Matthew Brackenridge 47460

[Sjack91]

Good morning,

 

I have been asked by a friend to help him find out as much information about the life and military life of Matthew Brackenridge. I have had a look through census records and believe he was from Ayrshire, residing in Maybole in 1891. He was 12 in 1891.  He was living with James(father), Rebbecca (mother) Maggie (13), Jane Baird (10), James (4) and William (2). I had a quick look at the evening times roll and a William Brackenridge is mentioned. Possibly a brother?

 

He married Esther Hamilton in Uddingston in 1902

 

The only information I have on his military career is from CWGC site.

 

M. Brackenridge

Gunner

47460

`C` Bty.78 Bde.Royal field Artillery

He died 22nd of March 1918

And is interred in Grevillers British Cemetary.

 

Any help with when he signed up, where his regiment were at death, what kind of gun was he manning, basically anything would be greatly appreciated. My friend is heading to France next year to mark 100 years since his death.

 

Kind Regards

 

Stuart

Edited 27 March , 2017 by Sjack91

[ss002d6252]

The war gratuity should confirm length of service. I'll check when I get home if no one else does first.

 

Craig

[Sjack91]

Thanks Craig

[ss002d6252]

He's on Ancestry's effects records as '#457460 Balckentdige' ....

The war gratuity is £15 net, £19 gross. This gives 40 months qualifying service.

Craig

[Bordercollie]

78 Bde RFA’s war diary places them at Hermies in March 1918. The entry for 22^nd March reads “All batteries in action J.35.C and all firing steadily on front between Hermies and Havrincourt. Heavy enemy attacks took place throughout the day but were held up by our infantry. Batteries attacked during the afternoon by hostile aeroplanes with machine guns.” The Bde records its casualties for March 1918 as 3 officers wounded, 3 ORs killed and 25 ORs wounded. 

[clk]

Hi Stuart,

 

Forces War Records have hospital admission/discharge transcripts for Matthew which show that he died on 22nd March 1918 at 3 Casualty Clearing Station, from gunshot wounds to his chest, received on 21st March* - the first day of the German Spring Offensive.

 

The war diary for 78th Brigade RFA (here on Ancestry or here at the National Archives) places them at/near Hermies, and the entry for 21st March reads:

 

A & D Batteries heavily shelled about 5 am with both gas & H.E, this was continued intermittently throughout the day. Counter preparation started 5. am & S.O.S at 5.30. Our infantry were attacked in force about 9 am & were forced to leave HUGHES trench. All batteries continued on S.O.S lines throughout the day - some 7000 rounds being fired by the Brigade - Orders were received at 11 pm to retire to reserve position in J 35c. This retirement was completed & guns in action by 3.0am - 'A' Battery destroying their anti tank gun before leaving & D/78 blowing up their forward Hows -

 

The diary for the CRA 17 Division (here on Ancestry or here at the National Archives) contains a Location Statement for 17th March, which gives the position of C/78 as being at [57c] K.31.c.20.40. Hopefully this link will open up on square K.31

 

Regards

Chris

 

Edit(1):

He was entitled to the 14/15 Star medal having entered France/Flanders on 14th July 1915. That date would seem be the day after the Brigade disembarked.

Soldiers Died in the Great War shows that he was living in, and enlisted at Glasgow when he joined up

 

Edit(2):

*Thinking about it a bit more, the date of 21st March is the date of his admission to 3 CCS. Whilst it seems likely, it doesn't automatically follow that was the same date that he was wounded. The records note his wounding under the wound classification of IV 3 (see the LLT here). I think that it wouldn't be unreasonable to speculate that a wound caused by a shell fragment/shrapnel might have been written up as a 'gunshot wound' due to the limitations of the classification scheme, and perhaps sometimes the practical difficulties in distinguishing between the two.

 

Edited 27 March , 2017 by clk

[sotonmate]

I had the thought that he may have died of wounds as the Cemetery was a burial place for three Casualty Clearing Stations. Just looking to confirm and see that there is no apparent entry in Soldiers Died in the Great War for this man, where it would say if he was KIA or DOW etc. Anyway Chris has detected this to be the case from FWR, which is a record taken from a surviving Admission and Discharge Register from 3CCS:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C543915

The 78 Brigade RFA armament was 6 x 18 pounder field guns per Battery. There were 2 other similar Brigades plus a Howitzer Brigade for the 17 Division artillery.

