23rd April 1917: 100 years later

Exactly 100 years ago today, Redford was posted as missing and later presumed dead. 

We were travelling through northern France at this time and took the chance to visit the battlefield again. The previous day we had visited the underground Wellington Quarry and tunnels in Arras and picked up a small wooden cross and poppy, upon which we wrote some of Redford's details. On the morning of the 23rd, before dawn, we drove along a farm track to a point which was in no-man's land and directly in the path of the advance of the 7th Borders on 23rd April.

"Zero hour" for the 2nd Battle of the Scarpe was logged in the various regiments' war diaries as 4:45am in 1917 but as France and the British Army were using GMT and daylight savings time, this was equivalent to 5:45am local time in April 2017. When we arrived on the battlefield the sun wasn't due to rise for another hour, but the eastern sky was already light and Venus and a crescent Moon had just risen.

100 years ago the sky would have been lit up by the explosions of the creeping barrage ahead of the troops.

At about 6am we planted the cross amongst the wheat which was illuminated only by the car headlights and a torch. In the distance the ridge we were on descended towards the 7th Borders' preliminary objective, Bayonet Trench. Off to the right we could just make out the woods on the east side of Monchy-le-Preux and on the left the lights of Roeux. From both places had come the deadly machine-gun fire which decimated the units of the 51st Brigade on that day.

Within a few months the cross will be ploughed into the same ground where so many soldiers lost their lives and where the remains of a good number still lie. Looking at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission list of dead for this day, it seems that only 1 in 10 ended up in a marked grave which managed to survive the war. The rest, including Redford, are marked on the memorial in Arras.

Cornelius Bell, 1897 - 1971 (?)

This is a work in progress

Cornelius Bell was born in July 1897, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. FreeBMD shows his birth register entry. He was also recorded in the 1911 census as living at the Quarry Burn address in Hunwick.

The Medal Index Card (WO 372/2/82052) at the National Archives shows several Cornelius Bells with northern regiments but I eventually narrowed it down to his record at the Lincolnshire Regiment. He was attested on 22nd January 1916 and assigned to the army reserve as Private Bell with Serial number 5453, later changed to 241768.

He was mobilized on 11th May 1916 and posted to Ireland with the 2/5th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment (the 2 denotes a second-line territorial or part-time battalion) which was attached to the 177th Brigade of the 59th (2nd North Midland) Division. This was just after the six-day Easter Rising.

The Division was hurriedly ordered to help quell the troubles. Troops of the 176th Brigade, including the 2/4th and 2/5th Lincolns, were ordered to close in on Sackville Street from east and west and to carry out a house-to-house searches. The 2/4 Lincolns formed a cordon along the Grand Canal to enclose the southern part of the city on the afternoon of 28th April. On 28th and 29th April the 2/5th Lincolns were part of the cordon established to contain Eamon De Valera's men.

The regiment returned to England in January 1917 and arrived in France on 23rd February. This is where their War Diary (WO 95/3023/4) starts.

Summary of the rest of his war

Suffered gunshot wound on left side 16th March 1917 and a gunshot wound losing 1/3rd finger on left hand 10th April 1917 (?). The battalion were at Hargicourt (near St. Quentin on the Somme) on 10th April. This post on the Lincolnshire Regiment's web site describes some of the action at Hargicourt.

Left France on 13th April 1917

First furlough 13-23 July 1917, in Hunwick with 2/5 Lincs but based at the time at the army's Command Depot (normally used for recuperating troops)

Posted 4th Res on 14th Sep 1917

Posted to 7th (Service) Bn on 25th Oct 1917

Second furlough 2-19 March 1918, granted by Central Hospital Chatham, considered as not fit for duty or command depot at the time. Was in B Coy of 7th Lincs at start of furlough but posted to 4th Reserve Bn on 12th March 1918?

Attended medical board in Ripon on 26th September 1918 and was released for coal mining employment at Rough Lea Colliery in Hunwick.

http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/r017.htm

In 4th Reserve Bn in October 1918 then 7th Bn again in November 1918

Discharged on 14th December 1918 as *surplus to military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the service)* (Para 392 of the King's Regulations, XVIa)

According to the family, he served with the so-called "Black and Tans" in Ireland, a special reserve of the Royal Irish Constabulary which was formed in 1919 to assist the RIC but disbanded in 1922. It was made up of many former veterans of WW1. A search of the list of RIC officers and other ranks at the Imperial War Museum did not turn up any Cornelius Bell although there was a James C. Bell. James was the name of Redford's father so it's possible he joined up under a slightly altered name.

Redford's actions in WW1

1915: Ypres

The 17th Division spent its initial period in France with trench familiarisation and then holding the front lines in the southern area of the Ypres salient which bulged into German-held territory. August 1915 until spring 1916 saw the 7th Borders in action at various positions around Ypres.

