Sunday 11th February 1917

Trenches near Observatory Ridge

Another quiet day, again with a hard frost.

Brig. Genl. Lambert (see 10^th February) again visited the front line trenches; on this occasion he met 10DWR’s temporary C.O., Major Ashton St. Hill (see 2^nd February) and, with him, visited the Battalion sector.

(I am greatly indebted to Juliet Lambert for her generosity in allowing me to quote from Brig. Genl. Lambert’s diary and letters).

Pte. Albert Edward White (see 5^th January) was reported by CSM Valentine Curson (see below) as having been ‘late on church parade and improperly dressed’; on the orders of Capt. Alfred Percy Harrison (see 10^th February) he was to be confined to barracks for five days.

Valentine Curson was an original member of the Battalion. He was 27 years old and had worked before the war as a clerk at an iron and steel works in Middlesbrough. He had been promoted Corporal while the Battalion was in training in England, and further promoted once in France.

10DWR Adjutant Capt. Hugh William Lester MC (see 6^th February) reported for temporary duty with 69^th Brigade Headquarters; he joined Brig. Genl. Lambert’s staff as Acting Staff Captain, replacing Capt. Nicholls, who was going on leave.

Image by kind permission of the Trustees of the DWR Museum

A number of men joined the Battalion from 34^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples, having been posted out from England in January; many of them were men who had previously served with the West Riding Territorial Battalions. A number of these men have been identified. Pte. Francis John Bottomley was a 33 year-old clerk from Halifax; he was married with a four year-old daughter. Pte. Stanley Broadbent was a 23 year-old warehouseman from Huddersfield. Pte. Harold Dale was a 28 year-old bootmaker from Bradford; he had attested in January 1916 and had been called up in July, training with 3DWR until being posted to 34^th IBD on 22^nd January 1917. Pte. Joseph Dunn was 22 years old and from Keighley. He had gone to France with 1^st/6^th DWR in August 1915 and had been wounded and evacuated to England in December 1915. He had remained in England until returning to France on 21^st January.  L.Cpl. Albert Earnshaw was a 24 year-old grocer from Cullingworth, near Bradford. He had attested in December 1915 and had served in England with 3^rd/7^th DWR, being promoted Lance Corporal in July 1916. Pte. Thomas Henry Fearn was a 37 year-old warehouseman from Kirkburton; he had been married for ten years but had no children. Pte. Ernest Gee was 28 years old and from Halifax. He had been embodied on the outbreak of war and had been posted to France with 1/7^th DWR in January 1915, He had been wounded in July 1915; taken ill with TB in December 1915 and initially reported missing, before being confirmed as wounded, in September 1916. He had spent five months in England before being posted back to France. Pte. Edward Greenhalgh was a 20 year-old labourer from Oldham; he had joined 1^st/7^th DWR in June 1914 and had been posted out to France with his Battalion in April 1915. He had been wounded in July 1916 and again in September, as a result of which he had been posted back to England for hospital treatment. Pte. James Hotchkiss was 21 years old and from Stalybridge. He had joined 7^th Territorial Battalion in November 1914 and had served in France from April to December 1915 before being sent back to England suffering from debility. He had returned to France in April 1916 and had been wounded and evacuated to England in September 1916. Pte. William Mellor was 21 years old and from Huddersfield. He had joined 7^th Territorial Battalion in September 1912 and had been called up in August 1914. He had served in France between April and November 1915 before returning home suffering from trench foot, for which he had been treated for five months. He had been posted back to France on 22^nd January. Pte. Alec Radcliffe was 20 years old and from Uppermill, near Oldham. He had enlisted in June 1915 and been posted to France in March 1916, serving with 1^st/7^th DWR, before returning to England, in July, for treatment to a septic injury to his leg. He had spent six weeks in hospital and then had a ten-day furlough before being posted to 6^th (Reserve) Battalion. Pte. George Smith (20340) was a 26 year-old woolcomber from Bradford; he was married with one son, George. He had originally attested under the Derby Scheme in December 1915 and had been called up in May 1916. He had trained with 3DWR at North Shields but had been absent without leave five days in August. He had then gone absent again on 31^st October and had been formally declared to have deserted. He had been apprehended by the police in December 1916 and had spent a month awaiting trial before being sentenced to six months in military detention on 16^th January 1917. However, he had then been posted out to France. Pte. Dennis Waller was 19 years old and originally from Outerbridge, near Sheffield, though he had been living in Huddersfield. He had originally joined the West Riding Territorials, as a 16 year-old in April 1914. He had been called up for full-time service in August 1914 and had been posted to France in August 1915 to join 1^st/5^thDWR. He had served with his Battalion from October 1915 until he had been wounded on 10^th August 1916, suffering a shrapnel wound to the left knee. He had been evacuated to England and treated for two months in hospital in London before returning to service. He had been posted back to France, originally to join 1^st/4^thDWR, on 22^nd January. Pte. Clement Wilson was 22 years old and from Huddersfiled, where he had worked as a joiner. He had joined the 5^th Territorial Battalion in June 1910 and had been called up in August 1914. He had served in France from April 1915 to June 1916 when he was invalided back to England, suffering from influenza. He had then spent ten weeks in Cambuslang War Hospital, Glasgow and a further six weeks at a military convalescent hospital at Alnwick. He had been posted back to France on 22^nd January.

Pte. Robert Ellis Clayton (see 5^th September 1916), serving with 83^rd Training Reserve Battalion, based at Gateshead, was reported as having deserted.