1st Battalion War Diary, August 1917: Difference between revisions
continuing
(continuing) |
(continuing) |
||
Line 1:
{{1st Battalion (war diary table)}}{{diary header}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center; margin-top:0;"
|-
! style="width:12%; background:#444444; color:#f7f7f7; text-align:center; font-weight:400;"|Place
Line 286:
|-
|
|16/8/17
|9.35
|{{left|After battalion headquarters had been established at Wijdendrift situation reports were received from all companies which made it possible to write up a full situation report for the battalion which was then sent to the Brigade, with a map showing the exact positions taken up, similar to those shown on attached map. The work of consolidation went forward quite smoothly all morning and the casualties were light though considerable sniping from the enemy on the EAST side of the BROEMBEER was kept up. A heavy [[howitzer]], at first thought to be our own 9".2, but afterwards proved to be a French 8" caused no losses by dropping shells in PANTHER TRENCH WEST of the swamp and it some considerable time to get it stopped though the F.O.O. Lt NAPIER R.A at WIJDENDRIFT got his messages through with great promptitude.
During the consolidation the enemy artillery was fairly active between the green line and the steenbeek and at times concentrated heavily on Wijdendrift itself, but they seemed unable to locate our front line, or at any rate made no attempt to shell it.
Enemy [[aeroplane]]s were very active all morning and continually flew up and down our line at very low altitude firing Machine Guns at the garrison and also firing single red very lights. None of our battle planes came over, to interfere with them and one gallant contact plane of ours which came over|offset=5px}}
|-
|style="background:#ccc;" colspan="4"|Sheet 9
|-
|
|16/8/17
|
|{{left|unescorted was promptly brought down by them, so that they had matters pretty much their own way. Our contacts had been very busy & did splendid and gallant work further on in the morning.
|-
|
|
|1 PM
|{{left|A report came from o/c B company that the enemy could be seen 3 or 4 hundred strong massing in NEY WOOD. The guns were <s>prop</s> promptly turned on, chiefly owing to Lt. Col. A.J. ELLIS D.S.O taking the matter personally in hand, and with excellent effect scattering the enemy alike heavy casualties were further inflicted by the front line garrisons by [[rifle]] fire, many of the men whose rifles were clogged with mud using captured enemy rifles and ammunition. At various times through the afternoon the firing line companies reported enemy activity beyond the BROEMBEEK and this culminated in a definite report about|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|
|7.20
|{{left|7.20 PM that the enemy were massing from NEY WOOD to a point opposite the right boundary of the Bedford’s sector and were already pushing forward in small parties by short rushes.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|
|7.40
|{{left|A barrage was again asked for on the line of the BROEMBEEK from U.16.d.1.8 to U.16.C.1.9 (see map attached 1/10,000 LANGEMARCK) and this barrage was put down with great accuracy|offset=5px}}
|-
|style="background:#ccc;" colspan="4"|Sheet 10
|-
|
|
|
|{{left|at precisely the right moment. again due to Lt Col. AJ. ELLIS D.S.O personal efforts & instructions.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|
|7.45
|{{left|CAPT and ADJT. A.W. SUTCLIFFE M.C., who was observing from WIJDENDRIFT spotted the enemy advancing in large numbers clear of our barrage - NW of NEY WOOD up to a point about U.15.b.2.6. After some little delay, LT. COL. ELLIS, who was still at the telephone, was able to get the artillery group commander on the other end and personally instruct him exactly where to put down his barrage & to what point to extend it with the result that all available guns heavy and light were turned ON <s>and an annihilating fire</s> The result of this fire was annihilating. It came down just at the right time and in the right place, completely broke up the enemy’s attack – he could be seen scattering in all directions, while parties could be seen being blown up all over by the heavier shells. – causing enormous casualties.
All this time a heavy rifle, machine gun and [[Lewis gun]] fire was kept up by our firing line. [[Troops]], who had never had such a "picnic" opportunity since Gallipoli and as the enemy had practically no trenches to get into |offset=5px}}
|-
|style="background:#ccc;" colspan="4"|Sheet 11
|-
|
|
|
|{{left|the losses inflicted by this fire were also very heavy. Previous to, and during his counter attack the enemy put down a fairly heavy barrage on the WIJDENDRIFT and STEENBEEK lines but only a light and inaccurate one on the front line.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|
|8.45
|{{left|About 8.45 PM the 18 pounders withdrew their barrage from the BROEMBEEK line onto PANTHER TRENCH from the right brigade sector bombing up to the swamp causing some few casualties in the firing line. The barrage was never asked to be withdrawn from the Broembeek line, and consequently this contretemps cannot be [?claimed], and certainly not a single [[Boche|BOCHE]] ever got to the WEST of the stream alive.
During the late afternoon patrols were sent out & reconnoitred the BROEMBEEK & exploited its crossings.
They encountered no enemy west of the stream, but were [[sniping|sniped]] at from by the enemy who appeared to be holding a shell hole line about 200y East of the stream.
The failure of the counter attack finished the enemy activity and the Battalion was relieved by the Inneskillen [sic] Fusiliers during the |offset=5px}}
|-
|style="background:#ccc;" colspan="4"|Sheet 12
|-
|
|
|
|{{left|night and early morning of the 17th. The operation as far as this battalion was concerned being a complete success and carried out with remarkably light casualties.