A history of the 17th Division reports the following for December 1915:

The month of December came and with it no let up in the bad weather. The Dorsets were issued gum boots in the dark of the Ypres barracks in an attempt to stave off the dreaded trench foot.

Enemy artillery was active and intensified to such an extent that an attack was deemed imminent. On December 14th, the Borders lost 10 men killed, 27 wounded and the Sherwood Foresters had 50 casualties when the Germans bombarded the trenches north of the Menin road. Around 8 p.m. Ypres was shaken by a huge explosion as the Germans fired a mine in front of the 7th Borders at Hooge. The Germans had, however, misjudged the distance and the mine went up 40 yards away from the British line (the crater was 60 feet wide and 30 deep). The Germans rushed the crater but the Borders did the same and drove them out after a fierce fight in the dark. The Borders' losses for the day were 26 killed, 78 wounded.

The Germans attacked with gas on December 19th, the cylinders were placed in the Hooge sector and the cloud spread as far as Ypres. The 51st Bde. were in the line on the Division's left sector north of Hooge with the 52nd Bde. on the right, the 50th Bde. were in reserve. The men in the trenches were relatively unharmed from the gas as they had seen it coming and had managed to put on their gas helmets. The men in the ramparts at Ypres were caught un-awares, the 51st Bde. H.Q. in the ramparts was affected and its commander, Brigadier General Fell, was gassed.

1916: Ypres and the battles of the Somme

 

From the Great War Forum:

The 17th Division was involved in fighting at the Bluff (south east of Ypres on the Comines canal), part of a number of engagements officially known as the Actions of Spring 1916. The Bluff was a raised hillock just north of the Ypres-Comines canal, formed by the excavations for that canal and as such was a valuable position on the relatively flat land of the Ypres Salient. The position is roughly half way between Hill 60 and St. Eloi. It is today a tree-covered Belgian nature reserve.The 7th Borders were about to relieve the trenches in front of the Bluff in the late afternoon of 14 February 1916. At about 16:30 the German 124th Infantry regiment attacked and took over about 300 yards of front and reserve trenches in front of and on top of the Bluff. The 7th Borders were put to helping dislodge these Germans, during the night of 14/15 Feb and also during the next day. They cleared them the reserve trenches but could not dislodge them from the front line. This action was largley fought by the battalion's bombers( grenade throwers).

The Long, Long Trail has more details on the fighting at the Bluff. A 1919 Michelin guide to the battlefields shows the extent of damage to the towns and countryside around Ypres.
Redford had furlough (leave) from the 7th to 14th April 1916. Whether he spent this in France or the UK is not recorded.

The Battle of Albert (Somme)

 

Taken from a Great War Forum entry, which was itself extracted from the book "Border Regiment in the Great War" by Col. H C Wylly:

They had taken part in the first phase of the Battle of the Somme as part of the 51st Brigade, 17th (Northern) Division, in XV Corps under General Horne, in the Fricourt- Becourt sector. On July 1st, they were in support, but on July 2nd they attacked and took Bottom Wood opposite Fricourt and were relieved overnight to Fricourt Wood. They took no further part in the first phase of the battle.

The day of 1st July at the Battle of Albert is better known as the infamous first day of the Somme, when the British army suffered almost 60,000 casualties, including 20,000 dead.

The book Border Regiment in the Great War describes the actions of the 7th Borders on the 2nd July in more detail:

[...] it was not until the 2nd July that it moved up from its billets in Merlancourt to the front of Fricourt Wood, with Battalion Headquarters in Fricourt Chateau, receiving at 3 a.m. next morning orders to attack Bottom Wood. At 9 o' clock, in waves of platoons on a two platoon frontage in line, with a squad of Battalion Bombers in each of the first four waves.

The order of companies was "B", "D" and "A" with "C" in reserve in Willow Trench. After leaving Fricourt wood the first trench to be taken was Railway Alley and this was captured without any serious opposition being met with, although Captain T.L. Crosse and Second Lieutenant A.H. Crompton - the latter carrying a Lewis Gun on his shoulder - were both killed. "B" Company remained in the rear to clean up Railway Alley, while "D" Company pushed on to attack Bottom Wood lying some 250 yards further up the slope.

A good deal of resistance was here experienced, mainly in the capture of an unmarked trench 50 yards in the rear of Railway Alley, but this was overcome, when "D" and "B" Companies, supported by "A", attacked Bottom Wood. A small party under Second Lieutenants Sanger and Thompson got into the wood and found the enemy here in strength; the Germans did not, however, realise how few in number their assailants were and all attacks were beaten off, and the enemy having been driven from Shelter wood by our guns and infantry, the latter being able to push on to occupy Bottom Wood, when the position reached was at once consolidated.

The enemy resistance had now here wholly broken down and they either ran or surrendered. During the night the 7th Border Regiment went back to German Dugouts in Fricourt Wood. In these operations Second Lieutenant H.H.Linzell was killed and Captain H.C. MacMichael and Second Lieutenant F.P. Joyce were wounded.

