deacs Posted 23 October , 2016 Share Posted 23 October , 2016 (edited) Hello I am wondering if anybody can help in locating the war diary for the month of October 1918 please for the 296th siege bty. I have tried in vain to search Ancestry for the war diarys but have had to give in I have looked for hours but I just can't find any. It is concerning the death of a Gunner William Martindale DOD 24th October. His grandson lent me some books and an original photo of Williams cross and I would like to repay him in trying to find out if his death is mentioned in the diary. Regards for any help Mike. Edited 23 October , 2016 by deacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petwes Posted 23 October , 2016 Share Posted 23 October , 2016 Mike Individual Siege Batteries no longer kept diaries by 1918. The diary you want is for 14 Brigade Royal Garrison Artillery, it's WO95/468 and I think you need part 4. Unfortunately I only have the preceding diary for 1917 so cannot tell you if your man is mentioned. Possibly not as earlier casualty reports only name officers and counts of OR's. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deacs Posted 24 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 24 October , 2016 Thank you Peter I will look into that cheers very much. Regards Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deacs Posted 25 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 25 October , 2016 Thanks Peter I downloaded the diary's and as expected there was no mention but also on the 24th there were no reported casualty's, so now I am maybe thinking he could have died of wounds ? Regards Mike. p.s I also downloaded the 296th diary's and they are complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 26 October , 2016 Share Posted 26 October , 2016 Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19 (the book) shows him as killed in action, not died of wounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petwes Posted 27 October , 2016 Share Posted 27 October , 2016 Mike "Soldiers Effects" also records him as being Killed in Action. If the later part is like the earlier one I think you might find the casualties are summarised periodically or by month in the Brigade diary, I presume after the individual battery returns had been sent in. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deacs Posted 29 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 29 October , 2016 Thank you for all your help and advice cheers. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 29 October , 2016 Share Posted 29 October , 2016 Hi Mike, Thinking out aloud, and most probably well off the mark...the CWGC shows that of the total of 29 named men buried in the cemetery, 7 died on 24th October 1918. Of those 7, with the exception of William and one other man, the others are recorded as being from 185 Siege Battery. The other man is a 171777 Banks, recorded a being a signaller with the RFA. However, his Soldiers Effects record shows that he was attached to 155 Siege Battery. I did wonder if there might be an error in his record, and if perhaps "155" should have been "185", but unfortunately he doesn't appear to have a surviving service record to check against. It also made me wonder if perhaps William might have been serving with 185 Siege Battery on some kind of temporary basis when he died, and whether as a long shot it would be worth checking their records to see if there is anything mentioned...even if it's just to rule it out as a possibility. Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petwes Posted 29 October , 2016 Share Posted 29 October , 2016 Mike Chris could well be right about the possibility of an error; 155 SB were in Second Army at the time unlike 185 and 296 who were in Brigades in Fourth Army. In case you don't have the information 185 were in 79 Brigade RGA at the time. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deacs Posted 30 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 30 October , 2016 (edited) Hi Pete could this be the diaries you are referring to WO 95/477/9 Description: Army Troops. 79 Brigade Royal Garrison Artillery http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/5f7340ef3ab0402985b5b282638ef2e5 Cheers Mike. Edited 30 October , 2016 by deacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petwes Posted 30 October , 2016 Share Posted 30 October , 2016 Mike That looks like the right one. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deacs Posted 30 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 30 October , 2016 Downloaded Pete but unfortunately no casualtys mentioned on the 24th, but I am more inclined in thinking that you are correct that he must have been serving with the 185 brigade at the time of his death. In the diary it does mention Lieut Henry Hall which you will have noticed is buried in Wassigny who was killed on the 27th. Regards Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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