Pte William E Thompson, 2nd Royal Berkshires

[Shaz.bananas]

Hello,

 

I am trying to find out more details about my 3 x great uncle, William Edward Thompson, who was killed on May 31st 1918. From the battalion war diary, I have been able to discern that the 2nd Royal Berkshire's "took part in operations" between 28/05/18 and 31/5/18 and sustained a number of casualties (of which I presume William was one). But I have had difficulty in finding out any more details of what those operations entailed.

 

From his Medal Card, I know he was originally in the Worcestershire Regiment (unsure of the battalion) with the regimental number 31488. When he was killed with the 2nd Royal Berkshire's, he had the regimental number 36861.

From his regimental numbers, I am curious about when he may have enlisted.

 

Any information about him or the battalion action on this date would be much appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[PRC]

Soldiers Died in the Great War shows him as Died of Wounds on the 31st May 1918, so the first post of call for me would be the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, (CWGC) website to see what can be gleaned from his place of burial - was it close to the frontline or back on the coast. The further he is from the frontline the longer it might be since he incurred his fatal wounds.

 

In fact the CWGC shows he is buried at Montcornet Military Cemetery, and the CWGC webpage for the Cemetery adds:-

Location Information

Montcornet is a commune 38 kilometres north-west of Rethel.

 

History Information

Montcornet was a German hospital centre in 1918. The Military Cemetery contains the graves of British soldiers who were originally buried with French, Russian and German dead in a site adjoining the cemetery. The French, Russian and German graves were removed to other cemeteries in 1919 and the British graves were regrouped to form the present cemetery.

Source: https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/34407/montcornet-military-cemetery/

 

Checking out the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) website they have two record cards for him. One was a missing person enquiry from his mother, stating he was with "C" Company and had been missing since the 27th May 1918. The ICRC initially responded in September 1918 that they had heard nothing from the German authorities. Subsequently they did received a report from them in October, although it recorded him as "Thomson". He died in the Field Hospital at Montcornet as a result of wounds to, what I think in my schoolboy German is, his lower left thigh and upper right thigh, on the 31st May 1918.

 

Both cards can be seen here. If you put the document reference in the search box beside the images you will then be taken to the original document.

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/56050/3/2/

 

So most likely captured wounded on or after the 27th May, died in a German Field Hospital on the 31st May.

 

Hope that gets you started,

Peter

Edited 12 July , 2020 by PRC
Typo

[Shaz.bananas]

6 minutes ago, PRC said:

Soldiers Died in the Great War shows him as Died of Wounds on the 31st May 1918, so the first post of call for me would be the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, (CWGC) website to see what can be gleaned from his place of burial - was it close to the frontline or back on the coast. The further he is from the frontline the longer it might be since he incurred his fatal wounds.

 

In fact the CWGC shows he is buried at Montcornet Military Cemetery, and the CWGC webpage for the Cemetery adds:-

Location Information

Montcornet is a commune 38 kilometres north-west of Rethel.

 

History Information

Montcornet was a German hospital centre in 1918. The Military Cemetery contains the graves of British soldiers who were originally buried with French, Russian and German dead in a site adjoining the cemetery. The French, Russian and German graves were removed to other cemeteries in 1919 and the British graves were regrouped to form the present cemetery.

Source: https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/34407/montcornet-military-cemetery/

 

Checking out the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) website they have two record cards for him. One was a missing person enquiry from his mother, stating he was with "C" Company and had been missing since the 27th May 1918. The ICRC initially responded in September 1918 that they had heard nothing from the German authorities. Subsequently they did received a report from them in October, although it recorded him as "Thomson". He died in the Field Hospital at Montcornet as a result of wounds to, what I think in my schoolboy German is, his lower left thigh and upper right thigh, on the 31st May 1918.

 

Both cards can be seen here. If you put the document reference in the search box beside the images you will then be taken to the original document.

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/56050/3/2/

 

So most likely captured wounded on or after the 27th May, died in a German Field Hospital on the 31st May.

 

Hope that gets you started,

Peter

 

Peter, you absolute star! Thank you so much for this.

I only found out today, whilst researching the family tree, that he had died in WW1. I am so glad to have this information, to assure he is always remembered.

[PRC]

CWGC shows 43 men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment as having died on the 27th May 1918.

 

The only ones specifically mentioned as "C" Company are Private 42304 Alfred James Cooper and Corporal 5922 Herbert Hughes, who are both remembered on the Soissons memorial.

Some of the others with no Company shown however were recovered from the battlefield post-war - but bear in mind the Battalion War Diary shows two distinct groups being sent off to bolster other units on the 27th May.

 

Private 34084 W.H. Fuller, Private 44864 H. Davis and Private 50710 F.W. Quiney look like they were recovered from a small battlefield burial shown at Berry Au Bac, map reference 289 x 217. Nearby were a number of unknown soldiers of the Durham Light Infantry.

