Highlighting one paragraph from the Hondeghem article, it looks as though a sub-section is only one gun.
Aha! Confirmation from op-ack's Glossary of Royal Artillery Terms and Abbreviations: "Section Two Guns and associated gun towers (if applicable) etc." "Sub Section A component of an Artillery Battery consisting of One Gun, its Tractor (if not self-propelled) and the gun detachment (RA) (ie A Sub and B Sub are each composed of one gun and its gun detachment) Generally a sergeant’s command."
Idler Thanks for quoting from the book, nice to see it being used! Rob, the 4.5 How, was different from the 4.5 you are thinking about. The 4.5 How was a WW1 howitzer fitted with pneunatic tyres. K Bty were equipped with 18/25 Pdrs, which was an Ordnance, QF 25 pounder Mark I on a Carriage 18-Pdr Mark IV. I've been to Hondeghem with the RA and can confirm it has hardly changed from the time of the battle, it being easy to identify locations of artillery pieces and teh various actions. Phil
Hi Phil, Just to confirm then: According to the map was their five guns defending the town? Were their others deployed else where off the map shown? Do you know what were the individual guns marked on the map? Cheers Andy
Andy Off the top of my head no, but I wiull try and dig out the tour guide notes, I am pretty certain they contain that sort of info. Phil
Andy: The 'missing' troop, E, were detached, I think - I'll see if I can find something. Otherwise, the accounts are pretty consistent that F Tp were in the village and D Tp were on Mont Cassel. Phil: had to move a few cobwebs but thought it would have the answer. Andrew
Idler Thanks for quoting from the book, nice to see it being used! Rob, the 4.5 How, was different from the 4.5 you are thinking about. The 4.5 How was a WW1 howitzer fitted with pneunatic tyres. K Bty were equipped with 18/25 Pdrs, which was an Ordnance, QF 25 pounder Mark I on a Carriage 18-Pdr Mark IV. I've been to Hondeghem with the RA and can confirm it has hardly changed from the time of the battle, it being easy to identify locations of artillery pieces and teh various actions. Phil Phil It came to me about an hour after I posted. My grandads Bty had 4.5 How's in ww1 with 85 Bde RFA. Getting mixed up with Towed Med 4.5 BL's ww2 with dad. Sorry for confusion Rob
Andy: The 'missing' troop, E, were detached, I think - I'll see if I can find something. Otherwise, the accounts are pretty consistent that F Tp were in the village and D Tp were on Mont Cassel. Phil: had to move a few cobwebs but thought it would have the answer. Andrew Is there a similiar map and account for D Troop at Cassel?
Andy Off the top of my head no, but I wiull try and dig out the tour guide notes, I am pretty certain they contain that sort of info. Phil Any joy Phil? Regards Andy
but the German gun was knocked out, and later the dead crews were discovered in the embers of the building. The remains of the German machine gun are now a prized memento in the battery. 1, Does the gun still exsist and if so where? 2, Does anyone know the location of D Troop on Mont Cassel other than the southern slopes? Cheers A
Sorry, I have just caught up with this. New boy still finding my way round. Just to confirm, 5 RHA was organised as a Field Rgt with 2 Btys each of 3 Troops with 4 guns each. This is probably because at this time they were Corps troops and not assigned to an Armd Div as most regular RHA Rgts. The guns used by K Bty were 18 pdr MkII's.
Hello. My Grand Dad is/was Edward McVeigh. He is buried at St. Sylvestre de Cappel. Can anyone help me in finding out what part he took in this battle? He was initially buried in the church cemetery in St. Sylvestre but they have been moved to the village cemetery. Any help will be very much appreciated. My Mum is slowky finding out bits about her Dad because of the researching that I am doing. Thank you. Jane Lloyd
Cheers Derek. Hi Jane and welcome to the forum, I have 5 RHA's war diaries (Received last week) for this period and I'm just about to read through them to see if he gets a mention. Just incase you wasn't aware he is listed on the CWGC here: CWGC :: Certificate Do you have any pictures of him you can add to this thread? Regards Andy
Thank you Andy. If you look at my avatar you will see Lance Bombardier Edward McVeigh. I don't have his number to hand. We have just scanned his wedding day photos. I have unpicked some of the documentation and from where he was originally buried, in the churchyard at St Sylvestre, I can only assume that he was with either K or L sub. Gran was told that 8 bodies were found in the graveyard - 5 intact 3 not. My Grand Dad was one of the 3. I have some offical letters from RHA and some postcards that he sent home from France. One is 5 days before he died on the 29th May.
Hello again. For anyone intersted, I have posted an album of the St Sylvestre Cemetery where some of K Battery are buried.
