Friday 5th October 1917

Most of the Battalion in Camp (name unknown) north-west of Ypres; D Company and one platoon of B Company remained at Berthen, attached to 8Yorks.

A bright morning, but rain from lunchtime.

For the next six days the Battalion would be under the direction of 2^nd ANZAC Corps and was attached to 2^nd Battalion Canadian Railway Troops for work in the construction of a light railway north of Vlamertinghe.

Pte. Tom Horsfall (see 21^st March 1916) died of wounds at 10^th Casualty Clearing Station at Remy Sidings; he would be buried at the adjacent Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. It is unclear exactly when he had been wounded, although it appears most likely to have been in the actions of 1^st October. He was an original member of the Battalion, having enlisted in Bradford in September 1914, aged 31; he was from Manningham, Bradford and had been working as a dyer’s labourer for Messrs. Aykroyd and Grandage Ltd.. He had been evacuated to England in April 1916 suffering from shellshock and had re-joined the Battalion at some point (date and details unknown) in November 1916.

Lt. Herbert Sparling (see 20^th September) was promoted Acting Captain while commanding a Company.

L.Cpl. Mark Butler (see 9^th July) was promoted Corporal.

Pte. Cain Rothera (see 20^th September) was reported by Sgt. John Stephenson (see 18^th August) and L.Sgt. George Heeley (see 20^th September) as “absent from camp without permission”; on the orders of Capt. Paul James Sainsbury (see 15^th September) he was to be confined to barracks for five days.

Nine new officers arrived in France en route to join 10DWR. They were 2Lts. Albert Joseph Acarnley (see 30^th July), Stephen Brown Airey (see 30^th July), Keith Sagar Bain (see 30^th July), Sam Benjamin Farrant (see 30^th July), Edwin Everingham Ison (see 30^th July), Aidan Nicholson (see 30^th July), Percival Victor Thomas (see 30^th July), Lawrence Tindill MM (see 30^th July) and Mark Allan Stanley Wood (see 30^th July). All but one of them would formally report for duty with the Battalion four days later; Acarnley would not report for duty until 13^th October (reason unknown).

A draft of 53 men reported for duty with the Battalion to help replace the considerable losses in action over the previous weeks. These men came from 5^th Infantry Base Depot at Rouen and were transferred from 191^st Labour Company, Labour Corps, having previously served in France with ‘bantam’ battalions of the Cheshire Regiment. They had all been formally transferred to 10DWR on 26^th September; many of them having been medically re-classified as fit for active service, following periods of illness.

The men from the Cheshire Regiment, via the Labour Corps were as follows. L.Cpl. John Wright Pollard was a 30 year-old painter from South Shields; he was married with two children.  Pte. Harold Clifford Ashbrook was a 23 year-old textile worker from Hyde. He had reported sick in November 1916, with swellings to the fingers of his left hand, which were subsequently ascribed to scabies. He had spent six months in hospital in France before being transferred to 191^st Field Company, Labour Corps in May 1917. Pte. Robert Baldwin was 22 years old and from Deptford, where he had been working as a labourer in a saw mill; he was married but had no children. Pte. William Belcher was a 36 year-old tinsmith from Bristol; he was married but had no children. Pte. George Bentley was a 29 year-old miner from Rotherham; he was married with three children. Pte. Samuel Lawton Birtles was a 22 year-old labourer from Dukinfield. He had served with 15^th Cheshires. Pte. Ernest Bradley was a 28 year-old textile worker from Stockport; he was married with one daughter. He had served in France from January to April 1916 before being posted back to England having fractured his left wrist in an accident. He had returned to France in August 1916. Pte. James Butterworth was a 26 year-old piecer from Royton; he was married with two children, although a third child, Samuel, had died aged two years in July 1916. Pte. John William Camps was a 25 year-old plumber’s mate from Liverpool; he had gone to France in May 1916. Pte. Arthur Cawley was a 21 year-old labourer from Sale. He had been posted to France in March 1916 and had spent six months in hospital after suffering from influenza in July 1916. Pte. Josiah Charles was a 35 year-old mill hand from Liverpool; he was married with five children. Pte. John Eastwood was a 22 year-old cotton mill worker from Stockport. Pte. Thomas Eccleston was a 21 year-old cotton mill worker from Blackburn. Pte. Jesse Ferns was a 22 year-old labourer from Hadfield, near Manchester; he had been posted to France in June 1916. Pte. John Henry Fidler was a 20 year-old labourer from Liverpool. Pte. Joseph Fox was a 27 year-old textile worker from Oldham. Pte. Joseph Foulkes was a 21 year-old labourer from Liverpool. Pte. John Griffiths was a 25 year-old miner from Normanton. Pte. Henry Grimshaw was 27 years old and had been working as a labourer in a flour mill in Stockport; he was married with three children. Pte. James Harding was a 33 year old labourer from Victoria Park, London; he was married with three children. Pte. James Hillhouse was a 27 year-old potter from Glasgow. Pte. Herbert Holt was a 23 year-old cotton mill worker from Bacup. Pte. Owen Frank Hyde was a 28 year-old harness maker from Baldock. Pte. Moses Henry Jaeger was a 24 year-old fishmonger from Southport. Pte. James Kilburn was a 25 year-old labourer from Leeds. Pte. Michael Langley was a 23 year-old ‘hoistman’ from Stockport. Pte. Henry Leech was a 28 year-old ‘stamper’ from Hollingworth, Cheshire; he was married but had no children. Pte. James Longworth was a 31 year-old labourer from Kearsley; he was married with three children. Pte. William Masters was a 30 year-old labourer from Birmingham. Pte. George Mather was a 32 year-old core maker from Stockport; he was married with three sons. Pte. Robert McCall was a 34 year-old labourer from Glasgow; he was married but had no children. Pte. William McVeigh; in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man. Pte. Albert Mellor was a 23 year-old collier from Blackburn. Pte. Frank Miller was a 21 year-old printer from Nottingham. Pte. James Mullock was a 25 year-old warehouseman from Liverpool. Pte. John Newton was a 33 year-old iron dresser from Oldham; he was married with one daughter. Pte. Michael Newton was a 28 year-old ‘glass hand’ from Stockport.  Pte. John Parkinson was 26 years old and from Liverpool. Pte. William Parr (I am unable to make a positive identification of this man). Pte. Simpson Phillips was a 23 year-old miner from Kimblesworth, Durham. Pte. John James Pickering was a 20 year-old apprentice ‘holder up’ from Birkenhead. Pte. Harry Pullin was a 20 year-old mechanic from Stockport. Pte. William Richmond was a 27 year-old woolcomber from Bradford. Pte. Ernest John Robbins was a 24 year-old florist from Birmingham. Pte. William Sergison (I am unable to make a positive identification of this man). Pte. John Smallwood was a 27 year-old silk cutter from Liverpool; he was married and had had two children, but his younger son, John, had died at just seven weeks in September 1915. Pte. Robert Frank Smith (25829) was 36 years old and from Dorchester. Pte. William Edmond Smith was a 21 year-old cinema operator from Southwark.  Pte. Herbert Unwin was a 23 year-old sheet metal worker from Gateshead. Pte. George Wheatley was a 22 year-old whitesmith and engineer from Harrogate. Pte. Arthur Walter Williams was a 20 year-old labourer from West Ham, London. Pte. Joseph Wright was 22 years old and from Lincoln. Pte. Jonas Yoxall was a 23 year-old labourer from Middlewich. Also due to join the Battalion with this draft had been Pte. William Ryan, who was a 31 year-old mill hand from Liverpool; he was married but had no children. However, on the eve of his posting he was taken ill with inflammation to his left thigh and would be admitted to 71^st Field Ambulance, where he would remain until joining 10DWR on 29^th October.

