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My name is Judith Steadman and I am trying to find out about My fathers cousin George Wells who was born at Timberland Lincolnshire son of Tom and Elizabeth Wells. George was killed in action on 26th September 1917 age 19 years.
I know nothing of George. It would be lovely if there were a photo of him and his regiment
Thank You
Liz Steadman/ Nee Hodson
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Welcome to the boards Judith.
Although it's not what you asked for, this looks like George with his parents in the 1911 census:-
1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Old Hall Stables Langton Spilsby, Langton by Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Occupation Age Birth year Birth place
Tom Wells Head Married Male Groom Gardener Domestic 46 1865 Lincs Timberland Fen
Elizabeth Ann Wells Wife Married Female - 35 1876 Lincs Billinghay
George Wells Son - Male School 13 1898 Lincs Timberland
Parents married for 14 years with just the one child in 1911.
Do you know if they went on to have any other children whose lives you could follow up to date? If so they may have photos. If not then did the parents have any siblings whose families you could trace up to date as it is very unlikely that anyone other than relatives would have a photo. Many young men going off to war would have a studio photo taken before they went to leave with or send to parents.
Kath. x
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Hi Judith,
The following is from Find my past. No other records found, but not really surprising as over 70% of WW1 records were destroyed in WW11.
You already have George's date of death but at least the transcription shows his Regiment.
If you google 'Lincolnshire Regiment' there are quite a few sites. You may be able to locate a Military Museum associated with the Regiment
GEORGE
Last name
WELLS
Service number
28482
Rank
PRIVATE
Regiment
Lincolnshire Regiment
Battalion
5th Battalion.
Birth place
TIMBERLAND, LINCS
Residence
BILLINGHAY, LINCS
Enlistment place
LOUTH, LINCS
Death year
1917
Death day
26
Death month
9
Cause of death
Killed in action
Death place
France & Flanders
Theatre of war
Western European Theatre
Supplementary Notes
-
Category
Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory
First World War
Collections from
Great Britain
Soldiers Died in the Great War database © Naval and Military Press Ltd 2010
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Baptism
County Lincolnshire
Place Timberland
Church name St Andrew
Register type Unspecified
Register entry number 566
Baptism date 20 Mar 1898
Birth date 03 Feb 1898
Person forename George
Person sex M
Person abode Thorpe Tilney
Father forename Tom
Father surname WELLS
Father occupation Labourer
Mother forename Elizabeth Ann
(above, from below link, worth a look on)
http://www.freereg.org.uk/
Chris :)
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
(Soldiers, then check image on below)
UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929 (Ancestry)
(on above as George Wills) (joint legacy to Mother Elizabeth, Father Tom. £3)
http://www.everymanremembered.org/profiles/soldier/876503/
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http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/876503/WELLS,%20GEORGE says:
Rank: Private
Service No: 28482
Date of Death: 26/09/1917
Age: 19
Regiment/Service: Lincolnshire Regiment 2nd/5th Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 35 to 37 and 162 to 162A.
Memorial: TYNE COT MEMORIAL
Additional Information: Son of Tom and Elizabeth A. Wells, of The Lodge, Nettleham, Lincoln.
Excerpts from http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/85900/TYNE%20COT%20MEMORIAL
Location Information
The Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is located 9 kilometres north east of Ieper town centre, on the Tynecotstraat, a road leading from the Zonnebeekseweg (N332).
The names of those from United Kingdom units are inscribed on Panels arranged by Regiment under their respective Ranks.
Historical Information
The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war.
The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence.
There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele.
The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September.
The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be divided between several different sites.
The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates those of all Commonwealth nations, except New Zealand, who died in the Salient, in the case of United Kingdom casualties before 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war.
The TYNE COT MEMORIAL now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known.
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/lincolnshire-regiment/ says:
2/5th Battalion
Formed in Grimsby on 6 February 1915 as a Second Line Battalion.
July 1915: attached to 177th Brigade, 59th (2nd North Midland) Division.
April 1916 : moved with Division to Ireland and took part in actions against rebellion.
January 1917 : returned to England and moved to France next month.
8 May 1918 : reduced to cadre.
29 May 1918 : transferred to 21st Brigade, 30th Division.
28 June 1918 : transferred to 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division.
31 July 1918 : absorbed by 1/5th Battalion.
http://www.thelincolnshireregiment.org/museum.shtml might be able to tell you roughly when his service number was issued.
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/59th-2nd-north-midland-division/
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-ypres-1917-third-ypres/
In particular: "Phase: the Battle of Polygon Wood, 26 September – 3 October 1917"
There is some confusion on this page as both the 61st and 59th divs are referred to as "2nd South Midland".
