Mark A Posted 6 January , 2004 Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Hi there. I'm not sure if this is the correct section of the forum to ask this question but here goes. I am tracing my great, great uncle Private William Huckerby 10th Sherwood Foresters died 070716. I have received his battalion war diaries from the PRO and have the names of the five or so officers who also died in the attack. But what of the other ranks, of whom 19 were listed as killed and 42 missing? How would I go about finding their names so I can try and trace them on the CWGC's database? I plan on my pilgrimage to find as many of the men who died alongside William as I can. Any help, pointers or advice would be gratefully received! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 6 January , 2004 Share Posted 6 January , 2004 If you search SDGW for 10 Bn, Sherwood Foresters on 07.07.16, you get 35 casualties. I can supply the names and details off forum if you wish. One died of wounds, one of illness/accident but the rest are shown as KiA. Of course, this may not be a complete list. Interestingly, it only shows two officers killed that day (in addition to the above 35 ORs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark A Posted 6 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Terry, that's just fantastic. I'd love it if if you could send me the names so I can begin tracing them. On the subject of officers, according to the war diary, Major J Hall Brown, Capt. J W Fisher DSO, Capt NH Pratt were listed as killed. 2/Lt. D.F Parr was listed as missing (he also died). ANother officer Lieut. WHV Nelson was wounded and later died. Anyway, thanks so much for such a swift response and I look forward to receiving the details. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 6 January , 2004 Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Mark Names sent by email. Nelson, Pratt and Fisher are shown as DoW on 08.07.16 on SDGW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark A Posted 6 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Terry- thanks very much. Did you send to my clara.co.uk address? I changed it this morning on this site. I guess the discrepancy between battalion war diary and the SDGW isn't that great. Casualties were "written up" three days later behind the lines in this instance. Thanks again, you've been a great help and I look forward to getting the list. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 6 January , 2004 Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Mark I have sent it to whatever address you had registered on the Forum at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark A Posted 6 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Cheers Terry, received it. It may or may not interest you to know that from the list you kindly provided, of the 35 casualties who died in the 7th of July attack, all but four of them have no known grave and are listed on the Thiepval Monument. It was quite sobering to see. The buried four are at Dantzig Alley Cemetary, Major Hall having a special memorial. I was wondering if you could comment on my hypothosis that perhaps some of these Sherwood Foresters were buried at "Aereoplane Cemetery Fricourt" (which was pretty near where they were fighting) and then moved to Dantzig Alley? I don't have information on the former "Aeroplane Cemetery" but I wonder if it wasn't wracked by shellfire over time leading to the loss of some of the names. I don't know, I really am just guessing. Of course, shellfire during the attack would have undoubtably played its part. Their War Diary describes the heavy barrage they suffered struggling forward. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 6 January , 2004 Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Sorry, Mark. Not possible. CWGC records show that only 24 men were moved from Aeroplane Cemetery, Fricourt to Dantzig Alley - all 20 Bn, Manchester Regt who died 01.07.16. There is a list of the cemeteries cleared to Danztig Alley on the CWGC site if you take the 'cemetery' search option. The Special Memorial will say that the casualty was buried in another cemetery and lost (will give name of the cemetery at top) or is buried in Dantzig Alley but location unknown. If the former, maybe some other SFs were buried originally in that same cemetery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 6 January , 2004 Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Having now checked the Special Memorial for Hall-Brown, I find that it is a "known (or believed) to be buried in this cemetery" type. This suggests that he has not been moved. What makes you think any have been moved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark A Posted 6 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 January , 2004 Hi Terry, just er, "armchair speculating" about the number of 10th SF missing and wondered if their bodies were buried then lost. With your help and information my best guess is that Major Hall's body was was taken to Dantzig Alley (maybe in a later battlefield clearance when the Mametz environ was taken later in July 1916) and buried along with the other SF's- three others of the regiment are there. And some of the 518 unknowns may well be SF's from the July 7th attack as well- and one of them may well be my uncle. I can't wait to get out there now and pay my respects to the men who would have known and fought alongside my uncle. Thanks for your kind help! M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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