Ox & Bucks Light Infantry

[Donald]

Hi

I've been trying to research my great grandfather, Horace george Brinkman. I've known for some time that he served in Mesoptomia as I have a pile of pictures that he toof in 1915 of Baghdad, Kut, the Tigris etc. Thanks to the medal rolls I now know that he was a private in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (reg no: 27003).

Unfortunately, that is all the information I've been able to find. I know the regiment was invloved in the disastrous siege of Kut-el-Amara in which only a tiny fraction of the British force survived but I don't know if he was one of those beseiged or those trying to relieve the seige. He did survive the war.

Is anyone able to provide any further information that would help me to find out where exactly he was involved?

Many thanks

Donald

[Greenwoodman]

Hi Donald and welcome to the forum.

I've had a look at my references, and it would seem that if he was OBLI and in Mesopotamia, he would have served in the 1st Battalion. Here is their (very) brief war history:-

04/08/14 Ahmednagar, India. with 17th Brigade 6th (Poona) Division

27/11/14 arrived in Mesopotamia

29/04/16 Captured at Kut-al-Amara.

Battalion officially ceased to exist, but another battalion was destined to become 1st OBLI - its history:-

Jan 1916. Provisional Battalion formed from reinforcements at Wadi to 28th Brigade 7th Indian Division. (Provisional Battalion Ox & Bucks formed from drafts intended for the 1st OBLI in 6th Indian Div)

June 1916 to Lines of Communication

06/07/16 Provisional battalion became 1st OBLI.

19/10/17 to 50th Brigade 15th Indian Division.

31/10/18 with 50th Brigade 15th Indian Division, Mesopotamia; Hit northwest of Baghdad.

Another source says 1st OBLI went to 50th Bde in 20/08/7, in 17th Indian Div. Attached to 3rd (Lahore) Div from late Aug to mid-September 1917 and to 15th Div the same month.

So Great grandfather might have been a prisoner of the Turks, or more likely, was one of those who were drafted to the Provisional Battalion which became 1st OBLI.

When I say "more likely", his five-figure number may indicate that he joined the Army after the war started, so starting out in Britain, would have been drafted to Mespot. Completed training there in late 1915 (would fit in with date of photos) and then to the Provisional Battalion. 1st OBLI was a Regular Army battalion based in India, went straight to Mespot - most regulars had four-figure numbers or less.

Or may have arrived in Mespot early enough to have been drafted to the 1st before their capture at Kut, but became ill, and was sent back to base to recover. Then joined the Prov Bn.

What may well pin it down are the photos. If they are dated, what does it say on the back of the Kut photos? You would be able to pin down whether GGF was in the 1st OBLI or Prov OBLI, or both!

[Donald]

Hi Richard

Thanks for your reply. Very kind of you and also very helpful. That has added a lot to my knowledge of the OX & Bucks in mesopotamia and should help me to piece together some more of Horace's history. I'll check the photographs again but looking at what you've said it does look like he was a recruit in 1915 and probably joined the provisional battalion. I'm pretty certain he wasn't a regular soldier though.

Many thanks

Donald

[Terry Carter]

Hope you do not mind me butting in on this thread. But my Grandfather also served with the 1st Ox & Bucks in Mesopotamia. He enlisted in 1916, thus he would have been a replacement for those lost at Kut.

His name was Isaac Carter. If there is the remotest chance his name appears in any documentation would it be possible to let me know. I can always remember him telling me about flat bottom boats on the River Tigris. Full of men on stretchers who had dysentry and the decks awash with diarrhoea and flies. He probably told me more, but I was a teenager then, and that is the only thing that I recall. I do have his service papers from the PRO, but there is not much info with them.

Thanks

Terry