Edited 27 March , 2017 by sotonmate

[ss002d6252]

5 minutes ago, sotonmate said:

I had the thought that he may have died of wounds as the Cemetery was a burial place for three Casualty Clearing Stations. Just looking to confirm and see that there is no apparent entry in Soldiers Died in the Great War for this man, where it would say if he was KIA or DOW etc. Anyway Chris has detected this to be the case from FWR, which is a record taken from a surviving Admission and Discharge Register from 3CCS.

The 78 Brigade RFA armament was 6 x 18 pounder field guns per Battery. There were 2 other similar Brigades plus a Howitzer Brigade for the 17 Division artillery.

He died of wounds as per the effects register - https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60506/42511_6117462_0148-00245?pid=409535&backurl=http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DCFr1749%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26db%3DUKArmyRegistersEffects%26gss%3Dangs-d%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26_F8007A65%3D457460%26MSAV%3D1%26uidh%3Dyvc%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D0%26h%3D409535%26recoff%3D69%2070%26ml_rpos%3D1&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=CFr1749&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

 

Craig

Edited 27 March , 2017 by ss002d6252

[David Porter]

Stuart,

 

His number puts him arriving at No 6 Depot RFA, Glasgow, in mid December 1914. As Chris has said, he had an entry date of July 14, 1915 but this may not have been with 78th Brigade RFA. C/78 had a section from B/80 added on September 1, 1916 and 80th Brigade RFA sailed on July 14, 1915 and disembarked July 15, 1915. I've been finding embarkation dates on many RFA MICs so this is a neater fit.

[ss002d6252]

1 hour ago, David Porter said:

Stuart,

 

His number puts him arriving at No 6 Depot RFA, Glasgow, in mid December 1914. As Chris has said, he had an entry date of July 14, 1915 but this may not have been with 78th Brigade RFA. C/78 had a section from B/80 added on September 1, 1916 and 80th Brigade RFA sailed on July 14, 1915 and disembarked July 15, 1915. I've been finding embarkation dates on many RFA MICs so this is a neater fit.

Fits with the war gratuity so it looks like all his war time service was with the RFA.

Craig

[kenmorrison]

Matthew Brackenridge in 1911 was 32 and living in Govanhill Glasgow. He was born in 1879 in Maybole, Ayrshire.

Also there were Ester Brackenridge 32, and 4 children. Matthew and Ester Hamilton married in 1902 in Bothwell, Lanarkshire.

On the 1915 Valuation Roll he is at 14 Colvend Street Glasgow and this is the address for him on the Glasgow Roll of Honour.  

 

Ken

[Sjack91]

7 hours ago, sotonmate said:

I had the thought that he may have died of wounds as the Cemetery was a burial place for three Casualty Clearing Stations. Just looking to confirm and see that there is no apparent entry in Soldiers Died in the Great War for this man, where it would say if he was KIA or DOW etc. Anyway Chris has detected this to be the case from FWR, which is a record taken from a surviving Admission and Discharge Register from 3CCS:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C543915

The 78 Brigade RFA armament was 6 x 18 pounder field guns per Battery. There were 2 other similar Brigades plus a Howitzer Brigade for the 17 Division artillery.

 

Firstly I would like to thank everyone for the excellent responses. I'm going to take some time to digest the information then compile it into a folder for my friend. I have a couple of questions to ask to clear things up.

 

Sotonmate. I see I can order this record from kew gardens. If I do will it mention his name or number?

 

 

7 hours ago, David Porter said:

Stuart,

 

His number puts him arriving at No 6 Depot RFA, Glasgow, in mid December 1914. As Chris has said, he had an entry date of July 14, 1915 but this may not have been with 78th Brigade RFA. C/78 had a section from B/80 added on September 1, 1916 and 80th Brigade RFA sailed on July 14, 1915 and disembarked July 15, 1915. I've been finding embarkation dates on many RFA MICs so this is a neater fit.

 

David. Do you have any idea where the RFA depot was in Glasgow? Really appreciate you comparing youre research to cross reference the date.

 

I have used this site a number of times for help, most recently for a friend who was looking for information on his grandfather. How you guys come up with what you do is beyond me. The knowledge and help is invaluable and I take my hat off to you all.

 

Regards

 

Stuart

[clk]

Hi Stuart,

 

57 minutes ago, Sjack91 said:

Sotonmate. I see I can order this record from kew gardens. If I do will it mention his name or number?

