George Maillon, KIA Gueudecourt Oct 1916

[Beaconjon]

Good afternoon all. 

 

I'm after any information regarding the death of my Great Uncle George Maillon.  

 

He was in the 9th Royal Fusiliers and according to a letter I have, written to his mother by his commanding officer (T Pilgrim 2nd LT I think), he was killed on 7th Oct 1916 near Gueudecourt. 

 

I'd be interested in anything I can find out. Having the original letters is fascinating. 

 

I think George Maillon's number was 27131. 

 

Many thanks in advance 

Jon

 

 

 

[GraemeClarke]

hi Jon

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

As an aside its always a good idea to note what you already know to save time and duplication.

 

His CWGC is here

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/564738/G MAILLON/

 

Note that he was 'concentrated' into this cemetery from a battlefield burial.

 

The War Diary is here FREE

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352684

 

You will have to register but once you have the diary, at the moment, is free.

 

His Medal Index Card is here, shows he was drafted overseas AFTER 1/1/1916

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1262/images/30850_A001033-01583?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=4242089083a2f61ad742c6f32ba2142f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=NuN2768&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=1107910

 

He was born in St. Pancras, resided in Bexhill, father George, enlisted in Hastings.

 

A bit to be going on with,

 

Regards,

 

Graeme

[helpjpl]

The following may be of interest.

 

1.  johnmelling1979's post of 26 July 2014: 

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/201824-9th-battalion-royal-fusiliers-battle-of-transloy-7-october-1916/

2.  Page 143:

https://archive.org/details/royalfusiliersin00onei/page/142/mode/2up

 

Hugh Thomas Pilgrim

1.  To be temporary Second Lieutenant (Dated 07 December 1915):

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29402/page/12450/data.pdf

 

2.  Awarded the Military Cross - page 2161:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30530/supplement/1

 

3.  Bucquoy Communal Cemetery Extension:

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/305740/HUGH THOMAS PILGRIM/

 

4.  Medal Index Card (from ancestry):

 

JP

Edited 6 February , 2021 by helpjpl

[johnmelling1979]

Hello

 

Thank for linking that thread of mine 

 

It should help with a few clues to help Beaconjon 

 

John 

[Beaconjon]

Wow, absolutely brilliant. Thanks so much for the responses. 

 

I'm sorry if there was an easier route to the info but I didn't know where to look. 

 

On a side note, my wife's Great Grandfather took his family to that are of France as an employee of the War Grave's Commission to create and tend the grave yards. 

 

On another note, George Maillons brother in law was a member of the Military Foot Police during WW1. This is a new development and something I know little about. He was Lance Corporal William Cottingham. 

 

Does anyone know what duties the MFP would have?  

 

Again, huge thanks. 

[PRC]

Hi @Beaconjon and a belated welcome to the forum.

 

As well as the war diary the offiicl regimental history can also be viewed \ downloaded for free from here

https://archive.org/details/royalfusiliersin00onei/page/142/mode/2up

(Should take you to the relevant page).

 

58 minutes ago, Beaconjon said:

Does anyone know what duties the MFP would have?  

 

Our parent site, the Long, Long Trail, has this brief summary.

 

Military Police matters came under the office of the Adjutant-General. On his behalf, the Provost-Marshal supervised military police duties of the army in the field. At each level of the army hierarchy, the AG and the PM were represented. Each infantry Division, for example, had an Assistant Provost-Marshal, who received orders from the Divisional Assistant Adjutant-General, and who was responsible for organising the police under his command. The military police (‘redcaps’ from the red cover around their service cap) were responsible for arresting all persons found without passes, plundering, making unlawful requisitions, or committing offences of any kind. They were also responsible for collecting stragglers, and for guarding against spies. In case of emergency they could call upon any troops in the vicinity to supply guards, sentries or patrols.

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/military-crimes-1914-1918-british-army/

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

[Beaconjon]

1 hour ago, johnmelling1979 said:

Hello

 

Thank for linking that thread of mine 

 

It should help with a few clues to help Beaconjon 

 

John 

Hi John. 

It sounds as if your relative sadly met the same fate as mine. 

I've read your thread with interest. 

Fascinating and yet so very sad for those lads, like many others. 

 

I plan to visit the area once the Covid situation allows. 

 

In the meantime I shall type up the two letters I have from Hugh Thomas Pilgrim. They are written with a heavy heart. 

 

Thanks again 

Jon

 

[Beaconjon]

9 minutes ago, PRC said:

Hi @Beaconjon and a belated welcome to the forum.

 

As well as the war diary the offiicl regimental history can also be viewed \ downloaded for free from here

https://archive.org/details/royalfusiliersin00onei/page/142/mode/2up

(Should take you to the relevant page).

 

 

Our parent site, the Long, Long Trail, has this brief summary.