The Battalion took no further part in the July fighting.

More information on the fighting on the 1st and 2nd see the Wikipedia entry on the Capture_of_Fricourt.

The Battle of Delville Wood

 

The Battle of Delville Wood was the second battle in the Somme and was one of the most ferocious battles of the First World War. It was also one of the last before the heavy attrition of the trench warfare strategy seen in the rest of the war. The 17th Division relieved the 2nd Division some days after the intensive fighting of 14th -20th July, although this didn't mean that enemy activity had entirely subsided. The Border Regiment in the Great War continues:

Second phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916: on the 5th August the 7th Battalion was holding Delville Wood, which during the preceding ten days the Germans had made repeated attempts to recapture, and on the 7th August , the Battalion received orders to attack at 4.30 p.m. that day. The order of attack was two platoons of "B" Company on the left and two of "C" Company on the right, with "D" Company in support. The enemy trench was no more than 70 yards distant, and before the assaulting platoons had got halfway, they were received with so heavy and so well directed a volume of machine gun and rifle fire, that the attack - over very difficult ground covered with shell holes and fallen trees - could not be expected to succeed and the survivors were ordered to withdraw after dark and occupy their original position.

The casualties were 9 killed, 34 including Second Lieutenants Sanger, Cope, and Gascoigne-Roy wounded, 4 missing and one wounded and missing. On the 9th August the Battalion withdrew to close support in Montauban Alley, incurring additional casualties during the retirement, 4 men being killed and Second Lieutenants Thompson and Matthews and 17 Other Ranks wounded. Then on the 15th August, the 7th Battalion moved by rail and march to Bienvillers and on the 4th September was stationed at St Amand.

1917: The Somme, trench foot and the start of the Arras Offensive

Transport and camps in the Carnoy Valley, September 1916 © IWM (Q 1444)

According to his service record, Redford was admitted for treatment of a case of trench foot on 13th January 1917. The battalion had just spent three days in the appropriately named Frosty and Winter Trenches in the Somme. The battalion war diary for the middle of January shows:

CARNOY, 13th: Camp 23. Cleaning and baths

CARNOY, 14th: Battn moved to VILLE. 60 other ranks sent on fatigues. Battn moved straight [illegible]. Owing to Battn remaining 3 days in the line instead of 2 the number of bad foot trench increased. Bad weather also accountable. About 36 sent to dressing station. 10 [?] men fell out on the line of march. During the time in the line all men had fat rubbed with whale oil twice daily.

Whale oil would be rubbed into feet daily and some front line battalions got through as much as 10 gallons a day. Many men found it effective and stopped wearing socks, preferring to rely on the thick layer of whale oil instead.

After a month of treatment Redford was marked in mid February as being "sound" again. Total January "wastage from sickness" was listed as 55 other ranks.

The war poet Siegfried Sassoon had also been at Carnoy (gutenberg.org) the previous summer and wrote the poem "At Carnoy":

Down in the hollow there's the whole Brigade
Camped in four groups: through twilight falling slow
I hear a sound of mouth-organs, ill-played,
And murmur of voices, gruff, confused, and low.
Crouched among thistle-tufts I've watched the glow
Of a blurred orange sunset flare and fade;
And I'm content. To-morrow we must go
To take some cursed Wood.... O world God made!

July 3rd, 1916.

Apart from his poetry, Sassoon was also known for his singlehanded attack on the German trenches at Mametz Wood on 4th July 1916.

From the 7th Border Regiment in the Great War site:

In early 1917 the battalion was in the Combles area where Lieutenant Colonel W.N.S. Alexander D.S.O. took over command and they moved into training at La Neuville. The 17th Division joined VI Corps, Third Army to relieve the 15th Division north of Monchy.

The Battalion held Railway triangle and worked on the defences, within an hours notice of being moved up to the front line, during 14th -22nd April 1917.

From the Felsted Remembers site:

The Battle of Arras is not as well known as the Somme or Third Ypres and yet, in 39 days from 9th April to 17th May it became the most bitter contest for the infantry battalions. The result was 159,000 casualties - a daily rate of over 4000 compared with 2900 on the Somme and 2300 at Passchendaele. Yet, Arras was only a diversionary battle agreed reluctantly by Haig to take the enemy’s attention away from a planned French assault in the Champagne region. Had Arras only lasted until 14th April it would have been extremely successful with a relatively low casualty rate. Haig was forced to carry on into May 1917 with greater casualty rates and long term consequences for the 7th Borderers.

The First Battle of the Scarpe

 

The 7th Battalion war diary tells us that they eventually arrived in Arras on 10th April 1917 and went into the cellars of the Library Museum. The city was full of BEF troops, many of whom were living in the tunnels under the city dug by the tunneling companies. The war diary entry for 10th April says:

Battalion at 50 minutes notice to move. Weather still severe. Snow blizzard. The inveterate propensity of the British soldier to light fires and make tea at the slightest opportunity was again emphasized.

