The Sherwood Foresters In The Great War, 1914-1919, 1/8 Battalion

HISTORY OF 1/8th BATTALION SHERWOOD FORESTERS 1914—1919

Lieut.-col. G. H. Fowler. Killed in action at Hohenzollern Redoubt, Oct. 15th, 1915....

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NOTTINGHAM THOS. FORMAN & SONS 1920

To Our Fallen Comrades " In truth they were young Gentlemen, Yeomen and Yeomen's Sons, and Artificers of the most brave sort, such as went voluntarily to serve of a gaiety and joyalty of mind: all which kind of people are the Flower and Force of a Kingdom. " Sir John Smyth to Lord Burleigh on our Men in Flanders in 1589-90....

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INTRODUCTION

It is not only a great honour to have been asked to write an introduction to this book, but it is a real pleasure to me to be linked in this manner to a Battalion with which I was so intimately connected for nearly six years and in which I made so many friends, of whom many, alas, have passed the "great divide." The Battalion has been lucky in finding in Capt. Weetman an author with such a ready and amusing pen, and one especially who was in a position to see the workings of the Battalion in alm

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CHAPTER I

August 4th, 1914. — February 25th, 1915. When the 8th Sherwood Foresters concentrated at Hunmanby, at the end of July, 1914, for their usual annual training, the International horizon was clouded with the diplomatic conversations which had followed the murder of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria by Servians at Sarajevo. Many hoped, no doubt, that the experience of the Morocco incident of 1905 and the Agadir incident of 1911, would again be repeated and that once more the clouds of a worl

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CHAPTER II

February 25th, 1915. — June 20th, 1915. As soon as the detrainment was completed, we proceeded on board the "Mount Temple," with certain Royal Field Artillery Details, the ship being under the command of Major Kent, R.F.A. At 6.30 p.m. we dropped down to Netley, imagining we were off, instead of which we anchored there for the night. The greater part of the next day, February 26th, was spent on board in physical and other exercises and inspections. Late in the afternoon, much to our surprise, or

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CHAPTER III

June 20th, 1915. — October 1st, 1915. The Canadian's description of it as "Bloody Ypres," referring doubtless to the Salient in general, was very apt, and will be endorsed by all who ever had the misfortune to sample it at any period of the war. We have never met anyone who boasted of having found a "cushy spot" in it, and so far as we ourselves were concerned, the three months spent in the Salient were very nearly, if not quite, the hardest months of the war. Leaving Locre on the evening of Jun

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CHAPTER IV

October 1st, 1915. — October 17th, 1915. We packed up during the afternoon of October 1st, and in the evening marched to Abeele, where we entrained for a destination unknown to most of us, but presumed to be somewhere in the far South. We made ourselves as comfortable as we could for the expected long journey, only to be rudely awakened after what seemed to be a five minutes' sleep, and turned out into the cold dark night at Fouquereuil, a suburb of Béthune. The remainder of the night was spent

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CHAPTER V

October 18th, 1915. — March 5th, 1916. We were now little more than a skeleton of a Battalion, so that the arrival of 103 reinforcements, including Sergt. E. E. Deverall, was very welcome, but so far as Officers were concerned we remained for the moment very depleted. Capt. Turner remained in command of B Company; Lieut. E. M. Hacking took over A; Lieut. Abrams C, and Lieut. Gray D. Major-General Stuart-Wortley came to see us on October 18th, when the Battalion paraded in a field just outside Va

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CHAPTER VI

March 6th, 1916. — April 21st, 1916. Vimy Ridge will always bring up in the minds of those of the 8th Sherwood Foresters, who were with us at that time the word "Mines." Everyone seemed somehow or other to have heard that that part of the line was famous for mining warfare, and as the news was passed on from one to another that Vimy Ridge was our destination, a kind of whisper of "Mines" passed with it. The area proved to be a mass of mines, and we found that mining warfare was extremely unpleas

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CHAPTER VII

April 22nd, 1916. — July, 2nd, 1916. At the time of our relief in the Vimy sector, plans at General Headquarters must have been in a forward state for the great offensive, which was to take place later in the year, and the part which the 46th Division was to play in that offensive must also have been fixed, and all our preparations now were for operations on a large scale. We soon got rid of the mud and filth of the trenches, and were fortunate in finding at Tincques excellent baths run by the 5

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CHAPTER VIII

July 2nd, 1916. — October 29th, 1916. We spent one night at Gaudiempré, and on July 3rd, moved a few miles North to a delightful Camp at Bavincourt, where we made up our minds to have a well-earned rest. The Camp was charmingly situated, and we were preparing to have it run on model lines, when alas, in the early hours of July 4th, sudden orders were received to move. We had, however, made the best of our few hours there, most of us going to an excellent entertainment by the "Barn Owls," the Con

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CHAPTER IX

October 29th, 1916. — March 17th, 1917. Having spent the afternoon of October 29th in packing up, we left Bailleulval about dusk, and late the same evening arrived at Warluzel, where we spent the night in indifferent billets. We proceeded the following day to our old quarters at Le Souich, where we rested for 24 hours, continuing the march on November 1st to Neuvillette, and on November 3rd, to our final destination Maison Ponthieu, in the Third Army (St. Riquier) training area, having completed

