British War Medal & Victory Medal Pair to [12/]24462 Pte J Roberts.
John Roberts was born in 1895 in Bethesda and was a miner by trade. Standing 5' 1 1/2" tall with a chest expansion of 33", he was a classic 'Bantam' by stature and employment, although noticeably off the chest measurement requirement of 34 1/2". (The 'Bantam' drive was a recruitment initiative aimed at men of good physique but shorter than the standard 5' 3" height requirement, such as miners.)
He enlisted, and was medically examined, on 22 May 1915 at St Helens. At his examination he was judged fit but required dental treatment. He was aged 19 years 3 months at the time. Apparently being recruited into the 18th (Service) Battalion, the Welsh Regiment (the second, after the 17th Welsh, of the 'Welsh Bantam' units to be formed, and also a 119th Brigade formation) as 28739, he also spent time with the 22nd LR [Local Reserve?] (Reserve) Battalion, the Welsh Regiment. Possibly, like 28895[or 8?] and 12/24450 Raymond Knowles of Hyde, this posting to the 22nd Battalion took place around 11 September 1915. At some point he was then transferred to the 12th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers. This was most likely after the end of September 1915, when the 18th Welsh was at full establishment strength whilst the 12th South Wales Borderers, as the fourth and last of the Welsh Bantam battalions was still below 1,000 men. Raymond Knowles' transfer took place on 18 December 1915 and given the close association of SWB service numbers, it is probable that Pte Roberts' transfer took place at this time also.
Probably going overseas with the 12th SWB in 119th Brigade on 1 June 1916, it was with this unit that he saw all of his service overseas, including two breaks (possibly due to wounds or sickness) and one period of leave in France. His Army Form 268 (Proceedings on Discharge) was compiled following his wounding at Cambrai on 23 November 1917 and states that he served for 1 year 184 days in France between 1916 and 1917. Working back from a probable date for his medical evacuation home of early December 1917, this further reinforces the view that he was an original member of the 12th battalion upon going overseas.
The 12th (Service) Battalion (3rd Gwent), South Wales Borderers was raised in March 1915. The battalion was raised of 'bantams' (men of good physique but shorter than the standard 5' 3" height requirement) as part of a proposed two-division Welsh Army Corps. The Corps concept was never realised and instead the Welsh Bantam Brigade became the 119th Brigade of 40th Division.
The battalion embarked via Southampton and Le Havre to join the British Expeditionary Force, France on 1 June 1916. After arrival in France, by 9 June the 40th Division concentrated at Lillers, west of Béthune in the Pas-de-Calais. It received its trench formation with units of the 1st Division in the course of June and then from 5 July took up a place in the front line, in the old Loos battlefield, where it remained until the end of October 1916. (Units of 119th Brigade initially took over the line in the right sector of the I Corps front, in the Calonne section.)
Marching down to the Somme sector and doing some training en-route, on 20 November 1916 the famous fighting Brigadier Frank Crozier took over command of the 119th. On 27/28 December the brigade took over the line at Rancourt, where it remained until March 1917. The brigade continued training and participated in its first significant actions following the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, in April 1917. The Germans had created an advanced
outpost screen of occupied villages and high ground before the Hindenburg Line, which the 40th Division, along with the 8th Division, were required to take. The 12th South Wales Borderers distinguished themselves in the taking and holding of Fifteen Ravine, between Gouzeaucourt and Villers-Plouich, in front of the fortified village of La Vacquerie. The battalion, although understrength, managed to take and consolidate the position in the face of enemy sniper and machine gun fire and friendly shelling.