On 11th April the relatively successful First Battle of the Scarpe was already winding down and the 17th Division moved in to take the place of the 15th Division. From a short history of the Arras Offensive:

On the left of Monchy the 15th Division struggled to advance on Pelves and found themselves pushed towards Monchy which they helped capture. Pelves though remained beyond their reach and when the Division was relieved by the 17th Division later that day the new arrivals didn’t like the disorganised and non-continuous front line that they were inheriting. The 17th Division finally decided to occupy a position along the Monchy-Fampoux Road which meant that they gave up ground that had been won at great cost the day before. The village of Monchy le Preux, which only a few days before, had been almost undamaged now lay ruined beneath a covering of new fallen snow.

23rd April 1917: Arras Offensive and the Second Battle of the Scarpe

 

Locations of the 7th Borders and relevant landmarks at this battle can be seen on the following map. The black lines mark the trenches that were attacked, Bayonet and Rifle, as well as the main objectives of the new Brown and Blue Lines:

View Movements of the 8th East Yorks and 7th Borders in a larger map.

The Border Regiment in the Great War notes:

the 7th Battalion moved into the assembly trench south of Lone Copse replacing the 9th Northumberland Fusiliers on the night of April 22nd. Only two casualties occurred that night. The next morning April 23 1917, the 29th Division [on the right flank of the 17th Division] attacked on the right in front of Monchy-le-Preux. The 51st Brigade [actually the 51st Division] were on the north side of the Scarpe River. The objective was a line running from the east edge of Pelves village along the road to the east side of Bois du Sart

From the 7th Border Regiment in the Great War:

On the 23rd April 1917 VI Corps attacked along its front, the 7th Border attacking Railway [Bayonet] Trench and Rifle Trench near Pelves. The attack was very heavily met with machine gun fire and ended in no gains at the cost of 19 killed, 186 wounded and 214 missing. Many men had to shelter in shell holes from the intense machine gun fire all day, only managing to scramble back to their own front lines after dark.

Felsted Remembers has this to say about the day:

On St George’s Day 23rd April 1917 the 7th Borders found themselves attacking on the east of the Village of Pelves, north of Monchy le Preux. The 7th Battalion war diary provides a detailed explanation of the attack and its objectives:

At zero hour, 4:45am, a standing barrage was put down on Bayonet trench. A creeping barrage began 200 yards west of Bayonet trench and moved at a rate of 3 minutes per 100 yards. Both barrages lifted at plus 10 and then crept E at a rate of 4 minutes per 100 yards as far as the Blue line. Two tanks were detailed for the attack on Pelves. Battalion advanced at zero hour.[see below for the remainder of the war diary of the 23rd]

7th Borders were attacking Bayonet trench but did not get far as they came under intense machine gun fire from Rifle Trench on their right and from across the other side of the river Scarpe on their left. The survivors had to withdraw back to the assembly trenches near Lone Copse from where they had attacked. Many men were caught in shell holes and had to find their way back under cover of darkness. In the early hours of April 24th 7th Battalion survivors were ordered back to the Railway Triangle. The battalion had suffered heavily with 19 killed, 186 wounded and 214 missing.

Jonathan Nicholls in his excellent book on the Battle of Arras “Cheerful Sacrifice” describes how the 7th Borderers and South Staffords of 17th Division lead the assault up the slopes between the river Scarpe and Monchy le Preux. The Colonel of the Border regiment had said to his men:

Bayonets will be fixed for dealing with the enemy at close quarters with the cold steel

The Border men mainly miners, dalesmen and farmers from Kendal, Whitehaven and Cockermouth together with the Essex agricultural boys never got anywhere near to the enemy to use their bayonets. Private Reg Eveling, an eye witness in the 7th Battalion, recounts the events of 23rd April [also taken from "Cheerful Sacrifice"]:

It was my first and last action. I was totally terrified. I kept well back from the creeping barrage. I was very frightened, you could see the shells bursting only fifty yards in front. Then we came to the barbed wire and it wasn't properly cut. It was sheer murder, that was. There were paths cut through the wire and, like animals, we crowded into the paths. That's where most of our casualties came from, machine guns were trained on the gaps, blokes just fell in heaps. Somehow I got through that OK and kept on going, but then I looked to my left and right and couldn't see another soul. To my utter dismay, I was on my own. I panicked and dived into the nearest shell hole and stopped there till it was dark. That was one of the longest days of my life. When I crawled back, a Scots Regiment had taken over our bit of the line and were going to shoot me as they thought I was a German. I never saw a single German that day, yet the whole battalion was wiped out.

[...] The same fate befell the 51^st Brigade's 8^th South Staffords and 7^th Lincolns. The latter were ordered to attack the north end of Bayonet Trench, the same objective as the 7th Borders [not quite true, the 7th Borders advanced on the southern half of the trench], and lost 200 men in five minutes.

