Month: December 2014

Having to turn out for a German

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11th December 1914

It was the early morning of another damp day as the Dorsets trudged over the frontier, back to France, and into Saint-Jans-Cappel. Here they went into billets at 2am, which Gleichen describes as “a nice little village”. It became a popular destination for troops getting some respite from the frontline.

I’ve recently read an extract from a diary by Major (his name, not rank) Swindell of the 2nd Bn. Manchesters. His entry for the 2nd December 1914, which mentions our old friend Count Gleichen, made me chuckle:

### Dec 2nd 1914
‘Aunties’*. Had a generals’s inspection by General Count von Gleeson (sic) [this was Brigadier General Edward Gleichen, then OC 15 Brigade – ST Ed.] This made the boys moan a little, having to turn out for a German. Auntie went strong today. She put a chalk mark on her wood, & of course marks and all went. She got wound up & then the music started. She only stopped for breath. The only thing I can compare her voice with is a steam hooter.

* The Manchesters had named the local farmer’s wife “Auntie”. She tried to charge the troops a penny for a bucket of water and took away the pump handle when they told her where to get off.

Heavy weather

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10th December 1914

The Dorsets were relieved by the 2nd Bn. King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry but hideous weather made progress very slow. Although they were bound for billets in St Jans Cappel midnight passed and they were still en route, hence I will post the map of their march tomorrow.

The reason that the Dorsets were leaving this area so quickly was because the 13th Brigade had relived the 15th Brigade from Dranoutre. The 2nd Bn. KOYLI are allocated what 5th Division refer to as “Sector E” when they replace the 1st Bn Dorsets.

Another interesting story from the 5th Division’s diary today is that during the night the Germans opened up with a cannonade of rifle fire apparently in reply to cheering men of  the 14th Brigade. They were cheering upon hearing the news of a British victory at sea.

The Daily Telegraph reports the victory in the Battle of the Falkland Islands; .revenge for the earlier defeat at Coronel, just off the Chilean coastline. The British Government was quick to silence the earlier humiliation.

The Admiralty made known through the Press Bureau the glorious news that the major portion of the German Squadron under the command of Admiral Graf von Spee is now at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean as the result of an action fought off the Falkland Islands with a British Squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Sturdee.

While the Telegraph’s reporting gets the story right here (albeit with some typically jingoistic chest beating), the same can’t be said for their “reporting” from the trenches. Their reporter’s claim that “the allied French, British, and Belgian armies on this side of the line are superior in number, equipment, and, one might assert with certainty, in “morale”” couldn’t have been further from the truth.

I’m sure Frank was glad to see the back of the filthy, wet, stinking he’d just emerged from.

That patrol emotion

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9th December 1914

Image showing Captain H.M.Powell
Captain H.M. Powell

The Dorsets had another quiet day after sending in a report that there had been no change in the situation.The Dorsets’ diary notes that Captain Henry Mitchell Powell was killed today along with four others and one man was wounded. There’s no indication as to how they were killed. CWGC records three Dorset men died today.

Captain Powell was attached to the Dorsets from the 2nd Bn South Staffordshire Regiment and had entered France on 24th October. According to The Great War in Africa, he had recently returned from a tour in West Africa attached to the West Africa Regiment.

The Divisional and Brigade diaries are reporting more and more patrols at this time, in an effort to pinpoint weaknesses in the enemy line as well as assess its strength in numbers. An example of this is in the 5th Division’s diary entry for today which describes the 2nd Bn Manchesters sending a platoon across no man’s land which ended in disaster. With the British constantly probing at their enemy, the Germans seem to continue to dig in, snipe at their enemy and improve their defences.

Conditions very trying

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8th December 1914

The rest of the Dorsets relieved the K.O.S.B., marching at 4pm via Lindenhoek to reach their trenches. The relief finished by 9pm.

It can’t have been a very pleasant welcome back to trench life for the Dorsets. The 5th Division’s diary refers to high wind and heavy rain during the night, and records that trenches were “in a dreadful state and conditions very trying”.

According the the CWGC two Dorset men died on the 8th December 1914. One of them, Private James Victor Green, is listed in locally on the Menin Gate, but the other, Private Frederick Albert Dunaway, is interred at Mons (Bergen) Communal Cemetery. This was a German cemetery until the end of the war. Perhaps his body had been found after the fighting at Mons in August or, more likely, he subsequently died of wounds while in captivity. The Dorsets’ war diary records one wounded man – presumably that’s Private Green, who later died.

The Wytschaete line man

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7th December 1914

The Dorsets remained in Dranoutre for another day but at 4.15pm A Company, along with Frank and a single platoon of B Company marched via Lindenhoek to relieve the Bedfords in trenches south of Point 75. Here they came under orders of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers of the 13th Division. No mention is made of this in the 13th Brigade nor the 5th Division’s war diaries. The fact that just over a single company of the Dorsets could replace the strength of an entire regiment of the Bedfords (who report in their diary that their strength of 200 men and  three officers) tells the story of the shortages faced by many British regiments up and down the line.

I only have limited internet access for now, but I think that their new position is just to the right of the Dorsets’ last location. So that’s where I’ve put them for now. Apologies if I am woefully wrong.