PriadofDamocles Posted 22 July , 2020 Share Posted 22 July , 2020 I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the likelihood of finding out further details about the death of my 2nd Great Uncle? I have seen the Medal Index Card for Private Harry Jones of the 2nd South Wales Borderer's who died of wounds on the 29/06/1915. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial. Having looked the Battalion War Diary, only officer casualties are recorded by name (which is fairly common practice as I understand). Given the date that he died, it is plausible he was fatally wounded at the Third Battle of Krithia or the Battle of Gully Ravine, although he could easily have been wounded at another point prior to the 29/06. As he doesn't have any other records that I can find (Service Records etc.), I wondered how likely it would be that the Regimental Museum had any further information about him? Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 22 July , 2020 Share Posted 22 July , 2020 Mark, According the the Register of Soldiers Effects Harry {recorded as Harry James} died at 88th Field Ambulance. .https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/60506/images/42511_6117462_0035-00122?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=57eabdce3e27bbf3b7e625ec9959102f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bmY43489&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=18896&backurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2Fcgi-bin%2Fsse.dll%3F_phsrc%3DbmY43489%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D60506%26cp%3D0%26msddy%3D1915%26msddy_x%3D1%26msddm%3D6%26msddm_x%3D1%26msddd%3D29%26msddd_x%3D1%26_F8007A65%3D13518%26_F8007A65_x%3D1%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3D9y4%26redir%3Dfalse%26gss%3Dangs-d%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D0%26h%3D18896%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D1%26queryId%3D57eabdce3e27bbf3b7e625ec9959102f I can't find a War Diary for them. Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PriadofDamocles Posted 22 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 22 July , 2020 Thank you Alf! I thought I'd searched this record but clearly didn't do a thorough enough job. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf mcm Posted 22 July , 2020 Share Posted 22 July , 2020 Mark, It's easy to miss when when he is recorded as Hary James instead of Harry Jones! Regards, Alf McM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 22 July , 2020 Share Posted 22 July , 2020 There is a war diary for the 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers at Gallipoli which has been transcribed, and can be purchased via Amazon. One or two people on here have commented that they have purchased the transcribed war diary and enjoyed reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 22 July , 2020 Share Posted 22 July , 2020 Based on his service number, 13518, it looks like he enlisted after war was declared in 1914. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 22 July , 2020 Admin Share Posted 22 July , 2020 27 minutes ago, PriadofDamocles said: I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the likelihood of finding out further details about the death of my 2nd Great Uncle? I have seen the Medal Index Card for Private Harry Jones of the 2nd South Wales Borderer's who died of wounds on the 29/06/1915. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial. Having looked the Battalion War Diary, only officer casualties are recorded by name (which is fairly common practice as I understand). As he doesn't have any other records that I can find (Service Records etc.), I wondered how likely it would be that the Regimental Museum had any further information about him? Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Cheers, Mark I would say not very likely the Museum has further information. He is listed in the Roll of Honour in Rodney Ashwood’s ‘Duty Nobly Done The South Wales Borderers at Gallipoli’, as acknowledged in the introduction the core of the book are the war diaries, which you have read. However it does provide a more coherent narrative of events on 28th and 29th June, over those two days they lost around 300 casualties. Ashwood had full access to the records. He enlisted, probably in Newport, at the end of August 1914 and like many others who enlisted in the New Army were posted to 2nd Battalion in March to bring the Battalion up to strength for deployment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_hughes Posted 22 July , 2020 Share Posted 22 July , 2020 (edited) Rodney Ashwood's, Duty Nobly Done: The South Wales Borderers at Gallipoli 1915 (Helion, 2017) is a very detailed source. Well over 300 pages. I think it retailed at nearly £30 and can cost more, but just at the moment according to BookFinder.com there's a copy available for £19.94 incl. postage. As it builds on the Regt. History and War Diaries amongst other sources it's probably the most complete account available of this episode in the unit's history. Born Llanelli, Carmarthenshire and enlisted at Devonport. The West Wales War Memorial Project notes he had lived overseas for eight years before returning to enlist. Named on Llanelli war memorial. Edited 22 July , 2020 by clive_hughes additional info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PriadofDamocles Posted 22 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 22 July , 2020 Thanks Keith! I have looked at the War Diary but only online. I was impressed with the detail (and mostly legible handwriting!) but will consider getting the transcribed doc. The 28th/29th of June make for grim reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PriadofDamocles Posted 22 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 22 July , 2020 Thank you Ken and Clive for the additional information - I did see Duty Nobly Done on Amazon (an eye watering £38) but interested to read that it's such a useful source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 23 July , 2020 Share Posted 23 July , 2020 Here's a link that I have to the transcribed diaryhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Gallipoli-Diary-South-Borderers-Diaries-ebook/dp/B01M7RC97B/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 One comment that I have seen is that with a lot of Helion books, if you shop around you could be able to get it for as little as half of the recommended retail price. Whilst the museum is unlikely to have further info, the curator is not the most polite individual, and I am unsure that you would even get a response to an enquiry. A quick scan of a CWGC download for 2nd Battalion commemorations in Turkey shows firstly a batch of 148 fatalities (11224 George Percy Coward to 19911 Joseph Walter Williams) and a second batch (22534 Percy S Evans to 35026 Albert Blakeman) of 55 fatalities, all of whom had enlisted after the outbreak of hostilities. In addition, the newly formed 4th Battalion also served at Gallipoli too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 23 July , 2020 Admin Share Posted 23 July , 2020 2 hours ago, Keith_history_buff said: One comment that I have seen is that with a lot of Helion books, if you shop around you could be able to get it for as little as half of the recommended retail price. Very true I certainly didn't pay £38 I think I bought it in a N & MP sale but now out of print However £15 here https://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/product/45605/DUTY-NOBLY-DONE--THE-SOUTH-WALES-BORDERERS-AT-GALLIPOLI-1915-Ashwood-R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 23 July , 2020 Share Posted 23 July , 2020 The author of the book has a B&B in Brecon, and he does tours of the regimental museum, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PriadofDamocles Posted 23 July , 2020 Author Share Posted 23 July , 2020 Thanks again both - really helpful information. N&M press are great arn't they? Found a few bargains in the last year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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