Thursday 8th November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area

A wet day. The Battalion marched four miles east to Tatinghem.

Sgt. George Richard Goodchild (see 1^st November), described the events of the day, “we marched the first stage – to Tatinghem – of our journey.  The start was auspicious inasmuch as this march was the first occasion on which our new band had accompanied us.  Right well did this portion of the Battalion acquit itself and the march was really enjoyable despite the drag of an inordinately large pack.  Tatinghem provided us with good billets for Thursday night.  The Orderly Room was in a cobbler’s cottage and was very comfortable.  The occupants of the house were also very good to us – this is not always the case even with the French – and we became quite friendly with them during our short stay.  Just before we departed the cobbler presented each one of us with a large William pear.  These were eaten on the train later in the day and thoroughly enjoyed.  Incidentally it may be mentioned here that this shoe-making friend told us that every pair of hand-made child’s or lady’s boots or shoes then cost 30 Francs!!”.

The inauguration of the Battalion band was also remembered fondly by Capt. William Norman Town (see 1^st November): “A brass band had been started only a short time before and, indeed, half the instruments only arrived two days before we left France.  One of the Officers went to London on one day’s leave.  He hied him to Hawkes & Sons, one of whose partners had served in the 10^th, and, guided by their advice, brought back large and fearsome brazen forms.  He was a Scotsman, one of the persistent sort.  Surely none other could have got these great packing cases past the RTO at Victoria, on to and off the ship and into a motor ‘wangled’ for the occasion”. (It seems likely that the ‘persistent’ Scottish officer was Capt. James Watson Paterson, see 25^th October).

L.Sgt. Albert Hoggarth (see 17^th October) was reported by CSM Thomas McCloud (see below) as having been “drunk on the line of march”; he was reprimanded by Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 29^th October).

CSM Thomas McCloud was 32 years old. He had served in India with 1DWR before the war and had been posted to Gallipoli with 8DWR in July 1915. The details of his war service and when he had joined 10DWR are unknown.

A/Cpl. Bertie Gooch (see 29^th October) departed for England on ten days’ leave.

Pte. Reginald Dayson (see 1^st November), who, a week previously, had been found guilty of desertion and sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour, had his sentence suspended on the orders of General Sir Herbert Plumer.

Pte. Patrick Sweeney (see 25^th October), who had been sentenced to death for desertion, had his sentence commuted to 15 years’ penal servitude on the orders of Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig.

Spr. Alfred John Davis (see 17^th June), serving in France with179^th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, was appointed Lance Corporal.

A payment of 16s. 7d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Joe William Woodhouse (see 10^th June), who had been killed in action on 10^th June; the payment would go to his widow, Annie.

Wednesday 7th November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area

A wet morning, but became dry later. The Battalion continued its training and range practice.

Ptes. Robert Henry Arnold (see 29^th October) and Cain Rothera (see 5^th October) were both appointed (unpaid) Lance Corporal.

Ptes. Isaac Raisman (see 30^th June) and John Yeates (see below) appeared before a Field General Court Martial; both were charged with ‘actions contrary to the maintenance of good order and military discipline’ (details unknown) and both were convicted. Raisman would be ordered to undergo seven days’ Field Punishment No.1 and Yeates 42 days. Pte. John Yeates was 26 years old and originally from Pewsey, Wiltshire, but had enlisted in 1912 while working in Yorkshire. He had been posted to France to join 2DWR in November 1914 and had been wounded in December 1916, suffering gunshot wounds to his right thigh. In the absence of a surviving service record it has not been possible to establish when, or under what circumstances, he had joined 10DWR.

Pte. Richard Henry Harris (see 29^th October) departed for England on ten days’ leave.

Ptes. Joseph Clough (see 2^nd October), John Foster (see 25^th September), Charles Hammond (see 25^th August), Walter Pedley (see 12^th October) and Fred Slater (see 5^th October), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, were all reported absent off final leave before embarking for France. Clough would return to duty at 9.30pm on 10^th November and would be ordered to undergo four days Field Punishment no.2. Foster and Hammond did not return until 12^th November; both were sentenced to six days Field Punishment no.2. Slater returned to duty at 8am on 13^th November; he was sentenced to seven days’ Field Punishment no.2. Pedley was apprehended by the Military Police at 1.35pm on 9^th November and returned to duty; he was sentenced to three days’ Field Punishment no.2.

Ptes. Thomas Caton (see 23^rd September) and Michael Hopkins (see 20^th September), both of whom had been in England since having been wounded on 20^th September, were discharged from hospital and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

Pte. Oliver Rhodes (see 11^th October), who had been in England for the previous three weeks, was discharged from hospital and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon. 

Pte. Harold Holt (see 10^th July 1916), who had been in England since having been wounded in July 1916, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service on account of his wounds; he was awarded a pension of 9s. 6d. per week.

