Tuesday 23rd May 1916

Front line trenches west of Angres

On another beautiful day, regular artillery exchanges continued as on the previous days. Most of the German shelling was directed against British batteries in rear rather than against the front lines and Fosse 10 and Aix Noulette were again reported to have been heavily shelled. About 7pm the British shelling to the south increased markedly in support of an attempt by 47^th Division to recover the ground lost to the Germans two days earlier. Some initial gains were made in this attack but they could not be held and troops were forced to withdraw, leaving the position as it had been, with the Germans still occupying their gains from the attack on 21^st. During the British assault, German artillery fire was re-directed upon the British front lines and four men in the Battalion were reported wounded. 

One of the men who had been wounded was from Tunstill’s Company; Pte. Anthony Goulding had been one of the Keighley contingent added to Tunstill’s original recruits in September 1914. Aged 19 when he enlisted, Anthony Goulding was Keighley born and bred, though his father, Thomas, was originally from County Sligo in Ireland. Thomas and his wife Ellen had 12 children, two of whom had died in infancy. Prior to enlisting Anthony had been working as a coremaker in an iron foundry. Pte. Goulding suffered wounds to his left arm, right thigh and left foot and would be evacuated (details unknown) and admitted to 2^nd General Hospital at Le Havre. On 27^th May he would be evacuated to England onboard the Hospital Ship Asturias. The details of his treatment in England are unknown, but he would recover sufficiently from his wounds to return to active service (date unknown) although he did not re-join 10DWR but was instead posted to 2DWR.

The other wounded men were Ptes. William Brassington, (see below), Patrick Larvin (see 19^th December 1915) and William Leach (see below). Pte. Larvin suffered wounds to his neck and left hip and would be evacuated (details unknown), like Pte. Goulding, and admitted (26^th May) to 2^nd General Hospital at Le Havre where, on 28^th May, he would undergo an operation: “removal of foreign body in upper part of left thigh; foreign body removed and cauterised and drained; stovaine (anaesthetic)”. Pte. William Leach was an original member of the Battalion, having enlisted in September 1914, aged 18, in Keighley, where he worked as a woolcomber. While on sentry duty he had suffered wounds to his left arm and thigh and would be evacuated and admitted (26^th May) to 2^nd General Hospital at Le Havre where an X-ray would be carried out, but no operation performed. The details of the wounds suffered by Pte. William Brassington and his treatment are unknown, but he would later serve with 2DWR, 2/4^th DWR and 1^st/4^th DWR. In the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or to establish any further details of his service.

Pte. William Leach

Image by kind permission of Andy Wade and MenOfWorth

Lt. Dick Bolton (see 21^st  May) reported that, under cover of the artillery fire, “The enemy had a working party out from about 10pm in front of their trench … the sounds seemed to indicate that they were digging in the old trench which lies in front of their wire”. British machine guns were unable to engage the Germans because British wiring parties and patrols were also operating in No Man’s Land. At 10.30pm Bolton accordingly ordered a patrol of two men plus 2Lt. Redington (Bolton did not make clear to which of the Redington brothers he was referring; both were serving as Second Lieutenants with the Battalion - see 27th December 1915)  out to investigate. The patrol returned after an hour having located a shallow sap, around two feet deep,  reaching out into a shell hole which had been deepened; however, it was found to be then unoccupied. The Brigade’s wiring parties continued to put out wire, with defences extending anywhere between ten and eighty yards ahead of the front line. 

Pte. Herbert Smith (11837) was transferred to 69^th Brigade Pigeon Station. He had been an original member of the Battalion; aged 35 he was a brick burner from Elland. He was said to have “long had a hobby in pigeon keeping, taking a keen interest in the homing variety, which he bred, and took part in racing. He has won prizes in long distance competitions”.

L.Cpl. George Wallace Fricker (see 21^st February), serving with11DWR, at Brocton Camp in Staffordshire, was promoted Corporal.

A payment of 13s. 9d. was authorised, being the amount outstanding in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Joseph Allen (see 9^th March), who had been killed in action in March; the payment would go to his father, James.