Guest Trefcon Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 I think we are aware of the 'Fromelles' story. The Australian soldiers found in mass graves at Fromelles. Last year there was this press release in France - 22/11/2009 ( this is a rough translation ) ' the remains of 15 British soldiers who fell at the beginning of the First World War were found by chance between Wednesday and Friday on a building site at Beaucamps-Ligny, the Mayor said Sunday. An excavator driver who was making a hole for sewage works for council housing struck the skull of one of the soldiers of the York & Lancaster Regt. with his blade, the Mayor Fre'de'ric Motte told AFP, confirming a report in the daily La Voix du Nord. '' We alerted the gendarmes and the prosecutor, then when we dug further we found military artefacts like ammunition and pieces of webbing. '' ''What enabled us to identify the soldiers immediately was their buttons, which were engraved with the initials of the regt, added Motte, who knows the British infantry, especially since the discovery of a body in his garden in March 2006. '' The CWGC has taken care of all the remains, which could be buried in the military cemetery at Fleurbaix, or in the one at Fromelles which will be open in July 2010. One body was found with his water bottle in his hand and a pipe lying near the other hand, said the Mayor, who added that coins, clasp knives and toothbrushes had also been found. The professional soldiers of the York & Lancaster Regt were involved in an extremely fierce exchange of fire with German troops between Oct. 18 and 20 1914 around the Chateau de Flandres at Beaucamps-Ligny, according to Motte. I have this from the 'Short History of the 6th Division' - '' On the 18th October a reconnaissance in force was ordered, which was brilliantly carried out. The Buffs and the York and Lancaster on the right captured Radinghem without much opposition and advanced across a small plateau, three hundred yards in width, towards the woods in which stands Chateau de Flandres. They here came under a heavy cross-fire of machine guns ans shrapnel, and were counter-attacked and drivan back. The situation, however, was saved by Major Bayley's company of the York and Lancaster, which had worked around on the left and threatened the flank of the counter-attack, which theron withdrew. The York and Lancaster suffered considerable casualties in this little action. '' The War Diary for that day gives more or less the same account but with these casualty figures - 13 killed and 27 missing. 35 men of the 2nd Bn. York & Lancs are recorded as being killed on 18-19/10/14, these are some of them - 7589 Andrew. J.W. b. Sheffield 7208 Brameld. J. b. Sheffield 7689 Darrington. ( served as Linton ) b. Sheffield 7775 Hadfield. F. b. Sheffield 10356 Pearson. A. b. Sheffield 8259 Parker. H.W. b. Boston, Lincs, enlisted at Sheffield 10331 Peatfiled. B. b. Retford, enlisted Sheffield 7156 White. C. b. Aston, resided Sheffield. Lieut. H.K.Peace. Then there are these from around the region - 6774 Allcock. H.E. b. Leeds 10296 Cooney. A. b. Bradford 9159 Dyson. F.C. b. Wakefield 8272 Ellis. W. b. Doncaster 7164 Jarvis. J. b. Rotherham 10523 Jeff. R. b. Moss, Doncaster 8502 Oxer. E. b. Swinton 7969 Richmond. J. b. Old Radford, Notts 8116 Roebuck. J.W. b. Wombwell 10428 Turner. A. b. Hyde, enlisted Mexboruogh 8458 Williams. D.W. b. Thornaby, resided Leeds 8902 Young. W.V. b. Huddersfiled I have images of - Andrew Darrington Peace Pearson Papers survive on Ancestry for - Allcock Andrew Brameld Darrington Jarvis Pearson Richmond Turner White Williams Young Just trying to bring this to the attention of a wider audience. There is a campaign running to try and get DNA testing to try and discover any living relatives. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 Sorry, had to go for mi' tea!! I think this story really needs to be in at least the local and even the national press, but there has been zilch! Some familys have been found, but i think we are waiting on the authorities for a response. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Bringing this back up to the top. The campaign was officially started yeaterday. The aim is to get DNA results from surviving family to compare against the remains so as to formally recognise them. It is hoped that the results could lead to the indentification of most, if not all, of the fifteen sets of remains, and that then each man can be buried in his own named CWGC grave. To recap - 15 bodies were found last November at Beaucamps Ligny, items found with the bodies indicate they were 2nd Bn. York & Lancs soldiers. There are a possible 58 candidates for these 15 sets of remains. 