Pte. Tom Nixon (11904) (see 24^th October 1916) serving with 83^rd Training Reserve Battalion at Gateshead, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service on account of ‘chronic synovitis’. He would be awarded the Silver War Badge but, as his complaint was formally stated to be ‘neither caused by nor aggravated by active service’, he had no entitlement to an Army pension.

A payment of £2 11s. 5d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Arthur Heeley (see 12^th June), who had died of wounds on 12^th June; the payment would go to his mother, Sarah. She would also receive a parcel of personal effects comprising “disc, letters, photos, cards, wallet, religious book, mirror, broken wrist watch, strap and guard”.

Tuesday 6th November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area

A wet day. The Battalion continued its training and range practice.

Pte. Herbert Crowther Kershaw (see 1^st November) re-joined the Battalion from 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples.

Pte. Fred Hargreaves (29267) (see 14^th July), who had been wounded in July, was discharged from hospital and posted to 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples.

Pte. Fred Hargreaves (29267)

Image by kind permission of Patrick Hargreaves

Pte. Herbert Willoughby (see 16^th October), who had been wounded three week’s previously, was discharged from hospital and posted to 2^nd Convalescent Depot at Rouen.

Sgt. John Thomas Matthews (see 12^th June), who had been in England since having been wounded on 7^th June, was discharged from hospital and posted to 3DWR at North Shields.

Pte. George Hayes (see 7^th June), who had been in England since having been wounded on 7^th June, was discharged from hospital and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

2Lt. Fred Dyson (see 6^th August), serving with 3DWR, appeared before an Army Medical Board at Tynemouth. The Board declared him fit for general service following a course of dental treatment. He would shortly be posted to join 10DWR.

L.Cpl. John Charles Rawnsley (see 6^th April), who had been posted back to England suffering from tachycardia, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service; he would be awarded the Silver War Badge and an Army pension.

Monday 5th November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area.

The Battalion continued its training and range practice.

Brig. Genl. Lambert (see 13^th October) inspected the recent new drafts which had joined the Battalion.

L.Cpl. Frank Wood (see 14^th October) reverted, at his own request, to the rank of Private.

Pte. William Frederick Ackrill (see 28^th July), serving in France with 2DWR, was appointed Acting Lance Corporal (paid); his appointment would be confirmed as permanent on 21^st December. 

Capt. Bob Perks DSO (see 15^th October) appeared before a further Army Medical Board assembled at Tynemouth. The Board found him fit for general service and instructed him to re-join 3DWR at North Shields.

Capt. Bob Perks DSO

Image by kind permission of Janet Hudson

Pte. Augustus Edgar Stone (see 26^th September) appeared before an Army Medical Board at Evington Military Hospital, Leicester. The Board found that he had been taken ill in September, but had had a previous episode of nephritis 18 months previously and had suffered lead poisoning 15 years previously. He was declared unfit for military service, his previous condition having been aggravated by his military service. However, it was also found that “he is not handicapped in civil employment”. He was awarded a payment of 2s. per week for the next three months, but nothing further thereafter.

The War Office replied to the recent letter from Mrs. Angelina Pereira, mother of the late Capt. Adrian O’Donnell Pereira (see 29^th October), regarding the effects of her late son:

“I am directed to acquaint you that no further effects of late Captain A. O’D. Pereira, West Riding Regiment, have been placed at the disposal of this Department. It is observed that the articles referred to by you would probably have been taken into action by the deceased and I have to acquaint you, with regret, that there is no record of the recovery of his body in this Department so that it is feared that it must be assumed that any articles not already recovered have been lost. I am to add that no information is forthcoming to show under what circumstances the wrist watch in leather case received by you was recovered, but it is presumed that it was found in the Officer’s kit and was not taken into action by him”.

Capt. Adrian O'Donnell Pereira

Sunday 4th November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area

The Battalion continued its training and range practice.

Ptes. Joseph Henry Haywood (see 28^th May) and William Hay Murdock (see 5^th July) were both appointed (unpaid) Lance Corporal.

Pte. Daniel Mackenzie (see 31^st October) was reported by Sgt. James Henry Howarth (see 30^th October) and Cpl. William Hutchinson (see 18^th May) for being “improperly dressed on defaulters’ parade and having a dirty rifle”; on the orders of Capt. Henry Kelly VC (see 31^st October) he was to be confined to barracks for seven days.

Pte. Abraham Sunderland (see 30^th October) re-joined the Battalion from 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples.

Sgt. John William Dickinson (see 31^st October), who had been wounded on 20^th September, was admitted to the camp hospital at 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples, suffering from ‘debility and neurasthenia’; he would be subsequently be transferred to 14^th Convalescent Depot at Trouville (on 9^th November) and 6^th Convalescent Depot at Etaples (on 14^th November).

