Diary & Hospital Records

[anniedwyer84]

Hi!

After some information on my great uncle; Michael Ryan 26015 1st Batt Machine Gun Corps. Died 8th July 1916 from wounds.

After looking for half the day, after posting on FB about a war diary, I've finally found the Battalion my great-uncle was in. I'm hoping someone can point me in a fairly good direction as to where to hopefully find a diary for the Regiment.

He died in Northumberland War Hospital in Gosforth..known today as St. Nicholas's Hospital. I'm just wondering where I can find a record of his time there, if there was any of course. I'm ringing the hospital tomorrow also, to see what they say.

Cheers,
Annie

[Jomot]

I'll admit to still finding my way around the various battalions & divisions so you might want to wait for a second opinion to be sure, but I believe that the 1st Battalion was part of the 1st Division, in which case the war diary can be downloaded from TNA here: https://tinyurl.com/m2489jv

If you have Ancestry you can also view it as part of your subscription by selecting UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920 from the Card Catalog

A word of warning though, if you are expecting him to be mentioned by name in the diary then you will almost certainly be disappointed.

[youngtug]

If you have not already come accross it, there is the MGC/OCA [machine gun corps old comrades association] who have a facebook account. It is worth joining to keep the memory of the MGC men alive. They are also helpfull when possible.

[youngtug]

War time memories project; http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/mgcompany.php?pid=10527
and;
          http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/1st-division/

[anniedwyer84]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I actually managed to find mention of him being wounded in a war diary from May 22nd 1916 so happy with that  .

E-mailed the Machine Gun Corps website also, and they've managed to find him having a will..and that's located in Scotlad for some reason lol.

 

[Jomot]

Out of interest, which war diary?  I found my ancestor recorded by name in a hospital diary, but very few low-ranking soldiers are named in an 'ordinary' war diary.

For info, Michael Ryan was reported as wounded in the daily lists for newspapers dated 21 July 1916, and on 8 Aug 1916 reported as died of wounds.

[anniedwyer84]

Jomot..could you send me a link to those newspapers please or an image? Where would one find a hospital diary? He's mentioned by "Pte Ryan injuried"..full name not given

I definitely know he died July 8th 1916, as have his death cert..and it states he was injured 40 days before. I found it on Ancestry:

Regiment or Unit    Machine Gun Corps
Sub Unit    Brigade Machine Gun Company
Division    35th Division
Diary Entry Start Date    May 1916 - Farbus
Diary Entry End Date    27 May 1916
Diary Dates    1916 Apr - 1918 Jan
Diary Entry Location    Farbus
Piece Description    Piece 2490/6: Brigade Machine Gun Company (1916 Apr - 1918 Jan)
Piece Number    2490

[Jomot]

No wonder I couldn't find any mention if it was the 35th Division.  I didn't think the 1st MGC were part of the 35th though:

http://www.1914-1918.net/mg_units.htm

Hospital diaries are also available from TNA and (I think) Ancestry but you have to know which one.  These links tells you about the evacuation chain for the wounded, followed by a list of the Casualty Clearing Stations and Hospitals:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01k4g/
http://www.1914-1918.net/ccs.htm
http://www.1914-1918.net/hospitals.htm

I know from his army record that my relative died in CCS17 so it was easy to find, but I'm afraid I don't have enough knowledge to help identify which ones Michael Ryan might have passed through.  There are some real experts on here who may be able to help though.

The daily lists I mentioned aren't something I can post a link to as they're from a  subscription site, but all they show are column after column of the names, regiment & Service No's of the dead & wounded, no other information.  Typically the inclusion in the daily list would occur roughly 3-5 weeks after the event, so the publication dates I gave tie in with the dates you have.