"Royal Garrison Artillery (especially 198th (Heavy) Battery" Topic

Hi

I am doing some research for an Aunt of mine whos father served with this specific battery. This isnt my period, but working on the basis that i have lots of reference books, for my main period (napoleonic) i wondered if we were all creatures of habit and perhaps had a reference library of our own.
Does anyone have anything about this specific battery they can let me have a copy of, or know where i can get info. (tried the usual NAM, Royal Art mues, and the archive stuff available on line).
many thanks

From a quick rummage it seems there's no war diary for the unit, and some scope for confusion over designation – 198th (Heavy) Battery was split up very shortly after arriving in France in late 1916, possibly being split between the 12th and 26th (Heavy) Batteries, but there was also a 198th (Siege) Battery, so it could be that he belonged to this?

If you have more info (name obviously, dates of service, etc.) it may be possible to hunt details down, but the lack of a war diary for the battery means you probably need to look for records relating to the specific individual, as there's not a unit history.

Apologies but I am not 100% clear about what you are after. Would you like to see the war diary or other material available on the 198th (Heavy) Battery during WW1? Is there a particular period of the war that your Aunt is interested in? Or as much information as possible?

Robert

There are several RGA units that have not left war diaries. If you can narrow the timeframe down then there is often good mileage in reviewing the relevant MCRA or other higher level diaries. These often contain details about locations or transfers of the different units under their command.

Robert

Thanks Guys

I was under the impression that the 198th Battery comprised 2 sections, the heavy and the Seige (please correct me if i'm wrong). Can someone confirm how the heavy battery was actually made up. I know for example it had 6 or 9" naval guns in carriages and that there were 4 guns (not the usual 6) in the battery. Does anyone have access to info to break down the battery. I guess there was the actual gun crew for each plus supporting elements. I'd like to know what the supports did (even better would be specific to this battery 198 heavy), as it seems that he was a member of the support team. I'm guessing here, because the photo we have has a comment 'the last of the 198th heavy'with about 20 men outside a hut.

The heavy arrived in france mid Nov 1916, and the seige about 1 week later. If anyone has info on what happened to the heavy (ie which battery they were re-assigned to) after they arrived that would be great.

I had read that the 198th heavy was split up to reinforce other batterys, but wasnt sure where they went. Thank you Dom.

As Monk said, there were RGA units that didnt leave war diaries, i suspect because they were split up, but i'm guessing, could someone confirm that?

Many thanks

I was under the impression that the 198th Battery comprised 2 sections, the heavy and the Seige (please correct me if i'm wrong).

No, 198th Heavy Battery and 198th Siege battery were different units. It looks like they may have been raised at the same time as part of the same heavy artillery group, but they were always two different batteries.

Can someone confirm how the heavy battery was actually made up. I know for example it had 6 or 9" naval guns in carriages and that there were 4 guns (not the usual 6) in the battery.

That sounds like the make-up of 198th Siege battery, *not* 198th Heavy Battery. Heavy batteries were usually 60 pounder armed.

Does anyone have access to info to break down the battery. I guess there was the actual gun crew for each plus supporting elements. I'd like to know what the supports did (even better would be specific to this battery 198 heavy), as it seems that he was a member of the support team. I'm guessing here, because the photo we have has a comment 'the last of the 198th heavy'with about 20 men outside a hut.

i think you've gone up a blind alley here – I found reference to the same photo caption yesterday (quite possibly from your aunt's search) – will try and find it, but the conclusion drawn was that the photo was of members of another battery (I want to say 12th from memory) and it was the remaining guys who'd transferred in from 198th.

The heavy arrived in france mid Nov 1916, and the seige about 1 week later. If anyone has info on what happened to the heavy (ie which battery they were re-assigned to) after they arrived that would be great.

I had read that the 198th heavy was split up to reinforce other batterys, but wasnt sure where they went. Thank you Dom.

No worries – will see if I can re-find what I came across yesterday….

As Monk said, there were RGA units that didnt leave war diaries, i suspect because they were split up, but i'm guessing, could someone confirm that?

There's no single reason – plenty of units that served to the end of the war have no war diary on file either – lost in the field, misfiled, all sorts of explanations are possible.

Found it – start at post 36….

link

At this point I'm done with this thread, sorry. When looking for this sort of thing you need to be as specific as you can from the start – especially with who you're actually looking for – trying to help trace someone's service when the OP won't even give you the name of the person you're looking for is, umm, definitely doing things the hard way.

further info

Grandfather was usually listed as Charles L. WIGMORE. No. 92027.
He was a Gunner and later had two chevrons on his uniform but was later demoted.
I believe he was basically demoted for insubordination

yes Judy has been looking as well as you have found.