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1st/2nd North Midland Field Coy


337edy

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Hi

I have been researching my family for a while now and have discovered that my Great, Great Uncle served during the Great war. His name was William Ewart Bates, he was a sapper in the Royal Engineers 1st/2nd (North Midland) Field coy. He died at the age of 26 on the 14th October 1915 service number 1369. I have discovered that he is buried at Fourquieres Churchyard and have even obtained photographs of the churchyard and his grave through the Commonwealth War Graves Commision. What other information/images/possible photographs could I expect to find regarding my uncle and his life as a soldier at that time? Is there anyone else here with connections to the same Regiment/Unit that could enlighten me more about my uncle.

Many Thanks

D.Bates

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  • Admin

You have posted in the units and formations section of the forum - which is fine but if you want to research a soldier the best place to start is the parent site

http://www.1914-1918.net/ where you will find answers to your questions.

There is a whole section on the RE Field Companies http://www.1914-1918.net/re.htm

Another source is the RE Museum at Gillingham http://www.re-museum.co.uk/

His medal index card (mic) is on Ancestry and shows he went to france on 1March 1915

Soldiers Died in Great War shows he 'died' which means he most likely died as a result of sickness or injury;

His service record does not appear to have survived.

EDIT The mic is also available at TNA http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/medals.asp

Ken

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14th October 1915 was the day after the 46th Division had been involved in a disastrous attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt. It was part of the Battle of Loos. I believe it to be the case that the 46th Division was the only Division involved on 1st July 1916 on the Somme for which this day was not their worst of the war. 13th October 1915 was the worst day of the war for the North Midland Division. It lost nearly 4000 men in less than 24 hours. Fouquieres was the location of various Field Ambulances and one would guess Sapper Bates died of wounds there after the attack.

The 466th (1st/2nd North Midland) Field Company, RE, was based at Norton Hall, Norton Canes, before the war and it recruited heavily amongst local miners from Brownhills, Cannock, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Landywood, Pelsall and Norton Canes.

The War Diary at the NA is file WO95/2677

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Thanks for that, I wasn't expecting a reply so soon. Lots for me to look into there. My family has a long history of mining of both coal and iron ore so that information makes a lot of sense.

Many Thanks

D.Bates

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  • 3 months later...

I have some information about Sapper Bates at home. He was wounded during the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 13 October 1915. The information that I have is from obituaries printed in the local newspapers (Cannock Advertiser and the Walsall Observer). Let me know if you want transcriptions of these.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Andrew

I'm sorry for the really late reply. Haven't had much time to look any further into William Ewart Bates time at war but just noticed your reply to me. I would be really pleased if you could supply me with transcripts from newspaper articles. Thank you.

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