Tuesday 29th October 1918

Borgo Malanotte

The advance of 69^th Brigade was being pushed forward by 8Yorks and 11WYR but they were encountering stiff Austrian resistance on the line of the Monticano River, just north of Vazzola. In support of this advance 10DWR marched to a point on the main road just south of Vazzola and at 12.50pm two companies were sent forward to support 11WYR.The river ran between steep banks, at an average width of around 30 feet and was crossed by a stone bridge 1,500 yds north-east of Vazzola. Eventually, after fierce fighting the Brigade front was advanced, by the end of the day, to the line of the road from Saccon to Fontanelle. 

There were a number of casualties among the two companies fighting alongside 11WYR.

L.Cpl. William Arthur Hutchinson (see 28^th July) was severely wounded, suffering wounds to his left leg which would result in amputation of the limb; the details of his medical treatment are unknown.

Pte. Jesse Barker MM (see 16^th February) suffered a gunshot wound to his left wrist; he would be admitted via 21^st Field Ambulance to 9^th Casualty Clearing Station.


Pte. John William Berry suffered wounds to to his back and would be admitted to 39^th Casualty Clearing Station. He was 42 years old and from Bradford and had been an original member of the Battalion; his younger brother, Pte. Frederick Arthur Berry, had been killed in action in September 1916 while serving with 1^st/7^th DWR.

Pte. Ernest Jones (see 19^th January) suffered wounds to his head and leg; the details of his treatment are unknown.

Pte. John Newton (see 23^rd July) suffered shrapnel wounds to his left leg; he would be admitted via 21^st Field Ambulance and 9^th Casualty Clearing Station to 38^th Stationary Hospital in Genoa.

Pte. John James Pickering (see 23^rd June) suffered wounds to his left foot; he would be admitted via 21^st Field Ambulance and 9^th Casualty Clearing Station to 11^th General Hospital in Genoa.

Pte. Thomas Prince (see 22^nd January) suffered relatively minor wounds to his back; he would be admitted via 21^st Field Ambulance to 9^th Casualty Clearing Station.

Pte. Harry Simpson (see 7^th October) suffered a compound fracture of his left foot; he would be admitted via 21^st Field Ambulance and 9^th Casualty Clearing Station to 38^th Stationary Hospital in Genoa.

Meanwhile the remaining two companies of 10DWR, along with Battalion HQ, remained in billets south of Vazzola. 2Lt. Bernard Garside (see 28^th October), recalled how, 

“By now we were in reserve – other troops had taken up the front line advance. So we had to run up after them and off we went presently, I still with my new Company. That march was terrible. All along the road our airmen had strafed the Austrians (not our artillery for very little was yet across the river, I believe). The Austrians had bombed our efforts to bridge the river and I was told later that the wounded had been very badly off for any treatment, apart from first aid during the first 24 hours after crossing the stream. Well, the airmen had done a lot to them, of course, the infantry. Whoever had done it, there it was and the march was terrible. All along the road were broken vehicles and all the litter out of them, dead horses, sometimes with limbs off or bellies ripped open, corpses of men on the roads and in the fields where they had run to escape the machine guns and bombs from the planes, all the litter from men’s pockets for some reason. I don’t want to go into what I saw too much, but it was terrible. 

Well the march ended presently in a farm house where we were billeted for the night (29^th/30^th). There were other farm houses in the area for Battalion HQ etc. I remember as we went into our farm house, all with our Company officers, the old man of the house who had been living under the Austrians for ages, knelt by the door and seized our hands as we went in and kissed them. We settled in and presently we were told we could take our boots off that night and no more. Our clothes were still stiff damp, but that didn’t prevent many of us sharing one bed that night. It was a big Italian bed and I woke up in the middle of the night all warm and sticky and oh the fusty smell coming up from that bed”.

Pte. Andrew Davidson (see 27^th October), who had been wounded two days’ previously, died of his wounds at 39^th Casualty Clearing Station; he would be buried at Giavera British Cemetery, Arcade. 

Ptes. William Naylor (see 10^th June) and Arthur Schofield (see below) were admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance and 39^th Casualty Clearing Station to 51^st Stationary Hospital; both were suffering from influenza.

Arthur Schofield had previously served with 1^st/5^th DWR, but, in the absence of a surviving service record, I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or to establish when, or under what circumstances, he had joined 10DWR.

Pte. John Charles Clarke (see 17^th October) was transferred from 11^th General Hospital in Genoa to 57^th General Hospital in Marseilles; he was suffering from influenza.

Pte. Jack Edgar Hall (see 7^th October) was transferred from 38^th General Hospital in Genoa to 81^st General Hospital in Marseilles; he was suffering from “I.C.T.” (Inflammation of the connective tissue) to both legs.

Ptes. Joseph Binns (19614) (see 14^th October) and Joseph Barber Taylor (see 16^th October) were both discharged from 29^th Stationary Hospital in Cremona and posted to the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albano.

Pte. George Allen Holroyd (see 14^th October) was discharged from 62^nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia and posted to the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albano.

Pte. Harry Briggs (19286) (see 3^rd August), serving at the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia, departed for England on two weeks’ leave.

Pte. Francis Titcombe (see 30^th September), who was in England having been wounded on 26^th August, was discharged from Queen Mary’s Military Hospital, Whalley, Lancs; he would have ten days’ leave before reporting to 3DWR at North Shields.


A pension award was made in the case of the late Pte. Thomas Cragg (see 1^st July) who had been killed in action in April while serving with 1^st/7^th DWR; his widow, Annie, was awarded £1 5s. 5d. per week.

Pte. Thomas Cragg