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Remembered Today:


Terry_Reeves

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Another photo of my grandfather (George Alfred Cornish) [standing] and his older brother "Bill" (William G A H Cornish) [sitting]. Is anyone able to tell me what regiment "Uncle Bill" served in?

Many thanks ... Ann

post-97194-0-75019800-1364337020_thumb.j

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Looks to me like your grandfather and his brother were both in the Royal Engineers (the shape of 'Uncle Bill's' cap badge looks very similar to me).

cheers

Steve

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  • 3 weeks later...

Andrew

Thank you for the information. The following may be of interest to you:

Served in the ranks 17th Bn Manchester Regiment and Special Brigade

T 2Lt RE 18.5.16

T Lt RE 15.11.17

Special Brigade 23.9.15 - later serving with A Coy

Wounded 25.6.16

rejoined SB 4.7.16

wounded 21.3.18

to England 26.3.18.

I would be interested to see the transcript of the interview. Please let me know if can help further.

TR

Hi Terry,

Frank Chandler served with my Grandad in the Manchesters before he transferred to RE. Andrew's notes imply he spent time in the line alongside 'his' Battalion.

Do you have any War Diary for 1916 when Frank may have been alongside the Manchesters near Maricourt, Suzanne or Vaux. The Special Brigade may also have been involved with the 17th Bttn. assaults in 1916:-

1/7/16 Montauban

9/7/16 Trones Wood

30/7/16 Guillemont

12/10/16 Flers

Any relevant info. may help build our picture.

Thanks in anticipation.

Tim

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Tim

The SB supported a 30th Division attack on 1.7.16. This was operation No 61 and was launched SE of Montauban at 7. 30am. It was a smoke operation by 5th Battalion SB using 103 mortar bombs. Maricourt is just under 4km from Montauban which makes it in the right area The battalion war diary may give a specific location, but I'm reasonably sure that this is what you are after.

If I can help further please let me know.

TR

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Terry,

Thanks for that. I recollect seeing reference to a successful smoke screen @ 10.00 when the final assault (Incl. 17th Bttn.) was made on Montauban. If Lt. Chandler was commanding the 5th Battalion operation, we can be sure he will have been sure to make the smoke particularly effective.

The distance between the 2 village is about 2km. Part of the Artillery was NE of Maricourt close to Oxford Copse. I imagine the RE Unit will have been close by.

Tim

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi, I am researching Pioneer Henry (Harry) Thomas Binks - according to Soldiers who died and CWGC he was '2nd Coy, Royal Engineers' - SWD adds that he previously serve in the RFA.

From what I can find online 2nd Coy doesn't seem to make sense - 2nd Battalion perhaps? I would welcome any input.

My interest arises from my researches into the men on the town war memorial in Newbury, Berks.

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Phil

He was with No2 (Special) Mortar Company, which was part of 5th Battalion, Special Brigade. They were equipped with the 4 inch Stokes Mortar which fired gas, smoke and thermite (incendiary) ammunition. These companies were often manned by RA officers attached to the SB and former RA personnel who were compulsorily transferred.

The only gas attack on 6 April 1917, which was the date Harry was killed, was SB operation No 241. This was launched at 3 am against 34, 261, 262,and 263 (German) Reserve Infantry Regiments from a point S of Givenchy-en-Gohelle using 586 4 inch Stokes mortar bombs filled with PS (Chloropicrin), a lethal/lachrimatory agent. This was a softening up operation in support of 4th Canadian Division for the Arras offensive which was launched 3 days later. These sort of attacks often attracted retaliatory bombardments.

The company war diaries can be found at TNA in WO95/122 , 5th Battalion, covering 1 Feb 1916 to 28 Feb, 1917, and in WO95/487 covering 1.3.17 to 31 July 1919.

Hope this helps.

TR

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That's great Terry - really useful - thanks.

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Guest gramjam

Hi Terry,

Another one for your collection hopefully.

My Grandfather,

John Muirden

Born: 26/02/1894 Aberdeen

Died: 1975 Aberdeen

Medal Card shows:

Corps: High. L. I. (no rank) Regst. No. 25288

Corps: R.E. Rank: A/Cpl Regst. No. 130497

(this line has the strange 'X' symbol with a dot in each quadrant - no idea what it means).

Victory Medal: ('X' symbol again) RE/101 70 (with a 'B' above it) Page: 14791

British Medal: (ditto… all the way along)

Written at the bottom:

SWB/LIST/RE/3886

(presuming this is his Silver War Badge for being invalided?)

Military Medal Card shows:

(France)

Surname: Muirden

Christian Name: J

Rank: 2nd Cpl (A/Cpl)

Corps: P. Spec Coy. R.E

Regimental Number: 130497

Date of Gazette: 25-4-18

Registered Paper: 68/121/520

Schedule Number: 151148

This is as far as I have got with my digging apart from also looking up his Gazette entry which tells us nothing more. The 'P' in the Corps section of the MM card I presume refers to P Company, but I have yet to research what they were involved with and when.

He never spoke about his wartime exploits, and when pushed as to why he had been awarded the MM would only say "I ran across a field when no-one was looking".

He was injured quite badly I think, my mother (now 86) described him having 'a hole' in his back and it was while recovering in Largs, Scotland that he met his future wife (my Grandmother). They were married June 16th 1926 in Largs.

He became a jeweller in Aberdeen where he worked until his retirement.

If you have any additional info, i would be most grateful if you could share.

Many thanks,

Graeme

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Graeme

Unfortunately I don't have any information about this man. The "X" indicates the details that were required to be impressed on the rim of his medals, but do not add anything about his service. His number indicates he was transferred to the SB in 1916. P Company was his unit and the SWB entry is correct. The following war diaries held by TNA might be of interest:

WO95/122 - 4 and 4A Battalion.

