Driver G C W Hornsby, 154th (Hampshire) Battery Royal Garrison Artillery

Dvr George Charles W Hornsby 154th (Hampshire) Heavy Battery RGA

George Charles W Hornsby was born on 21 April 1898 in Shirley; his birth was registered in South Stoneham, both near Southampton.

In 1911, aged 12, George lived at No 4 Bond Street, Northam, Southampton with George, his father, a railway yard foreman, and mother Mary Jane and siblings. In civilian life, immediately before he joined the army he was an apprentice turbine fitter. 

As shown on his Certificate of Enployment, George joined the Territorial Royal Garrison Artillery on 18 November 1914, probably the 2/1st Wessex (Hampshire) Heavy Battery, which remained in the UK after the Wessex Division proceeded to India on Garrison duties. Employed as a Driver, he may have been incorporated into 154th (Hants) Heavy Battery when it was formed circa October 1915. However, that battery went overseas to France on 30 April 1916 and the fact that Dvr Hornsby's medals only show his January 1917 'renumbering of the Territorial RGA' number of 352653 might suggest that he was sent overseas separately as a reinforcement after this date, joining the battery whilst in France. At this latter time the battery was part of 60 Heavy Artillery Group, having joined this group on 3 October 1916 and remaining with it (for the most part) until July 1917.

Heavy Batteries were most often employed in destroying or neutralising enemy artillery, as well as shelling strongpoints, dumps, store, roads and railways behind enemy lines. Opponents included (on the Western Front) German 5.9" and 4.2" Howitzers fulfilling equivalent roles. Unlike siege batteries, the 60pdr guns of the heavy batteries were mainly horse-drawn. His Certificate of Employment shows that Hornsby was a First Class Driver, RGA.

From November 1917 to November 1918, with minor exceptions the battery was serving with 87 Heavy Artillery Group (later 87 Brigade) Royal Garrison Artillery. In November 1917 the HAG was part of the Third Army Corps Artillery at Cambrai. On 21 March 1918, the date of the commencement of the German Spring Offensive, it was at Beaumetz on the Bapaume to Cambrai road where it was shelled, taking some casualties before withdrawing that evening. By the Armistice 87th Brigade was with Second Army. It seems possible that Dvr Hornsby remained with the battery throughout his active service, seemingly being demobilised sometime after 25 January 1919. Under 'Special Remarks' on his Certificate of Employment he is described as "A good driver with a thorough knowledge of horses. Is a very reliable man & I can confidently  recommend him as a good worker. His conduct has been very good throughout his service."

Once demobilized, Dvr Hornsby would have received his medals some time in 1920. He married Winifred M Broomfield in June 1923, and the 1939 Census Register shows him as a marine engineer. He died in January 1982 in Southampton, Hampshire. 

Trio to L-13921 Bdr Herbert Hornby MM, 32nd (Hull) Divisional Ammunition Column

L-13921 Bdr Herbert Hornby MM, 32nd (Hull) Divisional Ammunition Column

Herbert Hornby was born circa 1892. He married Annie Hornby (née Lawin(?)) on 1 November 1913 at St Charles' Church, Hull. By 1915 he lived at 17 Tunis Street, Nicholson Street, Hull. The couple had two children, Herbert born in 1913 and William, born in March 1916. Herbert Senior was either  (depending upon which source is consulted) a Rullyman (carter) or carting agent in civilian life, and enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery as a Driver on 1 April 1915, at the Central Hull Recruiting Office under the regimental number L/13921 ('L' standing for local enlistment - the RFA equivalent of a 'Pals' unit). He was aged 23 years and 6 months on enlistment and was posted to his unit, the 38th (later 31st and then 32nd) (Hull) Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery (Hull Divisional Ammunition Column) the following day. This ammunition column was originally part of 31st Division (formerly 38th Division), and was raised principally from members of the City Police Force and Tramways, under the command of Lt Col. James Walker. Dvr Hornby was promoted to Bombardier on 10 August 1915.

Bdr Hornby is recorded as having proceeded to France on 30 December 1915. 31st Divisional Ammunition Column (as it then was) embarked from Southampton on 29 December 1915 and disembarked at Le Havre on 30 December, joining the 32nd Division at Argoeuves the next day, in a swap with the Lancashire-raised 32nd DAC, which went instead to Egypt with the 31st Division. He enjoyed a week's leave to the UK 7-15 May 1916. At around this time the column would have been part of Fourth Army. On 10 July 1916, in the midst of a month's further leave to the UK under authority of AA&QMG Fourth Army a/104/125/d/-19.6.16, he was appointed Acting Corporal and confirmed in rank the same day. His service during 1916 would have encompassed The Battle of Albert,

The Battle of Bazentin, and

The Battle of the Ancre, all phases of the Battle of the Somme.

Operations in 1917 would have included Operations on the Ancre and The pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in the early part of the year. In May 1917 he was bereaved by the death of his youngest son William, aged 14 months.

Corporal Hornby's Military Medal was Gazetted in the London Gazette for 28 July 1917, covering awards for Messines, 7 June 1917 and Arras, May 1917. It was around this time that he was wounded in action but remained at duty, on 5 June 1917. The DAC War Diary records his award as being "for conspicuous work in the Messines battle". 13950 Gunner E Bacon and 14939 Sgt H Clinton also received Military Medals for the same cited reason. Sgt Clinton appears to have been awarded his MM for the same action as Bdr Hornby, whilst Gnr Bacon was cited for "assisting wounded under shell-fire whilst himself wounded". It appears that Hornby and Clinton's exploits were linked to that of 2/Lt P R Hamilton of No.1 Section, who was awarded the Military Cross "for gallantry performed while engaged on an ammunition dump run by this unit in connection with the Messines-Wytschaete Battle". The war diary notes that at this time the unit was attached to 36th Divisional Artillery. A short account of the exploit was published in the Hull Daily Mail for Thursday 16 August 1917, entitled 'GALLANT HULL MEN. DECORATIONS IN D.A.C.'. Speaking of 2/Lt Hamilton, it states that "Second-Lieut. Hamilton has been awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous good work and gallantry in the battle. When a truck containing gun ammunition was struck by enemy shell fire he, in spite of the shelling, assisted by two N.C.O.'s, derailed same and dragged the blazing boxes away, thereby averting a serious explosion. Sergeant H. Clinton and Corporal H. Hornby have been awarded the Military Medal for conspicuous good work and gallantry in the Messines Battle when they assisted Second-Lieut Hamilton to derail a blazing truck of ammunition, and obtaining drag-ropes extracted the blazing boxes." Regimental Orders, as cited on his Army Form B.122 Regimental Conduct Sheet, indicate that he was with No.1 Section at this time.

Later, on 8 September 1917, Cpl Hornby was appointed Acting Sergeant and then promoted immediately to Sergeant. Again, this coincided with a period of UK leave, this time of ten days.

After the war's end he served with the British Army of the Rhine, terminated by admission to 44 Casualty Clearing Station and 7th General Hospital with V.D.G., culminating in his evacuation home per S.S. 'St. Andrews' on 31 March 1919.

After further stays in military hospitals in Cambridge between May and June 1919, he was subsequently posted to 19 (Reserve) Battery at Woolwich and demobilised via the Ripon Dispersal Centre by posting to the Army 'Z' Reserve on 13 July 1919, being formally discharged to demobilisation on 31 March 1920. By this time his address was 156 Fountain Road, Hull, Yorks. He acknowledged receipt of his Military Medal in March 1920, having expressed the preference not to have a public presentation, receiving his 1914-15 Star in May, and British War and Victory Medals in September.

21/1116 Pte Peter Brown: three times wounded, Northumberland Fusiliers and Labour Corps

21/1116 Pte Peter Brown: three times wounded, twice with the Northumberland Fusiliers (latterly whilst on the strength of the 5th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry) and once with the Labour Corps, the first most probably with the 2nd Tyneside Scottish at La Boisselle on 1 July 1916 and the second with the 14th (Light) Division at the Battle of the Avre.

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Peter Brown was born circa 1879. A miner, he married Margaret Brown at Killingworth, Longbenton, Northumberland on 22 April 1905. The couple had five children, the youngest of whom, Jane, died of whooping cough in May 1918, aged 8 months. Peter lived at 6 or 9 Blue Row in Killingworth and worked as a coal hewer. He enlisted on Thursday 12 November 1914 at Newcastle-on-Tyne into the 21st (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Scottish), being given the regimental number 21/1116. He was aged 35 years 6 months on enlistment. 