 

Military Police matters came under the office of the Adjutant-General. On his behalf, the Provost-Marshal supervised military police duties of the army in the field. At each level of the army hierarchy, the AG and the PM were represented. Each infantry Division, for example, had an Assistant Provost-Marshal, who received orders from the Divisional Assistant Adjutant-General, and who was responsible for organising the police under his command. The military police (‘redcaps’ from the red cover around their service cap) were responsible for arresting all persons found without passes, plundering, making unlawful requisitions, or committing offences of any kind. They were also responsible for collecting stragglers, and for guarding against spies. In case of emergency they could call upon any troops in the vicinity to supply guards, sentries or patrols.

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/military-crimes-1914-1918-british-army/

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

Hi Peter. 

 

Another big thank you. This is so much more information than I expected to find out. 

I'm reading all this information with great interest. 

 

Cheers 

Jon

[PRC]

Jon,

 

I take it you've already seen this from the edition of the Bexhill on Sea Obsever dated November 18, 1916.

 

 

His mother continued to place In memoriam up until at least 1933. From the Bexhill on Sea Observer dated October 7, 1933.

 

 

(Both images courtesy of FindMyPast).

 

Oddly I can't see any family enquiry noted in the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, but they are not the easiest to search and mis-filing \ "quirky" filing is common.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[Beaconjon]

@PRC. Wow, that's again incredible. You lads are doing all my work for me! 

I know his name is on the memorial in Bexhill. I still have close family there. 

[Beaconjon]

I can imagine mistakes were common place back then. I notice on the Graves Registration Report form his name was originally misspelt "Illon" and later corrected. 

[Beaconjon]

 

Note that he was 'concentrated' into this cemetery from a battlefield burial.

 

Could someone please explain the

 above comment? 

 

Am I right in pressuming he was originally buried close to the lines and then later moved to a suitable cemetery? 

[PRC]

Jon,

 

One of the other original documents shown on the Commonwealth War Grave Commissions, (CWGC), webpage for George is under the heading Concentration. These summary Concentration reports show details of exhumation and relocation of bodies, either from the battlefield, isolated graves or smaller cemeteries where it was not thought appropriate or cost effective to leave the graves. The graves were there concentrated into a smaller number of cemeteries to ensure the focus was on appropriate commemoration.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/564738/G MAILLON/

 

On the report he is one of 30 marked graves recovered from map reference Sheet 57c N.20.A.6.4 and moved to Beaulencourt British Cemetery, Ligny-Thilloy, which is shown in October 1919 as being at map reference Sheet 57c N.9.0.6.4. Contemporary local maps may be available in the War Diary - if not there is quite a selection on the National Library of Scotland website. Clever people here also use a commercial application called tmapper to overlay those maps onto the current location and use the likes of Google Streetviews to view the location as it is currently - a search of the forum will turn up more.

 

If you have a look at the CWGC webpage for Beaulencourt British Cemetery, they have a small piece on it’s history. In listing the cemeteries concentrated there, the bit that I think is probably relevant to George, particularly given the circumstances of his death, is:-

 

BEAULENCOURT GERMAN CEMETERIES, one a little North of the village on the West side of the road to Bapaume, and another at the Southern exit of the village. These two cemeteries were used by German medical units in 1916 and 1918; and they contained, besides German graves, those of 50 soldiers from the United Kingdom and New Zealand, which have been removed partly to Beaulencourt British Cemetery, and partly to Favreuil.

https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/62500/BEAULENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY, LIGNY-THILLOY/

 

As Illon \ Illion might have been the names the Germans reported his death under, I checked out the ICRC site for those as well, but continued to draw a blank.

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

Edited 7 February , 2021 by PRC
Crossed through duff information corrected by White Star Line and jay dubaya

[WhiteStarLine]

2 hours ago, Beaconjon said:

Am I right in presuming he was originally buried close to the lines and then later moved to a suitable cemetery? 

This is spot on.  After the war around 11 bodies were exhumed from a small cemetery marked by crosses (plus 4 bodies 300 metres west) and relocated 1.85 km NW, at the Beaulencourt British Cemetery, Ligny-Thilloy.  The original burial location: Conversion: Sheet 57c.N.20.a.6.4 => 50.067432, 2.835635.  Click to enlarge.

 

Courtesy tMapper with October 1916 trench map from National Library of Scotland

[jay dubaya]

3 hours ago, Beaconjon said:

 

Note that he was 'concentrated' into this cemetery from a battlefield burial.

 

Could someone please explain the

 above comment? 

 

Am I right in pressuming he was originally buried close to the lines and then later moved to a suitable cemetery? 

 

The CWGC archive holds a 'concentration report' detailing the initial burial here.  This tells us the grave was marked by a cross or other marker bearing an inscription '7181 G   illon Royal Fus' and was recoved from 57c.N.20.a.6.4 on or shortly before 15th October 1919 by 182nd Labour Company. This original burial site is around 100 yards in front of Bayonet Trench, 700 yards from Gird Trench and around 900 yards northwest of Guedecourt, effectively he was buried in No Man's Land. The map extract below illustrates the 100 yard square where the original burial site was located.  Given that George was listed as missing it's likely that his exposed remains were eventually buried during the winter of 1916 and 1917, the grave may appear to have been originally registered by the 18th Graves Registration Unit sometime later.

