3rd Signal Company, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, BEF

[jwynne]

Hello,

I would like to try and find the War Diary covering the 3rd Signal Company, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, BEF, in Ypres in November 1914.

Any help in identifying the correct/best WO 95 reference, and also perhaps some explanation as to whether this company was part of the Royal Engineers, would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[Terry_Reeves]

John

The reference is WO95/1404/3. They were part of the Royal Engineers and provided signal support for 3rd Division.

It is available for download here: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352050

TR

[jwynne]

John

The reference is WO95/1404/3. They were part of the Royal Engineers and provided signal support for 3rd Division.

It is available for download here: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352050

TR

Thanks, Terry.

It shows that hey were certainly in Ypres at that time.

I downloaded that diary yesterday, but wasn't sure if the reference to "3 Division Troops, Divisional Signal Company", and "3rd Signals Coy, RE", was the same as 3rd Signal Company, part of the 7th Brigade, 3rd Division.

Also, on pages 19 and 20 of the downloaded file, there are references to "cables to 7th & 8th Bdes" and "cables to 7th & 9th Bdes".

I'm interested in a sapper who was involving in "wiring" in Ypres around Bonfire Night.

I assume "Bdes" means "Brigades", but if they were part of the Royal Engineers and part of 7th Brigade, why would they be laying cable TO 7th Bde?

I'm sorry, I know nothing about military structure/organisation or WW1 order of battle.

Cheers,

John

[clk]

Hi John,

It might be worth having a look at these pages on the LLT.

http://www.1914-1918.net/cre.htm (please note the link to Field and Signal Companies towards the end of the page)

http://www.1914-1918.net/3div.htm

The second hyperlink shows that in 1914 the 3rd Division was made up from three Infantry Brigades (the 7th, 8th and 9th) + other units. In other words the Signals Company RE was effectively a shared resource to, and under the direction of the Division, rather than being under the direction of a specific subordinate Infantry Brigade.

Depending on what you are actually looking for, it might be also worth looking at the war diaries for the Commander Royal Engineers (3rd Division), Adjutant & Quarter Master General (3rd Division), and HQ General Staff (3rd Division) for the period. As well as being available for download from the National Archive, they are now part of the record sets available on Ancestry. If you don't have a membership, I understand that you should be able to access them free via your local library. I did have a quick look at them, but be warned though that whilst they certainly add to the overall picture of events, there is scant (or no) mention to the works of your Signals Company.

Good luck with your research

Regards

Chris

Edit: If you have a specific reference to the 7th Brigade, it would be worth checking that diary too

[WhiteStarLine]

Hi John,

Chris in post #4 has given you the pointers you need for research. To get you going:

• "3 Division Troops, Divisional Signal Company", and "3rd Signals Coy, RE" are one and the same.
  
• References to "cables to 7th & 8th Bdes" would mean that the Divisional Signal Company (ie the headquarters located at the division) had a task to lay cables from divisional headquarters to each of the brigades and the sapper participated in this. The signal company headquarters would have co-ordinated this major task and each section (permanently allocated to an infantry brigade) would have assisted. In ideal conditions in open warfare, this could be done by a horse-drawn wagon, but under shellfire in locations such as Ypres, it was a massive manual job involving an infantry battalion to dig trenches and burying the cable out of artillery reach, under signals guidance.
  

The signal company was a large organisation and detached a section to each brigade. This section stayed with the brigade and provided communications down to the battalions, including laying and repairing line under fire. The Officer Commanding (OC, a lieutenant) worked at brigade headquarters or in the brigade signals office and provided the guidance for section tasks as well as co-ordinating with the OC Signals Company (a major at divisional headquarters) for the many divisional tasks that they were involved in.