Companies A - D

[Aurel Sercu]

I am having a problem in my research regarding a soldier who, according to CWGC, was in : "G" Coy when he died.

I have looked into the War Diaries of that unit on the day he died, and I can only find mention of : companies A, B, C and D. No mention of a Company G.

As far as I know (confirmed by the mother site) there were 4 companies, of (at full establishment) 227 men in a battalion. These companies were named A, B, C and D. (Though, as was made clear in a previous thread, they were sometimes renamed W, X, Y and Z later.)

My question : am I right when I think that there was no Company G at all in my soldier's battalion, and that the "G" in CWGC must be an error for C ?

Aurel

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Aurel,

If the soldier concerned is 1847 Pte G A Waterston 14th London Regt who was killed in the First Ypres on 1 November 1914 serving with 'G' Coy, then please let me know as he was a friend of my family.

Ian

[Patrick ODwyer]

Before the war Regiments, at least in India, had eight companys, often A-H. When war broke out they combined in pairs to ensure enough re-inforcement for four companies A-D. This may be an explanation.

[charlesmessenger]

The Territorial Force retained the eight company organisation until January 1915. Therefore, Aurel, if he was killed before then and was in a Territorial battalion, this should solve the puzzle.

Charles M

[Annette Burgoyne]

Hi Aurel

If the war diary is recording A,B,C, & D then I would say there is a typing error or the like in CWGC record, I have come across this many times with my research.

Regards

Annette

[Aurel Sercu]

Thanks for the replies. Some things have become clearer.

Ian,

Sorry, no, it was not Pte Waterston.

Charles,

No, he fell in June 1915. After the company reorganisation. So he died at a time there were only 4 companies. (And indeed the War Diary mentions only 4.) But CWGC apparently stuck to the old company letter.

Patrick,

Do you mean something like :

A + B becomes A

C + D becomes B

E + F becomes C

G + H becomes D ?

(In that case my soldier was in D.)

Or was it :

A + E becomes A

B + F becomes B

C + G becomes C

D + H becomes D

(In that case he was in C.)

Aurel

[Patrick ODwyer]

I don't think there was a hard and fast rule for this. It was once suggested to me that it was decided by the seniority of company commanders. It may be that the family provided information about 'G' comany from memories of him before the war. In all likelihood it may well be 'C'. The other option is to find out his pre-war unit and check with their regimental digest. I know that the Connaught's listed men who received Durbar medals by their A-H comany.

[armourersergeant]

Slightly at a tangent but if they condensced down the companies and say that each company was run by a captain A-h, what happened to the over flow of captains when they became 4 companies, or would some of the companies have been run by senior Leftnants as the atritional war had taken its toll?

Arm.

[Joe Sweeney]

Aurel,

Out of curiuosity what unit are you referring too?

Joe Sweeney

[Aurel Sercu]

Patrick,

It makes sense. Also : I will have a look at the other men of the battalion, to see what companies are mentioned for them (if they are).

Joe,

I'll contact you off Forum. Bit complicated.

Aurel

[Terry_Egalton]

Aurel,

If the soldier concerned is 1847 Pte G A Waterston 14th London Regt who was killed in the First Ypres on 1 November 1914 serving with 'G' Coy, then please let me know as he was a friend of my family.

Ian

Thats interesting! When I was in the London Scottish, back in the early 80's, it was called G (London Scottish) Company 51st Highland Volunteers. I wonder if there is a link between the original G Coy and the Company I served in? Was the old G Coy at Messines and was that the reason for keeping the title?

I understand that they are now A Company The London Regiment

Terry