Monday 3rd June 1918

Front line trenches north-west of Mount Kaberlaba.

Work on the new redoubts continued alongside offensive and defensive patrols which would be conducted on alternate nights. There was an increased level of artillery activity; in the words of the Brigade War Diary, “Our artillery was active during this period, particularly on the enemy front system, cutting wire and harassing his working parties. Our reconnoitring patrols encountered enemy posts and covering parties”.

Writing many years later 2Lt. Bernard Garside (see 14^th April) remembered conditions in the outpost line during this tour:

“We had some other outposts there, this time in the line and later. I remember one was in a ruined village. All the houses had no roofs and a lot had no walls. All the streets had a lot of grass growing in them. Of course the ruin was due to shells and the grass was because the village had not been lived in for a long time. It was called Roncalto and I met a lady many years after who knew it. It was near Asiago, a town which you could find on a big map, which was also in ruins. In Roncalto the outpost had to be divided into two, one on one side of the village looking one way and another in another looking another way. All night long we had to strain our eyes to make sure no Austrians were stealing in on us, or getting through toward our front line. This lasted about 8 hours say. And it was very cold. I had a big bottle of rum, which keeps you warm, which I had to dish out in small doses every so often. And all night long the shells from the Austrians and ours whined over our heads and sometimes stray bullets would snick a piece out of the wall I was standing by. You see the men were between the ruined walls, with only a sentry outside. But I had to be going between the two posts and so on. Sometimes I strolled out in front of the village to show I didn’t care – but oh dear! I did really care”.

Pte. John William Procter (see 18^th April) was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance and 9^th Casualty Clearing Station to 62^nd General Hospital at Bordighera; he was suffering from an abcess to his left thigh. Cpl. Alexander Wallace (see 30th April) was also admitted to hospital (details unknown); he would be discharged and re-join the Battalion after just four days.

Pte. John Eastwood (see 29^th April) re-joined the Battalion following treatment for the injuries he had suffered when a detonator he had been handling had exploded.

Pte. Joe Arthur Bentley (see 21^st April), who was detached and serving with a working party at Rocchetto Station, south-east of Verona, was reported for “reporting sick without a cause”; he would be confined to barracks for two days.


Pte. Charles Sidney Skelton (see 31^st August 1917) was admitted to 16^th Convalescent Depot at Marseilles, following treatment for jaundice; in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish when he had first reported sick or any further details of his treatment.

The London Gazette published notice of awards to one officer and three men serving with 10DWR. 2Lt. Vincent Edwards (see 18^th December 1917) was awarded the Military Cross; CSM Fred Pattison (see 23^rd February) and Sgt. John William Wardman MM (see 25^th April) both received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Sgt. Middleton Busfield (see 23rd May) the Meritorious Service Medal. Citations relating to the awards would subsequently be published for both Pattison and Wardman. In the case of Pattison the award recognised his “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty and consistent good work on all occasions. He has always shown himself cool and courageous under fire, and been of the greatest help to his company commander. He has taken part in several dangerous patrols and obtained valuable information”. For Wardman it recorded his, “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty and continuous good work for nearly six months in the field. On all occasions his courage and cheerfulness under fire while Acting Company Sergeant Major greatly contributed to keep up the spirits of the men under his charge and his abilities were always most marked”.

Sgt. John William Wardman MM

Image by kind permission of Paul Bishop

Pte. Dennis Waller (see 20^th December 1917), serving in France with 2^nd/4^th DWR, was admitted to hospital suffering from an ear infection.

L.Cpl. George Oversby (see 29^th April), re-joined 1^st/4^th DWR in France, following treatment for the wounds he had suffered a month previously. 

Pte. Michael Hopkins MM (see 7^th February) was transferred from 3DWR at North Shields to the newly-formed 29^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry; he was one of around 50 men from the Dukes to be transferred along with around 1,000 men from various regiments, all of whom were in lower medical categories.

Pte. William Edward Chase (see 8^th September 1917), who had been wounded in September 1917, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to wounds.