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WORLD WAR 1 ARCHIVE update

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  • WORLD WAR 1 ARCHIVE update

    Thanks to everybodys help ive managed to put together a small profile.

    Harold Raymond Sharplin (service no:- 64640) enlisted into the army in about 1911/12. The 41st Battery, 42nd Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. This was a unit of Britain's pre-war regular army which was sometimes described as the 42nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. This Brigade was originally comprised of 29th, 41st and 42nd Batteries and the ammunition column. On the 4th August 1914 (mobilisation day) the 42nd brigade was based at Bulford Camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd Division under the command of Lt Col Geddes. On the 16h August 1914 the Division was moved to Southampton and was shipped out to France on the 17th, as part of the (BEF) British Expeditionary Force. On the 19th August 1914 the BEF Landed in Rouen which is located up the Seine from Le Havre. 24th August 1914 the 41st brigade were in action near Nouvelles. Records show that Harold reached the rank of Corporal (better known as a Bombadier) before again being demoted to gunner. The war diary of the brigade which are held at the national archives states that the batteries were firing upon Locon during the day, which is in Pas De Calais, the Hautes-de-France region of France. Each battery was allocated a line of attack, the 41st batteries co ordinates were W12, D9.4 to XD7.6 (sic-square number missing). The war diary also references Mesplaux Farm, which the Germans were firing upon and may well have been the base for the 42nd brigades batteries. There Is a note that the 41st battery was hit at 3.15pm that afternoon, killing 3 and wounding 3 others. Records show that (64640) Gunner Harold Raymond Sharplin (plot P, row 33) was killed in action on the 15th April 1918 along with (74072) Gunner C.Webber (plot p, row 35), (42052) Gunner R.Everett(plot p, row 36) and Padre Oswin Creighton (plot p, row 34) who was visiting the battery at the time. All are now buried at Chocques which at the time was 3rd Division headquarters and no1 casualty clearing station, but better known today as Chocques Military Cemetery. On researching cemetery records it appears one of the three wounded soldiers also died and is buried along side the others. (L5591) Sergeant E.Watson (plot P, row 32). At the end of the war the 3rd Division was selected to advance into Germany as part of the occupation force.

  • #2
    Nicely put together, well done
    Kat

    My avatar is my mother 1921 - 2012

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    • #3
      Thanks Kat, I couldn't have completed it without everybody's help and input, which I've cross checked everything. So thank you to everyone whose contributed, every little thing has helped to create this small biography

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