The next day Lieutenant NM Saunders, commander of C Company of the 7th Borders wrote to his wife [from the book "Monchy le Preux: Arras" by Colin Fox]:

We had a very rotten day yesterday. Nearly all our officers who did the attack were killed or wounded. I got through all right but was out in No Man’s Land from 5:30 in the morning to 9:30 at night and then managed to get past in front of the Boche line with some of my company in the dark.The postman is just going and I feel rather fagged after the strain. All the companies suffered rather heavily, I'm afraid.
[War letters of Captain NM Saunders 1916-1918. Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, Documents.4325]

The war diary entry for the 23rd shows a picture of confusion and tragedy:

Bn advanced at zero hour. Right leading Coy (D) lost direction and moved too much to its right, striking old German trenches about H 36 d 6.8. This Coy. then moved to its left and crossed Bayonet trench about H 36 b 8.6 and moved east. after crossing Bayonet trench an intense MG fire was met from Rifle trench. The remaining men of D Coy swung up to the left towards Rifle Trench and entered a German strong point about I 31 a 8.4 which they enlarged and consolidated. D Coy was joined by the survivors of right support Coy (C) which had crossed Bayonet Trench and had advanced due E. The left leading Coy (A) struck Bayonet Trench with its centre about the junction of Bayonet Trench and Rifle Trench. The left supporting Coy (B) followed and was also mown down by MG fire. The survivors of B and A Coy retired with companies of S Staffs to the assembly trenches NE of Lone Copse. By that time there were no officers of leading Coy surviving. After their retirement the Germans in a portion of Bayonet Trench held up their hands when the men of the Border again advanced but were again repulsed by MG fire. The survivors of the left coy's then retired and occupied the assembly trenches N of Lone Copse. The attack by the 8 S Staffs was also repulsed by heavy MG fire. The survivors of C & D Coys remained out in shell holes until dark when they made their way back to our line. Many were hit by MG fire on their way back. Lt Saunders and about 50 wounded and unwounded made their way in up to 2 AM. The 10th Sherwoods who were occupying the southern portion of Bayonet Trench found a party who brought in 2nd Lt Sanger wounded in the knee and about 100 wounded and unwounded men. Batn HQ moved from gun pits H 35 d 8.9 at 5:40 am to trench about H 36 d 8.8 where it remained during the battle. This piece of trench was held by 9th N.F. The trench was shelled throughout the day but few casualties were suffered by Batn HQ. The Bn was ordered to move to Rly [Railway] Triangle about 1 1/2 miles E of ARRAS and Bn HQ with about 100 men who had come in started to move at 2.30am [24th April] reaching the destination about 4am. [signed] C G Page Adjt

I have used the details from the war diary to plot the initial advance of the 51st Brigade's two leading battalions (7th Borders and 8th South Staffs) onto an officer's sketch map of the attack:

Initial advance of the 51st Bde on the morning of the 23rd April

Rifle and Bayonet Trenches can also be seen on this 8th July trench map from the McMaster University map site:

Courtesy of McMaster University Library

Pelves is at the top right and the Scarpe river runs past Roeux along the top. Monchy le Preux is just off the map at the lower left. The dark blue lines are trenches, with Bayonet and Rifle Trenches in the centre of the lower half. The machine-guns in Roeux were over a kilometre from the advancing 7th Borders but this was well within their 2km effective range.
The route of Bayonet Trench can still be seen in the fields today:

(from Google Maps)

On the same day, on the same fields, Captain Percival Knight Allen of the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment also fell:

At 4.45am the following morning [23rd April] the attack began with Bayonet Trench being allocated to the battalions of 51st Brigade although 100 men of the battalion assisted in the assault under heavy shell fire. This attack failed and at 2.30pm the West Yorks received orders to continue the attack at 6pm with the objective of Riele [Rifle?] Trench. The 6th Battalion Dorset Regiment were detailed to resume the attack on Bayonet Trench. As the two battalions advanced the German artillery opened fire with a heavy bombardment. As the 10th West Yorks were spotted by the enemy advancing down the slope towards them, they opened a "hurricane" barrage of 5.9 and 8 inch shells with machine guns sited on the northern bank of the Scarpe joining in and sweeping their fire down the ranks of Yorkshire men. Despite the murderous fire the West Yorks managed an advance of 200 yards before being forced to stop and dig in to the east of Lone Copse where they hung on until relieved by the 7th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. The survivors then withdrew to the old British front line where they supplied carrying parties for the East Yorks. Percival Allen was one of the many casualties they sustained that day.

One reason for the heavy losses would have been the preparedness of the opposing German 26th Division. Again from the book "Monchy le Preux: Arras":

One of their regiments established a concealed post overlooking Lone Copse valley where the 17th Division troops were assembling and it was able to report on the preparations for the attack half an hour before it began.

Today the battlefield is still primarily farmland.

