Help to find where this old ww1 memorial was?

[Guest]

Hi

My grt grandfather was in the Royal Berkshire regiment 11th Labour bat. As he was in a Labour corps their is little to no info surviving. I have a old photo of hand painted memorial by the survivors of his battalion listing his name and all the other soldiers who died. 

 

Just want to find out if anyone knows where the memorial was (assume it did not survive the Wars). As it says they lost their lives near its site. 

 

I found a war diary reference of some Royal Berkshire regiment joined the Manchester regiment before a battle of Guillemont for 30/07/1916 in which it states that they possibly died but it does not give the battalion. Just not sure if this is where my grt grandfather died as he would not of been in the action as he would of been part of getting supplies to front line and digging trenches right? 

 

So if anyone may know of this memorial and where it would of been it would help. 

 

Thanks 

Jess

[TullochArd]

I cannot shed any light on the actual memorial HeyMe but would like to offer my thanks to you for sharing it. 

 

It's a valuable and poignant image.

[TEW]

I wonder if the drawing was intended as a plan of a real memorial.

 

Those listed as killed in action will probably be buried near to their place of death. EG. Lamble is buried in WARLOY-BAILLON COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION. I can't see any burial documents for him so can't be sure if this is his first and only burial.

 

Those listed as missing may have been taken as POW. If so, their cards may have the place they were captured.

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org

 

TEW

[Jim Strawbridge]

The memorial states that the men fell "near this spot". Church is buried in Blight Valley Cemetery, Authville Wood and Blackmore, Lamble and Neal are buried in Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery. The other bodies were not recovered so are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Assuming that Blackmore, Lamble and Neal were buried close to where they fell then the memorial would likely have been somewhere near to Warloy-Baillon which is 21 kilometers northeast of Amiens. The memorial as shown appears to have been painted directly onto a wall. The lettering is capable but not professional and my guess is that the soldier's "fellow in arms" wanted to record their losses and wounded on the spot before they moved on. I would be surprised if the memorial still exists.

[TEW]

11/Labour Coy. Berks. were 4th Army Troops in Dec. 1916. With no diary for the unit I'm not sure which if any Army level diary would mention them.

 

NB the drawing/memorial must be post April 1917 (160th Labour Coy.) Could even be post armistice.

TEW