William Langtry

[A.P.Grimley]

Hello,

William Langtry,6th Kings Liverpool Regiment, number 243674, was wounded on August 7th 1917.He was discharged at Preston on November 30th 1917 as” no longer physically fit for war service”.On his death certificate in 1955,reference is made to breathing disease due to exposure to gas during the War.I have some evidence that his regiment was in Flanders about that time,and I believe that this coincides with battles around Ypres.

Is anyone able to enlighten me any further please?
Thank you in advance

Andy Grimley

[MaxD]

The war diary for 1/6 battalion KLR is at:https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7354885

 

This shows that the battalion were deployed to the east of Ypres near St Julien at the beginning of August 1917.  On the specific date you quote however they had withdrawn already (on 3rd and 4th) to the west of Ypres to camp having been badly knocked about on 31 July, 1 and 2 August..

 

Is th date from a casualty list - in which case it is the date of the list not of the event, the list is two or so weeks behind the event.  You may wish to download the diary and look back before that date to see what was happening.  He, as an individual casualty, is not named among the 145 wounded at that time.

 

Max

 

[Mark1959]

The medal roll suggests he was 2/6th not 1/6th.

2/6th war diary indicates large scale casualties in July 1917. There was a gas attack on 30/7/17 that made all in B Company casualties apart from 1 or 2. This bombardment started just after midnight at the start of 30/7. They were at the Houplines sector near Armentieres at the time. 
War diary for 2/6 available on ancestry. 
According to longlongtrail  the 2/6 arrived in France on 14/2/17. The diary confirms.

Edited 5 April , 2020 by Mark1959

[MaxD]

Thank you Mark, didn't follow the rule - never assume - check

 

Max

[A.P.Grimley]

Hi,

Thanks for your time replying to my query.

All I have is a date from an old family record.He was indeed in the 2nd/6th KLR...

I have two numbers for him...6453 and 2436974....why might that be.?
Regards,

Andy

[themonsstar]

The numbering system changed in 1917 for all of the Territorial Force, hence having two numbers.

 

The original number which is 4 digits would be what we call a Battalion number the second number is an army number as  he would be the only one who is issued that number allegedly.

[kenf48]

2 hours ago, A.P.Grimley said:

I have two numbers for him...6453 and 2436974....why might that be.?

 

The four digit number shows he was called up for service on or around, but no earlier than the 6th October 1916 (6438).  He would have been posted to the 6th Rifle Battalion but completed training with either the  5th Reserve Battalion (which had absorbed the 6th Reserve Battalion on 1 September 1916) or the 7th Reserve Battalion. Older, married men tended to be directed towards the TF Battalions, direct enlistment to those battalions had all but ceased with the introduction of conscription in March 1916.

 

Then posted to the 2/6 to bring that Battalion up to strength for active service on 13 February and embarked for France as above.  They were probably renumbered before proceeding overseas.

See https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/renumbering-of-the-territorial-force-in-1917/

 

Ken

[A.P.Grimley]

Thank you all for your guidance.

Its much appreciated.

Andy

[MaxD]

There is also a vivid description of the bombardment of Armentieres Mark1959 refers to in the 171 Brigade diary WO 95/2980/2.  The area in question is shown on the map/image at the link below, the trench sector directly east of Houplines and some places mentioned in Armentieres can be distinguished on the map.

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=50.69255&lon=2.90571&layers=101464966&b=1

 

Max

[MaxD]

Might have been more helpful to give to a link to that diary:

 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7355010

On the map, use the blue slider button on the left to bring up the present day image.

Max