Dragon's Voice

 

 The Dragon's Voice

November 2024

Next Meeting: Saturday 2^nd November. Doors open at 1.30 pm for a 2pm start

Ian Lowe: “The Missing Of Premesques”

A message from your chairman

Welcome to the November edition of “The Dragon's Voice.” Thanks to Steve Binks for his article which is reproduced below. If anyone would like to contribute to the newsletter then please get in touch. It could be an article, a photo, an event local to you or something you think would be of interest to other members. Just email them to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This newsletter will also be posted on the website: nwwfa.org.uk.

Please support the website by visiting it. There is a wealth of information for you to read.

Our December meeting is our Christmas Social. As with last year it is your chance to share any books, collections or research that you may think would be of interest, or even a Christmas related story. A free buffet & drinks will be on offer. If you want to contribute then please let me know. Many thanks.

Darryl

John (Jack) Eldred Mott, MC & Bar

By Steve Binks

Whilst working through my computer and written notes on the early days of the Graves Registration & Enquiries (GRE), I came across the war diary of the Australian Graves detachment (AGD). The document, brief on detail, covers a six-month period through March – August 1919. However, it lists the officers which sent me down the inevitable “rabbit hole”. First stop, the Australian War Memorial (AWM).

Here, I found several rank-and-file names linked to service with the AGD. All interesting reading, but “for use on another day”. The last name was the commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jack Mott, MC & Bar. His story turned out to be yet another “rabbit hole”.

Jack was born in 1876, in Hamilton, NSW, Australia. His parent’s emigrated from England (Essex) in 1856. Jack was described on his attestation papers as both an engineer and mechanic. He enlisted at the age of 38, in August 1915 and embarked with reinforcements for England during March 1916 with the rank of 2/Lieutenant. In August 1916, Jack sailed for the Western Front with 48^th Battalion, 4^th Division, AIF, and was later promoted Captain of B Company.

On the 11^th April 1917, Jack led the attack of his company at Bullecourt, carrying the first and second German trenches of the Hindenburg Line. During a German counterattack he was seriously wounded, shot through the neck, shoulder and hand. He was unable to get away as the Germans retook their trenches. He was taken prisoner and was eventually interred at Strohen, Germany, spending most of his time in the camp hospital.

In August 1917, Jack wrote a ciphered letter to his brother, Arthur (serving in the RAF). Concealed in his own saliva, below an innocuous letter were instructions for his brother to send him a compass, a small pair of wire cutters and a detailed map of the Dutch/German border. He gave his brother details of the checking of parcels and tins that the guards of the camp would carry out. (The letter is part of the AWM collection).

In September, along with another Australian officer they made their escape. Resting by day and moving by night they arrived close to the Dutch border where they were spotted by a German patrol. His colleague was captured but Jack managed to outrun his pursuers and reach the border, managing to avoid the electrical fence.

On the 26^th September 1917 he sent a telegram from Camp Enschede Quarantine, in Holland:

“Please discontinue parcels, have escaped”

Captain Jack Mott. Photographed on the Dutch border shortly after his escape. Described by Private William Chester as, “Big fine man, dark. One of the bravest men in the army”.

After a period of convalescence in “Blighty”, Jack returned to France in February 1918, joining the staff of the Australian Corps. In July 1918 he rejoined his unit, as temp. major.

On the 11^th August, during the Battle of Amiens, Jack was recommended for the DSO for leading forward the supporting tanks against strong enemy machine gun fire. It was later confirmed as an MC.

Jack returned to England in late September 1918 where he sat several instructional and senior officer courses. He returned to France in March 1919 in command of the Australian Graves Detachment with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The AGD worked in the Villers Bretonneux sector, attempting to keep Australian burials unique to their own burial grounds. It is clear when one spends time around these cemeteries and compare them with Australians buried elsewhere the efforts that his men made to partially identify the unknown.

Jack Mott died in Llanellfyd, Dolgellau (now Gwynedd) in July 1933, age 57. He remarried at Wimbledon in 1920 to Winnifred Dorothy, and had a son, Owen Eldred (who died in 1956). His first wife died in Australian in 1947. From a relative’s family tree on Ancestry, Jack’s premature death is thought to have been caused by his war injuries.

Jack gifted his MC and Bar to his brother Albert, who later lost them in a fire at his family home. His bar was awarded in 1920 for his escape. He never applied for his 15 Star, Victory and Empire medals.

His brother, Arthur, the brother he sent the letter to from Strohen, was killed in a flying accident, off the coast of Scotland on Christmas Eve 1917.

The above research led me to order a book, co-written by several authors (some of whom had relatives who had worked with the AGD).

“Australian War Graves Workers and WW1 (2019)”

“Devoted Labour for the Lost, the Unknown but not Forgotten Dead”

Reginald Arthur Beard

Accidental Death

By Darryl Porrino

Reginald was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in September 1882. He lived with his father Thomas Henry, a grocer’s manager, & his mother Susannah at 59 High Street, Cheltenham. He had a brother Thomas & a sister Annie. He also had a half sister Muriel Maynard Beard, from his father’s first marriage to Lucy Ellen Maynard.

By 1906 he was living in Liverpool where he was a ship’s steward on the ship Burutu, plying her trade along the coast of West Africa. He married Jane Eliza Redding in 1910. By 1911 they were living at 17 Edwards Street, Bridgewater, Somerset with their son Francis.

Reginald arrived in Australia as a ship’s steward on a Blue Funnel liner in late 1913. He was now described as being single although there seems to be no evidence of a divorce or separation. He enlisted in Brisbane on the 1^st September 1914, into 3rd Brigade Field Artillery. He was immediately appointed as a batman at 3^rd Brigade Headquarters. This was most probably due to his experience as a ship’s steward.

Reginald embarked at Brisbane on the HMAT Rangatira on the 25^th September 1914 with the Australian Imperial Force. They marched out from Cairo on the Gizeh road to Mena where they arrived on the 11^th December 1914. In the morning Norman Venress, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, attempted to climb Cheop’s Pyramid. He fell 350 feet, ricocheting several times in his fall. Luckily he only suffered minor injuries. On that same evening, after work was complete, at about 5pm, Reginald decided to attempt to climb the 450 feet high Cheop’s Pyramid. He wanted to be the first to achieve this. He did not tell anyone where he was going, & this proved to be crucial. He chose the nearest side to climb, the north eastern side. Unfortunately this was the most dangerous side with the blocks crumbling alarmingly. The pyramid is made of 2½ ton blocks made into steps with a three feet step up. Under normal conditions tourists were accompanied by 2 or 3 Bedouin guides who would practically manhandle the climber up onto each step. Reg had climbed up six steps and was attempting to climb the seventh when it crumbled under him. He fell onto the lower step which also gave way, sending him somersaulting down. He hit his back on a limestone outcrop and landed at the foot of the pyramid amidst dust and debris after a fall of about fifteen feet. He called out for assistance but no one heard him. As darkness fell the temperature dropped alarmingly and Reg felt the cold seeping into his bones. His legs were paralysed. In the dark jackals came sniffing around but didn’t touch him. Finally dawn arrived and the temperature began to rise.

Reg called for help and about 10am an Arab donkeyman arrived and went to his aid. Reg later recalled, “ I felt as if I had lain there for years. At 10am I though it was afternoon.” The donkeyman left to get help and returned later with three men to help lift him. They had to stop as Reg was in so much pain. Eventually help arrived from the local Field Ambulance and he was taken to Mena House Hospital. He was operated on by Colonel Bird who performed a lamenectomy and discovered he had a fractured spine. He suffered complete paraplegia & loss of bladder and bowel control. His condition was described as hopelessly incurable and he required nursing attention to alleviate his condition. He hovered between life and death mainly as a result of exposure, having been out all night in the cold air waiting to be rescued.

It would appear that Reg was a bit of a loner. He gave no address in Australia when he enlisted and he gave his next of kin as his brother Thomas who still lived in Cheltenham. Thomas was serving with the Merchant Navy. This “loner” theory is backed up by a letter sent to the Base Records Officer by another man in the 7^th Battery. Unfortunately I have been unable to decipher his signature. He writes:

“Dear Sir, I have received your reply regarding the address of the next of kin of the late Gunner Beard. My reason for wanting his address was because when he first returned to Australia an artillery officer asked me to take an interest in him as he was an Englishman without any friends, having been out here a very short time before he enlisted. I used to visit him in the base hospital and did everything in my power to lighten his burden and thought it would be a comfort to his relations to hear from one of the many Australians who were interested in him. Trusting my reason is satisfactory I enclose an envelope for your reply.”

Reg returned to Australia on the 22^nd March 1915, embarking from Suez on the “Ulysses” He arrived at Melbourne on the 15^th April 1915. He was admitted to the 5^th Australian General Hospital at Melbourne.

An application was made on the 20^th May 1916 to transfer Reg from No5 General Hospital due to a shortage of beds. This was, however, rejected by the chief medical officer who considered it undesirable to do so due to his severe condition. Despite his condition he remained cheerful & spent his time smoking & reading. He was resting on a water bed.

Reg died at 4.20am on the 10^th July 1916 of a fractured spine and sepsis. He was buried at Springvale Cemetery, Melbourne.

The Argus Newspaper, Wednesday 12^th July 1916:

Driver Reginald Arthur Beard of the 7^th Battery Field Artillery, who, in early 1915 received severe spinal injuries as a result of falling off the pyramids, died on Monday at the Base Hospital, St Kilda Road where he had been an inmate for 14 months. The late Driver Beard was accorded a military funeral to the Springvale Cemetery yesterday. The firing party was supplied by troops in training at the Royal Park camp.

Flintshire Observer 27/5/1915

Rhyl Anti German Scenes

German Barber & His Family

Exciting scenes were witnessed in Rhyl on Friday last. A piano-tuner, who is said to belong to London, had been talking rather foolishly of his objection to military service, & when on Rhyl bridge was overheard to say if he were compelled to become a soldier he would fight with the Germans. He also made some remark about Kinmel Park Camp to the effect that very soon it would be blown up. This was reported to a military patrol on the bridge, who arrested the man & accompanied by a special constable, took him to the police station. A crowd of soldiers collected in front of the police station, opposite the town hall. There were cries of “fetch him out”, & threats to handle the man roughly, it being assumed he was a German spy under arrest.

