Sunday 24th September 1916

Bivouacs in and around Shelter Wood

On another fine, warm day the Battalion provided a working party of 250 men who were employed on road repairs (the Brigade as a whole found working parties comprising some 700 men). Otherwise the day was generally quiet although considerable British artillery activity could be heard in the distance.

A Daily Mail postcard depicting troops clearing roads through Contalmaison

L.Cpl. John Matthewson Richard Grieves (see 25^th July) was promoted Corporal.

Pte. Albert Saville (see 3rd June) was injured and had to be evacuated for further medical treatment. Saville “was sitting in a trench when shell struck parapet and he was buried in fall of earth”. He was taken to 1^st General Hospital at Etaples.

Pte. Arthur Hodgson (see 17^th June) was evacuated to England having been wounded at some point (date and details unknown).

The improvement in the weather and the distance from the front line provided some relief for the men, as noted by Brig. Genl. T.S. Lambert (see passim) in a letter to his wife. He wrote that, “Yesterday and today have been beautiful sunny days at last and so I hope we are in for a spell of fine weather again with any luck. It is just as well as our men had a rotten time when we went in among the deep mud and slush and this gives them a chance of getting dry and clean again now we are out for a day or two. I hear we have got another Zep near London but we have had no details yet and of course the papers about it have not come yet. I am sorry to say another good friend of mine has just been killed, Col. Walker, RAMC, who was in charge of a field ambulance which worked a great deal with us (Lt. Col. Arthur Nimmo Walker, RAMC, was killed in action  and buried next day at Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery). The rain has had one excellent result of laying for a time the awful dust! Those who have not been here can hardly realize what it was like except perhaps by imagining an eternal Derby Day assembly mixed up with explosions on all sides and covering an area compared with which Epsom Downs are a mere spot on the map. Will you keep the enclosed picture of young Bell for me please. Later on I hope to get a photo from his people to put in my book.  But for the time being the picture will do (this refers to 2Lt. Donald Bell, 9^th Yorkshires, who had been awarded the VC for actions near Contalmaison in early July). At the moment we are living in shelters rather like workmens’ huts on a new railway line but they meet the case except that they were built for people of about 5 feet high and I get a chip over the head every time I stand up unthinkingly. The number of flies and of rats is rather trying. The latter crawl about everywhere all night and we have already killed over 20 in the first 24 hours! I am glad to say Fraser is getting along all right. They taped (this word is unclear) him the other day and it seems to have eased him a good deal as it did me. He expects to get to England in a week or two now. As usual I have been spending a lot of time lately in trying to get medals and rewards for a lot of our heroes, but it is remarkable how the demands for lists always seems to come in just when one is busiest. However, the Brigade has got 2 VCs, 3DSOs, 13 Military Crosses, 7 DCMs and 71 Military Medals since 1^st July, so we have something to show! The post is just off so I must stop.

With best love ever yours affectionately

Tom

Can you manage to send me a sponge. I cannot get a good small bath sponge here that will wear.

(I am greatly indebted to Juliet Lambert for her generosity in allowing me to reproduce the letters here).

Brig. Genl. T.S. Lambert

Image by kind permission of Juliet Lambert

A Staff Captain at 69^th Brigade forwarded the medal ribbon of the DSO due to 2Lt. Bob Perks (see 17^th August) to Lt. Col. Sidney Spencer Hayne (see passim), commanding 10DWR, with instructions that he should, “forward the ribbon to Lt. Perks at his private address, and send the receipt to this office”. Perks was currently in England, recovering from his wounds.

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

 

2Lt. Bob Perks, DSO

Image by kind permission of Janet Hudson

Lt. John Charles Brison Redfearn (see 19^th September) who had originally served with Tunstill’s Company but had been commissioned and joined a battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment, was evacuated to England, via Boulogne and Dover, onboard the Hospital Ship St. David for further treatment for trench fever. 

Lt. Thomas Beattie, (see 14^th September), who had been wounded in July while serving with 9DWR, was released from Western General Hospital in Manchester following his recent operation to remove shrapnel from his shoulder. He was granted six weeks’ leave.

L.Cpl. Sam Benjamin Farrant (see 18^th May), serving with 2^nd Battalion East Lancs. was promoted Corporal; he would later be commissioned and serve with 10DWR.