The unit, composed mainly of men from the North-East, many of Scottish descent, was first raised on 26 October 1914 and began training in Newcastle before relocating to Alnwick Camp in January 1915. Pte Brown's first entry on his charge sheet noted that he was awarded punishment of three days confined to barracks for smoking on parade. He later absented himself from 30 November to 7 December 1915. He would have gone overseas with the battalion in January 1916. 

The 2nd Tyneside Scottish was part of 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade in 34th Division and was heavily engaged on 1 July 1916 in the attack by Pulteney's III Corps on the German lines around La Boisselle. Their attack was made on the northern side of the Lochnagar crater (blown south of La Boisselle underneath the German defensive position the Schwaben Höhe) by men from the 21st and 22nd Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers, with the 26th battalion in support. Starting from the Tara–Usna Line (a British reserve position behind the front line), the units of the brigade crossed a mile of open ground before they reached no man's land, leaving the attacking trenches around 7.30am with the debris of the Lochnagar crater explosion still falling around them. With a relatively short span of no man's land itself (200 yards) to cross, the attackers successfully stormed the first German defensive line at the Schwaben Höhe and advanced up the west side of Sausage Valley, before finding themselves coming under enfilading machine-gun fire from La Boisselle as the columns passed the village, the grenade-armed bombers and stokes mortar barrage having been unable to suppress the garrison. Although elements of the Brigade pressed on and made the deepest penetration into the German lines of the day, as far as Bailiff Wood, they were eventually forced back, the 34th division being relieved from the footholds it had gained at dawn on 2 July. As a result of the attack all four battalion commanders had been killed by the end of the day and the 21st battalion suffered 123 men killed in action. 

It seems most likely that Pte Brown was amongst those wounded in the attack of 1 July, one of 6,380 casulaties incurred by the Division in the attack. Passing through the hands of an unidentified field ambulance unit and casualty clearing station before being evacuated to the coast, on  2 July 1916 Pte Brown was sent to No.1 Stationary Hospital, Rouen with a gunshot wound through the calf of the right leg and then on 3 July evacuated to England aboard the Hospital Ship 'Asturias'. He was simultaneously posted back to the Northumberland Fusiliers' depot. In the meantime, the 19th (Western) Division had relieved the battered 34th Division and completed the capture of La Boisselle between 4 and 6 July.

Pte Brown featured in War Office daily casualty list 5573 dated 27 August 1916 and on 20 October 1916 was posted to the 85th Training Reserve battalion, possibly for reconditioning. 

By November 1916 he was on the strength of the 3rd (Reserve) battalion, from which he went absent again, this time for 14 days, until 1 December 1916; he then registered a further absence from 19 January until apprehended by the civil police at Killingworth on 1 February. He proceeded overseas to France again on 7 February 1917, arriving at 31st Infantry Base Depot on 9 February, ostensibly on posting to the 22nd Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Scottish). However, he was posted onwards to the 16th (Newcastle) battalion on the 27th of the month, joining them in the field around the same time. Possibly he was part of a draft of 135 men who joined the battalion in camp at Beaufort on 1 March 1917. At this point the battalion was in and out of the line in the Amiens sector. Pte Brown would subsequently have been involved in following up the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Then, whilst at Voyennes and Offoye on the Somme canal, where the battalion was engaged in digging bridge defences, he was fined ten days' pay (and made to pay for the deficiency) for being deficient iron rations on 25 March 1917. Subsequent duties would have taken him to the Nieuport sector and then, after the close of the great battle, to line-holding in the Ypres sector.

On 7 February 1918, the 16th Northumberland Fusiliers was disbanded, and on 22 February 1918 Pte Brown joined the 13th Entrenching Battalion under Lt Col J.G. Kirkwood. This battalion was formed on 19 February 1918 at II Corps Reinforcement Camp at Merckeghem, around the core of the 10th Gloucestershire Regiment with additional men from the 16th Northumberland Fusiliers and 17th Highland Light Infantry.  

Entrenching battalions formed in effect holding units, which could keep men usefully employed on defensive works whilst they awaited posting to fighting units under control of the parent formation as gaps arose through wastage and battle casualties. Around 8 March Pte Brown was awarded seven days' Field Punishment No.2 for being drunk on active service, and by 21 or 22 March 1918 the battalion was in III Corps (14th (Light) Division) area at Cugny, where it was caught up in the German Spring Offensive on the Somme (Operation Michael). It appears that from 24 to 31 March the 13th Battalion was attached to the 42nd Brigade, taking position with the rest of the 14th Division on the west side of Noyon Canal, covering the crossings at Haudival and Beaurains, remaining  attached to the Brigade until disbanded on the latter date, it and its sister 14th Entrenching Battalion being absorbed into the infantry battalions of the 14th (Light) Division to make up for losses incurred during the offensive. This might explain how Pte Brown came to be on the strength of the 5th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (of the 42nd Brigade) in early April.

Entrenching battalions were under Army or Corps (rather than divisional) control and were not intended for deployment closer to the fighting front than the Rearward zone, although this appears to have been disregarded once the German Spring Offensive began. Regardless, Pte Brown was wounded again in the finger (described as 'left hand, mild' at the time, even though he eventually lost the finger) on 4 April 1918. This was probably during the Battle of the Avre, in which fifteen German divisions attacked a force of seven Beirish and Australian divisions in the final thrust of the German Spring offensive towards Amiens. Interestingly, the wound was reported on his casualty form by the 5th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, which may indicate that he was serving with them at the time. At this time the 42nd Brigade, including the 5th OBLI, was in the area of Hamel, being forced to withdraw under heavy German attack and shell-fire and make a new line at Vaire. Pte Brown was reported as wounded in War Office Daily List No.5573 of 23 May 1918, being one of 500 casualties of the 1350 men in the already understrength brigade when it first moved into the line. He was placed under the care of 12 General Hospital, Rouen and then 73 and 74 General Hospitals Trouville - possibly B8 Ward. 

Subsequently, he was posted to the 19th Northumberland Fusiliers, a pioneer battalion, however his time with them was relatively short as on 8 July he was sent to No.2 Infantry Base Depot and medically graded B.ii. On 14 July 1918, he was permanently and compulsorily transferred for the benefit of the service to the Labour Corps, and given the new service number 607371. He was sent to no.65 Labour Company (formerly 22nd (Labour) Battalion, the Cheshire Regiment), joining it in the field the following day. At around this time the company, having been moved to Poperinghe in May, was employed on light railways in the Ypres Salient, as Starling and Lee's 'No Labour, No Battle' notes, "often working within the range of German guns".  Pte Brown was wounded again later in 1918, with a wound to the back, again mild, on 27 September, possibly due to shell-fire. This injury led to him featuring in War Office Daily List No.5707 of 28 October 1918. He was taken under the care of No.1 Australian General Hospital, then proceeding to No.2 MB Base Depot and [not fully legible- possibly L C for 'Labour Corps' or 'line of communication'] Base Depot, before joining his unit around 13 October. Subsequently, as recorded by the officer commanding 47 Labour Group headquarters, he was identified to proceed to the UK for release as a miner, returning home on 14 November. He was posted to the Northern Command Labour Centre via the dispersal centre, Ripon, on 18 November and then transferred to the Army Reserve Class 'P' with effect from 23 November, having accumulated four years eleven days' service. Transfer to the 'P' Reserve indicated that he was regarded as one ‘whose services are deemed to be temporarily of more value to the country in civil life rather than in the Army’ and entitled to a pension owing to length of service or, in this case, disability upon discharge (5/6 for 52 weeks in consideration of a 20% disabling wound to the left hand). He was discharged on 12 March 1919 under paragraph 392 (XVIa) of King's Regulations - Being surplus to Military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the service) - and was entitled to the Silver War Badge. His Character on discharge was given as "Fair". Subsequently he was awarded a gratuity of £40 for the loss of the middle finger of his left hand, with a further £16 service gratuity and £5 gratuity for one child.

41458 Pte W BURTON 6th BEDFORDSHIRE REGIMENT (later 1/1st Hertfordshire Regiment, wounded in VC action at Havrincourt, 18 September 1918)

41458 Pte W BURTON 6th BEDFORDSHIRE REGIMENT (later 1/1st Hertfordshire Regiment, wounded in VC action) 

Wilfred Burton was born in Felbrigg parish, Norfolk, on 15 October 1898 to Hannah. Living in Cromer, he enlisted on 31 May 1916 whilst working as a baker's man, aged 17 years 7 months, immediately going on the Army Reserve. After medical examination at Norwich on 12 February, he was finally called up on 16 February 1917 and allocated the number TR/9/5960. At this time he was medically graded A4. After passing through the 26th Training Reserve Battalion, 52nd Graduated Battalion/252nd Infantry Battalion, he was posted overseas on 10/11 December 1917. Passing through 'L' Infantry Base Depot, he was posted to the 6th battalion, the Bedfordshire Regiment under the regimental number 41458, five days later, on 16 December, and joined them in the field on the 20th. He would have participated in the battalion's engagement in the Battle of the Ancre on 5 April 1918. On 21 May 1918 he was posted to the 1/1st Hertfordshire Regiment; this would have been as part of the reconstitution of the badly depleted battalion by absorbing thirty officers and 650 men from 6th Bedfordshire Regiment when the latter was disbanded. The battalion was subsequently placed under Lieutenant Colonel Carthew MC of the 1st Essex and commenced training, varied by an inspection by the Brigade Commander, who praised the turnout, and time spent in billets in the month of June. Line-holding duties then took up much of July and August. 

