Tuesday 5th November 1918

In billets at Porcia.

2Lt. Bernard Garside (see 4^th November) remembered his time at Porcia, “There were one or two incidents about the time we were following up the Austrians. As we marched up as I described in ‘following up a beaten enemy’, we found all sorts of stores the Austrians had abandoned in the ditches and so on. Amongst other stuff were rifles, ammunition and especially bombs. Now I had had a course at the GHQ bombing school and done quite well. I had been made Battalion Bombing Officer – have I told you of that and some of the adventures I had when training men to bomb with live bombs? Well, I can’t tell you everything if I haven’t. To go back to the Austrians, another officer and I collected a whole lot of bombs in our haversacks and packs and kept them safe till we landed in billets. Then, when we got the chance, we took them on to a big piece of wasteland we had discovered and to an underground trench with little doors on each end and earth piled all round them. We would throw the bombs down through the doors and the bang was very well muffled. We proceeded to do this turn, very much enjoying ourselves. Finally, however, I got a bit excited at the fun and threw one which missed the entrance and dropped on the bank of earth near it, sizzling away. There was not time to do much but run and throw ourselves on our tummies. We did – and BANG  - it could be heard ever so far. We knew this and quickly disappeared, turning up at Company HQ with innocent faces. A little while afterwards a note was sent round by the Adjutant (Capt. Leonard Norman Phillips MC, see 27^th October) to Company Commanders, asking if they knew anything of the bomb. Our Company Commander looked hard at us, screwed his face up and wrote, “No”. we daren’t ask for a day or two what had caused such a stir and then we were delighted. It appears the Brigade Commander had set out to visit our Colonel on a young and fresh horse. As he got near the HQ, a mysterious bang had occurred and a splinter had dropped on the road in front of his horse – which turned round and ran off with him! He had pulled it up, but not for quite a distance. So your old uncle had made a Brigade Commander retreat!

The man I was with on this occasion was really devil-may-care, which, quite truly, I was not. I’ll show you what I mean. We still had two or three bombs left after our episode and next day we had to go to a village to get paid. We took our bombs because we knew there were one or two culverts under the road, to let streams through; we could throw them in these. We took turns at one or two – kneeled down and pulled the string to start the fuse and then threw the bombs into the tunnel. Oh what lovely bangs! Finally it came to his turn as we neared the village. He took his bomb and threw the cap away, leaving the string hanging down – they were ‘taty mashers’. Then, oh dear, this was the last culvert we had been expecting, so he couldn’t throw it. “Oh, that’s alright”, he said, “I’ll throw it as we come back”. And he put the bomb in his pocket with the string hanging loose. I told him not to be an ass; just a little accidental tug on the string and the bomb would be started. He laughed. Well, he went and got paid and came back out of the village, all the time with the fatal string hanging out of his pocket. I kept the right side of him – the opposite one to the bomb – and with jolly good care I did, so that only a bit of him, and not the bomb, would hit me. However, nothing happened and he threw it in the first culvert on the way back”.

In the quieter conditions at Porcia, 2Lt. William Johnson Simpson (see 27^th October) wrote to the father of Capt. Bob Perks DSO (see 27^th October),

Dear Mr Perks

I feel it my duty as the only officer left in your son’s Company to give you all the information I can regarding your son’s death.  I am certain the Commanding Officer will write to you, but as I was there I will tell you all I know. 

We had crossed the river successfully and got to our second objective where we had to stay for some twenty minutes.  At this point we had a long talk to each other and made our plans for taking the next objective.  We moved off in great spirits and on the way encountered an enemy machine gun post.  Capt. Perks decided to get round this from a flank.  It was in doing this he met his death.  He got within a very few yards when he was hit through the head with a bullet. Death was instantaneous.  Words of mine cannot tell you what a cloud this cast upon the Company, who made short shrift of the enemy at that point.  I had only known your son for a few days but can only say now well he was like in the Company.  Being an old Duke’s officer he was well known to lots in the battalion.

I have never seen a more gallant officer in all my three years of active service.  The name of the place where he met his death is Borgo Malanotte.   All his personal effects will be returned to you in due course.

Ours was the only Company who had any officer casualties and we had three, two were killed and one wounded.  I cannot express how deeply we all feel the loss of your son and our Captain.  All the Company wish me to express their sincere sympathy to you in this sad time.  Any further information I can give you I should be delighted to oblige.

It was about 9.30 a.m. on the 27^th that he was killed.

Yours sincerely

W.J. Simpson, 2^nd Lieut.

B Coy 10th Dukes

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

2Lt. Fred Swale (see 31^st October 1917), took over command of ‘C’ Company, 9^th Battalion West Yorks.

2Lt. Fred Swale

Image by kind permission of Joan Rigg

Pte. Frederick Thorn (see 16^th October), serving as an officer’s servant at XIV Corps reinforcement camp, was briefly admitted to hospital, suffering from boils to his back; he would be discharged to duty after three days.

Pte. James Percival (see 28^th September), who had been in England since having been wounded in August, was discharged from the County of Middlesex War Hospital at Napsbury, near St. Albans. He would have one weeks’ leave before reporting to the Regimental Depot in Halifax.