13th Battalion Durham Light Infantry October 1918 Pommereuil

[Jim Scott]

Hi,

I was hoping someone has access to the war diary of the 13th Battalion for the month of October 1918.

My relative George Percy Alderson ( Service no:- 95208) was killed and died on 26th October 1918 and is buried in the war cemetery at Pommereuil.

We know there was a battle on the 23rd October and can not find any information of what happened to George.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

Edited 26 February , 2022 by Jim Scott

[Michelle Young]

Welcome to the forum Jim

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353380
 

The link takes  you to the  relevant war diary. You have to register, for free, then you can download the diary also for free. Edited to say, it’s highly unlikely that he will be mentioned by name. 

I hope to visit Pommereuil cemetery in April, should you wish me to lay a tribute or simply say hello to George for you.

Michelle 

[Jim Scott]

That's very kind of you Michelle.

We have been to the cemetery a few times,  but not for a few years. We had trouble finding it the first time and a lovely French gentleman pointed us in the right direction. It was my late grandmothers uncle and we don't seem to have much information on the battle.  I will download the link and have a look.

Have a nice trip and hope the weather is good

Thanks

Jim

 

[clk]

Hi Jim,

Depending on how much info/context you would like, it might also be worth looking at the higher level diaries of the Brigade HQ and Division HQ as they often contain 'extras' such as maps, orders, and reports on operations that aren't in the lower level Battalion diaries. At the National Archives they are here, and here. If you come across any map references, there is help on how to read them here, and this website might be useful - link.

If you don't already have them, George has a set of service papers on FMP (link), which should also be available on Ancestry.

Good luck with your research.

Regards
Chris

[Jim Scott]

Thanks Chris,

That's given me a lot to read through, some of the writing as you will know looks like it will take a while to decipher.  My late grandmother just remembers being told the story that her uncle George was killed in Northern France and there was a grave but that was all she knew.

Jim

[clk]

Hi Jim,

It's quite tragic really. It looks like George was sent overseas, joined the Battalion 'in the field' on 19.10.1918, and was killed a week later, just over a fortnight shy of the armistice 

Regards
Chris

Edited 26 February , 2022 by clk

[Jim Scott]

Hello Chris,

We did manage to find a copy of the paperwork when he was signed up and we realised then it was not long before he was killed. His only sibling, my great grandfather (Arnold Snowball Alderson) who was older than him went to war before him and was shot but survived, he returned here to recuperate, then was posted to Malta to be part of a guard group watching the crew of the SMS Emden which had been sunk.

We have not been able to find much about Arnold's service, we were led to believe that a lot of records were lost in a fire?  It is tragic, they both came from a very small village (Hunwick) near Durham and both worked with their father making clay pipes before going to war.

Thanks for your help

Jim

[clk]

Hi Jim,

15 minutes ago, Jim Scott said:

we were led to believe that a lot of records were lost in a fire? 

Yes. The majority of service files were lost as a result of a fire in WW2 - link.

Is this Arnold?

Image sourced from Fold3

Image sourced from Ancestry

Regards
Chris

[Jim Scott]

Thanks Chris,

Yes, that’s Arnold, 4 Dale Terrace was his in law’s house where he lived with them, his wife and 2 children, his daughter was my Paternal grandmother. He ended up working down the pit as his job at the pipeworks  was given to someone else while he was away.

Jim

[emam]

Sorry for resurrecting this a year later and taking over someone else's thread, hopefully you don't mind. My query has a link to the original one.

The op said that his relative was George P Alderson number 95208. I note on his service records that he enlisted in 1916 and was mobilized in April 1918. Would that have been when he was given the number 95208 (April 1918)? I have over 40 names whose numbers are a just a bit higher than George's. it's possible that there could be more as I have names without a number.