The Border Regiment in the Great War: Difference between revisions

<div style="width: 26em; margin:10px; float:right; background-color:#f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #a3b0bf; text-align:left; padding-top:10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right:10px; font-size: 85%">'''"The devoted and firm conduct of this Battalion repeatedly called forth the admiration of the Brigadier and of officers in other battalions in the same brigade; and I, myself, can testify to its fortitude and determination to maintain its position at all cost; a spirit which saved a difficult and critical situation. It is impossible to praise this Battalion too highly for its firmness and battle discipline".'''<br> Message received from Divisional Commander, 7th Division, praising the [[2nd Battalion]] Border Regiment.</div>

The history of The Border Regiment, like many other regiments from this period, is a long and complex one that is far too detailed for me to go into here. There is much research needed and even though the number of original documents housed in archives are numerous, particularly those of [[Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale|Lord Lonsdale]]'s [[11th Battalion]] at the Castle in Carlisle, the actual number of obtainable and useable documents online are very slim, and those that can be accessed are usually at a price.

The number of sources used have been kept to a minimum and so with this in mind please be aware that the following history of the Regiment<ref name="ftn3">This history is very much in its infancy is being written in my own time, therefore, you may notice individual Battalion's pages still quite empty. It will take time to write a history for all battalions so please bear with me.</ref> does not take on an argumentative view combining different academic sources to produce one factually based text; instead, this history, simple and honest in nature, will be the starting point for The Border Regiment during the World War One on these pages, aided by thewith texttexts written by [[Harold Carmichael Wylly|Colonel Wylly]].

The [[2nd Battalion]], before being shipped out, was employed in training at Rosebush Camp roughly at the end of July. On the 4th August orders were received for general mobilization. The reservists were called in at the same time Lieutenant Lamb and Second-Lieutenant Clancey set off for Carlisle to deposit the Regimental Colours in the Cathedral. The next few days were important as the Battalion began to build up its strength. The reservists arrived from the Regimental Depot in large parties; 92 on the 6th, 403 on the 7th and 153 on the 8th. On the 29th August, 1914, after having received orders to make preparations for leaving for Southampton, the 2nd Battalion began their journey, leaving Pembroke Dock at a strength of 27 officers, 1068 other ranks and 68 horses. On arriving at Southampton at 7pm, the Battalion received word that they were to form part of the 20th Brigade, 7th Division, along side that of the 2nd Battalions of the Yorkshire and Wiltshire Regiments and also of the Gordon Highlanders. A few days later on the 5th September the Brigade in its entirety marched to a camp at Lyndhurst in the New Forest where the formation of the Brigade was changed again. At this point the 7th Division consisted of the following:<ref>{{Wylly|pp.3-4}}</ref>

The [[2nd Battalion]] was still encamped at Lyndhurst when another 64 reservists joined the ranks. On the 4th October, 1914, orders came through to march from the camp to Southampton, a fair walk by an means. The men were split into two parties, the first consisting of Headquarters, ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies and the second consisting of the remainder of the battalion under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel L. I. Wood and Major J. T. I. Bosanquet respectively. The first party set off at 10.15pm, the second following behind exactly half an hour later. Dockland sheds were the accommodation for the evening on arriving at Southampton; a building with a roof being better than the open air on the chilly October night, provided the shelter they needed whilst resting. The next day, the 5th, saw the embarkation of the Battalion. Colonel Wood’s part left in the ''Turkoman'' and Major Bosanquet in the ''Minneapolis'' along with the Headquarters of the 7th Division. At time of sailing the 2nd Battalion’s strength was thus: 30 officers, 1 warrant officer, 50 sergeants, 16 drummers and 910 other ranks. For list of officers accompanying the Battalion, click [[Officers of 2nd Battalion, 1914|here]].

Given the gravity of the fighting taking place in the main theatre of war, this figure was all that could be spared. This was a sizable number of men but would it be enough to hold off the attacks before further British and French relieving forces arrived? The ''Minneapolis'' was the first to arrive at Zeebrügge, the men of the left wing of the [[2nd Battalion Border Regiment]] disembarking and swiftly entraining to Bruges from where they marched to St. André, billeting for the night. One officer of the Battalion wrote: "We had to picquet the roads. The Gordon Highlanders held an outpost line in front of us....The people are very good to our men, but would take all their cap and collar badges, a great nuisance afterwards, as it was impossible to tell and man’s unit when he fell out".<ref>{{Wylly|p.5}}</ref> The right wing of the Battalion caught up at about 5pm on the 7th October after the left wing had been at St. André all day.

