Whereabouts of 8th East Surreys

[Guest]

I am trying to find out about my uncle (my late father's elder brother) who fought and died on the Somme. He was Pte Edward Ernest Hooper and was a member of No.1 Platoon, A company, 8th East Surrey Regt. I have a letter which states that he was slightly wounded on the afternoon of 22 March 1916. I'd like to find out where in France this happened. Does anyone know the whereabouts of the 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment in March 1916? Also does anyone know when this battalion departed to France? I would be grateful for suggestions of books/records I should be looking at for information on the East Surreys, particularly the 8th and 9th Battalions.

This is my first posting - I hope I'm in the right forum.

Thanks and regards,

Ray Hooper

[Guest Hill 60]

Ray - Welcome to the Pals!

I don't know where the 8th were on the date you mention but they arrived in Boulogne on the 28 July 1915, they were in the 55th Brigade of the 18th Division.

Go to the Mother Site (top of this page) and look there.

[Paul Reed]

The 8th East Surreys were on the Somme in March 1916; they had been there since the previous August. If I remember correctly, the 18th (Eastern) Division of which they were a part, were holding the line at Bois Francais at Fricourt, or they may have moved down to opposite Mametz-Montauban. Some of their dead from this period are in Carnoy British Cemetery, I believe.

There is a two volume regimental history of the East Surreys which has been reprinted by the Naval & Military Press.

[Guest]

Thanks to both of you for your responses. This has helped me a lot. Another piece of the jigsaw has fallen into place! More to come - I hope.

[chris basey]

Ray

The Queens Regimental Museum has now reopened after refurbishment at Clandon ( a National Trust property, near Guildford) who I found very helpful a few years ago when looking at two brothers in B Coy of the 8th East Surreys. At that time they sent me photocopies of relevant Regimental History.

The Museum does have a web site.

[Alan Seymour]

The following information is taken from the ‘History of the Eat Surrey Regiment’ Vol. II 1914-1917 & Vol. III 1917-1919, pub. 1923

Chapter IX page 114:

The 8th Battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel H. G. Powell, D.S.O. left England as follows; The transport and machine-gun section under Captain A. P. B. Irwin, on the 26th July, 1915, travelling via Southampton and Harve. The remainder of the Battalion crossed the Channel a day later, leaving Folkestone on the evening of the 27th and arrived at Boulogne at 2 a.m. on the 28th July, marching thence to Osterhove Rest Camp……

To give you an idea on the location of the 8th Battalion and what was going on around the time your Uncle was slightly wounded the following is taken from:

Chapter XIII page 158,

On March 19th the enemy shelled Knowles Point at irregular intervals throughout the twenty-four hours, and on the morning of the 20th the shelling increased somewhat in violence. At 2.30 p.m. Knowles Wood was subjected to an intense bombardment lasting about a quarter of an hour; after this the hostile artillery fire lifted and formed a barrage to reinforcements. During the night a message was received at Battalion Headquarters that the Germans were attacking Knowles Point and Duck's Post, and Captain Paull was sent forward with two sections to reinforce Duck's Post. A platoon was ordered to be in readiness to reinforce. The remainder of the Battalion in Vaux Wood and village stood to arms. The German attack was made by about 140 men, their object being to blow up the bridges of Vaux causeway. The East Surrey post held their ground successfully, and just before dawn on March 21st, Captain Pearce organized a counter-attack which cleared Knowles Wood, taking one unwounded prisoner and finding two dead Germans. The casualties of the Battalion in this affair were 1 man killed and 11 wounded, all belonging to C Company. For conspicuous gallantry in this action the Military Cross was conferred on 2nd Lieu. A. E. A. Jacobs; Distinguished Conduct Medals ton Sergts. C. Beamish and J. Howard; Military Medal on Pte. J. Kenyon. On March 22nd the enemy's artillery showed considerable activity, and two men were slightly wounded - possibly one of these being your Uncle Edward?

I note from the CWGC register that your Uncle was in the 9th Battalion when he was killed. The day your Uncle was killed in action the 9th Battalion was attacking the ‘Strong Point’ near Guillemont. You will find an account of this action along with a map of the attack in Chapter XX, pages 243-246, in the same volume of the history.

You will also find your Uncle’s name is listed in the Roll of W.O.s, N.C.O.s and Men of the East Surrey Regt. who died in the Great War, in the appendix of Vol. III 1917-1919 of the history.

Alan Seymour

[Guest]

Chris, Alan

Thanks for your posts to this topic.

Chris - I have logged on to the web-site for the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum at Clandon but found that there is no Curator as at October 2002. Do you (or anyone else) know whether a new Curator has been appointed? I may call them sometime soon, but it would be good if I had a name. I have some documents that they may be interested in. In the light of the recent posts it seems that the information they have may be very useful.

Alan - Yes! I think you are right, my uncle Edward (Ted) is one of the two men slightly wounded on March 22nd 1916 as per the regimental history. The typed letter received by my grandmother is transcribed below:

From 2/Lt. P.P. Kelly.

No.I Platoon, A Coy:

8th East Surry Regt:

B.E.F.

To Mrs. E. Hooper,

19, Waterloo St,

Haggerston

I am sorry to have to let you know that your son Pte: Hooper, has been slightly wounded by a piece of shell this afternoon. It is in the fleshy part of the leg & there is no fear of any further complications. He will be sent down to hospital to-night & the rest from the firing line will do him good.

You probably know your boy sufficiently well to be certain that he would turn out a good soldier, in fact one of the best in my platoon.

We want as many more of his sort as we can get. Myself & all the Platoon wish your son a speedy recovery.

With kindest regards,

Percy P. Kelly.

2/Lt.

8th. East Surry Regt:

B.E.F.

22/3/16

Ted was killed when a member of the 9th Batallion on 16 August 1916 at Guillemont. I'm going to post on this soon seperately. My grandparents made enquiries from the Red Cross and a contact in the 9th East Surreys after Ted went missing. The information may be of use to others researching Guillemont.

I perhaps should point out that I was born 31 years after Ted's death .

[chris basey]

Ray

I believe that the Queens Museum were interviewing for a Curator around a couple of months ago, so a phone call may be the way forward.

[Guest]

Many thanks to all the Pals who helped me on this query.

I've made contact with the Museum of the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment at Clandon near Guildford who have kindly sent me copies of the War Diaries of the East Surreys etc. They now have a Curatorial assistant so they must have a Curator .