Battle of Loos, September 1915

Herbert at the Battle of Loos

 

Prelude

On the morning of the battle, the regiments of the reserve 21st and 24th Divisions were still in the area of Noeux-les-Mines, still some way from the front. Due to the heavy losses of the frontline Divisions early on the 25th, the reserves were required much sooner than anticipated and so they had to up and march a few hours more to reach the front line at Loos. They would have had to manoeuvre through the lines of wounded streaming back from the morning's attack, across a battlefield churned up by fours days of bombardment.

Loos itself was a small mining village. The main slag heap is very clear in this picture from 1915, the distinctive pylons of the winding gear being known to the troops as Tower Bridge:

courtesy of Paul Reed, www.battlefields1418.com

The dispatches of Sir John French, Commander in Chief of the British forces, state:

The general plan of the main attack on the 25th September was as follows: - In co-operation with an offensive movement by the 10th French Army on our right, the 1st and 4th Corps were to attack the enemy from a point opposite the little mining village of Grenay on the south to the La Bassee Canal on the north. The Vermelles-Hulluch Road was to be the dividing line between the two Corps, the 4th Corps delivering the right attack, the 1st Corps the left. In view of the great length of line along which the British troops were operating it was necessary to keep a strong reserve in my own hand. The 11th Corps, consisting of the Guards, the 21st and the 24th Divisions, were detailed for this purpose. This reserve was the more necessary owing to the fact that the 10th French Army had to postpone its attack until one o'clock in the day; and, further, that the Corps operating on the French left had to be directed in a more or less south-easterly direction, involving, in case of our success, a considerable gap in our line. To ensure, however, the speedy and effective support to the 1st and 4th Corps in the case of their success, the 21st and 24th Divisions passed the night of the 24th/25th on the line Beuvry (to the east of Bethune) - Noeux les Mines.

These reserve Divisions were the first contingent of Kitchener's much vaunted New Armies and much was expected of them, in spite of (or, by some parties, because of) their inexperience. As it turned out, the exhausted and mismanaged regiments were not to have an easy time during the battle.

From the extensive description of the battle at The Long, Long Trail:

24th September, 7pm: the two reserve Divisions of XI Corps begin their final 7-mile march to the battle area, but are constantly delayed by road traffic and halts at level crossings. A military policeman stops some units moving through Bethune, as they were without passes. The reserve divisions were warned to carry extra rations as it may be some time before their cookers caught up with them. They also carried greatcoats on the march to the battle area.

The battle commences

 

This recording of a Lance Corporal of D Company, 1/6th Bn London Regiment, 47th Div, describes the tactical briefing for the attack.

From The Long, Long Trail again:

25th September, 5.50am: heavy British bombardment hits German front line defences and cloud gas is released [this battle was notable for the Allies' first use of poison gas, in this case chlorine]. The gas forms a 30 to 50 feet high blanket, moving forward slowly in places (although still short of the enemy positions at 6.25am), but is virtually standing still in the British assault positions in other areas. 

British infantry from the 47th (1/2nd London) Division advancing into a gas cloud during the Battle of Loos. The white puffs would be from shrapnel shells. Later on the same day the 8th East Yorks also passed this way.

6.00am: the now tired reserve Divisions complete their assembly at Noeux-les-Mines and Beuvry. 

6.30am : Zero Hour. All assaulting infantry units move out from front lines and move across no man's land towards the enemy positions

[...]

3.00pm: 8/East Yorkshires and 10/Yorkshire ["Green Howards"] of 62nd Brigade, 21st Division, are ordered forward towards Loos, to reinforce the units of 15th Division and if necessary retake Hill 70. After coming under shrapnel fire as they marched in column of fours - which destroyed their transport - these battalions lost direction and ran into intensive machine gun fire from the Southern end of Chalk Pit Copse, sustaining very heavy casualties

[More details of this unfortunate route mixup are given further below]

7:30pm: Other reserves of 21st Division - expected by Division to have been available at 10.30am - finally arrived and were clearly exhausted. They were ordered to reinforce the line between Hill 70 and Puits 14 bis [east of Loos and just south of Chalk Pit Wood]. Around 8.30pm, the remnants of the first waves that had attacked in the morning were finally relieved on the slopes on Hill 70. Nightfall therefore saw both Divisions [15th and 21st] in this sector in scratch positions between the old German first and second lines, consolidating their position. The enemy was in possession once again of the dominant height of Hill 70.

