London (Pancras) Regiment

[lisajanedun]

I am researching Percy Holmes n. 2829, 610481.  I am trying to find the regimental movements of his regiment in WW1. Can anyone help with this please. Thank you

With Best Wishes

Lisa

[Pat Atkins]

As a first stop, try the Long Long Trail tab in the top left-hand corner of the forum webpage, Lisa. 1/19th, 2/19th and 3/19th Bns The London Regiment were the St Pancras battalions (try using London Regiment, or St Pancras in the search box), part of the Territorial Force. LLT will say where they served, and then you could consider finding e.g. the War Diary for a particular period, for more detail if required.

 

1/19th served in France only (I think); 2/19th in France, then Salonica, and then the Middle East. 3/19th remained in the UK as a training battalion. If you have Ancestry, and haven't already, in addition to the medal rolls I'd recommend you check the records for Silver War Badges as if he was discharged due to e.g. sickness or wounds the records will include his enlistment date too.

 

Cheers, Pat

[lisajanedun]

Hello Pat

Thank you for your post re: London Regiment.  I have his silver war badge info from Ancestry but from his service number cannot work out which battalion he was in so then cannot track his movements. any ideas on this.  If I knew for sure his battalion then that would help further but donot know how to check. Thank you for any help you can provide.

Best Wishes

Lisa

[Derek Black]

1 hour ago, lisajanedun said:

I have his silver war badge info from Ancestry but from his service number cannot work out which battalion he was in so then cannot track his movements. any ideas on this.

The BV&WM rolls often show what battalion/s a man served in. They're on ancestry too.

[Pat Atkins]

I had a quick look on Ancestry, and on the BV&WM (British War and Victory Medals) rolls there is the following information under "Theatres of war in which served":

 

1(a) 24.6.16 - 30.11.16

2(a) 11.12.16 - 9.6.17

4(b) 12.6.17 - 11.11.18

 

I take this to mean that he served first in France & Flanders, then from December 1916 in the Salonika campaign, and finally from June 1917 in Egypt (which I believe would include Palestine); my source is here: LLT research a soldier. These dates and locations would suggest strongly, if circumstantially, that Percy Holmes served overseas with 2/19th London Regiment, which was part of 180th Brigade, 60th (2/2nd London) Division. According to LLT again again, the Division disembarked at Le Havre on 24th June 1916; on 25th November 1916 it relocated to Salonica and took part in the Battle of Doiran. It moved again, this time to Egypt, on 10th June 1917 and fought in the Palestine campaign until the end of the war.

 

Hope this is helpful (and accurate - better check it yourself in case I've got anything wrong). Cheers, Pat.

Edited 1 February , 2017 by Pat Atkins
Submitted the post before I'd finished it - technophobic, alas

[Derek Black]

Good work there Pat.

 

The battalions diary has a few holes in it, so pperhaps find the brigade one too to fill the blanks.

 

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7355284

 

Derek.

Edited 1 February , 2017 by Derek Black

[sotonmate]

Agree that we are talking about 2/19 Battalion.

The other pieces of the story are in non-digital War Diaires at Kew:

Salonika - WO95/4928 period 1 Dec 1916 to 30 Jun 1917.

Egypt/Palestine - WO95/4670 period 1 Jul 1917 to 31 Mar 1919, and, WO95/4715 period 1 Apr 1919 to 31 Jan 1920.