Hello! Robert Henry Leathley 17/26345 18th Manchester - PoW 14/5/16-8/12/18

[el_T]

Hello, I'm very happy to have found this forum (thank you bing.com)   

Born in Manchester but raised, from the age of 5 in Canada I've been researching my family history since I was about 18 (that's mumblemumblealotof years now) and long before there were any electronic records online. I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers when everything was done on microfilm or by post - I didn't have the luxury of local archives either.

I've been researching my Grandad's WWI service off and on for a decade or so and was able to get some good info through a paid researcher and recently added more via the online Ancestry service.

He enlisted into the 17th Manchesters and at some point (maybe in France) was transferred to the 18th.  He went missing on 13/5/16 and listed as PoW (in Giessen PoW camp, Germany) on 8/7/16.  He was repatriated on 8/12/18 and then re-enlisted in 1920 (I think it was) with the 6th.

Like a lot of family researchers, I'm sure, I'm always looking for the most minute details of my family members' lives in order to "get closer to them" and to know what life for them was like.  I have the dates for these events in his life but, I don't have the details of where he was, what the conditions were like on those days and the circumstances of his capture - according to my Dad he said very little about this time in his life.  I don't know anything about war diaries but I've been told that there might be some information in those but, I don't even know where to start looking.  If anyone could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

I've transcribed a copy of an Army Form B.103 from his records and would appreciate anyone's help interpreting some of the acronyms (O.C. ; IBD ; E.T. Bn ; ?c <-- there is a letter or number where the question mark is. Is this possibly a company number/letter? ; WO <-- War Office?)

Army Form B. 103
Casualty Form - Active Service

Regiment or Corps   18th Batallion Manchester Regt.


Report      From whom           Record of promotions, reductions...       Place                Date           Remarks taken from Army Form...
Date              Received   

Embarked Folkestone s.s. Golden Eagle 20/2/16 L.R.4706

21/2/16      O.C.
                        30 IBD               Joined                       In the field        21.2.16           List.
4/3/16               2nd E.T.Bn         Joined ex 30 IBD                    Ditto           3/3/16           List.
25/3/16             ?c 18 MR           Joined ex 2nd E Bn                 --do--           17/3/16           B273
14/5/16             --do--                   Missing                       --do--           13/5/16           B213
8/7/16              WO                    Prisoner of War                         Gressen [Giessen] Germany   X19838
                                                                                         U-103/8236
8/12/18                                     Repatriated PofW                           Arrived Dover                      X911?6

Also, can anyone tell me what the string of numbers "X19838U-103/8236" and "X911?6" represent?  Are these file or form numbers?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers   

[mack]

hiya.
welcome to the forum

OC means officer commanding
2nd ET is the 2nd entrenching battalion
30th IBD is the 30th infantry brigade depot,i think it was based at etaples

mack

[el_T]

Thanks for the welcome Mack and thanks for clearing up some of those abbreviations.  Very helpful   

[Wendi]

Hi el_T and Welcome 

I'll move this to the WW1 section for you.  I wondered if you had stumbled upon our 18th Bn section yet http://www.themanchesters.org/18th%20batt.htm

Wendi