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 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 7th 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: -
2nd Lieut Spencer March-Phillipps
26 Coy, 1 Tank Battalion Tank Corps
Killed in the advance on Cambrai, Nov 20th 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 31st 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 8th 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 20th 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 30th 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 20th 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, 1st 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”.
2nd 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 24th 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 2nd 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
2nd Lieutenant Royal Field Artillery
Noel was born in Chirk, Denbighshire on the 26th 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 4th 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 1st 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 17th June 1918. He joined his brother Morgan in the 121st Battery, 27th Brigade on the 28th September 1918. He was wounded on the 4th November. He died of his wounds on the 11th 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 121st 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 2nd hour on duty & so remained with me in what shelter we had.
During the 1st 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 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 15th RWF, the 1st London Welsh. He was killed in action on the 22nd 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 8th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He suffered a gun shot wound to the head. He died on the 13th 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 17th Battalion Manchester Regiment (the Manchester Pals). He was killed in action on the 1st July 1916. His brother Hugh enlisted into the 9th Welsh Regiment. He was killed in action on the 17th 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 4th 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 2nd February 1890. He lived with his parents Marcus & mary at 27 Prince William Street, Toxteth. He married Esther Jones from Holywell, on the 17th November 1912. He enlisted into the 13th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment. He was later transferred to the 8th Battalion. He was killed in action on the 11th 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 2nd October 1897. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 26th 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 13th 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 2nd 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 4th 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 13th August. Thomas was an early casualty of the war, wounded and then captured on the 29th 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 3rd April 1918 and died on the 4th 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 1st 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 1st Battalion served overseas whilst the 2nd 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 1st 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 2nd 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 13th 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 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 1st 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 1st 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, 1st 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 1st 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)