Brent Tandy Posted 13 May , 2011 Share Posted 13 May , 2011 Hello everyone, First post here on this forum. I've recently been looking into my Grandfather, James George Tandy, gunner 50527 war records and it's sent me on a journey of discovery that's been really interesting. I'm still very green to this whole 'world' but have had some help getting his records deciphered. Most of it makes sense and I've tracked most of his movements but I am not able to find out where he was fighting and got injured (lost his leg above the knee). I know he was fighting in Ypres as part of the 1st NZFA brigade 3rd battery and on the 20th Feb 1918 he got badly wounded by German trench mortar fire. I can't find where he would have actually been at that time. Is it possible to work that out? If so any tips on how to go about that would be most appreciated! He was part of the 29th reinforcements if that helps. He was based at Etaples before being posted to the 3rd Battery on the 18th Jan 1918. It just says 'field' as the location. I am actually really lucky that my Grandad preserved some interesting articles from his time in the war. I have his pay books, some letters, his cross stitch work made while recovering at Oatlands Park hospital which was displayed in a London exhibition, quite a few photos, postcards he wrote to his sisters, the telegrams sent to his mother advising he was wounded and even the letter written by an officer in the No2 Canadian CCS to his mother on the same day he was wounded saying that leg was amputated, his diary he kept while on leave before sailing back to NZ. But most interesting of all is 5 pages of forms that he filled out while on a watching post in the front trenches shortly before he was wounded. It even has trench mud stains on it. They make no sense to me but a contact I have in the NZ defense force who is going to look over them for me this week coming. Grandad actually met his wife (my Grandmother) at Oatlands Park. She was part of the Womans Land Army. I even have her certificates and arm band and badge. Amazing what he all kept. It seems like he knew it would be important one day. And here I am 90 odd years later going through it all. It's been in a box and rarely looked at over the years. So I have all the context and artifacts around his war effort but I don't know where he actually was fighting and the circumstances around it which seems rather crazy! If someone here can help I'd be over the moon. Oh yes can anyone recommend websites or archives that might hold photos. The NZ national library (times Frames and Tapuhi) have alot of interesting photos but I wonder if any UK archives might have NZ related photos? Many thanks, Brent Tandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 13 May , 2011 Share Posted 13 May , 2011 Hi Brent. Welcome to the Forum. Have you seen the online book about the New Zealand Field Artillery? The relevant page is here. The relevant paragraph is: "Batteries of the 1st Brigade were situated about the slopes forward from Hooge Crater; the 9th and 6th (Howitzer) Batteries of the 2nd Brigade were near Glencorse Wood, and the 2nd and 5th, with the 12th Battery of the 3rd Brigade, were on the left of Westhoek; the remaining batteries of the 3rd Brigade, the 11th, 13th, and 4th (howitzer) were very close together near the Westhoek Cross Roads." You will need to check the rest of the book to know which brigade the 3rd Battery was in. The map on the page will help you locate the relevant location. Just let me know if the map isn't helpful. I have original maps of this area (but not ones from the time that the NZ Division was there in 1917/18. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Tandy Posted 14 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 14 May , 2011 Thanks Robert. This is just the kind of help I had hoped for! I hadn't seen that book before. I know that he was part of the 1st Brigade and the 3rd Battery was in that Brigade so it's safe to say he was on the slopes of the Hooge Crater. The map is a little hard to read and make sense of . If you could help with that it would be most appreciated. Do you think it's possible that original maps from the NZ Division would be held in our National Archives? I am intending on reading the War diaries for his unit and could possibly request the maps if they exist. Regards, Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 14 May , 2011 Share Posted 14 May , 2011 Brent, very happy to be of help. My grandfather served in the NZ Machine Gun Corps. There is a map here. Hooge is roughly two-thirds the way up the map in the centre. You can zoom in on the area. Today there is a museum in the immediate vicinity of the crater (see here). 1st Brigade's guns would have been located just East of this locale, on the gentle upslope towards the highest point on the ridgeline. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ring Posted 14 May , 2011 Share Posted 14 May , 2011 Brent. Welcome to this fascinating forum. Very addictive so be prepared to spent time on here. There is a wealth of information and I find that members go out of their way to assist those of us who are far away from where the action was. If you have time it is worth scrolling back through the old threads / posts. