Neil Gordon-Lee Posted 3 January , 2019 Share Posted 3 January , 2019 I would like to share some research I have been conducting on the Retreat from Mons and the subsequent advance to the River Aisne via the River Marne. This takes the form of a list of place names where battalions of the 3rd and 5th Divisions were between 22/8/1914 and 14/9/1914. My personal task was to try and locate a family member who was posted missing from the East Surrey's on the 23rd August and did not rejoin until the 6th September. The East Surrey war diary states that he, along with many others, joined other regiments temporarily and I wanted to see which ones were in the right place at the right time. However, if you are researching a family member who was in one of these regiments during this period then you would be able to locate where they were on a given day in case you want to re-trace their steps. The attached pdfs are the listings by Infantry Brigade of those place names. Notes are attached where I have had to interpret what is actually written in the war diary as misspellings are common. 3rd Division 7th Infantry Brigade 3rd Bn Worcester Regiment 2nd Bn South Lancashire Regiment 1st Bn Wiltshire Regiment 2 Bn Royal Irish Rifles 8th Infantry Brigade 2 Bn Royal Scots 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders 4th Bn Middlesex Regiment 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regiment 9th Infantry Brigade 4th Bn Royal Fusiliers 1st Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers 1st Bn Northumberland Fusiliers 1st Bn Lincolnshire Regiment 5th Division13th Infantry Brigade 2nd Bn Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry 1st Bn Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 2nd Bn Kings Own Scottish Borderers 2nd Bn Duke of Wellington's Regiment 14th Infantry Brigade 1st Bn East Surrey Regiment 1st Bn Duke of Cornwall's Regiment 2nd Bn Suffolk Regiment 2nd Bn Manchester Regiment 15th Infantry Brigade 1st Bn Norfolk Regiment 1st Bn Bedfordshire Regiment 1st Bn Cheshire Regiment 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regiment Notes • There is no diary for the Norfolk Regiment in this period. It may be possible to re-construct one from the Brigade war diary but I have not attempted to do this. • There is no diary for the Gordon Highlanders covering the advance from the Marne to the Aisne. • The following war diaries contain hand drawn maps which can be viewed online (with the appropriate subscription) : East Surrey, Duke of Cornwall, Royal Irish and Duke of Wellington's • In some locations I have given a digital map reference to identify where I think the modern location is sited. Digital references can be keyed into a Google Maps search box to identify locations. Key the first number followed by two spaces followed by the second number. • Not every place has been found and where there are conflicting/similar place names I have assumed that the BEF would have marched, as far as possible, in a straight line. If you wish to turn the places names into a walking map then I recommend using Bing Maps which permits 25 waypoints and has a walking route option. It will not be exact as it will use the actual and nearest current river crossings, for example, whereas the BEF often had to resort to barges or pontoons to get across. If anyone would like a copy of the maps I prepared for each of the above regiments then by all means PM me with an email address and I can forward them. Please allow a couple of days for me to respond. 3rd Division 7th Infantry Brigade.pdf 3rd Division 8th Infantry Brigade.pdf 3rd Division 9th Infantry Brigade.pdf 5th Division 13th Infantry Brigade.pdf 5th Division 14th Infantry Brigade.pdf 5th Division 15th Infantry Brigade.pdf Example map.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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