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Remembered Today:

46th Division Histories + NA documents


bmac

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Should anyone need some unit history look ups I have (or will have in the next day or two):

5th, 7th and 8th Sherwood histories

5th N Staffs

5th S Staffs

4th and 5th Leicesters

Lincolnshire Regt

+ all 46th Division unit War Diaries and documents for May-July 1st, 1916 plus some for October 1915 and March-April 1916, a fair proportion of which are transcribed.

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Bill,

It's been a while since we communicated. The last time was when the project was in its infancy. How is it coming along?

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Andrew,

All the NA material has been copied and a large proportion transcribed during which process I got a feel for the material. I now have daily action grids for May, June and early July for the 3 brigades and battalions, all RE units + Monmouths, RFA, Medical units; most of the 46th Division material is transcribed, i.e. War Diary, ADMS, etc. plus a lot of VII Corps, Third Army, etc.; the whole Court of Inquiry is transcribed; and I already had all of the RGA material and RFC.

In addition I have the relevant 37th and 48th Divisional papers plus whatever other units are relevant. Still some work to do on them.

German material already available.

I have also taken copies relevant to Hohenzollern and their time at Neuville St Vaast for background to the Division's experiences there and the knock on effect for Gommecourt.

Rolls of Honour for every unit are 80% complete.

As you can see from the first message I have most of the unit histories and what few personal recollections as exist. The small amount of material at the Liddle Collection has been gathered but I will need another trip to the IWM and the IWM photo collection at some point.

To make up for the lack of published personal material I plan to either tour the various county newspaper collections (and hit the regimental museums at the same time) or spend a week at Colindale going through local newspapers for stories, accounts, biogs, obituaries, etc., of local men and officers to give some personal detail to the book. Can't do this at the moment as I cannot drive as a result of an operation on my spine. Hope to do this in the New Year some time.

I have an outline plan for the book and plan to start collating the information into a general time line over the next few days (that's Christmas covered then!) and hope to start writing early in the New Year. I hope to be rather more disciplined than on the last one and plan to set myself a daily target of words to be written.

Cheers

Bill

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  • 1 year later...

Hi,

i have only just joined this forum and have been looking through different references the the 46th Division. I am a university student who is doing their dissertation on the 46th Division and wondered if there was any items or places you would advise me to go and have a look at that are of particular interest and connection to this division.

Thanks for any help

Sarah

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Hi,

i have only just joined this forum and have been looking through different references the the 46th Division. I am a university student who is doing their dissertation on the 46th Division and wondered if there was any items or places you would advise me to go and have a look at that are of particular interest and connection to this division.

Thanks for any help

Sarah

Sarah,

The Staffordshires museum at Lichfield and the Sherwood Foresters museum in Nottingham will have regimental histories and some other documents. There are several regimental histories available on-line for nothing (5th Lincolns, 8th Sherwoods) and some others are also available fairly cheaply as re-prints, etc., (5th Leicesters, 6th N Staffs) but the rest: 6 S Staffs, 5th and 7th Sherwoods are pretty expensive as they are only available as originals. Lincolns archives have recently been transferred from regimental to county archives and are not currently accessible.

There is a book about the 46th Division at the St Quentin Canal in 1918

National Archives, Kew for all war diaries (I can give you a list of the file numbers if required).

Imperial War Museum - some material, not a lot in my specific area of interest but you can access the archives on line

Liddle Collection, Leeds University Library - as IWM inc. on line archive

British Museum Colindale for local newspapers. A lot of material there - some can also be found at local archives in Walsall, Wolverhampton, etc., though I only used Colindale. Some newspapers are particularly good in their coverage.

There are some very good web sites many run by members here. I'll dig out a list.

If you want, I can supply a complete list of the bibliography and file references for my book but, bear in mind, it only covers Spring and Summer 1916.

Bill MacCormick

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The book refered to for St Quentin 1918 is "The breaking of the Hindenburg Line" by Major R Priestley. Have just got my mitts on a copy from Naval and Military Press so can't give a full review yet other than it was reasonably priced as usual and is a reprint of the original 1919(ish) book.

As Bmac can't recommend his own books, let me just say that his 56th Div Book (the sister division in the Gommecourt assault), "Pro Patria Mori" was excellent and his forthcoming book on the 46th Div at Gommecourt is eagerly awaited. I would recommend getting your hands on "Pro Patria Mori" as it does touch regularly on the 46th Div as well and will give an overall view before the release of "Lack of Offensive Spirit". However, Bmac has mentioned it is currently out of print so second hand may be the only way.

Otherwise a post on here will usually elicit more information than you could ever hope for, so ask away. :)

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Hey eveyone, this is a great start for me and your advice is invaluable :) will start on this info asap, i have also just bought Priestley's book very reasonable and am hoping it will come in the next few days. The bibliographic an internet links would be great as im currently building up my bibliography at the moment.