12 of these were born Sheffield 2 resided in Sheffield 17 from other parts of Yorkshire BORN SHEFFIELD - 7589 James William Andrew 7208 John Brameld 7689 George Edward Darrington 7196 Joseph Carter Dunn 7147 Horace Foster 7775 Frank Hadfield 7794 Joseph Halliday 8225 James Wilfred Loukes 10356 Albert Pearson 7823 John James Puttrell 7156 Charles White 8624 Philip Wolstenholme RESIDED SHEFFIELD 9159 Francis Carr Dyson 8259 Henry William Parker I have photographs of - Andrew Darrington Dunn Loukes Pearson A large family tree has been started on Ancesty. To support this campaign please write or e-mail to your local MP and express your wish that these soldiers be identified and given parity with the Fromelles project. My letters to Councillors Blunkett and Clegg will be on their way today. many thanks Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 This is the sort of template letter the campaign is using to contact your MP. Please feel free to include your own thoughts when writing. Xxxx xxxxx MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Dear RE: RECOVERY OF THE BODIES OF FIRST WORLD WAR SOLDIERS As you are probably aware a new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Fromelles is due to be opened on 19 July next with the burial of the last soldier of the 250 recovered from the mass burial pits at Pheasant Wood. A significant number of the 250 soldiers have already been successfully identified thanks to the respective Australian and British governments endorsing a DNA testing programme so that samples from the living relatives of missing soldiers can be matched with those of the recovered remains. Another significant mass burial site was uncovered last November in the small village of Beaucamps Ligny just west of Lille consisting of fifteen British soldiers killed in the early stages of the First World War. The location of the remains and the artefacts found with them indicate that they are drawn from soldiers of the 2nd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment who were killed in action between 18 – 25 October 1914 but have no known graves. There are only 58 soldiers that fall into this category thereby creating a discreet and workable group for DNA testing along the lines of the much larger Fromelles project. All the indications are that if such a programme was adopted then most, if not all, of the fifteen soldiers could be buried in named graves. I would like to call upon your help to ensure that the Ministry of Defence meets its obligations to these soldiers and that they will not be consigned to permanent anonymity because they are of another generation. I would very much appreciate your eliciting a commitment from Andrew Robathan, the Minister for Defence, Personnel and Veterans, that a DNA testing programme of the 58 missing soldiers will be undertaken to secure the identification of the recovered fifteen sets of remains. Thank you for your assistance. Yours sincerely thanks again Dean. ps. i think the word 'relatives ' should come after the words '58 missing soldiers ------ i await direction on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayleaf Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Just a thought Dean, but I was told some time ago that if you write to your MP, you should put your return address on the envelope. MP's get lots of mail from all sorts of people and organisations, so when mail arrives, anything with a return address that's in their constituency gets sorted to the top of the pile ! Oh, and nit-picking as usual, I think that last sentence should read " that a DNA testing programme of the relatives of the 58 missing soldiers will be undertaken to secure the identification of the recovered fifteen sets of remains." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi Peter, the letter is just a general guide as to what should be in theirs. I used this to send mine - http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayleaf Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi Peter, the letter is just a general guide as to what should be in theirs. I used this to send mine - http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ Dean. I've sent a slightly changed version to my MP, Mr Clegg, who knows, he might be useful for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Thanks for the support Peter. Please let me know of any response. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Had a letter yesterday from David Blunkett stating that he has made representations on my behalf and would be in touch when he has received a response. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Been contacted by the Sheffield Star today with a view to an interview. Also i'm being interviewed by BBC Radio Sheffield tomorrow. Will let you know the outcome. