Mar
April
May
Lonsdale Battalion events that took place on 16 April.
For events that took place elsewhere, see our sister project The Great War On This Day
1915 (Friday)
- Lt-Col. Machell to Lord Lonsdale: “When we go to Grantham our Depot here has got to come under the Border Regiment at Carlisle....I am advised to ask you to be so kind as to write to Sir H. Mackinnon to tell him that you desire the Lonsdale Depot to remain under me, as long as we are in England, for all purposes....otherwise our recruiting will be completely killed....My Brigadier asks if I can get a couple of dummy machine guns made for training purposes. It is evidently impossible to obtain real machine guns, but dummies are equally good for training purposes. Could you ask Vickers Maxim or other firms if they will supply?[1]
- Copy letter from Lt-Col. Machell: “I have succeeded in obtaining the loan of 14 more service rifles, making 24 in all, and another 2000 rounds of ammunition....[2]
- Lt-Col Machell on Ceremonial Parade: “The Battalion will parade at 7 a.m. tomorrow to Ceremonial....Dress Dill Order, Khaki. Companies will fall in on their private parades at 6.45 and after being sized from the flanks to centre will be told off into platoons of equal strength, before marching on to their right markers in Battalion. Early tea will be served at 6.20. There will be no Kit inspection tomorrow. Companies will devote such time as may be necessary to satisfying themselves that the method of softening new leather is thoroughly understood and regularly put into practice. Through Platoon and Section Commanders they must also satisfy themselves as to the condition of socks, shirts and boots. There will be no saluting drill tomorrow.[3]
- Telegram to Lt-Col. Machell: “Instructions from Western Command your battalion will not proceed to Grantham....your advance party at present at Grantham will be relieved....when relieved they will return Carlisle by ordinary train service.[4]
1916 (Sunday)
- Aveluy: In support providing working parties.
1917 (Monday)
- North of Fayet: Battalion marches to Germaine via Holnon, Savy, Etrelliers and Vaux, arriving at 5.00am.
- Day spent cleaning equipment and bathing.
1918 (Tuesday)
- In the Line: Visibility is poor. Day quiet.
- Battalion Reserve Company digs fire positions in front of their trenches.
- Advance parties of the 10th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders arrive and relieve the Lonsdales who move back into Brigade Reserve. Relief completes at 10.30pm.
- Deaths: Percy Bowe (20287 L/Sgt.)[note 1] / James Little (19628 L/Cpl.)
Notes
- ↑ Slight discrepancy between sources. Commonwealth War Graves Commission states 16 April and Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19, Volume 39, The Border Regiment states 15 April.
References
Acknowledgements
Various sources contemporary to the war have been used to compile The Lonsdale Battalion On This Day. The majority of the events shown on this day (16 April), including any supplementary notes, enlistments and statistical data etc., have been primarily sourced from the Lonsdale Battalion War Diary (November 1915 to June 1918), Record of the XIth (Service) Battalion (Lonsdale) and abridged material from Timeline and Chronology of the Lonsdale Battalion (September 1914 - May 1915), which are sourced from the original DLONS/L/13/13 Lowther Estate Archives. Events from that chronology are reproduced here with kind permission of Jim Lowther (2016). They are identified and referenced separately by their unique DLONS numbers. Please do not publish these events without prior permission from the Lowther Estate. All casualty names, numbers, ranks, date of deaths and places of burial/commemoration have been sourced from Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19, Volume 39, The Border Regiment and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database respectively.