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Private Alfred Grigg Royal Warwickshire 10th battalion


ChrisBrum

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Guys the help you gave me researching my Grandfather was fantastic, really helped me ‘know’ him a little better.

 

I have another question now which I hope you can help with.  Private Alfred Grigg Royal Warwickshire 10th battalion was my great great Grandfather who passed on Jan 17th 1917.

 

Ancestry gave me some great information although the picture of his grave is weird. All you can see is a bush. The question I have is what action would he have been in when he met his demise? I assumed he had died in the Battle of the Somme but he seems to have survived that.

 

Any information would be treasured by the family 

 

Thanks

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What Ancestry won't have but FindmyPast do, is the occasionally Casualty Reports salvaged from other peoples files.

 

There's one for Albert Grigg 10624 here

 

What it says is effectively:

Progress Report, OC No4 CCS, France 13/1/17

GSW Legs, Frac L

Admitted 11/1/17

died 13/1/17

interred in British Cmty Varennes

 

So presumably he was wounded 10th or 11th Jan 1917

 

Charlie

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 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353056 is the war diary of the battalion.  It is on Ancestry at

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_2085_3-00000?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return#?imageId=43112_2085_3-00001

 

He was wounded in all likelihood on 11 Jan (as Charlie finds above) when 3 men were killed and 9 men were wounded in heavy shelling while the battalion was doing a normal stint in the trenches.  .  There was no "named" battle, action was fairly continuous throughout the war at one level of intensity or another.

 

Max

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Both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and Soldiers Died in the Great War agree on a date of death of the 13th November January 1917. with SDGW adding he Died of Wounds.

 

The CWGC website has this to say about the history of Varennes Military Cemetery.

"The cemetery was laid out by the 39th Casualty Clearing Station in August 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, but the first burials were made during August and September by more mobile divisional Field Ambulances. The 4th and 11th Casualty Clearing Stations then used the cemetery from October 1916, joined by the 47th from December 1916, but by May 1917 Varennes was deserted and remained so until the Germans launched their offensive in this quarter in April 1918. "

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

Edit - 13th January 1917 - having a senior moment :-)

Edited by PRC
Senility
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The War Diary for 10th Bn is here on Discovery National Archives for 11/1/17. Scroll back and forward and you get an idea in this 'preview as to wether you want to order it for 3.50 pounds. Of course your Ancestry sub may give you access.

 

Edited by charlie962
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Hi ChrisBrum,

 

1 hour ago, ChrisBrum said:

Ancestry gave me some great information although the picture of his grave is weird. All you can see is a bush

 

It looks like the good folk at British War Graves would be able to send you a decent image on a free of charge basis.

 

Regards

Chris

 

Edit:

The amount of War Gratuity shown as paid in his Soldiers' Effects record is indicative of service counting from circa December 1914. Service files for other 10/Warwickshire Regiment men show:

 

10526 Gallagher - enlisted 29.10.1914

10624 

10643 Adams - enlisted 15.1.1915

10676 Willoughby - enlisted 18.1.1915

Edited by clk
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The area of trenches occupied by 10 Warwicks from 10 January was to the north west of Hebuterne in the right sector of the line running in the map/image at the link below from square K 3 to square K16

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=14&lat=50.1309&lon=2.6557&layers=101465215&right=BingHyb

 

The CCS was at Varennes where the cemetery is also, about 8 miles to the south.

 

Max

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