London Regiment 9/9/16

[Allan1]

Hi

Helping my wife with one her family.

3259 L/Cpl C G E Burden was in the London Regiment and died 9/9/16 and is buried at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval.

Does anyone know what the Regiment was doing at the time of his death?

Thanks in advance.

Allan

[Allan1]

sorry he was in the 13th Kensington Batallion if that helps.

[Jrmh]

The Battle of Ginchy (9 September), Somme according to The LLT

 

War diary available here for 1/13th

 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=Wo95+13+kensington

Edited 28 November , 2019 by Jrmh

[Acknown]

I presume that you know about the Long Long Trail website. If not, there's a tab at the top of this page that will lead you to it.

The 13th Battalion is described here: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/london-regiment/. You will note that it was in the 168th Brigade in the 56th (London) Division.

The unit's War Diary for that period is available from the National Archives: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14056011. It is also on Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_2955_0-00000?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return#?imageId=43112_2955_0-00167. If you don't have an Ancestry account, you may be able to access it for free at your local library. 

Here: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/56th-1st-london-division/ you will see that the 56th Division was involved in the Battle of Ginchy that day, and here: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-the-somme-1916/ you'll find some more detail that you can complement with a web search. Here's the Wikipedia version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ginchy.

On 09 Sep 16, when the division attacked Ginchy, the 13th was a support battalion during the attack (going in behind the assault battalions as a second wave).

Acknown

 

Edited 28 November , 2019 by Acknown

[Allan1]

Thanks for the links.

[Pat Atkins]

The War Diary says from midnight on the 5th/6th to the 10th of Sept they lost 4 officers and 33 ORs killed, 10 officers and 207 ORs wounded, and 1 officer and 42 ORs missing, the obvious assumption being most were suffered in the attack of the 9th. It gives some details of the battalion's role in the attack to Company level.

 

Cheers, Pat