War Diary look ups please?

[Thomasjohn]

Morning all,
I am hoping that some kind soles out there have easy access to the following war diaries please:
2nd Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment - April - May 1915 - researching Private 10034 Joseph Henry Robins - KIA 08/05/15
1st Essex Regiment - Sept - Oct 1916 - researching Private 43663 Albert Tipler (formerly 22849 Northants) - KIA 12/10/16
2nd Coldstream Guards - May - June 1916 - researching Private 15047 Alfred Reader KIA 20/06/16
Service records for the above are missing so any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks all,

Ant

[newburychap]

2nd Coldstream Guards - May - June 1916 - researching Private 15047 Alfred Reader KIA 20/06/16

"20 Jun 1916 Battn relieved about 10pm by the 3rd Battn Coldstream Guards and returned to reserve dugouts. Casualties OR Killed 4. Wounded 4 (2 remained at duty) 2nd Lt Butler ? joined from England."

Assuming Pte Reader was one of the 4 killed it was most likely from shelling, perhaps sniping.

The diary does not give trench details but the reserve dugouts were on 'Canal Bank' near Ypres. They went into the trenches on 16 Jun relieving the 14th DLI.  May/June was what passed for a quiet period, a couple of stints in the trenches, some working parties but mostly in billets - they even had 'battalion sports' for a couple of days while in billets at Quelmes (26 May -6 Jun).

CWGC has 5 Coldstreamers dying that day - all buried at Essex Farm (an Advanced Dressing Station famous as the place where John McCrae wrote "In Flanders' Fields").

I'm not sure if anything should be read into this burial place - most of the dead would have reached this point alive before dying of their wounds.  However, it would have been pretty close to the front and hence a convenient cemetery to bury comrades falling as the battalion withdrew from the trenches.

[newburychap]

1st Essex Regiment - Sept - Oct 1916 - researching Private 43663 Albert Tipler (formerly 22849 Northants) - KIA 12/10/16

"12 Oct 1916  Suvla Bay  Relieved by 1st London Regt leaving one company in support to same. The Battalion established in reserve dugouts. Work carried on by night on communication trenches."

There is no mention of casualties at all in Oct until Maj A G M Wood, DSO was killed by a sniper on 30 Oct.

They had huge casualties at Gallipoli on 6 Aug (over 400) and received 370 reinforcements in Sept. Perhaps Pte Tippler was one of the reinforcements, which could explain his transfer from the Northants Regt?

[newburychap]

2nd Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment - April - May 1915 - researching Private 10034 Joseph Henry Robins - KIA 08/05/15

Sorry don't have their diary - they were part of 83rd Brigade which was on the Western Front when he died (they moved on in Oct 15 to Salonika).

This diary is probably in WO 95/2274 or WO 95/2275 - which have been out of reach while they were being digitised. According to the TNA programme they should have emerged from that process last week.  Presumably they will appear online for download in the not too distant future.

[Thomasjohn]

Newburychap,
thanks for your replies - much appreciated.
Do you know if TNA are planning to digitize all the war diaries?
I have struggled to find those already digitized - they seem to have been moved - it's not the easiest system to us I find - any pointers?

Once again thanks,


Ant

[newburychap]

Do you know if TNA are planning to digitize all the war diaries?

I have heard that they are not (yet) planning to digitize a large collection of diaries from the home front, but it seems they will soon have all the fighting unit diaries digitized.

I have struggled to find those already digitized - they seem to have been moved - it's not the easiest system to us I find - any pointers?

Go to the new TNA catalogue - Discovery.

Select - Advanced Search

Put the unit of interest in the search box and scroll down to 'Search within' - enter WO95 in the first reference box.  WO95 is the series reference for the WW1 army war diaries. WW2, RN etc will be different (check the TNA research guides for relevant series numbers).

If you want to limit the search to diaries that are available to download you can select that option in the 'Online or all collections' section. Or you can search all collections to start with and on the results page click the tabs above the search box to refine down to 'Online collections'. 

I prefer to search all collections to be sure I have found the diary I am interested in - click on that and the download option is very obvious if the file is available.  If not it goes on the To Do list for the next trip to Kew.

[Thomasjohn]

Newburychap,
great help - thanks very much.
Looks like a trip to Kew however.

Thanks,

Ant

[pppdrive]

Pvt Albert TIPLER 43663 !st Essex (an ancestor of mine) was killed 12Oct1916.  I have a note on my tree;
London Cemetary & Extension Longueval 2.D.28
Hope that Helps, Paul Tipler, Weston super Mare