King's Royal Rifle Corps during WW1

[Martin096]

Hello,

My great granddad served as a private in the King's Royal Rifle Corps during WW1 and I've been trying to find out which battalion he was in. I want to show my dad his path on the WW1 troop movement map:

https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk...=1st-battalion

I've been looking everywhere for this information but can't find anything so I'm hoping someone on here can help me.

Name: William Moranda
Service Number: 58913
Rank: Private
Corps: King's Royal Rifle Corps
Year: 1914-20

[peter nicholl]

Hi and welcome to the Forum. He is shown on the Service Medal and Award Rolls as 2nd Battalion. Their war diaries are available from, at least, the National Archives (pay to download).

[Martin096]

Hi Peter thanks for getting back to me, this is amazing. I purchased the Service Medal records from the National Archives so I'm really looking forward to getting the diary for the 2nd battalion.

How did you work out he was in the 2nd battalion from the roll number? I've been trying figure this out for days. I'm new with researching ww1 and ww2 but it has become a big hobby. My grandad served in the Royal Navy during ww2 on the HMS Premier ship.

I tried visiting your website but it looks like it has gone down.

[Lesley Robertson]

Were you looking at the medal index cards or the Medal and Award Rolls? It's not specified on the former, but is in the column to the right of the men's names on the Roll.

Would he be the William Edward Morand aged 3, son of Ferdinand and Louise, as shown in the 1911 census? Dad's a watchmaker.

[Martin096]

Hi Lesley, I purchased the Medal Index Card. I just had a look at the Medal and Award Rolls on ancestry.co.uk and found the details I was looking for. Peter was right:

Previous Units: 2nd Bn. K.R. Rif C. 58913. Pte

This is really exciting. I was given the Service Number by my great aunt who I spoke to last week. She is now 98 years old. She still remembers a lot from her childhood and experience of the war.

I hope this doesn't sound silly but how do I know which is the correct War Diary. Now that I know he was in the 2nd Battalion I have found 12 results from the National Archive website:

• 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps Date: 1917 Jan - 1919 June
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. Date: 1915 July 1 - 1915 Aug 31
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. Date: 1915 Dec 1 - 1916 Mar 31
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. Date: 1915 Oct 1 - 1915 Nov 30
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. Date: 1916 Apr 1 - 1916 Dec 31
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. Date: 1914 Aug 1 - 1915 June 30
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. Date: 1915 Sept 1 - 1915 Sept 30
• 2 Infantry Brigade: 2 Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. (Described at item level) Date: 1914 Aug 1 - 1916 Dec 31
• 2nd Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Date: 1882-1884
• 2nd Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Date: 1879-1882
• 2nd Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Date: 1884-1886
• 2nd Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Date: 1886-1888

I'm guessing I should be downloading all the ones between 1914 and 1919

[Peter Goodey]

For war diaries, try Ancestry. I believe it's free today.

[Martin096]

Thanks for this. I did actually log into my account and found the war diaries. Turns out that the 2nd infantry bridge diaries were relevant. I saved some of them.

I'm not 100% sure which battles my great grandad was in, but he married and had children from spring 1917 onwards. His time in the war could have been any time between 1914 and early 1917.

Here are a list of battles for the Kings Royal Rifle 2nd Battalion:

1914

Formation And Mobilisation - 04/08/1914 (UK)

Battle Of Mons - 23/08/1914 (1st division)

Retreat From Mons - 24/08/1914

Retreat From Mons - Landrecies - 25/08/1914

Retreat From Mons - Villers-Cotterets - 01/09/1914

Battle Of The Marne - 06/09/1914

Battle Of The Aisne - 13/09/1914

Battle Of The Aisne - Passage Of The Aisne - 13/09/1914

Battle Of The Aisne - Actions On The Aisne Heights - 20/09/1914

Battles Of Ypres - 19/10/1914

Battles Of Ypres - Battle Of Langemarck - 21/10/1914

Battles Of Ypres - Battle Of Gheluvelt - 29/10/1914

Battles Of Ypres - Battle Of Nonne Bosschen - 11/11/1914



1915

Cuinchy - 01/02/1915

Cuinchy - 06/02/1915

Battle Of Festubert - 15/05/1915

Battle Of Loos - 25/09/1915

Battle Of Loos - Hohenzollern Redoubt - 13/10/1915



1916

Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of Delville Wood - 25/07/1916

Battles Of The Somme - Capture And Consolidation Of Delville Wood - 27/07/1916

Battles Of The Somme - Attack Of Waterlot Farm - Guillemont - 08/08/1916

Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of The Ancre - 13/11/1916


1917

Operations On The Ancre - 11/01/1917

Actions Of Miraumont - 17/02/1917

Capture Of The Thilloys - 25/02/1917

Capture Of Grevillers Trench (Near Irles) - 10/03/1917

German Retreat To The Hindenburg Line - 14/03/1917

Battles Of Arras - Battle Of Vimy Ridge - 12/04/1917

Battles Of Arras - Battle Of Arleux - 28/04/1917

Battles Of Arras - Third Battle Of The Scarpe - 03/05/1917

Battle Of Cambrai - Capture Of Bourlon Wood - 27/11/1917

Battle Of Cambrai - German Counter-Attacks - 30/11/1917


1918

First Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of St Quentin - 22/03/1918

First Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of Bapaume - 25/03/1918

First Battles Of The Somme - First Battle Of Arras - 28/03/1918

Second Battles Of The Somme - Battle Of Albert - 21/08/1918

Second Battles Of The Somme - Capture Of Mory Copse - 24/08/1918

Second Battles Of The Somme - Capture Of Behagnies And Sapignies - 25/08/1918

Second Battles Of Arras - Battle Of The Drocourt-Queant Line - 03/09/1918

Battles Of The Hindenburg Line - Battle Of Havrincourt - 11/09/1918

Battles Of The Hindenburg Line - Battle Of The Canal Du Nord - 27/09/1918

Battles Of The Hindenburg Line - Capture Of Mont Sur L' Oeuvre - 01/10/1918

Battles Of The Hindenburg Line - Battle Of Cambrai - 08/10/1918

Battles Of The Hindenburg Line - Capture Of Forenville - 08/10/1918

The Final Advance In Picardy - Battle Of The Selle - 23/10/1918

Armistice And Advance To The Rhine - 11/11/1918