British Victory Medals of the Great War: G/13080 Private Ernest A Saunders, 6th, 11th and possibly 1st battalions, Royal West Kent Regiment

Sunday, 2 May 2021

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)