Tuesday 8th January 1918

Billets at Biadene

Brig. Genl. Lambert (see 4^th January) departed on leave to England; Lt. Col. Barker DSO, 11WYR, took temporary command of the Brigade.

Maj. Edward Borrow DSO (see 20^th December), who had left England three weeks previously, re-joined the Battalion.

L.Cpl. William Hay Murdock (see 4^th November 1917) began to be paid according to his rank, having previously held the post unpaid.

Pte. Thomas Tibble (see 29^th October 1917) was admitted to 70^th Field Ambulance, suffering from swelling to his legs.

Pte. Frank Tucker (see 29^th October 1917) was awarded seven days’ Field Punishment no.2 on the grounds that he had ‘reported sick without a cause’.

Pte. Samuel Stansfield (see 28^th August 1917) was reported by Sgt. Joseph Maddison MM (see 5^th January) and Sgt. Frank Shelah Gilleard (see 5^th January) for ‘loss of cap badge’; on the orders of Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 5^th January) he was to pay for the lost item.

Pte. Leonard Briggs (see 28^th October 1917), who had been in hospital in St. Omer for the previous two months after suffering from influenza, was transferred to 7^th Convalescent Depot at Boulogne.

Sgt. Robert William John Morris (see 8^th December 1917), serving at the Detention Barracks at Woking, Surrey, was posted back to 3DWR at North Shields; however, he would be a day late reporting and would be severely reprimanded.

L.Cpl. Herbert Newton (see 12^th December 1917) and Ptes. Thomas George Coates (see 2^nd December 1917) and Charles Oldham (see 16^th November) were posted from Northern Command Depot at Ripon to 3DWR at North Shields.

2Lt. Harry Widdup (see 7^th December 1917), who had been in England since being taken ill in December 1916, appeared before a further Army Medical Board. The Board found that, “At present he feels rather better than usual but varies very much with the change of weather especially when damp”. He was instructed to re-join 3^rd DWR on sedentary employment.

Pte. Thomas Irvin Wood MM (see 18^th December 1917) was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service having had three fingers amputated from his right hand. He was awarded a pension of 27s. 6d. per week for four weeks, reducing thereafter to 13s. 9d and to be reviewed in a years’ time.

A payment of £4 12s. 11d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. John Ellis (see 7^th June 1917) who had been killed in action on 7^th June 1917; the payment would be divided in equal shares of 13s. 3d. to his two brothers and five sisters.

A payment of £2 9s. 10d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Clifford Orchard (see 20^th September) who had been killed in action on 20^th September 1917; the payment would go to his widow, Myrtle.

A payment of £1 7s. 2d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late L.Cpl. Robert Arthur Watkinson (see 18^th September 1917) who had been killed in action on 18^th September 1917; the payment would go to his widow, Elizabeth. She would also receive a parcel of her late husband’s personal effects, comprising of, “wallet, diary, letter, cards, photos, 2 religious books, trench mirror”.

A parcel of personal effects of the L.Sgt. Albert Bradley (see 19^th October 1917), who had died of his wounds on 19^th October 1917, was despatched to his mother, Elizabeth; the parcel comprised of, “letter, photos, notebook, metal drinking cup, cap badge”. No payment was issued on his account as, at the time of his death, there had been a debit balance of £5 10s. 6d.

Monday 7th January 1918

Billets at Biadene

Pte. Clarence Hubert Bolt (see 7^th April 1917) was reported by Sgt. Harry Holmes MM (see 17^th December 1917) as having been “not washed and unshaven on 8.45am parade”; on the orders of Capt. Paul James Sainsbury (see 3^rd November 1917) he was to be confined to barracks for five days.

Pte. John Bundy (see 29^th October 1917) was reported by L.Sgt. Jonathan Richardson Sunderland (see 4^th January) as having been “dirty on 8am parade”; on the orders of Capt. Paul James Sainsbury (see 3^rd November 1917) he was to be confined to barracks for three days.

