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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: 1pompey on Friday 21 October 16 18:44 BST (UK)
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Hi,
I am trying to pin down where exactly my Great uncle died on 07/11/1914.
He was in the 1st Btn Hampshire Regiment, his army number was 6984, he was 27 years old. The accounts I have been able to find are pretty much generic and his battalion seems to have been between battles. So my question is what was he doing on the day he died, where were they? He is remembered at the Ploegsteert Memorial. Does anyone have access to the Hampshire Regiment diaries, or know how to get them?
Thanks
1pompey
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7/11/14 the Batt. were in the trenches at Plugstreet wood when the Germans attacked with 1 Officer & 60 men. They succeeded in getting into the trench on their left & the Batt. "A" Coy. were ordered to clear them out.
They did this but lost 16 killed, 18 wounded & 18 missing.
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I think you can access the war diaries via the National Archives but if you have an Ancestry sub here is a link to the page for 1st Battalion on 7 November 1914 describing the action at Ploegstreet Wood that day:
https://goo.gl/EZljgv
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Thanks Jim and Shaun, much appreciated!
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Had a look at the 1st. E. Lancs. who had just been relieved by the 1st. Hants. on the 7th. to see if I could get a better location. I found a map indicating their location at the time & it was as indicated on the above map.
The only difference is that the German front line was further North in front of Messines.
The above map is a bit later.
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Wow, thanks Jim!