View 8th East Yorks 1915 and 7th Borders 1915 - 1917 in a larger map

The 8th East Yorks war diary describes the events of the 25th:

Noeux-les-Mines and Loos, 25/9/15, 11am

Moved from billets – halted for an hour and at 3pm launched the attack at enemy from BETHUNE – LENS Road – The direction was for Hill 70 thro' LOOS East and over the slack heaps – We came under heavy artillery fire at 3pm and so moved in artillery formation – D Coy led the attack with C on the left B & A in support. On arriving in the village of Loos [their costly detour via Chalk Pit Copse - see below for more details - seems to have been ignored in this official account] Col B.I. Way was met by the Brig Gen of 145 Bde apparently on account of the obstacles when coming over the enemys trenches the Battalion was straggled out. Col Way led on to the SE side of the village and formed up about a company & a half  - Shells of all classes were falling very thick around and several casualties occurred – D Coy and part of C under Col Way crossed the slack heap & commenced entrenching C Coy & part of B & about a company of the 10th York organised by the Adjt lined up and moved forward on the right – Major Ingles 2nd in Command formed up the two reserve companies in Loos and went up to the slack heap and commenced communication trench – at 8pm the Bn was in line digging in – Companies were re-organized - 10 York R on our right – Col Way commanding the left of the Bn & Major Ingles on the Slack Heap. All the night machine gun fire from the right flank and shells made entrenching difficult – 2 small counter attacks were easily repulsed during the night.

Positions at Loos at midnight of 25th September (from The Long, Long Trail)

The situation for the 15th Division on Hill 70 on the evening of the 25th has been described in this post on the Great War Forum:

(At this time the enemy held the redoubt and the crest of Hill 70, with what was left of 46 Bde and some other intermingled units holding a line just below the crest)

Around 6pm GOC 15th Div ordered one Bn from 62 Bde [possibly the 8th East Yorks or 10th Yorks but most likely a different 62 Bde battalion that hadn't yet been in action, i.e. the 12th or 13th Northumberland Fusiliers] to move up and be placed under 46th Bde at hill 70. The rest of the Bde to be in reserve. Around 9pm he then received orders to attack hill 70 with 62 Bde and the rest of 15th Div at 9am on the 26th, this in spite of continued requests for reinforcements and the fact that 46 Bde for example had suffered nearly 75% casualties.

‘About 11pm the 13th Northumberland Fusiliers (62nd Brigade) were sent up to relieve the 46th. It Lost its way, but, fortunately, was met by Colonel Purvis (12th HLI) in Loos and knowing the orders, he guided it into its allotted position.’

Despite continued effort the attack the next day failed.

An eye-witness account on the Western Front Association site gives a good idea of the march from the coast and the chaos and conditions between Loos village and Hill 70. The author was with the 12th Northumberland Fusiliers, also part of the 62nd Bde, 21st Division.

8th East Yorks and 10th Green Howards take the wrong route

 

As mentioned above, it appears that on the afternoon of the 25th these two battalions were not only subjected to a shrapnel barrage as they crossed the last exposed crest in the road before the British and German front lines, but mistakenly carried on along the same road instead of bearing left and taking a more straightforward route through Loos to their assigned section of the battlefield.

The earlier instructions to the battalion commanders had been brief:

We do not know what has happened on Hill 70. You must go and find out: if the Germans hold it, attack them; if our people are there, support them; if no one is there, dig in.

The Webmatters site gives a good description of the movements of the 62nd Brigade on the afternoon of the 25th September:

At 1500 hours (on 25th September still) the 8th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment and 10th Bn Green Howards [Yorkshire Regiment] set out for Hill 70. Their maps were inadequate for the task and as they marched down the Béthune – Lens Road they had no real idea as to the direction they should be going.

Instead of turning in towards Loos for directions the two battalions continued along the main road towards Chalk Pit Copse. Here they ran into the 1/20th Bn London Regiment (47th Division) who tried to prevent them from continuing beyond the front line.

The two battalions had already come under shrapnel fire on the way up (which had destroyed the transport section) and were now sent reeling by machine gun fire from the southern half of the copse. Retreating to the Londoners the two battalions were gainfully employed holding the front; digging trenches and hunting down any straggling Germans still lurking about Loos village.

Whilst this was happening General Wilkinson had arrived at Loos village with his other two battalions the 12th and 13th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers. These were sent forward to relieve those units that had not already been so. A company of the 12th Bn went out to the Scots’ defensive trench at Hill 70 where they were mistaken for a full relief by the 9th Black Watch and 10th Gordons who had been in the thick of the fighting for much of the day. By 2300 hours the Scots and withdrawn.

The same web site shows the route of the "8 E YORKS and 10 G H" on the afternoon of the 25th and their positions early on the morning of the 26th. Note the blue arrow in the bottom left corner. The two battalions started their attack from the north east of the village but - as described above - went too far right, towards Chalk Pit Copse, before correcting and moving through Loos to cross the slag heap towards Hill 70:

Positions on the morning of 26th September (from Webmatters WW1 site)

The book Loos - Hill 70 by Andrew Rawson describes what happened after they had come under shrapnel fire:

Reforming cautiously, the two battalions pushed on looking for Hill 70. Without guides or detailed maps to direct them the Yorkshiremen advanced across country heading for the high ground they believed to be Hill 70.

