18 November

Lonsdale Battalion events that took place on 18 November.
For events that took place elsewhere, see our sister project The Great War On This Day

1914 (Wednesday)

Hirings take place in Brampton.^[1]
Telegram from Lt-Col. Machell to Recruiting Office: "now only taking odd men who had been enlisted previously and sent home." ^[2]

1915 (Thursday)

Codford Camp: "The attention of all ranks is called to the necessity of leaving barracks in a clean condition, and thus avoid the heavy expense entailed by having rooms scrubbed by civilian labour after our departure." ^[3]

1916 (Saturday)

Battalion situated in the Redan Sector trenches. At midnight the Commanding Officer and Adjutant leave Battalion Headquarters and lay a tape as they move in direction of Wagon Road. Companies follow, marching into position along Wagon Road. By 4am the Lonsdales are ready.
The Commanding Officer gives last-minute instructions to Officers Commanding Companies at 4.30am. The Companies move into position by 5am and at 6.10am (zero time) the artillery barrage opens and the Lonsdales advance in perfect order to attack, "the spirit of the men being a fine sight to see in spite of the intense cold in which they had to lie & wait." Some reach 'Munich Trench' however, soon after it is difficult to ascertain the position of every company.
The Germans put over a heavy bombardment, including several rockets that burst into four red stars. Further considerable hostile machine gun fire ensues, some which appears to come from a gun well in the rear of 'Frankfort Trench,' engaging in indirect fire onto the ground over which the Lonsdale attack is being delivered.
Soon after daylight Captain Ross & 2nd Lieut. Greenhill are found, having earlier been held up, with some Lonsdale and K.O.Y.L.I. men near a communication trench running between 'Wagon Road' and 'Munich Trench.' Sharp fighting occurs and bombing attacks are delivered. A bombing post is established and further behind two Lewis guns are positioned commanding both flanks.
After dark several men, those who were left on the 'Wagon Road' side of 'Munich Trench,' return after having held shell holes opposite the German line. During the day until 10pm, stretcher bearers are continuously over the top, bringing in and attending to wounded men.
The remaining men are reorganised, placing 'Wagon Road' in a state of defence. Wounded men crawling back are continually sniped at by the enemy.

The following Lonsdale men died this day in 1916

1917 (Sunday)

Battalion situated at 'Road Camp' involved in training.

References

↑ Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/7
↑ Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/6
↑ Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/144

Sources: Various sources contemporary to the war have been used to compile the Lonsdale Battalion on this day... (hover to read more)

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 (18 November), 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.

[1] Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/7

[2] Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/6

[3] Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/144

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