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Remembered Today:

Men and Units in the 9th East Lancs War Diary


Gardenerbill

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Kate,

It is almost certainly the same man, my theory would be that after a period of convalescence from the injuries he received on the Western front he was declared fit and posted to the 9th East Lancs in November 1918, the first entry in the diary is on the 25th November 1918:

post-91681-0-49356800-1444242059_thumb.j

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The second entry for 2nd Lieutenant Pullen is for the 14th of February 1919:

post-91681-0-03809000-1444242290_thumb.j

If you PM me with your email address I can send you all the pages between the 2 dates if you are interested.

s/o/s means struck off strength

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That's excellent! Thank you. It's definitely the same man.

I did a medal search for "Pull* AND Lancashire" and could find my R. G. Pullen. But no-one else was match at all for a 2nd man - even with a different rank, different Christian Names/initials, and slightly different surname.

I think your hunch that he returned to duty after convalescence must be correct.

Thank you so much for looking him up - I'll PM you as I am interested in what was happening between those two dates.

Kate

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  • 8 months later...

I am delighted to see A E Burrowes ( Burrows) mentioned. He was my Grandfather (b 08/12/1891).

As far as my research has taken me he joined D Coy 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers as one of the "Rugby Pals", They saw action at Sulva Bay where he was mentioned in dispatches, He also one of 12 men from the battalion to receive a Commission whilst in the Field, and, as far as I knew stayed with his battalion when they left Gallipoli for Salonika. I assumed that He fought with the 7th RDF until he was repatriated due to injury/illness, as he was posted to the 4th South Lancs in Jan 1916 as Assistant Adjutant. I have a photo of him with officers of the the Battalion in Blackpool. The 3/4 I assume as they were stationed in Blackpool at the time. As his Army records were burnt I have no definitive record of him in Salonika. What information can you give me about his service with the 9thEast Lancs ...if any!

Sorry if this is rather late to the original but I have only just found it!

embe

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Mike,

Welcome to the forum, there's good and bad news; bad news A.E. Burrows only gets one mention in the diary, the good news is it tells you the date he joined and the Company. Here's a part of the page from the 14th September 1917 I will email the full page to you:

post-91681-0-58410300-1465728246_thumb.j

The page comes from a typed copy of the diary held at The Lancashire Regiments Museum at Fulwood Barracks Preston, they also have a copy of the regimental History.

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Thanks for that Mark.

Sadly all Bad news!

My T/2/Lieut. A.E.Burrowes was wounded at the Battle of Frezenburg .Passchendaele August 16th 1917by which time he was T/ Capt. As far as I can work out he must have been repatriated in late sept or early nov 1915 as he was back in England fit enough to be posted to the 3/4 South Lancs in Jan 1916.

My excitement was caused by the rank and name, the missing of the e is a usual error.I will have to stick with My assumption that he stayed with the 7th RDF.

Mike

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Hi Mike,

It looks like Alfred Edward Burrowes (b 08/12/1891) has two files at the National Archives. His RDF file which can't be downloaded, and seemingly some kind of Air Ministry record* from 1918-19 which can (£3.45).

Regards

Chris

*EDIT: it's an air force service record which is also available on FMP. It references a 1918 New Year Honours Award of an MC, and indicates that he relinquished his commission w.e.f. 20.1.1920 due to ill health caused by wounds.

His MC index card from WO 389/10 at the National Archives:

post-113776-0-54912900-1465763672_thumb.

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  • 4 years later...
On 23/07/2013 at 19:25, Gardenerbill said:

Other Ranks

C.S.M. Saunders

Sgt. A. McMillan No 9/1479

Sgt. J. Downing No. 9/19650

Sgt. Morgan

Cpl. (A. Sgt) D. Burke No. 9/14478

Cpl. Bennet No. 13579

Cpl. E. Lancaster No. 9/14263

Cpl. J Hodgson No. 9/14843

Cpl. Johnson

L. Cpl. N. Ainsworth. No. 3/20923

L. Cpl. T. Whittaker

Pte. (A/Sgt) J.W. Neville 9/16796

Pte. C. Griffin No. 14653

Pte. E. Williams

Pte. H. Beaver No. 9/13982

Pte. P. Curwen No. 13413

Pte. Pilkington No. 9/13572

Pte. S. Heywood 9/14319

Pte. T. Towler

Hi. My relative, who I have just discovered was J Downing who was a warrant officer class 2 East Lancs Regt 19650, from Preston. May I ask, what info have you on him? Would you be willing to share it? Many thanks

Edited by michaela
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7 minutes ago, Gardenerbill said:

Hi Micheala, I will have a look in my records and post what I have later today.

Many thanks. I have also recently found out that he was awarded the Greek Military Cross, mentioned in the London Gazette 21 July 1919. Would you have any idea as to why? 

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It is quite unusual for an NCO to be mentioned in a war diary and Sergeant J Downing appears just once in an entry 23rd December 1917. I have images of a typed version of the war diary that is held at the Lancashire Regiments Museum Fulwood Barracks Preston. This is the entry for the 23rd of December 1917:

 

720085987_17-12-23Extract.jpg.7f07217309c5d29a85d328a254f59119.jpg  

 

 

The MID (Mention in Despatches) date of the 25th October I believe is transcription error and should read 25th November.

 

There is some information on  The Long Long Trail about MIDs here:

 

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/research-mention-despatches

 

The reason I think the date is incorrect is that General Milne (Commanding Officer of the British Salonika Army) sent his despatch on the 25th November 1917 and it was reported in the London Gazette 28th November 1917 here:

 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30404/supplement/12477

 

Sergeant Downing's entry in the Gazette is a few pages further on, here:

 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30404/supplement/12483

 

The citation is for "gallant conduct and distinguished service rendered during the last 6 months".

 

In which case the action for which Sergeant Downing was cited is most likely the first battle of Doiran, the 9th East Lancs were involved in consolidating the new line 27th April 1917 at the end of the first phase of the battle, this could also be the reason he was awarded the Greek Military Cross. There were no further significant actions during the rest of 1917. 

 

I have images of the relevant pages of the East Lancs regimental history, if you would like copies of the relevant pages, send me a PM with your email address I will email them to you.   

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