298 Brigade RFA

[philipdavies48]

Hi I am researching a casualty in the 298th Brigade RFA. Can anyone tell me anything about the brigade - which division it was attached to. I know that my casualty was killed on 23rd March 1918 and is commemorated at Arras so the unit must have been in that area when the German Offensive of March 1918 began

[rflory]

During 1918, 298th Brigade, RFA was an Army Brigade, RFA and from 28 February 1918 to 30 March March 1918 it was supporting the 14th Division of III Corps. The Brigade War Diary indicates the following for 22-23 March 1918:

22nd March 1918

12.1 am: En route to Faillouel via Flavy le Martel

3.0 am: Brigade in action 500 yards NE of Faillouel

10.0 am: Opened fire on line G.9.d.80..10 to M.30.d.50.20

12 noon to 12 midnight: During this period the Brigade kept up steady rate of fire on approached to canal, canal and bridges

23 March 1918

12.1 am to 8.0 am: Searching and sweeping fire by Brigade east of canal.

8.0 am: Enemy reported to have forced the bridges. Brigade quickened up rate of fire on all bridges in their zone.

9.30 am: One battery opened fire on Jussy M.15.b., remainder still on bridges.

11.0am to 1.15 pm: Brigade switched on to line 100 yards East of Railway between Jussy and Mennessis.

1.30 pm: Brigade retired under heavy shell fire.

2.0 pm: 1 Section 18-pdrs fired on Cavalry east of Flavy from Bois L'Abbe. Horses in Brigade killed R.35.b.70.40 by machine gun fire.

4.0 pm: Brigade arrived X.20.a. & b.

8.0 pm to 12 midnight: Brigade opened fire on valley east of Riez de Cugny per 14th Divisional Artillery orders. Brigade area heavily shelled causing casualties to men, horses and vehicles.

Regards, Dick Flory

[philipdavies48]

Thanks Dick for your prompt response.This information has filled a gap and given me a lead to follow. My casualty was Frank Gwyn Skeats Dvr 244041 "A" Battery 298th Brigade. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the missing. I will be visiting the area in June and hope to see some of the ground. I am also researching our village War Memorial which has Frank Skeats name. He was born in New York - yet to research this.

I notice that you are researching Great War Royakl Artillery Officers. I wonder if you can shed any light on my wife's great uncle, John Prichard. He was a Lieutenant in the Glamorgan Territorial Artillery pre war and was mobilised. He went to Gallipoli where he was mentioned in dispatches. He was with the 53rd Welsh Division but I have read that they did not take their divisional artillery and had to have another divisions artillery attached. I have long searched to find which unit he went to Gallipoli with. His Mentioned in Dispatches refers toi his work at Suvla. He was promoted Captain and next served in Mesopotamia, relief of Kut and was again mentioned in dispatches. In 1919 he was on the North West Frontier and as a Major was awarded the IGS with NWF Clasp. Subsequently he served in Iraq and was awarded the General Service medal with Iraq clasp. On leaving the army in the early 1920s he served in Iraq as a judge having trained pre war in the legal profession. On retirement he was knighted and returned to his home in Wick (Vale of Glamorgan). I would like to know what units he served in in Mespotamia and Afghanistan. I have a suspicion that he was in an Indian Artillery unit but cannot be sure.

Any help woulkd be greatly appreciated. I have a photograph of him if you are interested.

Best Wishes

Phil

[rflory]

Phil: I must have missed this when it was originally posted and just saw it today. I don't know which unit he served with during the Great War but he served with 1091st Battery, RFA on the North West Frontier of Afghanistan in 1919. Regards, Dick

[Mike HB]

Hi - noticed this thread and thought I'd contribute. I'm researching my grandfather, Edward Blackburn, who was in the RFA. From a photo of him and a postcard I've been able to establish he started off in 19 Battery, 2/3 East Lancs Bde (the Bolton Artillery) equipped with 18 pdrs, which then changed to B Battery, 332 Bde. From the threads on this forum I've seen that the Bde's A Battery was transferred to France in October 2016, and the B Battery became the A Battery. By the time it moved to France in March 1917, my grandfather was a sergeant (Reg nr 710493) and commanding a gun (from his account, although he died just before I was born). Shortly after arrival in France the Brigade was broken up, with A Battery going to 298 Bde as their C battery.