Thanks for your help, though i will probably be asking more questions at some point lol

Sarah

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Sarah,

Here we are. Some of the references are specific to the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Gommecourt, i.e. the CAB 45 files. These files relate to the the writing of the Official History and are replies from participants in the battles to the draft of the various chapters in the History. I have included some general material, i.e. biographies, etc. This is not actually the complete biography/references for the book but those that seem most relevant to a general interest in the 46th Division. You should search the IWM index (http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/qryDocuments.asp) and the Liddle Collection (http://brs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/brs_engine?*DB=LIDL&*ID=0) for other material outside summer 1916. The Liddle Collection search system is a bit eccentric so contact me if you need any advice.

I'll sort out the web sites asap

Bill

Bibliography

British Regimental Histories

De Grave, L W, War History of the Fifth Battalion The Sherwood Foresters, Bemrose & Sons, 1930

Farndale, Gen. Sir Martin, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Western Front 1914-18, Royal Artillery Institution, 1986

Hills, Capt. J D, The Fifth Leicestershire Regiment, Echo Press, 1919

Milne, John, Footprints of the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment, Naval & Military Press, 1935

Meakin, Lt. W. The 5th North Staffordshires and the North Midland Territorials The Royal Press, 1922

Officers of the Batallion, War History of the Sixth Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment, William Heinemann Ltd., 1924

Officers of the Batallion, The Robin Hoods, 7th Sherwood Foresters, J & H Bell, 1921

Sandall, Col. T E, History of the 5th Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, Blackwell, 1922

Simpson, Maj. Gen. C R, History of the Lincolnshire Regiment, 1914-1918, The Medici Society, 1931

Weetman, Capt. W C C, Sherwood Foresters in the Great War, 1/8th Battalion, Thos. Forman & Sons, 1920

Official accounts

Edmonds, Brig. Gen. Sir James E,

Official History of the War: Military Operations, France and Belgium - various volumes

Personal accounts

Higgins, Thomas James, Tommy at Gommecourt, Churnet Valley Books, 2005

Moore, Christopher, Trench Fever, Little Brown

General accounts

Cave, Nigel, Gommecourt, Battleground Europe Series, Pen and Sword, 1998

Churchill, Winston, The World Crisis,

Farrar-Hockley, Gen. Sir A H, The Somme, B T Batsford 1966

Hart, Peter, The Somme, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2005

Keegan, John, The Face of Battle, Penguin, 1976.

Macdonald, Lyn, Somme, Michael Joseph 1983 and Papermac 1984

Middlebrook, Martin, The First Day on the Somme, Penguin 1971

Prior R & Wilson T, The Somme, Yale University Press, 2005

Sheffield, G, The Somme, Cassell, 2003

Sheldon, J, The German Army on the Somme 1914-16, Pen and Sword 2005

Biographies and Diaries

Boraston J.H., O.B.E., ed. Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatches, Dec. 1915 - Apr 1919. J. M. Dent; 1919

Duff Cooper, Haig, 1935

Gardner, Brian, Allenby, Cassell 1965

Home, Brig. Gen Sir Archibald, The Diary of a World War One Cavalry Officer, Costello, 1985

James, Lawrence, Imperial Warrior, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1993

Lloyd George, David, War Memoirs, 1931

Prior R & Wilson T, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914-18, Blackwell Publishers 1992

Savage, R, Allenby of Armageddon, Bobbs-Merrill, 1926

Sheffield G & Bourne J, Douglas Haig, War Diaries and Letters, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2005

Terraine, John, Haig: The Educated Soldier, Leo Cooper, 1990

Warner, Philp, Field Marshal Earl Haig, Bodley Head, 1991

Weapons and Equipment

Bidwell, Shelford and Graham, Dominic, Fire-power, The British Army Weapons and Theories of War 1904-1945, Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2004

Hogg I V & Thurston L F, British Artillery Weapons and Ammunition 1914-18, Ian Allan, 1972

Jager, H, German Artillery of World War One, The Crowood Press, 2001

Marble, S, ‘The Infantry Cannot Do with a Gun Less’ The Place of the Artillery in the B.E.F., 1914-1918, Gutenberg-e, Columbia University Press, 2005

Miscellaneous

German Military Terms, Imperial War Museum

Griffith, Paddy, Battle Tactics on the Western Front, Yale University Press, 1994

Travers, Tim, The Killing Ground, Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2003

Thornton, Andrew, Recruiting for the Territorial Force in Staffordshire, August 1914 – December 1915, Journal of the Centre for First World War Studies

Wayman, Ken, The True and Faithful Men, Pelsall Servicemen in the Great War, Ken Wayman, 2004

Walsall and District Roll of the Great War 1914-18, W H Worley, Walsall

The Nominal Rolls of the 1/5th and 1/6th North Staffordshire and the 1/5th and 1/6th South Staffordshire Regts., compiled by Jeff Elson and held at the Staffordshire Regiment’s Museum

