WW1 Victory & British War Medals to 226266 GNR A.B. Berry R.A., Royal Field Artillery, wounded in action 21 March 1918

 WW1 Victory & British War Medals to 226266 GNR A.B. Berry R.A., Royal Field Artillery, wounded in action 21 March 1918

Albert Berry was from Horeham Road, East Sussex, the son of Ephraim and Fanny Berry, born circa 1898. Born into a large family, by age 13 (1911 census) he was already working as a general labourer. He enlisted on 17 March 1917 at Eastbourne aged 19 years and 11 months. He was given the regimental number 226266. In civil life he was a timber carter's boy, in the employ of James Best, Shepherds Hill, Buxted, Sussex. His next of kin was his father, Ephraim, of Tickerage Cottage, Framfield. Having been enlisted, he was posted to No.8 Depot, Royal Field Artillery at Hilsea and then shortly afterwards to 'D' Battery, 7th (Reserve) Brigade (Territorial Force). Having completed his training, around 21 November 1917 he was posted overseas, joining 223rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery in the field on 29 November 1917, shortly after the closure of Third Ypres. At this time the Brigade was in the Ypres sector, his battery having moved forward into the Stroombeek valley on 16 November, where it remained under orders of HQ 32nd Divisional Artillery until relieved by 'D' Battery of 317th Brigade at 9am on 29 November. 

He served as a gun layer with 'D' Battery of the 223rd Brigade - formerly A (Howitzer) Battery, 1/4th Home Counties (Howitzer) Brigade  - which was attached to 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. The unit operated the Coventry Ordnance Works 4.5" field howitzer, in three sections of two guns each. This piece, described by Hogg and Thurston as the best field howitzer in the world in 1914, fired a 35lb shrapnel shell 7,300 yards, each being manned by a 10-man detachment. 

The War Diary for December 1917 notes that the batteries of the Brigade remained in action near St Julien until 4/5 and 5/6 December, when they were taken out of the line to rest in the wagon lines until 13 December when they began to proceed by march route to join V Corps, Third Army at Lechelle towards the end of the month, the batteries being emplaced near Beaucamp.

Almost immediately the Brigade was in action, firstly providing day and night harassing fire and then responding to a S.O.S. call from the infantry in response to an enemy raid on the line at Welsh Ridge west of La Vacquerie on the 30th (the occasion of the famous John Nash painting, ‘Over The Top’. 1st Artists’ Rifles at Marcoing, 30th December 1917, © IWM (Art.IWM ART 1656)).

This entailed putting down fire on the enemy during the day and then covering a counter-attack which went in at 4.30 in the afternoon. The brigade remained in action here, principally engaged in further day and night harassing fire at an average range of 4,000 yards - interspersed with one Corps barrage on 11 Jan 1918 - until relieved again on 20 January. During this period, batteries also prepared forward positions as well as working on their main positions, which were equipped with the beginnings of mined (i.e. excavated by tunnelling) dugouts. 

Upon becoming V Corps Mobile Reserve Artillery at Equancourt the brigade took the opportunity to institute schemes of training in the morning as well as recreation in the afternoons and evenings, which Gnr Berry probably found welcome, as well as air-raid proofing (providing splinter protection) their huts and horse standings. Training included riding school, riding drill, [gun]laying, musketry, small box respirator drill and signalling. The Brigade returned to action again from 5-15 February at Beaucamp, 'D' Battery being under the command of 19th Divisional Artillery and then from 15-22 February back under control of 63rd Div Arty in the same position, moving (to the Trescault Valley?) to coincide with a shift of the divisional front on 22 February in the afternoon. The main activity was night firing (6pm to 6am) on roads, tracks, trench mortars (in particular), machine gun emplacements, wiring parties, new work and all approaches. Single 'sniping' guns were also moved forward under cover of dark to engage targets beyond the range of the main positions. 'D' Battery sent its gun forwards on the night of the 25th. 

The first ten days of March were noted in the War Diary as marked by great enemy movement, with the guns in the forward position and the 'sniping gun' "continually employed in engaging moving targets". On the 11th, 12th and 13th March each night the valley was shelled and drenched with gas, albeit with reducing numbers of casualties. Between 14 and 16 March, by contrast, the enemy was very quiet, whilst the British field artillery put down harassing fire on the enemy front line at dusk and dawn; a resumption of enemy activity in the daytime over the next three days gave renewed opportunities for sniping.

