nicklepops Posted 21 October , 2012 Share Posted 21 October , 2012 Hi all, Can anyone please help me to find out the movements and whereabouts of the 141st Infantry Brigade and my great grandfather Brig. Gen. George Colborne Nugent, especially in the months and days prior to his death. He was killed at Givenchy on the 31st May 1915 aged 51. I would also love to know all about his service history and records. I really hope that someone can be as helpful as rflory was recently when I enquired about a grandfather of mine. Best, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 22 October , 2012 Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Nick - I have references to his death in accounts written by officers serving in 141 Inf Bde. I will have a dig around and see what I can find. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicklepops Posted 22 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Thank you Charles. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 October , 2012 Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Nick 141 Brigade War Diary,under WO95/2733 at Kew,has the detail you need from March to Dec 1915.It is currently being prepared for digitisation and is on the restricted list from 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2012,so you would have to wait until early next year,unless they change the non-access end-date. Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicklepops Posted 22 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Thanks Sotonmate. That will be helpful, but it's a shame I have to wait so long!!?? Best, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 22 October , 2012 Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Nick This was written by Lt Adrian Waterlow, 1/19th London Regt in his diary entry for that day: Later in the morning we heard the sad news of the death of our Brigadier, General G. C. Nugent, who had been killed instantaneously by a stray bullet near the entrance to one of the communication trenches behind Givenchy. He was one of the chief authorities on drill and had been commandant of the Duke of York’s School, Chelsea, before the War; also Colonel of the Irish Guards. He was a very strict disciplinarian and his loss was felt deeply by the Brigade. In the first month of the War he had taken the place as commander of the 5th London Infantry Brigade of Genl. Fitzclarence, V.C., who had gone out to France to command a regular Brigade and had been killed at the first Battle of Ypres. Waterlow's diary is held by the IWM. 141 Inf Bde War Diary isn't very helpful. It has a one line entry: 7.40 am Brig Gen Nugent killed by stray bullet. I have photographed the war diary. Please send me an email or contact me through the GWF with your email address and I can send you a copy of that page. I will also check the divisional history. There is also a paragraph or two about him in the book "Bloody Red Tabs" by Maddocks and Davies. Presumably you know his place of burial via the CWGC? I don't believe his service record is held by the National Archives, but I may be wrong as its been years since I looked. I suspect the Guards Museum would be the place to enquire. Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 October , 2012 Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Charles I looked for it earlier in the Catalogue and found no matches,so you are spot-on,I suspect. Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicklepops Posted 23 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 October , 2012 Thank you Charles. I will send you a message through the GWF now Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicklepops Posted 23 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 October , 2012 Hi Charles, Thank you for the information in your post. I might prefer to send my email to you directly rather than as a post as I am new to the forum, if thats ok. Could you post how I can do this as your web address doesn't seem to go anywhere and I tried to send you an Internal GWF message and it said you couldn't receive new messages!! Is the diary entry of Lt Adrian Waterlow from a relative of yours or from part of a larger body of your research? Is the specific entry something you have a photograph of? The Diary entry time of 7.40 is presumably the time of the entry itself and not the time of Nugent's death? Do you have a copy of Bloody Red Tabs that again you wouldn't mind photographing the Nugent entry? It would be very king of you. When you kindly say you will check the divisional history, would that give the information of the whereabouts of Nugent at various points during his time in France? I have gleaned a small amount of information from the first 20ish pages of "The 47th London Division 1914-19, which is available on line at http://archive.org/stream/47thlondondivisi00maudrich#page/n7/mode/2up Hope to get an email from you soon, Best, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 23 October , 2012 Share Posted 23 October , 2012 The divisional history is the book by Maude which you already have. As you will have seen it doesn't give any more info than the War Diary. I will send a copy of the entry in Bloody Red Tabs. That's rather more helpful and quotes another war diary which gives where he was killed. One should be able to pin down the approximate location from tench maps. I'm researching the 19th London Regt and the 47th London. Waterlow's diary is one of the best sources and is held in the IWM. I have got a copy and have transcribed it. One thing that I am looking at in particular is command in 47 Div so I am Interested in Brig Gen Nugent and would be keen to find out more about him myself. Thats odd you can send me an email via the GWF but maybe it's because you haven't posted enough messages yet. My email is charles dot fair66 at gmail dot com. Send me a message and I will get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 24 October , 2012 Share Posted 24 October , 2012 Nick, I've just sent you the 141 Inf Bde war diary for March to May 1915. It's about 25 Mb of images so am hoping it will get through. I will respond to other points in due course. Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now