Robert Nichol Bigley - 46th Battery RFA

[David26]

Russ,

Just to add that I paged through the 1914 Star medal rolls for 39 Bde to determine that he was not on them and he appears to be in a roll for reinforcements.  If the Casualty list is accurate - and as you know, there are very many errors in them - then he must have joined 46 Battery in France sometime after that battery had arrived in France.  

Interestingly, I note on his MIC that a Mrs H J Bigley applied for his medals after his death.  He does not appear on the CWGC site, nor in Soldiers' Effects, so I assume he died after the war.  He appears on multiple family trees on Ancestry which show him being married to Hannah Jane Joicey, though these all seem to suggest that Hannah predeceased Robert.

David.

[Aaron Cowen]

Hi David.

He died in 1934. He was my Great Grandfather. That is the part which has puzzled me for a long time. My Nana who is 96 believes he was shelled and thrown away from the guns and went missing, believed killed for a number of days.

I have looked at the War diaries and have a newspaper article on 24th Oct 1914 which says it was the first letter home since going to war. He states he was safe and well. Asked for pipes and tobacco and says just the other day by chance he met his brother while bathing.

After reading the diaries I believe thos meeting took place in Bourg after the Battle of the Aisne. In which case perhaps he was bathing in the Aisne itself.

Edited 25 February , 2023 by Aaron Cowen
To many lines used up

[RussT]

36 minutes ago, David26 said:

1914 Star medal rolls for 39 Bde to determine that he was not on them and he appears to be in a roll for reinforcements

Absolutely - you can see this immediately from his MIC that he is on a Supplementary Roll

36 minutes ago, David26 said:

then he must have joined 46 Battery in France sometime after that battery had arrived in France. 

As per my post, this is the only conclusion you can draw (on the assumption he joined them upon his entry to France) because he arrived about a month after the Brigade arrived.

The OP states the man survived and returned in 1921. The main 1914 Rolls were compiled (I think) in late 1917 but many men were missed off them for all sorts of reasons, hence the Supplementary Rolls. His Roll was compiled in 1920. Just because a man was not on the "Blankshire" 1914 roll does not necessarily mean he wasn't with the Blankshires from early or indeed originally with them. He might have been missed from when they first compiled the roll and so appears on a Supplementary Roll that captures those records. The War was still raging and men had been transferred elsewhere etc (like Bigley), so I'm not surprised many were missed by the first compilation.

But why his wife was claiming for them, I don't know.

Regards

Russ

 

[Aaron Cowen]

Thank you everyone. This has been great information. I looked up his new service number 200846 looking for adjacent ones. Not many have service records, but the ones that do mostly seem to be Anti Aircraft Sections which fits with him being later in No. 2 Anti Aircraft Section. I am unable to locate war diaries for this however? I'm fairly sure Robert was in 46th from start of war until at least being admitted for ICT. 

He was indeed in the forces previously.

In 1905 he was in the Durham Royal Garrison Militia Army no. 4457 for 6 years.