Pte. Lancelot Johnson (see 19th November 1917) was reported by Sgt. John William Wardman MM (see 5^th January) as having been “late on parade”; on the orders of Capt. John Edward Lennard Payne MC (see 4^th December 1917) he was to be confined to barracks for five days.

Capt. Gilbert Tunstill (see 5^th January) appeared before a further Army Medical Board assembled at Tynemouth. The Board found that, “The condition remains much the same. The foot swells up occasionally and he gets pain in it”. He was again declared fit for light duty at home and instructed to re-join 3DWR; he would re-examined in a further two months.

Pte. David William Day (see 28^th November 1917) was discharged from Glamis Castle Auxiliary Hospital. He would subsequently serve with 2^nd/7^th and 2^nd/4^th DWR.

Pte. John James Cowling (see 24^th August 1917), who had been discharged from the Army four months previously due to wounds, wrote to the War Office requesting that they send him the Silver War Badge which he had been granted but which he had not yet received.

Sunday 6th January 1918

Billets at Biadene

The Battalion settled into its new routine, with around 120 men employed each day on working parties and the remainder occupied in training, including using the lower slopes of the Montello for training in hill fighting and on the Divisional rifle range, which 10DWR had helped construct (see 3^rd December 1917).

The conditions in and around Biadene were described in some detail by Pte. Norman Gladden of 11^th Northumberland Fusiliers in 68^th Brigade,

“Biadene … a collection of whitewashed farms and deserted dwelling houses straggling along the road, where we occupied the second floor of one of the houses, each section having a small room to itself. In front rose the slopes of the Montello, covered on this side with prosperous looking farms, while at the back, from the far side of the field behind the house, a low, ridge rose cliff-like to a height of a couple of hundred feet, the intervening space covered with crops of uncut maize, now looking somewhat bedraggled. The road from Montebelluna led past the house up the valley, where it opened out funnel-wise towards the river, beyond which the mountains towered up rising majestically in the clear atmosphere. It was not easy to imagine these heights being in the hands of the enemy, who was in a position to observe almost everything that happened in the village. Compared with the awful forward areas in France, this was a situation of sylvan peacefulness, and if our above-ground exposure at first seemed positively indecent, we soon got used to it. The main activity on the enemy side seemed to be the creation of fires in the woods. Smoke and flame were continually issuing from some spot or other on the mountainside. After dark the Austrians embellished the scene by switching on searchlights to observe the river bed at night. These swept the sky and shingle methodically throughout the night”. 

Ptes. Frank Dodgson (see 22^nd July 1916), William Little (see 29^th October 1917) and Thomas Prince (see 5^th July 1917) were admitted via 70^th Field Ambulance to 23^rd Division Rest Station. Pte. Dodgson was suffering from scabies and Ptes. Little and Prince were both suffering from inflammation of their right hands.

Pte. Henry Pike (see 29^th October 1917) was admitted to 11^th General Hospital at Genoa suffering from rheumatism and myalgia; after three days he would be transferred to 2^nd General Hospital in Le Havre, where he would spend a further five days before being transferred to one of the convalescent depots from where he would in due course (date and details unknown) re-join the Battalion.

The sentence of two years’ imprisonment with hard labour which had been passed in the case of L.Cpl. John William Mallinson (see 2^nd December) was suspended on the orders of General Sir Herbert Plumer.

Sgt. John William Dickinson (see 4^th November 1917), who had been wounded on 20^th September 1917, was discharged from 6^th Convalescent Depot at Etaples and posted to ‘E’ Base Depot at Le Havre; he would be re-classified as medical category Ciii (suitable only for sedentary work).

