Henry Francis Cawley

[SusanCawley]

Hi all.  I found this conversation whilst looking for information about my Grandfather's Cousin, Henry Francis Cawley, Killed in action on 7th October 2016 aged 22.  He was in D Company, 13 Platoon of the Royal West Kent Regiment, and today I have visited his grave at Warlencourt-Eaucourt.  This evening I am staying in Albert.  I would really love to know what happened to the West Kents on that day, as there are many of them with the same date of death in the cemeteries we have visited today.  Can anyone fill in the details?  This man was from Colchester, but seems to have enlisted in Carlisle - why would he end up in the Royal West Kents? 

His cousin, my Grandfather Clement William Cawley was also from Colchester, and enlisted there in 1915 aged 17, he also was in the Royal West Kents but transferred to the Labour Corps and was not demobbed until 1920.  I know he spent time at Etaples, but again, any information on the details of what happened to him would be welcome.  He survived deaf in one ear and nearly blind in one eye, but I remember him well.

 

Anything you can offer would be welcome, thank you.

Susan

[Michelle Young]

Welcome to the forum Susan, I have made this into a new post to hopefully get more help for you.

 

Michelle 

[PRC]

Private G/18355 Harry Francis Cawley of the 11th battalion was Killed in Action on the 7th October 1916 in the attack on Gird Trench.

 

In brief:-

41st Div attacked Bayonet Trench and Gird Trench. 124 Bde attacked Bayonet Trench with 26th and 32nd Bns, Royal Fusiliers. Running into MG fire these two battalions were forced to dig in half way to the objective. They were reinforced at nightfall by 21st Bn, King’s Royal Rifle Corps and 10th Bn, the Queen’s Regt. The apparent strength of the attack is misleading. All remnants of the four battalions gave the brigade a strength of one battalion.

122 Bde was in similar straits attacking Gird Trench with 15th Hampshire Regt, 11th Royal West Kents, 12th East Surreys and 18th King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Despite the use of burning oil on the Germans, little progress was made.

http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?9058-The-Somme-Day-by-Day/page5

 

There is more in the Official Regimental History  - the relevant chapter can be read here:-

http://janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/QORWK - C T ATKINSON Ch 13.pdf

 

Incidentally, Warlencourt wasn't his initial resting place. If you look at the bottom of his webpage on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website you will see there is a Concentration report. Thse reports detail the recovery and shift to the current location.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/240970/cawley,-harry-francis/

 

The CWGC website has this to say about the Warlencourt British Cemetery -

Warlencourt, the Butte de Warlencourt and Eaucourt-L'Abbaye were the scene of very fierce fighting in 1916. Eaucourt was taken by the 47th (London) Division early in October. The Butte (a Roman mound of excavated chalk, about 17 metres high, once covered with pines) was attacked by that and other divisions, but it was not relinquished by the Germans until the following 26 February, when they withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. The 51st (Highland) Division fought a delaying action here on 25 March 1918 during the great German advance, and the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division recaptured the ground on 25 August 1918. The cemetery was made late in 1919 when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars. The largest burial ground moved into this cemetery was:- HEXHAM ROAD CEMETERY, LE SARS, on the West side of the Abbey grounds. (Hexham Road was the name given to the road leading from Warlencourt to Eaucourt. Le Sars was captured by the 23rd Division on 7 October 1916, and again by the Third Army on 25 August 1918.) This cemetery was used from November 1916 to October 1917, and contained the graves of 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 13 from Australia.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2000079/warlencourt-british-cemetery/

 

Hope that helps - and welcome to the forum :-)

 

Peter

[SusanCawley]

That is absolutely brilliant everyone. Thank you. More information than I found from anywhere else, including the RWK Museum! I really appreciate your help with this.

 

Now, if only Grandfather's records hadn't been burned ...

2 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

Welcome to the forum Susan, I have made this into a new post to hopefully get more help for you.

 

Michelle 

Thank you Michelle.

[PRC]

5 hours ago, SusanCawley said:

Hi all.  I found this conversation whilst looking for information about my Grandfather's Cousin, Henry Francis Cawley, Killed in action on 7th October 2016 aged 22.  He was in D Company, 13 Platoon of the Royal West Kent Regiment, and today I have visited his grave at Warlencourt-Eaucourt.  This man was from Colchester, but seems to have enlisted in Carlisle - why would he end up in the Royal West Kents? 

His cousin, my Grandfather Clement William Cawley was also from Colchester, and enlisted there in 1915 aged 17, he also was in the Royal West Kents but transferred to the Labour Corps and was not demobbed until 1920.  I know he spent time at Etaples, but again, any information on the details of what happened to him would be welcome.  He survived deaf in one ear and nearly blind in one eye, but I remember him well.