After taking part in fighting at Achiet-le-Grand on 23 August (in which 26 other ranks were killed and 140 wounded), and the Second  Battle of Bapaume (4 September 1918), Pte Burton was wounded in a VC action during a heavy German counter-attack at Havrincourt on 18 September 1918, suffering a bullet wound to his left thumb.

War diary extract: 18-9-18. At 5.15pm after an intense barrage the enemy attacked our positions and after hard fighting gained a footing in our advanced posts. The enemy was later successfully driven back to his own lines leaving 26 unwounded prisoners in our hands. [Comment; 2/Lt Henry John HENSMAN M.C. Killed in action. Also killed today was 2/Lt Frank Edward YOUNG who would posthumously be awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery today] 

A former other rank with the battalion, 2/Lt Young had rejoined the battalion as an officer only six days previously. He was with No.4* Company near Triangle Wood, and his VC citation gives details of the action: ("The London Gazette" No. 31067, dated 13th December 1918) 

"For most conspicuous bravery, determination and exceptional devotion to duty on 18th September, 1918, south-east of Havrincourt, when during an enemy counter-attack and throughout an extremely intense enemy barrage he visited all posts, warned the garrisons and encouraged the men. In the early stages of the attack he rescued two of his men who had been captured, and bombed and silenced an enemy machine gun. Although surrounded by the enemy, 2nd Lt. Young fought his way back to the main barricade and drove out a party of the enemy who were assembling there. By his further exertions the battalion was able to maintain a line of great tactical value, the loss of which would have meant serious delay to future operations. Throughout four hours of intense hand-to-hand fighting 2nd Lt. Young displayed the utmost valour and devotion to duty, and set an example to which the company gallantly responded. He was last seen fighting hand to hand against a considerable number of the enemy."

Pte Burton was admitted via 49 Field Ambulance to no.34 Casualty Clearing Station, and thence on to 37 Ambulance Train the same day. He featured in War Office Daily List No. 5702, Report Date: 23/10/1918.

After a short stay at 16 General Hospital Pte Burton was evacuated to England via Army Transport 'Gloucester Castle', to Fovant Military Hospital in Wiltshire. He was granted a one month furlough from 19 October 1918, later extended by a week, which he spent at home, after which he was posted on 28 November to Ampthill Convalescent Depot No.2.

He passed through No.1 Dispersal  Unit, Thetford in mid-January 1919 and his transfer to the Army 'Z' Reserve took effect approximately  a month later, on 13 February. His medical category on disperal was D.1 and his Specialist Military Qualification was given as 'L R B'. His address on discharge was 37 Prince of Wales Road, Cromer.

*the numbered companies appear to have been adopted based on the practice of the other battalions, all Guards battalions , of the 4th (Guards) Brigade, 2nd Division, which the 1/1st Hertfordshires served with between November 1914 and August 1915.

G/13080 Private Ernest A Saunders, 6th, 11th and possibly 1st battalions, Royal West Kent Regiment

G/13080 Private Ernest A Saunders, 6th, 11th and possibly 1st battalions, Royal West Kent Regiment

Ernest Arthur Saunders was from Maidstone, his birth being registered there in the second quarter of 1897. He was one of five brothers (89450 Leonard Saunders of the Middlesex, 13080 Ernest A Saunders of the Royal West Kents, 7305 Edward Wm Saunders of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 148945 Frederick Saunders of the Army Service Corps, and 63058 Alfred Saunders of the Machine Gun Corps - died 17 February 1917) born to Eliza Ann Saunders and Edward Saunders (died 1919). In 1911, aged 14, Ernest was living at Bridge Terrace and employed as a house boy, his father being a brewer's drayman.

Ernest was possibly a Derby man, attesting his willingness to serve under Lord Derby's 'Groups' scheme some time in December 1915. After a period in the Army Reserve he would have been mobilised, probably (like G/13060 Colin Campbell Stanley) in mid-April 1916 and posted to the Royal West Kents. Alternatively, turning 19 around April time, he may have been a conscript under the Military Service Act. The similarly-numbered G/13076 William Henry Stevenson also passed through the Royal West Kent regimental depot (in Saunders' home town of Maidstone) at about this time. After several months of training, Pte Saunders would have gone overseas, most probably between July and September 1916, possibly closer to the latter; G/13060 Colin Campbell Stanley, for example, went overseas on 12 September on posting to an infantry base depot and on 29 September was posted on, also to the 6th Battalion. This would have put him (and probably Saunders, too) in line to take part in the Battle of Le Transloy, the 6th Battalion taking part in operations on 7 October, being held up in the assault by a German machine gun barrage. The closely-numbered GS/13074 Pte Walter John Wiseman (attested 12 December 1915 reporting previous service with the Royal Fusiliers, mobilised 13 April, overseas on 14 July 1916*, to 40th Infantry Base Depot the following day, to 6th Royal West Kents 21 July) was one of the men presumed killed in this action.

According to his medal roll entry, Pte Saunders served with the 6th and then 11th (Lewisham) battalions. It is not clear why or when he made the transfer - possibly shortly after passing through infantry base depot or following a now unrecorded bout of sickness. Certainly he had joined the 11th battalion, then part of the 122nd Brigade of the 41st Division, by 1 August 1917. The week prior to this the battalion was preparing to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres, the battalion strength on 21 July being 32 officers and 968 men and the trench strength when the battalion went into the line at Spoil Bank on 24 July being 18 officers and 530 other ranks. After suffering  continual trickle of casualties in the succeeding week, the battalion went into the attack on 31 July, as narrated below. The battalion's combined casualties from the week holding the line and the attack on Hollebeke and subsequent three days' line holding were 4 officers and 32 other ranks killed, 8 officers and 241 other ranks wounded, and 54 other ranks missing. One of the 241 other ranks wounded, Pte Saunders was passed from 139th Field Ambulance, via No. 11 Casualty Clearing Station Godewaersvelde, to 27 Ambulance Train on 1 August 1917, most probably due to wounds incurred the previous day, the first day of the Third Battle of Ypres. 

In this, the opening Battle of the Pilkem Ridge, the 41st Division in X Corps, Second Army was on the right of the Fifth Army attack in the southern part of the Ypres salient, advancing either side of the Ypres-Comines Canal. The 123rd Brigade attacked on the north bank and the 122nd Infantry Brigade on the south, the 11th Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) being one of two lead battalions for the Brigade, along with the 18th King's Royal Rifle Corps. 

As set out in the Forces War Records ORBATS, with additional material from the battalion war diary and McCarthy's "Third Ypres, Passchendaele, the day-by-day account", the battle unfolded as follows. 

As they advanced on the south bank, 122nd Infantry Brigade had similar problems with the swampy ground as their sister 123rd Infantry Brigade experienced as they advanced through Battle Wood to reach Klein-Zillebeke, the extremely heavy going being due to unseasonable heavy rain. Their advance was made more difficult by the opposition from the many German strong points in the area.

After undergoing heavy enemy shelling from midnight until zero hour on the support lines and White Chateau woods, the battalion suffered further shelling when the left Company was spotted assembling; fortunately the barrage fell 100 yards to the rear of the Company and few casualties resulted. This was followed by a full retaliatory barrage on the Support Line and Chateau Wood at Zero when the British barrage came down. At the same time, the 11th Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) left their trenches at 3.50am. Attacking in two waves on a two-company front, 'A' and 'B' Companies forming the first wave and 'C' and 'D' the second, under a creeping barrage and a covering machine gun barrage by 122nd MG Company, the Lewisham battalion had a fierce fight before capturing Oblique Support Trench. The first wave took the Red line after some delay, and then commenced to consolidate 150 yards beyond Oblique Trench, whilst the second wave pushed on towards the Blue Line and started consolidating before Hollebeke. The attacking troops were under fire from houses along the Hollebeke Road, and the war diary also comments about much machine gun fire and sniping from the other side of the canal, by the lock. At the same time, the flanking 18th King's Royal Rifle Corps, reaching Hollebeke village around 8.00am, were held up by machine-gun fire from the church. Part of a platoon of the 11th under 2/Lt Preston had reached the outskirts earlier in the morning and dug-in, but had to retreat owing to the threat of being surrounded.

