David1949 Posted 15 January , 2019 Share Posted 15 January , 2019 My Great Uncle served with the 7th Battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry. He finally succumbed to wounds on 30 March 1918, aged 25, and was finally laid to rest in Sauchy Cauchy Cemetery. I have just returned from a trip to France to visit the Cemetery. Unfortunately, probably because of the damage subsequently caused to the archives, details of his service are a little scant, and I have not been able to find out where and when he was wounded. It appears from the Unit Diary that during the period 21 to 30 March 1918 the 7th Battalion was located in the areas of Guemappe/Henin/Neuville Vittasse. I am not that conversant with army casevac procedures, but given the proximity of these areas to Henry's final resting place, it seems reasonable to conclude he was probably wounded whilst serving in one these areas during the German offensive 'Operation Michael', between the 21 March, when I understand the German offensive commenced, and 30 March, when he died.. However, this is largely conjecture, and it would be nice to locate more positive evidence to support or otherwise my conclusion. It would therefore be very much appreciated if someone could point me in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 15 January , 2019 Share Posted 15 January , 2019 Welcome to the forum. The grave may be nearer to the location of a casualty clearing station rather than where he was wounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 15 January , 2019 Share Posted 15 January , 2019 (edited) Welcome The answer is in the CWGC entry for Henry, on his page scroll down and you'll see a box "Cemetery details" click on it, scroll down to "historical information" the town wasn't captured till 27th Sept 1918 and the graveyard created September and October, 14 graves from March - April 1918 were moved there from the German extension and 9 from April - Sept moved there from the surrounding battlefield. Next back page to his page and scroll down, you'll see 3 x clickable options, "Grave registration", "Headstone" and "Concentration", the latter is the hand written form showing "Grave registration (exhumation and reburial)" and he is one of the 4 on that page, it gives a map reference where the body was found (All 4 have the same location), suggesting he is one of the 9 even though he died in March. (I've rethough this from my original post) there are members who maybe able to help you with the map reference. From this, the most likely scenario is he was captured seriously wounded and whilst being transferred to the rear, succumbed to his wounds, was buried by the Germans then subsequently reburied in the new British cemetery. Or Died and was buried in an area later captured by the Germans and exhumed by the G.R.U. (Graves Registration Unit) Can I asked where you got the info he died of wounds? Sam Edited 15 January , 2019 by roughdiamond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 15 January , 2019 Share Posted 15 January , 2019 The scenario posited by Sam makes sense. The four relevant locations are on the screenshot. A is the area of the battalion on 21 March B the location of his initial burial C the Sauchy-Cauchy Cemetery D the location of the battalion on 29/30 March Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 15 January , 2019 Share Posted 15 January , 2019 Nice work Max, from that it looks like the capture and subsequent death is the most likely scenario. As Lt's Todd Died 12/04/17 and MacVicker Died 22/07/18 RFC and Sgt Brady Royal Lancs Died 28/03/18 share the same exhumation location, I wonder if it was a German cemetery or an existing French cemetery. Four men with such a wide spread of Death dates (I deliberately put Death as opposed to KIA as the OP suggests he Died of Wounds) suggests something prompted the Germans to bury them in the same place. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 (edited) Lt Todd's POW record describes his burial place as Estrees cemetery giving the group and grave number. Sgt Brady died in a field hospital in Estrees as a result of a knee injury. The burial is described as in a military cemetery and group and grave number are given. The grid ref puts the cemetery outside the town to the east, in the north east of the town, marked on the trench map of the time, it seems to have gone now having looked at google Earth April 1918 imagery. There is another cemetery in the churchyard in the middle of the village so a best guess would be that this was a cemetery attached to a German field hospital. Max Edited 16 January , 2019 by MaxD correcting error Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David1949 Posted 16 January , 2019 Author Share Posted 16 January , 2019 Thank you all for your very kind assistance - a lot of useful information and plenty of food for