 

In March 1918, as Dick says, the Brigade was just south of St Quentin and about 5 miles from the German front lines when the German Spring Offensive started (and nowhere near Arras!). So for the next five days it was making a fighting retreat to the south-west. The War Diary is sparse with details of casualties, although it did note that the Bde drew 5 replacement guns later in the month, so presumably it lost some guns in the retreat.

 

My grandfather remained with the Brigade until 25 August, after the Battle of Amiens, when he was wounded and repatriated. According to the family, he received his injury when his gun exploded (his discharge papers confirm a shell wound to the left thigh), and the rest of the detachment serving the gun were killed. Having looked through a number of War Diaries during my research I haven't found any references to this sort of incident - although the 298th's diary is rather sparse, others are more detailed but have no records of premature explosions or burst barrels. Does anyone have any knowledge of this sort of incident, and was it particularly common? I would have thought not, since shells were more reliable by this time of the war.

 

 

[Barwinmol]

While researching my grandfather's service in the RFA, 96 Bde and 59 Bde, I have downloaded a number of RFA Brigade war diaries relevant to my grandfathers movement,1916/7 and have been surprised by the number of 'prematures' suffered in service and noted in the diaries. Invariably,most of the gun crew were killed from the accounts I have read.

[Mike HB]

Thanks Barwinmol, that's interesting. My grandfather would have been the nr 1, so behind the gun, and possibly that might have been what saved him. I assume then it would have been the nrs 2 and 3 that would have been killed, the ones alongside the breech/barrel, rather than the other guys who I assume were doing the fusing and loading?

 

The WDs do seem to vary considerably in detail, I cam across one that had all casualties by name for ORs, whereas the 298th has virtually nothing, even about officers.

[Volpone]

On 09/12/2018 at 22:42, Mike HB said:

Hi - noticed this thread and thought I'd contribute. I'm researching my grandfather, Edward Blackburn, who was in the RFA. From a photo of him and a postcard I've been able to establish he started off in 19 Battery, 2/3 East Lancs Bde (the Bolton Artillery) equipped with 18 pdrs, which then changed to B Battery, 332 Bde. From the threads on this forum I've seen that the Bde's A Battery was transferred to France in October 2016, and the B Battery became the A Battery. By the time it moved to France in March 1917, my grandfather was a sergeant (Reg nr 710493) and commanding a gun (from his account, although he died just before I was born). Shortly after arrival in France the Brigade was broken up, with A Battery going to 298 Bde as their C battery.

 

In March 1918, as Dick says, the Brigade was just south of St Quentin and about 5 miles from the German front lines when the German Spring Offensive started (and nowhere near Arras!). So for the next five days it was making a fighting retreat to the south-west. The War Diary is sparse with details of casualties, although it did note that the Bde drew 5 replacement guns later in the month, so presumably it lost some guns in the retreat.

 

My grandfather remained with the Brigade until 25 August, after the Battle of Amiens, when he was wounded and repatriated. According to the family, he received his injury when his gun exploded (his discharge papers confirm a shell wound to the left thigh), and the rest of the detachment serving the gun were killed. Having looked through a number of War Diaries during my research I haven't found any references to this sort of incident - although the 298th's diary is rather sparse, others are more detailed but have no records of premature explosions or burst barrels. Does anyone have any knowledge of this sort of incident, and was it particularly common? I would have thought not, since shells were more reliable by this time of the war.

 

 

Hi Mike - my wife's great-grandfather was also in 298 Brigade RFA.  The most interesting source I've found is a first hand account by Aubrey Wade, who was a young signaller in "A" Battery,  This covered the unit from its arrival in France in May 1917 until he was wounded shortly before the Armistice.  This was published in 1936 as "War of the Guns" and re-released in 1959 as "Gunner on the Western Front".  Both editions are readily available to buy.  It contains a wealth of detail that tallies with the war diary and is an excellent read that should be better known.  I don't recall any specifics on premature explosions, but hopefully still of use for you.

[Mike HB]

Thanks Volpone, I did get hold of this a while back, following a recommendation on the forum, and used Wade's account to assist in writing an account of my Grandfather's war - Wade's account fleshes out the regimental diary very well, especially the events of March 1918.

