Thiepval Men

[Alan Abbott]

Are there any sources of information on the circumstances that occurred to a group of soldiers commemerated on the Theipval Memorial to the Missing.

I'm looking into the Royal Scots Fusiliers listed on the memorial, is there any way of finding out if they were originally buried (& the grave is lost) or missing, etc.

Regards,

Alan.

[AndrewThornton]

Hello Alan

You may find something in the newspaper reports concerning the deaths of these men. From research I have carried out on soldiers from 137th (Staffordshire) Brigade who were killed during their assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt in 1915, a number were buried by the Guards Division after they relieved 46th Division. These details were printed in local newspapers after members of the Guards battalions wrote to their families to inform them that they had been recovered and buried. Sadly, these burials were either recovered from the battlefield as reburied as unknowns or not located, as all of the men I have references to are commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing.

In the case of one officer, Second-Lieutenant Sidney Allday of the 1/5th South Staffords, notification of his burial by the 2nd Coldstream Guards (together with a trench map reference) is contained in his file at the PRO. Again, his body was not identified after the war and he too is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

I hope this gives you some ideas about possible sources.

Andrew

[Alan Abbott]

Hi Andrew

Thanks for your suggestions, I will certainly be following up on those.

Cheers

Alan.