1bn Grenadier Guards Ypres 1914

[Dave_Woods]

I originally posted this in December 2002 and am giving it one more go before I arrange another trip to Ypres.

I am currently researching a book regarding the devastation of the 1st battalion of the Grenadier Guards at Kruiseik during Ypres 1914. 2 of my Great Uncles, L/Cpl Henry George Richardson and Company Quarter Master Serjeant George Leswell Richardson, were both killed within days of each other during this action and like so many others with no known grave they are commemorated on the Menin Gate.

I would be interested to know if any one has any diaries, photos, letters or other ephemera relating to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards for the period 1910 - 1914. I would also be interested in discovering how to track down local Belgium maps of the period. I will be going to the "In Flanders Fields Museum" to speak to them about maps etc. Any help given would be much appreciated and would merit, at the very least, an acknowledgement if I manage to publish. I am particularly keen to discover the exact location of the Kruiseik brickworks that were situated south of the Menin Road ( Meninstraat ) and west of the village of Kruiseik. If I can confirm this location then I am very close to completing my research.

..and finally a question for the real experts amongst us! Can anyone tell me how many reservists were sent out with the 1st Battalion on 4th October 1914. Although several books state that the 7th Division was made up of the last , and possibly best, collection of regular long service troops left in GB I have discovered a high proportion of recalled reservists who would have had less than 2 months training before being thrown into the fray. This makes the battalions performance at Ypres even more significant.

If any one is also researching this topic or just wants some information I would be more than glad to help if I can.

Dave Woods

[Aurel Sercu]

Dave,

Sorry, I can't help you. (I'm interested in the Grenadier Guards, but only in Boezinge (north of Ypres), and 31st July 1917 (3rd Ypres).

Just this... I suppose you have read Frederick Ponsonby, 'The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918', London, 1920, 3 vol. ? That must be the book you are referring too ?

The 'In Flanders Fields Museum' ? Go to the Documentation Centre, nearby. They have Ponsonby, and trench maps. (But I don't think they have war diaries.) Ask for Dominiek Dendooven. However, only open to visitors on Wednesdays. But I'm sure that they will welcome you on any other (week)day if you contact them before. If you contact me off Forum, I can give their e-mail address.

Aurel