3 May

May
Lonsdale Battalion events that took place on 3 May.
For events that took place elsewhere, see our sister project The Great War On This Day

1915 (Monday)

  • Lt-Col. Machell to Lord Lonsdale: "Our Advanced Party, 4 officers, and 200 NCO's and men, left this morning 9.30 for Prees Heath....all in excellent form & very pleased with the move." [1]
  • Lt-Col. Machell: "March round Silloth – halt and fall out at Silloth short time before starting march [to] Wigton. Halt about 6-7 minutes before each clock hour. Halt for luncheon near, but just outside of Wigton, about 1⁄2 or 3⁄4 mile, and go in with Bugles – smartly – Halt, pile arms, take off packs, mount guard & sentry (relieve) & let men fall out until 1⁄2 an hour before time to fall in." [2]
  • Letter from Brigadier Mackenzie to Lt-Col. Machell: "On the departure of your battalion from the 112th Brigade, I should like to express to you, and all ranks under your command, my grateful thanks for the energy and ability that has been displayed in training in the battalion since the 18 March....It is a great regret to me that the battalion will no longer be in my Brigade. I wish all of you every luck and prosperity for the future, and I shall watch your movements with interest, knowing that whatever you are asked to do in the future, you will uphold the honour and credit of the British Army." [3]
  • Detentions and forfeiture of pay.[note 1][4]

1916 (Wednesday)

1917 (Thursday)

  • Offoy: Battalion drill - attack formation.
  • Lt-Col. Girdwood DSO awarded BAR to DSO.
  • Lt. Malley-Martin awarded the Military Cross for work during operations on 14 April north east of Fayet (Twin Copses).

1918 (Friday)

  • Laherliere: Forenoon spent preparing to move out.
  • Arrives at Berles-au-Bois at 4pm and billets in barns etc.
Notes
  1. The following men are punished with detention and forfeiture of pay:
    • M. Armstrong (13267) - A Company
    • R. Graham (13360) - A Company
    • J.W. Kelton (13816) - B Company
    • J.W. Hunter (16345) - B Company
    • L.G. Jackson (13833) - B Company
    • W. Shannon (13836) - B Company
    • J.W. Wilkins (16282) - B Company
    • J. Leighton (15274) - B Company
    • J.H. Porter (15271) - B Company
  2. Training continues for those who are able during the whole period of isolation.
References
  1. Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/279
  2. Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/278
  3. Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/120
  4. Record No. DLONS/L/13/13/137
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 (3 May), 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.
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