441 replies to this topic

[khaki]

Hello Terry,
somewhere I have a photograph/PC of  this man with the family information that he was killed (gassed) written on the reverse side.
William Morley COBELDICK
Cpl 113186
Died 07/10/15
aged 30
Royal Engineers 4th Bn, Special Brigade.

I don't know if his death was accidental due to exposure in a handling incident or from German gas attack.
He is on the CWGC site, hope this is of interest to you.

regards
khaki

[Stoppage Drill]

If the information "killed" is family information, it may really be a "died" which might fit in with the famous blow back of gas at Loos two weeks earlier ?

As he is buried at Boulogne, far more likely to be DOW than KIA maybe ?

[khaki]

Stoppage Drill, on 04 May 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

If the information "killed" is family information, it may really be a "died" which might fit in with the famous blow back of gas at Loos two weeks earlier ?

As he is buried at Boulogne, far more likely to be DOW than KIA maybe ?

You may be right, from memory, it is written to a third party, and goes something like this,
" this is your cousin Morley Cobeldick, he was already dead (gassed) by the time Charlie arrived at the front".     I think that is the general thrust of the message.

khaki

[Terry_Reeves]

Khaki


Thanks for that.

He died of pneumonia at No 11 General Hospital.  It is possible that this was a complication arising  from gas poisoning however.
The CWGC entry is incorrect insofar  as the 4th Battalion is concerned.  This was not formed until 1916 when  the companies were expanded into a Brigade sized formation. However, he was serving with 189 Coy when he died, which formed the nucleus of 4th Battalion when it was formed the following year and would explain the entry.

TR

[davidbohl]

Terry, many thanks for that.
I can't find his M.C award in the London Gazette, only his promotions on 19/7/1917 and 26/10/1921.
Many Thanks
Dave Bohl

[jimbow]

Albert Edward CORNWELL Sapper 159868 Unit: E Special Coy. Royal Engineers. Died of wounds (gas) 2nd Oct 1918. Age 34. Buried Duisans British Cemetery Etrun. British.

Would really appreciate any information you could give me about E Special Coy. In particular what kind of work they would have been undertaking and where my great uncle might have been located when he died. I do not know when he joined the army. Any information about him would be most welcome.

For your project I include all the information I have about Great Uncle Albert.

Albert was born in St Helens, Isle of Wight 14th Oct 1883. He was the youngest son in a family of 9.  His Father was a railway platelayer, moving to wherever new railways were being built. By 1891 the family were living in Portsmouth.  From 1900 to 1903 Albert served in the Royal Navy and in 1901 he is shown as a Boy 1st class in Portsmouth. Just how he got out of the Navy is not clear. In the 1911 Census he was shown as a visitor staying with his parents still living in Portsmouth. At this time his occuption is given as a Wharfinger with the Federated Malay States. This was not a total surprise because his eldest brother had gone to Malaya at the turn of the century to install railways; this brother became a rubber planter there and was one of the first European settlers.

Albert enlisted in the army at Southark but after that he is a bit of a mystery. I always understood that Albert was my Father's brother so it was quite a surprise to learn that he was in fact my Father's Uncle. Another surprise was that on the CWG register his parents are shown as of St Helens, Isle of Wight when in fact Albert and his parents had left the Island by the time he was about 5 years old. Unlike other members of his family, Albert did not appear on any memorials although he is now  included on the Isle of Wight memorials database. He shares his grave with a Canadian and it includes no personal messages. Perhaps his family never received the papers relating to his death and commemoration - in any case his mother would not have read them because she was illiterate.

[Terry_Reeves]

Jimbow

Albert Cornwell would have enlisted in the 1st quarter of 1916, probably in March or April. E Company was part of 2nd Battalion Special Brigade, the Brigade forming up in early 1916. The company was a cylinder company which dispensed chlorine and phosgene gases and several other mixtures. In 1917 they were also trained in the use of the Livens projector of which you will find much on the net. The day to day doings of the company can be found at the National Archives in WO95/141 and WO95/ 242.  You will also find Donald Richter's Chemical Soldiers useful for a well written account of the Brigade at war.