Fighting over the ruins of the village continued all morning, until the position was taken with assistance from 11th Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), consisting of Captain Lindsay's company from the right of the Blue line, with reinforcement from Captain Rooney and 20 men from the left company in the Red Line, who had been ordered by the battalion commander to push forward and work through Hollebeke. The village was cleared and consolidated by 11.30am, Hollebeke being reported 'mopped up' by Captain Rooney at 11am. About 60 prisoners were taken and sent back in the course of the assault. Meanwhile, communications were made more difficult by a heavy German barrage which was put down intermittently between Chateau Woods and the front line.  The final position was just 100 yards short of the final objective, the Green Line, and that night the 12th East Surreys (in reserve) came up and pushed on to capture Forret Farm, a German strong point, part of the second objective.

Most probably passing up the casualty evacuation chain via Regimental Aid Post, then Collecting Station for Walking Wounded at Brasserie and Main Dressing Station for Walking Wounded at La Clytte, Pte Saunders was featured as wounded in War Office Daily List No. 5361 of 11/09/1917.

Possibly subsequently going back to his battalion (as there is no Royal West Kents battalion featured on his medal roll entry after the 11th), he featured again in War Office Daily List No. 5416 of 14/11/1917, one of 55 men of the Regiment reported wounded in that day's list. During the period October-November 1917 the 41st division was in the area of Bray Dunes, De Panne and Oost-Dunkerke (Oostduinkerke) on the Belgian coast, where it had moved in late September in readiness to take part in "Operation Hush", the proposed amphibious attack which it was intended would be supported by XV Corps infantry units advancing from Nieuport and the Yser bridgehead. The battalion spent the first half of October in training at La Panne, and then the third and fourth weeks on coast defence at Coxyde Bains. His casualty list entry would suggest he was wounded again in October; alternatively he may have been a late-reported casualty from the fighting at Tower Hamlets, 20-23 September, one of 170 wounded casualties incurred by the battalion in this action.

After a divisional move to Italy on 12 November 1917 to reinforce the Italian Army after a major defeat on the river Piave - a move which Pte Saunders may or may not have been a part of - the division remained on the Italian front until late February 1918. On 26 February 1918, they were relieved by 23rd Division from the XIV Corps front line north of Montebelluna and, via the Campo San Piero, entrained on 1 March for France to join IV Corps, Third Army. Following this, on 16/03/1918, the 11th battalion was disbanded in France, with the troops being posted to other battalions. 

Pte Saunders was then wounded again later in 1918, being reported in War Office Daily List No.5604 of 28/06/1918. Given a usual one month gap between a man being wounded and his details appearing on the list, this would suggest that he was wounded some time in May, most probably either with an entrenching battalion or another unrecorded battalion of the Royal West Kents; he was clearly still badged to the Royal West Kents at the time. The other RWK man on his Part of the list is (L/)11737 Pte W. G. Barrett, who served with the 1st Battalion, and it is very possible that it was to this battalion that Pte Saunders was posted and with whom he was ultimately again wounded, possibly on or around 20 April 1918, like Pte Barratt. At this time the 13th Brigade of the 5th Division (of which the 1st Royal West Kents was a part) was in the line near Merville, having recently taken part in the Battle of the Lys.

According to his pension ledger entry, Pte Saunders was discharged to the Army Reserve (possibly the 'Z' Reserve) on 19 September 1919. He appears to have been pensioned at a rate of 16/0 for nine months, from discharge to June 1920. His address upon discharge appears to have been 4 Bridge Street, Maidstone. Upon returning home he seemingly married Florence A Austin in the second quarter of 1921 but within four years was dead, his decease being reported at Maidstone in the second quarter of 1925 (possibly occurring on 19 May that year.)

*possibly sent overseas early due to his previous training 

German bunker (command post?) in Oblique Trench position (photograph by Koen Himpe)

Remains of Hollebeke village, 1918 (Australian War Memorial Collection)

Section of British trench map showing Hollebeke area, circa October 1917 (McMasters University collection)

Aerial view of Hollebeke Chateau and area, including (presumably) Ypres-Comines canal (Europeana/Manchester Pals)

British soldiers guarding German prisoners, 31 July 1917 (IWM)

Walking wounded at Birr Crossroads, Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (AWM)

Section of British Army map showing Le Sart-Merville area, 1918

14925 Cpl/Sgt Joseph Burns 7/8th and 1/5th King's Own Scottish Borderers

1914-15 Star, Victory Medal and Wound Stripe to 14925 Cpl/Sgt Joseph Burns 7/8th and 1/5th King's Own Scottish Borderers

Joseph was born in St Mary's, Blackburn, Lancashire and married to Ellen Burns (née Dickinson). The couple lived in Mill Hill and had four children, Harold, Joseph, Robert and Ellen, born between 1903 and 1916. He was aged 32 1/2 and employed as a weaver when he enlisted at Blackburn on 7 September 1914. He had previous service with the 3rd East Lancashire but was time-expired; he was a Class I National Reservist. Joining the KOSB Depot at Berwick-on-Tweed on 8 September, he woild have proceeded down to Bordon by train to join the 8th battalion, then forming, and was rapidly promoted (presumably in consideration of his previous service), being appointed Acting Corporal and Acting [Lance?] Sergeant on 12 September, and then Acting Sergeant two months later on 11 November. He entered the France and Flanders theatre of war with the 8th KOSB via Boulogne on 10 July 1915, the same day he was confirmed Sergeant - interestingly, reverting to Corporal at his own request only seven days later. He would have been with the battalion on its first visit to the front line at Mazingarbe on and then at Maroc on 10 August where the 46th Brigade (of which the battalion was a part) took over a section of the line for the first time; he suffered a Gun Shot Wound and sprained left leg on 26 September 1915; this was during the battalion's engagement in the Battle of Loos. In this engagement the battalion, after digging communications trenches under sniper fire, had advanced, partly mixed up with the first wave and partly as part of the second wave of 46th Brigade, on Loos on 25 September. It then spent the following day occupying the captured German front line, the British lines being full of Gas, and put it in a state of defence. The battalion suffered in total 387 casualties during the battle; 374 NCOs and other ranks and 13 officers. Sgt Burns was listed as "Suffering from gas poisoning" on the Casualty List issued by the War Office from the 22nd October 1915.

After a convalescence seemingly in France, he appears to have to returned to his battalion in order to be posted to the merged 7/8th KOSB on 30 May 1916, in his substantive rank of Corporal. After a period in the line at Bethune and Hulluch, the 7/8th KOSB proceeded to the Somme sector in early August 1916, taking over the line opposite Martinpuich on 8 August, after which a steady trickle of casualties resulted due to shelling on the line and its saps, and on one occasion a bombing fight affecting a wiring party. Casualties were also incurred even whilst the battalion was formally on rest. On 15 August the battalion took over the line again and further casualties ensued, in particular due to shelling on the 17th, which severely depleted the right company. The morning of the 18th was marked by an attempted raid on the left company, which was repulsed by Lewis gun and rapid rifle fire; further shelling also took place, the battalion history commenting "in some places the trenches were pounded into mere shell-holes, and were unrecognisable". Battalion casualties for the two days 17 and 18 August were 1 officer and 31 other ranks killed, and 4 officers and 163 other ranks wounded, four of whom later died; together with 27 other ranks unaccounted for. Cpl Burns, meanwhile, was subsequently admitted to No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station with a gunshot wound (any penetrating wound, so possibly shrapnel) to the chest on 18 August 1916 and transferred to No. 6 Ambulance Train. He returned to the UK, being posted to the KOSB Depot for records purposes, on 9 September and then went on the strength of the 3rd Battalion on or around 27 October. He was accordingly reported wounded on the casualty list issued by the War Office for 18/09/1916.

Upon his return to active service he  appeared to have passed briefly through the 1/4th (Border) battalion in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force before joining the 1/5th (Dumfries & Galloway) Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers in around April 1917, first as supernumary to the establishment and then absorbed into the establishment, vice Corporal Wood, in May. After several stints as Acting Sergeant and Acting Paid Lance Sergeant between November 1917 and June 1918, he was finally promoted again to Sergeant on 5 June 1918. By this time both KOSB Territorial Battalions, as part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division, had returned from Egypt to France (the 1/5th having disembarked on 17 April) for service on the Western Front. He later served as a Sergeant with the 18th Scottish Rifles (Cameronians), under the regimental number 43844, being transferred on 24 November 1918. He was discharged to the Army Class 'Z' Reserve on 5 March 1919 and eas in receipt of a pension of 7/6 weekly for two years, as well as a Gratuity of £20. He would have received the British War and Victory Medals some time in the latter half of 1920. 

