224413 Sidney Charles Crutchley MM.British Army 6th/7th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles from:Walsall, Staffordshire Sidney Charles Crutchley's Army Record
April 1915 – enlisted as a volunteer in the 6th Service Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. (The only RIR battalion to serve in Salonika.) The 6th service battalion had been formed in Dublin in 1914 and by February 1915 was at The Curragh racecourse.
May 1915 – 6/RIR arrived in Hackwood Park, Basingstoke for training which is where Sidney probably joined them.
- July 7th 1915 sailed from Liverpool for Mudros Island (via Alexandria, Egypt), the staging post for Gallipoli, arriving 26th July 1915.
- August 5th 1915 landed at Anzac Cove.
- September 29th back to Mudros.
- October 4th/5th to Salonika.
- October 23rd 1915.
- December in the Salonika salient.
- Sydney was probably invalided home in the spring or early summer of 1916 with malaria. On recovery he would have been posted to the 7/RIR, 48th brigade, 16th, division in France.
- August 30th 1916 – travelled by train from Chocques to Longueau and from there marched to Corbie.
- August 31st Marched to Sandpit Camp.
- Battles of the Somme.
- Battle of Guillemont.
- September 3rd moved to Carnoy.
- September 4th moved forward to Bernafey Wood near Guillemont.
- September 6th Three stong patrols sent into Ginchy.
- September 7th Took over the front line west of Ginchy.
- September 8 During the night, dug assembly trenches west of the sunken road between Guillemont and Ginchy, some 200 yards in front of the British line.
- Battle of Ginchy.
- September 9th Attack on Ginchy – the men moved forward at 4.45 pm – 1st Munster Fusiliers on the right and the 7th Royal Irish Fusiliers on the left. The German front line on the outskirts of Ginchy were soon taken and consolidated. The new positions won by the RIR came under heavy bombardment from their own British Artillery – news of their existence beyond no-man’s land apparently had not reached the batteries.
- September 11th sent back to Corbie to rest.
- September 18th back as far as Longpre.
- September 21st sent by train to the Ypres sector.
- November/December 1916 awarded the Military Medal but we don't know under what circumstances.
- March 25th 1917 M.M. announced in the London Gazette.
- June 7th/9th Battle of Messines (1X corps Second Army).
- June 7th – capture of Wytschaete.
- Battles of Ypres.
- July 31st – 2nd August – Battle of Pilckem Ridge (in reserve, XIX Corps, Fifth Army).
- August 16-18th – Battle of Langemarck (XIX Corps, Fifth Army.
- August 18th 1917 announcement in the Walsall Observer that he was in hospital in Epsom, Surrey suffering from malarial fever. Sidney was by now a corporal.
- August 23rd the 7/RIR was transferred to the 49th brigade, 16th division.
- October 15th 1917 the 7/RIR was transferred from the 16th division to the 36th division.
- Battle of Cambrai.
- November 20 and 21st -The tank attack. (IV Corps, Third Army.)
- November 23–27 The capture of Bourlon Wood (IV Corps, Third Army.)
- December 3rd The German counterattack. (108th Bde, with 61st Division.) (III Corps, Third Army.)
- First Battles of the Somme.
- 21-23 March 1918 Battle of St Quentin (XVIII Corps, Fifth Army).
- 24-25 March 1918 Actions at the Somme Crossings (XVIII Corps, Fifth Army).
- 26-27 March 1918 Battle of Rosieres (XVIII, Fifth Army).
- April 10-11 Battle of Messines (108 bde, with 19th division)(IX Corps, Second Army).
- April 13 – 1918 Battle of Bailleul (108th Bde, with 19th division) (IX Corps, Second Army).
- April 17 – 18 1918 First Battle of Kemmel Ridge. (108th Bde, with 19th division) (IX Corps, Second Army).
- July 20th to September 19th Advance to Victory (IX Corps, Second Army).
- The Final Advance in Flanders.
- September 28th to October 2nd 1918 - Battle of Ypres (II Corps, Second Army).
- October 14th--19th 1918 – Battle of Courtrai (II Corps, Second Army).
- October 25th 1918 Ooteghem (II Corps, Second Army).
- October 28th it was relieved in the front line and moved back towards the Lys valley between Courtrai and Menin, with headquarters at Belleghem. The Division was now transferred to X Corps.
- November 4th divisional headquarters and 107th and 108th Brigades moved into Mouscron (north-east of Tourcoing).
- November 9th the Division came under XV Corps. The troops were still occupying the same positions when the Armistice brought hostilities to a close at 11 a.m. on the 11th November.
- The Division settled down for the winter in Mouscron (divisional headquarters, 107th and 108th Brigades, two field companies, two field ambulances, and the Train). On 7th December H.M. the King with H.R.H. The Prince of Wales and Prince Albert passed through the divisional area. During this month the troops were employed in military training and education, and 54,203 attendances were recorded at the divisional educational classes.
On the 30th and 31st January 1919 H.R.H. The Prince of Wales paid a two days’ visit to the Division; and during this month about four thousand men left for demobilisation. Gradually, the Division dwindled, units were reduced to cadre. On the 25th of February 1919 Sidney was demobbed.
|