The men tired of standing outside the constabulary station, & there was a rush into Queen Street, where a barber named Fassey carries out his business. Fassey is a German subject, & has undergone military training in Germany, & presumably the South Wales soldiers were aware of the fact. He was interned for a short period at the German camp at Queensferry last autumn, but was liberated on bail, several Rhyl residents being sureties.

The enormous throng pressed into Queen Street, & soon the crash of breaking glass was heard. In a moment, the plate glass windows of the hairdresser’s shop were smashed, & the contents of the window showcases disappeared. The attempt to get into the house failed & Fassey’s 2 children were carried away by Sgt Jones. Fassey & his wife were conducted to the police station for protection. The lower windows of the station were smashed by stones.

By this time the military authorities were coming to the aid of the few police officers who were on the spot, & who while doing what they could to quiet the infuriated crowd, were practically powerless. Brigadier-General Dunn, who commands the brigade, now appeared in the forecourt of the police station & ordered the soldiers to go to their billets. He told them that they must recollect that they were soldiers of the King, & must not forget the uniform they were wearing. Pickets of men with rifles & fixed bayonets came up, & the show of authority soon sufficed to clear the street. Shortly afterwards bugle calls throughout the town summoned the whole of the soldiers to their parade ground on the promenade. They were kept for a time in their formations & then dismissed.

On Saturday all was quiet in Rhyl. The windows at the police station were replaced & the windows of the hairdresser’s shop were boarded up. No one seems to have been seriously hurt during the riot, though Sergeant Jones & other police officers were feeling the effects of bruising. The piano-tuner was still locked up at the police station. An order was made for the deportation of the piano-tuner from the county of Flint, & he was also ordered not to enter the neighbouring county of Denbigh. Police sergeant Foulkes quietly escorted him to the railway station onto a train for Chester.

The hairdresser Fassey is the son of a German who went to Switzerland as a young man. Fassey was born in Switzerland. He settled in Rhyl about 10 years ago & married a daughter of a well-known local tradesman. He took an interest in politics & was a member of the Conservative Club, but did not renounce his German nationality & take out a naturalisation certificate in this country. In these facts the police assented to his being released from the internment camp under bail.

Denbighshire Free Press 16/10/1915

Rhyl Man’s DCM

Corporal James Edwards, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, is the 1^st Rhyl man to gain the DCM. The deed for which he has received it consisted in getting outside his trench to render assistance to an officer, who had been wounded, & carrying him to a place of safety. While performing this act Corporal Edwards was himself wounded in the ankle by a rifle shot. He has now made a good recovery & this week paid a flying visit to Rhyl.

He is one of the time expired soldiers who rushed to the colours on the outbreak of the present war, & he holds the 2 South African was medals as well as serving in Egypt. Prior to the war he was employed at the gasworks.

RWF Fest Hightown Barracks, Wrexham 12^th October

 

Three branch members, Sian Nevitt, Russ Warburton & Darryl Porrino attended the 2^nd RWF fest at Wrexham on the 12^th October. There was a good attendance & were treated to four varied but excellent presentations. Adrian Hughes, our guest speaker back in February, was first up. He gave his talk about the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in Llandudno.

 

He has kindly offered to return to our branch in late 2025 or early 2026 when his museum is closed, & give a talk about his work with the CWGC. RWF expert Graham Knight came up from Birmingham with his hand made models & also his collection of RWF sweetheart brooches. Graham has also written numerous books about the RWF. It was nice to finally meet Graham in person. Yours truly even won a prize in the raffle!

Graham's models.

Graham Knight (centre with walking stick)

Miners at War 1914-18: South Wales Miners in the Tunnelling Companies on the Western Front

By Ritchie Wood

Helion, £35.00, 320pp Hardback, 107 illustrations within text., 29 tables, index, notes and refs. ISBN: 978-1-991096-49-8

Book review by Niall Ferguson

Although the large mines at Messines and the Somme are well-known, it is only recently that researchers have realised the extent of mining on the Western Front. It was only really absent from areas where a high water-table or unsuitable geology rendered it technically impractical.

With many years of experience as a mining engineer, Ritchie Wood brings an expert eye to the underground war. Following a description of 19th Century coal-mining in the various areas of the United Kingdom and their varying techniques, the author follows up with a history of the major Royal Engineers military mining operations in the 18th and 19th Centuries.  

It was interesting that Major Norton-Griffiths had encountered the so-called ‘clay-kickers’, his preferred tunnellers, not in the Cornish clay mines, but whilst he was supervising sewer construction beneath the streets of London. However, despite recruitment of appropriately skilled miners from throughout the UK mining industry, the Royal Engineers and miners who had previously joined other units, the focus of this work is not the on ‘clay-kickers’ but those who had previously worked in the South Wales coalfields.

The ‘learning curve’ during early mining operations is followed by an examination of the personal histories of a number of individuals, demonstrating what a dangerous time they had, which may well have justified the six shillings a day that the Army paid to a skilled face-worker (equal to the pay of an R.E. Sergeant-Major)

In providing a detailed description of the work and active service of five of the twenty-five Tunnelling Companies on the Western Front, the author draws much of the information from unit War Diaries.  This is fascinating stuff, and gives a good indication of the daily experience of being part of a Tunnelling Company.  As with many small units, in which highly specialised skills were a major factor, discipline tended to be less formal than in larger units and digging tunnels was far from their only activity. Members of the various units were frequently employed with trench raiding parties - given the task of investigating and destroying enemy mines and dugouts.  

Once the mobile war of the Hundred Days succeeded static warfare the need for strictly Tunnelling Companies disappeared and the units found their skills employed in such varied occupations as road repair, constructing new dugouts and neutralising booby-traps and other enemy ordnance - activities that caused as many casualties as digging tunnels.

 

 

The Newsletter Of The North Wales Branch Of The Western Front Association

October 2024

A message from your chairman

Welcome to the October edition of “The Dragon's Voice”. Where has this year gone? Most of next year's speakers have been booked. Just a few more to confirm & I will send them out to you. Some good articles in this edition. Many thanks for them. If anyone would like to contribute to the newsletter then please get in touch. It could be an article, a photo, an event local to you or something you think would be of interest to other members. Just email them to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This newsletter will also be posted on the website: nwwfa.org.uk.

Please support the website by visiting it. There is a wealth of information for you to read.

Darryl

H. M. A. S. AE1 Submarine

Royal Australian Navy

By Russ Warburton

HMA Submarine AE1 on patrol in waters off New Britain (Dennis Adams 1983)

I came across the story of the H.M.A.S. AE1 whilst I was researching the men on my local War Memorial in my home town of Holywell, North Wales. One of the men listed on the memorial was Arthur Henry Fisher, who served with the Royal Navy and was lost at sea on the 14^th September 1914 whilst serving aboard H. M. A. S. AE1 submarine. What was a man from a little town in North Wales doing serving on one of Australia’s first submarines on the other side of the world? That is a story for another day, but the story of H. M. A. S. AE1 is a very interesting one to say the least.

H. M. A. S. AE1 was the first of the two E Class Submarines built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, England, and launched on the 22^nd of May 1913, her sister ship H. M. A. S. AE2 was launched on the 18^th of June 1913. Both were launched by a Mr. H. Warton.

Axe used to launch both the AE1 & AE2 by Mr. H. Warton

AE1 at Portsmouth

SUBMARINE DETAILS

CLASS	E CLASS
TYPE	SUBMARINE
PENNANT	80
BUILDERS	VICKERS, BARROW IN FURNESS
LAID DOWN	14TH NOVEMBER 1911
LAUNCHED	22ND MAY 1913
COMMISSIONED	28TH FEBRUARY 1914

DIMENSIONS AND DISPLACEMENT

DISPLACEMENT	729 TONNES SUBMERGED
	599 TONNES SURFACED
LENGTH	53.17 METRES
BEAM	6.86 METRES
DRAUGHT	3.81 METRES

PERFORMANCE

SPEED	10 KNOTS SUBMERGED
	15 KNOTS ON SURFACE

COMPLEMENT

CREW

35

PROPULSION

2 SETS OF 8 CYLINDER DIESEL ENGINES BATTERY DRIVEN ELECTRIC MOTORS

HORSEPOWER

550 SUBMERGES & 1750 SURFACED

ARMAMENT

TORPEDOES 4 X 18” TORPEDO TUBES

The AE1 was commissioned at Portsmouth on the 28^th of February 1914 for the Australian Navy under the command of Lieutenant Commander Thomas Fleming Besant R. N. aged 31 and two other Royal Naval Officers, Lieutenant Charles L. Moore R. N. aged 26 and Lieutenant Leopold F. Scarlett R. N. aged 25. All officers were very experienced sailors, Besant having served with the Royal Navy since 1898 and served as a Junior Officer to Lieutenant F. L. Coplestone aboard submarine A12. On his service record Besant is noted as being thoughtful, reliable, zealous and very hard working.

The 32 other members of the crew were made up of: -

• 15 x Royal Navy Personnel from Great Britain

• 16 x from the Australian Navy (of which 6 were from the British Isles and formally served with the Royal Navy) The remaining 10 were all born in Australia

• 1 x remaining crew member was a New Zealander (John Reardon) who was one of New Zealand’s first submariners and was also their first combat casualty of the First World War when the submarine was lost on September 14^th 1914

The crew of the AE1 at Portsmouth before sailing for Australia

New Zealander John Reardon – the first New Zealand Combat Casualty of WW1

The submarine was based at Portsmouth for some time, while a number of Australian Naval Ratings underwent a course of training in submarine work.