3112 Pte Patrick Cannon, 3rd Field Ambulance, RAMC, an Old Contemptible

3112 PTE. P. CANNON, R.A.M.C.

Patrick Cannon was born circa 1883/4 in Stirling. Upon enlistment (4 November 1902) he was aged 19 years 8 months and living in the town. He had previously been a labourer, and gave his next of kin as his mother, Ann, and brothers James and Michael. He enlisted at Stirling (part of the 91st Regimental District) for three years' service in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, being passed as medically fit on 4 November. There is some suggestion that recruitment to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers was closed at this time; however Cannon was recorded as "A smart recruit who refuses to join any other corps" and it seems to have been managed that he could join. His physical description describes him as standing 5' 4", weighing 118lbs, and having a high complexion, hazel eyes and dark red hair. He was a Roman Catholic. After being posted to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Depot (at Naas) on 9 November 1902, there to get his regimental number of 8564, he joined RDF 'Details' on 14 March 1903, and then proceeded to the 2nd battalion later that year, possibly the next month or in November. As of May 1903, the battalion was garrisoned at Aden, subsequently returning to Dublin [in November?] that year. Pte Cannon received his first good conduct badge on 4 November 1904. Between 1904 and 1905 he undertook a course in signalling. 

He joined Section 'A' of the 1st Class Army Reserve on 16 February 1905, but then appears to have transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps as a private on 16 February 1906, presumably being released from the Reserve to do so (certainly the fragmentary 'certificate of release' at the foot of his engagement document is filled in, and dated February 1906). He was subsequently given the service number 3112. He married Sarah Conway at Stirling on 28 February 1908. He was medically examined prior to transfer to the Reserves (presumably the standard Section 'B' Army Reserve) at Stirling on 21 January 1909, and was pronounced 'fit', apparently transferring on 2 May 1909. At around this time he also appears to have undergone training at the RAMC School of Instruction at Leith Fort. Subsequently there is a record for him attending for training at the Military Hospital [Stirling] in 1911, endorsed by O.C. 13 Company RAMC. 

Pte Cannon re-engaged into the Section 'D' Reserve of the RAMC (his Reserve commitment being due to cease in the coming November) in July 1914 for a further four years. By 1914 he was employed as a miner. Having been mobilized/recalled to the Colours on or around 7 August, reporting at Leith Fort, he was posted to the 3rd Field Ambulance of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division at Aldershot on 9 August 1914, one of 42 reservists joining on this, the sixth day of mobilisation. Each Field Ambulance, at full strength, was composed of 10 officers and 224 men, divided into three Sections, each with a Stretcher Bearer and Tented subsection (although it appears that the 3rd FA, at least, often operated its tented sections as a single unit, and its bearer sections likewise). Mobilisation was essentially complete by the ninth day (12 August) and the unit spent the last few days before entraining on the 18th in practice (pitching tents, etc), demonstrations (first field dressings) and route marches. The Field Ambulance entrained in two parties at 5.15 and 6.38am respectively, and Pte Cannon proceeded overseas to the France and Flanders theatre on 18/19 August 1914 with them, via SS 'Welshman' (save the General Service wagons, which travelled aboard the SS Achilbister). After a brief spell in Camp at Boulogne, the Ambulance entrained for Aulnoye and progressed in stages to Le Grand Fayt, where they arrived and billeted on 25 August and received their first wounded men. More wounded were taken on at Etrieux on the 27th and the first burials took place. Meanwhile the parent division was taking part in the Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, which the Ambulance  participated in, evacuating cases as it went, the bearer division and its ambulance wagons often following the infantry to help with cases of sore feet; the war diary for early September comments on the constant movement and the impact of lack of sleep on some of the men. Subsequent service took in the Battles of the Marne, Aisne (where the Ambulance took over care of 300 casualties collected in  buildings in the village of Vendresse on arrival, remaining in the Villers-Vendresse area until mid-October) and, later in the year, First Ypres. In the latter, the 3rd Brigade was engaged by the enemy en route to Langemarck on 21 October and the bearer division formed a dressing station at Farm Bossaert half a mile south of the village, accommodating the wounded in tents and sending forward stretcher bearers to search for and bring away further wounded. 250 wounded men passed through the dressing station in the three days 21 to 23 October 1914. The Field Ambulance also suffered its first fatal casualties, with Privates Horgan, Dufty and Parry of 'A' Section being killed in the vicinity of Gheluvelt chateau by a shell striking the lintel of a doorway in which they were sheltering, whilst waiting if called-for to supply a stretcher party. Meanwhile the tented section was making L'Ecole Bienfaisant on the Menin Road near Ypres into a suitable divisional collecting station, by 9 November having treated in excess of 3000 men and (as noted in the war diary, also 9 November) having "...become the most advanced dressing station by the progress of the engagement". The station had also been under fire by large shells and arrangements had had to be made to evacuate the wounded to the cellars, where straw had been placed. By the time the 3rd Field Ambulance had been ordered to leave on 16 November, 5391 casualties had been treated. The work done by the unit at Ypres was given special mention  by the CinC BEF, Sir John French, when he inspected it at Outtersteen on 1 December. A royal inspection by HM King George V followed on 3 December. It was during this period that Pte Cannon gained his entitlement to the August-November clasp to the 1914 Star, confirming his status as an Old Contemptible. He also appeared on a list of 'Stirling Catholics for Active Service' in the Stirling Observer for Tuesday 29 September 1914 as 'Patrick Cannon, Miner - RAMC' under the heading (seemingly incorrectly) 'Special Reserve'. 

By late December the 3rd Brigade was back in the line at Festubert and the 3rd Field Ambulance, setting up a dressing station under the bearers section at Chateau Gorre, was dealing with its first cases of Trench Foot, as well as suffering a fourth fatality, Pte Birch, ASC, killed by shelling at the dressing station. Accordingly, mem of the bearers section were accommodated in the village, not at the chateau, and wounded after being seen to were "sent on straight to No1 F.A at BEUVRY, as it is scarcely safe to allow them to remain in the CHATEAU for long on account of shelling" (war diary, 1 January 1915). The tent sections, meanwhile, were at L'Ecole Jeune Garcons, Bethune. Mid-January saw the situation change with the bearer sections being sent to Beuvry, with the school serving as an advanced dressing station and 'the chateau' being the location of the motor ambulance: "Once daily the Bearers and motor ambulances go out to collect the area of the two brigades, which is a duty we find it better to do by day as a rule" (war diary, 16 January 1915). On the 25th the diary comments "This morning there was an [attack] by the Germans and severe fighting. We were occupied all today and until 6.30 a.m. on the 26th in getting in wounded, dressing them and evacuated [sic] them. My own tents division and all the hospitals were ordered away to the other side of Bethune, so that my small dressing station had some 470 wounded men to deal with, and many sick men too." Subsequently the FA took over the wards of the Civil and Military Hospital at Bethune again for the wounded, the sick going to No.1 FA, also in the town, until closed in early February.

Pte Cannon is recorded as having received a gunshot wound to the head, on or about 6 February 1915. At this time the 3rd Field Ambulance was still with the 1st Division (it moved to the Guards Division in August 1915, receiving orders whilst at Fouquieres) and was based at La Beuvriere, the tented sub-division having recently been relieved from duty at the civil and military hospital, Bethune, and the bearer sub-division relieved from Beuvry. Accordingly, he was Listed as "Wounded" on the Casualty List issued by the Home Office on the 19th September 1915. Meanwhile, the Field Ambulance continued with the tented division in Bethune (by now at Ecole Paul Bert), whilst the bearer section was working under arrangements made to extend its operations to the Neuve Chapelle area until 17 April, when the 3rd Brigade moved to La Touret. The division was subsequently caught up in the Battle of Aubers, 9 May 1915, the war diary commenting "A battle took place in which we were involved and the attack caused a great number of casualties. We were employed in bringing men in, nearly all on the shoulders of stretcher bearers, because motor ambulances were not allowed up. The stretcher bearers worked with great energy & enthusiasm. At about 3.15 p.m. a further attack was made with an equal result as far as casualties were concerned. The bearers had therefore the whole proceeding to go through again". Later General Haking of the 1st Division sent a letter thanking the men for the way they worked. A week later the Field Ambulance took in over 200 wounded from the 2nd and 7th Divisions, incurred in the course of a further attack, at the Ecole Paul Bert, and at the end of May moved to Fouquieres, where it remained more or less constantly into August 1915. In mid-July,  the bearer division took over the Cambrin and Vermelles sectors, including arrangements for a detachment at the trench position known as 'Guys and Barts' to take over patients from regimental stretcher bearers. Here, the war diary commented "Owing to the length of communication trenches & the narrowness of them stretchers cannot be used very well, and a special trench chairs made of canvas & poles, in which a man can be carried in a sitting position are being provided".

