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Remembered Today:

Lt Mervyn Whitby Briscoe No 6 Squadron


MGrant

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I am looking for some additional information on Lt Mervyn Whitby Briscoe No 6 Squadron RFC

Born 21- 4-1896

The address on his file is Harristown House, Piltown Co Kilkenny. Ireland but in the 1901 and 1911 census I have him as son of Edward Whitby Briscoe and his wife Ellen of Harristown, Muckalee Co Kilkenny.

Enlisted in the ranks of the Royal Horse Artillery on 2- 11-1914 in Waterford until 21- 2- 1915 SN 88428

Appointed to temporary commission as a 2nd Lieutenant Royal Horse Artillery 22- 2- 1915

Promoted Lieutenant 15- 2- 1917

Reported to Royal Flying Corps fo duty 11- 5 -1917

Killed in action 23- 7- 1917

I believe Lt Briscoe was a observer and he was flying with Lt Owen Lyndon Burt in a RE8 serial number A4197 when they died.

Could somebody confirm this and any other information on the circumstances of his death.

Thanks.

Mick

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Hi Mick,

According to Trevor Henshaw's "The Sky Their Battlefield" and Chris Hobson's "Airmen Died in the Great War", Lt Briscoe was killed in action, along with his pilot, Lt O L Burt in the morning of the 23rd July 1917. They left No 6 squadron's airfield at Abeele (near Poperinghe) at 5:05am in RE8 no: A4197 on an artillery patrol, were engaged in combat with an enemy aircraft and shot down, crashing in flames west of the lines. Lt Briscoe is listed on the Arras memorial in France. I will look at my notes on Number 6 and see what else I can come up with.

Regards

Steve

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I've looked through the copies I made of No 6 squadron's operations (taken from what is held at the Public Records Office at Kew) and, apart from a mention of Lt Briscoe's name as 'Killed in Action', there is no account of the action that caused his death. Though a lot of the squadron's official records have been lost or accidentally destroyed over the years, his death (along with that of Lt Burt) is the only instance where a brief summary has not been written. What is even more surprising is that he never even made it to the official register of No 6 officers, which survived the war intact and is still at the PRO. Lt Burt has an entry and it is dated 07/17 - with a red line through his name indicating that he died during the war. Perhaps Lt Briscoe was killed soon after being posted to No 6, before he was recorded on the register. I'm sorry I could not provide you with more details. It is fortunate that Trevor had the casualty cards to work from for that day.

July 1917 was a bad month for No 6 Squadron as far as aircrew casualties went, with 3 killed in action, 1 killed in an accident, one wounded in action and 7 wounded in accidents. This was all in the lead-up to the Third Battle of Ypres, which began on 31st July.

Regards

Steve

PS As a matter of interest, there is a photograph of Lt Burt on my website, taken only two days before he and Lt Briscoe were killed. It was taken by fellow No 6 pilot, Cpt D S 'Jimmy' Glover.

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Hi Steve,

Thanks for looking up that information for me. Lt Briscoe was only in the RFC for maybe less than 3 months. In his file there is a note that is not very clear, but I think refers to a months long observing course in England so he may have been in No 6 Squadron a very short time.

I had used your website to learn about No 6 Squadron but that was before I had Lt Burts name as the pilot I will revisit it.

Regards.

Mick

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Hi Mick,

I'd say you were right about Lt Briscoe being in the squadron for a short time only. Number 6 (as did other squadrons) tried to make a habit of assigning newly-arrived pilots and observers to more experienced crews but with the high attrition rate due to deaths and injuries, this policy had to go by the board. In all probability, Lts Briscoe and Burt were posted to Number 6 in the same month (viz. July 17) and were killed after a matter of weeks.

Regards

Steve

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BRISCOE, MERVYN WHITBY. Rank: Lieutenant. Regiment or Service: Royal Flying Corps. Unit; 6th Squadron. Date of Death:23-July-1917. Killed in Action. Formerly he was with the Royal Field Artillery.