The submarines AE1 and AE2 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Henry Stoker R. N. departed Portsmouth for Sydney, Australia in March 1914, escorted by the cruiser H. M. Eclipse via Gibraltar, Suez Canal and Singapore. Both crews were given five days’ rest bite in Colombo to recover from the cramped and hot conditions aboard as temperatures reached 100F. The submarine AE2 was even painted white on the journey through the Red Sea to try and deflect the sun’s rays. The two submarines arrived at Sydney on the 24^th of May 1914. During the journey the submarines remained on the surface for nearly the whole time. This was the longest transit distance ever travelled by a submarine.

At the outbreak of war the AE1 joined the Naval Forces to capture the German Pacific Colonies. AE1 and AE2 were heavily involved in operations that led to the occupation of German New Guinea in September 1914.

On the 14^th of September 1914, the day AE1 was lost, the AE1 met with the Destroyer H. M. A. S. Parramatta to conduct a patrol of St. Georges Channel to the south-east of the Duke of York Islands. After exchanging signals both proceeded to Cape Gazelle where they arrived at approximately 9am. The orders were to search to the South’ard and anchor off Herbertshohe at 5.30pm. The Destroyer headed in a southerly direction while AE1 headed north-east. The weather at the time was reported to be hazy and visibility was between 9- 10 nautical miles at times decreasing to 5 miles. The Destroyer’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant William Warren R. N. considered it “not advisable” to lose sight of AE1. Unfortunately it was reported at 3.20pm the Destroyer had, in deed, lost sight of the submarine and returned to the last reported sighting of AE1, but no trace was found. Assuming the AE1 had returned to harbour without informing the Destroyer H. M. A. S. Parramatta returned to Herbertshohe at 7pm. With still no sight of AE1 an hour later, with her sister ship H. M. A. S, Yarra, they resumed the search. They were later joined by H. M. A. S. Encounter and Warego, but no trace of AE1 was found.

The last known picture of AE1

The loss of the AE1 and all hands was the Royal Australian Navy’s first major tragedy. It was not known what caused the submarine to sink and the mystery continued for many years.

Submarine AE2 was also lost on April 30^th 1915, Turkish sources stated that on April 30^th, AE2 was sunk and the crew taken prisoner by Turkish warships when trying to enter the Sea of Marmora.

Many searches for AE1 have been conducted since 1976 without success.

In December 2017, a new search by the vessel Fugro Equator located the wreck of AE1 in 300 metres of water off the Duke of York Island group.

In April 2018, an expedition was conducted using the research vessel RV Petrel to perform a detailed remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey of the wreck. The ships ROV, fitted with high definition video and stills cameras carried out a full inspection of the submarine, respectfully observing the final “resting place” of the 35 crew members of the AE1. Over 8000 still images were collected during the survey and a full photogrammetric 3D model of the submarine. The findings revealed vital clues to the sequence of events that led to the loss of AE1.

Examining the wreck, it was found that the submarine's bow and stern torpedo tube caps were found to be either partially or fully open, and that this appears to have been an intentional act, carried out on the surface. Why the caps were open and whether this contributed to the loss is unknown.

The ventilation valve was found to be partially open. Why this was? We will never know, but this would have been one of the root causes of the submarine's demise. Despite efforts of the crew to recover, as evidenced by the positions of the submarine's hydroplanes.

AE1 was overwhelmed by the inflow of water through the ventilation valve and began to sink by the stern. At an unknown depth, the forward pressure hull, partially imploded, killing the crew instantly. The submarine continued its fatal dive, until it hit the seabed stern first breaking off the skeg and rudder; this action pitched the hull forward, breaking the submarine's back. This violent movement also affected the fin, which, having already been weakened, began to topple forward into the remnants of the control room and that’s where AE1 lay for over a 100 years undiscovered until the mystery was finally solved.

3D model of the wreck of H. M. A. S. AE1 (port side) at the bottom of the sea

Memorial flags left at the wreck site of AE1

Memorial Plaque of AE1

Thanks to: -

• Australia Sea Museum (www.sea.museum)

• AE1 Petrel Report

• Royal Australian Navy (www.navy.gov.au)

• Find my past

• Wikipedia

Article from Russ Warburton.

“Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori”

By John Storey

On a recent trip to Apulia, the region that forms the heel of Italy in the far south, I noticed the above inscription on the war memorial in Alberobello.

A literal translation is “that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”.

In Britain we will be more familiar with the quotation as being the title of the poem by Wilfred Owen, published posthumously in 1920, but the line is originally from “Odes, 3.2” by the Roman poet Horace who lived 2000 years ago, so perhaps it should be no surprise to see it on an Italian war memorial.

The memorial is an obelisk about 30’ high and the names of the Great War dead are inscribed on three sides of the plinth. There are 129 names recorded for the period 1915 – 1918.

In 1914 Italy was a neutral country, having signed a pact with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but in May 1915 Italy joined the Allies after Britain extended to Italy a loan of £50m and agreed to support Italy’s territorial claims against Austria-Hungary for what is now most of northern Italy bordering the Alps.

Italy’s late entry to the war did not prevent some 6,000 Italians living in France volunteering to join the French army in 1914, the majority being placed in the Foreign Legion.

The panels on the war memorial make interesting reading – there are several unusual aspects when compared to British war memorials.

The dead are listed in alphabetical order by surname and then first name and, as with British memorials, it is apparent that many families lost several members. No unit information is given but three are described as “Ufficiale” and two as “Sergenti”.

Two of the dead had the same name, Giovanni Piepoli, and so are further distinguished by the addition of their fathers’ Christian names, “di (of) Angelo Vincente” and “di Vitantonio”.

The majority of the names, 101 of the 129, are commemorated on panels headed “Morti sul Campo”, literally “Dead in the Field”.

A further 5 are listed as “Morti In Prigionia” - “Died As Prisoners”. This is a dubiously low figure given that 16% of the 600,000 Italians taken prisoner died in captivity. This was not a result of deliberate mistreatment but a combination of poor local conditions and the Italian government’s strict adherence to international convention in refusing to send state aid to its interned combatants. Italian statistics for losses in the Great War are, however, quite unreliable due to poor or incomplete record keeping at the time and lack of official interest subsequently to establish the facts.

20 men are listed as “Morti Par Malattia Contratta In Guerra” - “Died Of Malaria Contracted In War” - 15% of the total.

The Italian army was ravaged by several malaria epidemics, particularly in 1917 and 1918, and some units lost more casualties to the disease than to enemy action. Italian units fought mainly in what is now the north of Italy, Macedonia and the Balkans, not regions we would regard today as malarial areas but Italy was not declared to be malaria-free until the 1950’s.

3 men are listed as “Morti In Francia Nell’Esercito Americano” - “Died in France in the American Forces”. These were men who had emigrated to the States and joined the Army there but still remembered locally by their families. Mass emigration to America started in the 1880’s, particularly from the impoverished south of Italy, and by 1914 approximately 9 million had left the country, most destined for North or South America.

Paradoxically emigration from the area around Alborobello was comparatively low – the area was so poor that peasants had few possessions that could be sold nor any land to borrow against to buy a passage to the New World.

The poverty and lack of education or opportunity in the area also meant that it was more difficult to avoid conscription, either by being in a reserved occupation or by being able to influence the decision “by other means”.

The military region of Bari, which covered Alborobello, sent the highest proportion of conscription-age males and yet after the war it received the lowest level of state assistance. The continued neglect of an already impoverished area led to conflict in the 1920’s between the landowners and the landless peasants – a peasant Socialist movement achieved some success in improving the lot of the agricultural workers but it was brutally suppressed when the Fascists came to power.

Today the region is increasingly popular as a destination for foreign tourists but, as in any other country, how many pass by these memorials unaware of the social history of the time when these men died? Did those soldiers consider “that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”?

Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

Roger The Squadron Dog

You may remember during the June Open Meeting I told of the story of Captain Frank Turner RFC based on a cabinet photo of him that I bought. I mentioned an interesting story of their mascot dog Roger, who was kidnapped by a neighbouring squadron. I recently came across this photo of 55 Squadron, after Frank had left, and the mascot dog is featured on the right. This could well be Roger!! Note that one of the pilots is none other than W E Johns, the author of the Biggles books.

Book Review

 

The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs

By Richard van Emden

Pen and Sword, 2016, £20.00 hb, £11.99 pb and £15.00 e–book, 355pp, fully illustrated throughout, index.

ISBN: 9–781– 473–855–21 2

Review by Barbara Taylor

Richard van Emden is an ‘everyman’ author.

He has published many titles that need no repetition here. His work is very popular and it seems that this book is an almost instant bestseller; not surprising in this centenary year of the Somme battle.

The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs consists of letters and photographs – the author assuring us that many have never been seen before – and also four pages of sources and permissions and two general maps. The author deals with events in chronological order, not just from the start of the battle on 1 July 1916, but from the time in the summer of 1915 when the BEF took the area over from the French Army.

One of the strengths of this book is the author’s introduction, in which he explains just how these men came to be at war with cameras, often the relatively new Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK).

Photography had become much more accessible to the masses in the years before the war, with the introduction of the ‘vest pocket’ camera. Not really pocket by modern standards – although the dimensions of the VPK were not much different to those of a modern iPhone – but at least amateur photographers no longer had to visit specialist studios or rely on professionals lugging around cameras on tripods with bulky glass plates.

Although the VPK type cameras were relatively inexpensive, at around 30 shillings (£1.50), it has to be said that most of these photographers would have been officers given that the cost would have been beyond the income of the typical working man.

Soon after the war started, the photographs taken by these amateurs started to be published in newspapers and magazines; such was the demand for ‘action shots’ as the War Office had not appointed official photographers from the start of hostilities. As these images started to appear, the authorities panicked and the use of cameras on the Western Front was banned. Severe punishments were threatened.

Many men complied and sent cameras home with the re–issuing of this edict during 1915. Fortunately for us, some men ignored the warnings and carried on. Many amateur photographs were annotated on the rear or in albums so that one could identify who the subjects are. The author asserts that many men gave up their cameras because they had become disillusioned as the war descended into unremitting attrition and the sense of adventure and optimism had ebbed away; even more so after the Somme.