The entire Brigade marched to Zandvoorde on the 16th. Here they billeted for a while before essential entrenching took place owing to the information received that they would be expecting heavy shell fire. The [[2nd Battalion]] at this time were in support to the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. On the 18th the Battalion marched to Kruiseik, arriving at 5pm and then on to Menin, advancing in artillery formation along with the entire Brigade the following day. Menin was occupied by the enemy and hostile shrapnel fire ensued for a while wounding 2 men of the Battalion. By 3pm they were entrenching at their fall-back position of Kruiseik Hill. The 2nd Battalion had an impossible task of covering 2¼ miles of trench systems along a front that needed some completion work doing to make them secure. It was going to be evident that not all companies, platoons and sections would successfully connect in the trenches but the best of an imperfect situation was put into action and so the Battalion was distributed as such: ‘B’ Company far left, ‘A’ and ‘C’ Company centre and far right taken up by 2 platoons of ‘D’ Company; 600 yards behind the front was the remainder of ‘D’ Company in reserve. It wasn’t long before the enemy were seen advancing in large numbers coming from the east about 800 yards distant. By night fresh orders were received that "trenches were to be held at all costs". The surprising factor here was that other than the two platoons of Border Regiment men, there were no other reserves for the Brigade and it was at this location, Kruiseik Hill, that the Brigade remained for better part of a week, holding on as best they possibly could.

The [[2nd Battalion]] were surrounded in their trenches on three sides by the enemy and as a result suffered more than the other three battalions of the Brigade simply because of their location. The enemy artillery persisted, and the guns on the America Ridge, roughly one mile south-east of their position, were particularly to blame. Snipers were troublesome as they could close in undetected to within a range of 300 yards. This, along with the impossibility of movement during the day meant that supplies could only be brought in during the night under the cover of darkness. Communication also caused problems as there were no telephone lines between the front line and Headquarters, which meant that all communication were dealt with by runners. The difficult circumstances didn’t show any signs of getting better when the men endured four days of bombardment on their trenches. The heavy shelling, up to 150 per hour<ref name="ftn10">Recorded by Second-Lieutenant Chatfield</ref>, caused a serious amount of damage; the trenches had suffered terribly not to mention a string of small, focussed attacks intermittent between machine gun fire on the parapets. Each and every attack was repulsed.

The Kaiser was handing out assurances to his men stressing the importance of how continued attacks to wear the enemy down will be the deciding factor on winning the battle Ypres and ultimately the war. It was at this time that the [[2nd Battalion’sBattalion]]’s involvements become part of the "epoch-making operations".<ref name="ftn11">{{Wylly|p.9}}</ref> The Battalion had been reduced in strength after the fighting that taken place over the previous few days. Their numbers only consisting of 12 officers and 538 other ranks, were on the 29th, sent orders to immediately support the Gordon Highlanders who were at that time being heavily attacked. En-route they were caught in hostile artillery and machine gun fire and for at least hour could not move from their present position. When a window of opportunity presented itself, the Battalion continued on only for Lieutenant-Colonel Wood to be hit almost instantly, Captain Molynuex-Seel was hit twice by machine gun fire from a masked post in a nearby house and Captain Warren too became wounded leaving Captain Askew to take command of the Battalion. An officer who was present at the time writes "We advanced up the hill into Gheluvelt village and held on to the top for over an hour before we were reinforced. The Colonel was hit early in the leg and got back safely. We then advanced on the N. slope of the hill through the village. I saw the German reinforcements coming along the Menin Road in fours about 1,200 yards away, so I got the machine guns across a ploughed field into some turnips and opened fire. One gun got hit almost at once and was ‘hors de combat’, but the other escaped owing to our changing position our position every few minutes. The enemy broke off the road and lay in a ditch, which we opened on again until they were seen retiring and our ammunition supply was exhausted. We had no limber and could only carry about 12 boxes of ammunition. I got the guns back to sunken road in the rear and found Captain Warren and Lieutenant Simon Fraser of the Gordons sitting there. I was sitting between Fraser and a lance-corporal of ours when a shell burst killing them both instantaneously; two of my team were wounded slightly. I then met Major Cator and the Brigadier, who told me to tell our companies in front to retire at dusk, as the 1st Corps were then once more in their own position".

[[File:N.Major F.NF Jenkins, Major.jpg|thumb|right|220px270px|Captain N.F. Jenkins (rank of Major in photo), 3rd Battalion's commanding officer during three days recouping in woods near Ypres.]]

The Battalion, on the 2nd November, began making up positions to ensure a continuous line was formed on their front at the extreme right of the 20th Brigade. Enemy movement had been spotted and then 10am continuous hostile shelling started and continued for a duration of no less than five hours. The Battalion had been through a beating; the one remaining working gun the Battalion had was victim to the violent shelling and had been destroyed wounding five men and killing one from the detachment. The gun fire eased only to be heard by bugles, which meant one thing, the Germans were about to attack. The [[2nd Battalion]] waited and held their fire until the right moment presented itself to the point when the "Germans were almost on top of them, and then opened with tremendous effect, the assailants being mowed down in swathes. The enemy fell back to the shelter of the woods and then, after a brief interval the bugles sounded once more and the attack was pressed, and again was there the same slaughter".<ref name="ftn12">{{Wylly|p.11}}</ref> This carnage took many German lives reducing the enemy’s Battalion by numbers. In a time of war orders had to be followed but little did either side know how long and how bloody this war was going to become; it had only just started and the Great War, though in its early days, had built a harrowing reputation, but an attack like this was just one of many more to come in the proceeding years. The fighting here continued when Sergeant Booth of the Battalion noticed and open flank and upon seeing this he "left his trench under heavy fire and with great gallantry brought up two sections from the reserve, reoccupied the vacated trenched and kept the line intact until three hours later reinforcements came up".<ref name="ftn12" /> The Battalion, later that night after bitter fighting, took up temporary residence at Brigade Reserve in the woods near Ypres after they had been relieved by the Gordon Highlanders. Here they remained for three days recouping their ranks with a further 98 non-commissioned officers and men under the command of the 3rd Battalion, The Border Regiment’s Captain N. F. Jenkins.

