CWGC Concentration Maps

[Old Forge]

Battlefield clearance and burial - The Long, Long Trail (longlongtrail.co.uk) 

The article above details the organisation and responsibilities for registrations and burials during the war and afterwards, including postwar procedures for battlefield clearance. This would have included the generation of grave density and concentration maps. Have any of these been digitised? I've tried to find and information TNA's Discovery search engine (eg searching for war diaries or other records for the Directorate of Graves or the Directorate General of Registrations and Burials). I've also tried the CWGC's Archives link on their website. So far I've drawn a blank. Any pointers would be appreciated!

All the best,

Richard

[AOK4]

Richard,

This has been mentioned over and over on the forum (try a bit with the search function). Some are available online via the Trenchmapper website.

Jan

[Old Forge]

Thanks Jan - I found a previous thread on 'grave density maps' but I'll give it another go! Likewise Trenchmapper.

Richard

[Michelle Young]

Try searching the forum for Body Density maps. 

[Old Forge]

18 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

Try searching the forum for Body Density maps. 

Thanks Michelle, I found some interesting stuff, but I’ve now established that what I need are the post-war grave registration and concentration records - what was actually found rather than what was expected (body density maps). I’m at Chalke Valley History Festival at the moment and so are the CWGC. They’ve given me contact details for their head of remembrance (she spoke here on Monday evening but a didn’t get chance to speak to her afterwards). I’ll get in touch with her to see if she can help with details of any 2/Wilts burials from Oct 1914 recovered (exhumed) after the war. The registration forms give the map ref of their original burial sites - it may help to confirm where the battalion’s line was on 24th October when they were overrun (the WD descriptions are a bit ambiguous).

All the best,

Richard

[AOK4]

31 minutes ago, Old Forge said:

Thanks Michelle, I found some interesting stuff, but I’ve now established that what I need are the post-war grave registration and concentration records - what was actually found rather than what was expected (body density maps). I’m at Chalke Valley History Festival at the moment and so are the CWGC. They’ve given me contact details for their head of remembrance (she spoke here on Monday evening but a didn’t get chance to speak to her afterwards). I’ll get in touch with her to see if she can help with details of any 2/Wilts burials from Oct 1914 recovered (exhumed) after the war. The registration forms give the map ref of their original burial sites - it may help to confirm where the battalion’s line was on 24th October when they were overrun (the WD descriptions are a bit ambiguous).

All the best,

Richard

I doubt that you will be able to find as much detail. The battalion was near Reutel, but the area was also cleared by the Germans in 1915-17 and quite a few British soldiers were buried in the German war cemetery Reutel (and also Zwaanhoek).

Jan

[chaz]

when looking through a regiments war diary its also an idea to see if there was another regiment in the line close by.

looking for details of one of my great uncles final actions produces four lines   basically.

in huts, marched out to trenches and took over from another regiment.

formed up for preparatory attack.

attack launched, First objective reached and carried, Casualties 12 Officers  283 OR's

reading the WD;s  for the other two regiments named

first, goes into details of meals, trench work, company location, map references, actions and their relief.

the second  also which company where , weather, trench locations, actions.

 

initially I assumed all I had was the attack, done, casualties.

now I know conditions, uncles regiment were late getting there, timings, trenches etc

 

[clk]

Hi Richard,

May I ask your particular subject (man) of interest?

4 hours ago, Old Forge said:

it may help to confirm where the battalion’s line was on 24th October when they were overrun (the WD descriptions are a bit ambiguous).

 Have you looked at the Brigade HQ and Division HQ (General Staff) diaries. which might be able to help?

Regards
Chris

[Old Forge]

On 28/06/2023 at 20:11, AOK4 said:

I doubt that you will be able to find as much detail. The battalion was near Reutel, but the area was also cleared by the Germans in 1915-17 and quite a few British soldiers were buried in the German war cemetery Reutel (and also Zwaanhoek).

Jan

@AOK4

Hi Jan, yes it's a long shot but there may be a surprise or two. The battalion's first death (a blue-on-blue incident) was (probably) recovered after the war from his original burial in a Reutel farmyard at 28.J.11 ( https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/276348-strand-military-cemetery-case-1-captain-officer-wiltshire-regiment/#comment-2816364 ). If one or two more examples are available, it might help to pinpoint the firing line. It's a pedantic niggle of mine to want to know exactly where this was - it's clear enough to within a couple of hundred yards. But I find it somehow unsettling that the evidence is now lost without trace given the evidence available for later battles. Plus - more generally - I want to see if there's scope for CWGC to add the grid references for recovered bodies to some kind of overlay for Trenchmapper.

Cheers,

Richard

 

[Old Forge]

@chaz @clk Hi Chaz and Chris, I have the battalion, brigade, 7th Division and IV Corps War Diaries, but they're not so lavishly illustrated as some others of the period! Fortunately, the WD for 2/Wilts includes a detailed 'alternative' account, written by Lt Col Forbes, the CO, as a POW in Crefeld. It doesn't include any maps but as well as a far richer account of the battle in front of Polygon Wood, it gives a few important geographical pointers. Some of the latter are a bit ambiguous but others are clear enough. 

Cheers,

Richard

Edited 30 June , 2023 by Old Forge