Generally I feel that these types of books are ‘lazy’ history, in that they do not include any original research. In spite of that I do like this book because some of the photographs have links to the text, rather than just being a narrative illustrated with stock photographs. Personally I would have liked to have seen see a few more linking pieces, but at least the author allows the officers and men to tell the story of the battle as it unfolded and as they saw it at the time. Finally I must applaud Pen and Sword for the quality of paper this volume is printed on. A big improvement and a trend that they need to persevere with.

The Newsletter Of The North Wales Branch Of The Western Front Association

October 2024

A message from your chairman

Welcome to the October edition of “The Dragon's Voice”. Where has this year gone? Most of next year's speakers have been booked. Just a few more to confirm & I will send them out to you. Some good articles in this edition. Many thanks for them. If anyone would like to contribute to the newsletter then please get in touch. It could be an article, a photo, an event local to you or something you think would be of interest to other members. Just email them to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This newsletter will also be posted on the website: nwwfa.org.uk.

Please support the website by visiting it. There is a wealth of information for you to read.

Darryl

H. M. A. S. AE1 Submarine

Royal Australian Navy

By Russ Warburton

HMA Submarine AE1 on patrol in waters off New Britain (Dennis Adams 1983)

I came across the story of the H.M.A.S. AE1 whilst I was researching the men on my local War Memorial in my home town of Holywell, North Wales. One of the men listed on the memorial was Arthur Henry Fisher, who served with the Royal Navy and was lost at sea on the 14^th September 1914 whilst serving aboard H. M. A. S. AE1 submarine. What was a man from a little town in North Wales doing serving on one of Australia’s first submarines on the other side of the world? That is a story for another day, but the story of H. M. A. S. AE1 is a very interesting one to say the least.

H. M. A. S. AE1 was the first of the two E Class Submarines built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, England, and launched on the 22^nd of May 1913, her sister ship H. M. A. S. AE2 was launched on the 18^th of June 1913. Both were launched by a Mr. H. Warton.

Axe used to launch both the AE1 & AE2 by Mr. H. Warton

AE1 at Portsmouth

SUBMARINE DETAILS

CLASS	E CLASS
TYPE	SUBMARINE
PENNANT	80
BUILDERS	VICKERS, BARROW IN FURNESS
LAID DOWN	14TH NOVEMBER 1911
LAUNCHED	22ND MAY 1913
COMMISSIONED	28TH FEBRUARY 1914

DIMENSIONS AND DISPLACEMENT

DISPLACEMENT	729 TONNES SUBMERGED
	599 TONNES SURFACED
LENGTH	53.17 METRES
BEAM	6.86 METRES
DRAUGHT	3.81 METRES

PERFORMANCE

SPEED	10 KNOTS SUBMERGED
	15 KNOTS ON SURFACE

COMPLEMENT

CREW

35

PROPULSION

2 SETS OF 8 CYLINDER DIESEL ENGINES BATTERY DRIVEN ELECTRIC MOTORS

HORSEPOWER

550 SUBMERGES & 1750 SURFACED

ARMAMENT

TORPEDOES 4 X 18” TORPEDO TUBES

The AE1 was commissioned at Portsmouth on the 28^th of February 1914 for the Australian Navy under the command of Lieutenant Commander Thomas Fleming Besant R. N. aged 31 and two other Royal Naval Officers, Lieutenant Charles L. Moore R. N. aged 26 and Lieutenant Leopold F. Scarlett R. N. aged 25. All officers were very experienced sailors, Besant having served with the Royal Navy since 1898 and served as a Junior Officer to Lieutenant F. L. Coplestone aboard submarine A12. On his service record Besant is noted as being thoughtful, reliable, zealous and very hard working.

The 32 other members of the crew were made up of: -

• 15 x Royal Navy Personnel from Great Britain

• 16 x from the Australian Navy (of which 6 were from the British Isles and formally served with the Royal Navy) The remaining 10 were all born in Australia

• 1 x remaining crew member was a New Zealander (John Reardon) who was one of New Zealand’s first submariners and was also their first combat casualty of the First World War when the submarine was lost on September 14^th 1914

The crew of the AE1 at Portsmouth before sailing for Australia

New Zealander John Reardon – the first New Zealand Combat Casualty of WW1

The submarine was based at Portsmouth for some time, while a number of Australian Naval Ratings underwent a course of training in submarine work.

The submarines AE1 and AE2 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Henry Stoker R. N. departed Portsmouth for Sydney, Australia in March 1914, escorted by the cruiser H. M. Eclipse via Gibraltar, Suez Canal and Singapore. Both crews were given five days’ rest bite in Colombo to recover from the cramped and hot conditions aboard as temperatures reached 100F. The submarine AE2 was even painted white on the journey through the Red Sea to try and deflect the sun’s rays. The two submarines arrived at Sydney on the 24^th of May 1914. During the journey the submarines remained on the surface for nearly the whole time. This was the longest transit distance ever travelled by a submarine.

At the outbreak of war the AE1 joined the Naval Forces to capture the German Pacific Colonies. AE1 and AE2 were heavily involved in operations that led to the occupation of German New Guinea in September 1914.

On the 14^th of September 1914, the day AE1 was lost, the AE1 met with the Destroyer H. M. A. S. Parramatta to conduct a patrol of St. Georges Channel to the south-east of the Duke of York Islands. After exchanging signals both proceeded to Cape Gazelle where they arrived at approximately 9am. The orders were to search to the South’ard and anchor off Herbertshohe at 5.30pm. The Destroyer headed in a southerly direction while AE1 headed north-east. The weather at the time was reported to be hazy and visibility was between 9- 10 nautical miles at times decreasing to 5 miles. The Destroyer’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant William Warren R. N. considered it “not advisable” to lose sight of AE1. Unfortunately it was reported at 3.20pm the Destroyer had, in deed, lost sight of the submarine and returned to the last reported sighting of AE1, but no trace was found. Assuming the AE1 had returned to harbour without informing the Destroyer H. M. A. S. Parramatta returned to Herbertshohe at 7pm. With still no sight of AE1 an hour later, with her sister ship H. M. A. S, Yarra, they resumed the search. They were later joined by H. M. A. S. Encounter and Warego, but no trace of AE1 was found.

The last known picture of AE1

The loss of the AE1 and all hands was the Royal Australian Navy’s first major tragedy. It was not known what caused the submarine to sink and the mystery continued for many years.

Submarine AE2 was also lost on April 30^th 1915, Turkish sources stated that on April 30^th, AE2 was sunk and the crew taken prisoner by Turkish warships when trying to enter the Sea of Marmora.

Many searches for AE1 have been conducted since 1976 without success.

In December 2017, a new search by the vessel Fugro Equator located the wreck of AE1 in 300 metres of water off the Duke of York Island group.

In April 2018, an expedition was conducted using the research vessel RV Petrel to perform a detailed remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey of the wreck. The ships ROV, fitted with high definition video and stills cameras carried out a full inspection of the submarine, respectfully observing the final “resting place” of the 35 crew members of the AE1. Over 8000 still images were collected during the survey and a full photogrammetric 3D model of the submarine. The findings revealed vital clues to the sequence of events that led to the loss of AE1.

Examining the wreck, it was found that the submarine's bow and stern torpedo tube caps were found to be either partially or fully open, and that this appears to have been an intentional act, carried out on the surface. Why the caps were open and whether this contributed to the loss is unknown.

The ventilation valve was found to be partially open. Why this was? We will never know, but this would have been one of the root causes of the submarine's demise. Despite efforts of the crew to recover, as evidenced by the positions of the submarine's hydroplanes.

AE1 was overwhelmed by the inflow of water through the ventilation valve and began to sink by the stern. At an unknown depth, the forward pressure hull, partially imploded, killing the crew instantly. The submarine continued its fatal dive, until it hit the seabed stern first breaking off the skeg and rudder; this action pitched the hull forward, breaking the submarine's back. This violent movement also affected the fin, which, having already been weakened, began to topple forward into the remnants of the control room and that’s where AE1 lay for over a 100 years undiscovered until the mystery was finally solved.

3D model of the wreck of H. M. A. S. AE1 (port side) at the bottom of the sea

Memorial flags left at the wreck site of AE1

Memorial Plaque of AE1

Thanks to: -

• Australia Sea Museum (www.sea.museum)

• AE1 Petrel Report

• Royal Australian Navy (www.navy.gov.au)

• Find my past

• Wikipedia

Article from Russ Warburton.

“Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori”

By John Storey

On a recent trip to Apulia, the region that forms the heel of Italy in the far south, I noticed the above inscription on the war memorial in Alberobello.

A literal translation is “that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”.

In Britain we will be more familiar with the quotation as being the title of the poem by Wilfred Owen, published posthumously in 1920, but the line is originally from “Odes, 3.2” by the Roman poet Horace who lived 2000 years ago, so perhaps it should be no surprise to see it on an Italian war memorial.

The memorial is an obelisk about 30’ high and the names of the Great War dead are inscribed on three sides of the plinth. There are 129 names recorded for the period 1915 – 1918.

In 1914 Italy was a neutral country, having signed a pact with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but in May 1915 Italy joined the Allies after Britain extended to Italy a loan of £50m and agreed to support Italy’s territorial claims against Austria-Hungary for what is now most of northern Italy bordering the Alps.

Italy’s late entry to the war did not prevent some 6,000 Italians living in France volunteering to join the French army in 1914, the majority being placed in the Foreign Legion.

The panels on the war memorial make interesting reading – there are several unusual aspects when compared to British war memorials.

The dead are listed in alphabetical order by surname and then first name and, as with British memorials, it is apparent that many families lost several members. No unit information is given but three are described as “Ufficiale” and two as “Sergenti”.

Two of the dead had the same name, Giovanni Piepoli, and so are further distinguished by the addition of their fathers’ Christian names, “di (of) Angelo Vincente” and “di Vitantonio”.

