Unknown British Officer Caterpillar Valley Plot 16.E.14

[Waterloo Wanderer]

Hi All,

 

As I am a relative newbie to the forum and a novice at this type of research, I would appreciate the opinion and input from the more experienced researchers!  I believe that Unknown British Officer located in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery Plot 16.E.14 is likely Captain Lewis de Burgh Atkinson, 2^nd Bn Royal Sussex.  Atkinson is currently listed at Thiepval.

 

Atkinson was mentioned as killed in the 2^nd Bn RSR war diary on the night of 16/17 Aug 1916 during a German counterattack on a trench (Clark’s Trench) that the Royal Sussex and the 1^st Bn Northants had captured earlier that day.  The trench (from 1^st div order No. 172) ran from approximately 57c.S.3.d.4.8 to 57s.S.3.c.6.9.   During the counterattack that killed Atkinson, 30 other RSR soldiers were killed.  Of the 30 killed, 7 were identified and are buried at Caterpillar Valley Cemetery (3 others were identified and are located in other cemeteries).  In looking through the COGs, 5 of these identified were recovered in very close proximity to Clark’s Trench.  Two (Ptes H Davies and H Saunders) were listed as found at 57c.S.3.a.3.8 (see the COG and GRRF below) which would have located them further to the north and into German trench territory at that time. This does not make complete sense to me considering that they were killed along with the other RSR soldiers in a German counterattack.  Interestingly, if the COG contains a clerical/transcription error and the bodies were actually found at 57c.S.3.c.3.8.  It puts them in close proximity to Clark’s trench and alongside the other RSR fallen.  For reference, the other RSR identified in Caterpillar valley were located at 57c.S.3.c.2.8. (Sgt GC Reeves, L/Cpl GS Knight, Pte S Osborne), 57c.S.3.c.4.8. (Cpl F Tucknott) and 57c.S.3.c.9.8 (Pte F Clayton).

 

 

As you’ll see in the COG, at the same location that Davies and Saunders were recovered were also 2 Unknown British Soldiers, 1 Unknown Royal Sussex Soldier and, of interest here, 1 Unknown British Officer.  Atkinson was the only RSR officer listed in the diary as killed in that action.  According to their war diary, the 1st Northants, who were in the same action and immediately to the left of the Sussex lost 3 officers, but all three have identified graves.  Thus, there is a good chance that the Unknown British Officer is actually Capt. Atkinson.

 

Obviously, this doesn’t provide absolutely conclusive evidence that this is the case.  The body could presumably be from an officer unrelated to the activity on 16/17 August 1916.  But it is intriguing given that Atkinson would have fallen in close proximity to his RSR brothers and is the only one of four officers (to my knowledge) listed as killed in the 16/17 Aug action who is still missing.

 

Am I missing something here?  I’d appreciate thoughts/comments on this…

 

[jay dubaya]

Do any other CoG-BRs exist? Have you checked for soldiers that were 'attached' at the time of their deaths? Rule out as many as possible and see what you're left with. This is a very tender trail that holds only a slim probability and with no means of identification other than 'clothing' noted there is little more you can add other than what I would suggest will be a fair list of probables. 

[Waterloo Wanderer]

19 hours ago, jay dubaya said:

Do any other CoG-BRs exist? Have you checked for soldiers that were 'attached' at the time of their deaths? Rule out as many as possible and see what you're left with. This is a very tender trail that holds only a slim probability and with no means of identification other than 'clothing' noted there is little more you can add other than what I would suggest will be a fair list of probables. 

 

Hi Jay - thanks for the insight. I will see what I can find for other CoG-BRs. What does ‘attached’ mean for soldiers at the time of death?  

 

Dan

[jay dubaya]

In layman’s  terms a soldier lent to another regiment or battalion for a short/set period but not transferred so he still belongs to his original regiment, there is evidence that soldiers attached to another unit would have worn regimental insignia of that unit.

See my post in this recent thread that will show how a number of casualties can dramatically grow.

 

Jon

[Waterloo Wanderer]

On 25/02/2019 at 17:13, jay dubaya said:

In layman’s  terms a soldier lent to another regiment or battalion for a short/set period but not transferred so he still belongs to his original regiment, there is evidence that soldiers attached to another unit would have worn regimental insignia of that unit.

See my post in this recent thread that will show how a number of casualties can dramatically grow.

 

Jon

Thanks, Jon. I appreciate the info. I’ll keep digging but agree that it’s certainly a long shot that they’ll be conclusive proof out there. 

 

Cheers,

Dan

[laughton]

Dan:

 

We have a similar case in Canada. An "Unown Canadian Officer" in Loos British Cemetery. it took us 16 months of additional work to prove our man was the only one lost at that location at any time during the Great War. You also have to add all RFC, RNAS, and RAF Officers. Multiply by the number of British versus Canadian Officers and you have a massive task!

 

As a minimum you need a list of all units in that area during the war, then Officers unaccounted for in known Graves. In essence, try to prove your own theory wrong.

 

You can also ask the CWGC for a database output of all KNOWN burials for 57.S.3 High Wood. That is a good way to get a fast list of candidate units and times. You can do a short version of that checking COG-BR documents for all neighboring cemeteries.

 

Richard

Edited 20 March , 2019 by laughton
can't spell "good"

[Waterloo Wanderer]

On 09/03/2019 at 16:31, laughton said:

Dan:

 

We have a similar case in Canada. An "Unown Canadian Officer" in Loos British Cemetery. it took us 16 months of additional work to prove our man was the only one lost at that location at any time during the Great War. You also have to add all RFC, RNAS, and RAF Officers. Multiply by the number of British versus Canadian Officers and you have a massive task!

 

As a minimum you need a list of all units in that area during the war, then Officers unaccounted for in known Graves. In essence, try to prove your own theory wrong.

 

You can also ask the CWGC for a database output of all KNOWN burials for 57.S.3 High Wood. That is a god way to get a fast list of candidate units and times. You can do a short version of that checking COG-BR documents for all neighboring cemeteries.

 

Richard

Thanks for the info, Richard...very useful and admittedly, a tall order.  Will keep the forum updated if I gain any more concrete info.

 

Dan