N Lancaster Brigade 55th division then 57th

[ChrisCurls]

Hi. I am new to all this. I have found a family record that starts in 2nd/5th battalion King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment but then states "moved to Sevenoaks and joined N Lancaster Brigade of the 55th Division in Feb 1915". In April 1915 "transferred to 170th Brigade of the 57th division".
When I try to search by these Regimental/ Brigade names and numbers they don't appear in the Regiment History search results. How can I find out more about the service of the battalions etc in WW1 and in particular my ancestor? I know he died of wounds 27.09.18 but not where. Any assistance appreciated, thank you

[Frankie#88]

Hi Chris,

I'm new to all this myself so i'm no expert but you could try ancestry.co.uk as they have WW1 record's, don't quote me on it but the WW1 record's could be free for the time being, so you may be able to at least find something on your ancestor there.

You should look at forces war record's website too.

Then there's the find a grave website which if your ancestor is on there it will tell you where he buried and the lastly you could try the commonwealth war grave's website.

I hope that's some use and I wish you luck with your search.

Frankie

[simmo1]

HI

His name would be a good start, and service number if you know it. Then we can look at various sites to find more information.
Ancestry and CWGC are certainly sites to start the search,
regards

Robert

[ChrisCurls]

Thank you both for that information and giving me plenty of ideas to move forward. I do have his service number so will try the CWGC first of all as it's mostly his service record that I wish to try and trace at the moment. My sister is researching the family generally and looking at Ancestry where she found his original information. very many thanks again for taking the time to reply to my question. Kind regards, Chris

[simmo1]

Hi

55th Division - https://www.1914-1918.net/55div.htm
57th Division- https://www.1914-1918.net/57div.htm

You should be able to work out which battalion he was in from his Medal Index Card and the Medal Roll on Ancestry.

regards

Robert

[ChrisCurls]

Hi Robert. Thank you for your reply. His record states he was in the 2/5th Battalion Territorial Force, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Can you explain to me what the 2/5th means by any chance please? I don't understand what the numbers relate to.I imagine that Territorial Force means he was ground troops/ infantry and I am pursuing further enquires via the regimental museum services.
Thank you for taking the time to assist.
Kind regards
Chris

[ChrisCurls]

Hi again Robert. I've just taken a longer look and read of the information on the 2 links you gave me and they are very interesting in seeing what his Division did in the Great War and I hope to find out more about Andrew himself though the regimental records. Thanks again, Chris

[simmo1]

Hi Chris

Read about 2/5 here - https://www.1914-1918.net/kingsown.htm - it was a second line battalion - some explanation here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_Force

regards

Robert