Monday 7th February 1916

Front line trenches east of Bois Grenier.

Another quiet day with only limited artillery exchanges to report. Orders were received for the Battalion to be relieved next day by 11^th Northumberland Fusiliers and would return to billets at Fort Rompu. Overnight, one man was wounded. The wounded man was almost certainly Pte. James Barker (12288) who suffered wounds to his left leg and right shoulder; the details of his immediate treatment are unknown but he would admitted to 20^th General Hospital at Camiers on 10^th February. He had been an original member of the Battalion having enlisted in September 1914; he was a 27 year-old textile worker from Bardford and was married, with one daughter.

A/Cpl. John Thomas Matthews (see 5^th January) was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance and 4^th Casualty Clearing Station to 5^th Stationary Hospital at St. Omer, suffering from dental caries.

Pte. Joseph Harry Poole who had been transferred back to England to the Regimental Depot five weeks earlier (see 1^st January) was posted to 11^th Battalion West Riding Regiment, based at Brocton Camp. Cannock Chase, Staffs.

Having reviewed all the various correspondence of the last few months, it was at last ordered that CSM Harry Dewhirst (see 3^rd February) should be sent from the Regimental Depot to 11^th (Reserve) Battalion, with whom he would be employed as an Instructor.

2Lt. John Henry Hitchin, who had been absent without leave from 11^th Battalion West Ridings for more than six weeks (see 27^th January) checked out of the Waterloo Hotel, York Road, Lambeth, where he had stayed for the previous ten days. Whilst staying at the hotel had had cashed a cheque for £10 and had also borrowed £5 on an I.O.U. When he left, he settled his account, amounting to £7 12s. 10d. and redeemed his I.O.U. with a further cheque for £12 12s. 10d. However, it was subsequently found that he had fraudulently attempted to pass these cheques in the name of another officer, whilst his own account, at Cox's Bank, was overdrawn.

Sunday 6th February 1916

Front line trenches east of Bois Grenier.

A quiet day with little to report, other than a short burst of German shelling about 8.30am, which saw around fifteen 5.9” shells directed against the support trenches, but causing little damage.

 

A memorial service was held at the Parish Church, Bolton-by-Bowland for Trooper Reggie Killen, who had been killed in action on 25^th January. Reggie was the younger brother of Pte. Harry Killeen who had been one of Tunstill’s original recruits. Harry himself had been wounded on 14^th January and had only been transferred to hospital in Manchester three days earlier (see 3^rd February). The Craven Herald subsequently reported on the service:

“At the Parish Church on Sunday evening, the Rev. C. Broadhurst made feeling reference to the loss the village has sustained. His text was St. John. ii. 25, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life.' He continued "When he who has parted this life is laid to his rest, whether amidst the roar of artillery, or whether he be in the quiet of our own country churchyard, the first words of the Burial Service are words, not of death, but of life. 'I am the Resurrection and the Life.' It does not say I promise to bring the Resurrection of Life, but I am the Resurrection and the Life - an absolute certainty, which God alone could say. Surely it is as a thought to help us in the hour of sorrow that he whom we loved, losing his life, has gained it. That the boy which fought a brave fight for his country rests in peace, but this soul - his real life - lives in Paradise." In spite of an exceptionally wet morning, special constables from Gisburn, Bolton-by-Bowland, and Grindleton attended the service at the conclusion of which the organist played the Dead March in 'Saul’.”

Trooper Reggie Killeen

 

Saturday 5th February 1916

Front line trenches east of Bois Grenier.

On what was described in the War Diary as “a beautiful morning”, there were some sporadic artillery exchanges, but conditions remained generally quiet. The most remarkable aspect of the day was the passage overhead of a squadron of nine or ten British aircraft passing over the line and on over the German positions. It was reported that, “it is though they were a raiding party. As far as the eye could follow they were all flying in perfect order, hundreds of shots were fired upon them. In the late afternoon one of our planes also worried the enemy very much, he was constantly over their lines and shots were rained upon him. He escaped without injury.”

