| 1st Border Regiment War Diary Transcriptions (1915-1918) The National Archives WO/95/4311 & WO/95/2305
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Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 1915 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| 1916 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| 1917 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| 1918 | ||||||||||||
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
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| FIEFFS | 1.4.17 | Btn marched to BOISBERGUE.
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| BOISBERGUE | 2.4.17 | Marched to LUCHEUX.
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| LUCHEUX | 3.4.17 | Training. Wood fighting. Attack on strong Point. Open warfare.
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| " | 4.4.17 | Training as above. All kits cut down to 35lbs & dumped here.
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| " | 5.4.17 | Marched to LIENCOURT.
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| LIENCOURT | 6.4.17 | Training in morning
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LIENCOURT |
7.4.17 | * | Training in morning and afterwards marched to GRAND RULLECOURT. LIEUT P. NEW, 2LTS A. CAMPBELL, A.J.F. DANIELS, T.L.P GAMON & T.N. MORRIS to temp (???) Depôt, St POL.
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| GRAND RULLECOURT | 8.4.17 | Marched to BAVINCOURT.
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| BAVINCOURT | 9.4.17 | Hail snow rain and wind. Men allowed to stay in huts. Offensive started at ARRAS.
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| " | 10.4.17 | As above. Good news, 10,000 prisoners and about 100 guns. 2Lt J. WHIGHAM rejoined from TMB. Lt COL MORRIS, D.S.O. sick to F.A!
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| " | 11.4.17 | About the same weather. Nothing done except issued with battle stores. MAJOR A.J. ELLIS, D.S.O. joined from ENGLAND.
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| " | 12.4.17 | 9.30am | Marched to DAINVILLE where we had dinner on the roadside. Then on to ARRAS, two hours rest then on to MAISON ROUGE near FEUCHY CHAPAL (leaving 10 percent officers and ORs behind) where we relieved 7th NORFOLKS, 9th Bde. Captured country and no accommodation except shell holes. Very muddy & cold. 2 LIEUT. A.H. CRAINE to F.A.
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| * | Casualties week ending 7thinst.
Sick to HOSP. 7 66 ORs joined from BASE From HOSP. 3 | ||
| MAISON ROUGE | 13.4.17 | Relieved 7th KSLI in BROWN LINE (old BOSCHE TRENCHES). Fairly comfortable. Near ORANGE HILL, about 2 miles E. of MONCHY and between latter place and GUEMAPPE. Saw where cavalry had taken it in the neck.
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| "BROWN LINE" | 14.4.17 | ||
| 3 pm | |||
| 6 pm | All quiet again. Stood down. Were not wanted.
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*
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8 - 4am | Digging [?] trench.
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| " | 15.4.17 | 8 pm | Whole Btn digging [?] trench N side of ARRAS-CAMBRAI RD from BROWN LINE to skirting LA FOSSÉ and LA BERGERE FARMS.
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| " | 16.4.17 | As above.
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*
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14.4.17 | * Casualties week ending 14thinst.
KILLED – NIL. WOUNDED – NIL. MISSING – NIL. SICK to F.A. – 16 40 O.R.s to Coys Depôt FROM F.A. – 1 | |
| " | 17.4.17 | To firing line, relieved 2nd S.W.Bs.
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| " | 18.4.17 | Improving firing line. One platoon of "B" Coy under 2Lt G.C.A. COX attempted to take a BOCHE strong point about 250 yds from our line. Unsuccessful owing to the fact that it was not known exactly the position an on arrival was found to be held strongly with MGs. 2 Lieut. COX wounded & 5 ORS.
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| FIRING LINE | 19.4.17 | Relieved by 2 HANTS, 88nd Bde on left, 6/7th R. SCOTS FUS. 45th BDE in centre & 6th CAMERON H. 44th BDE. on right. To ARRAS [?] 2 LIEUT COWARD & LIEUT MILLS wounded in ARRAS by shell (4am 20th). Casualties week ending 19th inst. WOUNDED 2 LIEUTS G.C.A COX (severe) / H.M WOOLF (slight) / H. COWARD ([?]) / LIEUT C. MILLS (slight)
O.Rs. KILLED 7 WOUNDED 18 Died of WOUNDS 2 MISSING 1 Sick to HOSP. 16 SHELL SHOCK 1 From HOSP. Nil | |
| ARRAS | 20.4.17 | Battalion moved into SCHRAMM BARRACKS as billets. The 10% details moving out of 89 Brigade Details Camp to the WEST of ARRAS. Reorganisation to replace casualties sustained in the previous tour of trench duty was carried out.
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| ARRAS | 21.4.17 | The Battalion completed all arrangements for moving out to the attack. Rifle grenadiers were ordered to dispense with their rifle grenades chiefly the NEWTON PIPPIN variety as many of these had "weathered" badly during the few days they had been carried - rods had become bent. The grenades generally unserviceable.
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| ARRAS | 22.4.17 | The Battalion was ordered to stand by ready to move out & take up a position in the line preparatory to an assault tomorrow morning.