The [[2nd Battalion]] and everything it had been through since arriving in Belgium had not gone unnoticed. Fierce action had thrown the men into battles of which the likes they had never before seen and taking on board what they had learned in the time they were there was a real challenge; something they had overcome but at a price. On the 3rd of November the G.O.C.<ref name="ftn14">General Officer Commanding</ref> of the 7th Division sent a message of recognition to the Commanding Officer stating that "Stout action of The Border Regiment in maintaining its trenches throughout the day, although unsupported on its right, is much commended. Congratulate Border Regiment from me and tell them I am making a special report on their conduct through Corps Headquarters".<ref name="ftn15">{{Wylly|p.12}}</ref>

"20th Infantry Brigade. This Brigade had eventually the most difficult task to perform as it had to hold the exposed position at Kruiseik Hill. It was impossible to abandon this point without prejudicing not only the rest of the line, but also the pivot of all contemplated offensive action. In spite, therefore, of the natural unfavourable situation Kruiseik Hill had to be held. The 20th Brigade did this itself under constant violent artillery fire by day and often by night. The defence was by no means passive, but counter attacks were frequently and successfully made. Later on in the fighting this Brigade showed the same tenacity in defence and on one critical occasion (31st October) by its forward action was mainly instrumental in restoring the fight. The losses of this Brigade were very heavy".<ref name="ftn16">{{Wylly| pp.12-13}}</ref>

"[[2nd Battalion Border Regiment]]. This Battalion held a portion of the Kruiseik position in front of Ypres during which it was exposed to particularly heavy shell fire for 3 days and nights. Many of the trenches were blown in, but no trench was given up by any portion of this Battalion. On 2nd November this Battalion formed the right of the Brigade at Veldhoek. Owing to troops on the right giving way the enemy was able to occupy some woods and so surrounding the right of The Border Regiment. Nevertheless the Battalion held its line for some hours until the enemy could be driven from these woods by relieving troops. During the fighting this Battalion lost very heavily. The devoted and firm conduct of this Battalion repeatedly called forth the admiration of the Brigadier and of officers in other battalions in the same brigade; and I, myself, can testify to its fortitude and determination to maintain its position at all cost; a spirit which saved a difficult and critical situation. It is impossible to praise this Battalion too highly for its firmness and battle discipline".<ref name="ftn17">{{Wylly|p.13}}</ref>

For those of the [[2nd Battalion]], who were lucky enough not to be killed or wounded, were on the move again. For roughly ten days the Battalion marched from Locre to Meteren, then on to Bac St. Maur and eventually into Sailly towards the latter part of the November. It wasn’t until 1st December, 1914 that the Battalion resembled something akin to full war strength after several drafts of officers and men joined the service and companies. Captain C. Lamb had been decorated personally with the D.S.O.<ref name="ftn18">Distinguished Service Order</ref> by His Majesty the King for gallantry in action at Kruiseik. Almost three weeks later, the Battalion was involved in an unsuccessful attack of German trenches opposite their current position. Captain Warren led ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies of the Battalion and two companies of the Scots Guards commencing at 6.15pm across No Man’s Land, reaching the enemy trenches with heavy casualties, unfortunately not only from the German guns but also from our own. As a result, the attacking companies drew back 50 yards or so at which point they laid down and awaited further instruction. Orders were received about an hour later to push on and recommence the attack. The attack again not successful and the men withdrew back to The Border Regiment’s trenches where they again awaited further instruction. The Brigadier, who originally gave the order for the attack, saw with forethought that too many lives would be lost and so the operation was abandoned. Captain Warren and the men were outnumbered. With the enemy machine-gunners waiting for their movements after the initial attempt failed, the element of surprise had gone and it became evident that a successful outcome of this attack was slim at best. Captains H. A. Askew and C. Lamb, D.S.O. were killed or dying of wounds in the process, the former actually making it into German trenches. They couldn’t afford to waste more lives and so did the right thing by calling it off. Lieutenant M. N. S. Kennedy and Second-Lieutenant N. Castle were wounded and the total loss of other ranks came to 110.

[[Category:Border Regiment Battalions]]