Poppies

[Eric]

I also think it would be a good idea if July 1 were designated a civic holiday in Hyndburn. As I have mentioned before, in the great province of Newfoundland and Labrador, July 1 is celebrated as Memorial Day. This is to honor the bravery and sacrifice of the men of the Newfoundland Regiment on July 1, 1916 at Beaumont Hamel, close to Serre where the Pals went into action. The Pals deserve the same recognition.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Eric

I'm a little confused here. Post #7 mentions the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Pals. And in your post, you mention the "100th anniversary in 1916". This would be the anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, not the anniversary of the "founding" of the Pals in 1914. I'm not trying to be picky, just looking for clarification. Oh, and expect a response from Retlaw concerning the number of casualties

Just before Bill Turner died, he asked me to go through my files, and let him know the true figures. This I did town by town, including pictures and biographies of the men,
Just as I was getting ready to take it to the hospital, his daughter rang to say Bill had died.
I put it away, and not looked at it since.
One of the reasons I have never quoted the true figures, is because of the lurkers, on here, who would just love to know, but rely on other people doing the work.
The figure is a lot more than those being bandied about by the so called Pals experts, one of them rang me last week, asking questions, he got some duff info, which sounded good to him.
Bill will now know, and I know what happened that day.
I've now found the names of 700 men who served in the 11th East Lancs, who are not on pages 212 - 237, in the Accrington Pals book.
As to the so called Pals experts making suggestions as to what should be done for the different Pals aniversaries, those projects have been in the pipeline for near 12 months. I have now got some of my pictures in the Theipval Memorial Museum.

Retlaw.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Just before Bill Turner died, he asked me to go through my files, and let him know the true figures. This I did town by town, including pictures and biographies of the men,
Just as I was getting ready to take it to the hospital, his daughter rang to say Bill had died.
I put it away, and not looked at it since.
One of the reasons I have never quoted the true figures, is because of the lurkers, on here, who would just love to know, but rely on other people doing the work.
The figure is a lot more than those being bandied about by the so called Pals experts, one of them rang me last week, asking questions, he got some duff info, which sounded good to him.
Bill will now know, and I know what happened that day.
I've now found the names of 700 men who served in the 11th East Lancs, who are not on pages 212 - 237, in the Accrington Pals book.
As to the so called Pals experts making suggestions as to what should be done for the different Pals aniversaries, those projects have been in the pipeline for near 12 months. I have now got some of my pictures in the Theipval Memorial Museum.

Retlaw.

So, I'm to take it that the figure of 585 from Martin Middlebrook's "First Day on the Somme" is not accurate. If this is the case, then all of the figures in his appendix on the number of casualites by battallion must be suspect, even though one reviewer called them "definitive." Just wondering if anyone else has done the same painstaking reseach you have done on the Pals for any of the other locally-raised units?

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Eric

So, I'm to take it that the figure of 585 from Martin Middlebrook's "First Day on the Somme" is not accurate. If this is the case, then all of the figures in his appendix on the number of casualites by battallion must be suspect, even though one reviewer called them "definitive." Just wondering if anyone else has done the same painstaking reseach you have done on the Pals for any of the other locally-raised units?

Yes, quite a lot of list in those WW1 books have been found to be incorrect.
Only about 75% are recorded in Soldiers Died in the Great War, there are also several missing from the Commonwealth War Graves Registers. Bill Turner had seven names added to the Thiepval Memorial, I have found another, William Lowther who was killed at the battle of the Somme on July 1st, who should be on the Theipval Memorial.
Retlaw.

[dusty mears]

reply was for eric who commented on daisychain post - 2016 it's the 100 anniversary of the battle of the somme. And the quote is retlaws himself - he gave it me last year & exact casualty no. purposely left out