Ken Lees Posted 27 February , 2004 Share Posted 27 February , 2004 I am trying to piece together some information for a colleague who is making his first trip to France and wants to visit the area where his relative fell. His relative is 53771 L/Cpl Richard Birchall, 1st Bn., Royal Welsh Fusiliers and he was killed in action on 14th May 1917. I note from the main site that 1st RWF as part of the 7th Division, were in action at Bullecourt at that time. Can anyone give me any further information that I can put together for the actions leading up to that day? I have Jonathon Walker's book 'The Blood Tub', so I will try to summarise the relevant parts for my colleague. I have downloaded Birchall's MIC and it gives his previous RWF number as 4335. Can I gain any further information from the two numbers? SDITGW states that Birchall formerly served as 15/36690, King's Liverpool Regt., but there is no mention of this on his MIC. Is this common? I have not seen a 15/*** number for the King's before - can anyone shed any light on it? Thanks in advance, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 27 February , 2004 Share Posted 27 February , 2004 Ken, 15 Liverpools were a Reserve unit. He must have left this before moving to France. MICs do not mention units before the medal entitlement began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 27 February , 2004 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2004 Thanks Chris, that's one question answered. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 I have downloaded Birchall's MIC and it gives his previous RWF number as 4335. Can I gain any further information from the two numbers? Puzzled I am. The 4335 number is: unlikely to be a pre-war regular, is very likely a special reservist, and very likely a TF man. But I cannot, offhand, see why or how his number should change to 53771 which is typically a mid-1916 recruit. Any ideas out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 Attached is a map of Bullecourt itself, though the battle covered a wider area. The map is from April 1917. The Battleground Europe series on Bullecourt (ISBN 0850526523) might be of interest for the visit. The 'Blood Tub' gives a lot of detail though the focus is on the Australian effort as I recall, as intended by the author. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 Map Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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