At the time of the commencement of the German Spring offensive, the 63rd division, part of Fanshawe's V Corps in Byng's Third Army, was occupying the vulnerable tip of the Flesquieres salient midway between Bapaume and Cambrai, west of Havrincourt Wood.

The carefully-planned enemy bombardment opened in the early hours of the morning, particular attention being paid to the rear of the British lines, not just to disrupt communications but also to destroy the British artillery. The Brigade War Diary narrates the attack as follows: "During the night of 20/21st the enemy was quiet until 4am 21st when he started a concentrated bombardment of gas shell on Ribecourt & forward & rear gun positions.  At 6.20am the enemy attacked & S.o.S. Signal was sent up by the Infantry, a good barrage answered this call. At 8am the gas shelling stopped & by 10am the ground was clear of gas. The result of this attack on our sector was that the enemy held a few of our posts. 

     During the day of 21st everything was quiet as our Infantry were preparing to counterattack. During the night the forward sections had orders to withdraw to the intermediate positions in Havrincourt Wood."

Meanwhile, some time on 21 March 1918, Gnr Berry suffered a shrapnel wound to his right leg, resulting in a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula, a piece of shrapnel having seemingly entered his leg via the shin. He was admitted to 149th Field Ambulance, and from there transferred to No. 48 Casualty Clearing Station, where 500 units anti-Tetanus serum was given, and the following day to the 7th Canadian General Hospital before his evacuation to England on 1 April for treatment at the Wharncliff[e] Hospital, Sheffield. His wound was recorded on War Office Daily List No. 5558, dated 6 May 1918, his next of kin address being recorded as 'Framfield'. Whilst nearing the end of his treatment at Wharncliffe  his wound was assessed as 30% disabling, the knee movement being not quite free, ankle movement fair and some wasting to the calf muscle. He also described himself as suffering (or having suffered) from pneumonia due to gassing and deafness due to gunfire. After fourteen months stay in hospital, due to his wound and subsequent 1/2" shortening of the leg, for which he required a special rest, he was discharged Physically Unfit, aged 22, on 12 June 1919, and awarded the Silver War Badge, number B229987. His address on discharge was Upper Honeys Green, Framfield, Sussex.

201456 Pte John McKenna, 5th (Reserve) Battalion, DLI and 10th DLI, wounded Inverness Copse 23 August 1917

201456 Pte John McKenna, 5th (Reserve) Battalion, DLI and 10th DLI, wounded Inverness Copse 23 August 1917

John McKenna of South Shields, born circa 1884, attested his willingness to be enlisted for General Service/service with the Royal Garrison Artillery at South Shields on 11 December 1915 aged 31 years 4 months. Having presumably attested for deferred ('Class A') service, was posted to the Army Section 'B' Reserve the following day. He gave his employment as shipyard worker and union delegate.

He was mobilised on 19 June 1916, being appointed to the Durham Light Infantry at Newcastle and posted to 'C' Company, 3/5th DLI, on 20 June and given the regimental number 4804. He was aged 31 years 10 months at the time and gave his wife Ann McKenna (née McCaffery) as his next of kin. They had married at St. Bede's Roman Catholic Church, South Shields in July 1906 and had one child, Rachael, born in October the following year. The 3/5th DLI was a Territorial reserve battalion, being the third line of the 5th DLI, the first and second lines being (or just about to become) overseas service battalions. The 3/5th subsequently became the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the regiment, and in September 1916 absorbed the 6th-9th Reserve battalions at Newcastle as part of the Northumbrian Reserve Brigade before moving the following month to Redcar and Catterick.

Pte McKenna would have been given his new six-digit Territorial number of 201456 in March 1917 whilst still with the 5th Battalion. He was finally posted overseas to 35th Infantry Base Depot, Etaples on 29 March 1917. From there he was posted under Army Order 204 to the 10th battalion, Durham Light Infantry, "the Shiny Tenth" under Lieutenant-Colonel Hubert Morant, on 18 April, probably joining them in the field shortly afterwards. At this time the unit was part of 43rd Infantry Brigade, 14th (Light) Division, in General Allenby’s Third Army.

