Second Battalion Essex Regiment, Private 3/655 William John Wooldridge.

[Ray Carter]

William J Wooldrige was my grandfather, he was killed on the 13th of May 1915 during the second battle of Ypres and is buried in the CWG cemetery Poelkapel, Belgium.

I understand that it was around this time that enemy gas attacks started, I would be interested to know if this is the case and how could I view the regimental war diary for this period?

[DavidOwen]

Hi Ray

 

Welcome to the forum

 

The 2nd battalion's war diary can be downloaded from the National Archives here for a small fee https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352169

 

If you have Ancestry it starts here https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_1505_1-00000?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return

 

Good luck with your research

 

David

[Guest]

  The "offical" history of the Essex Regiment by Burrows is a very good supplement to the War Diary. As I have to look at it either toady or tomoorw, I will try to scan over what happened  in May 1915 for you- I have another couple of 2nd Essex casualties for my local roll so I will be reading through the volume anyway.

 

 

 

[Ray Carter]

Thank you both.

[Guest]

 

 

    In addition to what the WD or Burrows have to say, there is an additional poignant story falling up on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry for him- which has a document listed as "Concentration"  . It shows that his body was found and identified in 1923 during one of the battlefield clear-ups that took place after the war.  4 men of the Essex were recovered at the same map location, of whom 3 were identified (including your man).  One of my helpful colleagues on GWF should be able to tell you where the map reference actually is.

    There are 51 men of the Essx remembered on a general memorial, usually indicative of bodies not recovered either from No Mans Land or the German lines after a withdrawal/retreat.

     The desciption fo the 4 Essex men recovered shows that they must have been hastily  buried or just buried (perhaps by shell) as  pay books and ID insgignia were recovered. Normally, if buried by the Germans (or recovered by the British), such ID would have been removed. For the British side, such items would, if possible, be returned to the family - if the Germans took it, then it would have come through on a list of casualties from the German Government to the International Red Cross

 

        Here is the card  for him from the ICRC Prisoners of the First World War website. There is a second card  for him saying he was wounded and missing on 9th June but this must be an error.   The "negatif envoye" is what the ICRC forwarded back to the family/ British Government and is the official response of the German government that nothing was known to it of his fate.

    The ICRC card shows the state of knowledge after 13th May 1915- it shows that the British knew he had been wounded in No Man's Land/German lines  but not (for sure) that he was dead.

 

Edited 10 May , 2019 by Guest

[DavidOwen]

I actually have this WD and have taken a look at the 13th May 1915. The diary is very detailed despite being written on torn out pages of a notebook rather than the usual official form.

 

The action starts at 4am with a German artillery bombardment and lasted until approximately 10.15am with the Battalion once again settled back into its original trenches. The Bn lost its positions and then retook them, the counter attack being described in some detail by Company.

The casualties recorded are 37 killed, 94 wounded, 49 missing. It doesn't differentiate between Officer and Other Ranks which is slightly unusual.

There is no mention of any gas being fired. The enemy artillery is recorded as being High Explosive and Shrapnel.

 

[Ray Carter]

Many thanks for the information. I had few snippets of info but this is on another level! I will take time looking at it and report back. 

I have attached photos of WJW as a boy soldier and in a group at Harwich (bottom left).

 

 

[clk]

Hi Ray,

 

On ‎10‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 12:44, clk said:

The amount of War Gratuity shown as paid in his Soldiers' Effects record is indicative of overall length of service being 12, or less months.

 

The War Gratuity paid is a reflection of WW1 service only (at home and abroad), I wonder if you posted your first image in the 'Uniforms, Cap Badges, ...' section of the forum if someone who has a detailed knowledge of such things may be able to confirm the regiment, and give an approximate date for the photo. If you can, it would probably also be worth adding a blown up view of his collar badge and shoulder area, at an higher resolution as possible.  If you were to do that, perhaps under the title of something like 'Uniform ID help please - William John Wooldridge', it would be a good idea to include a link to this thread so that Forum Pals don't go off looking for things that have already been covered.

 

Regards

Chris

Edited 11 May , 2019 by clk