Guest KeithW Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong forum; apologies if this is a simple question that has already been answered ad nauseam in the past. My relative died on 5th June 1917 and is buried at Monchy-le-Preux. He was with 2nd/4th Btn of Royal Berkshire regiment. Thanks to the 1914-1918.net site and to postings by people on this forum in answer to other people's questions, I know know that this battalion was part of the 61st Division(2nd South Midland) and the 184th Brigade. I also now understand what these mean! What I would dearly love to do is look at the war diaries to understand exactly what they were doing on that day. I have looked on PROCAT but the catalogue entries are arranged, for the Western Front by Corps and by Army. I have no idea how to find the relevant reference. I'm sure that with a bit more knowledge and understanding than I have it would be easy to find the right ones. Please could someone help me? Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Johnson Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 Keith, You need WO95/3065. This covers the period from Sept 1915 to Apr 1919. The War Diaries can be a bit hit & miss (dependant on who was writing them). They can sometimes give extensive details about what the Battalion were doing, or there may be a a couple of lines that tell you nothing at all. I found it's best to also look at the Divisional War Diary plus any Regimental History or Veteran's stories you can find. This way you can gain a better picture of what was happening and how your relative was lost. Good Luck. PAUL JOHNSON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 If you go to this link.Keith, 2nd/4th's war diary is online! Royal Berks War Diairies If you go to PROCAT and the PRO site, and search using Royal Berkshire, 1914-1918 and WO95, you should come up with "184 Infantry Brigade: 2/4 Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment" and a reference WO95/3065. If you then go to the "Browse" screen, you can browse the reference numbers around WO95/3065, which will give you the reference numbers of the 61st Division's war diaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KeithW Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 Thanks Paul! I've been doing a bit of Googling and have come across an incredible site. It's called the Wardrobe. http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk , it's the Royal Berkshire web site. They've transcribed the WW1 war diaries and I've found that actual day. It mentions 1OR killed, but the very next day they moved out and were relieved by the 2/4th Oxfords. I will have to go backwards and try to trace what was happening to them over the few days before he died. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KeithW Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 If you go to this link.Keith, 2nd/4th's war diary is online! Royal Berks War Diairies If you go to PROCAT and the PRO site, and search using Royal Berkshire, 1914-1918 and WO95, you should come up with "184 Infantry Brigade: 2/4 Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment" and a reference WO95/3065. If you then go to the "Browse" screen, you can browse the reference numbers around WO95/3065, which will give you the reference numbers of the 61st Division's war diaries. Many thanks. I had just discovered the diaries. I will also look at them next time I'm at Kew. I visited there for the first time this Saturday and it felt so magical to actually hold the Attestation Papers signed by another relative who served in the Boer War, so I will lok at the PRO diaries. I have used you posted reference to help me to understand how to look up references myself. I understand now, using the text field of the search as a filter! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Johnson Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 They say "you learn something new every day", and they are right. Thank you for the information about the website. I will find it most useful. Regards PAUL J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purley Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 The man killed in the 2nd/4th on the 5th June was 200902 Pte William Herbert Crook of Princes Risborough he was born in Maidenhead. If the relative who responded earlier has his medals or other papers can you tell me what his original four digit number was? it should be in the range 3188-3209 - thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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