The Halifax Courier reported news of the death L.Cpl. Gilbert Swift Greenwood (see 2^nd January), who had died in Italy just four days previously:

THE LATE L-CPL G.S. GREENWOOD

Mr. Greenwood, 14 Ventnor Terrace, has received the following letter from Lt. Col. F.W. Lethbridge, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, concerning the death of L.Cpl. G.S. Greenwood: “Allow me to express to you my deep sympathy in the death of your son, L.Cpl. G.S. Greenwood, the first man in this battalion to give his life for his country on the Italian Front. Your son was commanding a guard over his company headquarters in the front line, and was hit by a shell. He died without pain a few hours after. Your boy was very gallant soldier and had always acquitted himself with credit in action. I, in common with all the other officers who knew him, greatly regret his loss”. A footnote indicates the place where L.Cpl. Greenwood was buried in a British military cemetery.

Saturday 5th January 1918

Billets at Biadene

The weather for the next two weeks would remain very cold, with intense frosts.

Following their relief overnight (4^th/5^th) the men of the Battalion enjoyed their delayed Christmas dinner and a special performance by the Divisional Concert Party, ‘The Dumps’.

L.Cpl. Frank Easterby (see 18^th October 1917) was deprived of his rank and reduced to Private having been reported as ‘drunk on duty’.

A detailed kit inspection led to a number of men being reported for missing kit and iron rations; on the orders of Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 4^th January) all were to pay for the lost items. Ptes. Fred Clayton (see 16^th December 1917) and James Cowie (see 30^th October 1917) were reported by CQMS. Thomas Winder (see 8^th September 1917) and Sgt. Lionel Vickers (see 29^th November) for, respectively, ‘loss of cap badge’ and ‘loss of kit’ (detail unspecified). Pte. Walter James Biddle (see 3^rd December 1917) was also reported by Winder and Vickers, in his case for “loss of iron rations”. Pte. Ernest Locker Smith (see 29^th October 1917) was reported by Winder and Sgt. Joseph Maddison MM (see 17^th December 1917, it is not known when he had been promoted Sergeant) for ‘loss of kit’ (detail unspecified). Pte. Smith would also be reported on four successive days as being either dirty or improperly dressed on parade, resulting in a total of 14 days confined to barracks. Pte. John Malcolm Starbuck (see 30^th November 1917) was reported by Winder and Sgt. Frank Shelah Gilleard (see 24^th March 1917) for loss of his ‘housewife’ (the name given given to the personal ‘repair kit’ kept by soldiers). Pte. Walter Gee Wardley (see 16^th December 1917) was reported by Sgt. Richard Everson (see 9^th July), and L.Cpl. John Wright Pollard (see 29^th November 1917) as being, “deficient of cap badge”. Pte. Arthur Wood (29524) (see 3^rd December 1917) was reported by Winder and Sgt. John William Wardman MM (see 17^th December 1917) for “loss of canteen cover”.

Pte. Frederick George Westlake (see 29^th October 1917) was reported as having been, “dirty on 3.30pm parade”; on the orders of Capt. Dick Bolton MC (see 1^st January) he was to be confined to barracks for four days.

Pte. John Beckwith (see 31^st August 1916) was admitted, via 70^th Field Ambulance, to 39^th Casualty Clearing Station, suffering from inflammation to his right knee; two days later he would be further evacuated, by no.41 Ambulance Train (destination unknown).

Battalion Medical Officer Capt. Leslie Fraser Eiloart Jeffcoat (see 16^th December) returned from leave from England; Capt. Farquhar of 70^th Field Ambulance, who had been his temporary replacement, re-joined his unit.

Pte. John Richard Newell (see 15^th November 1917), who had been absent sick for the previous seven weeks, re-joined the Battalion from 11^th General Hospital in Genoa.

There was more positive news in the Keighley News regarding CQMS Frank Stephenson (see 13^th June), who had recently suffered a severe bout of pneumonia:

“Mrs. Frank Stephenson, of Park Lane, Sutton Mill, has received a letter from an Army chaplain, dated December 21, informing her that her husband, Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Frank Stephenson, of the West Riding Regiment, was making satisfactory progress after a severe attack of pneumonia, and that he was at an Italian clearing station”.