The majority of the names, 101 of the 129, are commemorated on panels headed “Morti sul Campo”, literally “Dead in the Field”.

A further 5 are listed as “Morti In Prigionia” - “Died As Prisoners”. This is a dubiously low figure given that 16% of the 600,000 Italians taken prisoner died in captivity. This was not a result of deliberate mistreatment but a combination of poor local conditions and the Italian government’s strict adherence to international convention in refusing to send state aid to its interned combatants. Italian statistics for losses in the Great War are, however, quite unreliable due to poor or incomplete record keeping at the time and lack of official interest subsequently to establish the facts.

20 men are listed as “Morti Par Malattia Contratta In Guerra” - “Died Of Malaria Contracted In War” - 15% of the total.

The Italian army was ravaged by several malaria epidemics, particularly in 1917 and 1918, and some units lost more casualties to the disease than to enemy action. Italian units fought mainly in what is now the north of Italy, Macedonia and the Balkans, not regions we would regard today as malarial areas but Italy was not declared to be malaria-free until the 1950’s.

3 men are listed as “Morti In Francia Nell’Esercito Americano” - “Died in France in the American Forces”. These were men who had emigrated to the States and joined the Army there but still remembered locally by their families. Mass emigration to America started in the 1880’s, particularly from the impoverished south of Italy, and by 1914 approximately 9 million had left the country, most destined for North or South America.

Paradoxically emigration from the area around Alborobello was comparatively low – the area was so poor that peasants had few possessions that could be sold nor any land to borrow against to buy a passage to the New World.

The poverty and lack of education or opportunity in the area also meant that it was more difficult to avoid conscription, either by being in a reserved occupation or by being able to influence the decision “by other means”.

The military region of Bari, which covered Alborobello, sent the highest proportion of conscription-age males and yet after the war it received the lowest level of state assistance. The continued neglect of an already impoverished area led to conflict in the 1920’s between the landowners and the landless peasants – a peasant Socialist movement achieved some success in improving the lot of the agricultural workers but it was brutally suppressed when the Fascists came to power.

Today the region is increasingly popular as a destination for foreign tourists but, as in any other country, how many pass by these memorials unaware of the social history of the time when these men died? Did those soldiers consider “that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”?

Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

Roger The Squadron Dog

You may remember during the June Open Meeting I told of the story of Captain Frank Turner RFC based on a cabinet photo of him that I bought. I mentioned an interesting story of their mascot dog Roger, who was kidnapped by a neighbouring squadron. I recently came across this photo of 55 Squadron, after Frank had left, and the mascot dog is featured on the right. This could well be Roger!! Note that one of the pilots is none other than W E Johns, the author of the Biggles books.

Book Review

The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs

By Richard van Emden

Pen and Sword, 2016, £20.00 hb, £11.99 pb and £15.00 e–book, 355pp, fully illustrated throughout, index.

ISBN: 9–781– 473–855–21 2

Review by Barbara Taylor

Richard van Emden is an ‘everyman’ author.

He has published many titles that need no repetition here. His work is very popular and it seems that this book is an almost instant bestseller; not surprising in this centenary year of the Somme battle.

The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs consists of letters and photographs – the author assuring us that many have never been seen before – and also four pages of sources and permissions and two general maps. The author deals with events in chronological order, not just from the start of the battle on 1 July 1916, but from the time in the summer of 1915 when the BEF took the area over from the French Army.

One of the strengths of this book is the author’s introduction, in which he explains just how these men came to be at war with cameras, often the relatively new Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK).

Photography had become much more accessible to the masses in the years before the war, with the introduction of the ‘vest pocket’ camera. Not really pocket by modern standards – although the dimensions of the VPK were not much different to those of a modern iPhone – but at least amateur photographers no longer had to visit specialist studios or rely on professionals lugging around cameras on tripods with bulky glass plates.

Although the VPK type cameras were relatively inexpensive, at around 30 shillings (£1.50), it has to be said that most of these photographers would have been officers given that the cost would have been beyond the income of the typical working man.

Soon after the war started, the photographs taken by these amateurs started to be published in newspapers and magazines; such was the demand for ‘action shots’ as the War Office had not appointed official photographers from the start of hostilities. As these images started to appear, the authorities panicked and the use of cameras on the Western Front was banned. Severe punishments were threatened.

Many men complied and sent cameras home with the re–issuing of this edict during 1915. Fortunately for us, some men ignored the warnings and carried on. Many amateur photographs were annotated on the rear or in albums so that one could identify who the subjects are. The author asserts that many men gave up their cameras because they had become disillusioned as the war descended into unremitting attrition and the sense of adventure and optimism had ebbed away; even more so after the Somme.

Generally I feel that these types of books are ‘lazy’ history, in that they do not include any original research. In spite of that I do like this book because some of the photographs have links to the text, rather than just being a narrative illustrated with stock photographs. Personally I would have liked to have seen see a few more linking pieces, but at least the author allows the officers and men to tell the story of the battle as it unfolded and as they saw it at the time. Finally I must applaud Pen and Sword for the quality of paper this volume is printed on. A big improvement and a trend that they need to persevere with.

 

 

 

The Newsletter Of The North Wales Branch Of The Western Front Association

 

September 2024

Welcome to the September edition of “The Dragon's Voice”. If anyone would like to contribute to the newsletter then please get in touch. It could be an article, a photo, an event local to you or something you think would be of interest to other members. Just email them to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This newsletter will also be posted on the website: nwwfa.org.uk.

Please support the website by visiting it. There is a wealth of information for you to read.

Darryl

Next Meeting: Saturday 7^th September

This month we welcome Tony Griffiths who will tell the story of Buckley born Fred Birks, who was awarded the Victoria Cross & Military Medal while serving with the Australian Imperial Force during the Great War. He has also made a film telling the story. Usual venue, Craig Y Don Community Centre, Queen's Road, Llandudno. LL30 1TE

Doors open at 1.30pm for a 2pm start.

Here is another article from our secretary, John.

An Old Photograph

In February 2017, when emptying my late father’s house in Norfolk, I came across an old photograph of a soldier of the First World War. On it was written: -

2^nd Lieut Spencer March-Phillipps

26 Coy, 1 Tank Battalion Tank Corps

Killed in the advance on Cambrai, Nov 20^th 1917

Spencer March-Phillips is not related to me. It would appear that the photograph came into the family’s possession via my grandmother. She was housekeeper to a very smartly dressed old gentleman who had a holiday cottage next to my grandmother’s house on the north Norfolk coast. This gentleman was a widower, with no immediate family, and when he died in the 1960’s my grandmother was asked to clear the property so that it could be sold.

For some unknown reason, out of all his effects, my grandmother kept this photograph and so it came to light again almost 100 years from the date when Spencer March-Phillips lost his life in France

Spencer was born in Weymouth, Dorset, England, on 31^st August, 1894. His full name was Spencer Lisle March-Phillipps. He was the only son of Hugh March-Phillipps and Henrietta May Helen March-Phillipps, of Chapel Court in the village of Kenn, near Exeter, Devon.

He had three sisters. The oldest, Sylvia Mary, married and became Sylvia Dundas, Margery Helen married Gordon Astell but Esther, the youngest, never married.

Spencer attended Blundell’s School, the public school near Exeter, between 1906 and 1911 where, being relatively local, he was a “day-boy” rather than a boarder. He was a member of Old House, as his father had been during his time at Blundell’s. In common with most public schools Blundell’s had its own Officer Training Corps (OTC) which all boys were expected to join and Spencer was no exception.

Britain was extremely fortunate in that these OTC would be able to provide so many junior officers with at least some basic training and leadership skills when the army greatly expanded in 1914 and beyond.

In common with many young men at the time, Spencer decided to seek out a life in the Empire and in 1912 he set sail for Canada where, in 1913, he started work as a clerk for the Bank of Montreal at its branch in Vernon, British Columbia.

Upon the outbreak of war in 1914 many young men of British nationality abroad rallied to the cause of the home country by either returning to Britain to enlist or by joining the armed forces of their Dominion or colony.

Spencer enlisted on the 8^th December 1914 at Victoria, the capital of the province of British Columbia. Located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, it was a 400 mile journey by road and ferry to Victoria from where he lived and worked in Vernon.

He joined the British Columbia Horse, possibly because its origin lies in the establishment of two independent squadrons of horse, one of which was in based in Vernon. The regiment was not mobilised during the war but in December 1914 many of the volunteers joined the newly formed 2^nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles.

At the time of his attestation the papers of 130290 Private March-Phillipps record him as being 20 years old, 5’ 11” tall with a 37 ½ “chest, fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He had a scar on his forehead over his left eye. His faith was recorded as being Church of England.

He arrived in France in August 1915 but, after limited service as cavalry, the British Columbia Horse re-roled as infantry to become the 2^nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion. Spencer, having served at the front for 9 months, was recalled to Britain for officer training and then commissioned in 1916 as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps.

The Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps was separated from its parent unit to become the Tank Corps in July 1917, the month that Spencer returned to France with No 1 Battalion of the newly-named Tank Corps

On 20^th November 1917 commenced what was later to be officially named the Battle of Cambrai. Originally planned as a large raid the eventual attack, for a variety of reasons, was on a much larger scale than originally anticipated. The opportunity to use tanks en-masse for the first time and over suitable ground may have become the reason for such an operation that had no clear strategic objective and was hastily planned. By the time the Battle of Cambrai, after considerable initial success, had come to an end on 30^th December, the British had lost most of the ground gained in the first week and suffered significant casualties.

At 6.20 on the morning of the 20^th November, the British deployed 476 tanks with supporting infantry behind a rolling artillery barrage. The objective was to break through the multiple lines of the Hindenburg defences across a front of six miles in an effort to cut the strategic railway network around Cambrai.

2Lt March-Phillipps was commanding tank I 28, named “Incomparable”, one of 3 tanks in 6 Section, 26 Company, 1^st Battalion.