Having been continued in service under the Military Service Act 1916, it seems possible that some time in the latter part of 1916 Pte Cannon returned home for a period before being posted overseas again. Certainly, at the beginning of March 1917 Pte Cannon was seemingly with No.11 General Hospital, BEF; his wife wrote to the authorities at this point asking that he be permitted to return home as a miner, noting that he had been out since in 1914. Nothing seemingly came of this.

Pte Cannon finally returned home on 28 March 1918, possibly to join the strength of the 13th Company RAMC, and was ultimately processed for discharge through No.1 Dispersal Unit at Georgetown, proceeding on 28 days' demobilisation furlough on 25 February 1919.

He was discharged on 25 February 1919, owing to sickness ('surplus to military requirements, having suffered an impairment in service' - paragraph 392 xvi a of King's Regulations), aged 35 years 11 months. He had accumulated 16 years 114 days service. Entries relating to discharge on his military history sheet describe his character as fair, and his disability as 'sprained knee' He was medical category B.II on discharge. At this time his address was 32 Upper Castlehill, Stirling. He appears to have been demobilised to the Section 'D' Army Reserve (corrected from 'B' on his Military History sheet). The local war pensions committee assessed his disablement as 20% for six months.

He was entitled to the Silver War Badge, number B313385, which he would have received some time after October 1919, the King's Certificate (which he received that month) and also the British War and Victory Medals, along with the 1914 Star with clasp.

432259 Cpl D Worthington, Duke of Lancaster's own Yeomanry and Royal Engineers (57th west Lancashire Divisional Signal Company) - suffered from Neurasthenia

432259 Cpl D Worthington, Duke of Lancaster's own Yeomanry and Royal Engineers (57th west Lancashire Divisional Signal Company) - suffered from Neurasthenia

Douglas Worthington was born circa 1889, most probably in Marton or Great Marton, Blackpool, being provisionally identified as the son of Henry Worthington, architect and surveyor, and his wife Frederica. In the 1911 census this family were living at 4 Waterloo Road, Blackpool, Douglas being employed as a clerk to a builder. It is not known what prompted Douglas' choice of a Manchester-based Yeomanry regiment to join, but he would very probably have seen the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry from occasions such as the Royal Visits to Blackpool in 1912 and 1913, where the DLOY provided a Guard of Honour and Escort and been drawn by their smart appearance and, as a son of an architect, the social cachet of the yeomanry. He enlisted on 9 December 1914 and initially served with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry under the regimental number 3855, possibly in the role of regimental Signaller or similar. He then transferred to the Royal Engineers (Territorial Force), receiving the new number 7723;  possibly about the same time (20 March 1915) that Preston man 7704 (and later 432250) Cpl Herbert Webster of the same unit enlisted at St Helens*. The formation of the 57th (2/1st West Lancashire) Signal Company RE in mid-1915 took place around the time of the formation of the division, a second line Territorial unit, at Canterbury. At this time the Company, known as the 2/1st, was still attached to the 1/1st for training purposes, instruction focusing on cable drill, visual signalling, station work and combined schemes. It was based at Old Park Camp and, later, Wingham. As of 8 September 1915 its strength was 8 officers and 160 men, as well as 24 horses, 5 mules, 12 wagons and a cart. There was also at this time a 3/57th DSC engaged in providing drafts for the first and second line units. The Division remained in the Canterbury area until mid-1916, where it formed part of Second Army, and was quartered in Canterbury, Maidstone and Ashford. In July 1916, the division, by now renamed the 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division, was transferred from Central Force around Canterbury, to join the Emergency Reserves, Aldershot Command, and moved into quarters at Rushmore, Bourley, Mytchett, Deepcut, and Blackdown. In October the division's quarters were changed to Blackdown, Woking, Pirbright, Deepcut and Crookham.

Douglas probably went overseas in February 1917, which would accord with his medals showing his six-digit post-January 1917 TF service number 432259 and the five months' service with the field force in his extant hospitalisation record. He appears to have gone overseas in the rank of Corporal upon the strength of the 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division, Divisional Signal Company. The 57th did not go overseas until early in 1917, the division being declared ready for overseas service on 5 January 1917, and crossing to France and disembarking at Le Havre between 7 and 22 February. It seems quite likely that Cpl Worthington was with the headquarters section, which disembarked in two groups at Havre on 12 and 13 February respectively.

The division completed its concentration in the Merris area by 23rd February, 1917 and on 25 February took over a section of the Front Line under the command of II ANZAC Corps, the right sector of the Corps, north of Le Tilleloy (SE of Amiens). Subsequently the division moved sectors, the Signal Company moving down and taking over the divisional signal office at Sailly from 25 February 1917 onwards, following an advanced party which had been sent on 17 February to make preparations for taking over from the New Zealand Division there. Tasks whilst in the sector involved manning the divisional signal office, cable laying (including 2000 yards of 6ft buried cable on 6 March, 350 yards poled cable on 10 March, and 1400 yards 6ft buried concentric cable on 13 March), supervising infantry working parties and, for the men of the sections allocated to brigades, repairing line breaks under fire. Schemes were also put in hand to suspend telephonic and telegraphic communications periodically to test other methods. The Company also suffered its first fatal casualty on active service, one other rank dying on 30 March of serious wounds incurred at Ploegsteert on 28 March, possibly one of a party of 7 despatched there on 14 March to assist II ANZAC Corps to bury cable.

About this time Cpl Worthington began to suffer from Neurasthenia (lit.,- 'weakness of the nerves'), passing down the casualty chain in April and May 1917. On 25 April at 10am, as noted in the war diary, he was admitted to an unspecified Field Ambulance. At this time the Company was still at Sailly-sur-la-Lys, and it is most likely that he was admitted to the 2/2nd Wessex, then also at Sailly, one of 260 sick admitted during the month. (The other divisional field ambulances were the 2/3rd Wessex, seemingly operating the Divisional Rest Station and Main Dressing Station at Nouveau Monde, and 3/2nd West Lancashire, at that time at Fort Rompu but in the process of taking over the Main Dressing Station at the Ecole de Filles, Armentieres and Advanced Dressing Station at Houplines.) He was probably at this point labelled “Not Yet Diagnosed (Nervous)”, as Medical Officers were being instructed not to use the term 'shell shock'. Although the precise details of his ailment are not accessible, Stefanie Linden's  'They Called it Shell Shock' describes the symptoms of Neurasthenia (also described as 'anxiety-neurosis') as including "anxiety, exhaustion, pain, palpitations and digestive problems...presumed to be caused by extraordinary hardship - leading to physical and mental exhaustion". Interestingly, this was considered a  different class of symptoms from the predominantly hysterical group ("functional paralyses, trembling and shaking, functional seizures and gait disorders" - p.94) which were more commonly attributed to shell-shocked NCOs and Other Ranks (although it is notable that Linden goes on to cite practice at the National Hospital, Queen's Square in May 1917, where it was described as "general practice to diagnose officers and NCOs with 'neurasthenia'... the lower ranks... were labelled with 'hysteria' (pp.115-6)). The trigger for Cpl Worthington's illness is not known but may have been due to the general pressure of duty or he may have been caught up in the Ploegsteert incident. From the Field Ambulance he would most probably have proceeded to a Casualty Clearing Station, prior to transport via a sick convoy to a more permanent place of treatment. He is recorded in the books of No. 4 Stationary Hospital, Arques as undergoing treatment for Neurasthenia, joining the hospital from an unrecorded sick convoy on 15 May 1917 and leaving on transfer to other hospitals (in his case No. 10 Stationary Hospital, situated in the Pensionnat Saint Joseph in nearby Saint-Omer) on 31 May 1917. Whilst not recorded as such, it seems likely that he was referred to the specialist "Not Yet Diagnosed - Nervous" unit embedded with 4th Stationary for the rapid treatment of 1st and 2nd Army Shell-Shock casualties, which had as its special purpose ‘early and special treatment in order to secure the return of all possible cases to their units and the employment on useful work [of] as many as possible of the rest’ - reflecting the belief that men with this condition were best treated close to the front. If so, he was one of 3580 men who passed through the centre at Arques during its 10 months of operation, and one of 19% of men transferred to base hospitals from this facility. The centre was under Dudley William Carmalt-Jones and followed his views on dealing with shell-shock through a regime of treatment which involved rest, hot food and a programme of graduated exercise, culminating in route marches, although application of heat and cold to the head was also employed as was electrical treatment ('faradization') in certain specialised cases. Carmalt-Jones personally studied 946 shell-shock cases and noted after the war that 40% were sent back to duty, 40% to light duty or prolonged rest previous to duty and 20% to base hospitals, informing his conclusion that cases of shell shock had a good prognosis if they were given sufficient time to recover. It is possible that Cpl Worthington was one of the men Carmalt-Jones personally treated.

