Group consisting of a British War Medal and Victory Medal with a fair degree of patination and some surface wear, both impressed (different styles) to 508 PTE. H. CARRINGTON. L.N.LAN.R., on replacement ribbons, and a George V Army Long Service & Good Conduct Medal on Regular Army suspender, impressed to 3848969 PTE.H. CARRINGTON. LOYAL R., on period silk ribbon (the service number on the LSGC is impressed quite faintly, especially the initial '38') 508 Pte Herbert Carrington, 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, wounded in action October 1914. Later awarded the LSGC (Loyal Regiment) Herbert Carrington, an Old Contemptible, served with the 1st Battalion, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment under the regimental number 508. It seems very likely that he was a former Militia man, enlisting some time between 1 August 1905[1] and 30 January 1907[2] who later transferred to the Special Reserve, (3rd Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment), keeping his old Militia number. He most probably enlisted in the Special Reserve on 26 July 1908 at Conway (Conwy), no doubt at the battalions annual training camp (the enlistment date and place of 352 Pte Joseph Boyd, 778 Pte Charles Bligh and 856 Pte Henry Carr[3], all three also ex-Militia) and probably re-engaged circa 1911/12. After attending his annual training obligation in successive years (a requirement for his Special Reservists pay), he would have been mobilised on 8 August 1914 and ordered to report to the barracks at Preston. After some further training he would have been posted to the 1st Battalion, entering the France theatre of war on 20 September 1914, and thus being entitled to the 1914 Star. This would probably have made him part of the 5th or 6th Reinforcement (the 3rd and 4th Reinforcements arrived whilst the battalion was in billets at Pargnan on the Aisne on the night of 20/21 September, which would have been too quick for Pte Carringtons Reinforcement draft to travel up to the front from the port of disembarkation). At the beginning of October the battalion was in the line at Troyon (where it has been since mid-September), alternating with time in bivouack. It received the 6th Reinforcement, of 152 NCOs and men, at 1.30am on 9 October 1914, Pte Carrington very probably among them. This brought the battalion strength up to 24 officers and 985 other ranks. The War Diary contains the following comments, which givi some interesting detail of the supply and replenishment of the battalion whilst in the trenches at Troyon. System of Supplies & Mails. Every night the cooker limbers & one wagon arrive from refilling point under QrMr with supplies & clothing and mails. They are offloaded and at once issued to Coys. If latter are in the trenches these are kept until about 3am & then taken up. The Transport move off roughly about one hour after arrival back to refilling point. All other 1st Line & Train are well back at BOURG & VILLIERS but usually change their place daily. The mails are sorted at once by the adjutant (Censor officer) & the mens distributed out to Companies. The Cookers ovens, Tool carts & Maltese cart remain up at H.Qrs. The mails have been most regular & the supplies both of food & clothing have been excellent. Equipment All old equipment & that found on the battlefield has been collected daily & sent down in the supply wagons for use I presume of the New Army. Life of the Battalion When in the trenches all the ranks live up there for 48 hours & food sent up to them; as already described. When relieved by the next Battalion, our Batt become [sic] into Reserve in small dugouts all along underneath the banks. Men have to keep in as much as possible & when enemy aeroplanes pass over not one man is seen. Signals are prepared. There is a difficulty with regard to sanitation the ground is so limited. We have a Sanitary Squad 1 NCO and 2 men per Company whose business was to dig Latrine & Refuse pits solely for the Battalion. The Companies are responsible for the cleanliness of their lines. The latter part of the battalions stay on the Aisne was presumably carried out along these lines, interspersed with daily bombardments, enemy aeroplane incursions and work improving the bivouacs and digging communication trenches, etc. The War Diary also comments on the STAR LIGHTS pistol cartridge with which the battalion had been issued (The[y] fire at 45 degrees and show up the enemys line or advance very satisfactorily) and the usefulness of the rifle grenade [Rifle Grenade No2 Mk I] has proved very valuable too. It ranges from 40x-170x & can be fired in any position. The battalions time on the Aisne, however, was coming to an end; after repulsing two further attacks and taking further casualties, at 9pm on 15 October the French arrived to take over the line. In view of the above and his subsequent wounding, Pte Carrington would have been entitled to the