superposh Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 The long long trail states the battalion were disbanded in feb 18, but when I checked a soldier's medal roll (presumably written after the war it states he was in the 7th Battallion. How can he be in a battalion that no longer existed?? Or is that not what "disbanded" means? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmm45 Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 He must have originally been with 7th KOYLI. There must have been a period in 1918 when either the Battalion had been in a large battle and decimated so it was deemed to disband the Battalion on paper and send the remaining men as replacements to other Battalions of the Regiment or there was a wider reorganisation of resources and manpower so they disbanded it..still happening today with Regiments been amalgamated,disbanded etc. Ady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 7/KOYLI was disbanded as part of the restructuring from four battalion brigades to three battalion brigades in February 1918. As far as I know they were back at fighting strength, although all the 20th (Light) Division battalions took very heavy losses at both Passchendaele and Cambrai a few months earlier, and it had been a serious struggle to replace the those losses over the winter. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 Some Regiments medal rolls only state the 1st battalion a man served overseas with, leaving us with a mystery as to where he served later. Can you give us details of the man you are looking for? If he was from the Peterborough area (just taking a clue from your Forum name!), then I might be able to find him on the 1918 absent voters list which may give details of his new battalion. Steve (also a Posh supporter, but don't tell anybody after yesterday's effort). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 The long long trail states the battalion were disbanded in feb 18, but when I checked a soldier's medal roll (presumably written after the war it states he was in the 7th Battallion. How can he be in a battalion that no longer existed?? Or is that not what "disbanded" means? Which medal roll did you check? The Star rolls show the unit he was in when he entered a Theatre of War. Incidentally, on disbandment the men of 7/KOYLI went to the 14th Entrenching Battalion together with some of the 6/OBLI men. The Entrenching Battalions were units of able-bodied men available for use as replacement drafts for fighting battalions, but who were used in a Labour Corps type role while waiting to be drafted. A Forum search should turn up a fair bit of info on entrenching batatalions - it's a topic that comes up fairly regularly. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superposh Posted 18 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 18 April , 2010 Thanks for the replies - really interesting stuff. The soldier in question is Arthur Burnham 24763 He was born in Harringworth in Rutland but moved up to Darfield (near Barnsley) in Yorkshire with the railways before the war. He enlisted in Dec 15 and discharged sick in Dec 18 (A res P). I would also be fascinated to know how to get hold of absent voters lists? I can upload his MIC later once i reduce its size if that will help. (ps. I really should change that username - its sounds sarcastic after yday)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 You won't be able to upload images until you've made a few more posts. No comment about the user name but I certainly baulked at starting my reply with it! Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 Another possibility is that he had left the 7th Bn before it was disbanded and had returned home after being sick, wounded or injured. Home units are generally not shown in the medals documents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 18 April , 2010 Share Posted 18 April , 2010 Steve (also a Posh supporter, but don't tell anybody after yesterday's effort). Aha! Sorry - I was reading it as Victoria Beckham-related (yuk!) Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superposh Posted 18 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 18 April , 2010 Which medal roll did you check? The Star rolls show the unit he was in when he entered a Theatre of War. Incidentally, on disbandment the men of 7/KOYLI went to the 14th Entrenching Battalion together with some of the 6/OBLI men. The Entrenching Battalions were units of able-bodied men available for use as replacement drafts for fighting battalions, but who were used in a Labour Corps type role while waiting to be drafted. A Forum search should turn up a fair bit of info on entrenching batatalions - it's a topic that comes up fairly regularly. Cheers, Mark Cool thanks for this. I think it was the SWB roll (he didnt get the 14 / 15 star). I will check entrnehcing batallions. Ta. Super(not that Posh!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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