'D' Bty, 156th Bde. Can anyone tell me more?

[andy1400]

I have a 182441 Gnr Charles Reynolds who died of his wounds on the 6/11/1917. The CWGC gives his unit as 'D' Bty, 156th Bde. This does not seem to be a unit to my mind. Should there not be a Regiment for the Battery to be part of? Could anyone shed some light on the subject, maybe with some information about the action that might have caused his wounds?

Thanks in advance.

Andy

[davidfegga]

I have a 182441 Gnr Charles Reynolds who died of his wounds on the 6/11/1917. The CWGC gives his unit as 'D' Bty, 156th Bde. This does not seem to be a unit to my mind. Should there not be a Regiment for the Battery to be part of? Could anyone shed some light on the subject, maybe with some information about the action that might have caused his wounds?

Thanks in advance.

Andy

156 brigade RFA was part of 33rd Divisional artillery, check the Long Long Trails site for more info. 'D' battery was usually the 4.5" howitzer battery in a field artillery brigade .

Dave

[andy1400]

Thanks Dave. I shall try and find the War Diary.

Cheers

Andy

[olosangus]

You may want to get hold of a book called " the History of the 33rd Divisional Artillery in the war 1914-18" published by the naval and military press.

www.naval-military-press.com

regards. simon

[rflory]

If by 6/11/17 you mean that he died of wounds on 6 November 1917, then he most likely was wounded in the action of 26 October 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele. On that date 156th and 162nd Brigades of the 33rd Divisional Artillery was covering a front just south of Gheluvelt to support an assault by the 7th Division.

On the 24th D/156 under the command of Major Barstow moved forward to the middle of Sanctuary Wood and dropped trails just off the road under cover of the slopes in the western half of the wood. At dawn on the 26th the batteries manned their guns to support the attack with D/156 and B/162 covering the 91st Infantry Brigade on the right. Throughout the morning the gunners maintained a protective barrage in front the infantry, but by 2:35 pm the barrage was cancelled as the attack of 91st Infantry Brigade had failed.

This was the last infantry operation in which the 33rd Divisional Artillery took part at Passchendaele. On 31 October, D/156 which had been very badly gas-shelled on teh night of the 29th/30th, moved out to the wagon lines. The losses of the batteries in these autumn batteries were appalling. The battle casualties of 162nd Brigade, RFA were 315 gunners, and the casualties of 156th Brigade, RFA were almost as great. On 4 Nov 17, 156th Brigade marched to the training area around La Nieppe and remained there for a week. On 12 November the brigade moved to a rest area in the Bouvelinghem area.

This information comes from "The History of the 33rd Divisional Artillery." The war diary of 156th Brigade, RFA for the period Feb 1915 to Apr 1919 can be found at the National Archives at WO 95/2413. Dick Flory

[andy1400]

Thanks to you all for your help. Very much appreciated.

Andy