Help with info Bellwarde 16/06/16

[perce]

Hi Guys

For several years now I have researched Cpl Sidney Ince South lancs Regt and the battle he was killed in. He died on the 16/6/15 at Bellwarde(Hooge) nr Ypres. I've visited the site of the battle and have started collecting data on other troops who fought and or died. If anyone has information/photos on troops/medal groups to this action can they supply me with the info for my records.In the last week have found the details of a casualty to the Northumberland Fusiliers and a MC winner to the Wiltshire regt. Would also like information on the German units which served in this area at the time as my research is mainly on the British element of the battle have done a write up of the action if anyone is interested.

Cheers

Perce

[Tony]

Perce,

My books/info on German units are packed away in a cellar a long way from me so can't help you there (someone will be able to though), but I wouldn't mind reading your write up.

Tony

[perce]

Hi Tony

Can I post it here or do you want it emailing to yourself?

Cheers

Perce

[Tony]

Post it here Perce, I'm sure I won't be the only one interested. In fact I know I won't be the only one.

Tony

[perce]

Post it here Perce, I'm sure I won't be the only one interested. In fact I know I won't be the only one.

Tony

Hi Tony/Guys

For your perusal

Corporal Sidney Thomas Ince was twenty-six when he died, and when he died he died with seventy officers and one thousand, one hundred and eighty four other soldiers of nine other regiments. They were attacking an area of the Ypres salient called Bellwaarde. Ince's battalion was placed in the 3rd wave of the attack and so suffered less casualties than other units.

Inces battalion arrived in Belgium in Febuary 1915 and from the time of his arrival in theatre until the time of his death, sometime on the 16th June Ince kept a diary, which under service regulations of the time was illegal. The diary is written in a very matter of fact way with lots of detail, this goes to give an insight into the life of the average British infantryman during the First World War.

Ince gives the names of trenches and positions, officers and men and of the places at which his unit were billeted. Many of the Officers and men he mentions is due to the fact that they became casualties, killed or wounded, even those who he mentions in other respects often became casualties at a later date, for example one of the officers he mentions on the following date in Febuary was killed in the Bellwarde attack.

20 Saturday

Glorious morning. Fatigues 9-12:00pm. Afternoon violent thunderstorm. Practise on range. Three of our officers leave for the trenches-Eric, Frost and Prudy. Violent action continued throughout the night.

Many of the incidents recorded in the diary do not give the full picture of what is happening with Inces unit, for during the period of the diary he records 11 deaths, while records for this period (12th Feb -12th June 1915), show 42 recorded deaths in this period, Inces world would have been his platoon and his company and certain days brought about horrifying consequences for this small band of men as the next 2 passages show, the first for April and the second for May.

11 Thursday

Got back at 2:30 pm. Had a rotten time. Three killed including Corpl Higham. Several wounded. Feel rotten after the rain.

27 Tuesday

Shelled again today. One comes over at 6:00pm with disastrous results for our platoon. R Wenton and E Williamson killed. T Peacock and R Riley injured and Knowles.

In a few minutes, One shell had destroyed his platoon as a fighting force the affect on morale must have been devastating, as a platoon consists of only 12 men and most of the casualties were from Inces home town. Added to this they would have trained together as well as lived in close proximity. On the following day 5 more soldiers were hit and the troops had to spend the daylight hour in the fields out of range of the shelling.

A unit should have spent four days in the trenches, four days in reserve and four days at rest, although as the diary shows the time in the trenches was often extended to six days or more and even during the rest periods they were still within range of the enemy guns.

The diary records other events that would have been vital for Inces morale such as receiving parcels and letters from friends and family, issuing of foul weather

gear, the availability of good food and the facilities to wash and bathe and the chance to get a good nights sleep. Other entries would have an adverse affect on his morale.

23 Tuesday

First issue of bread. Received news of father's death. Funeral today. First letter from home. Answer Nellie's letter, PC from Gertie.

Life outside the trenches appears to have contained much of the day to day battalion life with Ince and his colleges taking part in normal army duties such as fatigues and guard as well as other duties such as trench digging. They also received lectures including one on discipline by the sargeant major. At other times they were engaged in drill and practise attacks as well as range training and physical training.

22 Monday

Physical drill before breakfast. Fine frosty morning. Easy day, lectures on conditions in the trenches, hair cut. 2and a half francs in exchange for ?1.

Ince also comments on things such as the availability of information and news

Mem

Cannot get news or newspapers. So near yet so far. Papers available in Bailleul, two days old, Daily Mail, Mirror and Sketch, 2d each. La Blythe is 2 and a half miles from Locre.