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Tandy Posted 16 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2011 Hi Robert, Thanks for the map. That's a pretty impressive resource that website! Another question. I went to the archives to get the war diaries and they asked me what unit he was in. I said 1st NZFA brigade 3rd battery but they said that was drilled down a bit to far. We found what I was after (will view them today) but I wondered what the 'order' of things is so to speak. What would the 1st NZFA brigade have been attached to? I remember that my grandfather had a machine gun bullet that has been turned into a bottle opener. Cheers, Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Tandy Posted 16 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2011 Hi Tony, Thanks for the welcome. I certainly will be going through the older posts. There are several things I hope to find. I'm after info about the NZ field ambulances, and even something about the No2 Canadian Casualty Clear Station, which is where my grandfather had his leg amputated. I'm also hopeful to find some more info in Oatlands Park Hospital as well. I'm currently going through the NZ national library photo archive and have found 4 photos of grandad that I've never seen. I was blown away! Am majorly spurred on to find more! Next stop will be the Waiouru Army Museum. Cheers, Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 19 May , 2011 Share Posted 19 May , 2011 Brent, which archive did you go to? A field artillery battery would be too low in the hierarchy to have a war diary archived, in general. The National Archives in England has the war diaries of 1 New Zealand Field Artillery Brigade here and here. Let me know if you can't access this material. I may be able to get it for you when I am in the NA again. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 19 May , 2011 Share Posted 19 May , 2011 What would the 1st NZFA brigade have been attached to? Brent, my guess would be the NZ Infantry Division. The NZ FA brigades were an integral part of the division at this time, with additional references being made in the war diaries of the NZ Division's Commander Royal Artillery (CRA). The CRA war diaries are WO 95/3663, WO 95/3664 and WO 95/3665 in the National Archives.Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Tandy Posted 19 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 19 May , 2011 Hi Robert, Was was in the NZ Nat Archives here in Wellington. I looked at the diary of the !st brigade NZFA. It was a triplicate copy so was hard to read. It had references to the different batteries and on the day that Grandad was injured while on a 'shoot' on the front trenches is mentions that "2 3rd battery telephonists wounded' one of those being grandad. He was a gunner but was doing obs at that time. Then it said "see appendix 3 which was a memo describing the NZ Artillery Divisional order N0. 68. It was during the implementation of this order during which grandad was wounded. There was even a map in the diary showing the position of the different batteries and howitzers for the order. Was very cool to see all that. I showed the 'shoot' notes that my grandad took at the observation post to a mate at work who used to be in the NZ SAS. He was able to decipher what they meant. The notes were basically a record of the firing of the guns and the correction of directions etc. I assume he still had these notes as they were in his pocket then the trench mortar landed on them. I asked a guy at at the archives where the other two copies of the diaries might be and he mentioned Kew. Thanks a million for the two links. I had a look and I see that some diaries are scanned and online. I wasn't able to find them but maybe I was doing it wrong? I was not able to get scanned copies of the diaries here in NZ just photos which we less than ideal. Brent Brent, which archive did you go to? A field artillery battery would be too low in the hierarchy to have a war diary archived, in general. The National Archives in England has the war diaries of 1 New Zealand Field Artillery Brigade here and here. Let me know if you can't access this material. I may be able to get it for you when I am in the NA again. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Tandy Posted 19 May , 2011 Author Share Posted 19 May , 2011 Brent, my guess would be the NZ Infantry Division. The NZ FA brigades were an integral part of the division at this time, with additional references being made in the war diaries of the NZ Division's Commander Royal Artillery (CRA). The CRA war diaries are WO 95/3663, WO 95/3664 and WO 95/3665 in the National Archives. Robert Ah ha. I have tired to look at these diares by searching those numbers in the quick search but nothing comes up. So I presume these are not scanned either. Maybe I need an account to sign in to access them? Would you happen to know where I could look to try and find the locations of NZ field ambulances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 20 May , 2011 Share Posted 20 May , 2011 Brent, the two field ambulance war diaries are WO 95/3681 and WO 95/3682. None of the NZ Division material is available to order online. Because you know the dates that you are interested in, however, it would be worth enquiring how much it would be to get the NA to photocopy the relevant pages. I am not sure when my next trip to the NA will be. If the original orders for the brigade still exist then they will likely be in WO 95/3664, possibly issued the day or two before the action in which your grandfather was wounded. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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