CQMS Frank Stephenson

Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton

Pte. John Lever (see 6^th October 1916), serving with 9DWR, died of wounds at 21^st Casualty Clearing Station at Ytres; he had been wounded six days previously. He would be buried at Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt.

Image from The Halifax Courier, 25th January 1918

Pte. Thomas Barber Dudley (see 19^th September 1917), serving with 787^th Employment Company, Labour Corps, was evacuated to England. On arriving in England, he would be admitted firstly to 3^rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff before being transferred, on 29^th January, to an Auxiliary Hospital in Tredegar. He was diagnosed as suffering from heart trouble, and it would later be recorded that he, “states that he was buried in the line (early in 1917, while serving with 10DWR) and since that his heart has troubled him. He was three months in hospital in France and then evacuated to England”.

Ptes. Charles William Hird (see 26^th December 1917) and Alfred Edward Wybrow MM (see 11^th November 1917), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, were posted back to France and would join 2DWR.

Pte. William Franklin (see 2^nd November 1917), serving at Northern Command Depot at Ripon, was reported for gambling in his billet; he was ordered to be confined to barracks for five days.

Pte. Herbert Greenwood Audsley (see 30^th August 1917) was posted to 3DWR at North Shields.

Capt. Bob Perks DSO (see 30^th December 1917) again wrote to his father regarding the problem which had seen him recently deployed on different duties with 3DWR. Although the nature of the affair remains unknown, his letter does make it clear that he blamed his change of circumstance on Capt. Gilbert Tunstill (see 10^th November 1917), who had, so Perks believed, been working against him during his absence on Christmas leave. However, Perks was anxious that no further rumours should be circulated about events, especially as others with 10DWR connections were, or might become, involved.

“Thanks very much for your letter.  Please keep enclosed receipts for me. Your cheeriness - all of you - bucks me up awfully.  Also everyone here is most awfully sympathetic including the adjutant and even the CO. I think he feels a lurking feeling of repentance and of having been done – by Tunstill.  Please do not breathe a word to anyone about any Captain doing me in even if you don’t mention names because if it were to come back via Longstaff (2Lt. Christopher Longstaff, see 27^th December, 1917; he had recently been posted to France to join 9^th Battalion West Yorks) or someone and anyone who hears it here is bound to know who it means without a name. I would tax Tunstill with it myself but Atkinson (Capt. John Atkinson, see 30^th May 1917), who gave me conclusive proof of it does not want me to pretend to know anything.  However, he admits to Atkinson he did try to do it and nearly got the Company which is what he was after but Atkinson was so annoyed at his treatment of me that he went and raked up Tunstill’s part to the C.O.!

Now I am doing very little indeed.  I was told good Captains were absolutely necessary for this company to put it straight and therefore I was still indispensable but from my observation it is straight now and I am hardly justifying my existence. I have my eye on another possibly small job and failing that I am thinking of overseas except that I want to get my teeth right".

 (I am greatly indebted to Janet Hudson for her kind permission to allow me to quote from Bob Perks’ correspondence).

Capt. Bob Perks DSO

Image by kind permission of Janet Hudson

Pte. Mark Beaumont (see 27^th October 1917), who, being no longer fit for active service, had been transferred to 7^th Battalion, Royal Defence Corps, appeared before an Army Medical Board assembled at Whitley Bay. The Board reported that, “He states he was a stretcher bearer in the reserve lines when he was hit with shrapnel on the left thigh. Sent to Base Hospital and operated on for removal of shrapnel. Sent to England. In hospital five months. He states he is unable to march and has pain in the wound on exertion”. The Board’s recommendation was he should be reclassified as currently unfit, but potentially fit in six months time. In the interim he would continue to serve with the RDC.

Friday 4th January 1918

Front line trenches on the Montello.

The Battalion was relieved overnight 4^th/5^th. On relief by 8^th Yorks. and Lancs. the Battalion met with their guides at the junction of Road 15 and the Cliff Road and marched to billets at Biadene. The move was completed in heavy snow.

