Bit more background info about my Grandad who was in the R.E.
I was just talking to my Dad about it, and he had some interesting info (He was his Dad)

Apparently, he was in the Territorials but volunteered for the regular army in 1939 as soon as war was declared...the first his wife knew about it was he went missing and then turned up in uniform!

He was wounded twice, once in North Africa when the vehicle he was driving was hit by a shell, which left him partially deaf in one ear and again at the River Po in Italy (he had a scar down one side of his neck where a bullet 'creased' him) aparently in the same incident, one of his mates called Bill was shot in the leg and 2 other pals were killed.

Despite this, he told my dad that he loved the army, and likened it to being on holiday abroad with his mates! On one occasion where lots had been drawn for leave at Christmas, (he won) he gave it to someone else

He also (according to my Dad) hated the Germans with a passion and apparently wasn't too keen on the Italians either.

I've found another photo of him, looks like it may have been taken in Germany (Developers marks on back are in German) and he has an armpatch on his uniform which looks like a boar....a quick google and it turns out this is the XXX Corps patch, not sure if he was in this Corps for his whole service though.

Inn an entirely different direction..During the same discussion My Dad also mentioned that his Uncle 'Wol' was a Chindit and won an 'award for bravery' (something about an Oak Leaf, which sounds American to me)..don't think I've got any photos though.

A bit of background information for Blackcat. The trench map below (dated 15/6/16 ie the day after the report) shows the front lines at the Tambour crater just in front of the village of Fricourt on the Somme. The British front line runs vertically up through the station marked centre right, with the German lines very close in front. The craters, including the Tambour, are marked with the small 'flowers' and are still there today, pretty well untouched by farming.

Interestingly, at the extreme left is a trench named Middlesex Avenue, almost certainly named by the regiment.

Awol Thanks for that, I'm led to believe that the shortest distance between the trenchs in the region of the Tambour was between 20 and 30 metres.
It still amazed me when I found that statement as there was an old family story about him being captured, but I had put that down to exaggeration and embellishment over the years and also in a narrow minded way had thought more along a great escape kind of scenario which I felt way too outlandish.
He never spoke much about the war from what I am told, when he did it was usually after he had a drink and it was usually silly stories and jokes etc.
Just goe's to show you truth is stranger than fiction.

I've just scaled it off and it's 37 metres between the lines at the closest point.

As for the officer who died...

http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/cas...asualty=547852

Amazing really that his body survived the next four and a half months of the battle, and was then exhumed and reburied a mile from where he died.

All the dates tally as well, which is nice.

If anyone else wants screenshots of trench maps just ask.

Originally Posted by danvnuk

Apparently, he was in the Territorials but volunteered for the regular army in 1939 as soon as war was declared...the first his wife knew about it was he went missing and then turned up in uniform!

You may be wrong about that, many Territorials had been mobilised since 37/38 and all were mobilised before war was declared (I think Territorials were disbanded in 39 all becoming 'regular')

Think 30 Corps is wrong, from your info he must have been in British 1st Army and Another 1st Army orbat

Originally Posted by polar

Originally Posted by danvnuk

Apparently, he was in the Territorials but volunteered for the regular army in 1939 as soon as war was declared...the first his wife knew about it was he went missing and then turned up in uniform!

You may be wrong about that, many Territorials had been mobilised since 37/38 and all were mobilised before war was declared (I think Territorials were disbanded in 39 all becoming 'regular')

Think 30 Corps is wrong, from your info he must have been in British 1st Army and Another 1st Army orbat

Thanks for that Polar. You could well be right, he died the year I was born. All I have to go on is some old Photographs and what my dad remembers his Father telling him about his wartime service. (Apparently he didn't talk about it much, and my father relates that 'you had to get him in the mood' to get him to talk about it at all)

Anecdotes may have been embellished as they've been passed on down the years, I'm sure the information I've related is pretty close to the truth though.

I've definately got a photo of him wearing what I believe to be a XXX corps armpatch though (I'll post the pic when I get home from work)



But apparently he never left the army until late 1946 and was definately stationed in Germany then, so that may not have been the corps he was in throughout his service. (Not sure how these things work to be honest)

Ok last bits I have knocking around in the House...from 3 different relatives.

1) My Royal Engineer Grandfather with XXX corps patch (I think :D ) visible on arm. Think this was taken in Germany.



2) Document from my Other Grandfathers service in Royal Signals..



3) 2 Images from a Commonwealth War Graves commison book showing a Relative killed in the 1st World War, he was the older brother of my Royal Engineers grandfather (1 of 7 brothers)

Originally Posted by Awol

I've just scaled it off and it's 37 metres between the lines at the closest point.

As for the officer who died...

http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/cas...asualty=547852

Amazing really that his body survived the next four and a half months of the battle, and was then exhumed and reburied a mile from where he died.

All the dates tally as well, which is nice.

If anyone else wants screenshots of trench maps just ask.

Awol I managed to get in touch with his old school in kent, a few months ago and asked if they had anything that related to him roll of honours, photos, etc. I was put in contact with the school historian who manage to dig out a fair bit of info about him, it appears he was quite the academic and two years in a row, 1906 and 1907 was a Warneford Scholar.
He include a short passage from a letter sent by a fellow officer to his mother.

“During the night of June 14-15, he went out on a patrol with a corporal and three or four men. The party was fired on by the Germans, and made their way back to their own trenches. Then it was found that the corporal was missing. Your son went out with a couple of men to look for him, and ran straight into a big party of Germans, who fired upon them from a close range…. It was just the kind of thing he would do to go out himself into no man’s land to look for one of his men. It’s a very great loss to the regiment; he was by universal consent one of the best subalterns in the whole regiment”.
His body was found in the last place where he was seen, so that he was killed instantly.

Unfortunately the only thing that I have yet to find is a photo of him. I am trying to get round to visiting danzig alley, in the not too distant future and pay my respects to the man, it somehow seems the right thing to do.

Davnuk Wrote :
During the same discussion My Dad also mentioned that his Uncle 'Wol' was a Chindit and won an 'award for bravery' (something about an Oak Leaf, which sounds American to me)..don't think I've got any photos though.

Between the 1918 Armistice and end of WWII, an Oak Leaf was awarded for a Mention in Despatches.
For WWII this would be worn on the ribbon of the 1939-45 War Medal.

Blackcat, this guy was researching the same officer a couple of years ago, might be worth dropping him an email.

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read...-04/1019996667

(Unless it's actually you of course... )


Very easy to get hooked on this historical detective work, and it's amazing what you can dig up. It's fascinating stuff.