There is a 7/1917 trench map at:
http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A70109/-/collection
Note Series Number Id: GSGS 2742; Sheet number: 28 NE; Edition number: 6a
Date 1917
Scale 1:20,000
Note 3rd Battle of Ypres - Passchendaele; German trenches in red and showing all rear defences;
Title [Passchendaele, Moorslede : 3rd Battle of Ypres]: [Belgium & France]
The full coordinates for Zonnebeke church are Sheet 28.D.28.a.1.8 -it's in the NW corner of this map.
The bold squares are 1000 x 1000 yards - the church is in square D.28 in the 'a' quadrant - there's a quadrant key in square J.6.
If you look at the square grid lines, you'll see the are check marks every 50 yds, so we can easily add the easting and the northing within the quadrant.
These are each in the range 0 thru 9.
(Sometimes a more precise location is needed, and then the easting and northing are each given in the range 00 thru 99, locating the point to within 5 yards.)
The early Tyne Cott cemetery is in D.17.a and Polygon Wood is in J.9 to J.10 (J is the super-square below the D super-square).
The 2/5th Lincs war diary says on a day by day basis what the unit was doing after it landed in France. Ancestry has many war diaries online. The content detail is quite variable.
I have the whole of 1917 for two units in 50th div - the 1/5th DLI has 43 pages for 1917, and the 447 field coy RE has 185 pages.
A 1st Can div unit - the 13th bn - has 520 pages for 1917 (incluing appendices).
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http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/battalion.php?pid=6565
Lincolnshire Regiment 2/5th Btn
2/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment was formed in Grimsby on the 6th of February 1915 as a Second Line Territorial Battalion. In July they joined 177th Brigade, 59th (2nd North Midland) Division, at St Albans and were renamed 59th (2nd North Midland) Division. The Military Services Act of 1916, meant that all troops were now liable for overseas service and the Divison began training for deployment to France. When the Irish rebellion broke out in April 1916, the Division was sent to Dublin, Ireland and was engaged in fierce fighting against the Irish nationalist forces, suffering their first casualties. They then moved to the Curragh, returning to England in January 1917 and moved to Fovant for final training. They proceeded to France in February and the Diviison concentrated at Mericourt and went into the front line south of the Somme, near Estrees. In April they were in action in The pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in the Somme area, but their lack of training became obvious and whilst they suceeded in capturing Jeancourt they were viciously replused at Le Verguier. Though they were engaged in attacks at Villeret and Hargicourt quarries. In May the Division was withdrawn for a few days rest then moved back into the front line at Havrincourt and Flesquieres. In June they moved to rest at Barastre then in late August travelled by train from Acheux to Winnezeele, arriving in Flanders on the 1st of September. They were in action during The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, The Battle of Polygon Wood. In October they moved to Lens taking over the front line then moved to Bapaume on the 17th of November. They were in action during The capture of Bourlon Wood and The German counter attacks. On the 23rd of November they moved to Etricourt, until the 29th when they returned to Bourlon Wood. On the 1st of December 470 Field Company RE, which was marching to Gouzeaucourt, was caught up in the German advance and assisted in the defence of the area until the Guards Division was able to counter attack. On the 23rd of December they moved to Le Cauroy for rest and further training, going back into the line at Bullecourt on the 11th of February 1918. In March 177th Brigade and the divisional artillery were in action in The Battle of St Quentin. The whole Division then suffered heavily in the The Battle of Bapaume. The Division, without the artillery, moved to Poperinge in Flanders, receiving new drafts of men. On the 5th of April they took over the front line at Passchendaele. On the 13th of April they moved to reinforce the Lys area and were in action during The Battle of Bailleul, suffering heavy losses as the enmy broke through, they moved back to Mont Noir and fought in the The First Battle of Kemmel Ridge. In early May the Division was reduced to a training cadre establishment. On the 29th of May the 2/5th Linclons transferred to 21st Brigade, 30th Division, then on the 28th of June they joined 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, being absorbed by 1/5th Battalion on the 31st of July.
9th Apr 1917 A Long Fight
21st Mar 1918 Machine Gun Post lost
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It looks like the 2/5th Lincs were involved in the Battle of Polygon Wood 26th Sept-3rd Oct 1917, at the time George was killed.
The text of The History of the Lincolnshire Regiment 1914-1918 is available online, see link below
http://tinyurl.com/gkprmyc
you need to scroll a long way down to find the 2/5th in Sept 1917. There are various download and format options.
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On 26/9/1917, 2/5 Lincs were attacking Dochy Farm and the line just north of there - according to page 265 (image 282 of 529) of the pdf format of Kucinta's URL.
This is found at D.15.c.1.1 on the trench map I used earlier.
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