William Carr 1895-1915

[Silverfox2306]

I dont think our Willam Carr's are the same unfortunately.

My William Carr was born in Newham Northumberland in 1895. Son of John and Helen Carr. Williams father John was a shepherd on Ellingham Home Farm, Chathill in Northumberland. William enlisted with the Northumberland Fusiliers 1/7th Battalion at Wooler, Northumberland. He was killed in action on the 16th of June 1915, he was only 20 years old. His name appears on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium and on a plaque in Chillingham Church, Northumberland alongside his elder brother Thomas Carr.

These are all the details I have regarding William's military service and where he was killed.

A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE WAR HISTORY OF THE 7th NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS. 1915-1918. (extract taken from; "War History of The Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers") by Captain Francis Buckley The 7th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers served in France and Flanders for nearly three years with their original brigade, the 149th Infantry Brigade of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, and afterwards for the last nine months of the war they served in France with the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, to whom they were attached as Pioneer Battalion. With the 149th Infantry Brigade they landed in France on the 21st April, 1915, and without any preliminary war experience, without time even to get the atmosphere of the front, they were thrust into the second battle of Ypres, to counter-attack on two successive days an enemy greatly superior in numbers, overwhelmingly superior in artillery, and elated with the success of a devilish gas attack. Under the circumstances it was a massacre by the German artillery and machine-guns rather than a man to man fight. But that gallant advance into the unknown horrors of modern war, did several things. It laid the foundation of battalion tradition, and it gave the British line, tottering and almost broken, a breathing space in which to consolidate and re-form. A staff officer of the Regular Army writes: "No stouter hearts ever existed than those of the original Division, and I shall never forget my comrades from Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. the attack of the 149th Infantry Brigade on St. Julien on the 25th and 26th April, 1915, was one of the finest feats of arms I have ever seen." After this violent baptism into war, during one of its worst and most critical phases, the lot of the battalion, or rather its survivors, was by no means a bed of roses. They were back again in the Salient almost as soon as the mud was cleaned off their equipment; and on and off for four weeks they held trenches of the worst description between Wieltje and Hooge. At the latter place, on the 16th June, 1915, they supported an attack in the second battle of Bellewarde, a very trying and expensive experience. The day private William Carr was Killed.

Thomas Carr, Williams elder brother.

Thomas Carr was born in Newham Northumberland in 1890 and enlisted with the Northumberland Hussars (Yeomanry) Established in 1908, with their headquarters at Newcastle-on-Tyne. It is likely that Thomas was a member of C Squadron at Morpeth (detachments at Alnwick, Ashington, Rothbry, North Shields, Eglingham. Thomas was discharged from the army due to his wounds and was awarded the Silver War Badge, British and Victory Medals. He died on the 15th of February 1919 at Hepburn Lodge, Chillingham, Northumberland.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me again.

regards,

John.

[brianwaugh2470]

Thank you indeed for your quick reply... oh well the search goes on...

[Silverfox2306]

You are very welcome brianwaugh2470 It can be a long hard slog at times and can be very frustrating, however the exhiliration of finding someone you have been searching for, for some time is well worth it.

Stick at it,

The very best of luck with your research.

John.

[Migky]

Hi , i too have a William Carr in my extended family tree. I just wondered if you have ever seen what they call a "dead mans penny " This was given to the family's of the fallen soldiers. I am not sure if you have ever seen one , but we hold one for our William Carr and i thought you would like to see it. They are about as big the palm of a mans hand.
Migky

[brianwaugh2470]

Thank you for showing that, I've never seen one before.
Do you know who issued these and when ?
I feel frustrated in not being able to find out more of where my relatives died when they did. Specific information is very hard to find and not readilly available, apart from the general terms of the " Battle of the Somme "
Even the regimental histories are hard to access.
I have seen one medal certificate for a relative that shows Military Medal awarded... for what ? when ? I seem unable to find anything out.

I appreciate the difficult times they were and that recordings are very incomplete, but if you ever look into the American Civil War you would be amazed at the amount of detail and information available to anyone who asks.

This might explain things a bit

http://www.1914-1918.net/mics.htm

[Migky]

Hi Brian, i think your best bet is to contact the N. A. at kew and see if they can locate the war diary's for what you want. I have some one go for me not long ago and they managed to get me copies of the war diary's we wanted for members of our family. Try this link for them?
Migky


http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/s...%20diary's