The 1 / 4th Battalion 1914 -1915
July 1914 -
THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE SOMME. THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES. THE BATTLE OF ARRAS. HTE BATTLE OF THE LYS. THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE SOMME. THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE AISNE.
When, at the end of July, 1914, the European situation began to be strained, the 4th (territorial ) Battalion of The Green Howards had gone to Deganwy Camp in Wales for the annual training with the York and Durham Infantry Brigade. The last two days of the first week of the training were full of alarms and excursions of all kinds, and on the the 3rd August the Battalion camp broke up and each company proceeded at once to its own headquarters. Two days later came the order to mobilize, when the Battalion collected all but eleven of those who were on its strength; of the eleven one was dead and three were known to be at sea, so that the absence of only seven men was unaccounted for.
The reassembled Battalion remained five days concentrated at Northallerton, then moved for a week to Newcastle, and finally joined a brigade camp at Hummersknott Park, Darlington, where the Battalion soon found itself practically at war strength.
The army list for August 1914 shows the following officers as belonging to the 4th Battalion:
Colonel A.F.Godman, C.B., V.D., Hon Colonel;
Lieutenant-Colonel M.H.L.Bell, V.D. in command;
Major H.G.Scott;
Captains:
H.C. Matthews
B. Jackson
A. Graham
R.A. Constantine
G.H. Bowes-Wilson
W.W. Constantine
J.V. Nancarrow
B.H. Charlton
Lieutenants:
W.F. Mott
J. Maughan
N.W. Stead
T.H. Hutchinson
L.P. I'Anson
T.W.P.L. Chaloner
G.W. Samuelson
A.C.P. de la P.Beresford-Peirse
Second Leiutenants:
C.R. Scate
E. Williams
C.C. Jervelund
A.J.B. Richardson
H.T. Fawcett
Captain G.D.P. Eykyn, adjutant
Leiutenant W.H. Colton, Quartermaster
Major H.L. de Legh R.A.M.C. and Surgeon-Captain C.B. Whitefield, medical officers
Rev H.C. Holmes and the Rev. F.L. Perkins, Chaplins.
On it being announced from the War Office that if 80 percent of the battalion were to volunteer for service abroad, it would be permitted to embark as a unit, no less than 90 percent of the 4th Green Howards did so volunteer, while at Northallerton there were very nearly two hundred recruits eagerly waiting to join the Battalion as vacancies occured.
In October the 4th Battalion moved to Newcastle, remaining here until orders were at last received to embark for France, and then leaving Newcastle at 9 a.m. on the 17th April 1915, the Battalion proceeded by train to Folkstone and there embarked for Boulogne, which was reached at 2 o'clock on the following morning. From the wharf the companies marched to a camp on the hills behind the old town, and here a very cold night - what remained of it - was passed. By 10 p.m. on the 18th, however, all were on the move again and took the train for Cassel, from which the Brigade marched some few miles and then billeted in certain villages. The 4th Green Howards being accommodated in Godwaersvelde. Here a halt of some 4 days was made.
The Battalion now formed, with the 5th Green Howards, the 4th East Yorkshire Regiment, the 5th Durham Light Infantry, and the 150th Brigade of the 50th division, the Brigadier being Brigadier General J.E. Bush and the Divisional Commander Major-General Sir W. Lindsay, K.C.B, D.S.O.
On the 22nd the Germans made their infamous gas attack, whereby a portion of the line, held by a French Division on the flank of the Canadians, had been of necessity abandoned and the Germans had succeeded in capturing the brigade at Steenstraate and some works south of Lizerne; but the Canadians were still in possession of the line immediatley in front of St. Julien.
During the night of the 22nd -23rd the Battalion was orderd to stand to, and on the morning of the 23rd April it marched to Poperinghe-Vlamertinghe Road and was conveyed from this point in buses to 'C' Huts at Vlamertinghe, the remaining battalions of the Brigade concentrating here also.
At 1 a.m. on the 24th the whole Brigade moved out to the Canal, the 5th Battalion passing over, but the 4th remaining for the present on the western bank; and as far as could be learnt the situation was that the Germans had pressed their attack on Ypres, the Canadians had suffered many casualties from the poison gas, and there was a very wide gap in the British line to the North-East of Ypres.
During the morning the 4th Battalion lay under an intermittent but never very heavy shell fire, whereby Lieutenant Tugwell and four or five men were wounded, but soon after midday orders were received for the 4th Green Howards to move forward and cross the Canal by a Pontoon bridge, then proceed to Potijze and place themselves at the disposal of any brigade commander who appeared to be in need of help. Advancing at once, the pontoon bridge was found to be under tolerably heavy shell fire, but all four companies were lucky enough to get over without loss, though they had hardly crossed when a shell hit and wrecked the bridge, leaving the machine gun, limbers and medical officer's cart on the other side of the Canal.
At Potijze a Canadian staff captain met the Battalion, explained the position of affairs so far as it was known and gave orders for the 4th Green Howards to occupy a line of trenches to the North-east of Potijze Chateau, on arrival here, however, it was found that these trenches at the time, heavily shelled, were occupied by remnants of a Canadian brigade, so the Battalion was then ordered to dig a support line of trenches. Very shortly, however a message came to hand from the 27th Division headquarters, then occupying the Chateau, to the effect that the situation was critical, that the Germans had occupied St Julien, and it was believed, Fortuin also, and that their further advance must be checked. It was hoped that other troops might be able to assist in a counter attack on St Julien, but in any case the 4th Green Howards were to make good Fortuin and push back the enemy into St Julien and further if possible. The operation was to be carried out without delay, though it was admitted that both flanks would be in the air and that no support either by guns or by other infantry could be afforded.