It is not clear whether, possibly after a further stay in a convalescent camp, Cpl Worthington returned to his unit at the front; if so, he could have  taken part in the following operations:

Second Battle of Passchendaele 26 October–7 November 1917 (under XIV Corps, then XIX Corps)

Second Battle of Arras (under XVII Corps):

Battle of the Scarpe 28–30 August 1918

Battle of Drocourt-Queant Line 2–3 September 1918

Battles of the Hindenburg Line (under XVII Corps):

Battle of the Canal du Nord 27 September–1 October 1918

Battle of Cambrai 8–9 October 1918

Capture of Cambrai 9 October 1918

Final Advance in Artois and Flanders 15 October–1 November 1918 (under IX Corps):

Occupation of Lille 17 October 1918

Cpl Worthington was discharged from the Royal Engineers 20th T.F. Depot (or, according to another, later corrected, source, the Bedford Signal Depot) on 1 February 1919, aged 30. Discharged owing to sickness (possibly for the same condition of Neurasthenia for which he was admitted to hospital in France) under paragraph 392 xvi of King's Regulations, he was entitled to Silver War Badge number B124656, which he would probably have received in March 1919. His postwar address was 16 Regent Road, Blackpool.

A Douglas Worthington of 63 or 83 Marton Drive, presumably the same man, died on 20 April 1962 at Blackpool. A former head storekeeper, municipal transport (according to the 1939 Register), he left his effects of just over £2000 to his widow, Maud.

* see also 7678/432235 Harold Smout, enlisted St Helens, 15 March 1915 and 7750/432270 Edward Peter Farrell, an Old Contemptible, who was embodied at St Helens just over a month later, on 18 April 1915

Image: First Army Front: British (upper) and German (lower) front line trenches east of Picantin and le Tilleloy. The German entrenchments shown are 'Nut'/'Novel' trenches and the 'Sugar Loaf' salient, June 1916./RE Signal Company at work on the Western Front/Royal Engineers bringing up telephone wire during the battle of Poelcappelle/57th Divisional symbol.

D Worthington's medals/Medal Index Card/Transcript of hospitalisation record/image of 10th General Hospital, St-Omer

First Name:

D

Surname:

Worthington

Age:

28

Index Number of Admission:

27300

Rank:

Corporal

Service Number:

432259

Years Service:

2 years 6 months

Months With Field Force:

5 months

Ailment:

Neurasthenia

Date Transferred to Other Hospitals:

31/05/1917

Date of Transfer From Sick Convoy:

15/05/1917

Notes written in the Observations Column:

No. 10 Stationary Hospital.

Religion:

Church of England

Regiment:

Royal Engineers

Battalion:

57th Divisional Signals Company (Why is this important?)

Other unit info:

27th Division, 1st Army [Sic: should be 57th]

Archive Reference:

MH106/1473 MH106/1473 can be found at The National Archives in Kew, and contains First World War Representative Medical Records of No. 4 Stationary Hospital: Arques, 04/05/1917-18/05/1917. Book 84 Shelf 4. Serial No. 26781-24722, Tr No. 2086-2135. British O.R., R.N.D.

1914 Star & Victory Medal group to 6th General Hospital RAMC (France & Flanders: date of entry 18 August 1914) & 1/5th Somerset Light Infantry (Palestine, Battle of Sharon, 1918) to Sydney George BURR from Bath

6588 Sidney G Burr, 6th General Hospital  RAMC (later 41620, 1/5th Somerset Light Infantry) Sidney George Burr was a regular soldier. He may be one and the same with Sidney or Sydney George Burr, who was the son of William Albert Burr, and Maria Burr, née Hooper. He was born to William and Maria in Bath, Somerset, in 1895. In 1911 he was a coal carter, like his father, living at 38 James Street West, Bath. He married Wilhelmina Witham, possibly at Holy Trinity, Bath, in the last quarter of 1922. With her he had two daughters (Dorothy Winifred and Irene Peggy) and one son (Sidney Arthur Dennis). Sidney senior's death (recorded as Sydney G Burr) was registered in Bath in the final quarter of 1929. He was 35. Judging from his RAMC regimental number of 6588 probably, like 6589 Oscar Sidney Ashman*, he enlisted for a short service engagement of 3 years with the Colours and 9 years on the Reserve some time between 3 and 8 August 1912. (Pte Ashman enlisted at Bristol on 8 August 1912, joining at Aldershot five days later, thus meaning that his Colours service was drawing to an end just as war broke out.) Pte Burr would have undergone his training at the RAMC Training School/School of Instruction in Aldershot in late 1912 to early 1913 and subsequently received his Corps pay, reflecting proficiency in his duties. Swiftly moving from his peacetime duties  he served in the France and Flanders theatre from 18 August 1914, going overseas with 6th General Hospital RAMC, probably as an Orderly. He was therefore entitled to the 1914 Star. No.6 General Hospital was based in  Le Havre for seven days in August 1914. The Matron and Staff were accommodated at Ecole Jean D’Arc on the 16th, their camp kit being used until they could be put into hotels. They then started off for Amiens on the 23rd, reaching Rouen by the 26th. On 30 August, however, all hospitals were ordered to leave Rouen and the hospital equipment and personnel with the exception of the Nursing Staff left by steamer the following day.  By 3 November No.6 had returned to Rouen, the war diary of the Matron-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force (transcribed S Light, 'Scarlet Finders') for 9 November commenting "After lunch went to 6 General Hospital – under canvas – working under difficulties, and not properly established. Col. Du Cane spoke very highly of Miss Reid’s capabilities, she having taken over vice Miss Dods now at Boulogne." By 22 November things appear to have been better settled, the Matron-in-Chief commenting "No.6 General Hospital in the same neighbourhood, also under canvas was the next I visited. Lt.Col. Du Cane ... officer in charge, Miss Reid Matron, staff of 40 – 2 more Nursing Sisters expected in the evening. The arrangements for the Sisters were good and their Mess Tent excellent – warm, comfortable, flowers on the tables and a very excellent mid-day meal, well cooked and very hot. Not many patients in Hospital and the marques being moved from one position to another." On 10 January 1915 she further commented "These hospitals are in a good position near pine woods and some of the tents have been struck in the middle of an apple orchard, which will be particularly beautiful in Spring. They are all boarded – heated by stoves and lighted by lamps. They are all well managed and everything going smoothly, No.6 being particularly good, having excellent arrangements for the comfort of the men and the Nursing Sisters. Everywhere the Matrons are well supplied with Red Cross things for the benefit of the patients." On 15 March 1915 "6 General Hospital with Miss Reid in charge were busy moving into their hutted Hospital which will be most comfortable". The hospital remained at Rouen for the duration of the war.  It was a base hospital, at the mid-point of the casualty evacuation chain, positioned near the coast and with good access to railway lines or canals for casualties received back from the the Casualty Clearing Stations closer to the front line, but also well-placed for evacuation of casualties through nearby ports so they could be evacuated for longer-term treatment in Britain. Possibly a man of high medical grade 'combed-out' for front-line service as the war progressed, Burr later served in theatre 4(b) (Palestine) as 41620** Pte S G Burr, 1/5th Somerset Light Infantry, part of the 233rd Brigade of the 75th Division, XXI Corps (Lt Gen E S Bulfin), Egyptian Expeditionary Force. It may be that like fellow RAMC man 41606 George Somerset Smale, he was already serving in Egypt (in Smale's case, at a casualty clearing station), when earmarked for transfer. Although he was posted to a Territorial battalion, Pte Burr's regimental number comes from the shared Regular/Service battalion sequence, probably dating from mid- to late-April 1918. Judging from the army career of G S Smale, after being earmarked, sent to RAMC base depot at Kantara and then put through a short stint at Infantry school, he would probably have joined the 1/5th Som L I around 21 May 1918. This was after their participation in the Battle of Berukin, 9-30 April 1918. This joining date would have put him in line to fight with the 1/5th in the Battle of Sharon, 19-25 September 1918. In this major set-piece battle (employing 35,000 troops in total on the Allied side) the main Tabsor system of trenches held by the Ottoman XXII Corps was attacked after an intense Western Front-style bombardment and eventually captured by the 3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut), and the 75th Divisions, including two companies of the 1/5th Somerset Light Infantry (the Battle of Tabsor). These three divisions subsequently advanced, despite the Ottoman XXII Corps being reinforced, to capture Et Tire (captured by the 75th Division, by 11am on the 19th) and Masudiye Station. As part of the wider battle of Sharon, the actions of the Meerut Division and (attacking along the coast), the 60th Division, opened up a gap which the cavalry could exploit, eventually leading to Ottoman defeat and the loss of at least 25,000 prisoners and 260 guns. The Final Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign began the day after the battles of Sharon and Nablus (the Battle of Megiddo) ended, with the pursuit to Damascus, which was captured on 1 October. The Turkish surrender (Armistice of Mudros) on 31 October 1918 saw the battalion at Kalkiliah south of Haifa, Palestine. Having at some point returned home, Pte Burr was discharged to the Army Section 'B' Reserve 21 April 1919; this was for men who had completed their service in the regular army and were serving their normal period (typically of five years, although in his case possibly nine) on reserve. *see also 6580 Arthur Sydney Hellyer, who enlisted for his "three and nine"  at Stratford, in London, on 3 August 1912 and served with 11th General Hospital as part of the BEF and 6584 Arthur Daniel Gwilt, a short service enlistment at Wolverhampton on 6 August 1912 who served with 4th Field Ambulance and 6585 Frederick Harold Forman who enlisted for a Long Service Attestation (12 years) at Aldershot, aged 14, on 7 August 1912 **41606 George Somerset Smale, also a former RAMC man, serving with 26th Casualty Clearing Station, was sent via RAMC Base Depot, Kantara (19 March 1918) to the Infantry School of Instruction on 1 April, and then on 12 April compulsorily transferred to the Somerset Light Infantry and posted to the 1/5th Battalion, joining them in the field on 21 May 1918.

