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- 126 (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery during the Great War -


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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment

126 (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery



1st Jul 1916 Trench Raid  location map

1st July 1916 Smoke  location map

2nd July 1916 Reliefs

3rd July 1916 Shelling  location map

4th July 1916 Reliefs

5th July 1916 Orders

6th July 1916 Moves

7th July 1916 Moves

8th July 1916 Moves

9th July 1916 Orders

16th of December 1916 Enemy Very Quiet  location map

23rd of December 1916 Artillery Relief  location map

28th of December 1916 Artillery Continue Shelling  location map

31st of January 1917 Two Patrols Dispersed  location map

2nd February 1917 Reliefs

9th April 1917 37th Divison move up at Arras  13th Battalion, Rifle Brigade with 37th Division were in reserve initially at the launch of the Battle of Arras. After initial success the 37th moved up through the lines to continue the attack. This was the area of the Brown Line and having reached here, the 37th Division was brought up through the other Divisions in order to carry the attack into Monchy. This was supposed to have happened on the evening of 9 April, but a sudden turn in the weather made advancing much more difficult. It was so cold that men would freeze to death during the night. That evening the 37th continued the attack in the face of snow past Feuchy Chapel reaching an area known as Orange Hill to the south-east of Monchy

10th April 1917 Attack Made  It was only on the night of 10 April that the 37th Division including 13th Battalion, Rifle Brigade and its six supporting tanks were in a position to consider mounting an attack on Monchy. The attack was delivered with the 11th Brigade on the left facing Monchy and the 112th on their right advancing towards La Bergère crossroads (where you will see the Windmill CWGC Cemetery and turn left towards Monchy). Standing up on this hill by the monument you get an immediate understanding as to why the village was so important and why the Germans had spent such a long time fortifying it (The Newfoundland Caribou is erected on top of a German bunker). The attack got off to a bad start. At 0500 hours on a freezing cold morning the infantry and tanks set off across the snow, but the artillery was late in getting into position and when they did eventually open their bombardment they began by shelling the advancing troops who had not been warned of any postponement. Amongst the numerous casualties of this friendly fire was one of the tanks. By 0900 hours though, Monchy was in British hands. The Germans launched a number of counter-attacks but these were driven off. The village remained in Allied hands until it was abandoned during the German Spring offensive of 1918. Monchy was finally retaken again by the Canadians on 26th of August 1918 over three days and at remarkably little cost in terms of casualties, General Allenby's 3rd Army had made remarkable gains.

10th Apr 1917 Attack Made

10th April 1917 The situation is roughly as follows :-  location map

11th Apr 1917 Village Taken

11th Apr 1917 Attack Made

12th Apr 1917 Reliefs

30th of June 1917 Another Move

1st Jul 1917 Shelling  location map

29th Jul 1917 Reliefs  location map

27th Mar 1918 Reliefs  location map

5th Apr 1918 Attack Made

22nd of August 1918 A New Objective  location map

3rd of September 1918  Enemy Withdraws  location map

4th of September 1918 Divisional Relief

1st of October 1918  Division Relieved

13th of October 1918  Attack Repulsed  location map

23rd of October 1918 Heavy Bombardment

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126 (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery

during the Great War 1914-1918.

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249916

Gnr. Lionel Williscroft 146th Brigade, 75th Battery Royal Field Artillery

Lol Williscroft enlisted at Lichfield recruiting office 64th area. and signed for 6 plus 6 years (his dad was a career soldier) at Athlone on the 14th of January 1915 and joined 75th Battery, 146th Brigade, RFA.

He was posted to 37th Divisional Artillery on the 27th of January 1915 and joined 126th Brigade Ammunition Column. He left Southampton on the 29th of July 1915 and landed at Le Havre the next day. He was invalided from France on the 2nd of March 1916 suffering from chilblains and deafness on the hospital ship Brighton and was admitted to Rawcliffe Hospital in Sheffield.

On the 16th of September he was posted to 4a Reserve Brigade and was kitted out at Woolwich before being posted to the Expeditionary Force on the 19th of October. He disembarked in Salonika on the 30th. He was transferred from 146th Brigade, RFA to 367th Brigade on the 6th of December 1916, He was admitted to hospital in the field as a casualty on the 24th of December 1916 and transferred to 21st Stationery Hospital on the 23rd of March 1917. Having recovered her rejoined 75th Battery, 146th Brigade on the 2nd of April. On the 14th of August 1917 he embarked from Salonika suffering from Malaria on the hospital ship Amia bound for Alexandria in Egypt, where he was admitted to hospital in Mustapha.

Lol qualified as signaller 2 class on the 8th of March 1918 while he was classified grade 3 malaria at Sidi Bash, base depot Kantara. On the 6th of march 1919 he was posted 75th Battery, now part of 263rd Brigade and the unit was selected for the army of occupation. 75th Battery was renamed 413th Battery on the 20th of April 1919. Lol left Port Said on the Caledonia A3772 on the 23rd of June 1919, arriving in Marseille on the 2nd of July. He then travelled through France by train and returned to England. On the 11th of July he was paid £20 at the RGA depot in Blackheath and transferred 5c Reserve Brigade on the 8th of September and was demobbed on the 12th of September 1919. As part of the reserve he was called up "at once" on the 10th of March 1921, but was discharged as medically unfit on the 21st of April.

Roy






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