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59th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery    59th Siege Battery RGA were based in India when war broke out in 1914. They returned to England in December and proceeded to France in early 1915. They served on the Western Front until the end of the conflict. 4th August 1914 Location Oct 1914 On the Move 11th Nov 1914 Move 19th Nov 1914 On the Move 23rd Dec 1914 On the Move 8th Jan 1915 Equipment 15th Jan 1915 Ammunition Columns 17th Jan 1915 Ammunition Column 20th Feb 1915 Ammunition 5th March 1915 On the Move 6th March 1915 On the Move 8th March 1915 On the Move 9th March 1915 March   10th March 1915 In Action   11th March 1915 In Action   12th March 1915 Counter Attack   19th Apr 1915 New Positions   2nd May 1915 Wounded 3rd May 1915 Heavy Fighting   9th May 1915 In Action 13th May 1915 New Positions   8th Jun 1915 Heavy Fighting   9th Jun 1915 Heavy Fighting   16th Jun 1915 In Action   10th Aug 1915 New Positions   19th Aug 1915 Shelling   31st Aug 1915 Move   19th Sep 1915 Shelling   21st Sep 1915 In Action   22nd Sep 1915 In Action   23rd Sep 1915 In Action   24th Sep 1915 In Action   25th Sep 1915 Assualt Launched  At 6.30 on the morning of 25th of September 1915, the four-day artillery bombardment paused, gas and smoke was released and the infantry assault was launched. The gas released on I Corps front hung between the lines or blew back into British positions, notably on the northern flank around the Brickstacks. To the northern edge of the battlefield, advancing infantry emerging from the cloud suffered high losses as they were met with devastating machine gun fire. The second wave advanced once the gas at cleared, only this time to be cut down by a hail of machine gun fire and a shower of bombs. Gas was far more effective on IV Corps front south of the Grenay Ridge, in front of 15 & 47 Division sector the gas drifted towards the German trenches and the advance more successful. On some divisional fronts the gas was supplemented with smoke candles, as gas was not available in sufficient quantity. Even though it would not cause casualties, the smoke looked the same as gas and so forced the defenders to continue taking all the inconvenient anti-gas precautions. It had been estimated that to clear the German positions would require two hours of gas: but there was only enough for forty minutes, which even then, had to be supplemented with smoke. Many of the British units achieved their first objectives, but the reserve troops urgently needed to exploit these initial successes were a long way back and after a long exhausting march did not go into action until the following day. By which time the German reinforcements were counter-attacking and the British were driven back. By the end of the day the Allies had lost 13 Battalion commanders, over 400 officers and 8,500 men of other ranks. 25th Sep 1915 In Action   27th Sep 1915 Shelling   29th Sep 1915 Shelling   9th Oct 1915 Move   19th Oct 1915 On the March   9th Nov 1915 On the March   10th Nov 1915 In Position   2nd Jan 1916 Shelling 3rd Jan 1916 Shelling 10th Jan 1916 New Position   18th Jan 1916 Change of Position   19th Jan 1916 Shelling   16th May 1916 Shelling 23rd May 1916 Shelling 29th May 1916 Shelling 7th Jun 1916 On the Move 14th Jun 1916 New Positions 24th Jun 1916 U Day  On the Somme the count down to the Big Push begins. Allied artillery bombard the enemy trenches and the infantry undertake final preparations. 24th Jun 1916 Registration 25th Jun 1916 V Day  Allied Artillery are active, firing shells to cut the belts of wire protecting the enemy trenches and damage the defences. RFC pilots report large explosions at enemy dumps at Longueval, Montauban, Mametz Wood and Pozieres. As the German artillery responds to the bombardment, the positions of 102 hostile batteries are identified. Three enemy observation balloons on Fourth Army front are shot shown by aircraft of the RFC. As darkness falls, the infantry holding the allied front line sent out raiding parties to judge the situation. Reports bring mixed news, in some areas, such as at Montauban, the enemy are lightly manning badly damaged trenches, but in other areas such as La Boisselle and Ovillers, the enemy remains at full strength. 25th Jun 1916 Observation Balloon 26th Jun 1916 Firing Rate Increased  W Day. At 9 am the Allied artillery begin a destructive shoot with 80 minutes of intense shellfire. Air photographs from the Royal Flying Corps appear to show good destruction of wire, but wire cutting shellfire was increased with batteries firing at rate of 4-500 shells per gun per day. Gas is released by the Royal Engineers at at Beaumont Hamel and smoke in other parts of the line. Ten trench raids are carried out by infantry units, news is mixed and few prisoners captured, but interrogations give cause for optimism as they are expecting only localised attacks. 26th Jun 1916 Explosions Observed 27th Jun 1916 Bombardment Continues  X Day dawned with thick mist and heavy rain, making artillery observation impossible, the bombardment was continued. Infantry trench raids bring in mixed reports, with bombardment damage and wire destruction being very varied, and the enemy trenches manned in greater numbers. 27th Jun 1916 Record 28th Jun 1916  28th Jun 1916 Bombardment Continues  Y Day. The thick mist and heavy rain continues as does the bombardment. The last of the allied gas shells are used. The infantry continue their preparations for the battle. 28th Jun 1916 Observation Difficult 29th Jun 1916 Great attack postponed  The date fixed for great attack is postponed for forty-eight hours. Battalions ordered to "stand fast". 29th Jun 1916 Poor Weather 30th Jun 1916 Bombardment 1st Jul 1916 Bombardment 2nd Jul 1916 Ground Gained 3rd Jul 1916 Artillery not as Active 4th Jul 1916 HQ Moves   4th Jul 1916 HQ Moves   If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Want to know more about 59th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery? There are:5299 items tagged 59th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery 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 59th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery during the Great War 1914-1918. Murphy DCM, MID.. Richard. Bmdr. Spencer Albert. AM2. (d.25th Jul 1916) Swaisland William Henry. Gnr. (d.29th September 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 59th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. Looking for help with Family History Research?    Please see Family History FAQ's Please note: We are unable to provide individual research. Can you help? The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Announcements 18th Dec 2024     Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 265120 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. 258086 AM2. Albert Spencer 22 Squadron (d.25th Jul 1916) Albert Spencer was the son of John and Panny Spencer of 2 Mitella St., Burnley. He was born in Crawshawbooth, Manchester. He was a Wireless Operator known to be attached to 59th Siege Battery RGA near Montauban when he was killed in action. He is listed on the Battle of the Somme Roll of Honour to RFC. Photo found on car boot sale. Michael Woods Add to this record. 247382 Bmdr. Richard Murphy DCM, MID. 59th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery My Grandfather, Richard Murphy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1890. He left Ireland in 1906, and lived temporarily with his elder brother, who was a coal miner, in South Wales. He joined the army in 1909 at Swansea, and was posted into the Royal Garrison Artillery, with the 59th Siege Battery. He was posted to India, date unknown, prior to 1911, where 59th and 81st Siege Natteries were based at Roorkee, India. They returned to England sometime in late 1914 or early 1915, and entered the war in France approximately April 1915. He fought in the Battle of Loos, apparently deployed near the town of Vermelles. During the opening days of the battle, he went into hostile territory to repair field telephone lines between his company's guns and observation point, whilst under fire. He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. During his service he was promoted to the rank of Corporal, which I believe is Bombardier in artillery terms, date unknown. It is believed he was injured at some point in the war, and is known to have been a signalling instructor at, or near Winchester, where he married in 1918. He survived the war to raise a family in Oxford, where he died aged 80, in 1970. Paul Murphy Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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