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Remembered Today:

Henry Fell 1st or 5th Battalion the Border Regiment


GavinNewcombe

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502521687_henryfellsmall.jpg.97dd04acc0180967f72d692f534b6da5.jpg

 

This chap is Henry Fell a member of the Border Regiment in the first world war, and my great grandad. I am trying to trace his foot steps though the war but I have some confusing information. 

I have a number of sources that says that Henry was transferred from the 5th to the 1st  battalion on I think the 26-10-14 image below.

 

538243008_Screenshot2020-01-22at13_46_47.png.ad98f7ac5f980d37990e739769f154a3.png

 

 

And this is where the confusion comes in. When the 1st battalion was in Gallipoli I know for a fact that Henry was in Belgium. He was with his brother near St Julian when he was shot on the 23rd of May 1015 and he was also on the line near Mouse Trap farm when the German attacked with Gas the day after. This was an action where the 5th Border was involved in. I also know that Henry was at the Somme in the 1st of July on the first day of the battle. Where the 5th Border did not go the the Somme until September. 

 

So I suppose my question is that is the qualifying date on the above document the date when Henry should have been transferred?

 

I know a lot of these details because Henry and one of his brothers were interviewed by Melvyn Bragg for a book that he wrote in the 1970's about the town that these men, Melvyn and I lived in. 

 

Any information would be amazing. 

 

Thank you Gavin 

 

P.S. Henry survived the war and died at a ripe old age of 92 in 1985.

 

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Yes, he was moved from the 5th Bn at some point and renumbered, being sent to the 1st Bn, according to the medal card.

The 26 Oct 1914 is when he first went overseas

Quote

1/5th (Cumberland) Battalion
August 1914 : in Carlisle. Army Troops attached to East Lancashire Division. Moved to Barrow.
26 October 1914 : landed at Le Havre and attached to Lines of Communication. [Official History of the war mentions attachment to Jullundur Brigade in Lahore Division].

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/border-regiment/

 

The date the service number was issued should indicate the date he was transferred (or as best as it can be tied down). It can be found be looking at other men in the regiment with surrounding numbers.

 

Craig

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  • Admin

Welcome to the forum. The qualifying date is when he first disembarked in a theatre of war. 

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/campaign-medal-records/how-to-interpret-a-campaign-medal-index-card/

 

Michelle 

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Was he from Wigton in Cumberland? What was his brother called?

30098 was definitely from Wigton. Appears in War Office wounded list dated 4/1/18 with Wigton as NoK address

 

 

 

 

Edited by Mark1959
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As sadbrewer has found. 

If he is from Wigton and he is the only Henry in the Borders from Wigton there are lots of quotes from his letters (dozens) throughout the war in the Wigton Advertiser. He seems to have been invariably cheerful or at least tried to give that impression. They seemed to be quoted every few weeks during certain periods of the war. This chap is described as "must be one of the busiest letter writers on the Western Front" in one edition. See British Newspaper Archive available on fmp.

Some refer to the 5th and may help determine when he moved to the 1st but caution as it is an unreliable source. 

Edited by Mark1959
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59 minutes ago, Mark1959 said:

Was he from Wigton in Cumberland? What was his brother called?

30098 was definitely from Wigton. Appears in War Office wounded list dated 4/1/18 with Wigton as NoK address

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is one brother, Joseph Henry, the others being John and William.

 

 

Screenshot_20200122-183700.jpg

 

John...Wigton Advertiser July 24th 1915.

 

 

Screenshot_20200122-184441.jpg

 

William...May 5th 1917.

Screenshot_20200122-184959.jpg

 

 

Definitely worth taking out a subscription for the OP...plenty more to go at in the Archive.

Edited by sadbrewer
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All of that is amazing work guys. Thank you for the information. Yes he and his brothers are from Wigton. His brother was shot on the 23rd of May and dies later in hospital in Kent. As for William he was shot though both legs but missed all the bone and vital bits, lucky man and returned back to the regiment after recovering. 

 

I subscribing to the British Newspaper Archive as we speak.

 

Is there anywhere else I should be looking?

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK after doing a lot more reading and research I now have a lot of information about Henry and his journey though France and Flanders. What is the best way to put some kind of document together? Is a boring old chronological Word/google doc the best solution? I was thinking of trying of doing it in some kind of graphical way like a timeline based infographic. does anyone have any examples of documents they have put together?

 

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