 

Private 5735 Jesse Preston also has a battlefied burial, this one located at Berry Au Bac 290.8 x 217.8. Nearby were a large number of unknown British soldiers.

 

Private 44842 O.R.L Hopper was originally an unknown soldier of the Royal Berkshire Regiment recovered along with a number of others from Berry Au Bac, map reference 289 x 217. The same group also included Private 42343 W. Fawketts.

 

There are also three buried by the Germans, two away from the battlefield and a Private 38507 E. Bloxham buried near a number of Unknown British Soldiers, ("Heir Ruht Ein Englischer Soldat") at Berry Au Bac 296.8 x 215.8.

 

Some of the clever people on the forum may be able to convert those map references to show where the men were fighting and falling. Many of the dead were 18 to 19 years old, probably freshly arrived from the UK.

 

The 2nd Battalion War Diary shows that "2/Lieut W.H.C. Rooke and 65 Lewis Gunners (who had returned from Lewis Gun School) proceeded to 24th Brigade to take part in the Operations."

The 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, were part of the 25th Brigade of the 8th Division at this stage of the war. 24th Brigade were in the same Division. The make up of the Division and the Brigade can be seen on the Long, Long Trail here:- http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/8th-division/

 

While they are currently free from the National Archive, you might want to consider looking at some of the other units of the Division to see if you can identify where the Royal Berks men were sent to supplement. Although none of the Infantry Brigades of the 8th Division includes a unit of the Durham Light Infantry, I note the Divisional Pioneers were the 22nd Battalion of that Regiment. At various times during the German Spring Offensives such units were called on to hold the line and prevent a breakthrough. That Battalion is shown with 72 dead on CWGC on the 27th May 1918, most with no known grave.

 

Apologies - probably overkill for what you are looking for.

 

More relevant to William, his Medal Index Card only shows him qualifying for the British War Medal & the Victory Medal. That combination would indicate that he did not land in a Theatre of War until some point on or after the 1st January 1916.

 

The Index Cards are simply that, prepared at a Records Office post war to keep track of the issue of medals. The Service Medal Roll they refer to in Williams' case should, if filled in correctly, show all the units he served with overseas. Unfortunately thats only on Ancestry.

 

Men didn't routinely transfer between units. The most likely reason for the change is that he was wounded \ suffered an accident \ had health-issues or fell sick and was medically evacuated either back to the coast or the UK. Once recovered he would have eventually have ended up at an Infantry Base Depot and from there he would have been posted to wherever he was most needed - men didn't routinely go back to even their Regiment let alone the Battalion he was previously serving with. If he was wounded then you may be able to track this down via a published Casualty Report - but if it's any of the other causes then your best hope is a report in a local newspaper.

 

BTW - did you notice on his CWGC webpage that there is a Family Verification form attached, completed by his mother and signed by her?

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

 

Edited 12 July , 2020 by PRC
Typo

[Shaz.bananas]

Thanks Peter, that's all very interesting. I didn't realise men invalided "back to Blighty" would usually be sent back to another unit. It's all very fascinating.

[kenf48]

2 hours ago, Shaz.bananas said:

From his regimental numbers, I am curious about when he may have enlisted.

 

The Medal Roll shows he served in the 1st Worcesters 31488

Then 8th Royal Berkshire  36861
and finally the  2nd Bn Royal  Berkshire
Soldiers Died in Great War (SDGW) indicates he  enlisted at Bristol.

 

We don’t have his age or marital status but it appears he was either a Derby Scheme recruit, or a conscript, mobilised to the Worcestershire regiment no earlier than the 21st March 1916
(31482), and no later than the 30th March.  He was posted to the 12th (Reserve Battalion) for training.

 

He appears to have been in the ‘216th Reinforcement’  which embarked Southampton on the 25th August 1916, arriving at the Infantry Base Depot (IBD)  at Rouen the following day.

On the 26th September they were posted to the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.

 

On the 2nd September 1916 while at the IBD the men in the draft were posted and renumbered to the 8th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment.  This was not uncommon, the IBDs were a 'melting pot' and men were posted where most needed.  During this week the 8th Royal Berkshires received a number of drafts of different sizes.

 

His cohort probably joined the battalion in the field on the 3 September.  The war diary records a draft of ’ 98 O.R. Lincoln Regiment’ on that date. 

It’s likely he was sick/wounded with the 8th Battalion and on recovery on an indeterminate date was posted to  the 2nd Battalion, retaining his original number.

 

He does not appear to have served in the field with the Worcestershire Regiment.

[ss002d6252]

The effects show his war gratuity was £12 10s (gross). This tells us that he had 27 months qualifying service at the time of death so service started in the month from 1 March 1916 - this ties in with Ken's findings.

 

Craig

[Shaz.bananas]

Thank you Ken and Craig - everyone is so helpful here! All of this information is so valuable, and much appreciated.