NZ Rifle Brigade fallen 10/5/1917 St Quentin ?

[Alan SHARP]

Greetings All.

Some interesting information has been supplied to me, re a local Adopt an ANZAC project, that I have offered to co-ordinate. What I would like to know, is there an online searchable data base that would list the NZ Rifle Brigade 4th Bn 3rd, 'Killed in Action' on or about May 10th 1917, possibly St Quentin, France.

I am particularly interested in the possibility of 10 souls, being hurriedly buried, by either their mates or French locals. The graves bearing simple white crosses, one of which named a 23 year old, who was enrolled as a new enrolment in our local primary school in 1905.

Alan SHARP.

P.S. Last nights search of PAPERS PAST did not find the info I was after, however a second try after making this post this evening, using the subject's Fathers name found a list that could well be the fallen on that date.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bi ... +e+welch--

[LesleyB]

Hi Alan

Not sure if it is specific enough, and you may have tried this already but the CWGC database ( http://www.cwgc.org ) lets you specify nationality, force & year - it does not appear to be working just now, so I have no idea how many it would return for NZ, Army & 1917-1917 but might be a way of rounding up some of them, perhaps?

I expect if you could find one of them, and if they all died on the same day the rest may be buried in the same cemetery, so should be possible to find them.

e.g. this appears to be one of those mentioned in the newspaper article:

WELCH , HENRY CLARENCE Serjeant 26/940 10/05/1917 23 New Zealand Rifle Brigade New Zealand II. F. 6. ST. QUENTIN CABARET MILITARY CEMETERY

If you have names for them all, you should be able to find them on the CWGC.
Best wishes
Lesley

[Alan SHARP]

Thanks Lesley.

As you will see with my associated RIDDELL posting events have out run me. I recieved a poem which will be the focus of an ANZAC piece I'm doing. I researched Clarence WELCH on our Archway and Papers Past plus the CWGC site before posting on TS because, I could not find a way of finding official deaths on a given day.

After posting on TS I went back to Papers Past, searching using the Father's name found on the CWGC details and got a PP listing which did not come up with my various "WELCH" searches of the night before. I posted the Papers Past link in a PS on my TS post just before retiring.

That PP clipping of Official Casualities named dates and units, so now I have 12 Rifle Brigade deaths to research re 5, 6 & 8th of May 1917. The poem by William RIDDELL records comming upon ten graves in a French private garden. That is what I'm now researching. Other issues permitting.

Thanks. Alan SHARP.

PS. The other site which I should have checked, but forgot to, is the Auckland Museum sponsored CENOTAPH site. It turns out that it held far more personal details, than the CWGC site. Being a Museum it contains links to other family details held.

[Alan SHARP]

Greetings, back again.

By comparing the PAPERS PAST clipping from the EVENING POST May 24, 1917, page 8
ROLL OF HONOUR – Killed in Action, there are six NZ Rifle Brigade solders listed as KIA on May 8th and on the CWGC site there are also six listed as deceased, between May 8th & 10th 1917, all honoured at St Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery.

GARDNER Thomas, 12/376 NOK, C/- Woodville
GIBBON Harold, 26/792 NOK, Masterton
LENNAN Anthony, 26/839 NOK, Waiwera
McANNALLY Herbert John, 21055 NOK, Manurewa
MILLER Raymond Samuel, 21051 NOK, Waiuku
WELCH Henry Clarence, 26/940 NOK, Waikato

With a little bit of poetic licence, this could well be the list I have been looking for. Now to seek more info re the Brigade’s placement on May 8th 1917.

Alan SHARP.

[Currie]

Hello Alan,

You could try a search like this one and just work through the results. http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&l ... =&aql=&oq=

All the best,
Alan

[Alan SHARP]

Thanks Alan "currrie"

As usual you find the forest, and then identify the trees within. My searches had not found, all those that were in your selection. Not sure why my original Papers Past searches, did not come up with all the WELCH options, that I wanted. Once I could tie names, to dates, I had options to investigate. The other problem being a crash course in which side of the French - Belgium boarder named sites belonged.

Now have access to the diary listing the author's Rifle Brigade movement from St Omer (France) towards Heuvelland, Messines Belgium, where Henry Clarence WELCH is reported to fallen May 10th 1917.

Now getting there, so many thanks.

Alan SHARP.