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CHAPTER X

March 17th, 1917. — July 4th, 1917. After relief at Gommecourt we spent two days at Souastre, and then marched via Bayencourt and Courcelles-au-Bois to Contay, where we arrived on March 23rd. The roads for much of this journey were in an appalling mess, partly as a result of constant shelling, and partly through being cut up by the masses of transport which had passed over them during the recent wet weather either in following up the retreating enemy or in withdrawing to back areas. Vehicles wer

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CHAPTER XI

July 4th, 1917. — January 21st, 1918. After nearly three months' strenuous fighting, it was a great relief to us to find ourselves back once more in the quiet regions, and the change was thoroughly appreciated by all. The weather was delightful and the country was looking its best, and altogether the 18 days spent at Chelers were extremely enjoyable. There was not much in the way of amusement, as there was little opportunity for it, and we were so far in the heart of the country that visits to t

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CHAPTER XII

January 22nd, 1918. — April 20th, 1918. What the ultimate object of our training was to have been is somewhat uncertain. Our withdrawal from the forward area after six months may have been merely to give us a thorough rest, but with affairs in the state they then were, we can hardly imagine that the intention was to fit us for anything of an offensive character for some time to come, for as a result of the withdrawal of Russia from the war, and the consequent release of German troops from the Ru

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CHAPTER XIII

April 21st, 1918. — September 6th, 1918. Two days after our return to Vaudricourt, the 46th Division was called upon to relieve the 3rd Division in the area North of the La Bassée Canal, afterwards known as Gorre and Essars sectors, where they had recently held up the German attack. This front extended from the 55th Division boundary on the right, near Givenchy, where the line bent now almost at a right angle, to Mesplaux Farm on the Lawe Canal, on the left, this line being more or less parallel

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CHAPTER XIV

Sept. 7th, 1918. — Sept. 26th, 1918. We left Beuvry on the morning of Sept. 7th and were taken back on the light railway to Ferfay. On this occasion, much to our surprise, the trains moved off at the scheduled time. From Ferfay it was but a short march to Auchel, another mining village, where we found very good billets, and were welcomed in their usual hospitable way by the French miners and their families. Thanks to a most generous Town Major we got all sorts of little billet comforts, of which

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CHAPTER XV

Sept. 26th, 1918. — Sept. 29th, 1918. A great effort was to be made to break the Hindenburg Line. Preliminary orders received on September 26th were to the effect that the 46th Division, as part of a major operation (simultaneous attacks by the British and French taking place at several other points), would at an early date cross the St. Quentin Canal between Bellenglise and Riquerval Bridge, and capture the Hindenburg Line. The general scheme was that the 137th Brigade were to capture the canal

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CHAPTER XVI

Sept. 30th, 1918. — October 4th, 1918. September 30th was spent in dug-outs and trenches in the region of our objective of the previous day, between Bellenglise and Lehaucourt. Early that morning the 1st Division advanced and occupied Thorigny and Talana Hill, South of the canal, thus securing our right flank, the retreating enemy offering splendid targets for our Lewis guns. The same day St. Quentin fell to the French. In the afternoon the 32nd Division moved forward to the attack, supported by

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CHAPTER XVII

October 4th, 1918. — November 11th, 1918. Such impromptu cleaning up as was possible, was carried out during what remained of October 4th, and we felt much better. We also carried out a certain amount of reorganisation of Companies, which were now thinning rather more rapidly than we cared for, but the opportune arrival of 85 reinforcements at this moment, helped us considerably. The enemy caused a certain amount of annoyance, and a few casualties, by every now and then firing in our direction w

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CHAPTER XVIII

November 12th, 1918. — July 5th, 1919. For the next few days we lived in an atmosphere of uncertainty. Were we to be one of the chosen Divisions to go forward as part of the Army of Occupation, or were we to be left to spend weary months scavenging in the fair land of France? There may have been a few who did not want to go on, thinking they would probably lose their chance of an early return home, but in the main we were anxious to push on and satisfy our souls by actually setting foot on Germa

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APPENDIX I.

List of those who were Killed, or Died of Wounds or Sickness. OFFICERS. OTHER RANKS. Officers who were Killed or Died of Wounds whilst serving with other Units. 2nd Lieut. A. D. Bailey 2nd Lieut. F. E. Kebblewhite 2nd Lieut. F. M. Corry Lieut. C. H. Hicks Lieut.-Col. B. W. Vann Other Ranks who were Killed or Died of Wounds, after being granted Commissions in other Units. Comp. Sergt.-Major J. A. Green Comp. Sergt.-Major F. Spencer L.-Corpl. F. L. Wilson L.-Corpl. F. B. Gill Comp. Sergt.-Major E.

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APPENDIX II.

Bar to D.S.O. Lieut.-Col. J. F. Dempster Lieut.-Col. R. W. Currin D.S.O. Lieut.-Col. J. E. Blackwall Major A. L. Ashwell Rev. J. P. Hales Major J. P. Becher Major R. J. Wordsworth 2nd Bar to M.C. Major V. O. Robinson M.C. and Bar . Capt. B. W. Vann M.C. 2nd Lieut. J. S. C. Oates Capt. A. Hacking Capt. W. C. C. Weetman 2nd Lieut. W. P. Duff 2nd Lieut. E. Hopkinson Capt. A. E. Geary Capt. J. W. Turner 2nd Lieut. A. C. Fairbrother Capt. H. de C. Martelli Capt. H. K. Simonet Major A. Andrews Capt. E

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