55th West Lancashire Division

[liverpool annie]

That is interesting ... thanks for the extra information Mark !

Annie 

[Pete51]

I am looking for any information on Harold Hamer, who according to his service record was in the West Lancs divisional signal core? His regiment no was 8046. He was from Bolton and was a librarian before and after the war. All I've  heard about him is that he may have trained horses during the war.

Regards,
Pete.

[LynneOz]

Hi

I am casting my net far and wide.

I am looking for my grandfather: Charles Garlick, who was in the Machine Gun Corps in the 2/9th Manchesters. They were part of the 198th Brigade, 66th Division He was sent to Salonika and served with the 22nd Division as part of the 66th MGC and from then on  I can only find reference to the East Lancashires.

At the beginning of 1918 he was sent from Salonika to the Western Front. I believe he was wounded on 15 April while fighting in the Battle of Lys. He fought at a place where the men were 30 yards apart and there were Grenadier?? Guards. The only place I can find that looks vaguely like that is the area around Hazebrouk, which presumably means he was fighting with the 55th Division. The 2/9th Manchesters were absorbed by the 1/9th Manchesters becoming the 9th Battalion Manchesters in early 1918 and the 66th Division also ceased to exist prior to April 1918. I cannot find them after that.

Can anyone please tell me which brigades/divisions I need to be looking at to find out where he was and what he was doing (apart from being knee-deep in mud and trying to shoot a Vickers machine gun). Trying to read the Official War Record and having no idea about which bits I should be concentrating on is very frustrating.

Cheers

LynneOz
Canberra OZ

[GrahamShields]

Hi,

Both my great Uncles served in this Division, James and Edward Billinge. Edward died of wounds in 25/9/1916 and is buried at Heilly Station Cemetery (Mericourt l'Abbe). He fought in the Battle of the Somme and I am trying to discover which battles the 55th were involved in leading up to his death. As he died of wounds it's impossible (I think) to discover the date he was wounded (thus the action/battle).
Can anyone offer me any helpful information?

Thanks in advance.
Graham

[millymcb]

Hello Graham and welcome to Rootschat

To get you started there is an overview of the the Division here
http://www.1914-1918.net/55div.htm

and here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55th_(West_Lancashire)_Infantry_Division

From the 1914-18 website: 55th at The Somme were engaged in the following battles. You would need to read up about them individually to see what if anything the South Lancashire Regiment did.

The Battle of Guillemont (4-6 September)
The Battle of Ginchy (9 September)

There was a short period of rest at Ribemont from 12 to 17 September
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette (17-22 September)
The Battle of Morval (25-28 September)


For infor for other rootschatters - info from CWGC
Rifleman EDWARD BILLINGE
Service No:4234
Date of Death:25/09/1916
Regiment/Service:South Lancashire Regiment
1st/5th Bn.

Info on the South Lancashire Regiment
http://www.1914-1918.net/southlancs.htm

1/5th Battalion
August 1914 : in Warrington. Part of South Lancashire Brigade in West Lancashire Division.
13 February 1915 : left the Brigade and landed at Le Havre. Attached on arrival to 12th Brigade in 4th Division.
4 November 1915 : Brigade was attached to 36th (Ulster) Division.
6 January 1916 : transferred to 166th Brigade in 55th (West Lancashire) Division.

Info on 166th (South Lancashire Brigade)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/166th_(South_Lancashire)_Brigade


Billinge, Edward 4234 Private
1/5th South Lancashire Regiment
Entered Theatre of war France 28/10/1915

Was James also in the South Lancs Regt ?? Is this him?
Medal Card info from National Archives
Billinge, James 3260   Private
1/5th South Lancashire Regiment   

And did he also die in the war? 
This medal card has date of entry to theatre of war France as 29/3/1915 and states
Killed in Action 9/5/16

CWGC Info
BILLINGE, JAMES
Rifleman 3260 
Date of Death:
09/05/1915
South Lancashire Regiment
1st/5th Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 37.
Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL


Milly

[millymcb]

Excellent

Looks like there is a War Diary you can download from the National Archives for the grande sum of £3.36
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details/Default?iaid=C4556080&isFullDescription=False

55 DIVISION, 166 INFANTRY BRIGADE:
1/5 Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment 1916 Jan. - 1917 Dec. /
1/5 Battalion South Lancashire Regiment 1916 Jan. - 1919 July /
1/10 Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment 1916 Jan. - 1919

It is very good value for money and well worth doing. The diary may not mention him by name (unlikely for ordinary soldiers) but it should give you a good picture of what was happening.

Milly

[Stephen Nulty]

I have attached a transcription of the 1/5th SLR diary for September 1916 into which I have inserted the CWGC deaths for the battalion that month, including Pte Billinge.

As you say, it's almost impossible to guess when he was wounded, but at least this will tell you what they were up to around the time he died.

Let me know if you have any queries

[GrahamShields]

Hi Milly and Stephen,

Thank you both so much for all this brilliant information - you're stars 
I'll have a close look at all these links before I visit their memorial/grave next June.

Yes Milly, James (Edward's brother) was also a Private in the South Lancs and was killed at Ypres on May 9th, 1915 (not 1916! mistake on card I think). Again, I do not have exact details of the action James died in.

Thanks again to you both.

Graham

[GrahamShields]

Hi again Milly and Stephen,

Do you think there are battalion diaries covering their action in May, 1915 when James was killed?

Thanks.
Graham