Various Unit Histories

[fellop]

Hello to all,

I have the following:

[a] The History of the Cheshire Regiment in The Great War by Col Arthur Crookenden; an N&M reprint of the original.

Cheshire Bantams, 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Battalions by Stephen McGreal.

[c] The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914 -1919 by Captain C T Atkinson; and N&M reprint of the original.

[d] The Durham Forces in the Field [The Service Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry] by Captain Wilfred Miles; and N&M reprint of the original.

[e] The 11^th Durham Light Infantry in Their Own Names by Martin Bashforth.

[f] A History of the Army Ordnance Services by Major General A Forbes; an N&M reprint of the original.

Happy to do look ups.

Regards

Peter

[Safecontractor]

Looking for Harold Wood - 51710 16th Battn Cheshire Reg - Died 04.04.1918 Age 20 - Buried at Caix Britsh Cemetery.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Merlin.

Hello to all,

I have the following:

[a] The History of the Cheshire Regiment in The Great War by Col Arthur Crookenden; an N&M reprint of the original.

Cheshire Bantams, 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Battalions by Stephen McGreal.

[c] The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914 -1919 by Captain C T Atkinson; and N&M reprint of the original.

[d] The Durham Forces in the Field [The Service Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry] by Captain Wilfred Miles; and N&M reprint of the original.

[e] The 11^th Durham Light Infantry in Their Own Names by Martin Bashforth.

[f] A History of the Army Ordnance Services by Major General A Forbes; an N&M reprint of the original.

Happy to do look ups.

Regards

Peter

[fellop]

Hi Merlin,

In early 1918 a radical shake up of divisions began, reducing infantry divisions from a thirteen to a ten battalion infantry unit. In early February the 16^th Bn was disbanded.

Some of the officers and men [5 officers and 100 men] were transferred to the 6^th [1/6^th] Bn, a group [15 officers and 310 men] were transferred to the 15^th Bn and the remainder were sent to the II Corps Reinforcements [surplus Wing] and many of these later formed part of the 12^th Entrenching Bn formed from remnants of 16^th Cheshires, 23^rd Manchesters, 20^th Lancashire Fusiliers and 14^th Gloucestershire.

There is a list of [ex] 16^th Bn men who did not survive the war, KIA, DOW or Died and for some [but not all] of those after March 1918 an annotation is shown against their name to indicate what unit the man was serving with at the time of death.

However though H Wood is shown as being KIA 4 April 1918 there is no annotation against his name as to he was serving with at the time.

So really you now need to look to see who or where he went to after disbandment of the battalion in February as to who he was with or what he was doing on 4 April.

Regards

Peter

[BillyH]

Merlin,

He has many pages of service papers on Ancestry.

Search under Harold Wood 33755 Shropshire Light Infantry (his first Regiment).

He was actually attached to the 7th Royal West Kents when he was killed (Fellop may help?)

If you can't find his service papers then PM me.

BillyH.

[fellop]

Hi Merlin, again.

Thanks first to Billy for the tip off re service papers; I guess he must be one of your Bebington men.

Right Merlin, in addition to what I have already posted I have had a chance to have a very quick glimpse at his service papers and I can now update you that Harold Wood was one of the group of men who went to II Corps Reinforcements [surplus Wing] on the 22 February and later became part of 12^th Entrenching Bn.

Though I have a copy of the 7^th Bn RWK war diary it only goes up to 31 Dec 1917 so no real help in knowing or understanding what happened in April 1918 from that. However I do have the regimental history, and without typing out huge chapters here is an extract.

The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1914 1919 by Captain C T Atkinson

Chapter XXV Pages 378 – 381 The Defence of Amiens.........................

........................End of March 1918;

If the final efforts of the Germans to force their way through to Amiens had not involved the 6^th RWK in any heavy fighting this was not so with the 7^th.

Hastily replenished by the incorporation into nit of the 12^th Entrenching Battalion the re-constituted 7^th had been thrust into the line on the evening of the April 1^st without any time to find itself or get together. It speaks volumes for the straights to which the British Command found itself reduced that after all the 18^th Division had gone through it should have been thrust back into the fighting, practically without rest and certainly without any real opportunity for reorganisation. But the fragments of four British divisions who were holding the right of the British front SE of Amiens were in even worse plight. The 18^th Division took over the line from the river Luce to the Marcelcave-Cachy road. On its left was the Villers-Bretonneux plateau, possession of which gave observation over the Somme valley and Amiens itself.

