No 148473 ? Bolinbourne Royal field artillery special reserve, P.O.W

[Bilo76]

New on here , but I’ve come across a lithograph king George returned  solider p.o.w letter ,

to a   R.f.a , special resevrve  Bolinbourne ? First name can’t make out but think it’s 4 letters long , I’d love to find some info on this person , i have searched but can’t anyone by that name , but I’m no expert  , so any help would be great full , thanks 

Edited 11 October , 2018 by Bilo76

[charlie962]

Welcome to the forum.

It would be best to scan and post the image here.

 

It is Thomas Albert Collingbourne, I suspect

Edited 10 October , 2018 by charlie962

[charlie962]

And his ICRC card is here, giving two references  PA35948 and PA36995

 

If you type in those references you will find the backing sheets showing when and where he was captured, plus his birthplace and date

 

He was taken Juvincourt 27/5/18, unwounded. Unit given as 3 RFA which might mean a variety of things.( there are a number of other men on list with same unit)

born 30/10/98 Birmingham, Mother's address  1 Court, 6 House, Cowper St, Birmingham

Edited 10 October , 2018 by charlie962

[charlie962]

Probably died 1985. You won't have too much difficulty tracing him on census records.

[Bilo76]

Hi thanks a lot , I’ll have a look though the info you gave me ) I’ll put an image on of the letter , I actually found it thrown out with rubbish in a skip from an old club in Birmingham ! Shame and sad how people treat these objects thanks again 

[charlie962]

well saved!

[charlie962]

I suspect the 3 RFA should be 33 Bde RFA who were in action there that day with 8th Division. Certainly some of the other men on the same PoW list were in that Bde. It is possible he was either 32 or 33 Battery within that Brigade. You will notice that similar shortening for those in 57 Battery to just '5' apears on these lists.

 

There is a War Diary on Ancestry here (or available on Discovery National Archives). The Brigade had a considerable number of missing that day- 18 officers are listed here:

           

 

 

 

extract of War Diary:

27th May 1918
8am  Owing to enemy barrage little information is available but it seems probably that by 8am all the guns in the Brigade were out of action and probably already captured...

 

I didn't see a surviving service record for Collingbourne. Yo could try researching some of the other men on the same lists to see if they give some clues as to Collingbourne's likely career.

 

Charlie

Edited 11 October , 2018 by charlie962

[charlie962]

I think I went off onthe wrong tack my previous post.  3 Battery RFA was part of 45th Bde RFA within 8th Division and underwent the same attack same day. I will follow this route through the war diary andsee where it leads.

Charlie

 

Edited 11 October , 2018 by charlie962

[charlie962]

The attack launched by the Germans early on the 27thMay (known as  Blücher-Yorck ) was a disaster for the Brigade, it seems. The British Divisions in that area were resting and not well prepared.

 

Another extract just to give a flavour of the destruction that day. All Brigades seemed to have suffered similarly.

                    

 

So that little bit of paper rescued from a skip is the introduction to a fascinating part of the German Spring Offensive. You can read as widely as you wish to on the subject.

 

 

Charlie

Edited 11 October , 2018 by charlie962

[charlie962]

Interesting to read the CRA 8th Division's report on Lessons Learned, dated 10th June 1918.

 

Just a snippet:

                      

[charlie962]

Although I couldn't see a surviving service record for him there is an entry in RA Attestations for a Thomas A Collingbourne born1898 which could well be him. The Attestations Register could be quite informative and suggests he had post 1919 service. I don't have an FMP sub I'm afraid.

 

 

[daggers]

The word written before the surname is the abbreviation for his rank, Gunner, shown as Gunr, I think.

D

[Bilo76]

This is great ! Charlie thanks for this , daggers  I was trying to work out his first name , I was never going to go with gunr lol