August-November 1914 clasp to the Star (for those who served under fire in the France and Flanders theatre between the qualifying dates) but there is no evidence that he ever applied for this. The day of 16 October was the first real rest from the noise of gunfire that the battalion had had since 23 August. The next several days were spent travelling via Fismes and Amiens to Etaples and then on the 18th via Boulogne and Calais to Cassel, arriving and detraining on the 19th. From there the 1st LNL marched as the leading battalion of the main body of the 1st Division towards Ypres, taking up role as I Corps Reserve at Boesinghe west of Ypres on the 21st. From there they were sent to St Jean on 22 October to support the 2nd Division and then committed to the attack at Pilckem on the 23rd, as narrated below. Pte Carrington was Listed as "Wounded" on the Casualty List issued by the War Office from the date 24th November 1914, thereby being subsequently entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916 (the terms of this award being met by his naming in this list). Given a typical 1 month lag between a man being wounded and his name appearing on the relevant List, we can assume he was wounded at Ypres, some time in late October 1914. For example, 352 Pte Boyd, reported Missing in the War Office list for 23 November 1914, was later determined to have died on or about 31 October 1914. Pte Carrington may well have been wounded in the action at Bixschoote for which the following Special Order of 26 October 1914 (transcript as published in the Daily Telegraph) was given: In the action of Oct.23, 1914, the 2nd Infantry Brigade was allotted the task of reinforcing the 1st Infantry Brigade, and re-taking the trenches along the Bixsencote-Lange-march[sic] road, which had been occupied by the enemy. In spite of the stubborn resistance offered by the German troops, the object of the engagement was accomplished, but not without many casualties to the Brigade. By nightfall the trenches previously captured by the Germans had been reoccupied, about 500 prisoners captured, and fully 1,500 German dead were lying out in front of our trenches. The Brigadier-General congratulates the 1st L.N. Lancashire Regiment, Northamptonshire Regiment, and the 2nd Kings Royal Rifle Corps, but desires specially to commend the fine soldier-like spirit of the 1st L.N. Lancashire Regiment, which, advancing steadily under heavy shell and rifle fire, aided by its machine-guns, was enabled to form up within a comparatively short distance of the enemys trenches. Fixing bayonets, the Battalion then charged, carried the trenches and occupied them, and to them must be allotted the majority of the prisoners captured. The Brigadier-General congratulates himself on having in his Brigade a battalion which, after marching the whole of the previous night without rest or food, was able to maintain its splendid record in the past, by the determination and self-sacrifice displayed in the action. As 508 Pte Carrings he was recorded at the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, newly moved to Hazebrouck[4], on 1 November 1914, having been admitted with a gun shot wound to the legs. Fellow Loyal North Lancs men Pte 2213 McMahon (GSW thigh) and Sgt 7927 Whittaker (GSW right leg) were similarly hospitalised, the admissions and discharge register seeming to suggest that the group or men listed on that page of the register was sent to base on 1 November, having been possibly admitted a few days beforehand (other men on the facing page of the register were recorded as having died on dates from 29 October onward, which may be indicative of the approximate date of admission). The Ypres salient in 1914 has been well-named the graveyard of the pre-War British Army and by 8 November 1914 the battalion had been reduced to 1 officer and 90 other ranks. It is not known when Pte Carrington rejoined his battalion, however there is no indication on his medal roll entry that he served overseas with any other unit. Clearly continuing in service after the war, as 3848969 Pte H Carrington, Loyal Regiment (as the Loyal North Lancashire was renamed), he was awarded the Regular Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1933. This post-1920 service number is relatively close to the start of the allocation of numbers made to The Loyal Regiment in 1920 under Army Order 388, which ran from 3846001 to 3902000, and would accord with his seniority as indicated by the issue of the LSGC. [1] Enlistment date of 352 Pte Joseph Boyd, 3rd LNL [2] Enlistment date of 778 Pte Charles Bligh, 3rd LNL [3] Enlistment date 28 May 1907 [4] 21 October 1914: moved to Bailleul and set up in cole St. Joseph 28 October 1914: moved by lorry to Ypres and set up in cole St. Aloysius, Bewar School (?), the School of Music, a theatre and a school 31 October 1914: moved by lorry to Hazebrouck and set up in cole St. Vincent and a nearby theatre |
