RFA Ireland1917

[Guest Nick Powell]

My grandfather served in 836Battery 235 Brigade RFA in Ireland for 2 years from 1917 as a driver [of a horse team] and then as a signaller.

We have about 120 letters from him home and the replies from his mother,most of the conversation revolves around the sending backwards and forwards of parcels of washing each week!! and the arrival or not of assorted food stuffs for bulking out army rations including believe it or not eggs!

This is all very interesting but there is little mention of the military activity of his unit except for movement from one camp to another and the occasional spot of horse stealing by the Sein Feiners as my grandfather called them.

What was the units role out there and did they actually see any action during the troubles?

I can imagine this could be a sensitive subject in some ways but any help would be gladly accepted from any source.

All the Best

Nick.

[Desmond7]

Nick - does he say at any point which county he is in .. or even nearest town/barracks? Might be able to provide some pointers for general info?

[museumtom]

Was he Irish/from which county? I have a list of available enlistments documents (from the family history shop) for guys who joined the RGA. If he joined them then his enlistment docs may be available.

Tom.

[curranl]

Hello Nick,

I am no expert in the area, but I would suggest the folllowing;

It is unlikely he saw action as an artillery man over here. It simply wasn't that kind of war. Most of the encounters between the two sides were skirmishes/ambushes/etc rather than the type of warfare seen on the Western Front. I would guess that there was not a single artillery shell fired in the entire conflict.

1917/1918 would have been relatively quiet years compared to what was to come in 1919/20/21. As the conflict wore on he would have been very useful as a signaller as the IRA had a policy of attacking isolated RIC barracks to drive them from the countryside and in effect confine them to large barracks in towns. The IRA were constantly trying to disrupt the communication/road/rail systems.

Regards,

Liam.

[rflory]

There is a problem here. 235th Brigade RFA served in France with the 47th Division in 1917 and 1918 and could not have been serving in Ireland at the same time. Furthermore, the batteries in 235th Brigade were designated as A/235, B/235, C/235 and D/235; there was no 836th Battery in that Brigade.

Is it possible that you have misread the number of the battery? 886th Battery RFA served as an Independent Battery, RFA at Fermoy, near Cork during the Great War.

What was your grandfather's service number? 235th Brigade, RFA was formerly the 1/5th London Brigade, RFA TF and if he enlisted into that unit his service number should be in the following range: 950001 to 955000. Regards. Dick Flory

[Guest Nick Powell]

Thanks to all for your replies!

I have taken the battery no from the case of my grandfathers issue shaving mirror which I have It could be 886 battery or 836 battery but it is definitley 325 brigade. Not 235 brigade that was a typo on my part sorry !!

Dick Flory mentions Fermoy this does crop up in the letters.

He was at Killworth. Moor Park camp.

Service No 182683.

His son my Uncle has just confirmed 886 battery.

He also mentions moving some howitzers from one place to another over several days.

I believe he was not sent to France because of poor eyesight and indeed spent some time while in Ireland off sick because of this.

I hope this info is of use to you good people out there!!

Cheers Nick

[rflory]

Nick wrote:

I have taken the battery no from the case of my grandfathers issue shaving mirror which I have It could be 886 battery or 836 battery but it is definitley 325 brigade. Not 235 brigade that was a typo on my part sorry !! His son my Uncle has just confirmed 886 battery.

Nick: Now that we have the correct battery and brigade definitions and his service number let's see what we can put together.

Some data first:

(1) 325th Brigade, RFA was orginally designated as the 2/1st Lowland Brigade, RFA TF - a gunner who orginally enlisted with this brigade would have had a service number between 650001 to 655000. It served as part of the 65th Division throughout the war. The Division served in Scotland in 1915 and in England in 1916. In February 1917 the Division went to Ireland and served there throughout the rest of the war. The batteries of the 325th Brigade, RFA were designated as A/325, B/325, C/325 and D (H.)/325.

(2) Your grandfather's service number, 182683, designated a regular gunner.

(3) As I indicated in my earlier message: 886th Battery, RFA was an Independent Battery, RFA that served at Fermoy, Ireland. It was never part of 325th Brigade.

Based on this information I would guess that your Grandfather initially enlisted as a gunner in the regular army (hence his regular service number.) You mention his poor eyesight and his sickness. This probably made him physically unfit for active service so he was transferred to 325th Brigade, RFA either when it was serving in England or after it went to Ireland in February 1917. He was probably with the brigade at Killworth (Moor Park camp) although I have not yet been able to confirm that. Later he must have transferred to 886th Battery (which was not part of 325th Brigade, RFA) thus accounting for that units designation on his shaving mirror.

Hope this is of some use. Regards. Dick Flory

[Guest Nick Powell]

Dick

Thanks for your detailed reply! It will help greatly to flesh out the background info around the letters.

Am I correct in thinking that a battery was part of a brigade and that an independent battery was not attatched to any brigade.So what was the role of an independen battery as opposed to that within a brigade?

What do the letters TF stand for after RFA?

Thanks Nick.