Friday 12th May 1916

Billets at Hersin

The weather became colder as the relief ordered the previous day was to be carried out in broad daylight and particular precautions were put in place as a result. Lewis gun teams departed at 12.30 moving in ‘small parties’ with one hundred yards between between each; RSM, signallers and snipers followed 45 minutes later, under the command of Lt. Lavarack (see 21^st April). The remainder of the Battalion departed at 2.30; they were to follow a route which would take them via the pithead at Fosse 10, then on to Bully Grenay and finally along the long Corons d’Aix communication trench. Detailed orders were issued for the movement on account of the hazards of the daylight relief: “Companies will march to Fosse 10 at 100 yards distance, after which they will proceed by sections at 100 yards distance. Leading sections of each platoon to halt when 250 yards up Corons d’Aix communication trench until the whole platoon has closed the leading section”. The relief was completed satisfactorily and without casualties, by 8pm, with conditions reported as being quiet.

The Battalion now occupied the right sub-section of the Angres sector, with Tunstill’s Company on the extreme right (southern) flank, with three platoons in the line and one in support.

L.Cpl. Matthew Best (see 10^th May), having reported sick two days’ earlier, was admitted to 22^nd Casualty Clearing Station, suffering from ‘dental caries’. Also admitted, for the same reason, were Ptes. Thomas Grady (he was an original member of the Battalion but, in the absence of a surviving service record, I am unable to make a positive identification of this man), John William Smith (11986) (see 28^th November 1915) and Fred Wainman (see 7^th October 1915).

L.Cpl. Matthew Best

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald carried a report of the recent court appearance of John Henry Hitchin (see 6^th May):

FORMER SETTLE BANK CLERK'S ALLEGED FORGERY

At Tower Bridge on Saturday, John Henry Hitchin, 26, of Long Preston, was charged on remand with forging and uttering cheques at the Waterloo Hotel, York Road, Lambeth, and obtaining board and lodging by false pretences.

Evidence was given that the prisoner stayed at the hotel from January 27th until February 7th. He wore the uniform of a lieutenant in the Army, and stated that he had been promoted captain. He was alleged to have cashed a cheque for £10, and borrowed £5 on an I.O.U., which he repaid by giving a cheque for £12 12s. 10d. when he left, the balance of £7 12s. 10d. being the amount of his bill. The cheques were dishonoured; they were signed in the surname of a brother officer, but the signature was quite different. Prisoner's own account at Cox's Bank was overdrawn.

Mr. Percy Robinson, who defended, suggested that in view of the sad and peculiar circumstances of the case, the Magistrate might see his way to allow it to be withdrawn. The prisoner's people were highly respectable. Prior to the war he was employed at a bank in Settle, and bore the highest character. At the outbreak of hostilities he joined the Army, and his conduct was so satisfactory that he was granted a commission. The obtaining of that commission had been his downfall. He mixed with people of a higher class and extravagant habits, and for some time he undoubtedly led a fast life. A few days after leaving his hotel he was suddenly taken ill in the Strand collapsed, and was removed to Charing Cross Hospital, and afterwards to the military hospital at Millbank, where he was operated upon for appendicitis. In March he was gazetted as being discharged from the Army for staying away without leave. Whatever happened, full restitution would be made to the proprietor of the hotel.

The Magistrate (Mr. Cecil Chapman) having read a letter from the prisoner's mother, said he felt very sympathetic and touched by the circumstances of the case. The matter, however, was a grave one, and he would remand the prisoner another week in custody

The same edition of the Craven Herald also carried news of another member of Tunstill’s Company:

HELLIFIELD
Home on Leave - Pte. C. Ralph (see 9^th May), of the 10th Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment, has been spending a week's leave at home. He joined the corps formed by Captain Tunstill in September, 1914, and has been in France since last July.

There was also reference to the death of 2Lt. Harry Thornton Pickles (see 5^th May):

SKIPTON PETTY SESSIONS - THE LATE LIEUTENANT PICKLES

Prior to the commencement of business, the Chairman said once again he had to stand there to offer the condolence of the Bench to one of its members on the death of a gallant son - Mr. Stephen Pickles having lost his son in action. He was a young man of very great promise who had already had a brilliant career at the University, and whose life appeared to offer very great prospects of success. The Bench sincerely sympathised with the parents in the loss they had sustained.

Pickles’ death was also referred to in a letter published in the West Yorkshire Pioneer; the letter had been written by Sgt. Richard Wharton, of 9DWR, who was the brother of Pte. Allan Wharton, serving with Tunstill’s Company (see 3^rd May):

AN EARBY SOLDIER KILLED

A letter received from an Earby comrade last weekend conveyed the sad news that another Earby soldier (the reference to serving with ‘Allan’ shows this letter to have been written by Richard Wharton), belonging the 9th Battalion Duke of Wellington's Regiment, had been killed in action. The letter ran as follows:-

May 4th, 1916.

"You must excuse me not writing before. We have been having a rough time of it lately. We lost about 100 last week. No doubt you will have heard about J. Walsh getting killed, and Lieut. Pickles (son of Mr. S. Pickles of Barnoldswick, whose death was reported last week) who used to be with our Allan. Well, dear mother, we went to see the graves of the boys we had lost last night. We are now out for a rest. It is a grand place where they are buried; Walsh and Lieut. Pickles are laid side by side. You must tell Mrs. Walsh I am getting some flowers to put on their graves, and shall see they are all right every time I come out of the trenches. Jim had not been with us long, but he was liked by all the Company. It was a blow to me when I got to know."

Private James Walsh (9th Duke of Wellington's), official notification of whose death has since been received, was the eldest son of Mr. Thos. Walsh, 79, Colne Road, Earby. He was 25 years of age, and unmarried. Originally attached to the Dardanelles Expedition, he was wounded at the Suvla Bay landing last summer, and after recovering spent four weeks at home before going to France two months ago. He was for several years a member of the Earby Brass Band.