59th Brigade Royal Field Artillery - Missing section of war diary

[ianshuter]

By any freak chance does anyone know what happened to the Jul, Aug & Sept 1917 sections of the 59th Brigade RFA diary, National Archives note that July and August are missing 

Digital item

Title: 59 Brigade Royal Field Artillery. War Diaries for July-August 1917 not included...0

 on inspection Sept is also missing. I did check to see if it was misfiled to no avail.

If not anyone know what they were doing at Ypres on 10 Aug 1917 when Sgt 10348 Frederick George Russell was killed in action and buried at Bard Cottage Cemetery?

59th Infantry Brigade were at Fusilier Hse, Canal Bank (Steenbeke) but the HQ war diary makes no mention of artillery

Edited 6 November , 2023 by ianshuter

[charlie962]

The artillery diaries of this period at NA went missing. Several old threads on forum on subject.

You may lucky if RA museum copy survives. I'll check on AMOT.

[charlie962]

Probably here. You will have to go back and forth because not all is in order. There's even a 1915 paper amongst these lof 1917?

Anyway it's the best I can do 

https://www.theogilbymuster.com/search/results#/?query=" 59th brigade"&page=3&type=flex&sort=Regimental_Collection asc&filterBy=Regimental_Collection,"Royal Artillery Museum"&spellCheck=true&recordView=3992557

[charlie962]

Look at pencilled number at top right of each diary page.

Page 220 seems to be 10/8/17. 

[charlie962]

10/8/17 seems to say Bde cooperated in deceiving enemy with a feint barrage in Brigade Zone.

No mention of casualties.

[ianshuter]

Thank you again - I have transcribed it - perhaps he was killed during C Battery's move to the rest area. However when I look at his two CWGC Grave Registration Forms the original list gives date of death as 9 Aug 1917 contradicting the other one which gives 10 Aug 1917 so I am going back to transcribe the 9th as well

Frederick is also on the Great Western Railway Roll of Honour this also has a number of threads.

https://www.swfhs.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2742:sgt-fg-russell&catid=16:the-men-who-fell-in-ww1

Thanks again

[michaelpi]

 Sergt. Fred Rusjiell, R.F.A., was killed action on August 10th (instantly).

 Friday 21 September 1917
Newspaper: Leamington Spa Courier

[ianshuter]

Thank you very much - added to his page - still a bit of confusion with the two conflicting CWGC records but I will let any readers decide.

https://www.swfhs.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2742:sgt-fg-russell&catid=16:the-men-who-fell-in-ww1

[charlie962]

2 hours ago, ianshuter said:

confusion with the two conflicting

This is probably a cut-off issue on reporting times. The 'day' did not run from midnight to midnight and possibly different organisations had different 'days'.

There has been discussion on the forum previously?

[ianshuter]

Yes, often the war diary helps as it describes operations that started on one day and end in the early (ish) hours of the next day unfortunately not in this case.