belgotim Posted 12 December , 2005 Share Posted 12 December , 2005 Hello, one of my ancestors enlised into the East Surrey Regiment. Name: Thomas "Tommy" Baines. Army Nr: 6143 Theatre of War first entered: France, 03 June 1915 From the date at which he entered the theatre of war, I guess the only Battalion to which he could have belonged would be the 7th. As his Service Records were destroyed I have no way of verifying this. Does anybody have an idea how I could discover whether the 7th was indeed his Battalion? Tommy died on 15 June 1918 at the Battle of Asiago in Italy, where hew was a Sapper in the XIV Corps GHQ Signals Company. All suggestions more than welcome! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrieduncan Posted 12 December , 2005 Share Posted 12 December , 2005 Have you checked out the parent site? http://www.1914-1918.net/eastsurreys.htm Have you checked the medal rolls to see if they give any more detailed unit info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambo Posted 12 December , 2005 Share Posted 12 December , 2005 Tim The date you gave for him entering France ties with the landing of the 7th Battalion (their history shows the 2nd of June) There is a brief history of them in the regimental history which I would be happy to transcribe if you're interested. They were disbanded in February 1918 when they still had 94 members who had come across in 1915. Most went to the 8th 9th or 13th Battalions but I suppose Tommy went to the RE Let me know if I want me to add their history and I'd be happy to do so Hambo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrieduncan Posted 12 December , 2005 Share Posted 12 December , 2005 Hambo, Do you have any other info on the East Surrey Regiment? I'm looking for info on a Private T H Blackwell who landed in France on the 31st of August 1915. His number is 4364. His MiC shows he was given the SWB and discharged from the regiment on 22nd June 1916. Any idea what unit he may have been in and where he would have been fighting when he got wounded? Cheers Barrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 12 December , 2005 Share Posted 12 December , 2005 Tim, from memory the 7th Battalion war diary has a nominal roll on disbandment in 1918; it also has many casualty lists in it. The diary is not on-line and is in class WO95 at the National Archives, so it means a visit their or a researcher to look for you. As has been stated above, the medal roll in WO329 will also have details of the battalion(s) he served with. Some further ideas and hints here: http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/ww1soldiers.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgotim Posted 13 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 13 December , 2005 Hi Paul, I did indeed look at the casualty list in the Archives...but only one Baines featured and it was not Tommy. This is one occasion that I silently wished he had been hit by a bullet or piece of shrapnel! Hambo, can you post the history of the Regiment? Thanks. I shall put my thinking cap on to figure out how to ascertain more info. thanks for all the help! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 13 December , 2005 Share Posted 13 December , 2005 When you say you looked at casualty lists, did you look at the 7th Battalion War Diary then? And did you not find him in the nominal roll? If not, I suspect he wasn't 7th Battalion then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgotim Posted 13 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 13 December , 2005 Yeah, incorporated into the War Diary there was the "Casualties list" for all 7th Battalion officers and OR...no mention of our man. Or is the nominal roll something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 13 December , 2005 Share Posted 13 December , 2005 It is ten or more years since I last looked at this document, so forgive me if I remember a casualty list being a nominal roll. If you didn't find him there, did you also check his medal roll entry in WO329? That should give the details of the battalions he was with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambo Posted 13 December , 2005 Share Posted 13 December , 2005 Tim I had a look in SDGW and I found Thomas C Baines Sapper 197916 Born Antwerp Belgium Enlisted London Died of Wounds 15.6.18 "J" GHQ Signal Company RE Formerly 6173 East Surrey Regiment I think the most likely reason he wasn't listed in the roll for the 7th is because he wasn't in it at the time of his death. Someone may put me right on this unless they kept track of former members of the battalion after they broke it up. Just a thought. Also in SDGW he is listed as dying in France and Flanders rather than Italy. This could well be an error of course. I will do the history if you're still interested Hambo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambo Posted 13 December , 2005 Share Posted 13 December , 2005 Barrie I had a look in the history and the only battalion which arrived at the time he did is the 9th, unless he went out as a replacement but the 9th is a pretty good bet. I note that he was discharged on the 22nd of June, I assume he was wounded some time before this date, but out of interest on this date they were holding the line at Spanbroekmolen and from the 19th to the 23rd they suffered one dead and 6 wounded caused by shelling Hope this is some use Hambo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrieduncan Posted 14 December , 2005 Share Posted 14 December , 2005 Hi Hambo, Thanks very much for the info. I guess my man was lucky in that he was discharged just before the Somme. Cheers, Barrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgotim Posted 14 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 14 December , 2005 Hi Hambo and Paul, what is the SDGW? Thomas transferred from the East Surrey Regiment into the Royal Engineers (his army nr became: 194916). He was a sapper and died on the Italian Front. I have the notification from the Ministry of War. Actually I have two. The one dated closest to his death states he died "on active service in France". Later, the second notification states "he died of wounds in Italy". Considering that he's buried in Cavaletto, Italy...I think the second one will be the more accurate one. Next time I'm in the Archives I'll go through WO329. Hambo, you say it is more likely he was part of 9 Battalion? I shall look into this on Saturday! Thanks for all the help guys. (I'll post a picture of Thomas on the forum so that you have an idea of who we're talking about). Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambo Posted 14 December , 2005 Share Posted 14 December , 2005 No Tim, Barrie's man was probably in the 9th, I still favour the 7th for yours SDGW is Soldiers Died in the Great War which is a CD which contains a searchable database of all UK troops who died in the war. As he's buried in Italy I suspect it's wrong on this occasion! All the best Hambo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgotim Posted 14 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 14 December , 2005 Thanks for this. Just been looking at the Service Medal and Awards Roll. I'm going to be busy! There a loads of them.... Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pte1643 Posted 14 December , 2005 Share Posted 14 December , 2005 Just out of interest, My Gt Grandfather Landed in France on 1st June 1915. See signiture... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgotim Posted 15 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 15 December , 2005 Hey Pte1643. If established that my chap was indeed in 7 Bttn ESR I would be most interested in receving any pictures you may have of the battalion. I hope to be able to confirm this after Saturday's visit to the Archives. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgotim Posted 19 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 19 March , 2006 I have finally been able to pick up my research again after a long absence due to overseas work. The 7th Battalion War Diary is most impressively bulky and reading through it really gives a good impression of what their duties and actions consisted of. Unfortunately, as Thomas' file was burnt during WW2 I don't know when he was wounded (and thus transferred from ESR to RE). I'm a bit stuck on this one. Any suggestions on how to discover 100% that he was in 7 Battalion East Surrey Regiment very welcome. Hambo, you mentioned that there was is a brief history of them in the regimental history. Can you send me this please? thanks. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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