 

The medal index card for G/18355 H. Francis Cawley shows that he qualified for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. To gain those he would have first entered a theatre of war - in his case most likely France & Flanders - on or after the 1st January 1916. There were additional medals for men who served in a Theatre of War before that date. As the 11th Battalion didn't land in France until the 3rd May 1916, he could potentially have been one of the men who was with them, or given the heavy casualties they had already suffered in the Somme Campaign, he may have been part of a replacement draft that was sent to them.

 

With the introduction of conscription in early 1916, other ranks lost any say in which unit they served with, so a man might get his preferred regiment to train with, (all the regiments and specialist corps had home service only units that also provided a training facility), but when they were sent over to a Theatre of War, they would end up at an Infantry Base Depot, (of which there were quite a few at Etaples), and from there they could be sent to any unit where the demand was highest. Thus given the high losses suffered by 11RWK in the battle of Flers-Courcellette, a draft on its way to make good losses in their badged regiment might well be redirected to the RWK.

 

Can't say exactly why Carlisle - the original 11th Battalion was raised at Lewisham - but a) the were a number of well paid munitions related jobs in the area, and b) makes it more likely he was part of a draft. The crux will be when the RWK service number was issued, which with a bit of legwork can possibly be estimated by hunting for surviving service records for men with nearby service numbers.

 

One of the documents that will be available for him is his entry in the Army Register of Soldiers Effects, (only on Ancestry). This may give some more (brief) information about how his death was viewed at the death - was he Killed in Action, or Presumed to have Died. It will also give details of who the balance of his pay went to and who received his War Gratuity. If you know the amount  then there are some whizzy people here who can work how roughly when he enlisted. This won't necessarily be the same date as when he joined the 11th Battalion.

 

There is no Medal Index Card for a Clement William Cawley, although if he served in the UK only I wouldn't have expected to find one. However possibly worthy of further investigation is a Private William Cawley, 27329 Royal West Kent Regiment and then 11778 Labour Corps. He too only qualified for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. Given your grandfathers injuries, he would most likely have received a war pension. One source that has only recently become available is the Pension Ledger card, a document used to control the award and payment of such pensions. The documents themselves are on a website linked to Ancestry, (Fold3), for which a separate subscription is required. However there are summary details on Ancestry and there may be enough family detail there to confirm you have found the right man.

 

Lots of other places you can look and other snippets you might be able to find if you want to explore it further.

 

Just to add, while Ancestry and FindMyPast do offer free trial periods, if you are normally resident in the UK then your library will offer free access to one or t'other, (and sometimes both), plus invaluable resources like the British Newspaper Archive.

 

Be warned - this can get very addictive

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

Edited 15 July , 2019 by PRC

[SusanCawley]

15 hours ago, PRC said:

 

The medal index card for G/18355 H. Francis Cawley shows that he qualified for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. To gain those he would have first entered a theatre of war - in his case most likely France & Flanders - on or after the 1st January 1916. There were additional medals for men who served in a Theatre of War before that date. As the 11th Battalion didn't land in France until the 3rd May 1916, he could potentially have been one of the men who was with them, or given the heavy casualties they had already suffered in the Somme Campaign, he may have been part of a replacement draft that was sent to them.

 

With the introduction of conscription in early 1916, other ranks lost any say in which unit they served with, so a man might get his preferred regiment to train with, (all the regiments and specialist corps had home service only units that also provided a training facility), but when they were sent over to a Theatre of War, they would end up at an Infantry Base Depot, (of which there were quite a few at Etaples), and from there they could be sent to any unit where the demand was highest. Thus given the high losses suffered by 11RWK in the battle of Flers-Courcellette, a draft on its way to make good losses in their badged regiment might well be redirected to the RWK.

 

Can't say exactly why Carlisle - the original 11th Battalion was raised at Lewisham - but a) the were a number of well paid munitions related jobs in the area, and b) makes it more likely he was part of a draft. The crux will be when the RWK service number was issued, which with a bit of legwork can possibly be estimated by hunting for surviving service records for men with nearby service numbers.

 

One of the documents that will be available for him is his entry in the Army Register of Soldiers Effects, (only on Ancestry). This may give some more (brief) information about how his death was viewed at the death - was he Killed in Action, or Presumed to have Died. It will also give details of who the balance of his pay went to and who received his War Gratuity. If you know the amount  then there are some whizzy people here who can work how roughly when he enlisted. This won't necessarily be the same date as when he joined the 11th Battalion.

