The Wildgoose Chase

I met Chelsea Pensioner Walter Wildgoose in 1977 when he was 87 and I was 26. Through a series of letters written over the last year of his life, he passed along his life story - the workhouse children's home, a life in the British Army witnessing the opening battles of World War I and life in India, a remarkable family surviving the bombs of World War II London. This blog will document my research and progress on the novel I'm writing about this amazing man.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Aubers Ridge 9 May 1915

Aubers Ridge Memorial, Le Touret where Bert is buried

I haven't started in-depth research on the Battle of Aubers Ridge, where Walter's brother Bert was killed. I pulled some resources from the Imperial War Museum and the British Army Museum while I was in England in May but haven't gone much beyond that. I've check-out all the usual on-line sites focusing on Aubers Ridge, but if anyone knows of solid, resources (print, on-line, whatever) for details on this battle, please let me know.

Bert (Herbert Eustace Wildgoose) - as mentioned before - was in the Black Watch/7th Meerut Division (regimental number 262).

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posted by MaryB @ 9:25 AM  

4 Comments:

  • At 5:56 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Dear Mary

    I know of 2 books on this battle.

    1. "A Serious Disappointment" by Adrian Bristow (Leo Cooper, 1995).
    2. "The Battle of Aubers Ridge" by Hancock (Pen & Sword Battleground Europe series, 2005).

    Another source is Wauchope's "History of the Black Watch in the Great War" (in 3 volumes).

    My great grandfather, Charles Carmichael, 1st or 2nd Battalion, Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) (regimental number S6070) died in this battle.

    From "Soldiers Died in the Great War", volume 46, Herbert Eustace Wildgoose (regimental number 262) is listed as having been killed in action on 9 May 1915 while an acting corporal with the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch. His birth place is given as Aldershot, Hampshire, England and his place of enlistment as Hull, Yorkshire.

    I don't know why he would have enlisted in a Scottish Regiment although the 1st Battalion, Black Watch, were based at Aldershot in 1914, so there may have been some family connection.

    Hope this helps with your researches. If I come across anything else, I'll let you know.

    Ian Young

     

  • At 9:25 AM , Blogger MaryB said...

    Thanks, Ian! I appreciate your help.

     

  • At 2:16 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Dear Mary,
    Probably much too late for you - but Wadhurst, in East Sussex, is twinned with Aubers because we lost 25 young men in that one day. To mark the 60th anniversary of the battle, I gave a talk to the Wadhurst History Society and put that on the Wadhurst website at www.wadhurst.info/whs/aubers/mjhtalk.htm.

    You are welcome to make any use you like of that material if it helps

    Michael Harte

     

  • At 1:03 PM , Anonymous cheap viagra said...

    I have hear creepy stories about that place, in the past some people made a ritual or something like that and something fails and they die and came back from the hell.

     

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