Ken Lees Posted 8 July , 2005 Share Posted 8 July , 2005 At 4.30am on 1st April 1917 near Ypres, a patrol of the 5th King's Liverpool Regt. "encountered a strong enemy patrol in the CULVERT, and a Corporal was taken prisoner by the enemy". At 10pm the same day, "Under cover of an artillery barrage we raided enemy Sap near No.5 Crater and secured two prisoners. Prisoners belong to 213 Infantry Regiment." The raid was carried out by a party of the 9th King's Liverpool Regt. Interestingly, the 5th Bn War Diary makes no mention of their patrol at all, but the 6th Bn War Dairy says that it was the 5th and that they had a Corporal taken prisoner. The 5th Bn Diary simply refers to the raid made by the 9th Bn. Can anyone tell me where I might find out more information from the German perspective, of this incident? Regards, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 8 July , 2005 Share Posted 8 July , 2005 I can find no reference to IR 213 so I would suspect that it was RIR 213 from the 46th Reserve Division. There is a regimental history for this unit and it could very well contain an account of the action. I do not have this particular book but will see if I can locate a copy. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 8 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2005 Ralph, Many thanks. I appreciate your reply. Regards, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 8 July , 2005 Share Posted 8 July , 2005 Ken I have had a glance at the history of Reserve Infantry Regiment 213 ( Part of Reserve Infantry Brigade 89, 207th Infantry Division at the time; though Ralph was also partly correct. It was previously associated with 46th Res Div) and also that of the other regiment of the brigade, namely RIR 209. Both are comprehensive, detailed histories; that of RIR 213 especially so. Neither mentions precisely the action you describe. I have tried without success so far to post a copy of a map of the regimental sector, which ran from just north of the Ypres-Roulers railway to just south of Bellewaarde lake. The sector, code named 'Aachen' is described as lively, with a great deal of mining and counter-mining and patrol activity. Casualties for the tour which ran from Nov 16 - late Apr 17 do not seem to have been very high and there were no fatalities at all in the 2nd Battalion, which was in the front line at the date you mention, anywhere near the date of the apparent prisoner snatch. RIR 213 does mention under 31 Mar 17 that, 'the enemy blew a mine at [crater] 'Allenstein' (NW of the NW tip of Bellewaarde lake), which collapsed 29 supports of mine gallery 'Adelheid'. Unfortunately this buried one of the daring miners and collapsed a five metre section of the western edge of 'Allenstein'. British patrols which pressed forward were driven off by 8th & 6th Companies RIR 213.' This does not rule out that in driving off the patrols, a couple of men were captured, but lacking access to the burnt original files of this regiment we shall probably never know for sure. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 12 July , 2005 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2005 Thanks Jack, I appreciate your help. Regards, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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