 

There is no Medal Index Card for a Clement William Cawley, although if he served in the UK only I wouldn't have expected to find one. However possibly worthy of further investigation is a Private William Cawley, 27329 Royal West Kent Regiment and then 11778 Labour Corps. He too only qualified for the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. Given your grandfathers injuries, he would most likely have received a war pension. One source that has only recently become available is the Pension Ledger card, a document used to control the award and payment of such pensions. The documents themselves are on a website linked to Ancestry, (Fold3), for which a separate subscription is required. However there are summary details on Ancestry and there may be enough family detail there to confirm you have found the right man.

 

Lots of other places you can look and other snippets you might be able to find if you want to explore it further.

 

Just to add, while Ancestry and FindMyPast do offer free trial periods, if you are normally resident in the UK then your library will offer free access to one or t'other, (and sometimes both), plus invaluable resources like the British Newspaper Archive.

 

Be warned - this can get very addictive

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

Thank you Peter. The man you found is indeed my Grandfather and I know he was at Etaples. Whilst there he had two days Confined to Barracks but I haven't found out what he did to get that punishment.   

 

I am a member on ancestry but haven't looked st Pension records! Thank you for the tip. When I get home I shall do that - still in France at present- Etaples our next destination. 

 

Best regards 

Susan

[MaxD]

Susan

 

The conduct sheet in his records is almost impossible to read but rest assured it will have been for something very minor like being 10 minutes late on parade or coming back to barracks later than he should have done.

 

There is another thing to be aware of.  In his entry on the Commonwealth War Graves site there is a document called a concentration sheet https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/240970/cawley,-harry-francis/#&gid=null&pid=1

 

This records details of men who were initially buried elsewhere on the battle field  and brought in after the war to the cemetery in which he now lies.  On tThe map/image at:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=14&lat=50.0705&lon=2.8281&layers=101465194&right=BingHyb 

you can see the cemetery in square 11 (below the last e of nationale) at top left and then down a little in square M 24 just above where the D 11 road runs was obviously the site of a temporary cemetery where he, and a number of others were first buried,

 

Max

Edited 16 July , 2019 by MaxD
amendment to conduct

[MaxD]

His record (Ancestry) shows he was working in Keswick when he joined up in March 1916 hence Carlisle as the start point.  He arrived in France on 6 September 1916, just a month and a day before he was initially reported missing and then his burial reported..

 

Max 

[PRC]

On 15/07/2019 at 18:18, SusanCawley said:

This man was from Colchester, but seems to have enlisted in Carlisle

 

Good job you didn't let on that he was Ipswich born and bred - you wouldn't have got anything out of me

 

BTW is the William Cawley remembered on the Ipswich Boer War Memorial also a relative?

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Suffolk/IpswichBoer.html

 

Cheers,

Peter

[George Rayner]

Peter,

Always thought Colchester was Essex anyway! And that's just football tribalism!!

 

George

[PRC]

11 hours ago, George Rayner said:

Always thought Colchester was Essex anyway! And that's just football tribalism!!

 

George,

 

The key part of what I said was born and bred - and you make football tribalism sound like a bad thing :-)

 

Semi-seriously, all help is freely given - even for queries with an Ipswich connection.  (I shall just have to say anonymous on this forum in case any of my family find out I said that

 

Cheers,

Anon.

Edited 17 July , 2019 by PRC
Typo

[George Rayner]

Well taken Sir!

 

As I live half way between the two I often tread carefully where family and friends are concerned

 

George

And likewise I will help anybody-if I have the skill

[Longboat]

Hi Susan,

 

I've spent many an hour collating and studying the service numbers of the men of the 11th as my grandfather was also a member of D Company, 13 platoon.

 

Henry Francis Cawley G/18355 was part of a draft that joined the 11th Royal West Kent's on the 18th September 1916. The battalion had just taken part in the attack on the village of Flers on the 15th and Henry's draft was made up of men from East Anglia and Northamptonshire.

He was amongst a number of men whose war lasted 3 short weeks after joining the battalion.

 

If you want a more detailed account of the events of the 7th October send me a Personal Message

 

Stuart.

 

 

[SusanCawley]

On 16/07/2019 at 19:41, PRC said:

 

Good job you didn't let on that he was Ipswich born and bred - you wouldn't have got anything out of me

 

BTW is the William Cawley remembered on the Ipswich Boer War Memorial also a relative?

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Suffolk/IpswichBoer.html

 

Cheers,

Peter

Hi Peter,  that is quite possible,  as the family lived in Bardwell for generations. When I get home (currently in Etaples) I will look at all my records.  

[SusanCawley]

18 hours ago, Longboat said:

Hi Susan,

 

I've spent many an hour collating and studying the service numbers of the men of the 11th as my grandfather was also a member of D Company, 13 platoon.

 

Henry Francis Cawley G/18355 was part of a draft that joined the 11th Royal West Kent's on the 18th September 1916. The battalion had just taken part in the attack on the village of Flers on the 15th and Henry's draft was made up of men from East Anglia and Northamptonshire.

