War diary 23rd March 1916 4th btn Coldstream Guards

[Keith Williams]

Old school friend of mine now resident in Canada has learnt for the first time today, that his Great grandfather served in 4th btn Coldstream Guards! He is George T Barrett 14236, died 23.3.16 buried at Brandhoek Cemetery.

Wondering if anyone can help re the offensive his unit was engaged in?

Andy, the chum, said in his reply to my finding where Geirge was buried was, I never knew we had war heroes in the family.

Many thanks

 

Keith

[jonbem]

maybe this one? Free download once registered

4 Pioneer Battalion (Coldstream Guards). With sketch of unexploded aeroplane bomb, 25... | The National Archives

Reference:	WO 95/1206/2
Description:	4 Pioneer Battalion (Coldstream Guards). With sketch of unexploded aeroplane bomb, 25 Jan 1916
Date:	1915 July - 1919 Mar

[Coldstreamer]

My notes tell me that his  1914/15 star has been for sale in the past  . Also says it’s been plated or similar 

[Coldstreamer]

Courtesy of NA

[Keith Williams]

Thanks Coldstreamer. Are you able to tell which battle was he killed in?

[Michelle Young]

Looking at the document posted above, I’d say not a battle but routine trench warfare. 

[Swinesheadvillage]

Hi Keith

From a report in the Manchester Evening Chronicle, 6th April 1916, courtesy of FMP newspapers. Always nice to put a face to a name.

I suspect the brother mentioned in the report is William Barrett, 10289, 18th Hussars, your friends Great Great Uncle. Father George claimed a pension, although soldiers effects were given to widow Mary. Mary was the widow of George, so a little confusing. 

Hope this is of some interest

Kind Regards

Derek

[Keith Williams]

1 hour ago, Swinesheadvillage said:

Hi Keith

From a report in the Manchester Evening Chronicle, 6th April 1916, courtesy of FMP newspapers. Always nice to put a face to a name.

I suspect the brother mentioned in the report is William Barrett, 10289, 18th Hussars, your friends Great Great Uncle. Father George claimed a pension, although soldiers effects were given to widow Mary. Mary was the widow of George, so a little confusing. 

Hope this is of some interest

Kind Regards

Derek

Thanks Derek

[clk]

Hi Keith,

If your friend would like one, it looks like British War Graves would be able to send him a decent quality digital image of his Great grandfathers headstone on a free of charge basis - link

For a small fee he could also get a low resolution B&W scan copy of what was accepted as being his will. It might only consist of a very few words though - the search page is here.

His service record probably survives, and would have likely been held in the regimental archives. However, I believe that a couple of years ago, the files were transferred to the Army Personnel Centre, which in turn are somewhere in the process of transferring files to the National Archives. Findmypast do have a couple of records for George (possibly ledger entries??), which might also be of interest - link.

Regards
Chris

[Coldstreamer]

The Coldstream archives now with MOD yielded a 99.9% success rate of being found 

 

[Coldstreamer]

10 hours ago, Keith Williams said:

Thanks Coldstreamer. Are you able to tell which battle was he killed in?

The 4th was a pioneer battalion so didn’t really partake in battles from a fighting the enemy perspective so to speak like the other 3

for example the Somme saw hundreds killed 15 sept 16 in other battalions - I think the 4th had five !

Edited 30 March , 2023 by Coldstreamer

[Keith Williams]

6 hours ago, clk said:

Hi Keith,

If your friend would like one, it looks like British War Graves would be able to send him a decent quality digital image of his Great grandfathers headstone on a free of charge basis - link

For a small fee he could also get a low resolution B&W scan copy of what was accepted as being his will. It might only consist of a very few words though - the search page is here.

His service record probably survives, and would have likely been held in the regimental archives. However, I believe that a couple of years ago, the files were transferred to the Army Personnel Centre, which in turn are somewhere in the process of transferring files to the National Archives. Findmypast do have a couple of records for George (possibly ledger entries??), which might also be of interest - link.

Regards
Chris

Thanks Chris 

2 hours ago, Coldstreamer said:

The 4th was a pioneer battalion so didn’t really partake in battles from a fighting the enemy perspective so to speak like the other 3

for example the Somme saw hundreds killed 15 sept 16 in other battalions - I think the 4th had five !

Thanks