81st Co., Machine Gun Corps

[PyroraptorOlympius1945]

Any information regarding 81st Co., MGC in Salonika would be greatly appreciated as my distant cousin Christopher Causon served as a Lance Corporal with the unit, before being KIA in the September of 1918.

[AndrewSid]

Hello and welcome.

Obviously  not sure what you have on him but his Service Record has survived and is available on FMP and anestory. 

He died of wounds and was not killed in action. His death occurred 9 days before a major offensive so it is not immediately obvious how he came about his wounds or exactly when.  His records are very rich but I won’t go into them here if you are already aware? He was an pre war soldier with the Gloucestershire regiment served and was wounded in France in 1914, and liked a drink! His Records sadly doesn’t clearly show exactly when he was wounded but it looks like perhaps a few days prior.
 

81 MGC Company was the under the 27th Division and a component of 81 Brigade and was of course in Salonica. He was a founder member of the unit being formally transferred in May 1916 when the unit was formally stood up. It was formed from the infantry machine gun sections of the brigade of which he was most certainly a part.

unit war diaries are not digitised and require a visit to Kew.  It’s here we are likely to find the incident which led to his death.

 

 

Edited 14 November , 2022 by AndrewSid

[PyroraptorOlympius1945]

14 minutes ago, AndrewSid said:

Hello and welcome.

Obviously  not sure what you have on him but his Service Record has survived and is available on FMP and anestory. 

He died of wounds and was not killed in action. His death occurred 9 days before a major offensive so it is not immediately obvious how he came about his wounds or exactly when.  His records are very rich but I won’t go into them here if you are already aware? He was an pre war soldier with the Gloucestershire regiment served and was wounded in France in 1914, and liked a drink! His Records sadly doesn’t clearly show exactly when he was wounded but it looks like perhaps a few days prior.
 

81 MGC Company was the under the 27th Division and a component of 81 Brigade and was of course in Salonica. He was a founder member of the unit being formally transferred in May 1916 when the unit was formally stood up. It was formed from the infantry machine gun sections of the brigade of which he was most certainly a part.

unit war diaries are not digitised and require a visit to Kew.  It’s here we are likely to find the incident which led to his death.

 

 

He was wounded in the shoulder upon an advancement with two chaps who were both killed and be succumbed to his wounds.

I have his pre-war records and his reputation was rather amusing, having suffered from Syphilis and Gonorrhoea several times! 

He had a brother; Frank Causon who was KIA in March 1916 (I got the pair mixed up in terms of who was killed and who died of wounds, apologies).

[PyroraptorOlympius1945]

19 minutes ago, AndrewSid said:

Hello and welcome.

Obviously  not sure what you have on him but his Service Record has survived and is available on FMP and anestory. 

He died of wounds and was not killed in action. His death occurred 9 days before a major offensive so it is not immediately obvious how he came about his wounds or exactly when.  His records are very rich but I won’t go into them here if you are already aware? He was an pre war soldier with the Gloucestershire regiment served and was wounded in France in 1914, and liked a drink! His Records sadly doesn’t clearly show exactly when he was wounded but it looks like perhaps a few days prior.
 

81 MGC Company was the under the 27th Division and a component of 81 Brigade and was of course in Salonica. He was a founder member of the unit being formally transferred in May 1916 when the unit was formally stood up. It was formed from the infantry machine gun sections of the brigade of which he was most certainly a part.

unit war diaries are not digitised and require a visit to Kew.  It’s here we are likely to find the incident which led to his death.

 

 

Thanks for the extra information by the way!

[AndrewSid]

I am visiting Kew before Christmas looking at some Salonica records.  I will see what there is for his MG company.  What is the date of his wounding if you know it or the names of the two men who were killed?

[Gardenerbill]

@AndrewSid do you have a date for his KIA? The 27th Division (and therefore presumably 81st MGC) were in action 1st of September at the assault on the Roche Noire Salient.

[AndrewSid]

1 hour ago, Gardenerbill said:

do you have a date for his KIA? Th

I’m afraid not. He was DoW on the 9th of September.  The SR is faint and I can only see .9.18 in terms of the date of wounding. The post instigator seems to know more. CWGC date and unit searches are not provinding anything. 

[Gardenerbill]

So With DOW on the 9th, he could have been wounded several days earlier.

[AndrewSid]

1 hour ago, Gardenerbill said:

So With DOW on the 9th, he could have been wounded several days earlier.

Yes, DoW suggests he made it into the medical evacuation chain to some degree. SR isn’t clear but wounding does appear to be in September from what is readable. The action you quoted on the 1st seems the most logical.  
 

 

[Gardenerbill]

The action at Roche Noire Salient is covered on page 141 of Military Operations volume 2, this is available online via a link in the pinned topic here in the Salonika and Balkans sub forum. Although it is quite likely that Lcpl Causon was wounded at this action, equally he could have been wounded, by a random shell, a Bulgarian trench raid, on patrol or by a sniper, the only way to be sure is if there is a war diary for the 81st MGC at Kew.  

[AndrewSid]

Some context - see clipping.  CWGC  do not show any other 81 MGC casualties that would correspond with the report.  They could however have been men from another close unit

 

[Gardenerbill]

That seems to confirm that it was a shell.