd Regiment attached to 8th Cheshires

Attestation 23/11/14

1916 Feb to Nov .. was in various locations in India, the last being Bareilly.

In Jan 1917 there is a note in the book which says//equipment complete

Also it gives another number..which I cant read and says 23rd Rifle brigade.

[stevem49]

The 8th Cheshire's went to Gallipoli and then Egypt as part of 40th Brigade, 13th Division.

Sometime in 1916 he was transferred to the 23rd Battalion, Rifle Brigade who went to India.

He would have had a Regimental number with each.

or

He was transferred to the 8th Cheshire's but never actually joined them and was then moved to 23rd Battalion Rifle Brigade and went with them to India.

If you give us his name, we can check the Medail Index Cards which will give the other number.

Cheers

Steve M

[John_Hartley]

OK> I think we can start to piece this together.

I presume Granddad is Henry Wright?

Looking at his Medal Index card, I reckon he trains with the 3rd Battalion and is then attached to the 8th, going into action at Gallipoli on 24 August 1915. At some later point , he transfers to the 23rd Battalion, Rifle Brigade and goes to India. This is probably a transfer after the withdrawal to Egypt after the failure at Gallipoli. 8/Cheshire only spent a month in Egypt before going to Mesopotamia where I think it stayed for the rest of the war. Perhaps the trasnfer was because his health had failed somehat and he couldnt manage a front line active service role.

John

[jon_armstrong]

Could he not have still been in the Cheshires in India?

One of my Styal lot started his training in January 1917 with the 3rd Cheshires, but two months later sailed for India. He eventually joined the 8th Cheshires in Mesopotamia in June, but along the way he spent two months in Kirkee near Pune in India - apparently completing his training - where, presumably, there were other Cheshires?

[Zaffira]

Thank you all for your help.

The family story has always been that grandad was missing presumed dead at some point between 1916-1918..I m afraid thats all I know, and ive been trying to find if there was an substance to the story.. Yes, it was Henry Wright.I have his medals and soldiers payment book and few other bits and pieces but unfortunately not the complete story of whether a notice was issued re him being missing.

[John_Hartley]

This may be a less than tactful question but......was he dead or did he survive? It's just that the medal records give no indication that he died so I'm assuming he didnt.

I see his Rifle Brigade number is 209478. Means nothing to me but I'll see if I can drum up an RB expert who might know when this was issued.

John

[stiletto_33853]

Hi John,

209478, Rifleman Henry WRIGHT,

8th Cheshire Regiment (28136)

Theatre 2b 9/15 to 9/1/16

Theatre 4a 12/1/16 to 14/2/16

Theatre 6b 28/2/16 to 15/1/17

India 16/1/17 to 8/6/19

23rd Rifle Brigade

India 16/1/17 to 8/6/19

Hope this helps a little

Andy

[John_Hartley]

At least my guess was a partial hit.

So, that's

2B - Gallipoli

4A - Egypt

6B - Mesopotamia

And only a year out on my guess on transfer to the RB - I'm improving.

Thanks, mate.

[Zaffira]

Thank you so much.You have been so helpful with the information.

It looks as though, with his record running up to 1919 that he would not have gone missing ??

He was wounded at some point with a bullet to the leg and im sure that somewhere I have a picture of the hospital that he was in. He was also part of a brass band and have lovely picture taken with many soldiers he served with.

Grandad survived the war but I dont know what date he actually arrived back home.is there any way I can find his discharge date ?

[John_Hartley]

I think Andy is indicating above that his discharge was on 8/6/19.

It's possible he was missing but only briefly. If he was wounded in an attack he may have been out in No Man's Land. With a wound in the leg it may have taken some time for him to crawl back which might have meant he wasnt there when the next roll was called. A friend may have written home telling them he was missing. Only speculation, of course.

Incidentally, members of the band were often the battalion stretcher bearers.

It is possible that his service file still exists at the National Archives (about 30% do). You'd need to make a personal visit or, perhaps, wait until Ancestry upload this to their site - they have a very slow project underway.

John

[Zaffira]

Thank you again. All of this information has been really interesting and helped me to fill in the gaps in the family history.

I will keep an eye on the updates on Ancestry.

[stiletto_33853]

John's right,

The battalion was employed on internal security duties throughout its stay in India, firstly at Multan, then from the 22/7/18 at Bareilly in Clyde Barracks, with a one company detachment at Amritsar.

The battalion was demobilised in India; by 12th July 1919 the numbers were reduced to fifty. Most seem to have been demobilised in early June 1919.

Andy