25107 PTE. W.E.LAWRENCE W.RID.R., wounded in action, Battle of Bourlon Wood, 27 November 1917
Walter Edward Lawrence was born in Spetisbury, Dorset on 19 December 1876. In the 1911 Census his address was given as Martins Hill Lane, Burton, Christchurch. He was married to Sarah Jane Lawrence (née Dennett or Bennett); by the time he attested, the couple had six children. His occupation in the census was given as Milk Vanman on farm. Upon attestation he gave his address as Burton Green, Christchurch and his occupation as Groom/Gardener. He was medically examined at Christchurch and his declared age on attestation was 38 years 11 months. He attested his willingness to serve on 17 December 1915 and the following day was posted to the Army Reserve, Class 'B'. Having been mobilised on 31 July 1916, he was posted on 1 August 1916 to the Army Service Corps as a Driver (T4/214156), joining at Woolwich the following day. Subsequently he was posted to 490 Company ASC on 29 August and then back to No.2 [Reserve?] Horse Transport Depot, Blackheath on 6 February 1917. On 27 February 1917 he was compulsorily transferred to the 7th Training Reserve battalion under the number TR/5/26484 to train as an infantryman (but retaining his original rate of pay). Then, having proceeded overseas via Folkestone to Boulogne on 13/14 May 1917, whilst at 32 infantry base depot in Etaples, he was transferred to the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, given the new regimental number 25107 and then posted the same day to their 2/6th battalion. He joined the battalion in the field the following day, 1 June. The 2/6th was part of 186th Brigade, in 62nd (West Riding) Division, later to be Brigadier Roland Boys-Bradford VC's command.
Between 15 September and some time possibly in October Pte Lawrence was in the hands of the 2/3rd West Riding Field Ambulance and [6?] Casualty Clearing Station with PUO (Pyrexia, or fever, of Unknown Origin).
In November 1917 the battalion twice took part in the Battle of Cambrai, first on 20 November - only three days after Boys Bradford had taken command - at Graincourt and later, on the 27th, at Bourlon Wood. At Graincourt the 2/6th led the attack on the right front, advancing from Havrincourt Wood to attack the Hindenburg Support system to the east of Moeuvres. The brigade did very well, sweeping through the German lines to reach Bourlon Wood which, however, could not be held. Two days of bitter fighting around Anneux, south west of the wood, ensued before the division was withdrawn. An unsuccessful attack by the 40th Division, which had relieved the exhausted 62nd, then followed on the 23rd. By the following week, 186th Brigade, including the 2/6th West Ridings, were thrown in to the battle once again, this time in a last effort to take and hold Bourlon Wood, clearing the northern sector. Aided by 30 tanks, on the 27th the battalion attacked the German Trenches in front of the railway line, beyond Bourlon Wood, which they succeeded in reaching and holding until 5.00pm, when they were forced to retire to the wood itself due to lack of support on both sides.
A fierce shellfire now commenced on the wood by the Germans, costing the West Ridings 173 casualties. It was almost certainly in the course of this attack and retirement that Pte Lawrence suffered a severe gun shot wound to his right leg.
Having been wounded, Pte Lawrence was evacuated out of the front line via the 2/3rd West Riding Field Ambulance, 48 Casualty Clearing Station (both on 27 November) and XI Stationary Hospital, Rouen (29 November) and repatriated to Britain on 2 December 1917.
He was fortunate to escape the German counter-attack. On 30 November the 62nd Division had been relieved from the front and had just come out of the line when at 7am the German counter-offensive struck. An early casualty was Brigadier-General Bradford, killed when a shell landed near his headquarters.
Pte Lawrence later featured on War Office daily casualty list 5467, dated 16 January 1918, his next of kin address being given as Christchurch.
After treatment and recovery he was subsequently posted via the depot to the 3rd (Reserve) battalion of the regiment. By the time of his discharge he had been medically reclassified as grade B.i.
On discharge to the Army Reserve Class 'Z' on 13 February 1919, he gave his address as Fairleigh, Grove Road W., Christchurch. He received his British War and Victory Medal, his full entitlement, between January and April 1921.
After the war he moved to Hampshire where he was employed again as a gardener (address 'St Margaret', Lincoln Avenue), dying in Christchurch in 1943.