Pte. Harry Iredale (see 5^th September 1915) wrote a letter home expressing his thanks for parcels which he and his pals had recently received and he gave some insight into his experiences:

“Dear Mr. Bartley, - I received the parcel about a fortnight ago, but as several of the lads have not yet received their parcels I thought I would defer writing. We do very well for clothes and socks, and as a rule we have a bath and change of underclothing every five days, so that socks and comforts from home are hardly necessary. We all do very well for food, though it is plain, but we can hardly expect anything else out there, so we have to rely on the parcels sent from home. The weather is gradually changing for the better, and, I suppose, harder fighting. Our regiment has been out here nearly six months now so we are expecting the usual month's rest, and probably a pass. We received a parcel for Pte. (Tom) Greenwood (see 7^th May 1915), who is in hospital, but as men in hospital are not allowed parcels we divided it amongst the lads. We have not much time to spare in the trenches, so I shall have to bring this letter to a close, again thanking you for the most welcome parcel”.



Pte. Harry Iredale

Pte. Tom Greenwood

 
Pte. Robert Callaghan (see 2^nd January), who had spent a month in hospital after suffering a sprained ankle, was discharged from 18^th General Hospital at Camiers and posted to 6^th Convalescent Depot at Etaples; from there (date and details unknown) he would re-join the Battalion.

Friday 4th February 1916

Brigade reserve billets at La Rolanderie.

For four days at La Rolanderie the men had rested and the weather, though cold, had at least been dry and bright. However, the rigours of their recent tours was slowly but surely wearing down some of the men. As with Major Hildyard (see 15^th January), the ailments may well have been mental as much as physical, given the stress they were routinely suffering. Tunstill’s Man Pte. Tom Darwin, for example, reported sick as the Battalion was about to return to the line. He had only recently been home on leave (see 8^th January), but now was diagnosed as suffering from ‘debility’. He would be treated locally by 6r Field Ambulance for the next ten days. J.B Priestley had described his interpretation of ‘debility’ (as a result of which he had also recently spent time in hospital), “My illness had nothing whatever to do with my kidneys or my bowels, it was a common complaint out here – a sort of debility, due to overwork, lack of sleep and general rotten conditions. The hospitals are so crammed full of sick men now”.

Pte. Harry Siddall (see 2^nd January) was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance to 23^rd Division Rest Station; he was suffering from influenza; three days later he would be transferred to 2^nd Casualty Clearing Station at Bailleul and from there, on 8^th February, onboard No.14 Ambulance Train, to 13^th Stationary Hospital in Boulogne.

The Battalion returned to the front line, occupying the same trenches as on their previous tour (see 27^th January) although on this occasion ‘B’ Company remained in the Bois Grenier Line, with ‘C’ taking their place in the centre of the Battalion front. The Battalion was again to act as ‘instructors’, in this case to two companies of 11^th Suffolk Regiment. Unlike during the previous tour, it was now reported that “All along our front for the past few days has been most unusually quiet”, and the evening and overnight remained so, other than for some activity from the German machine guns.

 

Pte. Edmund Peacock (see 4^th January) who had been wounded on 18^th November 1915 and had been treated in hospital in both Cambridge and Eastbourne was posted to 11^th Battalion West Riding Regiment, based at Brocton Camp. Cannock Chase, Staffs, in preparation for a return to active service.

 

Wednesday 2nd February 1916

Brigade reserve billets at La Rolanderie.

Another quiet day; the weather remained very cold, but fine. Nothing to report, other than exchanges of rifle, machine gun and artillery fire heard in the distance.

L.Cpl. Matthew Best who had suffered an accidental injury to his chest during training two weeks earlier and had been treated locally, was transferred to 13 General Hospital in Boulogne (see 20^th January).

Cpl. Henry Markham (see 20^th November 1915) departed for England on one weeks’ leave.

Tuesday 1st February 1916

Billets in western fringes of Bois Grenier

On a cold, but bright morning, the Battalion marched to Brigade Reserve billets at La Rolanderie. The day remained quiet, although shelling could be heard across the front lines further south.

Sgt. Arthur Walton (see 21^st January) appeared before a Field General Court Martial charged with ‘absenting himself without leave’; he would be found guilty and ordered to be reduced to the rank of Corporal.

Ptes. Eli Bradley and Joseph Clayton joined the Battalion. Eli Bradley was a 31 year-old labourer from Brierley Hill, Staffs.; he was married, with two children. Joseph Clayton was a 38 year-old weaver; originally from Billington, near Whalley, he had been living and working in Barnoldswick when he had enlisted in August 1915.