Ince records what units the 1st/4th meets or relieves during the period, these include Royal Field Artillery, Honourable Artillery Company, The Buffs, The Lifeguards, The Royal Horse Guards, signallers from the 2nd Battalion The South Lancashire Regiment and Indian troops. He also mentions inspections by high-ranking officers such as Sir Charles Ferguson and General French. At no point in the diary does he mention meeting any Belgians, Military or Civilian.

Other points of note are his references to the weapons with which the war is being waged, such as hostile aircraft, zeppelins, artillery and gas.

24th Monday (Whitsun)

Hard lines. Another holiday gone west. Heavy bombardment commences at 3:00am. We receive our first taste of gas in early morning and again in the evening.

One barrage that descends on Ince's company consisted of over 50 shells.

The diary conveys what the British and every other countries infantry were experiencing at this point in history, the boredom, the tiredness, the high and lows of morale, the hatred of trench digging and in one of the last entries the fear.

7th Monday

This position runs through a wood, the enemies lines varying in distance from 50-500 yds. Don't like this place at all. Vastly different from Dickesbusche. Five hit today.

Nine days later 1674 Corporal Sidney Thomas Ince was dead. He has no known grave. He is remembered on the Menin gate, Panel 37. He will also be remembered on his local memorial in Warrington as will many of his friends who were born, lived and enlisted in the area.

With the diary is a letter to Inces mother from the wife of one of his officers. In it she offers Mrs Ince the consolation that "your beloved son died so bravely for his country". After losing a son and her husband in just a few months it is hard to see how this would be of any comfort, but at the same time all across the country families would be receiving the same kind of news. After the war Mrs Ince and all the other families would receive the medals to which their loved ones were entitled, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Plaque and a memorial scroll. Many would display them in intricate frames; others would hide them in draws or cupboards, souvenirs of a lost generation

Bellwarde

June 1915 - the war was under a year old, trench warfare was just starting and the first of Kitchener?s army of volunteers were just starting to be sent to the front. The BEF had been bled dry by the first months of the war and equipment was in short supply as was artillery ammunition. The Second Ypres had been fought and the Germans had reduced the salient by two thirds.

The Canadians conducted some of the heaviest fighting for the Bellwarde area. They were withdrawn to this area on the night of the 3rd/4th May. Whilst digging in on the ridge on the 4th May, the Princess Patricia?s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI or the Patricias) lost 122 men. The next day the CO, Colonel Buller, was wounded in the eye. Command passed to Major Gault. On 8th of May at 07:00 The Germans commenced heavy shelling and after two hours launched an infantry attack along the whole of the British line including the Canadians? position. This attack failed, as did three more attacks carried out during this bright and sunny day. The British line to the left started to crumble but the Patricias held on, bringing in its troops to cover this threat. Every man was used to hold the line; cooks, signallers, and even stretcher-bearers were used to make up the heavy losses. The Canadian rate of fire was so rapid the Germans were convinced they were under heavy machine gun fire. Rifles were fired until they were too hot to hold and then they were replaced with weapons taken from the dead and wounded.

The fighting died down as darkness fell; the Canadians were finally relieved by British troops at around midnight. This action cost the unit dearly; 392 men killed, wounded or missing including the Commanding Officer Major Gault, who was wounded twice. When the regiment came out of the line carrying it?s units standard, it was commanded by Lieutenant Niven who had under his charge 2 officers and 150 men. Between the time in April when the PPCLI entered the salient and late May when it left, the unit had suffered 685 casualties.

Fighting continued throughout May and on the 28th the Germans launched a huge gas attack along a four and a half-mile long front, followed by infantry assaults. British troops now had gas masks so the effects of this attack were diminished, but one of the places to fall to the Germans was Bellwarde Ridge. From the captured high ground at Bellewarde the Germans were now looking into the British lines and its artillery was able to fire straight into Ypres town centre. Between the two lines there was very little space, 50-70 yards in the centre and 200 plus yards on the flanks.

It was decided to push the Germans off the ridge. This task would fall to the 3rd Division under Major General Haldane. Under his command were the 7th Brigade under Brigadier General C.R.Ballard, the 8th brigade under Brigadier General A.R.Hoskins and the 9th Brigade under Brigadier General W Douglas-Smith.

The first wave of attackers would consist of the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers and the 4th Royal Fusiliers, all of the 9th Brigade and, as their flank guard, the 1st Wiltshire's of the 7th Brigade.

The second wave consisted of the 1st Lincolnshire's and the 1st/10th King?s Liverpool Scottish of the 9th Brigade.

The third and fourth waves were the reserves and were not to advance until ordered, although some units did not wait for the order. The regiments involved were Ince's The 1st/4th South Lancashire Regiment, the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles, the Honourable Artillery Company, and the 3rd Worcestershire Regiment, all part of the 7th Brigade.

