RFA West Lancs Bdes
RFA WEST LANCASHIRE BRIGADES
This web site is dedicated to the men who served in 276 and 286 (West Lancashire) Brigades of the Royal Field Artillery in the Great War 1914-1919.
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Research is ongoing. Last updated: 12 January 2025
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Addresses for men in the Preston area were found in the Absent Voters List 1919, kindly made available in digitised format by Lancashire Archives, Bow Lane, Preston.
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An earlier, hand-written, list of 680xxx service numbers and names and addresses was given to me by Stephen Bull, of the Lancashire Museum. My ambition has been to take that list, complete it, so far as possible, and make it more widely available.
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I am also grateful to Mark Dickinson for information about 276 Brigade, especially battery locations during the Battle of Passchendaele.
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I am grateful to Wayne Finch and Steve Thornley for alerting me to the heroic bravery of D/276 at Little Priel Farm during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, during which 12 men from the battery were awarded medals including one VC, one MC, two DCMs and eight MMs and for providing a host of information and many of the photographs reproduced here.
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Special thanks to David Porter whose knowledge of all things RFA-related is unbounded.
I have been interested in my family history for some time, my initial interest being sparked by the picture below. I discovered that the men served in "C" Battery of 286 (2nd West Lancashire) Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. Since uncovering information about the people in the photo and the period in which it was taken, I have developed a greater interest in military and social aspects of the First World War, both as regards my family members and also the location they lived in - Bamber Bridge and Lostock Hall, adjoining villages south of the River Ribble in Lancashire. This site is dedicated to the men who served in the West Lancashire Brigades of the Royal Field Artilery.
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For information about Bamber Bridge in the First World War, click here
For information about Lostock Hall in the First World War, click here.
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For information about men with the Brierley family name, click here.
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The photograph shows my great-grandfather, Jack Brierley (1857-1924), seated with four of his sons just after they enlisted at Bamber Bridge in the Royal Field Artillery, in May 1915. His sons, left to right, are Bill (1887-1954, my grandfather), Tom (1880-1940), Matt (1895-1953) and Jack (1890-1919). They all served together for most of the War, in the RFA West Lancashire Brigade. They all survived except for Jack who died of flu whilst still serving in Germany after the War had ended.
poppies at Mametz
CONTACT ME
Please get in touch if you have any comments, corrections or additional information, especially photographs.