Before long they came across Lieutenant-Colonel Hubback's 1/20th London Battalion, which was holding a communication trench to the north of Chalk Pit Copse. The St. Pancras men watched in dismay as the two battalions casually went forwards towards the enemy occupied copse. Lt-Col Hubbuck tried to stop the impending disaster:

"About 5.00pm ... the 8th Bn. EAST YORKSHIRE REGT and 10th Bn. YORKSHIRE REGT came through the line we were holding. I was able to stop some of the senior officers and ask them where they were going. I was told that they had been told to take LOOS and occupy HILL 70; they appeared to have no definite orders or any idea as to the direction of HILL 70. I told a senior officer of the 8th EAST YORKS (I think the C.O.) the direction of HILL 70 and also that LOOS had been occupied by the 47th Division since that morning ...
From what I can gather from the officers the orders they had received were most indefinite, they appeared to have no maps and certainly no idea of localities."

Despite Hubback's remonstrations, the East Yorkshires and the two leading companies of the Green Howards marched blindly forward up the slope. As they approached Chalk Pit Copse heavy machine-gun fire opened up, sending the Yorkshiremen reeling back towards the London held trench. The disaster was compounded when the rear companies of the Green Howards, who were waiting in reserve at the foot of the hill, saw the survivors falling back. In the failing light, they mistook their comrades for Germans and opened fire. For a time Lt-Cols Hadow and Way were powerless to stop their men from killing each other. As darkness fell order was finally restored and the battalions reformed. 

Orders for any battle or action tended to be extremely detailed regarding the objectives and locations, so it certainly sounds like the inexperience or ineptitude of the two battalions' senior officers were to blame for the confusion.

It should also be remembered that this was the first action in the war for both battalions.

Another factor could have been that the Bethune-Lens road had a spot height of 70 metres marked on the maps, quite close to the German front lines and the "Stützpunkt 69" on the map above. This might explain why they insisted on staying on this road instead of taking a route through Loos to their intended objective, the real Hill 70.

Herbert is wounded

 

Some time between the 25th and the 26th September, Herbert suffered a gun shot wound to his abdomen.

The initial entry in his records had said that he was killed in action on the 26th but this was later corrected when it was reported that he had arrived at the 47th Division's 6th London Field Ambulance on the 28th and died of his wounds on the 29th.

This implies that he could have been wounded on the 25th during the fateful march towards Chalk Pit Copse, which was in that sector of the battlefield assigned to the 47th Division. Another possibility was that he was wounded on the 26th on Hill 70, as this is where the 8th East Yorks were later in action with the rest of the 62 Brigade of the 21st Division.

In either event, it seems that something delayed his arrival at the Field Ambulance until the 28th. It's possible that he spent two or three days in no-mans land until he could be recovered.

The following days

 

From the 8th East Yorks war diary again:

Loos, 26/9/15, 10am

Lt. Col Way with a party of 120 E York Rgt and a few of the London Rgt & a few Northb Fus [Northumberland Fusiliers] made an attack on Hill 70 - the enemy's trenches were however reached, but the flank fire from mch guns on the left & shells made the Bn withdraw. At 11am the slack heap was heavily shelled and Col Way was wounded ordered a slight retirement to the village - heavy casualties from snipers & machine guns occurred and Major Ingles with Capt Moon's A Coy kept on the slack heap and held their position - Part of the Bn retired at 4:30pm & joined support trenches of 23 Londons W of the village and remained all night - Shelling by the enemy continued all night

Loos, 27/9/15

A & B Coys held on the slack heap until relieved by the London & Gordons at 4pm the shelling was incessant particularly during the relief at 6:30pm the Bn was formed up in Bivouac at SAILLY LABOURSE. Rain was falling throughout the engagement.
A roll was called and the Casualty list made for the 3 days action
Officers killed 4. Injured 1 Officer
Officers wounded 11. Gassed 1 Officer
Officers missing 1. Wounded & [illegible] 1 Officer
Other ranks Killed 21. Gassed 1.
Other ranks wounded 132. Gassed & [illegible] 1
Other ranks missing 131. Died of Wounds 1

Bethune, 28/9/15

The Brigade entrained and marched to Rest Camp to be refitted.

Aftermath

This 1960s photo shows the view from the top of Hill 70, with Puits 14bis and Chalk Pit Wood in the middle distance. This would have been the view over to the left of the advance:

courtesy of Paul Reed, www.battlefields1418.com

In the end the 8th East Yorks suffered 320 men killed or wounded in this battle at a time when the typical strength of a battalion was 650-750.

The poem "The Guards Came Through" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle depicts the march and actions of the Guards Division on this area of the battlefield, between Hill 70 and Chalk Pit Wood. As the reserve division of the XI Corps, they had relieved the shattered 21st and 24th Divisions on the afternoon of the 26th September.

The war correspondent Philip Gibbs gave his critical view of the command of the XI Corps and their handling of the reserve divisions at the Battle of Loos in Part 3, Section XIII of his book, "Now It Can Be Told" (Project Gutenberg)