XL Brigade 3rd Division BEF

[SilverFox100]

From the War Diary of the 3rd Ammunition Column sent to me by Colin (again thanks) reading through I see that Harry Cartwright was involved in delivering ammunition through to the XL brigade., which had three batteries in it. I assume the ammunition coliumn would deliver to all three batteries? Would it be right to assume that the XL Brigade would have its own War Diary, am I correct? I will be going to Kew later this year does anybody know what the identity code would be. Also, I now understand more part of my grandfathers records. He was posted to the 108 th battery in May 1916 as a driver. 108 is part of the XXIII Brigade, would the battery have its own War Diary or the Brigade only. Does anyone have the identity code? More to the point, how do I find the identity codes fron the National Archives? so I can look myself in th future. any info would be welcome. Many thanks

Mike

[Colin W Taylor]

Mike

A quick search of the discovery catalogue for the national archives is all you need is to search for '23 brigade artillery' or likeswise for '40' in the advanced search section and put 'wo95' under 'Search Within - Reference:'. Learning to find things in the catalogue takes a bit of time to get the knack of. 'Give a man a fish...' and all that.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/s/res?_q=23+brigade+artillery&_cr1=wo95&_cr2=&_cr3=

As to which column delivering to which brigade - I couldn't be sure.

Each brigade will have its own war diary - batteries are unlikely to do so. Be aware that the references at Kew are for a brigade over a fixed period of time - as they leave or join divisions these references can change.

Kind regards

Colin

[SilverFox100]

Mike

A quick search of the catalogue for the national archives is all you need - search '23 brigade artillery' or likeswise for '40' in the advanced search section and put 'wo95' under 'Search Within - Reference:'

Each brigade will have its own war diary - batteries are unlikely to do so.

Thanks Colin will do

Mike

[Colin W Taylor]

Mike

Apologies - I edited my post after posting - please see above in addition.

Kind regards

Colin

[Ron Clifton]

Hello Mike

The following are the Kew reference numbers of the files for 3rd Division's artillery:

WO 95/1399 Divisional Troops

WO 95/1399 23 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1914 Aug. - 1916 Dec.

WO 95/1399 30 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1914 Aug. - 1916 Jan.

WO 95/1400 Divisional Troops: 40 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1914 Aug. - 1919 Feb.

WO 95/1401 42 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1914 Aug. - 1919 Feb.

WO 95/1401 7 Belgian Field Artillery Brigade 1915 Nov. - 1916 Jan.

WO 95/1401 74 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1919 Mar. - June

WO 95/1401 75 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1919 Apr. - Sept.

WO 95/1402 Divisional Ammunition Column 1914 Aug. - 1919 Sept.

WO 95/1402 Trench Mortar Batteries 1915 July - 1919 Feb.

Individual batteries did not have separate War Diaries.

Prior to May 1916 each field artillery brigade, usually of either three six-gun batteries or four four-gun batteries, had a brigade ammunition column (BAC) which supplied its batteries, and one infantry brigade, with ammunition. These were in turn resupplied from the divisional ammunition column (DAC) which had four sections, each supplying one BAC.

After May 1916 BACs were absorbed into the DAC, which then supplied the artillery and infantry brigades direct.

I don't think that these diaries have been digitised yet, so you will either have to visit Kew to read them, or order copies through their Website, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. This can be expensive so if you only want the diary for a particular period you should make this clear at the outset.

War Diaries rarely mention men by name other than officers, but the location of the unit, with a brief description of its activities, is given for each day.

Good hunting!

Ron

PS In January 1917 XXIII Brigade RFA became an Army Field Artillery Brigade, part of a general pool of artillery not attached to a particular division, which could be used in case of need to bolster the artillery of another division in the line. Its diary for the rest of the war is in this file:

WO 95/293 23 Army Field Artillery Brigade 1917 Jan. - 1919 Mar.

[SilverFox100]

Thanks Ron I'll have a look at this and copy them when I go to Kew

Regards Mike