16th London

[John_Hartley]

My man is James F Cottrell who, in May 1915, was commissioned into the Manchester Regiment. I've been unable to find his service file at Kew so personal information is thin on the ground.

His MIC indicates he was previously serving with the 1/16th London, as a L/Cpl. Service number was 1352 - does this give me a clue as to when he might have joined (and, therefore, a possible stab at guessing age)?

I see also his date of entry to theatre was 1/11/14 - either an error or he was part of an advance party for the main force which the Long Long Trail has as landing at Havre on the 3rd. A quick nosy at the LLT also suggests the Westminsters had a fairly quiet time between landing and him leaving in 5/15 - is there anything of "interest" that he might have been up to?

TIA

John

[Ian Riley]

My man is James F Cottrell who, in May 1915, was commissioned into the Manchester Regiment. I've been unable to find his service file at Kew so personal information is thin on the ground.

His MIC indicates he was previously serving with the 1/16th London, as a L/Cpl. Service number was 1352 - does this give me a clue as to when he might have joined (and, therefore, a possible stab at guessing age)?

I see also his date of entry to theatre was 1/11/14 - either an error or he was part of an advance party for the main force which the Long Long Trail has as landing at Havre on the 3rd. A quick nosy at the LLT also suggests the Westminsters had a fairly quiet time between landing and him leaving in 5/15 - is there anything of "interest" that he might have been up to?

John,

The Queen's Westminsters were aboard the SS Maidan leaving Southampton on 1 November 1914 and arriving at Havre at 7 am 2 November and the Maidan then promptly went out to sea again, cruising round the bay until 10 pm when she came alongside the quay. The Liverpool Scottish, 1/10th The King's (Liverpool Regiment) who were also on board did not disembark until 8 am on 3 November. The Liverpool Scottish MICs all list (to my knowledge) 1 November 1914 as date of entry to theatre for the 'Maidaners'

There is no evidence of any advance party for the Liverpool Scottish and all those who might be expected to be on it are listed on the manifest for the Maidan voyage.

Have you seen this excellent quick click diary of Sgt Bernard Joseph Brookes of the Queen's Westminsters. This may answer some of your questions about what they were doing once they arrived.

Ian

[John_Hartley]

Ian

Thanks for this. Sorts the date thing out and the diary should give me a bit of "human interest" in the story.

John