thought.! The info concerning his death on 30th March 1918 comes from the WGC records and Henry's gravestone, which also shows he was a member of 7th Bn KSLI. However this appears to conflict with his medals record, which shows his date of death as 30th August 1918. In addition to the medals he was awarded, the record also shows that Henry landed in France on 28 September 1915 and 'D of W 30/8/18', which of course potentially changes everything. I have to say I hadn't noticed this before now. If Henry died in March 1918 then the scenario is as I have previously researched, with the possibility, as Sam suggests, he was initially interred in Estrees and then subsequently moved to his final resting place in Sauchy Cauchy as described. However, if he was captured and died of wounds whilst in German hands, how is it the British records show an awareness that he was wounded and died, and not 'killed in action' or 'missing'? If, on the other hand, he died on 30 August 1918 the scenario will be completely different, the Bn having by then moved on and engaged in the counterattack to 'Operation Michael'. This would also be even more poignant, Henry having managed to survive from 1915 to so near the end of the conflict! On balance I am inclined to take the view Henry died in March 1918, but clearly I will have to continue my investigation. Thank you again for your assistance. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 (edited) Another complication spotted. Soldiers Effects have 30 August 1918 as you know. His entry is cross referenced with same name same number 7 KOSB died "field hospital Estrees". I draw nothing from this at the moment, only to give you another headache! Max See below Edited 16 January , 2019 by MaxD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 (edited) 30 August doesn't entirely make sense either. The KSLI battalion war diary places them even further west on 29/30 August than in March, specifically at Boiry St Martin 4 miles to the south west of Henin sur Cojeul and thus even further away from Estrees. The 7 KOSB makes no sense at all, that battalion (at that time 7/8th) was miles away to the south. There is no CWGC entry for a KOSB Pte Ree. Given that the concentration report date, March, was the primary source, I would be inclined to say that August is the anomaly that crept in somewhere along the line. See below Max Edited 16 January , 2019 by MaxD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 (edited) Success at last - found Henry's POW record, been looking for hours! https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/364564/3/2/ PA 29087 is a record of 10 Jun 1918 listing him in a “Wurttemburgische Kriegslazarette” (a field hospital run by a Wurttemburg unit) and reports his disc being sent to the central effects office on 17 May 1918 without details 29111 is a similar listing of 17 Jun 18 and notes pay book sent 17 May 18 33289 is a list of deaths date 15 Aug 18 recording his death 30 March 1918 in the field hospital Estrees from peritonitis The Red Cross informed his family on 26 August 1918. Definitely March! Max Edited 16 January , 2019 by MaxD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 One further place to look is the national newspaper archive or the local newspaper archive for a death notice, that could negate the 30th August date, it looks as if it's a simple transcription error with 3 being misprinted as 8. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 Can't help feeling that his POW record (above) solves the date discrepancy completely! Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 1 hour ago, MaxD said: Can't help feeling that his POW record (above) solves the date discrepancy completely! Max Agreed but just giving the OP another option to confirm it from another source. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David1949 Posted 17 January , 2019 Author Share Posted 17 January , 2019 19 hours ago, roughdiamond said: Agreed but just giving the OP another option to confirm it from another source. Sam Thank you Sam. Will give it a try. On 16/01/2019 at 15:06, MaxD said: Success at last - found Henry's POW record, been looking for hours! https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/364564/3/2/ PA 29087 is a record of 10 Jun 1918 listing him in a “Wurttemburgische Kriegslazarette” (a field hospital run by a Wurttemburg unit) and reports his disc being sent to the central effects office on 17 May 1918 without details 29111 is a similar listing of 17 Jun 18 and notes pay book sent 17 May 18 33289 is a list of deaths date 15 Aug 18 recording his death 30 March 1918 in the field hospital Estrees from peritonitis The Red Cross informed his family on 26 August 1918. Definitely March! Max Thank you Max. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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