Andrew Herman Posted 30 January , 2014 Posted 30 January , 2014 Charles Henry Godfrey War Diary.pdfCharles Henry Godfrey War Diary.pdf1st Battalion Essex Regt, 88 Brigade, 29th Division 32404 pte H.C.Godfrey 13 Section = 8th platoon X Compy My grandfather’s older brother was killed in action at The Battle of Langemarck Aug. 16, 1917. I have his diary and a wallet he was carrying at the time which has a bullet hole through it. Would there be any record where I could find out at what stage of the battle he was shot? “We are now back for two days then we are going up and over. I am in the bombing section and hope to have the pleasure of helping to drive out the enemy. Aug; 14th Tonight we have moved to an advanced camp at Elverdinge ready to move up tomorrow night to lay ready for the attack on Thursday morning.” Extract from the war diary of pte H.C.Godfrey. 19 years of age.
sotonmate Posted 31 January , 2014 Posted 31 January , 2014 AH The unit war Diary will likely have a map of sorts or a map ref which will place you on their start line for 16 August 1917. Ref is WO95/2309/1. Alternatively there are map folders used by their XIV Corps superiors to plan out the positions of uinits. These are in WO153/732 or 733. All at Kew and not yet digital,well,the maps are large.
Andrew Herman Posted 30 November , 2017 Author Posted 30 November , 2017 (edited) Battle of Langemarck 16 August 1917 I'm looking for any battle details for the events of the The 1st Battalion Essex Regiment, part of the 88th Brigade, attached to the 29th Division My relative is war casualty: Private HENRY CHARLES GODFREY, who was killed in action France 16 Aug 1917 Thursday. He was Private No. 32404 in the 13 battery royal fuseleers Platoon, X Company. The family would like to know how, where and when he died. Andrew Herman Charles Henry Godfrey War Diary.pdf Edited 2 December , 2017 by Andrew Herman
Chris_B Posted 30 November , 2017 Posted 30 November , 2017 (edited) This seems to be the more detailed of your two post, so I'll reply here. Do you have access to ancestry.co.uk? If so, it's the war diaries of both the 1st Battalion of the Essex Regiment and the 88th Brigade that are your starting point. But the where is likely not to be a precise grid location and how is often a probable. 1st Essex WD for August is just three pages, so not much detail. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_2309_1-00000?backurl=https%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d60779%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=43112_2309_1-00044 88th Brigade is also brief, but gives locations which may be relevant: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_2307_0-00000?backurl=https%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d60779%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=43112_2307_0-00067 One of the locations mentioned is this: General Farm St Julien 28NW2 C 1 a 7.2 see http://rdf.muninn-project.org/TrenchCoordinates.html?q=28.C.1.a.70.20 for modern co-ords. I'm sure others can/wiil contribute more. Edited 30 November , 2017 by Chris_B
Aurel Sercu Posted 30 November , 2017 Posted 30 November , 2017 28.C.1.a.7.2 ... Which is only two km from where I live ... If tomorrow's weather is better than today (rain all the time!) I could go for a bike ride if you want me to take a photo of the field ... I won't even have to "climb" all the way up to Pilkem Ridge ! :-) Aurel P.S. Hi Chris, nice to be in the same topic ! :-)
Chris_B Posted 30 November , 2017 Posted 30 November , 2017 Aurel, Only had a quick look at where the 1st Esesx might have been on 14th August - General Farm may not be the right place. PS Message in a bottle might have reached by snail mail by now, even though MS promises speed of light delivery.
