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- 47th Company, Machine Gun Corps during the Great War -


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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment

47th Company, Machine Gun Corps



   The 47th Machine Gun Company joined 16th (Irish) Division on the 28th of April 1916 they were in action on the Somme during the The Battle of Guillemont in which the Division captured the village and The Battle of Ginchy. In 1917 they fought at the The Battle of Messines and The Battle of Langemark, during the Third Battles of Ypres. In 1918 they were in action on the Somme 1918 suffering very heavy casualties. On the 18th of June 1918 the Division returned England and was reconstituted loosing almost all of its remaining Irish units at this point. The reformed Division returned to France on the 1st of August 1918 and fought in The Final Advance in Artois. They joined with the other Machine Gun Companies of the Division to form 16th MG Battalion on the 9th of March 1918.

24th Apr 1916 Orders Received

25th Apr 1916 On the Move

26th Apr 1916 On the Move

27th Apr 1916 On the Move

28th Apr 1916 On the Move  location map

29th Apr 1916 On the Move  location map

30th Apr 1916 Recce  location map

1st May 1916 Instruction  location map

2nd May 1916 HQ Moves  location map

3rd May 1916 Reliefs  location map

7th May 1916 Reliefs  location map

8th May 1916 Reliefs  location map

13th May 1916 Reliefs  location map

16th May 1916 Reliefs  location map

17th May 1916 Reliefs  location map

21st May 1916 Reliefs

24th May 1916 Reliefs  location map

1st Jun 1916 Emplacements  location map

2nd Jun 1916 Emplacements  location map

3rd Jun 1916 Night Firing  location map

4th Jun 1916 Night Firing  location map

5th Jun 1916 Working Party  location map

6th Jun 1916 Heavy Shelling  location map

7th Jun 1916 Working Parties  location map

8th Jun 1916 Wet Weather  location map

9th Jun 1916 Reliefs  location map

15th Jun 1916 Quiet  location map

16th Jun 1916 Reliefs  location map

17th Jun 1916 Night Firing  location map

18th Jun 1916 Night Firing  location map

19th Jun 1916 Emplacements  location map

20th Jun 1916 Heavy Shelling  location map

21st Jun 1916 Emplacements  location map

22nd Jun 1916 Working Parties  location map

23rd Jun 1916 Bombardment  location map

24th Jun 1916 Night Firing  location map

25th Jun 1916 Heavy Shelling  location map

26th Jun 1916 Raid  location map

27th Jun 1916 Repairs  location map

28th Jun 1916 Gas  location map

29th Jun 1916 Night Firing  location map

30th Jun 1916 Attack  location map

24th Aug 1916 Reliefs Completed

7th Sep 1916 Line Consolidated  location map

9th Sep 1916 In Action  location map

6th Oct 1916 Enemy Machine Guns Active  location map

5th of December 1916 Spranbroek Group Formed

1st Jan 1917 Artillery Active  location map

2nd Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

3rd Jan 1917 Reliefs  location map

4th Jan 1917 Artillery Active  location map

5th Jan 1917 Artillery in Action  location map

6th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

7th Jan 1917 Bombardment  location map

8th Jan 1917 Heavy Shelling  location map

9th Jan 1917 Intermittent Shelling  location map

10th Jan 1917 Shelling  location map

11th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

12th Jan 1917 Artillery Active  location map

13th Jan 1917 Poor Conditions  location map

14th Jan 1917 Frost  location map

15th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

16th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

17th Jan 1917 Reliefs  location map

18th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

19th Jan 1917 Artillery Active  location map

20th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

21st Jan 1917 Accident  location map

22nd Jan 1917 Artillery AIn Action  location map

23rd Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

24th Jan 1917 Reliefs  location map

25th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

26th Jan 1917 Artillery Active  location map

27th Jan 1917 Artillery Active  location map

28th Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

29th Jan 1917 Shelling  location map

30th Jan 1917 Artillery in Action  location map

31st Jan 1917 Night Firing  location map

30th Jan 1917 Posting

19th of February 1917 A Lively Day

1st Mar 1917 Trench Raid  location map

2nd Mar 1917 Trench Raid  location map

3rd Mar 1917 Trench Work  location map

4th Mar 1917 Working Party  location map

5th Mar 1917 Reliefs  location map

1st Jun 1917 Cleaning up

2nd Jun 1917 Reliefs

3rd Jun 1917 Bombardment  location map