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| ARRAS | 22.4.17 | 21.00 | The 1st Battalion The Border Regiment, under command of Lt Col A.J. ELLIS D.S.O. paraded in ARRAS and marched to a point on the ARRAS-CAMBRAI road 600 yards WEST of FEUCHY CHAPEL crossroads. At this point companies were met by guides & conducted at 10 minute intervals to the crucifix at N.6b.93 (NW entrance to village of MONCY-LE-PREUX). At this point platoon guides were met and platoons proceeded at ? minutes intervals to their jumping off place. The jumping off place was the line O.1.d.5.7 to O.1.b.5.5 that is a line about 30 yards WEST of our front line fire trench, up to the sunken road. Companies were formed up in the following order D.A.B.C in practically a continuous line, and Battalion Headquarters was originally established in the shallow trench at O.1.b.3.5.
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| 23.4.17 | 2.30 | All companies reported that they were in position. The task of getting the battalion through MONCHY-LE-PREUX village & into position was a difficult and dangerous one as the village was being pretty heavily shelled the whole time and, owing to the relief of other battalions proceeding at the same time MONCHY LE PREUX was very much congested with troops, pack animals, etc, and the arrangements for [?] between companies & platoons consequently broke down. Casualties were, however, small, only one officer (2Lieut V. BLOMFIELD) and about a dozen men being wounded. Meanwhile the adjutant (LT. R.G. CULLIS had been sent to look for a more suitable place
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| 03.00 | for Battalion Headquarters, and reported about 3 AM that he had discovered a deep hollow in the CHATEAU WOOD about O.1.b.2.5 where the Regimental Aid Post had already been established, the EAST slope of the hollow affording pretty good cover from direct shellfire.
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| 03.00 | Battalion Headquarters were accordingly moved to this place.
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| Trenches | 23.4.17 | 04.45 | C and D Companies moved forward following the South Wales Borders attack, in accordance with orders, and A & B companies occupied the old firing line. In going forward, these companies lost very heavily from our own barrage which was terribly short. Immediately the attack was launched the enemy put down a barrage on a line WEST of ARROW-HEAD COPSE and another following the line of the EAST edge of MONCHY LE PREUX village.
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| 06.30 | A report was received from Lt. Col RAIKES commanding the 2nd South Wales Borders to the effect that his [?] and reserve companies were digging in, and that he could see our men in ARROW HEAD COPSE. Owing to the heavy smoke from the barrage the situation could not be clearly ascertained.
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| 06.45 | A report was received from o/c B Company (Capt. J.W. EWBANK M.C.) to the effect that from confirmation obtained from wounded men, orderlies and observers, the South Wales Borders has gained their objective and were making strong points on it, and that our losses from our own and the enemy’s barrage reported severe.
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| 07.15 | CAPT. EWBANK reported that C and D companies had established themselves in the German front line. S.O.S flares had been sent up on our left at 06.16 and considerable machine gun fire was coming from that flank and he had accordingly pushed out a Lewis gun section to O1b54 to protect the left flank.
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| 07.35 | Lt Col RAIKES reported a gap in his line on his left occupied by Germans from about I.32.C.1.2 to O.2.a.3.9 from which line our own men were being rather heavily sniped.
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| 07.30[sic] | Instructions from 87th Brigade received to place one company at the disposal of Lt. Col RAIKES in the event of the enemy [?] to him his left flank. Another was consequently sent to CAPT EWBANK to send a Bombing party to ARROW HEAD COPSE to work up the German trench to the sunken road and to clear it of the enemy.
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| 08.20 | LIEUT. COL. RAIKES reported German trench still strongly held from I.32.c.3.0 to I.31 [?] with a strong point about I.31.d.4.7 the garrison being estimated at about sixty or seventy, and also that he had sent off his left company to clear up the situation. This information was communicated to 87th Brigade immediately by telephone.
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| 09.00 | Message from the 87th Brigade was received stating that the 17th Division had been unable to advance and that therefore the South Wales Borderers left flank was in the air. In the event of the second phase taking place The Border Regiment was not to attempt to enter the BOIS DU SART, but to dig in on the WEST side of it.
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| 11.20 | Report received from B Company that the bombing party sent out to ARROW HEAD COPSE under command of 2LIEUT. F.S. LAYARD had returned with the following information. The enemy trench from about I.32.c.4.0 up to the sunken road was non-existent. The patrol, however, made its way over the open up to the sunken road, and here discovered the enemy about eighty strong, entrenched from I.32.c.23 to I.31.d.5.8. On discovering this 2LIEUT LAYARD returned to ARROW HEAD COPSE and obtained a Lewis gun which he took up toward the sunken road and got it into a position from which he could enfilade the enemy trench. In this he was successful and inflicted several casualties upon the enemy. His whereabouts by this time were located by the enemy & he came under heavy machine gun fire, suffering from casualties. He thereupon withdrew his party & submitted the above report to his Company Commander.
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| 11.25 | Message received from 87th Brigade saying "you will not advance for second phase." According to programme companies were due to move at 11.33 to get up and ?? the barrage by zero + 7 hours and the only means of communication was by runner. Luckily the messenger got through in safely to B Company at 11.30 and CAPT EWBANK was able to get the order through to the remaining companies in time to stop them.
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References / notes
- National Archives Catalogue Reference: WO/95/2305/1
- The transcription above is available under the National Archives Open Government Licence for public sector information.
- War diary transcribed by Hugh Fulton