At this time, the 10th Battalion had recently returned from the trenches by Arras, having taken part in the assaults on the Hindenburg Line (Nice Trench and the Blue and Brown Lines near Wancourt) on the opening day of the First Battle of the Scarpe, the first day of the Arras offensive. Although successful in its attacks, the battalion suffered in excess of 100 wounded on 9 April, Easter Monday 1917, and over 120 casualties on the 10th. During its rest at Sus St Leger in the Manin district, when Private Frisby is likely to have joined it, the battalion was training and firing musketry courses at Ficheux Wood, subsequently relieving 151st Brigade in the area Ronville to Telegraph Hill, where the battalion was mainly engaged in salvage work (including recovering ammunition, grenades etc for battalion use) in the vicinity of the old German front line. The battalion was then employed, with the rest of the Brigade, as divisional reserve in Niger Trench for the failed attack by the 41st and 42nd Brigades on the Wancourt Line, part of the Second Battle of the Scarpe, which took place on 3 and 4 May. ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies went into the line on 7/8 May, and made nightly patrols, whilst ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies were in reserve.

After further spells in the line, the Brigade moved out via Reserve Brigade Camp, Beaurains, Beaumetz and Saulty to the Divisional Rest Area at Bus-les-Artois in the middle of June for rest, particular orders being given regarding the cleanliness and order of the trenches and shelters left and the handing over of trench stores. March turnout (including the tidiness of packs and availability of Small Box Respirators and P.H. (Phenate Hexamine) Helmets) and discipline on the march were also addressed, a letter in relation to the latter from the Brigadier-General Commanding being read out to all ranks at Parade at the commanding officer’s instruction before setting off. In rest the battalion occupied itself with cleaning, inspection, various training, saluting drill, Church Parade and entertainments by the Pom-Poms (a theatrical troupe?) and the battalion’s band, and a divisional horse show in which the battalion took two prizes. Two officers were also detailed to observe a Platoon attack at the Third Army Infantry School at Auxi-le-Chateau and early the following month the battalion took part in brigade tactical schemes, in which the battalion did well, and a field day. The final day before mobilisation parade on 9 July was a holiday including sending off a party of thirty to Delville Wood (where the battalion had been heavily engaged at the end of August 1916) and games in camp. 

July 1917: Preparations for Third Ypres

Thereafter, the division moved to Gezaincourt and Doullens to join IX Corps of Second Army at St Jans Capel, near Bailleul, for more training, taking up the rest of the month, and a General Inspection by the Second Army Commander, General Plumer on 26 July. (As a matter of interest, the companies of the battalion at this time were all wearing a mixture of leather (438 sets) and webbing (311 sets) equipment, and part of the instructions for the inspection concern inter-company exchanges to secure that only ‘A’ Company wore leather equipment so as to present a uniform appearance.)

From 9 August the battalion moved via Caestres and Abeele to Dickebusche prior to going back into the line at Inverness Copse astride the Menin Road four miles from Ypres and a mile and a half out East of Hooge, marching off from Zillebeke Bund on 21 August in order to participate in the Battle of Langemarck. After taking casualties from both gas and shell en route, the four companies were distributed as follows; two to hold the original front line after the assaulting battalions had left it (in ‘A’ Company’s case, the original front line South of the Menin Road), one company (probably ‘B’) to follow the right assaulting battalion to form a defensive flank if needed, and one company in reserve. ‘B’ Company, following the assault on the right of the line pushed on as far as the Dry Lake (Company HQ) and one platoon got as far as Harenthage Chateau, capturing the garrison of the chateau, but suffered severe casualties and was forced by 10am to withdraw back to the Dry Lake. Nevertheless, the two platoons of DLI defenders were able to maintain the line for two days, beating off an enemy attack on the night of the 24th and then able to spare a platoon to more or less re-establish the centre of the line.

Whilst the action around Harenthage Chateau was taking place, two platoons of the Reserve Company were sent to Inverness Copse before 9am on the morning of 22 August in support of the left flank of the much-depleted Somerset Light Infantry and dug in just outside the wood at its Northern edge. The copse and its right flank was further reinforced throughout the day and evening by A Company, the other two platoons of the Reserve Company and a further platoon, followed that night by the rest of the company holding the original front line North of the Menin Road. 