3rd Jun 1917 Transfers

4th Jun 1917 Emplacements  location map

5th Jun 1917 Preparations  location map

6th Jun 1917 Preparations  location map

7th Jun 1917 In Action  location map

8th Jun 1917 Reliefs  location map

9th Jun 1917 Reliefs  location map

20th Nov 1917 Attack Made

24th Dec 1917 Reorganisation

21st Jan 1918 Course

5th Feb 1918 Course Ends

13th Feb 1918 Personnel

21st Feb 1918 Reorganisation

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Want to know more about 47th Company, Machine Gun Corps?


There are:5331 items tagged 47th Company, Machine Gun Corps available in our Library

  These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.


Those known to have served with

47th Company, Machine Gun Corps

during the Great War 1914-1918.

  • Larn MC, MID.. Cyril Francis. Mjr.
  • Murphy Patrick. Pte. (d.12th Sep 1918)

All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of 47th Company, Machine Gun Corps from other sources.


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239016

Mjr. Cyril Francis Larn MC, MID. 47th Battalion Machine Gun Corps

Major Cyril Larn was my father. Prior to joining up as a volunteer he worked as an accountant trainee with the Norwich Union. In 1914 he joined the Norfolk Regiment Cycle Corp, serving with time in Norfolk until his 18th birthday when he joined up as a private, presumably with the Norfolk Light Infantry. In 1915 he transferred to the Machine Gun Corp, was made a Lieutenant, and fought at Ypres and both Battles of the Somme. It was at the Second Battle, now a Major, Commanding Officer of the 47th Battalion, that he was awarded a Military Cross.

Suffering from severe shell shock he was in and out of military hospitals, remaining in the Army as a senior Machine Gun Instructor at Grantham, until 1923, when he left the service. He married in 1924, to Pansy Vincent, from Berghapton, Norfolk, had two children, and started a cherry farm at a village called Aplington. He continued to have mental problems and was in and out of nursing homes and mental hospitals until June 1932 when he took his own life by hanging.

Because suicide was a crime at the time 'Against God and the Crown' my mother was refused permission to bury him in Alpington churchyard. In desperation she sought a meeting with the Bishop of Norwich and pleaded with him for permission. He refused whereupon she broke down and went down on her knees, sobbing. The Bishop eventually relented and said, "Alright Mrs Larn you have my permission to bury your husband in the churchyard but, the grave must be round the back where no one can see the grave, and I will not allow a headstone." The family got round the headstone by installing a marble kerb round the grave plot on which his name still shows, but no mention of his military rank or Military Cross for exceptional bravery. Thank God the world has moved on since then.

Richard Larn




218159

Pte. Patrick Murphy 47th Btn. Machine Gun Corps (d.12th Sep 1918)

Patrick Murphy was executed for desertion 12/09/1918 and buried in Sandpits British Cemetery, Fouquereuil, France.

Patrick Murphy, a private in the 47th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, was just minutes away from his appointment with a firing squad. It was the morning of 12th September 1918. World War I had only a couple of grim months left in it. Murphy, a Dublin native, had thus far avoided German bullets. He was not going to be so lucky with the British ones.

Murphy had been sentenced to death by a British army courts martial for desertion. The word “desertion” was afforded a broad definition during the war to end all wars. It didn’t necessarily mean that the accused had physically fled the place of battle. It could mean that a soldier had, for whatever reason, failed to take part in an operation. Not infrequently, soldiers did not refuse. They were simply unable to do much of anything because of fear, fatigue and shell shock, known more commonly these days as post-traumatic stress disorder. The war to end all wars had indeed been a particularly stressful and traumatic conflict. For countless soldiers on both sides there was nothing post about their trauma and stress. It was all too concurrent.

Murphy’s trauma that September morning can only be imagined. As dawn broke, his eyes were covered. The last sounds he heard were prayers from a chaplain, crisply delivered orders and a volley of rifle shots. Murphy was the last of 26 Irish soldiers, all volunteers, executed by the British army during the four years of war. Most were shot for desertion.

s flynn






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