Grave or Memorial Reference:He has no known grave but is listed on the Arras Flying Services Memorial. Pas-de-Calais, France. He is also commemorated on the Great War Memorial in St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny…‘To the Glory of God and in loving memory of the following members of the Diocese of Ossory who gave their lives for their country in the Great War 1914-1918’.

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Thanks for that Tom, I see you have a interest in County Kilkenny men amongst others. He had two brothers who also served.

Lt Reginald Whitby Briscoe. 99 AA Section

Pte Henry Joseph Briscoe. Left the army in 1904 on completion of sevice as a sergeant in the Royal Irish Regiment. Enlisted again in 1917 in New York and served in the 5th Middlesex and the Labour Corps.

Mick

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Mate,

Do we know who brought them down?

I didn't notice any claims that day for a RE8, while the day before Ltn E Lamprecht claims a RE8 near Ploegsteert wood around 0925?

Could the date be incorrect?

S.B

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  • 5 months later...

Hi Mick,

Lt Mervyn Briscoe was my grandfathers younger brother, my grandfather was Capt Edward Whitby Briscoe. In all there were 18 brothers, many of them enlisted in the army and fought, in the Munster Fusilliers, Royal Irish regiment, Royal Artillery etc. The reason for the the confusion over where he lived is simple, in all there were 22 children so they had two houses Harristown house and Muckalee house in Pilltown. Many of the records for my great uncles have been destroyed, but I found some of them by cross referencing wounded, killed, and medal rolls at kew. My own grandfathers record contains only a letter he wrote, and a brief record of his various service, no detail at all. I not sure that Henry Joseph briscoe is anything to do with the family, I know that Henry Whitby briscoe who was killed was a brother. Another Issue I had identifing that they were brothers was Whitby was a common middle name yet it has only been recorded right a couple of times making searches that much harder. I don't have all the names of the brothers, but I have at least six if that is something you are interested in.

Ted

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Hi Ted,

I have a interest in Irish airmen and I live in Mooncoin Co Kilkenny which is a neighbouring parish to Piltown.

I have Father and Mother and 6 brothers and 2 sisters from the 1901 and 1911 census, also 1 brother in America and 1 in Canada.

I have a copy of Mervyns records from the British National Archives.

There is two headstones in the Church of Ireland graveyard in Piltown, one for Whitby Briscoe family and the other for the Rivers Briscoe family of Harristown House.

They only cover the 70s and 80s and not any further back.

Do you know the location of Harristown House in Piltown as I have been unable to find it.

Could I pm you what have as most of it is not military.

Regards

Mick

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Hi Mick,

I can give you as much as I can, but to be frank with you, after the war my family really shattered, and I am finding relatives now I never even knew about. But what I can tell you is that Rivers-Briscoe owned Harristown up to the eighties. I know a chap that knows of my cousins who still live in Carrick on Suir area. It may be the case that the house was pulled down because of the roof tax brought in at the start of the Free state period. Most of the brothers moved to Northern Ireland in 1919-1920 and then spread out from there, alot are in the Uk, canada, the states, and australia. If you want to PM me then I would be happy to help.

Regards

Ted

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Kilkenny Boy (ted)

I live next to a Mervyn Whitby Briscoe in Coventry any relation, all his children have the middlename whitby. From memory his sons told me they lost a relative in the Great War. I'm sure there from your neck of the woods. his brothers name Henry Whitby Briscoe

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  • 2 months later...