Aurel Sercu Posted 1 December , 2017 Posted 1 December , 2017 Chris, It looks like my bike may have to climb Pilkem Ridge after all! :-) The wind is from north right now, but last night we had an inch of snow. It looks like it could be a dangerous and slippery expedition?! ;-) This is what I read in McCarthy's Passchendaele The Day-by-Day account: 16 August 1917 - 29th Div. The Division attacked at 4.45 attacked at 4.45 a.m., with two brigades. 88 Brigade attacked with 2nd Hampshires and the Newfoundland Regiment, with the 1st Essex in support. They took the first objective and the Hants assisted 61 Brigade on their right in taking the Blue line In very marshy conditions [my bike is hoping that beneath the 1 inch of snow the ground will be frozen] they came under fire from Cannes Farm; this was cleared and they went on to take the Green Line etc. But I see no further mention of 1/Essex ... :-( Looking on the map I see the 88th Brigade moved on in a stretch west of Langemark Station (the railway). Blue line = road from Langemark station to Wijdendrift (and Bikschote,) a road that is more or less 0.5 - 1 km past the Steenbeek. I don't think this is very helpful. But the good news : the area is ... downhill from Pilkem Ridge ! (But ... uphill when .... ;-) ) Aurel
MBrockway Posted 1 December , 2017 Posted 1 December , 2017 1/Essex were part of 88 Inf Bde along with 4/Worcestershire Regt, 2/Hampshire Regt and 1st Bn, Royal Newfoundland Regt. On 16 Aug 1917, 88 Infantry Brigade formed the right of the 29th Division attack at the Battle of Langemarck. The following notes and the map below are from material in 20th (Light) Division's archives. 88 Bde had the railway line as their right boundary (yellow line below). Beyond that to their right (SE) was 61st Bde of 20th (Light) Division. The yellow line further to the NW, which meets the Green Line at CRAONNE FARM, is the Corps Boundary. This would also have been 29th Div's left boundary. The boundary between 88 Bde and the other attacking Brigade of 29th Div is NOT shown on the map, but would have divided the division's sector roughly in two. Compare with 20th Div's sector split with the brown crayon line showing the boundary between 61 and 60 Brigades. The German unit facing 29th Div appears to have been 50th Infanterie-Regiment of 214th Division. The Start Line was the Steenbeek. As per Aurel's post, the First Objective (Blue Line) was the road from LANGEMARCK STATION to WIJDENDRIFT. This was taken by 2/Hampshire Regt at 06:12hrs. The Second Objective (Green Line) was 500 yards further to the NE just beyond CANNES FARM on the left and the railway crossing leading to CARREFOUR NEY on the right. This was taken by 2/Hampshire Regt at 07:20hrs. 88 Bde also assisted 61 Bde of 20th Div at this stage with the reduction of the German strongpoints near LANGEMARCK STATION (U.22.c.8.4) at REITRES FARM (100 yds SE of LANGEMARCK STATION) which was holding up 20th Div's advance. The Third and Final Objective (Red Line) were the German trenches around JAPAN HOUSE. This major defensive position was part of the German GHELUVELT-LANGEMARCK LINE. This was taken by 1/Essex Regt. 20th Div received a report from 29th Div confirming the whole of the RED LINE in 29th Div sector was in British hands at 12:57hrs, but based on 61 Bde's timings, 88 Bde probably achieved this at approx. 08:00hrs. German resistance, according to 61 Bde, was concentrated in two groups of huts along the railway at U.23.a.00.50 and at U.17.c.50.00. Presumably these strongpoints would also have fired on 1/Essex. 7/DCLI, the left-most battalion of 20th (Light) Div, were in contact with 1/Essex to their left. This was Harry Patch's unit. As per the map below, 88 Bde was also due to establish an outpost ahead of the RED LINE covering the CARREFOUR NEY (the dark blue semi-circle). The red crosses mark points where the units at the divisional boundary were ordered to establish contact with their neighbouring units across the boundary. Hope that helps a little - my focus is on 20th (Light) Division, as it was my grandfather's original unit (though he was in 33rd Div by this stage) and the above is pretty much all I have on 29th Division at Langemarck. Mark
MBrockway Posted 1 December , 2017 Posted 1 December , 2017 20 hours ago, Chris_B said: General Farm St Julien 28NW2 C 1 a 7.2 This was in the Rest Area to where the Bde were relieved after the Battle. The good stuff begins with 88 Brigade Instruction No. 8 of 11 Aug 1917 here. This describes the plan for the battle in some detail. 88 Bde's Battle Report starts here I'm a bit confused by your mention of service in the Royal Fusiliers - " 13 battery royal fuseleers ". The private diary in your other topic doesn't mention the RF and Godfrey's medal roll only shows service in the Essex Regiment. Mark
Admin Michelle Young Posted 1 December , 2017 Admin Posted 1 December , 2017 I have merged the two ,threads Michelle
MBrockway Posted 1 December , 2017 Posted 1 December , 2017 Just spotted the two originally separate topics were nearly four years apart!
Andrew Herman Posted 2 December , 2017 Author Posted 2 December , 2017 Thank you all, plenty to get on with. Time to renew my membership to ancestry.co.uk. I have uploaded the whole diary, original and transcribed for your interest. Andrew The War Diary of Henry Charles Godfrey No 32404.pdf Charles Henry Godfrey War Envelope.pdf Charles Henry Godfrey War Diary 1st page.pdf Charles Henry Godfrey War Diary Pages 2 & 3.pdf Charles Henry Godfrey War Diary pages 4 & 5.pdf Charles Henry Godfrey War Diary Pages 6 & 7.pdf
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