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Somme

Tel D

proper brummie kid
Hi looking for more info on my grandads brother he was killed on the first day of the Somme his name was William Draper service number 15701 and is buried at Dantzig Alley British cemetery Mametz.he was born in Aston Birmingham in 1895 ,can anyone tell me why he would be in the West Yorkshire regiment ( Prince of Wales own) and not one of the pals Regiment and how would I get information on where and how he lost his life
 
On Ancestry it is possible to access the war diaries and read an account of what the Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire regiment took part in on 1st Juky 1916. Very short account which states " very heavy casualties ... mainly caused by machine guns ..... 27 Officers casualties and 750 O.R (other ranks)".
If you don't subscribe or can't find it please post on here.
 
On Ancestry it is possible to access the war diaries and read an account of what the Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire regiment took part in on 1st Juky 1916. Very short account which states " very heavy casualties ... mainly caused by machine guns ..... 27 Officers casualties and 750 O.R (other ranks)".
If you don't subscribe or can't find it please post on here.
Sorry not subscribed
 
If you search in Google you will find a few mentions.
The 10th Bn West Yorkshire regiment were in action at the Bluff south east of Ypres in spring 1916 and then moved south to the Somme where they fought in the battle of Albert and also Delville wood
The battle of Albert was from 1st to 13th july 1916
William Draper died on 1st july 1916, the first day of the battle.
 
This is the entry for 1st July from the Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment. William Draper would have been one of the men killed that day.
 

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Hi looking for more info on my grandads brother he was killed on the first day of the Somme his name was William Draper service number 15701 and is buried at Dantzig Alley British cemetery Mametz.he was born in Aston Birmingham in 1895 ,can anyone tell me why he would be in the West Yorkshire regiment ( Prince of Wales own) and not one of the pals Regiment and how would I get information on where and how he lost his life
I was told by someone who was ex army that if you didn’t join a local regiment it was either because you enlisted and got posted where there were in need of soldiers, or because some enlistees weee underage and it was easier to enlist with a non local regiment ?? Not sure if this is correct ?
 
Hi make’s sense as lots of men are signing up for the peoples army he signed up in 1915
 
If you search in Google you will find a few mentions.
The 10th Bn West Yorkshire regiment were in action at the Bluff south east of Ypres in spring 1916 and then moved south to the Somme where they fought in the battle of Albert and also Delville wood
The battle of Albert was from 1st to 13th july 1916
William Draper died on 1st july 1916, the first day of the battle.
Thanks but of a coincident my dad’s name is Albert
 
A few years ago we visited the Somme and many of the cemeteries there, beautifully kept by the CWGC,
Tel D have you been to the one at Mametz I recall it being very peaceful surrounded by countryside.
 
My great uncle, (died of wounds, 1915), was in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. A long way from Smethwick !
Thanks for replying yes long way from brum just seemed strange that all these pal’s battalions are being formed and he ended up in West Yorkshire and your uncle in Cornwall
 
A few years ago we visited the Somme and many of the cemeteries there, beautifully kept by the CWGC,
Tel D have you been to the one at Mametz I recall it being very peaceful surrounded by countryside.
No not yet hopefully when the pandemic has gone we will visit it
 
My Great Uncle from Birmingham served in a Yorkshire reg (can't remember which one off the top of my head ). I think it was all determined by when they signed up.
 
Thanks for replying yes long way from brum just seemed strange that all these pal’s battalions are being formed and he ended up in West Yorkshire and your uncle in Cornwall
The impression I get is that, in the early days of the war, there was a rush of men, keen to 'have a crack at The Hun' before the war was over. With local units being fully up to strength the War Office started to allocate men to other regiments, that had been decimated in the earlier battles.
 
Two from my family (different branches) were killed on 1st July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

One with the 8th Battalion Yorks and Lancs born Barnsley and the other with the 1st 8th Territorial Battalion Royal Warwickshire born in Leeds, but moved to Birmingham as a youngster.

Their bodies were never found and they are both remembered on the Thiepval Memorial. So sad.
 
My grandfather fought at the Somme with the Gloucestershire regiment. He also 'popped up' with the Inniskillen regiment. I know his right hand was injured by a bullet at the Somme, and he could was sent back to UK. He was unable to shoot a gun, so he was no use on the front line any more. He had no connections with Birmingham, but in 1919 he was living in digs, and in 1920 he married my grandmother in Birmingham (which was where she'd been born and brought up). I have wondered why he would move to Birmingham. Was he sent to a hospital in the Birmingham area to have his wounds cared for? Does anyone know if there are lists of casualties and where they were treated?
 
I know that a lot of ex-servicemen from the shires, moved to cities such as Brum after WW1 to secure regular employment. My own grandfather, having lived in Wiltshire prior to enlisting, moved up to this area to work on a farm after the war, before becoming a greengrocer in Erdington during the 20s.
 
I would imagine there were so many casualties that a list would have been impossible to maintian.
It is quite possible he was sent to Birmingham. I am not sure how they decided - it may just have been available beds. My own grandfather a born and bred Brummie was nursed back to health in hospital in Hertfordshire. Meanwhile another Brummie did in fact come back to Birmingham. So no reason.
Is it possible to give us a name then we can see if we are able to spot anything?
 
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