 

There is no need to order it. You can download the diary for £3.45 from here. My guess is that he is very unlikely to be recorded by name though, and unfortunately he will probably only appear as a part of a 'headline' number count. You never know though - from those that I've looked at, some diaries occasionally mention men by name, but the majority don't. Not really surprising considering the number of men they had to cope with.

 

Regards

Chris

 

Edit:

It might be worth contacting Diane/Bardess who is running this topic on the 19 CCS Operation Schedule to see if she can help with identifying a similar resource for 3 CCS

 

Edited 27 March , 2017 by clk

[johnboy]

David. Do you have any idea where the RFA depot was in Glasgow? Really appreciate you comparing youre research to cross reference the date.

 

 

Possibly Maryhill Barracks.

[sotonmate]

1 hour ago, Sjack91 said:

Sotonmate. I see I can order this record from kew gardens. If I do will it mention his name or number?

 

 

 

Maybe not Kew Gardens, which is half a mile to the west of the National Archives !

The record I quote is the Casualty Admission Register (MH106/362) from which the entry by clk at para 1 of Post #6 has derived, so yes, his name and number,unit,type of wound,and outcome, will be shown. There is also a distinct possibility that it is in CCS3 Operations Record (MH106/429) covering period Dec 1917 to 24 Mar 1918.

It wouldn't be normal for a casualty of his rank to be named in the CCS3 War Diary but the MH106 Registers are just lists of casualty names.

[Alyson]

My great uncle, Albert Seymour Lloyd, was in C Battery, 78th Brigade, RFA. He was killed with the other 2 in his battery on 19 April 1917. Maybe Matthew Brackenridge came into C Battery after that to make up a new C Battery. 

The war diary for that date says "3 men killed, 1 wounded" and does not state that it is C Battery, but from Albert's records and those of the other 2 men killed, I know that the 3 men killed were from C Battery.

I have a photograph of Albert and 2 comrades. One has been identified as Peter McGuiggan, one of the other 2 killed on the same day as Albert, but identification of the 3rd person in the photo has not been confirmed. A relative of James Martin, the 3rd man killed, does not think the photo is of James Martin. Is there a possibility it might be Matthew Brackenridge?
If Sjack91 is interested, I could dig out the photo.

Alyson

[ss002d6252]

@Sjack91 - not sure if you'll see the post anyway but the post above is for you.

 

Craig

[Sjack91]

On ‎30‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 13:50, Alyson said:

My great uncle, Albert Seymour Lloyd, was in C Battery, 78th Brigade, RFA. He was killed with the other 2 in his battery on 19 April 1917. Maybe Matthew Brackenridge came into C Battery after that to make up a new C Battery. 

The war diary for that date says "3 men killed, 1 wounded" and does not state that it is C Battery, but from Albert's records and those of the other 2 men killed, I know that the 3 men killed were from C Battery.

I have a photograph of Albert and 2 comrades. One has been identified as Peter McGuiggan, one of the other 2 killed on the same day as Albert, but identification of the 3rd person in the photo has not been confirmed. A relative of James Martin, the 3rd man killed, does not think the photo is of James Martin. Is there a possibility it might be Matthew Brackenridge?
If Sjack91 is interested, I could dig out the photo.

Alyson

 

Hi Alyson.

 

Sorry I had not been on in a while. It could possibly be him. The family unfortunately do not have a photo of him but if you could send me the picture and highlight which one you think could possibly be Matthew the family are keen to compare photos they do have of unidentified family members from that time to see if it could be him.

 

On ‎30‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 14:39, ss002d6252 said:

@Sjack91 - not sure if you'll see the post anyway but the post above is for you.

 

Craig

 

Thanks Craig. Only just seen this.

[Alyson]

Dear Sjack91

Having done a bit more research on GWF, I find that the photo is already on the forum. A while ago I made contact with a descendant of Peter McGuiggan, one of the soldiers in the photo, sent it to him and he posted it. It is here  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/118485-looking-for-a-soldier-who-fell-with-grandfather/?tab=comments#comment-1134287

 

My great uncle, Albert Seymour Lloyd is in the centre of the photo. Peter McGuiggan is on the left of the photo. It is the identity of the person on the right which is uncertain. If you would like a higher resolution photo, let me know. If you can identify him as your man, I would be interested to know. Thank you

Alyson