Jo K Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 After waiting for a couple of years to get more information on my Grandfather, I have finally got the information my Uncle has -which isn't much. He was in either the 1st or 2nd Battalion Dublin Fusilliers and landed on Beach V at Gallipoli. Looking at 1914-1918, I have narrowed it down to the 1st Battalion as they went to Gallipoli. Unfortunately his medals are missing (hopefully still somewhere in the family) so I can't get a Regimental Number. I have found a medal roll which reads: Lawrence Keating Royal Dublin Fusiliers Regimental Number:18658 Labour Corps Regimental Number: 376503 Victory, British & 1915 Star. Theatre of War first served in: France Date of Entry: 13/8/15 I think this is the correct entry as there are no others of the same name in the Dublin Fusiliers. He was injured at Gallipoli and then sent back to the UK to Graylingwell War hospital (where he met my Grandmother). Apparently he also saw action at the Somme and Ypres but was reluctant to talk about it, so we can't be sure. I am not sure what is fact and what is fiction. If the medal roll is the correct one, it says France was the theatre first served in. I had a read of the information about the Labour Corps, but can't work out how to find out which battles he was involved in.. Can any of you knowledgable people out there help me sort it out. If there is anything at the National Archives worth looking at, let me know as I live in London. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin ss002d6252 Posted 8 April , 2013 Admin Share Posted 8 April , 2013 it says France was the theatre first served in. It may be correct, I believe that some battalions were shipped across France to the Mediterranean so the first theatre they entered was France. EDIT: Looks like the 1st Bn sailed from Avonmouth - http://www.1914-1918.net/dubs.htm He may have been posted to the 2nd Bn in France and then on to the 1st Bn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 I can't help you with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, but, going by his service number, he would have transferred to the Labour Corps during the period September to November 1917. (From "No Labour, No Battle") Without a service record, it is unlikely that you will be able to find which Company he served with, or where. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museumtom Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 Did he work in the Irish Independent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentishwolf Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 Royal Dublin Fusiliers landed at V Beach on the 25th April 1915, so if this is his medal card then he did not land with the main body, if his first entry into a theatre of war was France on 13th August 1915. A mistake on the card?, or a later reinforcement? No doubt someone far more knowledgeable than I will be able to give an explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 8 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 April , 2013 Did he work in the Irish Independent? Yes he did. Apparently the Theatre Column - Gaelic part. I haven't found anything online, so when I eventually get over to Dublin, I want to try and find out more about him. Unfortunately my Grandmother destroyed almost everything paperwork-wise apart from letters from her brother who was killed - those I have already done a huge project on. If you have any information, that would be fantastic. To the others, thanks. I can't find his name for a service record. So may just get stumped on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museumtom Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 Irish Independent; Private L Keating, 7th Dublin Fusiliers, wounded in Gallipoli, and now in hospital at Chichester, was for many years connected with the magazine department of the “Irish Independent.” June 21, 1918. The following 38 members of the staffs of the Independent Newspapers, Ltd., have joined the forces since the outbreak of the present war to date. Ten of the have paid the supreme sacrifice, while several of them have been wounded.;- J H Cox, London Office (Grenadier Guards).....L Keating (R.D.F.)-Severely wounded. As he was severely wounded he may have a Silver War Badge. Perhaps some of the pals here (I donbt have Ancestry) would look that up for you and give you the info from it> Cheers. Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 8 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 April , 2013 Irish Independent; Private L Keating, 7th Dublin Fusiliers, wounded in Gallipoli, and now in hospital at Chichester, was for many years connected with the magazine department of the “Irish Independent.” June 21, 1918. The following 38 members of the staffs of the Independent Newspapers, Ltd., have joined the forces since the outbreak of the present war to date. Ten of the have paid the supreme sacrifice, while several of them have been wounded.;- J H Cox, London Office (Grenadier Guards).....L Keating (R.D.F.)-Severely wounded. As he was severely wounded he may have a Silver War Badge. Perhaps some of the pals here (I donbt have Ancestry) would look that up for you and give you the info from it> Cheers. Tom. Superb, thank you! I have Ancestry so will go and have a look, although I couldn't find anything else in the Millitary section, but perhaps will have a bit more luck with this extra information. Apparently he was on the beach in Gallipoli for a few days before being found alive. He died in 1968, so I only just remember him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdoyle Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 the medal card indicates he went into Class Z Reserve 6th April 1919. No SWB noted on the medal card and nothing for this Lawrence Keating in the SWB rolls on Ancestry. What was the brothers name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 8 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 April , 2013 the medal card indicates he went into Class Z Reserve 6th April 1919. No SWB noted on the medal card and nothing for this Lawrence Keating in the SWB rolls on Ancestry. What was the brothers name? The brother I mentioned was my Grandmother's not his. His photo is my avatar. Thanks for looking. I had another look and couldn't find anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noor Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 I think he enlisted 26 or 27 January 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 8 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 April , 2013 I think he enlisted 26 or 27 January 1915. If you have any more information, it would be great. If not on him, the 7th in general. Irish Independent; Private L Keating, 7th Dublin Fusiliers, wounded in Gallipoli, and now in hospital at Chichester, was for many years connected with the magazine department of the “Irish Independent.” June 21, 1918. The following 38 members of the staffs of the Independent Newspapers, Ltd., have joined the forces since the outbreak of the present war to date. Ten of the have paid the supreme sacrifice, while several of them have been wounded.;- J H Cox, London Office (Grenadier Guards).....L Keating (R.D.F.)