Hi There,

It is very likely he is a distance cousin, My grandfather died in 1952 in New York so I never met him, and as a result there was little information about his side of the family. Now after a lot of research we have discovered that he was one of 18 brothers most if not all served in the great war. The ones I know for sure are Henry whitby, Fredrick whitby, Reginald whitby, arthur whitby, mervyn whitby, Joseph rivers and my grandfather Edward whitby briscoe. In 1917 Mervyn was killed, I have reason to believe they lost another brother from something I read on another forum, but I can't confirm it one way or another. With the establishment of the free state in 1922 the family dispersed and left Ireland for the most part. Most of the Brothers at the end of the war were in the Royal Irish regt or the Munster Fusiliers, it is really hard to track them as so much of their records were destroyed durning the blitz. However I have gained some knowledge from reading the gazette lists, and from other records, but it is a sad story, my uncle was named after Mervyn Whitby Briscoe, and he too was a flyer and lost his life in the second world war with the royal navy air fleet arm. I would appreciate any information on any of the brothers I have mentioned or any information anyone has on the missing brothers 11 in all.

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Hi Ted,

This is what I have,

Father: Edward Whitby Briscoe Birth 1834 Died 1917

Mother: Ellen ( nee Hearn) I think they were married in Lancashire England

Siblings

Henry Joseph Briscoe DOB 6- 9- 1874

Discharged from the army in 1904 on completion of service as a sergeant in the Royal Irish Regiment. Re-enlisted on 6th June 1917 in the Middlesex Regiment in New York. Address 349W 21st Street New York. Age 42y 8months. Clerk. Not married. Service Number 87986. Transferred t,o the Labour Corps 20-11-1917 Service Number 474045. Service Home 6-6-17 to 10-11-17 France 11-11-17 to 14- 2-19 Home 15 -2-19 to 22-6-19. On being demobbed he went to South Africa. ( His earlier military service in the Royal Irish would have covered the period of the Boer War) Capetown 1920, painter. In August 1925 returned from the port of Durban on the ship "Gaika" to the port of London. On the 2nd September 1925 c /o Salvation Army, Loveday Street. Birmingham

Edward Whitby Briscoe DOB 1-7-1879 D 3-11-1952 New York

Royal Munster Fusiliers- Captain

Gold Coast Reg. ( WAFF) WAFF = West African Field Force

General List - Captain

Theatre of War first seved in (4c ) Cameroons? Date of Entry theirin 23-12-15

Applied for medals in 1921, address "Alma House" Dundalk Co Louth Ireland

Joseph Rivers Briscoe DOB 1882

Reginald Whitby Briscoe DOB September 1889 D October 1961 Poole, Yorkshire England. Age 72

48 Division Artillery France 10-10-15 France 17-2-16

99th Anti Aircraft Section- Salonika In 1923 Address is Ballyphilip, Ballymonty, Thurlas. Co Tipperary. Ireland

Forum member "Rockdoc" has information on 99th AA section. Type Rockdoc in search box on top right of the page and go down to post dated 17 February 2011 titled Anti Aircraft Battery ( AA Gun Mounted Truck ) their is links to web-page for info and photos.

Wastel H Briscoe DOB 13-2-1893 D July 1981 Sefton, Lancaster. England

Ella Briscoe DOB 22-12-1894 D 30-10-1992

Mervyn Whitby Briscoe DOB 1896 D 1917

Arthur Whitby Briscoe DOB 1901 D Belfast ?

Voilet Lucy Briscoe DOB 1902 D 1993

Alfred Whitby Briscoe DOB 1902

When Henry Joseph enlisting in 1917 he gave his next of kin as Hilton Briscoe. Their is a letter in Mervyns file from Hilton looking for particulars of Mervyns military service dated 2nd September 1930. The address in both cases is Vale of Avoca Orchards, Grimsby, Ontario. Canada.

There is the same letter dated 25th January 1928 from F.W. Briscoe. Harristown House, Piltown Co Kilkenny. Ireland

Regards.

Mick

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  • 6 years later...

Mick

Lt M W Briscoe entered France on 2 Sep 1915 probably with the 75th or 76th Brigade Royal Field Artillery.  These units sailed in 4 ships to Le Havre.  The 75th Brigade was originally planned to be part of the 16th Irish Division and formed at Kilkenny Barracks from Dec 1914 until Jul 1915 when it moved to Rollerstone Camp.  About that time it was decided to send the 2 Brigades to join the Artillery of the newly formed Guards Division.

Chris

 

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