7 London Brigade RFA

[homeguard]

I am researching a soldier who was in the ccxxxv11 brigade during the Great War. The information I have is the service numbers 1226 and 960568 and his name is Charles Edwin Edenborough born 1894. Any help would be great.

[mirl]

His pension record is on ancestry.

Seems he was discharged early 1917 after having his appendix out in France late 1916 and was provided with a job at Great Western Railway.

[jim1]

This is what the LLT says about them:
CCXXXVII
Territorial Force 1st Line
47th Division from pre-war to 28 November 1916, when broken up. Redesignated from VII London Brigade May 1916.
Batteries from Fulham and Shepherds Bush.
You can see he was TF as he has 2 numbers, 1 pre-war & the 6 digit number given after the TF were re-numbered in 1917.
What they did:
1915
The Battle of Aubers Ridge (9 May)
The Battle of Festubert (15-25 May)
The Battle of Loos (25 september – 1 October)
The subsequent Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt (13-19 October)
1916
The German attack at Vimy Ridge (21 May)
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette* in which the Division captured High Wood
The Battle of the Transloy Ridges* in which the Division captured Eaucourt l’Abbaye
The attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt*
* the battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916
According to his record he was a Driver in the 47th. Div. ammunition column.
So concerned with delivering shells to his Brigades field guns.
Going overseas March 1915 would have gained him the 15 Star.

[homeguard]

Thanks for the help, would you know if it unusual to be provided with a job after leaving the army like he was and would he have been involved in the majority of the actions listed. Many thanks.

[jim1]

His involvement would have been taking shells to the big guns of his Brigade up to the time he went sick.
It's doubtful the Army got him a job but he would have been top of the list for pretty much any job he went for.
It's possible that after his rehabilitation & discharge the job would already have been lined up.

[homeguard]

Thank you that does make sense, sorry for being a bit slow !  Would you know what being in th TF before the war would mean, was it a case of training and drill locally ? and would it soldiering in general or more aimed at heavy gun practice ? no pun intended ! many thanks .

[jim1]

Part-timers trained locally every other weekend.
Annually they would go away for around 6 weeks training.
Aspects of training would have included all the usual drill & musketry but mainly aimed at the use & maintenance of their guns + signalling.

[homeguard]

Hi, once again thanks for the reply, it gives me a clearer picture of what his military involvement  was like before the war started.  Is it possible to conclude that the type of training in the TF before the war would automatically lead to the type of unit he would join at the start of the war ? Or was it chance that he served in the brigade he eventually did.

[jim1]

Usually that was the case but it can get complicated. Many TF were Embodied at the outbreak of war or soon after. This means being made a full timer. Some went straight into Reserve & could have been posted to whoever needed them at a later stage, others continued with their Brigades & went overseas with them. As your man went out in March 1915 indicates he was one such man (Edit:looking at his record shows his Embodiment at 5/8/14).
Their war diary states they arrived Le Havre on the 18th. & billeted at Arques. April they went to Cambrin via Auchel where they positioned their guns. This is where they were at the time of the Battles of Aubers Ridge & Festubert.