Some useful information from John Wreford

I mentioned that there may be people who had information about relatives and acquaintances involved in WW1 but who do not have IT access or skills for further research.  They might be helped if they would complete a form with as much information as they have concerning the person concerned so that this information could be used as a basis for extra research on the web on their behalf.  I would suggest that such information should as far as possible include the following :

       1.            SURNAME

       2.            CHRISTIAN NAMES (ALL)

       3.            SERVICE NUMBER

       4.            DATE OF BIRTH

       5.            (IF KILLED) DATE OF DEATH

       6.            SERVICE [ARMY; NAVY; AIRFORCE; OTHERS]

       7.            *REGIMENT

       8.            *BATTALION

       9.            BRIGADE

   10.            DIVISION

   11.            ARMY [1^ST; 2^ND ETC]

The Regiment and Battalion number are particularly useful because most Battalions are associated with a Brigade, and a Brigade is associated with a Division.  Most information concerning battles and dates includes Divisions and Brigades taking part in the action, and Regimental records will be quite detailed as to what was going on, and when and where on a daily basis. I found out from letters home that Jilly’s Grandpa Herbert (Bert)  Deverell  was in Royal Hampshire Regiment; 14^th Battalion [A coy;  4^th Platoon]; 116^th Brigade; 39^th Division; 2^nd Army

On various maps of battles it is usual to find reference to the position of a Division and often a Brigade so it is therefore possible to locate one’s relative fairly closely.  As I said last night, I have maps which exactly positions the 39^th Division on 26/9/17 which is the day Bert was killed, and the Regimental history describes the battle from the Battalion’s point of view, its objectives, and what took place.  From this I can pinpoint where Bert fell to within about 100 yards!

FYI : Structure of British Army is at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battalion#British_Army

This site includes, inter alia, the following

Chain of command
Unit	Soldiers	Typical Commander
fireteam	4	NCO
squad/section	8–13	squad leader
platoon	26–64	platoon leader
company	80–225	captain/major
battalion	300–1,300	lieutenant colonel/colonel
regiment/brigade	3,000–5,000	lieutenant colonel/colonel/ brigadier/brigadier general
division	10,000–15,000	major general
corps	20,000–45,000	lieutenant general
field army	80,000–200,000	general
army group	400,000–1,000,000	general of the army
army region	1,000,000–3,000,000	field marshal
theater	3,000,000–10,000,000	commander-in-chief

Best wishes

John