‘Deal’ Battalion. RND

[Robbo436]

Alfred Albert Slater. Ch/18701.  KIA 17.07.15. No known grave.

I’m trying to find a possibility of how he may have died, there is no war diary for this Battalion as far as I’m aware. Can anyone advise what this battalion was doing on 17.07.15?

[horatio2]

Deal Bn was in the forward trenches at Helles, consolidating the gains and clearing up the mess after the Action of Achi Baba Nullah on 12/13 July. The RM Brigade was on the left of the RND line ",,, on the essential task of burying the dead, reconstructing the trenches and pushing forward barricades along the trenches communicating between our own lines and those of the enemy." [Divisional history]

Pte SLATER was one of seven Deal Bn casualties on those days (14-19 July). There was no significant action so he was possibly the victim of a Turkish sniper.

[Robbo436]

Thanks Horatio2.

Alfred was my great uncle, family tales say that my late grandmother wanted to lay a wreath at his grave (she died when I was a child).

I’ve only just found out about circumstances of Alfred’s death. 
What was the source for that information?
 

[horatio2]

Divisional History "The Royal Naval Division" by Douglas Jerrold

RND Roll of Honour (Findmypast)

"Britain's Sea Soldiers" by General Sir HE Blumberg.

RM Brigade War Diary TNA)

[michaeldr]

1 hour ago, horatio2 said:

Deal Bn was in the forward trenches at Helles, consolidating the gains and clearing up the mess after the Action of Achi Baba Nullah on 12/13 July. The RM Brigade was on the left of the RND line ",,, on the essential task of burying the dead, reconstructing the trenches and pushing forward barricades along the trenches communicating between our own lines and those of the enemy." [Divisional history]

 

Following on from H2's above:-

Pat Francis writing in her book 'A Quiet Life – a marine in the Great War' [2001, Manuscript Press, ISBN 1-903702-02-X] quotes from a note book, held at the IWM, which was written by Arthur William Skipper, a 19 year old private in the Deal Battalion.

Deal went into the line a few days after the Action of Achi Baba Nullah 12-13 July 1915 and Skipper notes that

“....it was the worst trench we have been in so far – a Turkish trench which had been captured at the top of 'Regent St.' The front parapet was so low that we could not walk upright while the back parapet had been blown away by our shells. It was terribly hot & the stench was almost unbearable … as an Irishman would say The tench was alive with the dead: Many times I stumbled over boots sticking up in the ground & felt the earth give way as I trod on a dead body.”

[michaeldr]

19 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

“....it was the worst trench we have been in so far – a Turkish trench which had been captured at the top of 'Regent St.'

 

This sketch map is dated one day after A A Slater died and it shows Regents Street, so I hope that it will give you some indication as to where Deal were at that time

[the map appears in Len Sellers magazine RND (p.793) which is available on disc from the Crystal Palace Foundation

 http://www.crystalpalacefoundation.org.uk/shop/world-war-1-iwm-the-gt-victory-exhibition/royal-naval-division-w-i-a-d]

 

 

Edited 5 February , 2021 by michaeldr

[Robbo436]

Thanks both, really appreciate your efforts.... plenty of lockdown reading to catch up with.

[seaJane]

Another map, showing the trenches on June 4th, from Sir Arthur Gaskell's History of the Medical Unit of the Royal Naval Division. I have managed to mark Regent Street in red as a point of reference.

sJ

 

[Bingoid]

Hi. My grandfather was in the Deal battalion and at Gallipoli and also kept a simple diary which I have. The details and duties given to the Deal engineers were varied and gave different exposure to risk. My grandfather's role at the time was to bring munitions and supplies up from the beaches to the RND front line using mules. These duties were performed at night and he noted that they were shelled by the Turks, presumably random shelling of the rear positions knowing that men and munitions would be on the move under cover of darkness. Hope that's of help? 

[horatio2]

Important note - Deal Battalion of the RND was not the same as "the Deal engineers. The Deal Battalion was formed of men from Plymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham Divisions of the RMLI and their register numbers reflect this = Ply/****. Ports/**** and Ch/****.

Men of the RoyalNaval Division Engineers (RNDE) (and men of the RM Medical Unit, the RND Div Train and the Ordnance Coy) had register numbers Deal/**** and men with such numbers did not serve in Deal Battalion.

In September 2019 you stated: "my grandfather was also a Sapper in the RND(E)". If so, he was not in Deal Battalion.

[Bingoid]

thanks horatio2 for the clarification. That's understood. He was definitely a Sapper in the RND(E) and not a first line fighting combatant.