George would have been reinterred at Ligny Thilloy British Cemetery (as it was known at the time) on the same day his remains were exhumed from his battlefield grave. The Geman cemeteries mentioned by Peter were at 57c.N.11.d.1.4 so we can discount him being buried by the Germans. The 'grave registration form' here, after investigation by the IWGC this form shows the ammendments and corrections that were made from the information taken from the damaged/illegible? grave marker and in turn gave George a named grave.

 

 

 

Edited 7 February , 2021 by jay dubaya
I crashed...

[Beaconjon]

@PRC  @WhiteStarLine @jay dubaya

I cannot thank you guys enough. What a great job you've done for me. I will be passing all this information on to my family. 

 

I'd imagine George met such a common fate during this awful war. I'm grateful that he has a marked grave as it looks as if so many poor lads never had that. Also looking at the street view picture, like many others I guess, Bayonet Trench now appears to be such an inconsequential spot in a farmers field. 

As I said previously, I shall certainly head over there once I am allowed to do so. 

 

My wife's Great grandfather moved to Monchy-le-Preux with his family as a gardener with the CWGC to tend such cemeteries after WW1, it's only 30km away from Ligny Thilloy.  It would be interesting to know if he tended the grave of my Great Uncle. Maybe a bit of wishful thinking but who knows. 

[Beaconjon]

[Beaconjon]

[Beaconjon]

I've added the few other bits I have associated to George. 

Tge two letters from Hugh T Pilgrim read as follows: 

 

Dear Mrs Maillon,

In answer to your letter about your son.  It is impossible for me to give any more news, because we have nothing more.  The battalion attacked East of Gueudecourt and suffered very heavy losses, the objective was not won.  Your son I heard (as 3 ####) died for our country's sake.  He was a brave lad. I lost many dear friends that day.

Yours truly

H.T. Pilgrim 2nd Lt.

 

 

The 2nd letter: 

 

17/10/16


Dear Mrs Maillon,

It is with deep regret that I have to report that your son Pt G Maillon 27131 is missing believed killed in the attack on Oct 7th 1916. 
Any further news will be sent at the earliest possible moment.
Please accept my deepest sympathy

Yours truly
Hugh T Pilgrim 2nd Lt. 

Edited 7 February , 2021 by Beaconjon

[PRC]

1 hour ago, Beaconjon said:

In answer to your letter about your son.  It is impossible for me to give any more news, because we have nothing more.  The battalion attacked East of Gueudecourt and suffered very heavy losses, the objective was not won.  Your son I heard (as 3 ####) died for our country's sake.  He was a brave lad. I lost many dear friends that day.

Yours truly

H.T. Pilgrim 2nd Lt.

 

The last paragraph in the newspaper piece I posted above may help with the missing words.

 

(Image courtesy of FindMyPast)

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

[Beaconjon]

@PRC. 

Well spotted. Its so nice to have the actual letter Hugh T Pilgrim wrote to George's mother, the one quoted in that news article. 

Edited 7 February , 2021 by Beaconjon

[Michelle Young]

When travelling is again allowed, I can highly recommend this place to stay in Gueudecourt 

 

https://www.leclosduclocher.com/

 

Michelle 

[Beaconjon]

2 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

When travelling is again allowed, I can highly recommend this place to stay in Gueudecourt 

 

https://www.leclosduclocher.com/

 

Michelle 

Michelle, that sounds perfect.  Lets hope we can travel again soon.

 

Many thanks, Jon

[jay dubaya]

3 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

When travelling is again allowed, I can highly recommend this place to stay in Gueudecourt 

 

https://www.leclosduclocher.com/

 

Michelle 

 

Many thanks for the heads-up Michelle, like many others I could certainly do with a change of scenery.

 

Jon, many thanks for adding the letters, they really do breath more life back into the story of George's short military career and are such sobering reminders. Regarding your wifes grandfather being an IWGC Gardener, given the relative distance between the cemeteries one does wonder if his services were used at Beaulencourt. There are a few images of IWGC Gardeners that I'm aware of, I'll go have a look... you never know.

 

Jon

[Beaconjon]

22 hours ago, PRC said:

Jon,

 

I take it you've already seen this from the edition of the Bexhill on Sea Obsever dated November 18, 1916.

 

 

His mother continued to place In memoriam up until at least 1933. From the Bexhill on Sea Observer dated October 7, 1933.

 

 

(Both images courtesy of FindMyPast).

 

Oddly I can't see any family enquiry noted in the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, but they are not the easiest to search and mis-filing \ "quirky" filing is common.

 

Cheers,

Peter

@PRC 

I've just found this in my paperwork. It's the original request for George's in memorandum as you've pictured. 

I feel quite fortunate to have all of this.