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Royal Fusilliers


Guest dennisd

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Resaeching 10311 L/Cpl Hamlet Henry Cooke Royal Fusilliers(City of London Reg)11th Batallion.Killed in action 26/9/16.Burried Thiepville.Would be interested to now of the events surrounding his last days.

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Hello dennisd

If no forum member has any information your best bet is the battalion war diary. You'll need to request the date you want and pay £8.50 to get it on line. This is the link to the right page at the National Archive.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalog...;CATID=-2242025

The Thiepval memorial is to the missing of the Battle of the Somme and the 73000 commemorated on it have no known grave. Only had time for a quick look but I think 11th Royal Fusiliers were in 18th Division who were involved in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge 26-30 September 1916. Could have been here that Hamlet was killed. You'll need to check the diary to confirm this. Hope this helps a bit.

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Hello Dennisd

I've got O'Neills History of R Fus in First World War at Home and this covers the City of London Battalions. I'll have a look when I get home tonight and let you know if I find anything

David

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John is right,

Your man was killed during 54th Brigade/18th Divisions assault on the remains of the village of Thiepval. 11th Royal Fusiliers were the left assault company (coincidentally attacking only yards from where the Thiepval memorial now stands) with the 12th Middlesex Regiment on the right.

The Royal Fusiliers had a hard time of it but carried the attack on a position that had resisted 3 months of British attacks. There is a good write up in the 54th Brigade History which I have a home, but my home PC is out of action at the moment and I will not be able to post any extracts for a week or so.

I have the War Diary of the 6th Northaptons who were in support to the 2 battalions mentioned, and their diary includes a report on the battle in an Appendix. There is more than likely an addendix to the 11th Royal Fusiliers diary which will give an account of the battle from their point of view.

The battle was actually covered recently on the TV documentary "The Somme: From Defeat to Victory", though that highlighted the Middlesex's actions.

Lance Corporal Cooke would have also taken part in the assault on Pommiers Redoubt on the first day of the Somme (1-7-1916), west of Montauban.

Steve.

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Hello Dennisd

I've got O'Neills History of R Fus in First World War at Home and this covers the City of London Battalions. I'll have a look when I get home tonight and let you know if I find anything

David

Thank you very much for your help

Dennis

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John is right,

Your man was killed during 54th Brigade/18th Divisions assault on the remains of the village of Thiepval. 11th Royal Fusiliers were the left assault company (coincidentally attacking only yards from where the Thiepval memorial now stands) with the 12th Middlesex Regiment on the right.

The Royal Fusiliers had a hard time of it but carried the attack on a position that had resisted 3 months of British attacks. There is a good write up in the 54th Brigade History which I have a home, but my home PC is out of action at the moment and I will not be able to post any extracts for a week or so.

I have the War Diary of the 6th Northaptons who were in support to the 2 battalions mentioned, and their diary includes a report on the battle in an Appendix. There is more than likely an addendix to the 11th Royal Fusiliers diary which will give an account of the battle from their point of view.

The battle was actually covered recently on the TV documentary "The Somme: From Defeat to Victory", though that highlighted the Middlesex's actions.

Lance Corporal Cooke would have also taken part in the assault on Pommiers Redoubt on the first day of the Somme (1-7-1916), west of Montauban.

Steve.

Thank you very much for your help.It is very interesting.

Regards,

Dennis

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Hello again

Home now and looked up O'Neill Royal Fusiliers in The First World War. There are about 4 pages on the 11th Fusiliers action at Thiepval. If you would like me to transcribe them send an email from the system here or put a reply up and I'll do an attachment back for you.

Best wishes

David

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hello again

Home now and looked up O'Neill Royal Fusiliers in The First World War. There are about 4 pages on the 11th Fusiliers action at Thiepval. If you would like me to transcribe them send an email from the system here or put a reply up and I'll do an attachment back for you.

Best wishes

David

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but I have been out of the island for a while.If you could transcribe the document for me I would be very greatful.My e mail address is dennis.drum@jerseymail.co.uk.Once again,thank you very much for all your help.

Best Regards,

Dennis

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Hello again

Home now and looked up O'Neill Royal Fusiliers in The First World War. There are about 4 pages on the 11th Fusiliers action at Thiepval. If you would like me to transcribe them send an email from the system here or put a reply up and I'll do an attachment back for you.

Best wishes

David

Hi

That's fine. I'll have a go tonight and hopefully get something to you tomorrow. It'll be achange from TV

David

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