Reports vary as to events but Incomparable had apparently crossed the main Hindenburg line before it became either ditched or entangled in barbed wire in a wide German support trench, the “Blue Line”.

2^nd Lt March-Phillips got out of I 28 under heavy fire to supervise work to free the tank but was killed instantly by a shell splinter

The remainder of the crew eventually managed to extricate the tank and retired from the action.

I 28 was presumably undamaged as it was again in action on the 24^th November with a new commander, when it became ditched again in the attack on Bourlon Wood - this time it was so firmly stuck that it had to be abandoned by its crew.

It was still stuck in that position when the Germans counter attacked in December and retook the area. Several official and souvenir photographs taken by the Germans show I 28 comprehensively ditched and with a broken track, although it is not clear whether this damage was inflicted by subsequent shelling of the area

The body of 2^nd Lt Spencer L’Isle March-Phillipps was not recovered from the battlefield, and he is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial at Louverval Military Cemetery, Louverval, a village 16 kilometres south west of Cambrai.

Spencer is also commemorated in the Memorial of the Great War published in the 1920’s by the Bank of Montreal and on the Blundells’s School Memorial website. His name is on the village war memorial in Kenn churchyard in Devon and in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission archive.

Acknowledgements :

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Blundell's School memorial

Jean-Luc Gibot and Phillippe Gorczyynski “Following the Tanks, Cambrai” published 1999)

longlongtrail website – tanks of Cambrai

Article by John Storey, WFA North Wales Branch secretary.

Noel Everard Evans

                                                                                         

2^nd Lieutenant Royal Field Artillery

Noel was born in Chirk, Denbighshire on the 26^th December 1898. He lived with his father, Reverend Enoch James, & his mother Violet at St Trillo’s Vicarage, Rhos On Sea, North Wales. His father was vicar at St Trillo’s Church. His grandfather, Major Thomas Everard-Hutton, of the 4^th Queen’s Own Light Dragoons, survived the Charge Of The Light Brigade, although he was twice wounded, once on the charge & again on the return. Noel attended Colet House Prep School in Rhyl. In 1913 he went to Llandovery College. Whilst there he established himself in the rugby 1^st XV, as a wing three quarter. He once scored seven tries for them against Christ College, Brecon. He was also an all round athlete & set many school records, including the steeplechase, the mile & the high jump. From there he entered Jesus College, Oxford.

Noel left college in 1918. He received a commission into the Royal Field Artillery on the 17^th June 1918. He joined his brother Morgan in the 121^st Battery, 27^th Brigade on the 28^th September 1918. He was wounded on the 4^th November. He died of his wounds on the 11^th November 1918 at No8 General Hospital, Rouen. He is buried at St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen.

His commanding officer, Major L Bonner, wrote home to his parents:

6/12/18

“Dear Mr Evans,

On behalf of the officers & men of the 121^st Battery, I wish to express our deep sympathy with you all in the loss of your dear son who, although he had only been with us a short time, had won the hearts of all the men. We in the mess feel that we have lost a great friend. He was always so cheery, no matter what the conditions were. We had been in rest for a few days and had received orders to get ammunition up to a position full east of Beaudiquies. Noel was in charge of the ammunition wagons on the night of the 2^nd November, & I am afraid he had a rather a bad time as the Hun was putting quite a number of machine gun bullets & shells all over the area he had to cover. This did not upset him in the least, & when I saw him in the morning he was very cheery & treated it as rather a fine joke. On the morning of the 3^rd November I said to him, “You must come up to the guns with us tonight & fight the last battle of the war”, & this he did.

We had to occupy the position after dark, as it was very exposed, & from the time we got in until Noel was hit, we had a very bad time. Shells & machine gun bullets rained on the position, & before we opened fire at all we lost several men killed & wounded. We were to open up a barrage at 5.30am but Noel was to do the 2^nd hour on duty & so remained with me in what shelter we had.

During the 1^st hour we had a very exciting time as the Hun put down a barrage on the battery as soon as we opened up, & kept it up for about 2 hours. During the whole time he was missing our little dug-out by inches. Once he hit the corner of it wounding 2 telephonists who were with us.

At about 6.30am Noel went on duty & remained at the guns until 7.30am. Soon after this, at 7.45am I should think, I was standing outside the dug-out & Noel walked towards me & we stood chatting for a few minutes. Then I returned to the dug-out & stood under the tarpaulin when a shell burst a few yards away. Our cook, who was stood in the entrance of the dug-out, fell over on top of us, & I was bandaging him when Noel was brought in. He appeared slightly wounded in the left thigh & right heel. A tiny splinter was removed from the back of his head. His thigh seemed to worry him most, but the hit on the head had caused him to go temporarily blind, this we put down to concussion. His memory too seemed a little impaired as he seemed to worry rather about me & several times asked whether I was hit. Each time I told him that I had not been but he seemed to forget & asked me again.

This morning was very cold & although we put blankets & coats over him, he still shivered a good deal. He seemed quit himself right up to the time he left us & was very cheery. Nobody of course thought he had been fatally wounded & said before he left that we hoped we would soon see him back. We were all very shocked when we heard of his death, & could not realise it for a long time.

Noel was a very promising soldier, & only a few days before he was hit I had been urging him to apply for a regular commission. This he was going to do but had not done before he left us. Let me again say how deeply we feel for you all in your bereavement. The knowledge that he died gallantly doing his duty is your consolation.”

Article by WFA North Wales Branch Chairman Darryl Porrino

September Book Review

                                                                         

Photographing the Fallen: A War Graves Photographer on the Western Front 1915–1919 by Jeremey Gordon Smith

By Jeremy Gordon Smith

Pen & Sword, £25.00, 289pp, ills, bibliog, appendices, index.

ISBN: 978–147–389–365–8

Ivan Bawtree worked for Kodak as a photographer and technician before the Great War. He joined the Red Cross in 1915 as part of the newly–formed Graves Registration Unit (GRU) and went to the Ypres sector to photograph war graves for the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC). Bawtree and two other photographers travelled by motorcycle and sidecar, photographing graves and other subjects, until he was demobbed in October 1919. His huge collection of negatives, surviving diaries and letters, has enabled the author to produce a fascinating biography of his great–great–uncle, and of the GRU. The book offers a biography of Bawtree, an overview of his time in France and Belgium and a history of the formation of the GRU. While many entries from his diary are brief – “Go to xxx, photograph graves. Return to base, have hot bath.” – this is a minor criticism.An outline of the creation of the cemeteries includes the author’s modern photographs interspersed with some of Bawtree’s original shots. Following chapters describes his wartime experiences, those of family and friends and events on the Western Front after the Armistice, describing how bodies were found, exhumed, identified, and reburied.

The book concludes with the foundation of the IWGC in 1917, its activities up until 1938 and a simple guide to the northern section of the Western Front. This is linked to locations Bawtree visited, a chapter about the post–war restoration of Ypres and his life after 1920. It is copiously illustrated with original photographs reproduced in dark sepia interspersed with the author’s own colour photographs, some merged to show a combined ‘then and now’ image. Overall this is an interesting book about a little–known aspect of the Western Front and about the people who recorded it.

Niall Ferguson

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 2024

A message from your chairman

Welcome to the August edition of “The Dragon's Voice”. If anyone would like to contribute to the newsletter then please get in touch. It could be an article, a photo, an event local to you or something you think would be of interest to other members. Just email them to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This newsletter will also be posted on the website: nwwfa.org.uk.

Please support the website by visiting it. There is a wealth of information for you to read.

Darryl

August Away Day

Our August meeting was our “away day”. I led a party of 20 around Rhyl Town Cemetery, visiting Great War graves & telling their stories. We were greeted with warm, sunny conditions. Our first stop was at the memorial stone of the Beech family where Eddie Beech was commemorated.

                                                                                                                (John Edward “Eddie”Beech)

He was born in Rhyl in 1896. He lived with his parents Edward & Mary at 14 Clwyd Street. They had a large glassware & china shop in the town. Eddie later moved to London where he was an apprentice gentleman's outfitter. He enlisted in Holborn, into the 15^th RWF, the 1^st London Welsh. He was killed in action on the 22^nd July 1916. He is commemorated on Thiepval Memorial.

Our next stop was at the grave of Trooper Francis Leo Dobbin of the Denbighshire Hussars Yeomanry. He was born in Rhyl in 1895. He died from typhoid fever while on training duties in East Anglia.

Next to Francis is the grave of William Edward Davies. He was born in Rhyl in 1889. He lived with his parents Edward & Mary at 8 Windsor Street. He was a barman. He enlisted in Rhly into the 8^th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He suffered a gun shot wound to the head. He died on the 13^th February 1919 as a result of his wound. I have his medals & placed them at the foot of his headstone, where photographs were taken to mark the occasion.

                                                                                                             William's Headstone & medals.

Next to William was the memorial stone of the Byrne family where 2 brothers, Francis & Hugh were commemorated. Francis enlisted into the 17^th Battalion Manchester Regiment (the Manchester Pals). He was killed in action on the 1^st July 1916. His brother Hugh enlisted into the 9^th Welsh Regiment. He was killed in action on the 17^th April 1918. We then visited the grave of James Owen Jones. He was born in Rhyl in 1882. He was a corporal in the Royal Engineers. He died of a haemorrhage of the lungs on the 4^th January 1916. His headstone was replaced in 2021after the CWGC issued an appeal to trace his relatives. I managed to contact a family member. Despite requests to be informed on a new commemoration I heard nothing but at least his headstone has been replaced.

David Shepherd took us to the memorial to one of his relatives, Arthur Osborne. He was born in Toxteth, Liverpool on the 2^nd February 1890. He lived with his parents Marcus & mary at 27 Prince William Street, Toxteth. He married Esther Jones from Holywell, on the 17^th November 1912. He enlisted into the 13^th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment. He was later transferred to the 8^th Battalion. He was killed in action on the 11^th September 1918. He is commemorated on Vis-En-Artois Memorial. He is commemorated in Rhyl due to his widow Esther later moving to Rhyl.

