9th December 1914
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.