Thursday 12th October 1916

Billets in Albert

The plan was for the Battalion to move by two trains from Albert to Longpre and then for the two detachments to immediately march north to Buigny L’Abbe, where they would rendezvous on the evening of 12^th. From there, at 9 am on 13^th, they were then to march on to Yvrench prior to boarding trains for Ypres.  ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies, under the command of Major Robert Harwar Gill (see 8^th October) were to go by the first train, with ‘C’, ‘D’ and HQ following on the second.

However, “it was found that there was a great congestion on the railway and no one seemed to know exactly what was the cause”. As a result the move was to be greatly delayed. The first train did not leave Albert until 7pm and it then took more than twelve hours before it finally completed the thirty-five mile journey to Longpre, arriving just before 8am the following morning. Conditions onboard the second train were much worse still; they would not finally reach Longpre until 2am on 14^th October, more than forty-eight hours after leaving their billets in Albert. The men had not been fed during this time as their rations had been taken in advance to Buigny L’Abbe.

Ptes. Charlie Branston (see 11^th August) and Archie Munro (see 29^th July) were killed in action while serving with 2DWR. Having been wounded near Contalmaison in July when his cousin, Pte. Tommy Cartman (see 11^th August), had been among the men killed, Charlie seems to have spent some time being treated for his injuries; Archie Munro had been reported shellshocked in July and had also been transferred. Both men, along with others from 10DWR, were most likely among the draft of 40 men who joined that Battalion near Ypres on 15^th August 1916 – the War Diary noted that of this draft “most came from Service Battalions and had been slightly wounded during the July fighting on the Somme”.

2DWR had remained, fairly quietly, in support and front line positions around Ypres and in billets in Poperinghe for the next month. On 17^th September they had returned south to the Somme area. The next three weeks, based largely near Bertangles, west of Albert, had been spent in extensive practice for “structured attacks against particular positions”. In early October they had been moved further south-east, nearer to the River Somme, around Corbie, where further training and practice attacks took place. (Whilst here Charlie would have been just a few miles from where Tommy was buried at Heilly Station and it is tempting to think that he may have had the opportunity to visit Tommy’s grave).

On 9^th October 2DWR had moved up to the front line in the Flers Line, east of Lesboeufs (now on the route of the A1). On 12^th October, at 2.05pm the Battalion attacked German positions between Guedecourt and Le Transloy. The attack achieved its objectives but the War Diary reported 5 officers and 43 other ranks killed; 2 officers 54 other ranks missing; and 3 officers and 236 other ranks wounded. Among those killed were Charlie Branston and Archie Munro. The final death toll for the Battalion on the day was 121 killed; 85 of whom have no known grave and are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial; among these are Charlie Branston and Archie Munro.

Pte. Charlie Branston

Pte. Tommy Cartman

A second telegram was sent from the War Office to the family of 2Lt. Robert Main Graham (see 9^th October) confirming that their son had been killed in action, and not wounded, as had been reported previously.

The War Office sent a telegram to the mother of Capt. Adrian O’Donnell Pereira (see 10^th October) informing her that he had been admitted to hospital in Rouen, suffering from “slight neurasthenia” (shellshock).

 

Capt. Adrian O'Donnell Pereira

L.Cpl. George Holmes (10794) (see 4^th October) was posted to 8DWR from 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples.

An Army Medical Board was convened at Caxton Hall Hospital, London to examine the case of Capt. George Reginald Charles Heale MC (see 7^th September) who had been in England for the previous six weeks for treatment to boils to his neck which had originated on active service in August.The Board found that, “The carbuncle has healed, leaving a tender scar, but there a number of small pus-laden abcesses on the neck. He is not yet fit for duty”. He was declared unfit for any service for one month, on the expiry of which he was to be re-examined.

Capt. George Reginald Charles Heale

A payment of £2 2s. 11d was authorised, being the amount outstanding in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Dick Hirst (see 5^th July) who had been killed in action on 5^th July; the payment would go to his widowed mother, Elizabeth.