We also Visited the grave of Harry Weale who was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was born in Shotton, Flintshire on the 2^nd October 1897. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 26^th August 1918. At Bazentin-Le-Grand he was ordered to deal with some hostile posts. When his Lewis gun failed he rushed the nearest post, killing all the machine gun crew. He made for the next post but the enemy fled before him. He later moved to Rhyl where he died on the 13^th January 1959.

Harry Weale's Grave

After the tour we adjourned to the Kite Surf cafe/bar on the seafront for a drink & chat. Many thanks to everyone for coming.

Here is an article from John Storey

Fort George Military Cemetery,

St Peter Port, Guernsey

Take the wooded coastal footpath south from St Peter Port and you soon come across evidence of Guernsey’s military history, spanning the centuries from the late 1700’s through to the German occupation in the 2^nd World War. Leaving the road the path passes over tunnels excavated to store U-boat fuel and then rises to an open headland upon which is located Clarence Battery, built in 1780 and later incorporated as an outer defence for Fort George, a “star” fort built inland on the high ground behind.

Fort George

Bastions and turrets create impressive garden walls for the multi-million pound properties behind

Little remains of Fort George now – the original Georgian “star” fort was much altered and extended over the years, right up to WW2 when the Germans created “Stutzpunkt Georgefest” (Fort George strong-point) and installed a substantial radar base comprising bunkers, two Giant Wurtzberg and two Freya radars plus a communications base. The area was heavily bombed by the RAF in the weeks before D-Day and remained largely derelict until sold off by the States of Guernsey in the 1960’s. The high sloping curtain walls of the original bastions now protect an exclusive housing development – but a walker on the coast path may just glimpse, up through the trees, a white “Cross of Sacrifice” set on a terrace below the fort.

Following a narrow path up through the wood brings a cemetery into view, behind a hedgerow, with rows of headstones stepped down the hillside below the cross.

A further stiff climb and the Cross of Sacrifice comes into view again, but standing alone in a rather dismal gravel car park and above what would

appear, at first, to be a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery

Typical of many CWGC cemeteries, the entrance has low walls flanking a pair of bronze gates beyond which are terraces of headstones, many identical. In the distance, at the bottom of the cemetery, stands another large white cross. Near the gates a cemetery register box, with its bronze door, is set in the terrace wall.

Fort George Military Cemetery

The nameplate at the entrance identifies the place as “Fort George Military Cemetery” and bears the legend:-

“AUF DIESEM ENGLISCHEN GARNISONSFRIEDHOF RUHEN 111 DEUTSCHE TOTES DES KRIEG 1939-45”

“111 German soldiers of the war 1939-45 repose in this British Garrison cemetery”.

This is not a CWGC cemetery after all - as the nameplate identifies, this is a British garrison cemetery, used for the burial of soldiers and their dependents from its creation in the early 1800’s. It is now in the ownership of the States of Guernsey but it does contain war graves.

The CWGC is responsible for the maintenance for 23 graves from the First World War and 113 from the Second, 111 of the latter are of German soldiers.

The large white cross at the bottom of

the cemetery is of a style not dissimilar to those seen at Langemark or other German WW1 cemeteries

The cemetery register box opens out to reveal bronze pages listing the German 39-45 casualties in relief.

The Germans had originally been buried in graves marked with an Iron Cross (or, more accurately, the Maltese cross).

Post-war renovation and renewal, in conjunction with the German War Graves Commission, has replaced the original German grave markers with more traditional headstones and installed the large cemetery cross.

The First World War graves are all British and span the years from 1914 to 1920 – the earliest are those of the garrison battalion in 1914, the 4^th North Staffordshire Regiment, but as the dates progress many are from home defence regiments and the Royal Defence Corps. Investigation of available service files reveals that many of these men had already served overseas, been wounded (several times in some cases) and then medically downgraded to home service.

“Home service” in this case often proved to be much further from their town of origin than if they were serving in France or Belgium. A soldier’s death and interment on Guernsey probably meant that relatives were even less able to visit the graves than if buried in France or Belgium, to where organised pilgrimages of relatives took place in the immediate post-war years.

The case of Thomas Richard Thresher is a particularly apt example. Thomas was born in London in 1881 and joined the army as a boy-soldier at the age of 14. He was posted to the Royal Irish Regiment, for many years a garrison regiment in the Channel Islands. In the 1911 census he is listed as a musician with the Army on Alderney. In January 1913 he married an Alderney girl, Mabel Sophie Cochrane, and they had two children, Kathleen in 1913 and Raymond in 1914.

At the outbreak of World War 1 the Royal Irish were based at Raglan Barracks in Devonport, and from there they joined the BEF in France on the 13^th August. Thomas was an early casualty of the war, wounded and then captured on the 29^th September near Mons. Held in various German POW camps over the next four years, he became so ill that he was repatriated from one of the three “lager” or camps around Senne in early 1918, most likely with advanced TB contracted whilst a prisoner. Upon his return an army Medical Board confirmed that his disability was 100% and due entirely to war service. He was discharged from the Army on the 3^rd April 1918 and died on the 4^th November 1918, just a week before the end of the war.

He had returned to the islands when repatriated, presumably his family were still living there, hence the burial in the garrison graveyard.

The Imperial War Graves Committee marked the war graves with standard headstones in the early 1920’s, by which time the burial register shows that his widow was living in Petersham, near Sydney, Australia.

Serjeant Thresher’s headstone is unusual in that it is

of granite, having been replaced in 1933 as the original Portland stone marker had decayed.

Five of the 1917-18 graves in the Fort George cemetery are of men from the 1^st Battalion, Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, the fate of which unit towards the end of the war is comparable to the “Pals” battalions in 1916. Formed as a two-battalion regiment, the 1^st Battalion served overseas whilst the 2^nd was the home-based training regiment and included those unfit for front line service. Fiercely counter-attacked by the Germans during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, the 1^st Battalion held on but suffered 40% casualties.

Non-Guernsey replacements meant that the battalion was only half Guernsey-born when they again suffered enormous casualties (80%) in the Battle of the Lys in April 1918.

Further loss of the island’s male population was deemed to be unacceptable and the battalion was permanently withdrawn from front line duty. Taken into HQ reserve, it in effect became part of Haig’s bodyguard at Montreuil for the rest of the war.

The Cross of Sacrifice first seen through the trees from the coast footpath does not relate to the cemetery in particular but it’s location, in what is now a car park, was chosen in 1926 as being the most appropriate for what it represents. No doubt the setting was more impressive and dignified when the car park land was part of the extensive and active military establishment of Fort George.

The inscription states:-

“This Cross of Sacrifice is one in design and intention with those which have been set up in France and Belgium and other places throughout the world where our dead of the Great War are laid to rest”

Set in the bastion wall behind the Cross is a somewhat nondescript tablet that links the garrison cemetery to the Cross

The inscription reads:-

“To the honoured memory of those members of His Majesty Forces who gave their lives during the Great War 1914-1918 who lie buried in this and other cemeteries and churchyards in this island and those who are buried in the islands of Alderney and Sark”

The intention of those who created this memorial was to provide a fitting tribute to those islanders and others who gave their lives in the Great War. What a pity that the actions of subsequent generations have reduced it’s location to a scruffy gravel car park, hidden away in a private estate, inaccessible to many and unknown by most.

John Storey

January 2023

Black and white photo credit – from the book by John Nettles “Jewels and Jackboots”

Llangollen Advertiser 26/2/1915

Sad Death Of A Mons Hero

On Sunday morning the body of Private Richard Griffiths, aged 35, of the 2^nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was found on the roadside near Bodelwydden Church, Abergele. Griffiths, who had been out at the front & was wounded at Mons, had been invalided home, & was the guest of Mr R F Birch, Bryncelyn, St Asaph, where he had been nursed back to convalescence.

An enquiry was held by Flintshire Coroner Mr Llewelyn Jones. When evidence was given to the effect that Griffiths, on company of Private Donigun, went to St Asaph on Saturday night & called at the Swan Inn, where they were served with 3 pints of beer each, & Donigun purchased a 4 shilling bottle of whisky on leaving. The men were seen subsequently drunk on the road & eventually Donigun turned up at a farm near Bodelwydden alone, & was taken from there to Bryncelyn & put to bed. Nothing more was heard of Griffith until the following morning, when a workman proceeding to Kinmel Park, discovered the body lying at the roadside.

Medical evidence was given as to the effect that death was due to exposure, accelerated by over indulgence in alcohol.

George Lea, the Swan Inn, St Asaph, stated that the men were sober while at his place & that he was under the impression that the notice issued by the police authorities in reference to the serving of drink to soldiers to be consumed off the premises did not apply to these men, who were not serving with the troops at Rhyl.

The coroner, in summing up, referred to a notice issued to innkeepers by the Officer Commanding the troops now stationed at Rhyl prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor to soldiers to be consumed off the premises, & said that the evidence would be placed before the Chief Constable. The innkeeper had given very unsatisfactory evidence. A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned.

Book Review

The Killing of the Iron Twelve by Hedley Malloch

This compelling read begins by establishing the context whereby the German Army of occupation in 1914/1915 could execute soldiers found behind the lines.

A wide variety of examples are given of soldiers caught alone or in groups, sent to prisoner of war camps or executed. A similarly thorough and enlightening study is done for German treatment of civilians in captured territories, the German habit of taking hostages, of Germanification of the conquered land and sending the conquered to labour for the German war effort. One remarkable story follows another. Each is told with the finesse of a novelist and the skills of an historian - if you wish to follow the references you can. If you read French, you should.

The men involved in this story with its tragic ending are lovingly brought to life as sons, brothers, colleagues and friends. Why they enlisted is well argued: the fear of poverty for many, getting behind King and Country for others.

The story unfolds with growing foreboding. How this story has not made it to the big screen beggars belief.

Highly recommended for its extraordinarily powerful insight into the fragged edges of the first months of the European War, this war that in time was called a World War, and much later the First World War.