Ellis Rigby, having completed his attestation papers almost three months earlier joined up to begin training with 3^rd Battalion West Riding Regiment; he was the younger brother of Pte. Thomas Rigby (see 18^th November 1915) who had been one of Tunstill’s original recruits.

Monday 31st January 1916

Front line trenches east of Bois Grenier.

The day dawned dull, misty and quiet and remained so all day. In the late afternoon preparations began for the relief of the Battalion, and of the Royal Scots. Baggage and company stores were carried out via Shaftesbury Avenue and company cooks were despatched to new billets in the western fringes of Bois Grenier. Later that evening, having been relieved by 8th Yorkshires, the Royal Scots marched back, via La Rolanderie, to rendezvous with the rest of their Battalion while most of 10DWR made their way to their new billets. By now, however, the village of Bois Grenier, as described by J.B. Priestley, was in ruins,

“a village which must, in the far-off happy days of peace, have been the home of a prosperous and happy little community. Now – alas – the civil population have long since gone and the village is a ruin. Some of the houses are almost intact, while others – the majority – are battered indescribably. The beautiful old church in the centre of the village is a ruin, roofless, with only about a quarter of its steeple left”.

All images by kind permission of Jerry Rendell. They all originate from Capt. H.L. Oakley of 8th Yorkshires; see Jerry's excellent book, Profiles of the First World War

One platoon of ‘B’ Company, along with two machine guns and their crews did not go into billets but were stationed instead at Cemetery Post, just south of the village in the Bois Grenier Line. Priestley described the “Edgar Allan Poe setting” in which he and his fellow ‘B’ Company men now found themselves:

“a line of reserve trenches runs right through the cemetery, and our platoon is occupying these trenches. The French graves have all large stone or wooden crosses on them – mostly 8 to 12 feet in height, and we are entirely surrounded by these dismal things. Crowded here and there are between these are little wooden crosses that mark what must be the most pathetic graves in the world – those of British soldiers. On some of them, little French memorials have been placed – how and by whom I do not know. At night, our surroundings look very weird – to put it mildly. But we are veterans now and we take everything as it comes”. Writing years later he also recalled how, “We had great crosses and monuments of marble and granite all round us, unbelievable at night when the darkness was split by the white glare of Very lights and the shadows were gigantically grotesque, though often we had not time to notice them, having to duck down as machine gun bullets ricocheted off the funeral stones”.

Fortunately for Priestley and his pals their stay at Cemetery Post was only brief and next day they, along with the rest of the Battalion, would retire to Brigade Reserve at La Rolanderie.

An instruction was issued from the Adjutant General’s Office in France regarding Pte. Benjamin Wilson (see 20^th December 1915), who was under treatment at Eaton Hall VAD Hospital, Eaton, Cheshire. He had had his left leg amputated having been wounded in November. It was now stated that Pte. Wilson’s wounds were regarded as having been ‘self-inflicted’ and it was now considered ‘necessary to find out whether he will ver be fit to stand trial by District General Court Martial’. In the event, there is no evidence that Pte. Wilson ever appeared before a court martial.

Sgt. Henry Carrodus (see 9^th July 1915) was formally discharged from the Army, with the award of the Silver War Badge, on grounds of ill health contracted in service. He had originally served with 10DWR, going to France with the Battalion in August 1915, but, at date unknown, had transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers. I am, as yet, unable to make a positive identification of this man.

69^th Brigade War Diary recorded casualties for the Brigade for the month of January:

Killed                                 13; including one officer from 11^th West Yorks.

Accidentally killed             0

Died of wounds                 7; including two officers; one from 11^th West Yorks and one from 9^th Yorks.

Wounded                            98; including three officers; one of whom was 2Lt. Snell (see 30^th January).

Accidentally wounded   4

Missing                                   3; including 2Lt. Glover (see 13^th January).

10DWR’s casualties were recorded as:

Killed                                     1

Accidentally killed               0

Died of wounds                   0

Wounded                            23; including 2Lt. Snell

Accidentally wounded        2

Missing                                   3; including 2Lt. Glover

The official cumulative casualty figures for the Battalion since arriving in France were now:

Killed                                     18

Accidentally killed                4

Died of wounds                     2

Wounded                              93

Accidentally wounded        37

Missing                                    3

The surviving personal effects of the late Pte. John Cardwell (see 27^th January) were returned to his family, via the Infantry Record Office in York.