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Remembered Today:

War Diaries and Photos


divadnosae

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Arthur Eason died March 21st 1918 March Offensive.  He was in 10th Essex to start with up until I believe Feb 18 when he transferred to the MGC.  The recent 100th  anniversary has awakened my interest more. 

 

Two questions.

 

First: What is the chance of photographs existing of the 10th Essex or 53rd MGC units or individuals named soldiers or otherwise, still existing anywhere?  Family told me a photo of him alone in uniform existed for years up until 1960 then lost. I presume it was taken by his regiment?

 

Second:  I have the Essex and MGC war diaries but the MGC only goes up to Dec 1917 and looking at NA up to February 18 the latest unless I am reading it wrong..  A long shot (pun unintended)  and I do have an idea of where he was when he died but trying to pin in down further.   Le Fere along the L'Oisa river / canal is as far as I have got.

Grateful in advance for any help you guys can give

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I see from CWGC Arthur was in the 18th Battalion MGC - the war diary of which is on Ancestry here. If you don't have or can't gain access to Ancestry, then the the NA war diary is downloadable here.

The Battalion HQ at the time was at 66c.S.27.a.4.5 (49.6552, 3.2275) - on the enclosed map here (dated January 1918) just left of the "l" in le Bosquet and above the "z" of Rouez Farm - in square 27.

La Fère is due east beyond Tergnier.

 

Mike

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I've just returned from Pozieres to commemorate my great uncle Peter Ridge. I found the attached in Albert a few miles down the road.

I hope it's not out of place.

mem3.jpg

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Thanks Mike appriciated. That map is handy.         Peter I visted the area in 2014 and  Pozieres   and this panel was covered in scaffolding so good to see it Thank You.  Just had a wreath laid on Arthurs mem stone 100 yeasr to the day by the people at the guest house we stayed at............ no56

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On 3/25/2018 at 15:55, divadnosae said:

Arthur Eason died March 21st 1918 March Offensive.  He was in 10th Essex to start with up until I believe Feb 18 when he transferred to the MGC.  The recent 100th  anniversary has awakened my interest more. 

 

Two questions.

 

First: What is the chance of photographs existing of the 10th Essex or 53rd MGC units or individuals named soldiers or otherwise, still existing anywhere?  Family told me a photo of him alone in uniform existed for years up until 1960 then lost. I presume it was taken by his regiment?

 

Second:  I have the Essex and MGC war diaries but the MGC only goes up to Dec 1917 and looking at NA up to February 18 the latest unless I am reading it wrong..  A long shot (pun unintended)  and I do have an idea of where he was when he died but trying to pin in down further.   Le Fere along the L'Oisa river / canal is as far as I have got.

Grateful in advance for any help you guys can give

Locate a museum that deals with the units records. May be difficult to find but worthwhile, email or ring and see what they have and whether thekr archive is open to the public. I've done this for many of my family members and have found quite alot. Also keep an eye on ebay, alot of stuff turns up on thekr for the first world war. The only issue is that photographs aren't generally named so if you dont know what he looks like it may be difficult!

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20 hours ago, Willh1664 said:

Locate a museum that deals with the units records. May be difficult to find but worthwhile, email or ring and see what they have and whether thekr archive is open to the public. I've done this for many of my family members and have found quite alot. Also keep an eye on ebay, alot of stuff turns up on thekr for the first world war. The only issue is that photographs aren't generally named so if you dont know what he looks like it may be difficult!

 

Cheers  The week I went to France in August 2014 to walk in his steps, his death penny came up on ebay and I was too late.

 

When reading war diaries I have just downloaded the 18th Batt MGC  but I cant undertstand the bit about A B & C coys. How would I know which one he was in?   

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2 hours ago, divadnosae said:

 

Cheers  The week I went to France in August 2014 to walk in his steps, his death penny came up on ebay and I was too late.

 

When reading war diaries I have just downloaded the 18th Batt MGC  but I cant undertstand the bit about A B & C coys. How would I know which one he was in?   

I've found that generally original members of regiments that went over to France as the first wave had their company put down on their service records prior to going ovet to France. If he was KIA it may be worth cross referencing his date of death with the units diaries to see if he was mentioned and if not mentioned you may be able to narrow down which companies went into action that day (generally not all companies were put into the line at once). Another way might be records of death such as soldiers effects registers but thats a long shot. Have you found a service record?

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14 hours ago, Willh1664 said:

I've found that generally original members of regiments that went over to France as the first wave had their company put down on their service records prior to going ovet to France. If he was KIA it may be worth cross referencing his date of death with the units diaries to see if he was mentioned and if not mentioned you may be able to narrow down which companies went into action that day (generally not all companies were put into the line at once). Another way might be records of death such as soldiers effects registers but thats a long shot. Have you found a service record?

 

cheers  

21st March 1918 KIA  I can't see him mentioned in the diary.   His service records were burnt in WW2  I know I won't find the exact spot but it seems to vary where the 53rd / 18th actually were. Le Fere is mentioned and along the River Oise by some sites, but just wondered if it can be more precise or am I asking too much perhaps. By all accounts the 18th had a two week lull,  almost a holiday pre 21st March according to some, so I would have thought more would have been known on the day seeing as they expected an attack was imminent.

 

I have a similar prob with his brother who came back but minus his right arm Rifle Brigade reserves . I have the diaries and he is also not mentioned and his SR is burnt too.  He was discharged after 5 years,   but in-between I have no idea where he got injured.  My intention in 2014 was to walk his walk 100 years to the day, but I was given miss information after booking it all up and had to make alternative plans, hence the walk of his brother.      Thank you for the assistance   D

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  • 2 years later...
On 26/03/2018 at 19:59, Peter_Ridge said:

I've just returned from Pozieres to commemorate my great uncle Peter Ridge. I found the attached in Albert a few miles down the road.

I hope it's not out of place.

mem3.jpg

 

I have just found out that my great, great uncle Thomas Frost Dalzell is commemorated at Pozieres Memorial, after losing his life there on 21st March 1918. 6th Battalion B company (18 company) Machine Gun Corps. I hope to visit one day...

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56 minutes ago, Fran Walsh said:

I hope to visit one day...

Welcome Fran and I hope you do get there.  There's a lot of interesting places around there and if you do go, you can still find a few traces of the war even today.

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6 hours ago, WhiteStarLine said:

Welcome Fran and I hope you do get there.  There's a lot of interesting places around there and if you do go, you can still find a few traces of the war even today.

 

Thank you. It is certainly all very interesting, and also emotional too...

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Hi Fran my great uncle Peter Ridge,128855, was KIA on the 24/03/1918, probably in the same action. The whole area in France is well worth a visit.

Regards

Pete

C67D9FAC-B651-4669-A006-FF859A740157.jpeg

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