If you have a Top Ten 'books on the First World War' - then make room for 'The Killing of the Iron Twelve' by Hedley Malloch. You can start reading a few minutes from now - its available on Kindle via Amazon. My inclination having consumed the digital version is to add the hardback copy as required reading its lucid description of the German psyche ahead of conflict and its first six months.

Review by Jonathan Vernon. Digital Editor. WFA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dragon's Voice

The Newsletter Of The North Wales Branch Of The Western Front Association

July 2024

Next Meeting: Saturday 13^th July 2pm for a 2.30pm start.

John Crowther: Heswall Methodist Church Memorial

A message from your chairman

Welcome to the July edition of “The Dragon's Voice”. The Dragon's Voice newsletter was created by our dear friend & branch member, the late Trevor Adams. I wanted to revive this in honour of him. If anyone would like to contribute to the newsletter then please get in touch. It could be an article, a photo, an event local to you or something you think would be of interest to other members. Just email them to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This newsletter will also be posted on the website: nwwfa.org.uk.

Please support the website by visiting it. There is a wealth of information for you to read.

Darryl

A few years ago I had a letter published in the Bulletin regarding Captain Miles Kington, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. There had a been a rededication ceremony for him & various newspaper reports included the following quote from an unnamed soldier: “He was a fine officer & would crack jokes in the trenches & set us all laughing our sides out. It made us all mad to avenge his death”. That quote came from a letter written by a Jack Ellis of the 1^st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was in the hospital in Liverpool, recovering from the wounds he received in the action he describes. He was writing to his parents at home in Deganwy. I came across this letter during research into the 1^st Battalion. Here it is in full:

Captain William Miles Kington

Transcript Of A Letter Written By Jack Ellis of Deganwy

There are about a dozen Belgian soldiers in my ward, and they appear to be much happier here than at the front. It is just the reverse with us chaps, who are gloomy and can but talk of the past.

We were told to make an attack on the enemy and we were all anxious to know and feel what it was like. We advanced in artillery formation until we got within rifle range. We came across a few snipers in a farmhouse. One of them was badly wounded. We patched him up and relieved him of his helmet and bayonet as mementos. We continued our advance and Lt Chance was killed immediately by shrapnel. We received the order to advance further and I set my teeth. I lost my head completely and was almost mad. We got within 5 yards of the 2 German guns which had been doing all the damage, and Captain Skaife called a section to follow him. They did so but before they went far the captain was killed by a shell.

Much to our dislike we were ordered to retire 1 hour after the remainder of the line had done so, and a hail of bullets and shrapnel was poured into us. One chum of mine was grumbling at having to retire, when he was killed. Lt Naylor was wounded and 2 of the company carried him back to safety. I kept along the railway line and met several of our chaps who had been shot earlier in the fray. I relieved 4 of them of their rifles and slung them across my back. I then rejoined what was left of my battalion. I was expecting a rest when we were ordered to the trenches to take up outpost duty. My trench was just behind 1 or 2 houses and we noticed several Germans run into 1 house and start sniping.

My section commander discovered one firing through a window not 50 yards away. I fired about 10 rounds into the window and silenced him.

Once the Germans ceased firing in the early morning our captain knew a change was coming and we crawled to a spot 25 yards behind the trenches, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. While I was out of my trench, with the enemy’s guns blowing everything to pieces, I prayed to god to grant me instant death or victory. We had a roll call that morning and in our company alone for the first day we lost 2 officers and 32 men.

For 3 days we remained in the trenches, firing and being fired at, without food or water. Lt Hoskyns, who commanded my platoon, was killed by a sniper, and about 3 hours later Captain Kington was killed. He was a fine officer, and would crack jokes in the trenches and set us all laughing our sides out. It made us all mad to avenge his death.

We had the devils almost beaten and they were quite close to us, when we received the order to fix bayonets and charge. This bucked us all up. With bugles sounding and a cheer from thousands of British & Indian troops, we ran as fast as our legs could carry us into them. What a sight it was.

The devils turned and fled like birds but we were too close and let them have it. I sent my bayonet through one of them, clean through his chest, and had an awful job getting it out again. However, I managed it after putting my foot on his chest and tugging away at it. I caught another in the back and he dropped. I was in the act of going for another when he pointed his rifle at me. I raised my rifle to knock him down, and as it crashed down on his skull his rifle went off and I got a bullet through my left arm.

I was sorry because it put me out of action and I could have done a lot more damage. After 6 days at base hospital at Boulogne I was taken on a hospital ship home.”

I have narrowed the search for Jack Ellis down to one man. He is Private 10005 John Ellis. Unfortunately his pension records have his address as The Barracks, Wrexham, so the search goes on.

Darryl

Flintshire Observer 31/12/1914

Rhyl Corporal’s Daring Escape After Being Captured By The Germans-Daring Escape

Corporal Austin Birtwistle, 1^st Battalion Cheshire Regiment, has arrived home in Rhyl, wounded after some thrilling experiences. Birtwistle, who has been in the army for 16 years, was present at Mons, & took part in the engagements at Ghent, ST Quentin, Bethune & Ypres, being wounded by a shrapnel bullet in the attack at the latter place.

Describing his capture & escape, the daring corporal states that about 50 men of the 1^st Cheshires were sent out under cover of darkness to locate the enemy’s location, & they were allowed to penetrate a mile & a half into the enemy’s lines.

“We were returning down a lane, when we discovered that we were in the midst of the Germans, & our officer whispered order that every man was to look after himself. We attempted to escape under a hail of bullets. I was at the rear on my bicycle scorching away when suddenly I collided with a log of wood placed across the road as a trap for cyclists. This log was on the edge of a trench & I was thrown head first into it. My machine doubled up under me. Stunned by the fall I found myself in the hands of 2 Germans who pulled me out & escorted me to a trench.

I was kept here for some time without anything to eat, & during that period two Germans mounted guard over me. I was visited by a young officer, who asked me about the dispositions of the British Forces. This officer spoke fluent English, but got nothing from me. “I only came out yesterday & have seen nothing” I replied.

It was a moonlight night & although guarded by 2 sentries in the trench I kept my eyes & ears open. I was not long in discovering that big guns were being moved about, evidently taking up a new position. To one who had been a despatch rider & was engaged in scouting when captured, the information I had gained was most valuable, but the galling part was that I was a prisoner, & being the only one at that place there was very little chance of the enemy

taking the trouble to send me away.”

The Escape

“At about 2.30am a horn sounded (the Germans not using bugles) & the 2 sentries left the trench for a short time. Seizing the opportunity I scrambled out of the trench & dragged myself through a hole in the hedge. I fell into a deep trench on the other side, and, covered with mud, my uniform torn to shreds, I ran along the trench which was, fortunately, empty of Germans.

From this trench I was able to get into another, but as I showed my head above ground I was greeted with bullets, the escape having been discovered. Dropping into a shallow trench, about 2 feet deep, I remained there for a time. Then I saw the telegraph wires connecting the British lines not far away, & crawled in their direction. I had not proceeded very far wen I found myself face to face with an outpost of the Bedfords, who levelled his rifle, but putting up my hands I was able to get into safety, although in a terrible state.

Valuable Experiences

“I at once reported what I had seen, & was immediately handed over to an artillery officer, who took me into the roof of a farm building, & through a hole in the roof made by a shell, I was able to point out the location of the guns. From this point I was sent to other batteries & there explained the situation to the officers in charge, so my experiences in the German lines were of the greatest value to our batteries.

Eventually I was taken to the general & made to explain to the staff, by means of maps, what I had seen & the nature of the ground, together with the position of the enemy’s guns. It was not until after this that I ascertained that I was the only man of a party of 50 who were trapped in the lane that made it back safely.”

Book Review

Miners at War 1914-18: South Wales Miners in the Tunnelling Companies on the Western Front

By Ritchie Wood

Helion, £35.00, 320pp Hardback, 107 illustrations within text., 29 tables, index, notes and refs. ISBN: 978-1-991096-49-8

Book review by Niall Ferguson

Although the large mines at Messines and the Somme are well-known, it is only recently that researchers have realised the extent of mining on the Western Front. It was only really absent from areas where a high water-table or unsuitable geology rendered it technically impractical.

With many years of experience as a mining engineer, Ritchie Wood brings an expert eye to the underground war. Following a description of 19th Century coal-mining in the various areas of the United Kingdom and their varying techniques, the author follows up with a history of the major Royal Engineers military mining operations in the 18th and 19th Centuries.  

It was interesting that Major Norton-Griffiths had encountered the so-called ‘clay-kickers’, his preferred tunnellers, not in the Cornish clay mines, but whilst he was supervising sewer construction beneath the streets of London. However, despite recruitment of appropriately skilled miners from throughout the UK mining industry, the Royal Engineers and miners who had previously joined other units, the focus of this work is not the on ‘clay-kickers’ but those who had previously worked in the South Wales coalfields.

The ‘learning curve’ during early mining operations is followed by an examination of the personal histories of a number of individuals, demonstrating what a dangerous time they had, which may well have justified the six shillings a day that the Army paid to a skilled face-worker (equal to the pay of an R.E. Sergeant-Major)

In providing a detailed description of the work and active service of five of the twenty-five Tunnelling Companies on the Western Front, the author draws much of the information from unit War Diaries.  This is fascinating stuff, and gives a good indication of the daily experience of being part of a Tunnelling Company.  As with many small units, in which highly specialised skills were a major factor, discipline tended to be less formal than in larger units and digging tunnels was far from their only activity. Members of the various units were frequently employed with trench raiding parties - given the task of investigating and destroying enemy mines and dugouts.  

Once the mobile war of the Hundred Days succeeded static warfare the need for strictly Tunnelling Companies disappeared and the units found their skills employed in such varied occupations as road repair, constructing new dugouts and neutralising booby-traps and other enemy ordnance - activities that caused as many casualties as digging tunnels.

(Review courtesy of the WFA, Niall Ferguson & Ritchie Wood)