193rd Siege Bty

[Annette Burgoyne]

Hi all

I chap from my town as asked me if I could find out anything about his uncle, John Westhead, who was killed on 21/01/17. After looking at C.W.G.C. and Soldiers Died, I found he served with the 193rd Siege Bty.

Can anyone tell me where the 193rd Siege Bty were stationed on the 21/01/17, and were they shelled on this day ? Bombadier Westhead is buried in Sailly-au-Bois Military Cemetery, so I guess its somewhere near here.

Annette

[olosangus]

The 193 Siege battery were part of the 7th Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery which was a 1st army brigade. Sorry but I don't know exactly where they were on 21st Jan 1917. The best palce to look is the war diary for the 7th brigade which is available at the Public Records Office under reference wo 95 / 210 and wo 95 / 211. There does not appear to be a surviving war diary specifically for the 193rd siege Battery. However, it is unlikely that the war diary will contain any specific references to your man - the Brigade war diaris fro the RGA tend to be quite high level stuff.

[munce]

My experience of researching a siege battery is that they tended to change their attachment fairly often. A good place to look to see exactly which unit they were serving with at any given moment is WO95/5494, which lists all artillery and ASC units together with their attachments. You can then look up the appropriate war diary.

[Annette Burgoyne]

Hi olosangus & munce

Thanks for the info., I will pass it on.

Many Thanks

Annette

[rflory]

On 21 January 1917 the 193rd Siege Battery was serving as part of the 42nd Heavy Artillery Group, RGA, but I have been unable to find where they were located on that date. R Flory