Private Cyril G Holgate, Liverpool Reg / 26th Btn

[Guest rinky]

Hello,

I am seeking any information anyone may have regarding:

Cyril G Holgate, Liverpool Regiment / 26th Batallion (in 1916)

Unfortunately there is a great deal of confusion with my Grandfathers term of service before 1916 as he originally inlisted before his 18th birthday, when it appears no official records were kept about his service.

We know that he was at the Battle of the Somme and at Yapres / Passendale, but we have little other information to go on.

In 1914 he lived in the Manchester area and attempted to inlist in the Manchester Regiment, but due to his age he was unable to do so. He then inlisted in the Liverpool regiment to get away from his father it seems, as he was an employee in a reserved occupation.

This is a long shot, but you never know unless you try I guess. If anyone has any mention of Cyril G Holgate in any information they have, then we would love to know.

We would also like to know of any other members of the Liverpool Regiment / 26t Batallion and what the Batallion was doing during the war.

Regards,

Roger Holgate

[hmsk212]

Hi Roger

Do you mean Cyril G Holgate as per the title of the thread or Cyril B Holgate as per the wording of the thread itself?

Cyril G Holgate is shown on the on-line mics as Pte 406113 Liverpool Regt later serving as Pte S/460286 Army Service Corps.

For details on what the 26th Btn Liverpool did during the war go to the section on Grandad's War on the main mother site and you should find lots of useful information. (They were not in existence until 1917)

Good Luck

Steve

[Guest rinky]

My mistake. Cyril 'G' Holgate is the correct name. Gernerd or Gurnard, not sure of the correct spelling.

Yeaa, not really much information about the 26th Btn on Grandads War. Is there any way to verify the Batallion to which he was attached from his Service Number?

Someone suggested that it may be 2/6 rather than 26th.

[Ken Lees]

Rinky,

The number 406113 is not a 2/6th Bn number and if it was, they didn't go overseas until 1917 so wouldn't have been in the 1916 Battle of the Somme.

The 26th Bn didn't fight overseas either. It was part of the 73rd Division, a short history of which is:

In late 1916, an Army command was given to form three new Divisions for home service. 73rd Division was formed in November 1916. Initially formed with a mixture of Provisional (training) Battalions and similar units of the other arms, with a few units that had been detached from active service overseas.

The Division was part of Southern Army, Home Forces; it provided garrisons for various places in the United Kingdom, but was principally a place for training and recuperation of men recovering from wounds or sickness, or a more permanent place for men of lower medical categories.

On 21 December 1917, orders were given to break up the Division, and the final units were transferred elsewhere on 8 April 1918.

So, if your grandfather served overseas, it wasn't in the 26th Bn.

Your best hope is that 'Promenade', a member of this forum, picks up on this thread. He may have more information on your grandfather. Alternatively, contact the Museum of Liverpool Life and see if they can tell you anything further.

Regards,

Ken

[Christina Holstein]

Strange coincidence - my Dad, Frank Howard, born in Liverpool in 1910, was at Liverpool University in the late 20s with a Cyril Holgate. They were both members of the University swimming team. Could it be a cousin?

Christina

[Guest rinky]

Rinky,

The number 406113 is not a 2/6th Bn number and if it was, they didn't go overseas until 1917 so wouldn't have been in the 1916 Battle of the Somme.

The 26th Bn didn't fight overseas either. It was part of the 73rd Division, a short history of which is:

In late 1916, an Army command was given to form three new Divisions for home service. 73rd Division was formed in November 1916. Initially formed with a mixture of Provisional (training) Battalions and similar units of the other arms, with a few units that had been detached from active service overseas.

The Division was part of Southern Army, Home Forces; it provided garrisons for various places in the United Kingdom, but was principally a place for training and recuperation of men recovering from wounds or sickness, or a more permanent place for men of lower medical categories.

On 21 December 1917, orders were given to break up the Division, and the final units were transferred elsewhere on 8 April 1918.

So, if your grandfather served overseas, it wasn't in the 26th Bn.

Your best hope is that 'Promenade', a member of this forum, picks up on this thread. He may have more information on your grandfather. Alternatively, contact the Museum of Liverpool Life and see if they can tell you anything further.

Regards,

Ken

That does actually make a little sense, because he was wounded at some point prior to 1917, so would have been recovering from wounds. I guess that doesn't explain how he made it to Ypres / Passendale tho. He was only 18 in 1916, so maybe he used a different name as we know he lied about his age so he could fight. That would obviously make it impossible to find any information on him.

There was some type of Mutiny attempt that we believe he may have been part of, still trying to gather more information on that from my Father. Apparently him and the other soldiers involved were then sent to Ypres as punishment, where the majority died.

His Misconduct Records put him in England in August / September 1917. If he was part of some type of Mutiny I would think that would also be on his misconduct records.

This gets more and more confusing as it goes along! lol I'll see if I can get hold of 'Promenade' to see if they have any info.

Thank you all for all of the information so far. Christina, I don't believe that was my Grandfather. After the war he spent some time in the Army in Egypt in the Lancashire Regiment, in the early 1920's