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayleaf Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Been contacted by the Sheffield Star today with a view to an interview. Also i'm being interviewed by BBC Radio Sheffield tomorrow. Will let you know the outcome. Dean. Well done Dean. I've had zilch from my MP Mr. Clegg, not even an acknowledgement after 10 days, don't know about you Dean. I know he's got rather a lot on as an apprentice Tory, but he does have staff who can deal with post.Perhaps you could mention it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Five of the Sheffield 'possibles', ( Linton served as 'Darrington' ) Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Pretty poor that Peter, but saying that the Star has only just contacted me today. I am keeping the Great War Forum up to date with your efforts and responses on here and other 'fora', i will mention Clegg if he doesn't pull his finger out !! Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Had my 'interview' with BBC Radio Sheffield this afternoon. Tried to get all major points across but this has to be edited down to about 3 minutes worth of airtime. They did take info and images from me for their website too. Got the 'Star' coming round on Monday next. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayleaf Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Had my 'interview' with BBC Radio Sheffield this afternoon. Tried to get all major points across but this has to be edited down to about 3 minutes worth of airtime. They did take info and images from me for their website too. Got the 'Star' coming round on Monday next. Dean. Was it broadcast today Dean or recorded to go out later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Hi Peter, its has just been broadcast, i just tuned in to see what was on and there i was on the Dean Pepall show! Didn't quite get the most important points out but i can hopefully put things better on Monday with the Star. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayleaf Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Hi Peter, its has just been broadcast, i just tuned in to see what was on and there i was on the Dean Pepall show! Didn't quite get the most important points out but i can hopefully put things better on Monday with the Star. Dean. If anyone is like me and missed Dean ont' wireless it's currently available on 'Listen again' on the Radio Sheffield website (Wednesday's programme, a few minutes in from the beginning) Nice one Dean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveHB Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 If anyone is like me and missed Dean ont' wireless it's currently available on 'Listen again' on the Radio Sheffield website (Wednesday's programme, a few minutes in from the beginning) Nice one Dean! Link to .. The Dean Pepall Show - Wed, 14 Jul 2010 You can here our Dean at 13 mts: & 40 sec: into the show. Well done Dean ! And thanks for the pointer Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Thanks chaps, there is also a mention in the news bit before the Dean Pepall show. Very strange hearing your own voice!! Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrett Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 I think we are aware of the 'Fromelles' story. The Australian soldiers found in mass graves at Fromelles. Last year there was this press release in France - 22/11/2009 ( this is a rough translation ) ' the remains of 15 British soldiers who fell at the beginning of the First World War were found by chance between Wednesday and Friday on a building site at Beaucamps-Ligny, the Mayor said Sunday. An excavator driver who was making a hole for sewage works for council housing struck the skull of one of the soldiers of the York & Lancaster Regt. with his blade, the Mayor Fre'de'ric Motte told AFP, confirming a report in the daily La Voix du Nord. '' We alerted the gendarmes and the prosecutor, then when we dug further we found military artefacts like ammunition and pieces of webbing. '' ''What enabled us to identify the soldiers immediately was their buttons, which were engraved with the initials of the regt, added Motte, who knows the British infantry, especially since the discovery of a body in his garden in March 2006. '' The CWGC has taken care of all the remains, which could be buried in the military cemetery at Fleurbaix, or in the one at Fromelles which will be open in July 2010. One body was found with his water bottle in his hand and a pipe lying near the other hand, said the Mayor, who added that coins, clasp knives and toothbrushes had also been found. The professional soldiers of the York & Lancaster Regt were involved in an extremely fierce exchange of fire with German troops between Oct. 18 and 20 1914 around the Chateau de Flandres at Beaucamps-Ligny, according to Motte. I have this