Guest Austin Colle Posted 23 October , 2009 Share Posted 23 October , 2009 Hi, could anyone shed some light on how my Grandfathers brother George Edward Colle died at Festubert on 15th April 1915 his number was 3209 19th Bn London Died aged 17 What action took place that day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 23 October , 2009 Share Posted 23 October , 2009 AC No specific action on that day,maybe the normal probing of defences or attrition of the trenches through sniping,shelling,raiding etc. The Cemetery where George is buried has no other casualty for that day buried in his vicinity. On each side of his grave,Section II A 3 has a soldier buried on 3/4/1915 and II A 5 one buried on 26/5/1915,so it looks very much like an isolated casualty. I have recently read of sniping actitivy in that sector at that time where the Germans set up accurate measures on our armoured observation slits and any firing or mvement perceived would receive a response. The Battle of Festubert would not arise until a month later,though obviously the trenches there were manned well before that time. Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 26 October , 2009 Share Posted 26 October , 2009 IIRC this was one of their first "tours" in the trenches after the Division arrived in March and the Divisional History does mention the sniper activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 26 October , 2009 Share Posted 26 October , 2009 Austin The 1/19th War Diary actually omits 15 April 1915 for some reason, probably because the entries from 10 to 14 April are the same (and the 15th was too). The 10 April to 14 April comments are: "One company to trench-line and two for digging". On 12 April one man was killed and on 14 April one man was killed. For the 16th, it has: "Rest. Cleaning and inspection of billets and huts(?)". The CO should have noticed that the 15th was missing when he signed off at the end of the month, but he did not. I hope this helps. Mike Hi, could anyone shed some light on how my Grandfathers brother George Edward Colle died at Festubert on 15th April 1915 his number was 3209 19th Bn London Died aged 17 What action took place that day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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