Bombardier Albert James Hunter POW Le Cateau

[RedCoat]

Hello all,

I have previously asked for help ref my Great Great Uncle Albert James Hunter but i am going to revisit his service to see if i can come across any more information. To summarise, Albert was a pre war regular, went to France and was capture at Le Cateau whilst serving with 15th (XV) Brigade RFA. Is there anyway i can identify what battery he served with so i can narrow it down and get more of a picture of his role in the battle?

Regards, Don.

[kildaremark]

Hi Don, I can't give you the battery but just to note that the XV Brigade marched out of Kildare Barracks on 16 August 1914 to Dublin. The local newspaper reported: ‘A couple of large detachments of the Royal Field Artillery left Kildare Barracks early on Sunday and Monday mornings. They on each occasion being played out of the town by the band of the Kildare Volunteers, which rendered such tunes as "Come back to Erin", etc. Though it was 2 o'clock on Sunday morning, never the less a large crowd of Kildare Townspeople assembled to cheer them off and this was repeated on Monday morning at 7 o'clock. Such warm demonstrations must have helped to bring gladness to the hearts of those men who were going forth to defend our nation's right, and also to their wives and relatives from whose presence they have been called for an indefinite period.’ One gunner wrote: ‘I remember riding through the streets of Dublin, people cheering and our horses being rather restive on the cobblestones. We spend the night on Phoenix Park sleeping on our groundsheets under the open sky, beneath our greatcoats.’ On 17 August they marched to the North Wall where they boarded the SS Cornishman. Mark

[sotonmate]

Don

I just looked up some notes from a while back as I did a look at most of 5 Division's War Diaries in the process from mobilisation to first deployment around Le Cateau/Dours towards the end of August 1914.War Diary for XV Brigade is WO95/1528 and it notes much as Mark has said plus a second ship was also used,Tinterello. Both arived at Le Havre on 19th,Le Cateau on 22nd,but not before being shot at by a French piquet on the 21st(!)killing a Bombardier Kettering and wounding a Corporal Atkins. Moved on to Dours for 23rd and in first action on the 24th.

Three Batteries,11,52 and 80. I might have referred you to the Commander RA War Diary (later WO95/1521) for this period had it not been lost to a direct hit on a GS wagon by a German shell and was not re-constituted as some other lost ones were.It night have had more detail on Batteries. As it is you might get something from the unit WD.

[RedCoat]

Many thanks to you both for very interesting replies, i was quite emotional to picture Alberts send of from Ireland not knowing that he would spend the next 4 years enduring extreme hardships as a POW. I think i will check the 1911 census to see if his battery is on there.

All the best, Don.

[RedCoat]

Right,

I checked the 1911 census and Albert is listed in 11th Battery XV Brigade RFA, i understand the 11th Battery suffered some of the heaviest casualties out of any of the batteries on that day. There are snippets online but if anyone has any more accounts of the 11th's role on that day please respond.

All the best, Don.