Yes, I have found it very difficult to get more detail on 'prematures', in terms of casualties in the gun crew. Having searched through the CWGC data, I can see that no-one from the battery (or even the brigade) was killed on the day my grandfather was wounded, and yet he was clear he was injured as a result of a 'premature' (his hospital reports are consistent with this) which he said killed the rest of the crew ....... all a bit of a mystery really, and despite having read virtually every book covering the period in the vain hope of finding some lead, I've more or less given up now!

Do you know what battery your relative was in?

[Volpone]

Hi Mike - unfortunately my wife's great grandfather's (Dvr Thomas Morris Isaac s/n 618429) service record was lost  So I've had to derive guesses based on research of the service numbers in the brigade, with 'A' Battery the most likely (as I think it was formed from the Territorial unit 2/1 Glamorgan RHA).  Morris (as he was known) was in his mid 40's by the end of the war and must have seemed ancient to many of his comrades.  Morris' son Idwal had been called up to the RGA in 1918 and they had seen each other in passing, probably just in the week or two before your grandfather was wounded.  Morris survived the war, but unfortunately his son died on 27th Sep, 3 days after being wounded by an 8" shell.

Just wondering if there is any chance that your grandfather could have been wounded before August?  I had a check on casualties and there were 3 gunners in C Battery killed on 27th May 1918, which could possibly have been due to a premature (and no enemy action mentioned in the sparse war diary).  Is there was a chance he was treated in France for a while before being evacuated?  Anyway, good luck with your researches.

[Mike HB]

Hello Volpone

Thanks for the thought. However, my (paternal) grandfather's service record survived, so the date of his injury is definite, 25 August at Choignolles.  One of the reasons I was trying to work out what effect a premature might have was because my grandfather's memory might not have been accurate, and in fact several men might have been wounded but none killed. After all, there was probably an almighty bang and the next thing he might have known was the casualty clearing station, from where he was rapidly dispatched back to UK. 

It was lucky the service record survived as without it things are very difficult, as you'll know. I've researched others of my relatives, some with records and some without, and if they disappeared into an organisation like the RE (as my other grandfather did) there's no way of finding anything much out!

All the best

[JOVE23]

Have you looked around for your grandfather's name in the casualty reports published in the newspapers? He might be listed alongside other RA men. They are likely the men who were wounded when the gun went off prematurely.

[Volpone]

1 hour ago, JOVE23 said:

Have you looked around for your grandfather's name in the casualty reports published in the newspapers? He might be listed alongside other RA men. They are likely the men who were wounded when the gun went off prematurely.

As it occurred in Aug 1918, could look for wounded in the weekly casualty lists available for free on the Royal Library of Scotland https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/144481815.  I think these stopped appearing in newspapers from mid 1917 onwards. It includes transcripts, but I haven't found out how to search easily, so may be a bit of a trawl...

[JOVE23]

It should be about 6-10 weeks out from his wounding to it showing up in the official list. If you're lucky, there are only a few artillerymen listed alongside your grandfather.

[Mike HB]

Thanks Old Sweats. It would have been in the Bolton Evening News, if anywhere (C/298 started off as part of the Bolton Artillery), but they don't seem to have an online archive. From other correspondents on this site I gather hard copies can be searched in Bolton (Library?), but unfortunately I'm quite a distance away!

[Mike HB]

Just caught up with the two latest posts! I'll give it a go, I don't mind a bit of trawling if there's a chance of finding the last piece of the puzzle.

Thanks Jove23 and Volpone

[Mike HB]

Well, I located him in the Sept 30th 8th list. Unfortunately there are about 140 other RFA ORs wounded in the same list, only one other from Bolton, and with a s/n close enough (711059 vs 710493) to suggest he might have been in the 298th. In the preceding and following daily reports there are three other RFA men from Bolton with serial nrs 710394 to 711641, who could have been in the unit. Any ideas whether casualties from one incident were sometimes reported on different days? I could imagine this might be possible in the confusion of the time.

[Hennis]

Hi Mike - there were a few different groups of s/n’s in the Brigade as each battery was merged in from other units. For instance, A Bty was drawn from both TA Hampshire & Glamorgan RHA and mainly had numbers in the 618nnn series.  Also I think you’re right that they could get reported on different days. Good work finding him!