Many thanks for the additional information about Albert. If I can help further please let me know.

TR

[jimbow]

Terry_Reeves, on 09 July 2012 - 06:48 PM, said:

Jimbow

Albert Cornwell would have enlisted in the 1st quarter of 1916, probably in March or April. E Company was part of 2nd Battalion Special Brigade, the Brigade forming up in early 1916. The company was a cylinder company which dispensed chlorine and phosgene gases and several other mixtures. In 1917 they were also trained in the use of the Livens projector of which you will find much on the net. The day to day doings of the company can be found at the National Archives in WO95/141 and WO95/ 242.  You will also find Donald Richter's Chemical Soldiers useful for a well written account of the Brigade at war.

Many thanks for the additional information about Albert. If I can help further please let me know.

TR

Many thanks Terry. Thrilled to get your reply.  Have ordered the book.

[Hett65]

Terry
I have just been given information about a man who served with the RE Special Brigade and wonder if you have any information on him, I cannot find him in the army records.
Pioneer 195949 Edwin Taylor Chemical Brigade attached 2nd Army Defensive Gas School.   Born Sunderland, enlisted Consett, he was a schoolteacher at Consett Secondary School.  Died 6.4.1917 F & F.  Just wondering whether he may have died as a result of an accident at the gas school, I realise that you may not have any information but thought I would give it a try.
John

[Terry_Reeves]

John

I can't help with the specifics I'm afraid.  Illness or injury appear to have been most likely, but I would suggest that it was not gas that was the cause. Your best bet is to try the Consett newspapers. As a school teacher he would have been well known and would have merited a mention I would have thought.

TR

[Hett65]

Terry
Thanks for the reply, I was going to check the newspapers later, I have just received this information today.  I will forward any history I find on him for your records.
John

[SprRE379]

Hi Terry,
I have just come across some information about an individual in my family tree who may have served in the Special Brigade.

Nicholas Maughan Geddess
No 120522
transferred to RE from RAMC in Sep 1915
Rank Corporal
I have a copy of his transfer note from RAMC to RE

I am very interested if you can confirm if you have any information on him.

Kind Regards

Nigel

[Terry_Reeves]

Nigel

He did serve in the SB. Interestingly, he has two sets of service records, one for his time in the RAMC and one for his RE service. He was born in 1886 and was a school teacher by profession.  Pre-war had served for two years in the 3rd Volunteer Bn, Northumberland Fusiliers. He attested in November 1914  serving with 2/1st Northumberland Field Ambulance at home with the number 1715 before  transferring to the Special Brigade. He served with B Special Company RE and was with the BEF from 22.9.15 to 24.1.19. He returned  home on 25.2.19 and was demobilised on 31.3.20.

Interestingly enough, in 1918, he confessed to enlisting under an assumed name, using the name Geddess.  Nonetheless, in mid-1918 he formerly declared his real name as Maughan and signed a declaration to that effect. The military authorities  accepted this without any further comment or action and amended his record.  His address on attestation was 207 Simonside Ave, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In January 1923 he was living at 17 Skidmore Ave. Wolverhampton.

B Company has a war diary at the the National Archives reference WO95/241.

Hope this helps.

Terry

[HelenaB]

Hi Terry

I hope you might be able to help me with my research into my Grandfather during WWI.

I have some bare facts about his wartime service and some second-hand information I remember from when I was a child but was hoping that there might be a way to find out a little more about actual events.

Here is what I have so far.

His details:

Name: George Hector Buckham
DoB: approx 1895 (I think in St Giles London but possibly in Kilburn NW London)
Son of George Hector and Justina

Military Info:

Enlisted 17/08/1915 into Royal Engineers
Number: 113109

From what I can make out from the various military cards/acronyms etc it appears at some point after that he became part of "J Special Company" and was promoted to Corporal (which I think they did automatically on joining that unit).  

