11th Brigade RFA War Diaries

[AndyJohnson]

Hi

For once I'm not asking for help!

I've been working with a friend to help him follow the journey of his relative Frank Lymn, 91254, 11th Brigade RFA. This Brigade was originally with the 3rd Indian (Lahore) Division, then with the Canadian 2nd Division, then a short stay with the Australians, then back to various Canadian Divisions until becoming an Army Brigade in  September 1917.

The search for the War Diaries has included elements in our National Archives, the Canadian Archives, and the Australian War Museum Archives.

I've added this post so that anyone searching for 11th Brigade, RFA might have a simpler journey than we did.

I suppose I could just have asked Dick Flory, but the discovery is part of the excitement!

Regards

Andy 

 

August 1914 – December 1915

Indian 3rd (Lahore) Division

National Archives Discovery Search: 11 Brigade Royal Field Artillery

National Archives Reference: WO 95/3918/3

url: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7356054

 

November 1915 – 4 June 1916

Canadian 2nd Division

The entry for 4th June 1916 mentions that "the whole Brigade was out of action during the rest of the month", there are no entries for the remainder of June.

During July and August 1916, 11th Brigade were 'loaned' to the Australians.

The following link to the Canadian Archives covers this period in pages 1-46

url: www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=2005550&new=-8586090277727907931

 

 

 

July 1916 - August 1916

Reserve Army and Anzac Corps

These were difficult to find. On 16th July 1916, 11th Brigade RFA were attached to the Reserve Army and Anzac Corps (per their War Diary). So their War Diaries for July & August were in the Australian War Museum at:

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338935

 

September 1916 – August 1917

Canadian Divisions (various)

After their 2 months with the Australians, 11th Brigade returned to the Canadians, being attached to a number of Divisions.

The following link to the Canadian Archives (same as above) covers this period in pages 47 to 137

url: www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=2005550&new=-8586090277727907931

 

 

September 1917 – January 1919

Army Brigade

11th Brigade became an Army Brigade, variously with the 4th, 5th, 4th & 2nd Armies

National Archives Discovery Search: 11 Army Field Artillery Brigade

National Archives Reference: WO 95/293/1, WO 95/293/2, WO 95/293/3, WO 95/293/4

url: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C4553444

 

 

 

Edited 8 July , 2020 by AndyJohnson
typo

[David Porter]

Great work Andy. That will be very useful to those searching for 11th Brigade RFA. However, I should point out that a diary is also available at the National Archives for the period January 1916 - July 1917 here - http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4557040

[schneekle]

Thanks for this! My Great Great Grandad Thomas Hughes (1674) was with 11th Brigade during WW1. He joined up in 1899 and was posted in South Africa and India before WW1, travelled straight from India as a Corporal and disembarked in Marseille (I believe via the Suez Canal). By the end of the war he was a Battery Sergeant Major. Now I'll be able to see generally what he was up to.

This has certainly saved me a lot of trouble and given me a lot of reading to do