manxman Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 There is a very interesting topic which has recently appeared on the "long, long trail... " re entrenching battalions that were created with the reduction of Battalions which occurred in 1918. The article shows which units supplied men to particular entrenching battalions. I have a particular interest in the previous incarnation of entrenching battalions. My Great Grandfather was sent from the 3/10 Liverpool Scottish, to a base camp (in June 1917), and then to an entrenching Battalion. He was a part of one of three drafts to arrive with the 1/10th Liverpool Scottish in August 1917 (totalling 500 men). The entrenching battalion obviously predated those that are discussed in the article I have made mention of above. Does anyone have any knowledge of the make up of the entrenching battalions that were extant in 1917?, or their numbers or locations? I have raised this subject before, just really bringing it to the top again ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Lee Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 Manxman, In case he does not pick up this thread - I would suggest you contact Charles Messenger about Entrenching Battalions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Tulloch-Marshall Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 Does anyone have any knowledge of the make up of the entrenching battalions that were extant in 1917?, or their numbers or locations? Just to cheer you up - my grandfather and several hundred other men from his battalion served in No 1 Entrenching Battalion for several months during 1916, and after 20 years of searching war diaries etc etc the sum total of the information of any consequence that I've been able to find is ................................ zilch I shall now sit back, relax, and wait to be enlightened ! regards - Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesmessenger Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 Manxman, Tom Alas, ready information on the first wave of Entrenching battalions is sparse on the surface and there is little that I can add to previous threads on this subject. Only a couple of their war diaries exist, but more information might be obtained if someone had the patience to trawl GHQ (including 3rd Echelon), Army and Corps A&Q war diaries. Someday ... If I ever have the time! Charles < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest landwirt20 Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 tell me where and what to look for....i have a friend who is in to reseach and is of to kew for 2 weeks....could he help....or are we looking for even more reseach time..jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Tulloch-Marshall Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 .......... if someone had the patience to trawl GHQ (including 3rd Echelon), Army and Corps A&Q war diaries .... Charles - you mean files like WO95/26, etc etc etc, WO95/43, etc etc etc .......................................... etc ........... been there, got the tee shirt (and got mightily bored !) BTW - Canadian Corps files (I have a note WO95/1055) talks about formation of Canadian EB's in July 1916 ........... and I have another note of WO95/2193 giving grid refs for No 8 EB in April 1916 ........... and in 14th Corps files I found a note about control of No 10 EB passing from 6th Div to the Guards Div ........ and that's all I kept finding - very rare and oblique notes saying there's an EB somewhere and they are doing something (but we wont say where it is and what they are doing). We last discussed this (you kindly sent me an e-mail) back in Oct 2003 and I'm sure I was left with the distinct impression that you were going to drop everything and make EB's your very own personal Holy Grail and devote your entire life to resolving this - but it seems you havent. Did I misunderstand !!!!!!!!!!!!!! .................... I keep trying to convince Ivor Lee that it's his job as well, but he wont have any of it either ! I'm going to resume the relaxation - and wait. regards - Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 Does anyone have any knowledge of the make up of the entrenching battalions that were extant in 1917?, or their numbers or locations? The War Diaries of the Canadian Entrenching Battalions are available on-line at the usual place. They were apparently set up on the same pattern as in other British Divisions, so they may give insights into the sort of mundane existence of these units. The Canadian battalions were set up one per division and only lasted one year and a bit. The original idea seems to have been they were to provide construction labour near the front (much like pioneer battalions in a sense), but they would also act as depot battalions to supply replacement drafts to the infantry. By the fall of 1917, someone figured out they were neither fish nor fowl and they were replaced by other types of units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joanne Posted 5 July , 2004 Share Posted 5 July , 2004 Manxman Glad you posted this thread. I'm in a similar position to you with regards my great uncle. Tom Tulloch Marshal (Hi Tom!) searched for my great uncle's records at the PRO they weren't there but we did find out he was in the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers attached to the no: 10 entrenching Battalion, before he was transferred to the HLI in mid 1917. But it's really frustrating not to know where he was and what he was doing before joining the HLI. Do you have your great grandfather's service records? How did you know he was in a base camp and then part of 3 drafts of men supplied to the Liverpool Scottish? I feel I am a little further forward from your thread and the Canadian information is useful in that it helps me to understand what the entrenching battalions were doing and how they supplied drafts of men. Anyway, good luck. And I'll keep watching this thread for any further sources and help from pals. I'm still ever hopeful......(but then I haven't been searching 20 years!) Joanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broznitsky Posted 6 July , 2004 Share Posted 6 July , 2004 I refer interested parties to one earlier thread (there are others) here. No doubt studying the Canadian experience will shed some light on the general lay of the land for entrenching battalions in larger armies. The blurry war diary page from August 1916 gives some flavour. It is always interesting to see how adjutants from each battalion could write in such different styles and formats. (The Canadians had 4 battalions, one for each division in the field). As far as I know, the Canadians did not bother creating identifying badges for the Entrenching Battalions as they were so transitory. Men wore General Service or badges from the battalions they had enlisted into. Peter in Vancouver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman Posted 6 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 July , 2004 Joanne. Yep, I was lucky enough to find that my forebear's record survived. The casualty form - active service B 103 gave the date he arrived in theatre (3rd June 1917). I was lucky enough to find that his name was entered onto a company roll (10 platoon, Y company, 1/10th Liverpool Scottish) held by the Regimental museum. This record showed that he joined from an(unidentified) entrenching battalion on an unspecified date in August 1917. The Battalion war diary shows that there were three drafts of rank and file to the unit in August 1917. I've been really lucky, but when you get some info. you just get hungry for more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joanne Posted 6 July , 2004 Share Posted 6 July , 2004 I'm REALLY ENVIOUS! It's great you got his records. But know what you mean about hungry for more information........... Good luck! Joanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 16 August , 2004 Share Posted 16 August , 2004 Alas, ready information on the first wave of Entrenching battalions is sparse on the surface and there is little that I can add to previous threads on this subject. Only a couple of their war diaries exist, but more information might be obtained if someone had the patience to trawl GHQ (including 3rd Echelon), Army and Corps A&Q war diaries. Someday ... If I ever have the time! Charles < I don't suppose it helps that we know that the Officer Commanding the 2nd Army Entrenching Battalions in August, 1916 was a Col. Balfour D.S.O. Sometimes some of you people here seem to be able to take a wee slice of data and produce miracles of information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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