The following account taken from Captain Wilfrid Miles' "The Durham Forces in the Field", relating to the part played by the 10th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry in the Third Battle of Ypres, expands on the battle:

"The tenth were the next [of the service battalions of the Durham Light Infantry] to enter the battle. They arrived at Zillebeke Bund on August 20th and on the following day the officers reconnoitred the brigade line which lay astride the Menin Road, west of Inverness Copse. At 2.00am on August 22nd the battalion came forward through a bombardment of gas shells to occupy support positions for the attack. By the time a hostile barrage in Sanctuary Wood was passed casualties already amounted to 60. 'A' company were in the open on Stirling Castle ridge, south of the Menin Road; 'B' company in support trenches in Sanctuary Wood; and 'C' and 'D' companies in the tunnels under the road. When the attacking battalions advanced two hours later, the 10th occupied the old British front line. But one company had to follow the Somersets on the right, and form a defensive flank facing south, besides sending a bombing section and some rifle grenadiers up Jasper Lane to meet and escort a tank. The monster did not keep the appointment, but this party pushed on and captured a German machine-gun and its detachment as well. Meanwhile the rest of the company had pushed forward on the right and established themselves in the vicinity of Dry Lakes. Here the company commander was killed after organising a successful attack upon a machine-gun which was taken, together with 5 Germans. The leading platoon managed to reach Herenthage Chateau and the platoon commander and his surviving men accepted the surrender of the garrison. There were 50 prisoners to bring back, but few, if any, of the party survived the terrific shell fire encountered on the way. What remained of this company of the 10th withdrew during the morning to a position in Jasper Avenue.The Somerset Light Infantry who led the brigade attack upon the right, had passed through Inverness Copse and would have taken Jap Trench if the left battalion had not been held up at their first objective. To conform to their line on their left the Somersets now had to fall back to a position in the copse, astride the Menin Road. At 8.50am they asked for reinforcement. Two platoons from one of the reserve companies of the 10th went forward and dug a post north of the copse, where they were in touch with the Cornwalls who were lying in a chain of shell-holes in front of the trench they had taken. At eleven o clock more reinforcements were required and a company of the 10th were sent forward to the western edge of Inverness Copse. In response to later appeals more of the 10th were put in, till, by evening, the whole battalion had gone into the copse to reinforce the line. The night was comparatively quiet, but at 4.30 in the morning of August 23rd British tanks arrived upon the scene and at once became a target for the German guns. One tank, which had evidently lost its bearings, travelled along the northern outskirts of the copse and fired upon the post there, wounding 2 men. Afterwards it was put out of action, being hit twice by German shells. No ground was gained on this day and at night the hostile shell fire was much heavier, while our own gunners put down a heavy barrage." In the midst of this action Pte McKenna suffered a severe Gun Shot Wound (any penetrating wound, including shrapnel - his fragmentary surviving record appears to indicate that the wound was to his right side) on 23* August 1917. He was probably either an artillery casualty or (conceivably) a victim of friendly fire from the British tank mentioned above. Whilst Pte McKenna was being taken back through the casualty evacuation chain towards the base hospitals on the French coast, the battalion successfully held off German counterattacks throughout the day of the 24th whilst under shellfire from the British guns, only relinquishing the wood (save its north-west corner) at nightfall, before being relieved the following day. Pte McKenna, one of 369 casualties suffered out of a battalion strength of 628 at the start of the battle, featured on War Office Daily [Casualty] List No.5375 dated 27 September 1917.

After hospitalization and stabilisation treatment in France, Pte McKenna was evacuated home from France on 6 September 1917, being posted for records purposes to the 73rd Territorial Force Depot (the Drill Hall, Stockton-on-Tees) the following day, 7 September 1917. After a period of hospitalisation of roughly two months, he was posted to Ripon Command Depot to convalesce on 12 November 1917, returning apparently to his old reserve battalion on 1 January 1918.

Subsequently he was transferred to the Territorial Force Reserve (Army Reserve Class 'W' - 'for all those soldiers whose services are deemed to be more valuable to the country in civil rather than military employment') on 20 March 1918 for employment in shipbuilding with John Readhead & Sons, South Shields. He and his wife subsequently adopted a daughter, Peta Fortescue. He was discharged under paragraph 392 xxva of King's Regulations on 19 March 1919; this provision related to soldiers who were 'surplus to military requirements (not having suffered impairment since entry into the service)', thus implying that he had enjoyed a full recovery from his wound. His transfer to the Army Class Z Reserve followed on 5 May 1919.

Upon discharge his address was given as 13 John Williamson Street, South Shields, and his military character was given as 'Good'.

For his service with the Durham Light Infantry (the old 68th of Foot, as noted on his medal index card) he was entitled to the British War Medal and Victory Medal, receipt of which was acknowledged on 1 April 1922.

John McKenna died on 4 August 1921.

*26 August according to the Military History sheet in his records: this is almost certainly incorrect however, as the battalion had been withdrawn from the firing line to Ouderdom the preceding day