will2003 Posted 28 February Share Posted 28 February (edited) Hello all, I've been studying my 2x granduncle who served in the British Army with the 252nd Siege Battery from May 1916 till his death July 17,1917 he died of his wounds in casualty clearing station 17 at Remy sidings and buried in lijssenthoek military cemetery. In the war diary it shows the 252nd was, what seems to say at "vijverhoek" on the day of his death but that is on the other side of Ypres from Remy sidings seems odd. Am I reading it wrong? I'm a complete noob at this stuff. If ya'll have any info yall can give me about this, and just in GENERAL about Henry Ryan please let me know and God willing maybe pictures mentioning him. Or Anything to do with the 252nd (I'm also in the U.S. so time zones will mess with response time) Thanks all - William Edited 28 February by will2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Rayner Posted 28 February Share Posted 28 February Welcome to the forum...and good luck with your research. Some family details from his documents in case you don't have them-sourced from Fold3 George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Anderson Posted 28 February Share Posted 28 February (edited) Welcome to the GWF. Some 252nd SB RGA info here re 1917: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/285527-gnr-henry-shephard-mm-78671-252-siege-battery-royal-garrison-artillery/#comment-2941106 Edited 28 February by Ivor Anderson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ororkep Posted 28 February Share Posted 28 February William, You have shown a page from the higher formation war diary that 252 Sge came under control of at the time namely 53 HAG (Heavy Arty Group). The official war dairy for 252 proffers more precise information. (NA internal ref: WO95/226/8) 16 July 1917 position Vermoorzeele. “A 4.2 H.E. landed in No2 gun pit, killing one and wounding 3 other ranks. Enemy bombarded the position with gas shell during the night.” 17 July 1917 “One other rank wounded yesterday died of wounds”. The fatality on the 16th was Gnr 83866 F. Kettlewell with yours being the OR mentioned on the 17th. One of the other three OR’s wounded at the time died on the 20th: Gnr 182994 A. Wingate. The battery had been in that position since the 09.07.1917 on moving its 6in Howitzers forward from Vlamertinghe. Henry was a original battery member. Rgds Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will2003 Posted 29 February Author Share Posted 29 February 14 hours ago, ororkep said: William, You have shown a page from the higher formation war diary that 252 Sge came under control of at the time namely 53 HAG (Heavy Arty Group). The official war dairy for 252 proffers more precise information. (NA internal ref: WO95/226/8) 16 July 1917 position Vermoorzeele. “A 4.2 H.E. landed in No2 gun pit, killing one and wounding 3 other ranks. Enemy bombarded the position with gas shell during the night.” 17 July 1917 “One other rank wounded yesterday died of wounds”. The fatality on the 16th was Gnr 83866 F. Kettlewell with yours being the OR mentioned on the 17th. One of the other three OR’s wounded at the time died on the 20th: Gnr 182994 A. Wingate. The battery had been in that position since the 09.07.1917 on moving its 6in Howitzers forward from Vlamertinghe. Henry was a original battery member. Rgds Paul Wow thank you so he was probably killed by a 10.5 cm feldhaubitze then? I found and opened up WO95/226/8 is there an easier way of translating this cursive I'm pretty good with it but some of it is pretty hard to understand. id like to be able to read mostly the stuff on the 15th 16th and 17th of July. I understand Stirling castle is a castle in Scotland do we know what they are referring to in the war diary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Anderson Posted 29 February Share Posted 29 February (edited) 5 hours ago, will2003 said: I understand Stirling castle is a castle in Scotland do we know what they are referring to in the war diary? It was the British name for a small chateau, out the Menin Road, East of Ypres. Thread on it here: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/82423-the-chateau-at-stirling-castle/#comment-764057 Edited 29 February by Ivor Anderson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kildaremark Posted 29 February Share Posted 29 February (edited) Here's Kettlewell's death recorded in the Times on 17 August 1917 followed by Ryan died of wounds in the same article: Wingate died on 20 July 1918 according to CWGC? Mark Edited 29 February by kildaremark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ororkep Posted 29 February Share Posted 29 February William, 53 HAG was under control of II Corps CHA. The closest precise location I can get for the battery is: 2 guns at I25c.50.10 which is Sheet 28NW. Although this is dated 29.7.17 the battery had not moved since the 9th. Hopefully a map expert will come along and plot it for you and you will see it is very close to Voormezeele, the guns having pulled off the road in the square I25c. (The other two battery hows were at I31a.90.80.) The Y’s and OK’s mentioned on the 17th after a successful shoot refer to the clock dial chart example below when Bty’s used Aeroplane assistance. Rgds Paul P.S. Do you have any images of Henry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will2003 Posted 29 February Author Share Posted 29 February (edited) 1 hour ago, ororkep said: William, 53 HAG was under control of II Corps CHA. The closest precise location I can get for the battery is: 2 guns at I25c.50.10 which is Sheet 28NW. Although this is dated 29.7.17 the battery had not moved since the 9th. Hopefully a map expert will come along and plot it for you and you will see it is very close to Voormezeele, the guns having pulled off the road in the square I25c. (The other two battery hows were at I31a.90.80.) The Y’s and OK’s mentioned on the 17th after a successful shoot refer to the clock dial chart example below when Bty’s used Aeroplane assistance. Rgds Paul P.S. Do you have any images of Henry? Thank you Paul! I don't have any pictures of Henry unfortunately, that would be amazing if I could find one. I have pictures of 2 of his nephews who served in ww1 from ancestry. And I have an original picture of one of his sisters (Emily Ryan) hanging up in my living room. Emily Ryan is my great great grandmother. Also I was named after Henry's son William Ryan who was on the HMS Inflexible during the battle of Jutland. having that connection and as well as Henrys medals and his 1914 Princess Mary gift box I'm inspired to learn more about Henry and also potentially find a picture to hang next to his sisters. Edited 29 February by will2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will2003 Posted 29 February Author Share Posted 29 February Found this document any ideas what the underlined words say? -William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteStarLine Posted 1 March Share Posted 1 March Casualty Clearing Station France report 17th July Died Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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