HELP REQUIRED TO TRACE A WW1 KOYLI SOLDIER

[Tom Grieves]

Greetings All, I am new to this forum stuff.

I have recently discovered that my Dad Christopher Grieves served in KOLYI in WW1. Initially he served in the 24th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Irish) (24/1509) and was wounded 1 Jul 1916 near La Boisselle. Sometime later, after he recovered from his wounds, possibly in early 1917, he was transferred to the KOYLI with service number 33806 and possibly with the rank of Pioneer (he was formerly a coal miner). Can anyone assist me to find out what battalion he may have served in and what actions that battalion was involved in.

Regards,

Tom Grieves.

[Graham Stewart]

Tom,

I can't tell which battalion of KOYLI your dad served in but can give you the following;-

24/1509 Pte Christopher Grieves residing at Leamside, served in V Platoon, 'C' Company, 24th Bn,N.F. and was promoted to L/Cpl. The 'V' is actually 5 Platoon. After serving with KOYLI he was tranferred again to the Royal Engineers and renumbered 214395.

See the book "Tyneside Irish" by John Sheen for actions regarding the 24th Bn. The sources for his service are a Company Roll Book, St. Georges Gazette(Aug 1916) and the Medal Rolls(PRO).

Graham.

[Stebie9173]

The 12th Battalion of the KOYLI was a Pioneer Battalion if the rank of Pioneer refers to his time in the KOYLI.

The 13th was also a Pioneer battalion but was a Reserve battalion. Since the KOYLI number is on his MIC I would think it may well have been the 12th. They were attached to 31st Division. See the Long, Long Trail for details.

Since he was a coal miner he may well have ended up in one of the tunnelling companies of R.E.

I'll have a check tonight to see if his number lines up with any of the Tunelling Company number blocks I have on a spreadsheet at home.

The 214395 number suggests a transfer to R.E. around late 1916 early 1917 at the latest.

Steve.

[Tom Grieves]

Graham and Steve,

Thank you both so much. I live in Australia and need all the help I can get. My Dad passed away in 1957 aged 65, I was 11. My mother wrote the following brief note in an old diary:

Christopher Grieves No. 1509 Northumberland Fusilers - Transferred to King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry 1916 - Transferred to Royal Engineers Analytical Corp (poisious gas attacks - more than a year) finished war there.

Graham,

I am deligted you found out his platoon and company. If you know any other details please let me know. I have the book "Tyneside Irish" by John Sheen, my Dad gets a mention on the last page.

Steve,

I think he was a pioneer in the RE.

Regards,

Tom Grieves.

[the gunners dream]

Tom

How are you for info on the Tynesdide Irish? If you're stuck on that front I can help you there as well.

If you want any more info PM me or email me. I had to do a thesis on their exploits on 1st July 1916 and have maps etc. (I don't have the facilities to post them on this site unfortunately).

Steve Smith