Royal Horse & Royal Field Artillery

[Guest lbob]

Hi

I've recently discovered the discharge papers for my great-grandfather for WW1. But I'm having trouble working out which brigade he was in and where they fought.

This is what I've got....

Name: Henry Edward Porter

Regimental Number: 17878

Rank: Driver

60th ® Battery RFA

I've attached a copy of the relevant piece. I've tried looking up 60th Battery but can't find anything. I would really appreciate some help

Thanks

Lbob

[mhifle]

This is from the August 1914 Army List which indicates the XLIV Brigade

Regards Mark

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

The "R" suggests Reserve Battery.

[rflory]

My guess is that the "R" is actually an "H" - that was often used as the abbreviation of "Howitzer." Dick Flory

[battiscombe]

from the discharge papers I have seen this would be a Reserve Battery .. which often held men while being processed out of the army - -- his papers are on Ancestry which indicate he went to France with probably D Bty 112 Bde, which became C Bty 113 Bde later .. with 25th Division I believe ..

I attach this page which you may not have seen it sounds like

best wishes --

david

This is what I've got....

Name: Henry Edward Porter

Regimental Number: 17878

Rank: Driver

60th ® Battery RFA

I've attached a copy of the relevant piece. I've tried looking up 60th Battery but can't find anything. I would really appreciate some help

Thanks

Lbob

[rflory]

From what you have presented this is the best sequence of Dvr. Porter's postings that I can give:

He went to France with D Battery, 112 Brigade, RFA with the 25th Division, landing at Havre on 27 Sep 15

On 28 May 16 D/112 was redesignated as C Battery, 113th Brigade, RFA still with the 25th Division and on the same day he was posted to A Battery, 113th Brigade, RFA

On 14 Feb 17 113th Brigade, RFA left the 25th Division and became the 113th Army Brigade, RFA in 2nd Army

He was hospitalized with scabies on 14 Sep 18

On 25 Oct 18 he was wounded and because of his wound he was invalided to England on 31 Oct 18

60th Reserve Battery was part of 5B Reserve Brigade, RFA in Edinburgh. Usually after recovering from a wound in the UK other ranks in the RA were posted to a reserve battery until they were physically fit and he appears to have been posted to 60th Reserve Battery at that time.

Hope this is of some assistance. Regards. Dick Flory

[Guest lbob]

Thank you all for your help. It makes more sense now. I did wonder what the D112 became C113 meant.

Is there a way of working out where the brigades were deployed in France?

Thanks again

Lbob

[battiscombe]

The 25th Division bit can be found in the Divisional History which starts in July 1916 .. possibly findable in some libraries - a busy and convoluted history --

--- the short story on some webpages like this ..

http://www.1914-1918.net/25div.htm

this certainly mentions various characters in the Bdes in the lists of medals/awards

I think I probably got this from there -- some names of the unit officers -- decorated NCOs and men are also mentioned in the Divisional History

112th Brigade - c/o Lt--Col B A B Butler

Lt-Col A B Forman DSO from 16/10/1916

Lt-Col E V Sarson DSO (missing) from 7/8/1917

A Bty. Sep 1914 - 11 Nov 1918.

B Bty. Sep 1914 - 11 Nov 1918.

C Bty. Sep 1914 - 11 Nov 1918.

D Bty. Sep 1914 - 31 May 1916. Went to CXIII (113) Bde where it became C Bty.

D (Howitzer) Bty. 31 May 1916 - 11 Nov 1918.

OR casualties 10/10/1915- 31/12/1917

48 killed

222 wounded

113th Brigade c/o Lt-Col F F Lambarde DSO (Reserve Maj RGA in 1914)

Officers wounded 10/10/1915- 31/12/1917

Maj F B Knyvett

2Lt H T Jennings

2Lt G W Stobart

2Lt S W Harris

2Lt D R MacNeil

Lt W Miller

OR casualties 10/10/1915- 31/12/1917 11 killed 36 wounded

Army Brigades are more difficult to track except through the war diaries .. 113 Bde only gets mentioned once in the standard History of the RR Artillery by Farndale

david