My Granddad goes to the front.

30th October 1916.

My Granddad leaves Le Havre to join his unit at the front.

He goes to join 140 Siege Battery RGA on the Somme.
A battery of 4, 6" Howitzers.

The battery position was at Authuille Wood, near Aveluy, just north of Albert.
The Battle of the Somme was in its fourth month.
Reginald Groves had been killed near Le Sars on the first of the month.

This shows the exact location of the battery on a WW1 trench map.

The battery was part of 36 [Australian] HAG [Heavy Artillery Group] and contained the following siege batteries: 14 SB, 23 SB, 33 SB, 80 SB, 129 SB, 140 SB and 177 SB.

My Granddad goes to war. 1916.

Gunner John Leeson RGA [96749].

He volunteered on the 10th December 1915, [age 27].  Conscription was introduced by law on 27/1/16.  But such was the flood of volunteers that he was not called up immediately.

He was not mobilised until 12-16th June 1916 at Fort Burgoyne, Dover, which was No.1 Depot Royal Garrison Artillery [RGA].  This depot processed about 1000 recruits per month.  He underwent four months training [16/6/16 to 21/10/16] drill, gunnery and fitness.

He had vaccinations on 28^th July 1916 and 29^th August at Fort Grain in Thames estuary.

This was the base for 18 Company RGA under Major R. Keogh.

There is also a note in his pay book, ‘3 [B] Siege Depot Bexhill’, which is near Hastings, so he may also have been posted there during his training.

Prior to going to France he was at No:2 Depot, RGA, at Fort Brockhurst, Gosport.

 On 21^st October 1916 he was moved overseas to B. S/Bty (Base Depot, Siege Batteries) RGA at Le Havre, France and was placed on active service in the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force), the next day he was issued with his pay book and he wrote and signed his will which was a section of that book.

Le Havre was a massive base for supplies, reinforcements and remounts (horses).

The RGA’s No:1 General Base Depot was located at Camp 12, approximately a quarter of a mile to the west of Harfleur station.

There he was processed for the front and only now allocated to his unit.  He was there for 8 days till 29/10/16.  He was posted to 140 Siege Battery RGA on 30/10/16.

140 SB was then part of 36 [Australian] Heavy Artillery Group (HAG), in the II Corps, of the 5^th Army, positioned at that time on the Somme, supporting the final phases of the battle that had started on 1^st July.