Rifleman John Bushnell Kings Royal Rifles R/22370

[Guest]

My uncle,john bushnell,was kia 8th october 1917 ,I would like to know where this happened,and any other information about this 

I believe he was in :A: coy Kings royal rifles ,and at the western front and buryed at Bard cemetary belgium

[Alan24]

Alf,

Are you sure the information you have is correct?

CWGC has slightly different info.

439773 is not his implied service number but a cwgc reference.

They have his death as 10 Aug not 8 Oct.

 

Chances are that he was killed close to where he rests today.

 

The 11th Battalion war diary which  can be downloaded from the National Archives will give you a good understanding of the battalion's situation around the time of his death.

 

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/439773/bushnell,-john/

 

 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353105

 

Regards

 

Alan.

Edited 17 November , 2019 by Alan24

[MaxD]

Alan has pointed the way.  All the extant records have 10 August 1917.  The Register of Soldiers' Effects records his death as being in 131 Field Ambulance which was at Canada Farm about 5 to 6000 yards behind the area where the battalion were deployed in action from 7 August until 11 August.  The war diary records that they were being shelled "the greater part of the time".  It is most likely that he was wounded at the beginning of this period and evacuated as far as the Field  Ambulance where he succumbed to his wounds.

 

The area is on the map/image at:

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=14&lat=50.8930&lon=2.8168&layers=101464900&right=BingHyb

 

Canada Farm is top left of square 18 centre left of the trench map.  The battalion were on the Canal bank north of Boesinghe  (off the map to the top right).

 

The war diary is at the National Archives at::https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353105   On Ancestry if you have a sub at:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_2115_0-00000?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return#?imageId=43112_2115_0-00512

 

The register of Effects is at:

 

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60506/42511_6117462_0199-00217?pid=134838&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DdVB1136%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26_phtarg%3DdVB1135%26dbid%3D60506%26gsfn%3Djohn%26gsln%3Dbushnell%26cp%3D0%26_F8007A65%3D22370%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3D6x5%26redir%3Dfalse%26msT%3D1%26gss%3Dangs-d%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D1%26h%3D134838%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D2&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=dVB1136&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

 

The war diary contains copious lists of KRRC casualties, haven't had time to go though them to find his entry.

 

Max

[PRC]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website adds that he was 25 when he died and the son of Andrew and Caroline Bushnell; husband of Jessie Elizabeth Bushnell, of 14, Rahere St., Goswell Rd., London.

 

Soldiers Died in the Great War adds that he was born St Lukes, London, resident Goswell Road, Middlesex and enlisted Finsbury Barracks.

 

His Medal Index Card only shows him qualifying for the Victory Medal and British War Medal which almost certainly means he did not go overseas to a Theatre of War until some point after the 31st December 1915 . The 11th Battalion landed in France on the 21st July 1915, so that would imply he must have been part of a draft of replacements.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/kings-royal-rifle-corps/

It's worth checking out the Service Medal Roll, (the VM and BWM are on the same one and it's only on Ancestry), to see if they list Battalions he served with overseas.

 

The Government Probate Service holds a Soldiers Will for him - it probably says nothing more than I leave everything to my wife  but could provide you with a signature and even a sample of his handwriting.

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Wills?Surname=Bushnell&SurnameGrants=Bushnell&YearOfDeath=1917&YearOfDeathGrants=1917&IsGrantSearch=False&IsCalendarSearch=False#soldiers

 

I see a John Bushnell married a Jessie E. Morton in the Holborn District in Q2 of 1915. It looks likely the couple had a son, John J Bushnell, mothers' maiden name Morton, registered with the Civil Authorities in the Holborn District in Q2 of 1917. If John was already serving when he married then the details in his occupation box should show rank and regiment as a minimum. If they did have a son then the childs birth certificate will also show at a minimum rank and regiment \ corps details.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

[Matlock1418]

 

4 hours ago, Alan24 said:

Alf,

Are you sure the information you have is correct?

CWGC has slightly different info.

439773 is not his implied service number but a cwgc reference.

They have his death as 10 Aug not 8 Oct.

Alf,

Welcome to GWF

I politely suggest you change his number in your post heading to R/22370 [or R22370] to avoid potential future confusion - either from "edit" of your original post or by hovering over the title I believe

And ... Don't know which part of the world you are in [possibly US??] but note in the UK 10.8.17 = 10 August 1917 [as has been spotted by others]

 

Moving on ...

Thanks to the Western Front Association / Ancestry (Fold 3) there is a Pension Card for: 

John Bushnell  R22370  11 KRRC

Died of wounds received in action 10.8.17

His widow: Jessie Elizabeth got a pension of 13/9 per week from 25.2.18, awarded 16.2.18

Although apparently having applied for one she was Not eligible for an Alternative Pension but had earlier had a £5 Grant Paid 19-9-17

 

Edit: Note - No child recorded on the PC

 

Good luck with your enquiries.

:-)

Edited 17 November , 2019 by Matlock1418
edit addition

[Matlock1418]

Looks like you, or the moderators have now kindly, changed that service number

:-)

Edited 17 November , 2019 by Matlock1418
Explanation

[Guest]

Thanks to everyone for the information.I had previously only known about my fathers brother John,through doing family history,so I have got lots of catching up to do .Born in London ,in 1930,we have lived in Perth wa for the last 50 years,,and I shall probably have to hand the research over to other family relatives .Thank you all,for your help   alf .