Hello from brisbane

[gggwilson]

Hello from Brisbane! My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Europe and England which was a sort of pilgrimage, following in the footsteps of his father, a Royal engineer assigned to the Canadian army n D Day, and hid great uncles, Alfred and Augustin Wilson of the 22 and 23 manchesters. We drive through the somme and got as close as we thought possible to where the trenches were just outside mametz, visited Thiepval where Augustin is commemorated. I had identified that Alfred was likely to have been involved and killed at the battle of houthultz forest, but unfortunately time was against us and we never made it as far as Tyne cot where he is commemorated. Seems Alfred lied about his age and was in fact 16 when he joined up.

I have come across some amazing work done on the 23rd manchesters giving an account of the battle https://23rdmanchester.wordpress.com/about/ and am now hoping to flesh out my understanding of what Augustin went through with the 22nd on 1st July that resulted in his death.

I have received the battalion photographs, however resolution is poor, I have ordered the CD. Hoping to try to identify the boys. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I think the general plan is to use the information on this forum to put names to the faces that members have already identified, and then try to see if there's a family likeness in the ones with no names yet unless someone can provide further information.

Cheers!

Any

[mack]

hello gill.

the two boys were the two youngest lads of William,richmond+frances Wilson,they lived at 30 Windsor st,gorton Manchester.

Cpl 22557 Alfred Wilson
enlisted 1st December 1914
apprentice electrician
he was promoted to corporal on 6th November 1915
Alfred was wounded by shrapnel in the head,arm and foot on 20th july 1916 and admitted to the 27th field ambulance,he was the sent to the 20th general hospital,then put aboard the hospital ship Dieppe on 27th july and sent to England,after he recovered,he was posted to the 3rd manchesters at Grimsby on 8th march 1917,on 28th march 1917 he was posted to the 2nd manchesters before returning to the 23rd battalion on 30th april 1917.
he was just over 5 foot 2 inches tall yet his older brother francis was just over 6 foot.it was francis who received his medals in 1921 and 1922

21195 augustin Wilson
augustin was in A.coy.2nd platoon under the command of captain Charlie may who was also killed the same day.

sgt 9957 francis,richmond Wilson[known as frank]
18th manchesters.
A.company. 3rd platoon[platoon sergeant]
shot in the left leg on 9-7-16 at trones wood,which fractured his leg,evacuated to England on the hospital ship st.david and admitted to the southern general hospital,bristol
he later served with the 13th manchesters in D.company and promoted to company sgt major on 9-6-18,he finished the war in the 9th manchesters

mack

[themonsstar]

Hi Amy

Welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy the tour around the site

Roy

[gggwilson]

We are blown away with this information! I knew Francis was their brother, but was not able to locate any information. Unbelievable. You guys are amazing. Where did you obtain this information?

Is there any way of confirming that Alfred was killed in the battle of Houthulst and Augustin at Mametz, we think at Danzig Alley trench?

By the way, the name is Gill. There was a sentence that I didn't fully delete... Haha ?

[pete th]

Gill, further to mack's post I suggest you buy a copy of "To Fight Alongside Friends", the diary of Charlie May (Captain in charge of his company). I've put a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/To-Fight-Alongside-Friends-Charlie/dp/0007558554

This will give you the closest idea of what Augustine went through.

Hope this helps
Pete

[gggwilson]

Thanks very much. I spotted the book last night and will be ordering.

[Wendi]

Hi Gill and a Warm Welcome to our Forum 

Just to answer one question, as Mack is kinda modest    His information comes from various sources, over many years of research. As you can see he is a very valuable asset to the site, and passionate about the Regiment.

Wendi