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24th Battalion Support

Using the 24th Battalion war diary and the 6th Brigade war diary you can piece together the movement of the 24th Battalion around November 5th 1916. See the two timelines and map below:

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Taken directly from 24th Battalion November 1916 diary

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Taken directly from 6th Brigade November 1916 diary

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Using the war diaries, personnel files and red cross files I have pieced together the following:

 

The ‘A’ and ‘C’ company of the 24th battalion were waiting in support for the 7th Brigade (25th, 26th, 27th and 28th Battalions) who were attacking the Maze. They were waiting in Cobham Trench (near Turk Lane). While waiting to support, a shell struck the back of the trench and burst killing the five men (including John Barry #4588, Michael Jospeh Fogarty #4417, Kenneth John MacDonald #2470, Andrew Nicholson #1956 and Lance-Corporal Alfred John Russell #4516) instantaneously. Due to orders the rest of the men only had time to bury John and the others where they lay, and they most probably had no time to properly mark the graves and/or note the exact coordinates as the rest of the company were ordered to return immediately to Longueval which they did arriving around 9pm that evening.

Image Source: 7th Brigade November 1916 War Diary – Part 1

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TrenchMap_withallelements.PNG
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