Pte. George Chamberlain (see 25^th November 1917) was reported by Lt. Cyril William Wildy (see 6^th July) and 2Lt. William Johnson Simpson (see 25^th September 1917) for “leaving the trenches without reporting to his Company Commander”; on the orders of Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 2^nd January) he was ordered to undergo 28 days’ Field Punishment no.1. 

Pte. Reginald Dayson (see 16^th December 1917) was reported by L.Sgt. Jonathan Richardson Sunderland (see 28^th October) for a similar offence of “when on active service leaving his post without orders from his superior officer”. However, given the fact that he was under a suspended sentence following a previous convication for desertion, his case was not dealt with at Battalion level but would instead to be heard by a Field General Court Martial which would be convened and meet in two weeks’ time.

Pte. Percival Albert Wiggins (see 29^th October 1917) departed for England on leave.

Brig. Genl. Lambert (see 1^st January) inspected a further new draft of officers and men at Venegazzu; among them were 2Lts. Archibald (Archie) Allen (see 3^rd December 1917) and Bernard Garside (see 3^rd December 1917) who would join 10DWR next day having left England a month previously.

Pte. James Kayley (see 26^th October 1917), who had been suffering from suffering from syphilis, underwent a circumcision operation at 18^th General Hospital at Camiers; he would subsequently re-join 10DWR in Italy, but the date and details are unknown.

Pte. Edmund Peacock (see 28^th December 1917), serving in France with 9DWR, was evacuated to England, having spent the previous seven weeks in hospital, suffering from an accidental bayonet wound and boils.


Pte. Henry Edgar Grass (see 17^th December 1917), serving at Burhan in India with 1DWR, was reported for “having the equipment brace crossed wrong on parade”; he was ordered to be confined to barracks for three days.

Pte. Edgar Johnson (see 28^th July 1917), who had had his left leg amputated below the knee having been wounded in the actions at Le Sars in October 1916, appeared before an Army Medical Board at Queen Mary’s Convalescent Hospital at Roehampton. The Board found him unfit for further military service and recommended that be discharged from the Army.

At Long Preston Church there was held “an entertainment to provide wool to make comforts for our soldiers”. The event was “a record in every respect. Many were unable to get in and the gross receipts were £22 … It was a magnificent success and we were delighted”.

A payment of £1 1s. 14d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. William Kendall Lamb (see 20^th September 1917), who had been killed in action on 20^th September 1917; the payment would go to his mother, Margaret.

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald reported news of Pte. Alfred Carey; he was the younger brother of Norman Carey (see 15^th June 1917) who had been one of Tunstill’s original volunteers. An older brother, Pte. Harold Carey, had already been killed in action:

BOLTON-BY-BOWLAND - Our Boys

The people of Bolton are very much pleased to hear that Lance-Corporal Alfred Carey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carey, the Copy Nook Hotel, has been awarded the Military Medal.

There was also news of the death of former 10DWR man Pte. Walter Robinson (14753) (see 11^th December 1917), who had been killed in action while serving with 1^st/6^th DWR in France.

THORNTON-IN-CRAVEN - PRIVATE WALTER ROBINSON KILLED 

Mr. and Mrs. Albert Robinson, Ivy Mount, Thornton, have received official notification of the death of their son, Private Walter Robinson, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, who was killed in action in France on December 11th, aged 24 years. Private Robinson, who had been thrice wounded previously, was one of the first three who enlisted from the district in September 1914, and it is pathetic to add that of the other two, Private D. Stockdale (Thornton) (Sgt. William Digby Stockdale, see 7^th November 1916) has also been killed, and Pte. W. Firth (Earby) (L.Cpl. Wright Firth, see 6^th October 1916) has lost a leg. They all went out to France together with the ----- Battalion in July 1915, but Pte. Robinson was subsequently transferred.

