Guest jelo Posted 6 January , 2006 Share Posted 6 January , 2006 I am trying to find more info. on my G grandfather. From what I can tell, he voluntarily joined, and is now buried in Souchez. He was Corporal Percy Welton. My first question is, if when you first join are you a private? How many levels up is Corporal? Also, I am unable to find any info. on his battallion. I think he may have been at Vimy, since he's buried at Souchez. Has anyone else any knowledge on how to find out more? Thank You! Lori Murphy, Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 6 January , 2006 Share Posted 6 January , 2006 (edited) He joins as a Private then is appointed Lance Corporal{1 Stripe} then if he is 'lucky' he gets the other Stripe & is made up to Corporal.{In his case I would suspect that he was made up to Corporal on account of his seniority,upon the dearth of NCOs after the Casualties from the opening Battles the Battalion took part in. The 4th Bn Suffolk Regiment was a Territorial Battalion & landed @ Le Havre on 9th November 1914. The Cemetery @ Souchez was not opened by the Canadians until 1916,Souchez having been taken by the French in September 1915;However previous Burials from Arras,Nord & the Pas de Calais & other Cemeteries were brought in & I suspect this is where your Grandfathers body was re~interred from From his number 646 it would appear that he would have been a pre war Territorial Force Man,probably joining in the latter part of the 1908~10 period By the time they went to France the Battalions of the TF had been expanded so you would do best to look for 1/4th Bn[ie:~ the 1st/4th Battalion,there would have been 2/4th;3/4th;etc used as Reserve Battalions to re~inforce the Premier Batalion initially] when seeking information on them,The Long Long Trail @ the head of the Forum should be helpful in this respect. 1/4th Suffolk Regt. 4th August 1914 Portman Road Ipswich[Part of the Norfolk & Suffolk Brigade.East Anglian Division. 6th August 1914 to Felixstowe,then onto Shenfield{Nr.Brentwood, Essex} & Braxted;then onto Severalls near Colchester. 9th November 1914 Le Havre. France.{Having left the EA Divn on 4th November} Became part of Jullundur Bde,Lahore Division @ Vieille Chappelle. 15th November 1915 to 46th Bde.15th Division. 27th February 1916 to 98th Bde,33rd Divn. 15th February 1918 to 58th Division as Pioneer Battalion. 11th November 1918 @ Wiers Belgium[West of Peruwelz] An interesting aside,in 2000,The Canadian Unknown Soldier was selected from this Cemetery;for internment @ the National War Memorial Ottawa. Edited 6 January , 2006 by HarryBettsMCDCM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 6 January , 2006 Share Posted 6 January , 2006 Percy Wilton died in August 1915. At this point in time the French were trying to take Vimy Ridge. Neither the British nor the Canadians attacked there until April 1917. Name: WELTON Initials: P Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Corporal Regiment: Suffolk Regiment Unit Text: 4th Bn. Date of Death: 11/08/1915 Service No: 646 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: XVII. D. 33. Cemetery: CABARET-ROUGE BRITISH CEMETERY, SOUCHEZ Percy's death was between the Lahore Division's involvement at Aubers (May 1915) and Loos (September 1915). He would not have been killed in a major battle but instead as part of daily trench warfare or perhaps in a raid. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Buck Posted 6 January , 2006 Share Posted 6 January , 2006 As you will see from my signature, I have a few relatives who served and died with the 4th Suffolks. The Suffolk Record Office at Bury St Edmunds hold a lot of information and you should have a look at this link where you can download a pdf file with details. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Harris Posted 6 January , 2006 Share Posted 6 January , 2006 As you will see from my signature, I have a few relatives who served and died with the 4th Suffolks. The Suffolk Record Office at Bury St Edmunds hold a lot of information and you should have a look at this link where you can download a pdf file with details. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Harris Posted 6 January , 2006 Share Posted 6 January , 2006 There is a nice account/memoir of the 4th Suffolks call "From the Somme to the Armistice" by Captain Stormont Gibbs, it was published by William Kimber in the late 70's, its out of print now but you should be able to pick a copy up on www.abebooks.com well worth a read, that said I think he joins the battalion after your relative is killed near Vimy Ridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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