He was amongst a number of men whose war lasted 3 short weeks after joining the battalion.

 

If you want a more detailed account of the events of the 7th October send me a Personal Message

 

Stuart.

 

 

Thank you Stuart. That's brilliant.  I will send you a PM when I work out how. It's not clear on my phone.

[Pat Atkins]

Susan, if you tap Longboat's username above the avatar on the left hand side of his post, a screen will come up which includes a message icon like an envelope - tap on that, and you're in business.

 

All the best with your research: the folk on this thread seem to have come up trumps, good work by you all.

 

Cheers, Pat

[SusanCawley]

On ‎15‎/‎07‎/‎2019 at 19:42, PRC said:

Private G/18355 Harry Francis Cawley of the 11th battalion was Killed in Action on the 7th October 1916 in the attack on Gird Trench.

 

In brief:-

41st Div attacked Bayonet Trench and Gird Trench. 124 Bde attacked Bayonet Trench with 26th and 32nd Bns, Royal Fusiliers. Running into MG fire these two battalions were forced to dig in half way to the objective. They were reinforced at nightfall by 21st Bn, King’s Royal Rifle Corps and 10th Bn, the Queen’s Regt. The apparent strength of the attack is misleading. All remnants of the four battalions gave the brigade a strength of one battalion.

122 Bde was in similar straits attacking Gird Trench with 15th Hampshire Regt, 11th Royal West Kents, 12th East Surreys and 18th King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Despite the use of burning oil on the Germans, little progress was made.

http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?9058-The-Somme-Day-by-Day/page5

 

There is more in the Official Regimental History  - the relevant chapter can be read here:-

http://janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/QORWK - C T ATKINSON Ch 13.pdf

 

Incidentally, Warlencourt wasn't his initial resting place. If you look at the bottom of his webpage on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website you will see there is a Concentration report. Thse reports detail the recovery and shift to the current location.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/240970/cawley,-harry-francis/

 

The CWGC website has this to say about the Warlencourt British Cemetery -

Warlencourt, the Butte de Warlencourt and Eaucourt-L'Abbaye were the scene of very fierce fighting in 1916. Eaucourt was taken by the 47th (London) Division early in October. The Butte (a Roman mound of excavated chalk, about 17 metres high, once covered with pines) was attacked by that and other divisions, but it was not relinquished by the Germans until the following 26 February, when they withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. The 51st (Highland) Division fought a delaying action here on 25 March 1918 during the great German advance, and the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division recaptured the ground on 25 August 1918. The cemetery was made late in 1919 when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars. The largest burial ground moved into this cemetery was:- HEXHAM ROAD CEMETERY, LE SARS, on the West side of the Abbey grounds. (Hexham Road was the name given to the road leading from Warlencourt to Eaucourt. Le Sars was captured by the 23rd Division on 7 October 1916, and again by the Third Army on 25 August 1918.) This cemetery was used from November 1916 to October 1917, and contained the graves of 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 13 from Australia.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2000079/warlencourt-british-cemetery/

 

Hope that helps - and welcome to the forum :-)

 

Peter

Good morning, Peter. I have just got round to reading this on a laptop, much easier than my phone.  It sounds like a tough time for the men involved.  I can't believe the casualty figures - they are mindblowing.  Harder still to believe that just three weeks later, my Grandfather joined the same regiment!

[Kath]

On 16/07/2019 at 15:38, SusanCawley said:

The man you found is indeed my Grandfather and I know he was at Etaples. Whilst there he had two days Confined to Barracks but I haven't found out what he did to get that punishment. 

Susan, can you give a link to where you found this, please

Kath.

[George Rayner]

And did you find anything relevant during your visit to Etaples?

 

George

[SusanCawley]

On 27/07/2019 at 10:26, Kath said:

Susan, can you give a link to where you found this, please

Kath.

I have a document, quite charred,  with a bit of his record. I will load it here for you, using the laptop later. Thank you.

[SusanCawley]

On 27/07/2019 at 11:26, George Rayner said:

And did you find anything relevant during your visit to Etaples?

 

George

The Cemetery is massive, but all the buildings are gone and the streets used for new housing. The local tourist office has various general publications,  which were informative, particularly about the mutinies.  Our campsite was right next to the Cemetery. 

 

Trains used to slow down as they passed the Cemetery to make passengers think about the sacrifice - an idea of the man who founded the CWGC.

 

Lots of general background, which is always interesting. 

On 19/07/2019 at 11:40, SusanCawley said:

Hi Peter,  that is quite possible,  as the family lived in Bardwell for generations. When I get home (currently in Etaples) I will look at all my records.  

He doesn't appear in my family tree, which is a surprise as it's such an unusual name. More research needed, I think.