In a letter of condolence to the bereaved parents, Capt. Godfrey Buxton writes:- "I am very sorry you have not been informed before, but I was away at the time. Your son has always been a reliable soldier and done his work thoroughly. I fear it will be a great loss to you, and all ranks in 'D' Company join with me in expressing our sympathy to you. He died without pain and was buried near where he fell with some of his comrades, and a cross has been erected over his grave."

Special reference to the sad event was made by the Rector (Rev. J. F. Tanfield, M.A.) at a memorial service held at Thornton Church on Sunday evening. Private Robinson was formerly employed by Messrs. J. S. Watson and Sons., Albion Shed, Earby.

Pte. Walter Robinson

Sgt. William Digby Stockdale

L.Cpl. Wright Firth

Image by kind permission of the Earby and District Local History Group

Thursday 3rd January 1918

Front line trenches on the Montello

Cpl. George Arthur Chitticks (see 20^th September 1917) was admitted via 70^th Field Ambulance to 39^th Casualty Clearing Station, suffering from influenza; five days later he would be transferred onboard no.41 Ambulance Train to hospital (details unknown).

Pte. Matthew Woodward (see 8^th September 1917), serving with 517^th (Home Service) Labour Company, Labour Corps, was transferred to the Non-Combatant Labour Corps.

A medical examination of Fred Tate (see 29^th January 1917), who had been an original member of ‘A’ Company but had been discharged on grounds of ill health whilst the Company was in training, found that “he has acute phtisis (TB) in both lungs, is losing weight and generally getting worse; uncertain if permanent; re-examine in six months”. There was also confirmation of the earlier medical opinion that Tate’s illness “cannot be regarded as due to or aggravated by military service”.

Wednesday 2nd January 1918

Front line trenches on the Montello.

In the early hours L.Cpl. Gilbert Swift Greenwood (see 1^st January), who had been wounded the previous day, died of his wounds at one of the local Casualty Clearing Stations. Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 18^th December 1917) would later write to the family, “Allow me to express to you my deep sympathy in the death of your son, L.Cpl. G.S. Greenwood, the first man in this battalion to give his life for his country on the Italian Front. Your son was commanding a guard over his company headquarters in the front line, and was hit by a shell. He died without pain a few hours after. Your boy was a very gallant soldier and had always acquitted himself with credit in action. I, in common with all the other officers who knew him, greatly regret his loss”. Greenwood would be buried at Biadene Communal Cemetery Extension, ¾ mile NE of Montebelluna; his remains would subsequently be exhumed and re-buried at Giavera British Cemetery.

Pte. Ernest Wilson (11751) (see 15^th December 1918) was tried by Field General Court Martial on charges of, “when on active service disobeying, in such a manner as to show wilful defiance of authority, a lawful command given personally by his superior officer in the execution of his office” and also “using insubordinate language to his superior officer”. He was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour; the sentence would be confirmed at Brigade level three days later, but it was directed that Pte. Wilson should not be committed to prison until further orders.

Pte. William Havery (see 29^th October 1917) was admitted via 70^th Field Ambulance to 23^rd Division Rest Station, suffering from “P.U.O.” (pyrexia, or high temperature, of unknown origin); he would be discharged and re-join the Battalion after eleven days.

Pte. Harry Moore (16991) (see 16^th December 1917) was admitted via 70^th Field Ambulance and 39^th Casualty Clearing Station and no.41 Ambulance Train to 29^th Stationary Hospital in Cremona, suffering from trench foot.

Pte. Lewis Larkins (see 3^rd October 1917), who had been in England since having been wounded on 20^th September, appeared before an Army Medical Board which recommended that he be discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service.

Pte. Ben Hutchinson (see 13^th December 1917), who had been in England since having been wounded on 20^th September, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to wounds. He was awarded a pension of 27s. 6d. per week for four weeks, thereafter reducing to 8s. 3d. per week and to be reviewed in one years’ time.

A payment of £2 8s. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Henry Richardson Oddy (see 20^th September 1917); the payment would go to his mother, Eleanor. She would also receive a package of his personal effects comprising of, “wallet, photos, safety razor, steel mirror, cigarette case”.