.......3^rd April.

The day passed off uneventfully, but a German prisoner warned his captors that an attack in force would be made on the next morning, and his information proved correct, for April 4^th brought the battalion a most strenuous time.

.........4^th April.

At 5am the enemy’s barrage opened and soon developed into a really heavy bombardment. An hour and a half later his infantry swarmed forward. The 7^th had two companies in its front line and met the attackers with a steady fire, in face of which and of the excellent barrage which the British artillery promptly put down, the Germans could not advance nearer than 300 yards from the British line.

But further to the left the force of the attack broke through the Australians and flung them back almost to the outskirts of Villers-Bretonneaux. The 7^th Buffs on the left of the 18^th Division had to fall back and form a defensive flank.

A second advance against the 7^th RWK early in the afternoon was no more successful than its predecessor but a little later the attack was renewed in force. This time the Germans left the 7^th out of the attack, pressing hard against the French at Hangard and on the 6^th Northampton’s, who had replaced the Bedford’s. The French were ousted from Hagard, and to escape being rolled up the Northampton’s had to go back, while simultaneously on the battalions left the Germans broke through the Buffs and East Surreys, whom event further North had compromised.

About 5pm therefore the 7^th found the enemy coming through the wood East of the Demuin-Villers-Bretonneux road behind their left, while the retreating Northampton’s had uncovered their right. But the company in reserve was brought up to form a flank facing North from Hangard Wood Eastward and as long as their ammunition lasted those in front held on.

Then with their retreat in danger, for the reserve company was hard pushed to hold the flank the 7^th fell back toward Hangard Wood losing heavily to German machine guns. Here a stand was made but the battalion had been forced back more than half way through the wood before relief came.

The 8^th Royal Berks with the 7^th Queens beyond them counter attacked which checked and then threw the Germans back on the left. Two Australian battalions were even more successful and to the right the Bedford’s came up to help the Northampton’s and regained much of the ground lost.

There seems on his service papers to be some confusion as to when he died. Phrases like Reported missing and presumed KIA or DOW on or after this date [4 April 1918] appear but certainly he does have a named grave so I am not sure what was going on.

There were eight other 16^th Bn men attached to 7^th RWK who also died 4 April 1918.

Just as an afterthought, though I am more than happy to do lookups and assist others if I can, it perhaps does help if all information is forthcoming. I can understand that perhaps you do not have access to Ancestry and so

did not know of his service papers but when looking on the CWGC site it clearly states that he was attached to the 7^th RWK when killed. The information of which sort of negates my earlier post of saying I did not know to whom he was attached at the time of death, when you might have offered this information with your original post.

Regards

Peter

[Safecontractor]

Peter & BillyH ;

Sorry for the delay .......I am very grateful for the additional information you've unearthed, particularly the apparent details of the last days of his movements but now I am confused by the references to another H Wood.

Please ... can you clarify,...???? ....You're correct .. I don't have access to Ancestry .. so far my research has been libraries / Google etc etc., plus tracing memorials in both a church In Northenden, Manchester and also a memorial garden, previously Heyhead Church, now absorbed into the vast Manchester Airport Car Park complex. Both of these memorials commemorate Harold and his brother Ernest ( also Cheshire Regiment - then Machine Gun Corps - commemorated on a plaque at Arras Memorial ).

Can the H Wood - SLI - 33775 - referred to, be the same person ????? I can't seem to find this person .... as Harold, I believe, came from Hale, Cheshire ( where most of the family connections seem to be )... surely Shropshire from Cheshire, then, was a bit of a stretch ....???

How can I find the info referred to on CWGC site ???

Sorry to be a bit dim ... all this info / research is new to me ... only found Harold within the last few weeks ...my father was their baby brother and couldn't / didn't give me any info when he was alive, other than to visit Heyhead Church, when I was about 10 or 11 ... some 60 years ago.

Thanks again ... any more help / direction would be fantastic ...

Best Wishes - Merlin

[BFBSM]

Merlin,

The info on CWGC can be found at http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/314934/WOOD,%20HAROLD.

Mark

[Safecontractor]

Mark :

Thanks for that ... I had by sheer chance, only about an hour ago, noticed all this info, as I had previously downloaded the Certificate only about 2 weeks ago, in haste, not noticing the additional information. The certificate itself doesn't show all the other info. That'll teach me to pay more attention !!!

It's very kind of you however and you would have helped enormously - I appreciate your assistance.

Thanks again and regards,

Merlin.