PHalsall Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March Hi I am interested in two brothers of my grandfather who were KIA in WW1. The piece of information I am struggling to locate (having explored Ancestry etc) is the company or companies that they served in. Once I have that the War Diaries become so much more informative about their experiences. If anyone has these on a list or can point me to possible sources it would be most appreciated. William Halsall 1191, 1/7 KLR. KIA Festubert 16th May 1915. Walter Halsall, sergt. 1261, 1/7 KLR. KIA 25th September 1916. Much appreciated, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Taylor Posted 14 March Share Posted 14 March Hi, They are recorded by the CWGC on the links below. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/857355/william-halsall/ https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/264161/w-j-halsall/ As William was missing it is possible his name is recorded on the Red Cross registers which sometimes mention a soldier's company. A quick look for Halsall does not show him though. Have you looked for service records on Ancestry or FindmyPast? Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 14 March Author Share Posted 14 March Hi Colin, Thanks for responding so quickly. I have looked for Service Records on Ancestry but no company was recorded there. I'll double check Red Cross. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March (edited) 15 hours ago, PHalsall said: Walter Halsall, sergt. 1261, 1/7 KLR. KIA 25th September 1916 He has a surviving service record on Find My Past. It shows that he enlisted as a 16 year old in the 3rd 7th Battalion KLR. The second page of his Casualty Form - Active Service shows that he was in 'A' Company 1/7th Btn when he died. (Link to his record below if you have access to Find My Past) British Army Service Records 1914-1920 Image | findmypast.co.uk All images courtesy of Find My Past Edited 15 March by Allan1892 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March I don't know if you have seen Walter's CWGC headstone. (image courtesy of Find a Grave) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 15 March Share Posted 15 March 16 hours ago, PHalsall said: William Halsall 1191, 1/7 KLR Find My Past have a surviving record for him which shows that he enlisted as an 18 year into the 7th Btn KLR. I have quickly read through his papers but I can not see what company he would have been in when he died. Link to his record on Find My Past:- British Army Service Records 1914-1920 Image | findmypast.co.uk (image courtesy of Find My Past) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 15 March Author Share Posted 15 March Thanks Allan, very good of you to take the trouble. Its very elusive! Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 15 March Author Share Posted 15 March I haven't seen the headstone before, thanks for that. William's body was never found but with many others he is remembered on the Le Touret memorial. The two brothers trained with the Territorials in the years leading up to the war so I guess Walter enlisted as a 16 year old but was not dispatched to France until he was older. He was born in 1896, William in 1893. Im struggling with a two year old at the moment but ill post some photos later - always nice to put a face to a name! Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 15 March Author Share Posted 15 March (edited) I'm really pleased to find that Walter was in A Company, that helps a lot. The Attestation for William is a little faint but it looks to me as if the two brothers enrolled together on the same day at Seaforth. Their friend, the boy next door, John Seddon, also 1/7 KLR No. 265584 was certainly in A Company and would probably have enrolled with them. William is the only unknown. Does that make it likely that they were all assigned to A Company? The photographs are, in order, Walter Halsall, William Halsall, John Seddon. Cheers Pete Edited 15 March by PHalsall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March Thank you for posting the images, always good to put a face to the men in question. I see that they are all proudly wearing the Imperial Service Badge, as did my maternal grandfather. I have slowly read through William's service record again in case I missed something yesterday but his Company is not recorded. I have looked at pension cards as well but there isn't anything with regard to their Company(s). It is possible that the two brothers and their pal were all in 'A' Company but I can't find anything to confirm this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 16 March Admin Share Posted 16 March As they were living at 87 Sefton Road Bootle - Companies 'A-D' of the 7th King's Liverpool (TF) were based at Bootle. Headquarters were based initially at 77 Shaw Street Liverpool, moving in 1913 to 99 Park Street, Bootle. (Westlake) When embodied for war service the TF moved from an eight Company structure to four. Not confirmation but persuasive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March Thanks once again Alan and Ken, I very much appreciate the time you have put into this. The only remaining possible line of enquiry I can think of is whether there is any clue in their service numbers? They all enrolled at the same time to the 1/7 KLR but by the time of his death on 28th June 1916 John Seddon had be renumbered to 265584, but Walter Halsall who survived until 25th September 1916 retained his original 4 digit number? John Seddon was certainly in A company, it's recorded on his CWGC certificate. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March Hi I should have included there that I am aware that the TF were renumbered in 1917, by and large, but John Seddon seems an early example for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 16 March Admin Share Posted 16 March 1 hour ago, PHalsall said: Hi I should have included there that I am aware that the TF were renumbered in 1917, by and large, but John Seddon seems an early example for some reason. Men originally reported missing were often renumbered if their fate was uncertain. Don't know if this was the case in this instance but 'Death presumed' often took many months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March (edited) Yes, the Imperial Service Badge is a nice touch. This next photo is Phillip Halsall, younger brother of Walter and William. He joined up just after Walter was killed. The intersting thing to note on his uniform is the button covered in black to indicate a close relative KIA. Phillip was in the RA not the KLR. PeterBootle Times 23.06.2020.pdf Edited 16 March by PHalsall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March Phillip was the youngest son referred to at the tail end of this article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March Thanks Ken, that would never have occurred to me and I suppose it must have been quite commonplace for a man to be 'lost' somewhere for a while in the confusion of the battlefield. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March 15 hours ago, PHalsall said: Phillip was in the RA not the KLR. Yes, I saw a reference to Philip when I was reading Walter's record. I guess that Philip was your grandfather? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHalsall Posted 17 March Author Share Posted 17 March No. Phillip never married. There were two other brothers in the family. The eldest James (b.1881) was invalided out at some point / gassed. He then served in the garrison artillery. A little older than William was my grandfather Joseph (b.1886) who was a tannery worker and I think that might have been a reserved occupation. Having said that plenty of tannery workers did serve so I am a bit woolly on that one. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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