The Battalion now advanced, made its way through the wire in front of the trenches and then deployed into artillery formation, moving forward, under cover of a slight rise of ground on the left, in a north-easterly direction, parallel to the Wieltje-Fortuin Road, under fairly heavy shell fire, which however did very little damage. Having gone forward for the best part of a mile, the Battalion had to close somewhat in order to cross a deep and muddy stream, and then, deploying again, proceeded in dead ground until it came level with Fortuin, which so far as could be judged was only lightly held.
St Julien could be seen from here and appeared to be occupied in considerable force, while the enemy advanced parties were holding the banks of a muddy stream some five hundred yards south of St. Julien, the ground between the sunken road at Fortuin and this stream was level grassland. Some two hundred yards south of the stream, however, there was a slight fold in the ground which seemed to give promise of affording a suitable position from which to attack and drive in the advanced German posts, and two companies of the Battalion, now advancing by rushes, this position was occupied, the enemy falling back on St Julien.
The other two companies were held back in reserve on the left, as this seemed to be the more exposed and dangerous flank.
At this point the adjutant of the 4th East Yorkshire appeared and reported to the officer, commanding the 4th Green Howards, that his Battalion had been sent up as a support, that his C.O. and second-in-command had both been killed, and he asked for orders, whereupon the two reserve companies of the 4th Green Howards, reinforced by two of the East Yorkshire, were directed to prolong the line to the left, while the other two East Yorkshire companies remained in support. Both Battalions lost heavily while crossing the open level ground, but the enemy was driven back into St Julien and held there, while a platoon of the Royal Irish Fussiliers came up on the right and prolonged the line on this flank.
The Commanding Officer of the 4th Green Howards had previously been warned that, owing to the immediate scarcity of troops, it was inadvisable to lose many men unless some really definite advantage could be gained, it was clear that any attempt to cross the stream between the British line and St Julien would entail very heavy casualties in view of the volume of machine-gun and rifle fire which the enemy could bring to bear. While the primary object of the operations - holding up the German advance at this point - had been attained. The two Battalions, therefore, merely hung on to the ground gained until darkness set in, when orders were received to fall back on Potijze Chateau. This was carried out without hinderance or molestation.
In this the first action of the 4th Battalion, the Green Howards, who had been thrown into the fight within a week of landing in France, the losses had been heavy. Major H.C. Matthews, Captain and adjutant G.D. P. Eykyn, Captain J.V. Nancarrow, Lieutenat L.P. I'Anson and second Lieutenant E. Darwin with ten other ranks were killed, Second Lieutenant H.B. Blackett and fifty-nine non commissioned officers and men were wounded, while seventeen other ranks - some of whom turned up later - were wounded and missing.
On the 25th General Sir H. Plumer, commanding the II corps. sent a special message to thank the 4th Green Howards for the good work they had done on the previous day.
"Thus passed several days", writes a Battalion correspondant of the Green Howards Gazette, "during which we occupied first one trench and then another, never more than a few hours in any one, and all the time good old Hutchinson and his transport turned up regularly with our rations. We went back to the rest huts from which we started, for a few days so-called rest during which we were shelled intermittently. Our worst day we had ten casualtiles, among who was Lieutenant Beresford-Peirse. Of the huts we saw little, as they were practically uninhabitable. Back we went to a new set of trenches, these we were in for five days, shelled from front to flank, gassed and attacked. During this period we were lent to another division commanded by General Bulfin. We had our first touch of gas on May 1st, and also were attacked on the 2nd, our casualties during this time being thirty four killed, among whom was Company Sergeant Major Preston, six officers and seventy four other ranks wounded, the officers being Captain N.W. Stead, Lieutenants A.R. Welsh, C. Sproxton, J.K. Stead and H.N. Constantine, while among the non commissioned officers and men wounded was Company Sergeant Major Wilkinson, Lieutenant E, Williams was gassed".
"Perhaps the best thing done during this time was by Major H.L.de Legh, who got fifteen wounded men out of a burning cellar under heavy shell fire"
From the 9th to the 12th May the Battalion was in reserve trenches at Brandhock, where Captain P.C. du S. Leather, Lieutenant G.F. Lucas, Second Lieutenants D, McLarenm L. Yorke and G.H. Hutchinson joined, on the 12th and 13th it was in dug-outs behind the Chateau north of Vlamertinghe, and spent the 14th in Ypres attached to 84th Brigade. Leaving Ypres on the 15th the Battalion marched to the railway embankment, and was here until the 21st, attached to one cavalry brigade after another, and having one officer - Second Lieutenant W.P. Orde-Powlett - killed, and Major de Legh and twenty men wounded.
Here five officers joined or rejoined - Captain A.J. Dorman, Secondn-Lieutenants E.F. Hutchinson, E. Beresored-Peirse, E. Jones and G.W. Dawson.
From the railway embankment the Battalion was sent to a camp South of Vlamertinghe for a couple of days, moving up on the evening of the 23rd May to the trenches astride the Menin Road at Hooge, and here on the early morning of Whit- Monday the second great German gas attack fell upon the 4th Green Howards. "From trench to trench we fought" so runs the account in the Battalion Diary "and thank heaven stuck to our trenches but at great cost. Lieutenant H.W. Cummins and Second Lieutenant E.F. Hutchinson* were killed, Captain W. W. Constantine, Captain A. Graham and Lieutenant C. C. Jervelund were gassed and taken to hospital, and when on the 25th the Battalion, or what was left of it, got back to huts the casualties among the non commissioned officers and men stood at Thirty killed.
*he had only joined two
days previously.
Extract from the War Diaries kindly sent by Edwin Hood.
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