The advance was a difficult one owing to the assault running diagonally across our front from CANNES FARM to the BROEMBEEK and its success reflects the greatest credit upon the company commanders & their subordinates in keeping direction etc. Track and direction were kept throughout and they arrived at their allotted objectives to time. The endurance displayed by all ranks <s>reflected</s> was beyond all praise as the going throughout was in an appalling state and during the previous three days the battalion had held the firing line for [?18] hours and carried out two difficult reliefs under most adverse conditions and suffered considerably from shellfire. Notwithstanding, their moral was unsurpassed. and worthy of the highest traditions of the regiment.<br>Casualties for the action were as follows.|offset=5px}}
|-
|style="background:#ccc;" colspan="4"|Sheet 13
|-
|
|
|
|{{left|Casualties for the action 16/8/17|offset=5px}}
:{| class="plainwikitable"
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Killed
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Officers
|style="vertical-align:top;"|NIL
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Other Ranks
|style="vertical-align:top;"|14
|style="vertical-align:top;"|(including C.S.M HARRISON)
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Wounded
|style="vertical-align:top;"|<center>"</center>
|style="vertical-align:top;"|1
|style="vertical-align:top;"|<center>"</center>
|style="vertical-align:top;"|66
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|-
|colspan="3"|<center>2LT M.C NICHOLSON</center>
|
|
|
|}
|-
|
|17/8/17
|
|{{left|Battalion relief was completed by about midnight & the battalion moved to CHARTERHOUSE CAMP near DE WIPPE CABERET behind Elverdinghe spending a restful day.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|18/8/17
|
|{{left|Cleaning up, reorganising and replacing deficiencies of the battalion.<br>Casualties week ending 17/8/17|offset=5px}}
:{| class="plainwikitable"
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Killed<ref>[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]: Casualties for week ending 17/8/17, [[1st Border Regiment]], 46 killed in Belgium:
;12/08/1917 (1)
*Pte. 24709 Joseph William Armstrong
;13/08/1917 (15)
*2Lt. George Froude Hamlett (3rd Border)
*C.S.M. 4778 Darrell Jackson
*Cpl. 21826 John Wallace ("B" Coy.)
*L/Cpl. 16545 James Cavanagh (No. 2 Coy.)
*L/Cpl. 18901 Arthur Heaton
*L/Cpl. 23962 William Kitchin
*Pte. 9485 W Barlow
*Pte. 33686 Stanley F. Clawson
*Pte. 242146 WW Foster
*Pte. 28548 G Gregson
*Pte. 28609 George Pollitt
*Pte. 33866 M Garlick
*Pte. 18933 William Wilkinson
*Pte. 4055 John Scott
*Pte. 22630 James Scrace
;14/08/1917 (7)
*L/Cpl. 23015 JJ Wise
*Pte. 27007 John Ferguson
*Pte. 18311 Fred Haydock
*Pte. 32353 Thomas Jolliffe
*Pte. 28721 Fred Schofield
*Pte. 28569 Joseph Philip Wilcox
*Pte. 202207 William Wilkinson
;16/08/1917 (22)
*Lt Col. Frank George Greir Morris DSO
*Cpl. 20480 R Elliott
*L/Cpl. 13861 Edward Backhouse
*Pte. 241205 W Bartle
*Pte. 33903 George Bennett
*Pte. 28727 Henry John Reginald Came
*Pte. 25757 William Clark
*Pte. 32310 Joseph William Collinson
*Pte. 25231 Robert Douglas ("D" Coy.)
*Pte. 16841 Charles Harris ("A" Coy.)
*Pte. 28592 John William Lee
*Pte. 202686 Joseph William Megah
*Pte. 25081 John Arthur Mitchell
*Pte. 32554 Nicholas Moore
*Pte. 21015 William Payne
*Pte. 33774 Benjamin Sayers
*Pte. 25807 Joseph Lister Sherrard
*Pte. 15279 John Smith
*Pte. 25278 Craven Sunderland
*Pte. 28607 Joseph Walsh
*Pte. 33807 Herbert White
*Pte. 27839 William Wilson
;17/08/1917 (1)
*L/Sgt. 9030 Albert Edward Moody</ref>
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Officers{{4nbsp}}1
|style="vertical-align:top;"|2Lt GF HAMLETT
|style="vertical-align:top;"|13/8/17
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Other Ranks{{4nbsp}}24
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Wounded
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Officers{{4nbsp}}3
|style="vertical-align:top;"|a/CAPT A FULTON
|style="vertical-align:top;"|13/8/17
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Other Ranks{{4nbsp}}105
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;"|2LT J.B TROTTER
|style="vertical-align:top;"|13/8/17
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;"|2LT M.C. NICHOLSON
|style="vertical-align:top;"|16/8/17
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Missing
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Officers{{4nbsp}}1
|style="vertical-align:top;"|2Lt H.T. THOMPSON
|style="vertical-align:top;"|13/8/17
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Other Ranks{{4nbsp}}22
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|Died of Wounds
|style="vertical-align:top;"|<center>–</center>
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;"|<center>1</center>
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;"|
|style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="3"|Total 5 Officers
|style="vertical-align:top;"|152 other ranks
|}
|-
|DE WIPPE CORNER
|19/8/17
|
|{{left|Moved to CHARTERHOUSE CAMP to new site NE OF ELVERDINGHE.<br>Maj General Sir Beauvoir De Lisle called on the CO, and company commanders & congratulated all in the excellent show of 16/8/17|offset=5px}}
|-
|style="background:#ccc;" colspan="4"|Sheet 14
|-
|ELVERDINGHE
|20/8/17
|
|{{left|In camp near Elverdinghe making the place respectable. Great Boche air activity in the evening dropping bombs around.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|21/8/17
|
|{{left|Company parade etc. but fairly restful day. The boche again "laid eggs" around the camp this evening no casualties.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|22/8/17
|
|{{left|Battalion worked for two hours on the dry [?] track forward to the canal.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
|23/8/17
|
|{{left|Fairly quiet restful day – nothing much done.|offset=5px}}
|-
|
| |||