Friday 24th September 1915

Front line trenches near Bois Grenier.

The Battalion was due to provide support on the extreme left of the British assault in the Battle of Loos which was scheduled to begin at 4.25 am on Saturday 25^th September. Exactly twenty-four hours earlier a final brief rehearsal was to take place and orders to this effect were received at 1 am on 24^th. In accordance with these orders the Battalion was in position by 4 am. At 4.25 am the Battalion opened up with rapid rifle fire against the German positions opposite but machine guns were not deployed so as not give away their positions. The firing lasted for seven minutes, during which the Germans sent up many flares. However, it was only when the British ceased firing that the Germans responded with a number of heavy shells and ‘whizz-bangs’. There was limited damage to the trenches and the Battalion suffered only five (minor) casualties. Following the early morning exchanges, quiet returned until around 9 am when an artillery duel commenced. The British guns maintained a steady bombardment of the enemy's lines, apparently doing much damage to their parapets. In reply the Germans shelled the British communication trenches. In the midst of this duel one man from D Company was shot and killed by a sniper and one other man was wounded. The man killed was Pte. Albert Flitcroft; he was from Oldham, a 44 year-old married man with nine children. He had previously served with the Territorials and had been woking as a ‘jobber’ at the Royton Ring Mill. He would be buried at Brewery Orchard Cemetery, Bois Grenier. The wounded man was Pte. James Leonard Bloomer, who suffered a wound to his left hand which would result in the amputation of a finger; he was evacuated to hospital at Camiers. Bloomer was a 20 year-old baker from Halifax; he had enlisted in February 1915.

In the evening, orders were received for gaps to be cut in the British wire to facilitate any assault which might be ordered next day and parties from all Companies duly passed over the parapet and cut a series of openings. Overnight the weather continued wet, with a stiff breeze blowing and the Battalion conducted their preparations for the assault planned for the following morning. All Companies were to be in position and ready by 4 am on Saturday 25^th September for a possible assault on the German lines; this would depend on the progress made by 8^th Division assault troops further south. In preparation, adjustments were made to the Battalion’s dispositions. B Company was withdrawn from the front line to the ‘relieving’ trench, immediately in rear of A Company and C Company was brought forward from the Bois Grenier line, in support of D Company. A and D Companies extended to their left and right respectively, to take over the front line trenches vacated by B Company. In the event of attack Companies were to advance in two lines, fifty yards apart, and with a further 200 yards between Companies.

Each man was to be in marching order, with 200 rounds of ammunition and with his pack containing only three sandbags, a jersey and a waterproof sheet. Men were warned to have their gas helmets at the ready, in the event of gas being used by either side. These new ‘tube-helmets’ had only recently been issued to the troops and the appearance they gave to the men wearing them caused one officer of the Division to comment,

“One wonders whether the designers of anti-gas appliances were influenced solely by ideas of protection, or if they also sought the same moral effect in which the bearskins and busbies of the old European armies had their origin. The open countenance of the young British soldier is certainly not calculated to inspire terror in the enemy; the addition of a respirator merely suggested that he was asthmatic. But with his head tied up in a tube-helmet he presented a truly terrifying aspect”.

Companies were reminded also to ensure that all water bottles were filled and that each man was in possession of his day's rations and his iron rations. The remainder of each man’s kit was to be placed in a sandbag, marked with name, number and regiment and deposited close to Company HQ.

The lead men in each Company were also provided with the wire-cutters which would be needed to gain passage through the enemy wire. The crucial role of these men was acknowledged by the fact that they were to be identified by white tape, or some other clear mark on their shoulders, to ensure that if they became casualties, the men nearest to them would take up the wire-cutters. Half of the men were also to carry a shovel, slung over the left shoulder, and the other half were to have their entrenching tool, already assembled, in their belts; any successful advance against the enemy trenches would require a swift consolidation of the newly-won positions. Separate orders were also given to the bombers; A Company’s bombers were to be in the first line, ready to advance, along with those from B, whereas bombers from C and D were to be deployed in firing the smoke balls which were to be used to obscure the British attacks once they were underway. Ammunition carriers, stretcher-bearers and signallers all received their own instructions.

The deteriorating weather conditions were also making life difficult for the men, as commented on by Pte. Harry Horner (see 21^st September), “We had two days’ rain which made the trenches very dirty, as they were full of water, which we had to stand and walk about in. It must have been very bad for the men who were in the trenches out here last winter. Those at home in England do not know half of what they must have suffered”.

J.B. Priestley also wrote to his family with news of the conditions; he described, “wretched weather – cold and wet. We were up to the knees in water and covered with mud from head to foot. Our boots, puttees and trousers – which we have never been able to take off – were firmly fastened together with a layer of mud … in the last four days I don’t think I’d eight hours sleep altogether. It’s frightfully difficult to walk in the trenches owing to the slippery nature of things, the most appalling thing is to see the stretcher bearers trying to get the wounded men to the dressing station”.

Pte. H. Holdsworth, B. Section, 69 Field Ambulance, R.AMC., wrote to the family of Pte. Arthur Stubbs who had been wounded, along with Ptes. Willie Burley and Ernest Franklin two days earlier (see 22^nd September) According to The Craven Herald, the letter reported that, ‘young Stubbs was getting on very well and bearing his pain with fortitude and endurance, and further, that his chums had spoken about his brave manner and how cheerful he was. He has been removed from the Field Hospital, but it is hoped that medical skill will save his shattered limb from amputation’.   In the event, this proved impossible and Arthur Stubbs’ leg was amputated; he was formally discharged from the Army almost a year later (2^nd September 1916). 

The same newspaper report referred to the fact that, “of Willie Burley's progress there is no information”. In fact, Willie Burley was evacuated to England to be treated in 1^st Eastern General Hospital, Cambridge. 

Ernest Franklin’s wounds were such that he never returned to service with his Battalion, but he did recover sufficiently to be transferred (date unknown) to serve with the Labour Corps.