Private 52007 Arthur Reynolds, 17th Liverpool Pals

[John French]

Private Reynolds was killed in action on 12th October 1916 and according to the Museum of Liverpool web-site:

"On 12 October, at 2:05 pm, the 17th Battalion assembled north of Flers. Their objective was to capture the German-held Gird trenches. They made it to the enemy line, but were stopped by un-damaged barbed-wire. Coming under heavy machine gun fire from all directions, they retreated. By the time the 19th and 20th Liverpool Pals relieved them the following morning, they had gained just 150 yards, with a loss of 273 casualties.".

I have tried to find the battalion war diaries, but and Ancestry search mis-directs to the 19th Battalion diaries - please could anyone provide a link to the 17th war diaries. I am searching also for a trench map of this action.

Finally, please can you estimate an enlistment date for Private Reynolds.  According to Soldier's Effects he only received the minimum £3-0-0.

 

[Don Regiano]

58 minutes ago, John French said:

Private Reynolds was killed in action on 12th October 1916 and according to the Museum of Liverpool web-site:

"On 12 October, at 2:05 pm, the 17th Battalion assembled north of Flers. Their objective was to capture the German-held Gird trenches. They made it to the enemy line, but were stopped by un-damaged barbed-wire. Coming under heavy machine gun fire from all directions, they retreated. By the time the 19th and 20th Liverpool Pals relieved them the following morning, they had gained just 150 yards, with a loss of 273 casualties.".

I have tried to find the battalion war diaries, but and Ancestry search mis-directs to the 19th Battalion diaries - please could anyone provide a link to the 17th war diaries. I am searching also for a trench map of this action.

Finally, please can you estimate an enlistment date for Private Reynolds.  According to Soldier's Effects he only received the minimum £3-0-0.

 

 

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_2334_2-00038?pid=492241&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3Dfhb437%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D60779%26cp%3D0%26gskw%3D2334/1%26_F0007CF4%3DKing%27s%20(Liverpool)%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3Duc3%26redir%3Dfalse%26gss%3Dangs-d%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D24%26h%3D492241%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D25&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fhb437&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true#?imageId=43112_2334_2-00067

 

The listing under 2334/1 in Ancestry transposes the 17th and 19th war diaries.

 

Gird Trench and Gird Support are in square 19a just above Factory Corner:

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=50.0679&lon=2.8223&layers=101465185&b=1

[Promenade]

Arthur Reynolds enlisted in 10th (Liverpool Scottish) Bn of the King's (Liverpool) Regt (KLR) as Pte No 6289 on 11/2/16. He crossed to France on 15/7/16 and joined A Coy 17 KLR in the Field. Initially listed as missing later as killed on 12/10/16. (Source Liverpool Museum archives and database)

 

Promenade

Edited 25 May , 2019 by Promenade

[derekb]

Hi John,

 I have a general interest in the Liverpool Pals and a particular interest in the 19th Battalion.

 

Might be a daft idea, it’s been a bit since  looked at the diaries but have you tried looking at the 9th’s diaries to see what comes up?

 

Regards,

derekb

[John French]

Thanks everyone for your help.  I now have all the information I lacked.

 

Derekb, as Don Regiano's response above shows the Ancestry links have transposed the 17th and 19th Battalion war diaries.

[clk]

Hi,

 

There's a Report on Operations in the Brigade HQ diary - Ancestry link. It looks like there might be a couple of relevant maps in the Divisional HQ diary - link.

 

Regards

Chris

[John French]

Thanks Chris.  The Divisional Objectives map on page 128 is higher resolution than the one I had already.  This map does not have a date, but I assume (due to its position in the appendix) that it refers to the October 12 attack.

 

John