Royal Garrison Artillery

[JoB41]

I wonder if anyone can help me identify where my grandfather served on the Western Front.

His army discharge papers say he served in "2 Depot RGA" and I know he was in 87 company in Hong Kong before going to France. According to his papers he was in the BEF in France from 11.9.15 to 23.9.16 (when he was injured).

I don't know where 87 Company served in France - or what battery he belonged to - is that the same as a company (please forgive my ignorance!).

Any info would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[ororkep]

Welcome to the forum.

87 Company RGA, along with 83 and 88 companies, remained in Hong Kong throughout the war to garrison the colony. 2 Depot was as it says, just a holding/handling depot.Your ancestor would have been transfered to England, posted to join another Battery then onto France. Some further information would help the search considerably. If you have his discharge papers then I presume you have his service number, that with his full name and rank will enable you to find his Medal Index Card online which will show his full medal allocation, the reference to the medal roll they pertain too, and perhaps even a Silver Wound Badge if as you say he was injured and had applied for one. It will hopefully confirm the date of entry you mention; all and any of which might help to pinpoint a particular Battery or at least narrow the search. So if you can post the extra information on this forum thread and no doubt someone will take it from there.

Regards

[JoB41]

Welcome to the forum.

87 Company RGA, along with 83 and 88 companies, remained in Hong Kong throughout the war to garrison the colony. 2 Depot was as it says, just a holding/handling depot.Your ancestor would have been transfered to England, posted to join another Battery then onto France. Some further information would help the search considerably. If you have his discharge papers then I presume you have his service number, that with his full name and rank will enable you to find his Medal Index Card online which will show his full medal allocation, the reference to the medal roll they pertain too, and perhaps even a Silver Wound Badge if as you say he was injured and had applied for one. It will hopefully confirm the date of entry you mention; all and any of which might help to pinpoint a particular Battery or at least narrow the search. So if you can post the extra information on this forum thread and no doubt someone will take it from there.

Regards

Thanks for the reply - I have found his medal card and attach a copy in the hope that someone can interpret it further. His name was John Joseph O'Donoghue and his army number was 13176. In 1914 he was a Gunner but became a Bombadier. He did indeed enter France with the BEF on 11th September 1915 and received the Victory, British and 1915 Star medals. I don't know if the numbers 103 B and 1 B next to the medal information on the card is connected to where he served. His army form B 2079 records that he left the colours on 16.11.16 which corresponds to part of the details given on the medal card under the remarks section, but I can't work out what 392 XVI signifies.

I think he must have been wounded in France in September 1916 and he was consequently discharged at Dover on 27th October 1916 "in consequence of his having been found no longer physically fit for war service" - he lost a lung, so fairly major!

Further help would be much appreciated - thank you

[KONDOA]

No 2 Depot was at Preston, Lancs. Often recuperating soldiers were posted there until transferred to the Reserve Batteries.

Roop

[ororkep]

Ok, you are aware his records are not on Ancestry so that leaves you with 4 options that I can see.

1) Look up the B&V roll WO95/260 page 205, this has a 40% chance of naming his battery.

2) Look up the SWB roll WO329/2984 page 90. This has a 30% chance of naming the battery, but will definitely confirm his discharge date, reason for discharge, enlistment date and possibly his age so useful to have anyhow.

3) Based on that Date of entry 11/9/1915, you could do worse than consider 34 siege battery, whose left section of 9.2 Howitzers is the only one I can find after a very quick search to go to the Western Front on that particular date. Unfortunately only November 1917 survives of their diary so you are left with….

4) A HAG diary that they were part of which was 21 Brigade from May 1916 until Dec 1916. I picked this one as working back from 23/9/16 this has the best chance of noting his injury and luckily a full diary survives at ref WO95/469. It may just say something like ‘One OR injured’ or mention nothing at all you can never tell until you read it and assuming of course 34 SB is correct.

Hopefully one of the two first options will confirm the Battery without having to clutch at straws and research 34 SB. This is assuming he was not just a straight forward replacement. There is no point in looking at the Star roll as it will give you no extra information other than confirmation of the DOE which you already have. The percentages are based on my own findings in these rolls.

Good luck with your research, Paul

PS I take it you do not have any photos of him containing any guns that can be positively identified.

PPS There are two files entitled ‘Hong Kong Royal Garrison Artillery’ at the NA but unusually do not have dates to verify if worth perusing, but they have to be before amalgamation into just Royal Artillery so worth an enquiry email.

[kevinrowlinson]

If his number was 13176 then it would indicate to me an enlistment late 1902, depending on his age and any further knowledge of previous service. He could have enlisted 1895 and been renumbered. His number is definitely 13176 on his discharge papers? I say this because there is a John Joseph Donoghue, 21731, whose records are on Ancestry and strangely was dismissed at about the same time, although he served at Sierra Leone before going to France. You are lucky to have his discharge papers to comfirm this.

Kevin

[JoB41]

If his number was 13176 then it would indicate to me an enlistment late 1902, depending on his age and any further knowledge of previous service. He could have enlisted 1895 and been renumbered. His number is definitely 13176 on his discharge papers? I say this because there is a John Joseph Donoghue, 21731, whose records are on Ancestry and strangely was dismissed at about the same time, although he served at Sierra Leone before going to France. You are lucky to have his discharge papers to comfirm this.

Kevin

That's really helpful, thank you. In fact he enlisted on 5th January 1903 in Cork - so well worked out! I think he was in Ceylon at some point but he was in Hong Kong from at least 1906 till 1914, I don't think he went to Sierra Leone. I have various education certificates too and they all confirm 13176 as his number. Armed with this data I will keep searching - thank you.

I had no idea about war diaries being so dismissive of other ranks - that's appalling.