CHJ Meek volunteered into the 27th NF (4th Tyneside Irish) (General)

by admin , Forest of Dean, Friday, November 24, 2006, 22:30 (6565 days ago) @ slowhands

The historian has confirmed the following. CHJ Meek volunteered into the 27th NF (4th Tyneside Irish) and was sent to France in1915 . As with many he was wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and was hospitalised.

After convalescing he was assigned to the 25th NF (2nd Tyneside Irish) where he served until wounded again in 1917. Due to the heavy losses of the TI Btn many soldiers were reassigned to other duties and CHJ Meek was again transferred into the 1/4th NF assigned to the 149th Light Trench Mortar Battery where he served until his death in April 1918. 

He survived his brother Francis Reginald Meek of  the 171st Tunnelling Company  by one year who was killed in action in 1917. FR Meek originally volunteered to the 1st Monmouthshire Regiment however was drafted into the Royal Engineers due to his skills gained as a miner in the  Forest Of Dean, as were several generations before them.

There are a number of books available on the miners drafted in to Tunnelling Companies from the Forest of Dean due to their specialist skills if interested people can check out the The Long, Long Trail Website.

http://www.forest-of-dean.net/downloads/files/C_H_J_Meek.pdf