from the 'Short History of the 6th Division' - '' On the 18th October a reconnaissance in force was ordered, which was brilliantly carried out. The Buffs and the York and Lancaster on the right captured Radinghem without much opposition and advanced across a small plateau, three hundred yards in width, towards the woods in which stands Chateau de Flandres. They here came under a heavy cross-fire of machine guns ans shrapnel, and were counter-attacked and drivan back. The situation, however, was saved by Major Bayley's company of the York and Lancaster, which had worked around on the left and threatened the flank of the counter-attack, which theron withdrew. The York and Lancaster suffered considerable casualties in this little action. '' The War Diary for that day gives more or less the same account but with these casualty figures - 13 killed and 27 missing. 35 men of the 2nd Bn. York & Lancs are recorded as being killed on 18-19/10/14, these are some of them - 7589 Andrew. J.W. b. Sheffield 7208 Brameld. J. b. Sheffield 7689 Darrington. ( served as Linton ) b. Sheffield 7775 Hadfield. F. b. Sheffield 10356 Pearson. A. b. Sheffield 8259 Parker. H.W. b. Boston, Lincs, enlisted at Sheffield 10331 Peatfiled. B. b. Retford, enlisted Sheffield 7156 White. C. b. Aston, resided Sheffield. Lieut. H.K.Peace. Then there are these from around the region - 6774 Allcock. H.E. b. Leeds 10296 Cooney. A. b. Bradford 9159 Dyson. F.C. b. Wakefield 8272 Ellis. W. b. Doncaster 7164 Jarvis. J. b. Rotherham 10523 Jeff. R. b. Moss, Doncaster 8502 Oxer. E. b. Swinton 7969 Richmond. J. b. Old Radford, Notts 8116 Roebuck. J.W. b. Wombwell 10428 Turner. A. b. Hyde, enlisted Mexboruogh 8458 Williams. D.W. b. Thornaby, resided Leeds 8902 Young. W.V. b. Huddersfiled I have images of - Andrew Darrington Peace Pearson Papers survive on Ancestry for - Allcock Andrew Brameld Darrington Jarvis Pearson Richmond Turner White Williams Young Just trying to bring this to the attention of a wider audience. There is a campaign running to try and get DNA testing to try and discover any living relatives. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrett Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 I was on my way to Derby the other day I heard on Radio sheffield that some bodys were found at Beaucamps Lignm. I had a chill down my spine, sorry to be this way as my grand father was their you have his name on your lists. I see you have him as 8116 Roebuck His correct title was 8116 L/cpl Larrett Roebuck 7 Marsh Street Ickles Rotherham Be for going back in the Army he was a professional footballer for Huddersfield Town, the papers were signed February 26th 1915. If at any time you wish a D.N.A test I myself or any one off the grandchildren are willing. I myself are not to clever on the computer am 75 we had slate and chalk at our school. cheers Larrett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Hello Larrett, very nice to hear from you. I know a bit about Larrett and his days at Huddersfield. I will inform the gent who is running the campagin nationally about your offer of DNA testing. We would love to be able to identify and lay Larrett to rest in his own named grave. regards Dean. Please check back for updates Larrett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrett Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Hello Larrett, very nice to hear from you. I know a bit about Larrett and his days at Huddersfield. I will inform the gent who is running the campagin nationally about your offer of DNA testing. We would love to be able to identify and lay Larrett to rest in his own named grave. regards Dean. Please check back for updates Larrett. Thanks A very quick reply it would be great if he was their among them. I know that his children 3 girls and a lad would have been over the moon to have known like his grand children who I have contacted THanks again we will keep our fingers crossed All the best Larrett ( for Larrett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl1867 Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Here's a photo of him in his Huddersfield playing days! http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger.pashby/team_photos.htm Thanks A very quick reply it would be great if he was their among them. I know that his children 3 girls and a lad would have been over the moon to have known like his grand children who I have contacted THanks again we will keep our fingers crossed All the best Larrett ( for Larrett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Nice one Dunsby, i know Huddersfield Town have been informed about Larrett and have said they are going to put something on their site. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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