Another quiet day ended with half the Dorsets going into reserve and marching to billets on the Lindenhoek-Neuve Église road at 8.30pm.
The other half of the Dorsets stayed behind in the trenches. Frank, with A Company, came under orders of the O.C. Bedfords, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Roche, and pretty much stayed put. D Company, came under the orders of the O.C. Norfolks, Lieutenant-
The Dorsets enjoyed a quiet night, apart from a “burst of fire at 4am”. In the morning, some of the Bedfords came under the Dorset’s command, allowing most of D Company to move to the Battalion’s HQ, which was in a farm nearby.
II Corps O.C. Lieutenant General Sir Charles Fergusson visited the sector at 6pm, but other than that it was a fairly humdrum day spent making more improvements to the trenches.
After a few weeks of two or three word grunts the Dorsets’ diary burst into life with the description of a raid.
Second Lieutenant Frederick Joseph Morley* went out at 3.30am with a patrol, found newly turned earth by some German saps and, on his way back, destroyed a sniper’s dugout.
Morley had been out with the BEF since the 17th August 1914 with the 11th Field Company Royal Engineers. At some point he transferred to the Dorsets, gaining his officer’s commission, making the awkward jump from the ranks as a Lance Corporal to Second Lieutenant. His star continued to rise, gaining a DSO and the Military Cross in June 1915, and ending the war as a Major in the 6th Battalion Dorsets, which is some climb for a Lance Corporal. Sadly he didn’t survive, dying of wounds received in the last gasp German offensive of Spring 1918.
After a day of shelling from the accursed light gun, the Dorsets were put alert for an imminent attack and so they thickened B Company in the firing line with one and a half platoons from D Company and a platoon from A Company.
One man was killed in all this shuffling around. The CWGC lists him as Serjeant William Ernest Ransome, a 27 year-old Yorkshireman. He left behind a widow, Elsie Linda, a native of Dorchester and a 3 year old son, Victor Ernest. Note the archaic use of Sergeant in the record which is apparently still used in The Rifles today. The Dorsets were merged into the Devons and Dorsets in 1958 and into the Rifles in 2007.
The two daily reports from Captain Ransome’s Dorset HQ to Brigade HQ at 8.15am and 6.45pm summarised the 25th January as a “quiet day” and a “very quiet day” respectively. One reason for the relative peace is found in the 5th Division’s diary: Fog. There were no casualties.
Although I wrote yesterday that the Dorsets went into trench 10, I missed that they were also occupying trenches 6, 7 and 8. The 15th Brigade were busy improving and extending trenches all along their sector as the water levels had fallen a little recently. A list of jobs, tucked within the 5th Division’s war diary pages, tells us that the Dorsets worked on 6, 7 and 10 trenches on the night of 24/25th January. The Dorsets were working on improving loop holes for men in the firing trenches, improving dug outs and traverses. Traverses were sections of trench dug at an angle to the fire trench; creating a kind of breakwater to prevent enfilade fire or exploding shells from spreading too far along the trench.
The Dorsets marched, with the rest of the 15th Brigade, back to Wulverghem, back to the trenches. On the way they were inspected by Major General Morland and General Sir Charles Fergusson. The Dorsets, 1st Cheshires and half of the 6th Cheshires went into the front line. The rest: The Norfolks, Bedfords and the rest of the 6th Cheshires remained in Dranoutre in reserve. The 15th Brigade’s diary even tells us that the Dorsets went into trench 10. The Dorsets’ diary tell us nothing more than there were no casualties. I will draw these new trench maps soon, I promise.
With Tom’s injury in mind today’s date is the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Dogger Bank. This engagement, between British and German squadrons, ended with the German Cruiser, SMS Blücher, at the bottom of the North Sea. It was a shot in the arm for the Royal Navy but, although they didn’t learn from their mistakes unlike the Germans, the British continued to dominate the North Sea.