Royal Warwickshire Regiment. MM winner.

[sturgis]

Hi All.

I am trying to find out if 1153 Cpl. Albert Boddington is mentioned in the 2nd Battalion R.W.R. War Diaries. Cant seem to see any unit of the 7th Division available on ancestry. Is it available anywhere?

He was wounded on 3.9.16 and is Military Medal gazetted on 14.12.16 so he may be mentioned in the December 1916 part of that diary.

His MIC etc are for 1/6th RWR and the Labour Corps, but I think they were his units after his MM time as he was with the 2nd Battalion in India and Malta before the war and entered France in Dec 1914.

Thanks

Richard.

[ajsmith]

The 2nd battalion RWR diary can be downloaded for free from here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352440

[brianmorris547]

Richard

It is also on Ancestry under Various (Infantry Brigades) - 7 Div - Piece 1664. It starts on p 502/716. Also read the WD of 22 Infantry Brigade - piece 1661. There is a Service Record for your man under his Labour Corps number 570523. The WD of 7 Div Adjutant and Quarter - Master General lists it's Routine Orders at the end of 1916 but I did not see any Honours and Rewards mentioned. The Corps A&QMG WD may mention him.

Brian

The WD of the A&QMG XV Corps can be downloaded free from TNA. WO 95/923.

Edited 9 November , 2020 by brianmorris547
additional info

[Ivor Anderson]

His MM Index Card shows he was with the 2nd RWR when he was awarded the MM. The card has no schedule number on it.

You can download it here for free: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6134602

He probably earned his MM a few months before it appeared in the gazette. Look around September 1916 in the WD.

There appear to be a lot of MM awards to the 1st & 2nd Battalions of the R. War. Regt. in that Gazette under A.O. 68/121/57.

They must be for a major action.

Edited 9 November , 2020 by Ivor Anderson

[sturgis]

Thanks all. I knew there would be other routes for information and luckily they are free at the moment !!

 

[sturgis]

Nothing in any of the brigade or corps diaries either. His wound and MM gazette seem to tie in with the divisional attack on Ginchy on the 3rd Sept 1916.

[Ivor Anderson]

A agree Richard. It seems almost certain that it was for the attack on the 3rd September 1916.

Albert had a GSW to the leg and was among the 197 wounded. You are fortunate to have such a detailed service record for him.

The following 17 members of 2nd Battalion RWR received MMs in the same gazette (alphabetically listed):

1153 Cpl. Albert Boddington

2466 Cpl. B. Bryan

1324 Pte. (L/Cpl.) F. P. Connell

1374 Pte. G. Glover

8596 L/Cpl. E. Grice

7127 Sjt. W. Groves

527 C.S.M. J. J. Heath

458 Sjt. T. Lynch

6065 C.Q.M.S. L. Mason

3979 Pte. John Radford

7318 Pte. G. E. Randall

9008 Sjt. R. H. Redmond

1446 Pte. J. E. A. Saunders

8078 Pte. Charles Stait 

2416 Pte. J. Tmynham

1239 Cpl. S. Wing

988 L/Cpl. J. Young

The 1st Bn. RWR have 5 MMs in the same gazette.

The number of MMs awarded appears large, but consider the 2nd Battalion's 'rather heavy' casualties that day (TNA ref. WO-95-1664-3_2)

 

Edited 10 November , 2020 by Ivor Anderson

[Ivor Anderson]

There must be a regimental account of this day and action. The Capt. Alec Forbes listed in the WD extract above: 

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/549310/ALEC FORBES/

https://astreetnearyou.org/person/549310/Captain-Alec-Forbes-

 

Edited 10 November , 2020 by Ivor Anderson

[brianmorris547]

My grandfather was wounded with the RE at about the same time and he is named in the Times OCL 11/10/1916 under RE wounded. I had a look from 09 to 14/10 but did not find A Boddington under Royal Warwicks. There is a large list of RWR wounded on 12/10/1916. I also checked missing etc. I will have another look later today.

Brian

[Ivor Anderson]

Thanks Brian. There are quite a few pages of those from 2nd Battalion who were killed on 3rd September 1916 here on the CWGC site:

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/search-results/?Surname=&Forename=&Initials=&ServiceNum=&Regiment=royal+warwickshire+regiment&WarSelect=1&Unit=2nd&DateDeathFromDay=1&DateDeathFromMonth=January&DateDeathFromYear=&DateDeathToDay=1&DateDeathToMonth=January&DateDeathToYear=&DateOfDeath=03%2f09%2f1916&CountryCommemoratedIn=null&Cemetery=&Rank=&SecondaryRegiment=&AgeOfDeath=0&Honours=null&AdditionalInfo=&Page=1

Edited 10 November , 2020 by Ivor Anderson

[sturgis]

Boddington transferred to 1/6th RWR in late September and I notice a couple of 2nd battalion men getting MM awards mentioned in the 1/6th diary (noted as being 'late of the 2nd Btn.)

Lots of mentions of awards on the 1/6th diary,... no mention of any awards in the 2nd diary.

[brianmorris547]

Boddington 1153 Cpl A is named in the Times OCL Friday 06/10/1916 under Wounded R Warwicks Regt. It is a vary large list, between 200 and 300 names. Named in the same list are 527 CSM Heath, J and 3979 Radford, J from Ivor's list of MMs. 

Brian