Victory Medal to 3/8711 Pte E J SMITH BEDF R. (formerly 3134) Old Soldier, entitled Army LSGC, IGSM 1895 & Relief of Chitral clasp - Shell Shock June 1917

Victory Medal to 3/8711 Pte E J SMITH BEDF R. (formerly 3134)

Ernest John Smith was born in Standground, Peterborough circa 1871. A former labourer and old soldier, he first enlisted at Huntingdon on 17 June 1889, aged 18 years 7 months, in the Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire Regiment, under the regimental number 3134. He gave his next of kin as his father, Henry, and younger brother, William, both of Steeple Gidding, Huntingdonshire. He served with the 1st battalion for just under six years, including in Malta and India, serving on both the Isazai Field Force and Chitral Relief Force, where the 1st Battalion was involved in the storming of the Malakand Pass. For this service he was entitled to the India General Service Medal with the clasp 'Relief of Chitral 95'. Having rejoined the Colours in early 1898 after a year on the Reserve, and returned to India, he further extended his service in 1901, subsequently earning the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with gratuity. Finally he served on the regular establishment of the 3rd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment as a storekeeper in the QM's stores, and was discharged upon the termination of his second term of engagement on 16 June 1910, having served twenty-one years, aged 39 years 7 months. He was described as 'painstaking and hard working' and was in possession of four good conduct badges. 

After the outbreak of war he re-enlisted for one year on 21 October 1914, giving as his next of kin his brother, Arthur. He was posted to the 3rd battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment the same day and then on to the 9th battalion three days later. Eleven months to the day later he transferred to the 8th battalion, the Bedfordshires, another 'Service' battalion, raised in October 1914 as a part of Lord Kitchener's Third New Army ('K3'). They served entirely on the Western Front between August 1915 and February 1918, at which time the battalion was disbanded. He went overseas to join them on 24 September 1915 - shortly before the battalion was engaged at Loos - possibly being part of a draft of 115 O.R.s who arrived on 8 October when the battalion was in the trenches near Vlamertinghe. At some point he was attached to 6th Divisional Headquarters, the parent formation. Depending upon when this occured, his service would have put him in line to experience the first German use of Phosgene gas on 19 December 1915, a major bombardment and raid on the 8th battalion's lines on the Yser Canal Bank on 20 April 1916, and during the Somme offensive the Battles of Flers-Courcelette and Morval in September, and the Battle of Le Transloy in October, as well as the Battle of Hill 70 15-20 April 1917. 

Pte Smith suffered a shell-shock wound in June 1917, appearing accordingly on War Office Daily List No.5332 of 8 August 1917. During this month the battalion had spent time in the trenches at Mazingarbe and then Hulluch, with active enemy artillery on some days and one trench raid, interspersed with working parties whilst at Rest. It was most probably subsequent to his recovery from this injury that he was attached to the Permanent Base Battalion.

On 8 October 1917, as was common with 'Permanent Base' men, Smith was transferred to the Labour Corps and posted to No.868 Area Employment (Garrison Guard) Company under the new number 405896 and immediately appointed Paid Lance Corporal. This was probably one of the original 47 Garrison Guard Companies set up from September 1917, possibly part of the group raised from Permanent Base (PB) Men. It was probably amongst the 40 allocated to guard duties along the Lines of Communications. Men in these companies were of B.i grade and subject to fortnightly medical assessments with a view to combing-out fit men for transfer to Base depots and onwards to the fighting units. Guard duties included prisons, dumps, railway communications, hospitals and providing escorts for PoW labour Companies. 

Subsequently L/Cpl Smith was further transferred to the Royal Fusiliers (as G/104942), to become a Lance Corporal in the 43rd (Garrison) Battalion. The Battalion was formed from former Garrison Guard companies and its 49 companies performed general guard duties, including at the various Army headquarters.

L/Cpl Smith was demobilised to the Army Reserve Class 'Z' on 1 March 1919, having accrued a further 4 years 131 days' service. His intended address was 4 Otter Street, Strutts Park, Derby. Subsequently he gained employment as a tram driver for the city council, retiring some time prior to 1940. He died in Derby City Hospital on 25 October 1940.

WW1 BWM & VM Pair 15522 Pte R Naylor twice wounded with the 17th & 10th Battalions Lancashire Fusiliers

WW1 BWM & VM Pair 15522 Pte R Naylor twice wounded with the 17th & 10th Battalions Lancashire Fusiliers. 

Robert Naylor was born circa 1888 and was a resident of Preston. Like 15526 Albert Fairclough, he would have enlisted around 6 January 1915 (as confirmed by his Silver War Badge roll entry). He probably went overseas around January 1916. If so, this would seemingly fit with him being an original 'Bantam' (a man of good physical build, but below the normal regulation height of 5' 3") of the 17th (Service) Battalion (1st South-East Lancashire), Lancashire Fusiliers, which went overseas as a unit in January 1916.

After a period of familiarisation with western Front conditions, the 17th, as part of 104th Brigade, 35th Division, then proceeded to fight on the Somme, arriving at Aveluy Wood on 10 July 1916. Pte Naylor was reported on the War Office daily casualty list for 23 August 1916, suggesting he was wounded whilst in the line with the 17th Lancashire Fusiliers in mid- to late-July 1916; very possibly when they were acting as carrying parties for the 89th Brigade's attack on Guillemont, 29 and 30 July 1916. During this action the parties were attached to various battalions of the attacking force and moved up with the 4th wave, suffering 40 other rank casualties in the process, of which 31 were wounded. Other alternatives would be that he was one of 12 men wounded by an accidental bomb (grenade) explosion in 'Happy Valley' on 14 July, one of 5 men wounded at Maricourt on 19 July, or one of a total of 153 men wounded whilst the battalion occupied the front line between Trones Wood and Maltz Horn Farm from 21 to 23 July and then Talus Boise the following day.

Presumably having been evacuated and then posted to a new battalion on his return to theatre, by July 1918 Pte Naylor was serving with the 10th Battalion another 'New Army' unit. Depending upon when he joined it, he may have taken part in The First and Second Battles of the Scarpe, and The Capture of Roeux (parts of the Battle of Arras, and The First and Second Battles of Passchendaele phases of Third Ypres, as well as, during 1918,

The Battles of St Quentin and Bapaume, both phases of the German Spring Offensive. By July the battalion was in the Somme sector, and Pte Naylor was then wounded in action again with the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers, 17th Division, circa 14 July 1918. At this time the battalion was in the front-line trenches east of Bouzincourt. He was admitted to the care of 51st Field Ambulance on 13/14 July with a shrapnel wound to the right thigh for which he was given Morphine and then despatched to one of No 3, No. 27, No. 56 Casualty Clearing Stations. By this time he was reported to have accumulated 3 Years 6 Months' service of which 31 Months was with the Field Force. He featured on War Office Daily List No.5642 of 13 August 1918.

He was entitled to the Silver War Badge, number B/165832, and was discharged on 28 February 1919.