The brigade spent further time into the summer of 1917 working on trenches and roads in the sector as well as participating in training, brigade sports, and some raiding when in the line. This was supplanted by extensive training in mid-October to mid-November, including practice attacks on a wood, etc. Appropriately, at the end of the latter month the 119th Brigade took part in the Cambrai operations, relieving the 62nd Division in the line opposite Bourlon Wood in the afternoon and night of 22 November and, after a hurried reconnaissance by Crozier and Plunkett of the 19th RWF, launching the attack at 10:30am the following day. In particular, the 12th South Wales Borderers, advancing on the left of the brigade front through shellfire from the German counter-barrage, without the planned cover of smoke (due to traffic congestion over the battle-scarred roads immediately behind the front having held up the shells), and with limited tank support, took a leading part in the capture of Bourlon Wood. In this action the 119th Brigade, spearheaded by the 12th South Wales Borderers and 19th Royal Welsh Fusiliers each advancing on a two-company front, successfully advanced across the open ground south of the wood under cover of an artillery barrage upon its southern edge. Crozier narrates "...I watched the platoons approaching the Boche barrage but, although suffering many casualties, they never faltered. On reaching the wood (our artillery having lifted 200 yards) the wire was encountered [Crozier had noted the previous day during his reconnaisance that '...the wire on the southern end appeared thick, but by means of glasses I could see that there were diagonal lanes through the wire which decided me to advance in lines of platoons in the attack'] but platoon Comdrs soon found the lanes I had told them about, passed through them and were in the wood". They then took the well-defended wood through intense close-quarters fighting, taking both the German first position (defended by the 3rd Battalion Infantry Regiment 50 of 214th Division) and the second position (in the higher, northern part of the wood, defended by the 1st and 3rd Battalions Lehr Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Guards Division). The description from the 19th Royal Welsh Fusiliers War diary and private writings of Lt Col Plunkett suggest that the combat was at close quarters with extensive use of the bayonet, attacking in line and getting round German posts, and using the superior mobility of teams armed with the Lewis light machine gun to direct fire from each flank of German machine gun positions in order to put them out of action.
Following this, units of the brigade mounted a successful subsequent defence over the succeeding two days against German counter-attacks, Lt Col Benzie of the 12th SWB being placed in overall command of the forces in the wood at the end of the first day. With some reinforcements from the 14th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 15th Hussars, 11th King's Own, and 2nd Scots Guards, the 119th then held the wood, with the Brigade flanks unsupported, for three days until relieved by the 62nd Division. The taking of the wood was considered a remarkable feat of arms and, generating many congratulations from senior officers from the Commander in Chief downwards, was later commemorated by the addition of an oak leaf to the division's 'bantam cock' divisional sign. Total casualties for the infantry of the 119th, according to the 40th Division HQ A&Q War Diary, were 60 officers and 1473 other ranks, of which 18 officers (including Major W.E. Brown, second in command) and 390 other ranks were of the 12th SWB.
Pte Roberts was most probably one of those who successfully crossed the open ground through the German counter-barrage and made it into the Wood, being wounded in action, shot at Cambrai on 23 November 1917, the day of the opening attack on Bourlon Wood. He suffered a bullet wound to his back, later judged for pensionable purposes as 20% disabling. After his return to the UK, probably in December 1917, from 5 February to 10 April 1918 he underwent 66 days of treatment, in which massage seems to have featured prominently, in hospitals including Seaforth Military Hospital and Southport War Hospital. In May 1918, at Hightown, he was medically graded B.i. ("Free from serious organic diseases, able to stand service on lines of communication in France, or in garrisons in the tropics: Able to walk 5 miles, see and hear sufficiently for ordinary purposes"). This was downgraded the following month to B.ii. His pensioner's record card noted that he was experiencing symptoms affecting both the legs (weakness) and bladder.
By 9 July 1918 Pte Roberts was serving (seemingly quite briefly) with the 3rd Garrison Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers in Ireland as number 87945. This battalion was based in Cork and then Crosshaven.
Clearly the army concluded that he could be most useful as a collier, as under Army Council Instruction 299 of 1918, he was discharged to the Army Class 'P' Reserve, for employment in a colliery (Sutton Heath and Lea Green), on 31 July 1918. In his Army Form.B.268 he was described as a "steady, sober, honest, industrious man" (interestingly it also suggested that his wound may have taken 1/2" off his stature). Following a period of employment, he was discharged under paragraph 392.xvi of King's Regulations on 21 January 1919. At the time his age was given (presumably incorrectly) as 19. He was entitled to the Silver War Badge, Number B.214376. He was subsequently pensioned (initially at 27/6 weekly) for the effects of a 20% disabling wound including pain to the back (especially on lifting), until at least late 1922.
His postwar address was 25-27 Allanson Street, Parr, St Helen's.
No comments:
Post a Comment