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Remembered Today:

Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner: Case #2 - Captain Northamptonshire Regiment (what a mess)


laughton

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This is a child topic of: Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner, Cuinchy

Only Captain Shortt 7th Bn is on the Loos Memorial for 25 September 1915, so worth a deeper look

  • 7th (Service) Battalion is 73rd Brigade 24th Division (LLT)
  • at Vermelles and marched to Hohenzollern Redoubt 36c.G.4 (war diary page 6 of 407)

The nine (9) on the Le Touret Memorial I presume would also be candidates?

  • an early one 25 December 1914
  • March, April and May 1915

surname

forename death unit research notes
WATTS CHARLES HAROLD REYNELL 25/12/1914 2nd Bn. see summary below
CAPELL ARTHUR GEORGE CONINGSBY 12/3/1915 1st Bn. attd. 2nd Bn. all together
POWER HERBERT 12/3/1915 1st Bn. attd. 2nd Bn. "
STOCKER" St. JOHN CRICHTON 12/3/1915 "C" Coy. 2nd Bn. "
WALLACE ALEXANDER MOULTRIE 12/3/1915 3rd Bn. attd. 2nd Bn. " but still a Lieutenant at the time
WOOD-MARTIN JAMES ISIDORE 12/3/1915 2nd Bn. "
DICKSON BARRINGTON BLOMFIELD 9/5/1915 1st Bn.

 

FARRAR JOHN HAROLD 9/4/1915 3rd Bn. attd. 1st Bn.
         

Captain C. H.R. Watts

After what is quoted below (war diary page 65 of 566) it ways that "One of our Captains was killed in another part of the line about 8 am on the 25th". It appears they are near Pont Logy 36.M.34. That appears less than 200 yards northwest of Neuve Chapelle. That is 5,500 yards north of where the remains were recovered just south of Rue de Bois. There are so many remains there it may have been a burial ground. A newspaper clipping (here of IWM) says he was killed in action on the 19th December 1914, not Christmas Day? On the 19th a man was killed by a stray bullet, however I tracked that down to Private Johnson who was recovered from 36.M.21.a.5.3

 

Interesting note: I had heard of the Christmas Truce before but had never actually seen a recorded event. While checking on the location of Captain Watts 25/12/1914 (top of the list above), I noticed the report (war diary page 64 of 566).

Quote

In the trenches, weather fair at first turning to frost on Xmas eve, Xmas day being cold & fine.

On Xmas eve, the Germans and our men got into conversation eventually meeting on the "no mans" land between the trenches. Cigarettes & buttons (non-regimental) were exchanged and one of our men even to to their parapet & looked in. The German private soldiers seemed very friendly & said they did not wish to fight us, eventually even cheering the English ....... They wished to have no firing on Xmas day to we we agreed as far as concerned the two companies of ours ( A & B ) immediately opposite this part of their line.

 

5 Captains of the 2nd Battalion 12 March 1915

The battalion is clearing the Neuve Chapelle 36.M.34 on 10 March 1915 (war diary page 104 of 566) moving toward Bois du Biez 36.S.6, so much closer to where the remains of the Captain were recovered. The battalion was heavily attacked on the 12th but repulsed the enemy.

  • An attack was ordered on the enemy trenches, resulting in the death of the two "A" Coy Captains Wood-Martin and Stocker (war diary page 106 of 566). As they fell back, the adjutant Captain Power was killed as well. Captain Capell "C" Coy was hit at some day during the day and must have died of wounds. It does say only Captain Smyth "D" Coy and Lieutenant Parker "Grenade Party" were the only remaining officers, as weven Colonel Prichard was wounded on the 13th.  (The Coy affiliations come from the list: war diary page 108 of 566). We can remove Captain Wallace from the list as he was a Lieutenant at the time of his death, so another case of the posthumous promotion within the CWGC database.

2 Captains of the 2nd Battalion May 1915

See below, we have to add the missing Captains Powell and (no, he is 1st Bn) Hunt to the 2nd Battalion for 9 May 1915.

  • On 4 May 1915 they were in billets at Rue du Bois and moved to Sailly (which one? Sailly at 51b.X.29 or Sailly-sur-la-Lys at 36.G.22)
  • H.Q. was in a house near Farm de Bretagne, which I found at 36.G.20.d.3.3, so it is Sailly-sur-la-Lys
  • the war diary refers to Captain Ward-Hunt so that may be the correct last name, not his second name - they were in the orchard - where? (war diary page 135 of 566)
    • yes it is, see the list (war diary page 142 of 566)
    • Powell is not on that list as below we find he is in the 1st Battalion (all very confusing!)

 

Captains with the 1st Battalion in 1915

We switch to 2nd Brigade in the 1st Division for these. Starting on 7 April 1915, we find them south of Neuve Chapelle, again in front of Bois du Biez. One man is reported killed during a quiet day on the 8th. The 9th was quiet as well and there is no report of casualties and no mention of Captain Farrar (nor any details anywhere that don't relate back to the CWGC)?

  • Captain Dickson was a month later and they are reported in billets at Le Touret on 8 May 1915 before they march up Rue du Bois and then take up trenches south of Rue du Bois 1.5 miles southeast of Richebourg-St.Vaast (war diary page 64 of 364). Hold the presses! Captain Dickson "B" Coy is with Captain Farrar "D" Coy, so it is a CWGC database error! They were the leading companies (war diary page 66 of 364). Captain Dickson and Captain Farrar are both reported killed after they reached the gap in the wire made by the guns. A list of the casualties  follows (war diary page 68 of 364).
     
  • Captain Farrar's error leads me off to check the others and I see a Captain T. G. Powell - why don't we know about him? Another answered: Captain Powell is named on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium (CWGC Link). I would not have found him anyway, as he is clearly listed in the war diary for the 1st Battalion but the CWGC link says he was 3rd Battalion attached to the 2nd Battalion - clearly not! But wait, there is more, so is Captain G. W. Hunt listed there with Powell as 2nd Battalion, so he has to be added to the list above as well.
Edited by laughton
moved this to a new topic and updating
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So we have the men split up and remembered on:

  • Ploegsteert Memorial
  • Loos Memorial
  • Le Touret Memorial

I don't see any of these men being at 36.S.15.b.7.6 unless that was a burial ground or a cemetery.

 

The "White Cross Touring Atlas" shows a great number of cemeteries in that area (left page 44 right lower side north of Givenchy). That is file 11091924 - I need to make a cross reference list or add the correct page numbers to those on the Shared MediaFire site.

 

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