-Severely wounded. As he was severely wounded he may have a Silver War Badge. Perhaps some of the pals here (I donbt have Ancestry) would look that up for you and give you the info from it> Cheers. Tom. I meant to ask, where did you find this information? Is it from a book you have, or a website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noor Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 I just checked my Dubs masterfile and the enlistment dates around his service number indicates end of January 1915, most likely 26 or 27. Also I checked RDF medal rolls - most of the guys from same patch went first into 7th. I have a book "The Pals at Suvla Bay". Perhaps he was D Coy. Then he may be mentioned in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noor Posted 8 April , 2013 Share Posted 8 April , 2013 Nothing. I checked few sources + period Dardanelles wound lists in the Irish newspapers. Its late, I will have a second look in coming days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdoyle Posted 9 April , 2013 Share Posted 9 April , 2013 looking at numbers near 18658: John Conlan, 18674, 6th RDF http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/697422/CONLAN,%20JOHN Medal card shows landed Gallipoli 7th August 1915 John Boyd, 18661, D Co, 7th RDF http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/699185/BOYD,%20JOHN Medal card show landed Gallipoli 9th August 1915. 18653 Michael Benson. SWB shows enlisted 26th January 1915; discharged 17th January 1919 18654 Horace Catley. SWB shows enlisted 26th January 1915; discharged 25th December 1916 18656 William Connolly landed Gallipoli 10th July 1915 18657 Michael Jordan, landed Gallipoli 7th August 1915 18659 William Power, landed Gallipoli 17th July 1915 18660 John Hanna, landed Gallipoli 10th July 1915 18662 patrick Dennehy landed Gallipoli 1st August 1915 18664 Patrick Fagan landed France 10th June 1915 18665 Charles Farris no landing info 18666 Patrick Kelly landed France 10th June 1915, KIA 1st July 1916 18667 John McNeilly landed France 28th May 1915. SWB enlisted 25th January 1915 and discharged 3rd March 1919 18700 J Madden landed Gallipoli 7th August 1915 18701 Joseph Mullen landed Gallipoli 7th August 1915; SWB shows enlisted 28th January 1915; discharged 2nd February 1916 using the SWB info from Benson, Catley, McNeilly and Mullen above, Lawrence Keating potentially enlisted 25th/26th/27th/28th January 1915? Ian Kenneally helped me with some research on an Irish Independent journalist from the wife's side of the family (Martin Pender). Might be worth contacting him to see if there is anything he might be able to pull up on Lawrence Keating. His website/contact info is http://www.iankenneally.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museumtom Posted 9 April , 2013 Share Posted 9 April , 2013 The first snippet is from the Irish Independent, September 20, 1915. The second snippet is from the Irish Indepnedent, June,23, 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 9 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 9 April , 2013 You all are all brilliant, thank you. I did have a look at the Pals at Suvla Bay and couldn't find his name either. I will look at the Ian Kenneally website and see if he has a bit more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdoyle Posted 9 April , 2013 Share Posted 9 April , 2013 War Diary entries for the 7th RDF for August and Sept 1915, original and transcribed versions : http://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/battaliions/7-batt/war-diaries/1915-08/1915-08-diary.html http://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/battaliions/7-batt/war-diaries/1915-08/1915-08-trans.html http://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/battaliions/7-batt/war-diaries/1915-09/1915-09-diary.html http://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/battaliions/7-batt/war-diaries/1915-09/1915-09-trans.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 9 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 9 April , 2013 War Diary entries for the 7th RDF for August and Sept 1915, original and transcribed versions : http://www.dublin-fu...5-08-diary.html http://www.dublin-fu...5-08-trans.html http://www.dublin-fu...5-09-diary.html http://www.dublin-fu...5-09-trans.html Thank you. You are an angel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 10 April , 2013 Admin Share Posted 10 April , 2013 He may have been posted to the 2nd Bn in France and then on to the 1st Bn. Give that man a Gold Star! He first went abroad with the 2nd Bn. Note the spelling of his first name too. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 10 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 April , 2013 Give that man a Gold Star! He first went abroad with the 2nd Bn. Note the spelling of his first name too. Glen Names are a bit of a ****** sometimes. I know that Laurence and Lawrence seem interchangeable. I guess it depends on who wrote the name down. Gold stars for everyone!! Thank you for this bit of information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 11 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 11 April , 2013 The first snippet is from the Irish Independent, September 20, 1915. The second snippet is from the Irish Indepnedent, June,23, 1918. I went to the Newspaper library today and now have a copy of the original full article. Makes for fascinating reading when read with the Battalion Diary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museumtom Posted 11 April , 2013 Share Posted 11 April , 2013 What was it ould Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith used to say? "I love it when a plan comes together!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo K Posted 11 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 11 April , 2013 Give that man a Gold Star! He first went abroad with the 2nd Bn. Note the spelling of his first name too. Glen The date on this roll, was it a start date? According to the article he wrote, he was injured at Gallipoli around that time and it states that he was with the 7th by then.Lawrence Keating Article.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin ss002d6252 Posted 11 April , 2013 Admin Share Posted 11 April , 2013 The 2nd should be the battalion he was with on 13 August 1915 although he may never have actually served as such with the battalion in the field - men could often be assigned to a unit, arrive at a depot and be re-assigned without ever seeing service with the original battalion. Its odd though that he mentions landing on 7 August 1915 in Gallipoli, presumably there's an error in the medal roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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