William Shrigley 12th Battalion HLI unit 3

[s.fillis]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm trying to piece together my Family tree and not having much luck.

 

My great Grandfather (maternal) was Company Sargent Major for the 12th Battalion Highland Light Infantry unit 3. William fought and died at loos on 25th September 1915, it is reported that he was the oldest casualty from this battle, he was fighting as part of the "BIG PUSH" and died in the battle to capture hill 70. Described to be caught in Enfilade fire on both sides (?) .

 

I believe that William fought in south Africa he received medals cape coloney, Transvaal, Orange River Coloney and South Africa 1902, I think he demobbed from this conflict and later re-enlisted for ww1.

 The only number we have for him is 1355.

[alf mcm]

Welcome to the forum.

William's number 1355 is for his time in South Africa.

In the Great War his number was 19066.There are a number of records for him on Ancestry, under William H. Shrigley and William Henry Shrigley. There is a charge for this site, but I believe his medal index card is free.

With regards to your family history, you can download William's marriage certificate {to Jane McMillan in 1897, and their children's birth certificates}, on Scotlandspeople, for a small fee. https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search-our-records

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[s.fillis]

Thank you, I am a member of Ancestory and have found a bit on William there but Iwas hoping to find some more info about his military campaigns etc, I'm hoping to give a little bit of extra info on the tree to pass along to those who are interested, the Shrigleys seem to have a rich military back ground and I think its important we don't let those who come after us forget just what they went through.

[alf mcm]

The War Diary for 12th HLI is available on Ancestry. There is a brief description of the action on 25th September 1915, when William died. There is also an Appendix which describes the action in greatewr detail. I haven't read it all, so don't know if William is mentioned.  https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_1952_2-00038?pid=581350&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DbmY23331%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26db%3Dukwardiarieswwi%26cp%3D0%26gskw%3D1952/2%26gskw_x%3D1%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26redir%3Dfalse%26uidh%3D9y4%26gss%3Dangs-d%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D0%26h%3D581350%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D1&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bmY23331&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true#?imageId=43112_1952_2-00019

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[clk]

Hi s.fillis,

 

His original (pre WW1) attestation and service record is available on FMP - link. You might be able to date when his WW1 service counted from by looking at service papers for near number HLI men - for example some of these hits. As you have access to Ancestry, I guess that you have his medal roll records, and know his WW1 overseas service date. The war diaries for 46 Infantry Brigade HQ; and 15 Division HQ (General Staff) would probably give more context to the Battalion diary record. The National Archives search page is here, and the Ancestry page here. 

 

For his 1883 - 1910 service, I wonder if it might also be worth posting on the Victorian Wars Forum.

 

His Soldiers Effects record names his wife (Jane) as his sole legatee. The use of that term implies that he left a will in her favour, but I haven't found it.

 

Regards

Chris

 

 

Edited 10 February , 2019 by clk

[s.fillis]

Thank you very much I will have a look at this and see if I can find him.