WO95 /334 - P Special Company

The latter may give an idea about his injury but is unlikely to say anything about his MM. Given that he appears to have spent most of his life in or around Aberdeen, there may be something in the local papers about him. It is likely to be bit of a flog following i all up, but it is worth a try.

If I can help further please let me know.

TR

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Guest gramjam

Many thanks, Terry.Those War Diary references I would not have been able to figure out. I will get cracking on those.

I have a photo of my grandfather in uniform which I can scan and post here if you are looking for that kind of thing.

Thanks,

Graeme

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.HI Terry I have found a photo of a relative of mine - Sapper Samuel Latham

134869 Royal Engineers Z Special (Flamethrower) Company

Died of Wounds 25th July 1918, aged 32. Here it is: lathamsamuel134869.JPG

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Guest DDL279

Hi Terry,

This is my first post, which sounds strangely relevant.

My great-uncle TTR Lockhart served in O Special Company RE (I have an engraved silver tray from "The Officers" on the occasion of his marriage).

His MC citation in the Edinburgh Gazette says "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in charge of oil projectors during an action."

Is there much known about O Special Company?

I have seen another thread from 2005 but I don't know if its really active.

Any help welcome.

Regards DDL

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Hi Terry,

This is my first post and I'm hoping we might be useful to each other. I have been researching my Great Great Grand father for my own Grandfather.

I have done a little bit of research without really knowing where to start but after looking at the CWWG site I found what appears to be a link into this thread.

Walter Warren Rank: Sapper Service No: 154443 Date of Death: 05/11/1916 Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers H.Q. Special Coy. Grave Reference H. 12. Cemetery LONGUEVAL ROAD CEMETERY

I presume that Special Company/Brigade are the same things? Family stories seem to suggest that he worked with gas. It was believed that he was in fact killed along with some other men (it appears 5 possible others - who died on the same day and same regt and burried at Longueval) were killed after an accident with some gas but we have never been able to find definitive proof of this either way. I was hoping you might know how I could find out which battalion/section he was in so I can find out more!

Apologies if I've posted on this thread mistakenly but any help appreciated!

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Stu

I think he may have been serving with 5th Battalion , Special Brigade, but I cannot be absolutely sure. It might be worth checking out the battalion war diary, and see if there is an incident mentioned. There were no operations on this date, so an accident seems the most likely cause. The diary can be found at TNA in WO 95/122.

TR

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Thanks for your help Terry.

Certainly tallys with what I've been able to find out with but I am a relative novice at this! I wonder would you also know, is there any way to find out where/when my Great Great grandfather signed up? I have checked TNA for service records but the only thing I was able to pull up was his medal card and it would be nice to find out a little more. Also if anyone has a copy of the diary entry WO 95/122 5 Battalion Royal Engineers 1916 Feb. - 1917 Feb with any detail about the 4-5th November 1916 any information would be super :-)

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  • 3 weeks later...

My father, Johannes Sybrandt Buck, was in the Special Brigade. I'd like to know more about his war record. He would not talk about it. Essentially all I know is from a 1923 letter by George Adami, Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.

"Entering the University in 1914 with a University Studentship he gained the Sir John Wilcox Scholarship in Chemistry. He volunteered for service in the following year, and for two and a half years was in the Engineers and then was transferred to the Laboratory of the Medical Research Committee at Boulogne under Colonel Sir Almroth Wright where, although engaged mainly in bacteriology, his knowledge of chemical laboratory methods stood him in good stead. There, while engaged in collecting material, I met him for the first time.

"At the end of the war, he returned to the University and took his degree of B.Sc., with honors in Chemistry in 1920, receiving the Le BlancMedal and the Isaac Roberts Scholarship."

He went on toe get an 1851 Exhibition scholarship and a D.SC. from Oxford.

When he met my mother, he told her that if they got married they would have to leave England, as there would be another war in twenty years (1939), and he did not want his sons fighting Germans. He entered the USA in 1924 and became a US citizen.

Any info would be a help. -- Erik Buck

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Erik

Unfortunately his service record appears not to exist which rather limits the information. However , from his RE number, he would have enlisted around July 1915. His medal index card shows that he landed in France on 6th August that year and almost certainly went to the Special Company Depot which was at Helfaut some 4 miles south of St Omer. The marie and the adjacent village school acted as the Depot HQ in France, and although some of the troops were billeted in the Helfaut, others were placed in the surrounding villages. It is very likely that he took part in the first British gas attack at Loos in September, serving with one of the following companies: 186, 187, 188 or 189. There are no war diaries for this period sadly, however, they were all cylinder companies dispensing chlorine gas. Donald Richter's book, Chemical Soldiers, will give you a background to all of this.

With regard to his RAMC service, it might be that he came across Captain Alexander Flemming RAMC, who was also posted to the research laboratory in Boulogne and who later discovered penicillin, as well as being the recipient of a Noble Prize of course. A

TR

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I have another one ... 146528 Pnr. John William Thorpe, a 24-year-old secondary school teacher from Lancaster. He must have been a science teacher, since he instantly qualified as a chemist upon attestation with the Royal Engineers. He served with "M" Coy., "A" Reserve Coy. and No. 2 (Special) Mortar Coy., Special Brigade.

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  • 3 weeks later...

And yet another ... 130381 Pnr. Evan G. Thomas. His service records are lost, but an examination of service numbers around him show he originally enlisted in the 19th or 20th battalion, Welsh Regiment (34631) on July 14 or 15, 1915. He was from the borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, in Glamorgan, Wales. He was later transferred to The Special Brigade probably for his experience with chemicals (a man I think is him was a laborer in a coke fuel works in 1901) rather than just part of a block of Welsh Regiment men transferred to the R.E.

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