The Border Regiment in the Great War: Difference between revisions

== The First Battle of Ypres ==

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’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".

 

On the 30th the Battalion spent most of the day in some woods north-west of a château near Zonnebecke. Their orders were to move to the east of Hooge and then on the 31st, to Klein Zillebecke. A new month saw no change to their situation. They were heavily bombarded on the 1st November but later on in the morning were able to retaliate by playing on the enemy’s ignorance; a German battalion was seen crossing open ground between two woods and judging from their unawareness of the close proximity of The Border Regiment’s position in their entrenchments, Lieutenant Lamb, along with his scouts and Lieutenant Watson and his machine gun took the opportunity to hand and opened fire on the enemy’s open location. This was not without some form of further retaliation and three hours later German persistence had eventually hit the area surrounding the machine gun, killing several men in the process. It was too dangerous for the men to stay so they fell back out of danger and there remained until they deemed it safe enough to go back and retrieve the machine gun under the cover of night.