L.Cpl. Thomas Hemingway (see 20^th September), who had suffered shrapnel wounds to his neck on 20^th September, was evacuated to the UK for further treatment; he would be admitted to Oakbank War Hospital in Glasgow.

Cpl. William Walker Rossall MM (see 30^th September), who had been wounded on 20^th September, was discharged from hospital and posted to 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples, en route to a return to active service.

Cpl. Alfred Taylor (see 23^rd August), serving with 69^th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery, was reprimanded for “neglect of duty while on guard”.

Pte. Fred Slater (see 10^th July), who had been posted back to England three months previously having been taken ill, was sufficiently recovered to be posted to 3DWR at North Shields.

Pte. Arthur Wideman (see 11^th June), who had been in England since having been wounded on 7^th June, was discharged from 2^nd Western General Hospital in Manchester; he would have ten days’ leave before being posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon, where he would spend a further five weeks in the Camp Hospital.

Cpl. George Wallace Fricker (see 15^th August) reported to No.4 Officer Cadet Battalion at Oxford to begin his officer training.

An article appeared in the weekly edition of the Craven Herald regarding the death of Sgt. Ernest Nussey (see 23^rd September), who had been killed in action on 20^th September:

EARBY N.C.O. KILLED

Sergt. Ernest Nussey, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, whose death is reported from France, was one of three soldier sons of Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Nussey, 77, Colne Road, Earby. Joining the Army as a volunteer three years ago, he had spent just over two years at the Front without a scratch, in token of which he had for some time past been designated by his comrades "the lucky one". Sergeant Nussey was 30 years of age and unmarried. Before enlisting he was employed as a beamer at Coates Mill, Barnoldswick (Coates Manufacturing Co.) and was an enthusiastic worker in connection with the Earby Baptist Church and Sunday School. One of his brothers, Pte. J. T. Nussey, a stretcher-bearer in the same regiment, was awarded the Military Medal last year, and another was invalided home suffering from gas poisoning. "Sergt. Nussey was killed during the great advance" (writes Lieut. V. Edwards) "through Inverness Copse, which resulted in such a glorious victory for our Army, and in which our battalion (the 10th) did so magnificently. He was wounded in the leg by a bullet and five minutes afterwards a shell exploded very near him and killed him instantly. He was buried near where he fell. We are all deeply grieved that he will never return to us, for he was a thoroughly good man right through - a good soldier and a good comrade."

Quartermaster Sergeant Edgar Shuttleworth (of Earby), in a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Nussey (dated September 23rd) writes:- "It is with deepest sorrow I write to inform you of the death of your son, Ernest, which occurred on the 21st. On that date the battalion went over the top and poor Ernest was shot by an enemy sniper when we had gained our objective. From information gathered his conduct throughout was splendid. He was at the time of his death giving great encouragement to the men of his platoon, of which he was in command, as the officer had previously become a casualty. His loss has certainly cast a gloom over all in the Company, in which he was a great favourite. His coolness in action was remarkable and the success of his Company on that day was largely due to his leadership. All the men of the Company join me in conveying our deepest sympathy in the loss of such a noble son."

Sgt. Ernest Nussey