One of his service cards also now starts mentioning the RAMC as well as the RE.  No idea if the RAMC reference was genuine or part of some sort of subterfuge to hide the unit's true job (i.e. gas).

He appeared in the London Gazette on the 21st October 1918 - awarded the Military Medal.  I don't know the background to that award though and would love to know more.  I remember my father telling me that he'd gone into no-mans-land to retrieve a colleague and that it was during the Somme (no idea which battle of the Somme it was though - could be the second given the date) but my father is no longer around to ask more unfortunately.

I also have a copy of a medal card for the "usual" service medals awarded at the end of the war for service in France which don't appear to mention the MM but have an unusual icon of a cross with dots between the arms (not sure what that means).

I have photos and the original copy of the London Gazette.

Any further information would be wonderful.

Many thanks in advance.

[SFayers]

Hi Helena,

I guess it's entirely conincidental, but I have a Military Medal and 1915 Star Trio to a Special Brigade chap who's MM was also gazetted on the 21st October 1918; he was with 1st Special Company. Tantalisingly there is no mention of any MMs awarded in the unit war diary after April 1918 - the only references in the April entry being to 4 MMs awarded for late March during the German spring offensive. Even for 1918 I would think an October gazette entry would be pretty late in the day for an action that took place in March. (Consequently I'm still none the wiser!)

Hopefully your grandfather's Military Medal card will give the unit he was serving with at the time of the award. If this isn't currently available on Ancestry you should be able to find it on the National Archive website.

All the best

Steve


Edit: I notice George's service papers are available on Ancestry. According to this his MM was awarded on 22nd June 1916 (the inference from his other entries being that this was awarded whilst he was serving with J Special Company.)

[HelenaB]

SFayers, on 13 November 2012 - 09:05 AM, said:

Edit: I notice George's service papers are available on Ancestry. According to this his MM was awarded on 22nd June 1916 (the inference from his other entries being that this was awarded whilst he was serving with J Special Company.)

Hi Steve.

Many thanks for responding.  I didn't see that particular card on Ancestry... maybe it was one of the paid-for services (I'm a little tight-fisted!), more probably I just missed it.  Well the date is before the first Somme.... so perhaps that bit of handed-down lore is incorrect.

I'll go look again and see if I can dig up more.

Thanks again!

[Terry_Reeves]

Helena

I have a copy of his service record although this will not help you finding out how he won his MM.  J Company war diary at the National Archives in WO95/401will tell you what was on prior to his winning the medal.   His record shows that his first action was at Loos on 25.9.15., during which he was gassed himself. His local paper in London might say something about the award of the MM if you can track it down. If you need a breakdown of his service, let  me know.

TR

[SFayers]

Hi Helena,

Sorry, that was a typo on my part - it should be 22nd June 1918:

 GBuckham.jpg   52.34K   0 downloads

All the best

Steve

[HelenaB]

Terry_Reeves, on 13 November 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

Helena

I have a copy of his service record although this will not help you finding out how he won his MM.  J Company war diary at the National Archives in WO95/401will tell you what was on prior to his winning the medal.   His record shows that his first action was at Loos on 25.9.15., during which he was gassed himself. His local paper in London might say something about the award of the MM if you can track it down. If you need a breakdown of his service, let  me know.

TR

Thanks Terry - that's very useful (gassed himself - yep sounds like my family!).

Steve - thanks again for that.

All information useful!

[SprRE379]

Terry_Reeves, on 12 November 2012 - 06:27 PM, said:

Nigel

He did serve in the SB. Interestingly, he has two sets of service records, one for his time in the RAMC and one for his RE service. He was born in 1886 and was a school teacher by profession.  Pre-war had served for two years in the 3rd Volunteer Bn, Northumberland Fusiliers. He attested in November 1914  serving with 2/1st Northumberland Field Ambulance at home with the number 1715 before  transferring to the Special Brigade. He served with B Special Company RE and was with the BEF from 22.9.15 to 24.1.19. He returned  home on 25.2.19 and was demobilised on 31.3.20.

