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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

How do i get information


Symears

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My gt gt gt uncle died on The Somme attacking High Wood on the 15th September 1916.

4783 Rifleman W S Matthews

Ive visited his grave at Caterpillar Valley but would love to find out more about what he did, when etc maybe even photographs.

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Welcome to the Forum Symears,

 

You will need to give us a little bit of his family background eg where and when born, any family stories about his service/death etc.

 

Do look at our sister site the LongLongTrail which you will see tabbed at the top left of this page. Full of tips on researching a Soldier.

 

Charlie

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To get you going though, there was clearly some question over his death and enquiries were made of the International Red Cross. Here is the Enquiry Card:

 

Note that the letters referred to will not have survived. What may not appear elsewhere is his Company '3 Coy'

 

C_G1_E_15_01_0059_3704_0.JPG.871eb9b967029a6790ca42255bbb41ac.JPG

Edited by charlie962
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Hi

I have the attached info2017940958_Screenshot_20181111-010455_AdobeAcrobat.jpg.d569252d6a89997571fb753c0e777f59.jpg

6 minutes ago, charlie962 said:

To get you going though, there was clearly some question over his death and enquiries were made of the International Red Cross. Here is the Enquiry Card:

 

Note that the letters referred to will not have survived. What may not appear elsewhere is his Company '3 Coy'

 

C_G1_E_15_01_0059_3704_0.JPG.871eb9b967029a6790ca42255bbb41ac.JPG

Wow thank you

 

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That note on the ICRC card that he was buried in High Wood made me look in more detail at the CWGC Archives here

At the bottom of the page you will see a 'concentration Report' which shows him as 4708 WT May but is then corrected on the Grave Registration report. He was identified by a letter he was carrying. It said he was No 2 Platoon, 3 Company. That will really help you when you start looking a t a War Diary for the Battalion.

 

A concentration report means he was buried first in one place then moved postwar to a CWGC Cemetery. (where he now lies)

 

266816729_GWFMatthewsWSCWGCConcentration.JPG.97cde4e0560b23af45d20ff5feeb9e92.JPG

 

Someone else will come along and interpret the grid ref of his original burial.

 

Charlie

 

Edit-  He rests identified alongside a number of unidentified soldiers. Did you appreciate this when you visted ?

Edited by charlie962
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11 minutes ago, charlie962 said:

That note on the ICRC card that he was buried in High Wood made me look in more detail at the CWGC Archives here

At the bottom of the page you will see a 'concentration Report' which shows him as 4708 WT May but is then corrected on the Grave Registration report. He was identified by a letter he was carrying. It said he was No 2 Platoon, 3 Company. That will really help you when you start looking a t a War Diary for the Battalion.

 

A concentration report means he was buried first in one place then moved postwar to a CWGC Cemetery. (where he now lies)

 

266816729_GWFMatthewsWSCWGCConcentration.JPG.97cde4e0560b23af45d20ff5feeb9e92.JPG

 

Someone else will come along and interpret the grid ref of his original burial.

 

Charlie

 

Edit-  He rests identified alongside a number of unidentified soldiers. Did you appreciate this when you visted ?

Thank you again, yes we did see how many unknown soldiers there were was a very emotional trip

 

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The unit War Diaries for the whole of the war are here on Discovery National Archives and each one can be downloaded for GBP3.50

 

I cannot say what detail they hold but they are highly unlikely to mention a private soldier by name. But the doings of 3 Company and maybe even 2 Platoon may get a mention ? There are better informed pals on this forum who could answer your battle questions.

 

Charlie

 

 

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19 minutes ago, charlie962 said:

Someone else will come along and interpret the grid ref of his original burial.

57c.S.4.d.1.7 is here (helped by Tmapper):

 

May.jpg

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Does that represent a corner of High Wood ? The answer is yes !

1825231884_GWFHighWood.JPG.d0f0339ad9c3e4dea3c0239044ade3bd.JPG

 

In the Wood, the Post Office Rifles (8th London’s) followed up the attack of their fellow Londoners, and suffered losses from withering machine gun fire. They did however manage to reach the German trenches.

 

Have you seen this site ?

Edited by charlie962
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Thanks to the recovery/retention/digitalising and publishing of pension records by the Western Front Association / Ancestry (Fold 3) there are two Pension Cards available.

Some new info not yet revealed in the thread that may interest you.

Widow's forename: Maria

She received 50F 26-3-17 and a was awarded on 2.4.17 a pension of 13/9 a week from 9.4.17

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11 minutes ago, Matlock1418 said:

Thanks to the recovery/retention/digitalising and publishing of pension records by the Western Front Association / Ancestry (Fold 3) there are two Pension Cards available.

Some new info not yet revealed in the thread that may interest you.

Widow's forename: Maria

She received 50F 26-3-17 and a was awarded on 2.4.17 a pension of 13/9 a week from 9.4.17

Thank you

 

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