Pte. James Arthur Heap (see 9^th October),  serving in France with 63^rd Labour Company, Labour Corps, departed for England on two weeks’ leave.

Sgt. Harry Raistrick (see 24^th September), who had been in England since having been wounded on 20^th September, was discharged from hospital and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

From her home in Gosberton, near Spalding, Elsie Alice Prestwood, widow of the late Pte. Arthur Prestwood (see 4^th October), who had died of wounds on 22^nd September, again wrote to the War Office regarding her late husband’s affairs:

“I received your letter informing me that you hadn’t the birth certificates of my children. I have got the one for my baby which I am sending but you have the one for my little boy. I sent it at the same time I sent my marriage lines. It has Eric Henry Briggs on it as he was born before marriage and that was my maiden name. Hoping you come across it and I must again tell you I should be much obliged if you would let me have my husband’s death certificate as the Superintendent of the Prudential Insurance is wanting it. And if you have received anything belonging my late husband I should be very pleased as he had several things which I should like to have or anything belonging him. Trusting you will oblige.”

Saturday 3rd November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area

A wet day. The Battalion continued its training and range practice.

A/Cpl. William Atkinson (25980) (see 29^th October), L.Cpls. Roderick Harmer (see 29^th October) and John Wright Pollard (see 5^th October) and Ptes. John Henry Fidler (see 5^th October), Jack Edgar Hall (see 29^th October) and Herbert John Wicks (see 31^st October) departed for England on ten days’ leave.

Pte. Charles Simmons (see 5^th July) was reported by Sgt. Alfred Dolding (see 11^th August) as having been “dirty on parade”; on the orders of Capt. Paul James Sainsbury (see 29^th October) he would be confined to barracks for five days.

At home in Bristol Elsie May Scott, the 20 months-old daughter of Pte. Walter William Scott (see 29^th October), died from tuberculous meningitis.

Friday 2nd November 1917

Billets in the Zudausques area

A fine day. The Battalion continued its training and range practice.

Pte. John Perrin (see 24^th August), who had been away from the Battalion for ten weeks after suffering from ‘trench foot’, now re-joined.

Pte. Robert Frank Smith (25829) (see 29^th October), who had suffered a minor wound on 19^th October, was posted from 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples and re-joined the Battalion. 

Pte. Harry Sugden (see 16^th January) was transferred to 69^th Trench Mortar Battery.

Ptes. Francis Ash (see 29^th August), John Edward Scott (see 24^th October) and Fred Smith (15149) (see 12^th September) who were serving with 3DWR, were posted back to France. However, they would not re-join 10DWR but would instead be posted to 2/7^th DWR.

Pte. Thomas George Coates (see 26^th October), who had been in England since having been wounded on 20^th September, was discharged from 2^nd Western General Hospital in Manchester and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

Pte. William Franklin (see 25^th September) who had been in England after being wounded on 20^th September, was discharged from hospital and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

Pte. Milton Wood (see 31^st October), who had joined 3DWR at North Shields the previous day, was admitted to 1^st Northern General Hospital at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, suffering from scabies.

Capt. Alfred Percy Harrison MC (see 3^rd October), who was in England having been wounded on 7^th June, appeared before a further Medical Board. The Board again concluded that he was to remain in hospital for further treatment to his injured foot, and would be re-examined in one months’ time.



Pte. Amor Green Brooke (see 5^th July 1916) was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service on account of wounds suffered in action. Having recovered from wounds suffered in July 1916 he had been transferred to 2DWR, but, in the absence of a surviving service record it has not been possible to establish any details as to when he had been wounded for a second time.

At home in Fulham, Helen Ridley, wife of Pte. Herbert Ridley (see 31^st October), gave birth to the couple’s third child; the baby boy would be named Frederick Douglas Ridley. 

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald reported news of the fate of Pte. Jabez Wintersgill (see 20^th September) and also of the death of the father of the late Pte. Joshua Crossley (see 27^th October);

EARBY MEN MISSING 

Pte. Jabez Wintersgill, Green End Avenue, Earby, has been reported missing since Sept. 20th. He is 19 years of age.

BOLTON-BY-BOWLAND - Obituary

Mr. John Crossley, of Cottams Farm, passed away on Saturday morning last aged 53 years. Deceased had suffered for a long time on account of heart weakness. Mr. Crossley was very much respected and had very near associations with the Holden Congregational Chapel. He leaves a widow, one son and one daughter, another son having joined the army at the beginning of the war, but unfortunately contracted an illness which ended fatally. Deceased was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holden Chapel on Wednesday afternoon last, in the presence of a large number of sorrowing friends, the pastor, Mr. Knight, taking the service.