Interestingly enough, in 1918, he confessed to enlisting under an assumed name, using the name Geddess.  Nonetheless, in mid-1918 he formerly declared his real name as Maughan and signed a declaration to that effect. The military authorities  accepted this without any further comment or action and amended his record.  His address on attestation was 207 Simonside Ave, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In January 1923 he was living at 17 Skidmore Ave. Wolverhampton.

B Company has a war diary at the the National Archives reference WO95/241.

Hope this helps.

Terry

Hi Terry, thanks for the information.  He is my maternal Great grandathers step son.  He adopted the family name Geddes without doing the formal paperwork, and lived as N. M. Geddes, obviously didnt require his birth certificate when enlisting.  He has an appeal to me as I served for 24 years in the RE's and spent at least 12 years as a NBC instructor, so have a similar affinity for Gas etc.

Once again thanks for the information.  I have copies of his medal card and name change declaration.

Kind Regards

Nigel

[mrfish]

Hi, Terry

I'm researching soldier of the 4th Special Company, RE.  He was 193496 Pioneer Wilfred Farrar Maynard.  Luckily his papers survive.  He enlisted under the Derby Scheme in December 1915 and was called up in July 1916.  As a trained chemist pre-war he was posted to “A” Reserve Company Special Brigade and crossed to France on the 8th September 1916.

He was posted to 4th Special Company on the 16th October 1916 and was wounded in action (gunshot wound to head and hand) on the 13th December 1916 and died three days at 56th (1st/1st South Midland) Casualty Clearing Stations at “Edgehill”, Dernancourt, France, aged 29.

I don’t know if you can tell me, was the 4th Special Company the same as No.4 Company in 5th (Mortar) Battalion?  Can you tell me anything about what they did?

Do you know of their whereabouts in December 1916?  Is there a war diary or do you know what they were doing from October to December 1916?

Many thanks in advance

><(((((*>

[Terry_Reeves]

Mr Fish

Yes, 4 Coy did belong to 5th Battalion. They operated 4 inch Stokes Mortars which fired chemical, smoke and thermite ammunition. The documents you require are at TNA in:

WO 142/300 - No 4 Special Company - Operation Orders , 1916

WO 95/122   - War Diary of 5th Battalion, Special Brigade.

A Reserve Company was at the Special Brigade Reserve Depot, Plymouth.

TR

[mrfish]

Thanks, Terry, that is fantastic.

The Plymouth thing makes sense too, becuase in his papers it says he went to, what looks like, "Wythnoe, Devon" - although I can't find a place of this name!

Thanks again

><((((*>

[Matt Richards]

 Robb.jpg   7.68K   0 downloads

Here's another one, Lance Corporal William Robb. He was a 25-year-old chemist/student from Kelvinside, Glasgow, when he enlisted in the Royal Engineers. He served with 12th Section, C Company, Special Brigade and was promoted from pioneer to acting lance corporal and finally paid lance corporal in July 1918. He was married in November 1917 and settled in Muswell Hill in London rather than his native Scotland.

An interesting turn is that on Sept. 20, 1918, he was sent back to England to be commissioned as an officer in the RAF. He was assigned to cadet courses with No. 8 Cadet Wings at Shorncliffe. He passed his medical exam and was found suitable as a pilot officer or pilot observer. However, he left his course unfinished, as the form says, and transferred back to the Special Brigade (A Reserve Coy., at the Special Brigade Depot at Devonport) on Jan. 5, 1919 and remained there until he was demobilizated on Feb. 28, 1919. I wonder why he left his RAF course ... perhaps he was ready to return to civilian life?

[rugbyremembers]

Capt Arthur Joseph Brearley was seconded in July 1916 from 7/Devons to N Company Special Bde RE (kia 20/06/1917)
Can anyone tell me more about N Coy?

This is for a new project - man cannot live by rugby alone
Thanks as ever
Stephen