9th Siege Battery RGA

[Ann Marie]

Hi,

Could anyone tell me where I could search for further information on this unit and its movements during WW1 please?

Thank you!

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

Hi,

I am no expert in military history, but have recently been doing searches on a relative who was in the ASC during the war, spending his time hauling around big guns for various Siege Batteries.

9 Siege battery first went to France on 21 April 1915.

There is a part of a War Diary at Kew, its index entry is online at : http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C4553626

Unfortunately this only covers the period March - May 1916.

Also unfortunately, Diaries WO 95/471-500 can't be seen at Kew between 08 October 2014–19 December 2014, as they are in the process of being digitised, which means that hopefully, in the not too distant future, they will be available online (for a fee of about £3.50).

However, the index also tells you that WO95/475 is the diary for 71 Brigade RGA, and I assume that 9 SB was in that Brigade along with 17 SB & 126 SB.

The Brigade diary covers August 1916-June 1919.

Studying that diary might give specific information about 9SB, and whether 9 SB was in 71Bde all through the war, or whether it moved to another Brigade, whose diary you could then study.

Edited 4 November , 2014 by Dai Bach y Sowldiwr

[Ann Marie]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I will follow that up.

[petwes]

Dear Ann Marie

These are the various upper formations 9th SB belonged to (HAB, Heavy Artillery Brigade; HAG, Heavy Artillery Group):

9th SB

6” Howitzers Mk1, 6” Howitzers 26 cwt from 17/6/1916, made up to six Howitzers 28/7/1917

To Western Front 21/04/1915

14 HAB 21/04/1915

XIII Corps HA 09/03/1916

33 HAG 13/05/1916

49 HAG 29/10/1916

Rest 10/11/1916

21 HAG 25/03/1917

92 HAG 30/04/1917

II Corps HA 01/07/1917

24 HAG 09/07/1917

2 HAG 06/09/1917

90 HAG 26/09/1917

44 HAG 21/10/1917

90 HAG 26/11/1917

71 HAG 02/12/1917

You can find their War diaries at the National Archives. I use the following superb website to find the war diary reference numbers in the WO95 series:

http://www.arcre.com/wdsearch

Try searching for "number" brigade artillery

Good Luck

Peter

[Ann Marie]

Thank you for posting up so much detail Peter. I really appreciate it.

[Ann Marie]

Hi Peter,

Could I check one thing with you please?

I am interested in the war diary for July 1916 and according to the above, 33 HAG would be the one to look at. I checked the great site you gave me and it appears that 33 Brigade RGA , reference WO 95/305 falls between Nov 1916 and Nov 1918.

Would you have any idea which brigade I should look at for June/July 1916 please?

Kind regards,

Ann Marie

[petwes]

Dear Ann Marie

My apologies for not picking up your last question until today. It looks as if the Brigade diary for July 1916 is missing. What I would consider doing now is going upwards and sideways.

Moving up one level you need to find out what Corps 33 HAG was with at that time (I only know they were 4th Army). This should be listed in Orders of Battle. I don't have access to these for that period but someone might be able to help or alternatively I think they are on open shelves at the National Archives.

Once you have the Corps number you need to search for the diaries for "Commander heavy Artillery"; if you are using Arcre, hover over the list with the mouse pointer until you find the right Corps number.

It might be worth looking at diaries of other batteries who were in 33 HAG at the same time, (building up a complete cross reference list is a work in progress for me); what I can tell you is that 28SB, 6SB and 32 SB were in 33 HAG then. If you are lucky you might find copies of brigade orders included in the individual diaries which could include the other battery positions or fire plan.

Regards

Peter