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WW1 Diary 90th Infantry Brigade, 18th (Service) Batt “C” Company, 11th Platoon

Started by ssball12, July 29, 2022, 03:23:02 PM

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ssball12

I have a WW1 diary written by my great uncle Joseph Henry Thompson you used to live at 304 Hyde Road, Denton, I believe it was his mother's Fish and Chip Shop. He joined in 1915 and was wounded on 1st July 1916 when the 18th Manchesters were tasked with taking Montabaun in France. There are 11 pages covering about 8 months. I have transposed and attached what I have done so far below in text only as the file restrictions are preventing me from adding any background pictures etc. Ultimately I would be happy to donate the diary to a relevant museum.

After being wounded in the leg he recuperated in Birmingham and then was posted to Egypt late 1916. I have not transposed this section yet, some 22 pages. He died age 26 in 1920 of heart failure when he was on a full war pension. My grandmother always said that he (her big brother) had died early as a result of being wounded. Her brother was likely her father figure as her father had died when she was 5.

Tim Bell

Hello Ball,
These reports are great from individual soldiers. Thanks for posting the transcription.
Thameside Local Studies hold the Regimental Archive if you want to place the notes somewhere safe. https://www.tameside.gov.uk/LibrariesandLeisure/LocalStudiesandArchives/Local-Studies-and-Archives-Centre
Would it be possible to copy and paste the full notes as 1 or 2 entries in the thread.  There's lots of information that references in the War Diary but the personal anecdotes fill some useful gaps for other people - including me.  I visited Maricourt & Montauban again on Sunday and always appreciate new sources. 
Have you checked out John's service record? https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1219&h=1979581&tid=&pid=&queryId=2845d1631d5cf7ce865d243f1f456c68&usePUB=true&_phsrc=mlf4&_phstart=successSource&_gl=1*1p17000*_ga*OTg4MTE0NzIzLjE1NzEzMTUwMDg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY1OTEwNjAxNy4xMi4xLjE2NTkxMDY1NDAuMA..
Here's the War Diary (Get it for free when you set up the user) https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353658
I'll look in more detail at the notes later.
Welcome to the Forum
Tim
Following one Platoon and everything around them....
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Tim Bell

Hi Ball,
Joseph is one of our numerous non-commemoration cases, here's Mack's notes. https://themanchesters.org/forum/index.php?topic=10326.msg68235#msg68235
He died within the CWGC qualifaction period but we don't have evidence he died from a condition related to his service. Even if we knew cause of death, from the Death Certificate (DC), the service and pension records don't tell us why he received a pension.  It's possible (remotely) that the DC may refer to wounds and this would be adequate to justify commemoration.  It may also refer to a tropical disease eg Malaria, which could help us start a case.  DC's cost £7.  I think it's probably unlikely it would show a related cause of death.  Your call... https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate
Following one Platoon and everything around them....
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charlie

Hello ssBall12 and welcome to the forum.
Thanks for posting the diary, as Tim has already said its great to read contempary documents. Its of course best to leave the wording original but you might like to make a note that the 14th Manchesters was a training battalion that never left the UK and the German 63rd Regiment wasn't Bavarian but Upper Silesian.

Charlie

Tim Bell

I'd guess the reference to 14th probably refers to 17th Bn (4 & 7 may look similar). Same Brigade and also exchanged posts.  The War Diary would confirm.
Following one Platoon and everything around them....
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