Local Newspapers

The Belper News

The Burton Chronicle

The Burton Daily Mail

The Burton Observer

The Cannock Advertiser

Derbyshire Advertiser

Derbyshire Daily Express

Derbyshire Times & Chesterfield Herald

The Lichfield Mercury

Nottingham Evening News

Nottingham Daily Guardian

Staffordshire Daily and Weekly Sentinels

Staffordshire Advertiser

The Walsall Observer

Wolverhampton Express & Star

The Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser

References

Imperial War Museum

VII Corps Snow, Lieutenant General Sir Thomas D’Oyly 7274 76/79/1

46th Division Staff Home, Brigadier General Sir Archibald KCVC CB CMG DSO Private Papers 4390 82/18/2

139th Brigade Drinkwater, Canon F H Private Papers 8514 99/54/1

1/6th South Staffordshire Regt. Adams, Captain G N Private Papers 3497 85/4/1

Moore, J W Private Papers 11191 P262 & P262A

1/7th Sherwood Foresters Stevenson, W B Private Papers 4481 82/38/1

1/4th Leicestershire Regt. Pick, Captain A B Private Papers 4672 96/15/1

1/1st Monmouthshire Regt. Hughes, L P Private Papers 4843 80/40/1

Liddle Collection

1/3rd North Midland Field Ambulance Kendrick, H Private

46th Division Whiteman, Rev H, Signaller

1/5th North Staffordshire Regt. Simpson, T. Lieutenant, GS 1474

1/5th South Staffordshire Regt. Wilkinson, F. 2nd Lieutenant, later Captain, GS 1737

1/6th South Staffordshire Regt.

. Graham, H L. 2nd Lieutenant, later Captain, GS 0650

Taylor, G S (d 1916). 2nd Lieutenant GS 1576

1/4th Lincolnshire Regiment Pepper, B Private

1/5th Lincolnshire Regiment Ward, A Private, W4

1/7th Sherwood Foresters Cragg, A H. Private and Signaller, GS 0381

Good, Rev C W, G9

Round, W H (d 1916). Captain, GS 1387

Tomlinson, H Private

Waldram, H Private, W2

Webster, N E. Private, later 2nd Lieutenant, GS 1701

National Archives

46th Division

Staff WO 95/2663

Adj & QMG WO 95/2666

Div troops WO 95/2673-9

Cdr RA WO 95/2667/8

230th Bde RFA WO 95/2673

231st Bde RFA WO 95/2674

232nd Bde RFA WO 95/2674

233rd Bde RFA WO 95/2674

Div TMB WO 95/2675

Divisional Ammunition Column WO 95/2675

Cdr RE WO 95/2672

465th Field Coy RE WO 95/2676

466th Field Coy RE WO 95/2677

468th Field Coy RE WO 95/2678

Asst Dir Medical Services WO 95/2670

1/1st North Midland Field Ambulance WO 95/2680

1/2nd North Midland Field Ambulance WO 95/2680

1/3rd North Midland Field Ambulance WO 95/2681

137th Brigade: WO 95/2683

1/5th S. Staffordshire WO 95/2686 1/6th S. Staffordshire WO 95/2687

1/5th N. Staffordshire WO 95/2685 1/6th N. Staffordshire WO 95/2685

137th Bde Machine Gun Coy WO 95/2687

138th Brigade: WO 95/2688

1/4th Lincolnshire WO 95/2691 1/5th Lincolnshire WO 95/2691

1/4th Leicestershire WO 95/2690 1/5th Leicestershire WO 95/2690

138th Bde Machine Gun Coy WO 95/2691

138th Bde Trench Mortar Battery WO 95/2691

139th Brigade WO 95/2692

1/5th Sherwood Foresters WO 95/2695 1/6th Sherwood Foresters WO 95/2694

1/7th Sherwood Foresters WO 95/2694 1/8th Sherwood Foresters WO 95/2695

139th Bde Machine Gun Coy WO 95/2695 139th Bde Trench Mortar Battery WO 95/2695

1/1st Monmouthshire WO 95/2679

Other

Diary of Field Marshal Earl Haig of Bemersyde WO 256/6-11

Major General Hon E.J. Montagu Stuart Wortley WO 138/29

Cabinet Papers

Western Front: Battles: Comments, Letters, Personal Accounts

Loos A - M CAB 45/120 Loos N - Z CAB 45/120

Somme CAB 45/132-8

War Histories: Comments and correspondence on various chapters by Lord Haig CAB 45/183

Correspondence with Sir James Edmonds, compiler of the History of the Great War

Original letters, comments, personal accounts, and extracts from War Diaries, Third Army

A - D CAB 45/184 E - I CAB 45/185

J - R CAB 45/186 S - Y CAB 45/187

Miscellaneous CAB 45/194-199

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These references are great! you have helped me so much...i have decided to concentrate on the engineers in this division so all of this information with help me gain lots of background understanding of the army...i will definately be looking into all you have suggested.

Have also recieved my copy of the Priestley book today, and from an initial scan, it looks very interesting :D

Thanks to all

Sarah

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