Hi all and a good new year to you all I was wondering was all the lads that died at the Somme July 1st 1916 would they have had there pictures put in to the local paper were families lived and if so how do I get a copy of the picture?. His Name is JOHN MARCHBANKS. He was in the Barnsley pals 13th Bn York & Lancaster Regiment I would also like to know were they were on the Somme that day if possible Thank you all Chris

Hello Chris I can't help with photos but the War Diary of the 1st Barnsley Pals 1 -3 July [13th Battalion and Lancasters] is at:- http://www.pals.org.uk/barnsley/barnsley1.htm Hope this helps Cheers Jean His Name is JOHN MARCHBANKS. He was in the Barnsley pals 13th Bn York & Lancaster Regiment I would also like to know were they were on the Somme that day if possible Thank you all Chris

Hello Chris I have the Barnsley Pals book by Jon Cooksey. It lists all the soldiers of the 13th Battalion of the Yorkshire & Lancashire regiment ( 1st Barnsley Pals) killed on the 1st July 1916 - including your John MARCHBANKS. According to this record, he was born in Spennymoor Co.Durham, and was married. He died at the age of 29. He lived at 5 Obelisk View, Bloomhouse Green, Darton. His regimental number was 13/1233, and he enlisted in Barnsley. The Barnsley Pals were in the 31st Army Division, and on 1st July 1916 they were attacking the German lines in front of the town of Serre. Other units on their sector, were the Accrington Pals, Sheffield City bn, Leeds Pals, Durham Pals, 1st and 2nd Bradford Pals, as well as the 2nd Barnsley Pals. John MARCHBANKS was buried in the Queens Cemetery in PUSIEUX, grave row B.number 56. I had a great uncle also in the 1st Barnsley Pals, who also died on the 1st July 1916. However he is buried in a cemetery behind the lines - which I visited on a WW1 Battlefield tour. Looking at the map of the area, PUSIEUX is some distance away from this part of the front on 1st July. (even behind the German lines), so it's possible that he was one of dead who was re-buried in another much larger cemetery - think they were named concentration cemeteries - where bodies of soldiers from very many small cemeteries in a whole area were re-interred. It's worthwhile visiting the cemetery, as each has a book of remembrance in a "box" in the perimeter wall, sometimes giving more details about the soldier and his family, his previous occupation etc - otherwise you would have to visit yourself. These details are not listed on the War Graves commission website... whilst I checked and found your MARCHBANKS to get the name of the cemetery, and grave location. The obits would be in the Barnsley Chronicle, sometime after 1st July 1916. (Mine was in mid August). I reckon that most of them had relatively simple lines, and at a guess would start in mid July and tail off late in that year. Kind regards Richard in Surrey -----Original Message----- From: west-riding-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:west-riding-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Christopher Marchbanks Sent: 03 January 2008 13:20 To: west-riding@rootsweb.com Subject: [WRY] looking for pictures of Hi all and a good new year to you all I was wondering was all the lads that died at the Somme July 1st 1916 would they have had there pictures put in to the local paper were families lived and if so how do I get a copy of the picture?. His Name is JOHN MARCHBANKS. He was in the Barnsley pals 13th Bn York & Lancaster Regiment I would also like to know were they were on the Somme that day if possible Thank you all Chris ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WEST-RIDING-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message