Plans on both sides for attack and defence were well made. On the British side, 3rd Division?s HQ was 2000yds back at Ramparts, telegraph and telephone lines were laid in triplicate with different routes so enemy artillery would not destroy them all at once, with pigeon service and signalling lamps as backup. British troops had been practising for the attack since the 9th of June and, in view of the Germans use of poison gas, troops were trained in the use of the new smoke helmet, known to the troops as ?the boogie with the tit?, a grey flannel hood with a celluloid window which tucked into the collar of the tunic . Air was drawn into the hood for the troops to breathe through a solution of Hyposulphate of Soda, which filtered any poisons out of the air passing through the material. Also the army had No 6 Sqn Royal Flying Corps providing reconnaissance for the artillery. On the German side, artillery observation positions were placed in the third line so capture of the first and second lines would not hamper their artillery coverage of the area.

The troops had begun moving up to the jumping out point on the afternoon of the 15th but heavy and accurate German shelling by 5? and 8? guns caused a change of plan - the troops would now form up in darkness for a dawn attack. Each soldier carried extra ammunition, rations, 2 empty sandbags, a waterproof sheet, wirecutters and shovels. Haversacks were marked up and left behind. Mills bombs were also issued at a rate of four hundred per battalion, which proved insufficient for the trench fighting that would develop.

The start of the barrage broke the silence and darkness of the early hours of the 16th June 1915. It was 02:30. The shells of 115 British artillery pieces pummelled the German positions on Bellwarde ridge. Disappointing at the start, the guns increased in intensity as heavier guns such as the Howitzer, known as ?Mother? by its gunners, joined in. In the British trenches the men of nine battalions of the 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division waited for the barrage to lift, the whistles to blow and the order to advance to be given.

The British shelling stopped at 04:15. There had been pauses at 03:10, 03:40 and 04:00 . During the 04:00 pause German troops were seen to man the parapet just in time for the next barrage to fall. The shelling had been quite effective as in many places the German wire was cut. At the same time, the first wave of troops went forward. Morale was high due to the fact this was a chance to hit back at the Hun, that and the issue of rum before the attack. Cries of ?Remember the Lusitania? rang in the air. The German first line was quickly taken and was found to be full of dead and dying Germans. Prisoners were taken demoralised, and in the haste to get away from the scenes of carnage. Red and yellow artillery markers were placed to let the British artillery know the lines had been taken, but unfortunately in the bad light they weren't seen and shells continued to fall, causing casualties amongst their own troops.

The second wave of troops were to advance to the first lines and then wait for a barrage to soften the second line of trenches, then take them as the second objective. On seeing them start to advance, two battalions of reserves in a fit of overzealousness raced forward as well. These reserves caught up with the second wave of troops and they were pushed forward ahead of schedule into their own barrage. Again smoke and dust, coupled with the fact there were heavy casualties amongst the Royal Artillery forward observation officers caused by the German counter barrage, hampered the Artilleries? picture of the battle.

After the fifteen-minute barrage on the second line and some vicious fighting, the line from Bellwarde pond to position Y11 was captured, although heavy cross machine gun fire from a railway cutting Y6 caused some problems.

More problems were caused as the first wave troops, finding that the second line to be only shallow trenches two to three feet deep, were ordered to move on to the third objective, the German line at Bellwarde lake. At this time there were now seven battalions of men in the open, providing easy targets for the German barrage, which intensified. Under the heavier German barrage casualties became heavier, Trenches began to clog with dead and wounded, units became mixed and confused and the attack?s cohesion began to fall apart. In spite of this, after close quarter fighting involving rifles, bayonets and anything that came to hand, the third line was captured and the German troops forced out. Some troops of the 10th Battalion, The Liverpool Scottish pushed on toward Dead Mans Bottom but all were killed or captured.

In the third line, small numbers of The Liverpool Scottish, The Northumberland Fusiliers and other stragglers consolidated their position. Troops of the Royal Irish Rifles of the 7th Brigade also joined in, but as they were not part of the attack they were returned to their positions. Unfortunately the right flank was uncaptured and this was to prove a weak spot in the defender?s lines. During the morning the Germans attacked using bombers , artillery and machine gun fire from the railway cutting trench position Y5 and Y6. One major German attack at 07:30 was beaten back with heavy losses, but at 09:30 a German heavy bombardment commenced which was to last all morning, causing yet more casualties amongst the already beleaguered British. At noon troops in the third line noticed large concentrations of German troops coming out of an area in the south of Dead Man?s Bottom as well as another approaching from the left flank. At the same time British troops on the right of the line were seen to be withdrawing and the third line positions were deemed to be untenable and a retirement was ordered. All troops were to return to the old German second line. On reaching the second line a stand was organised until it was realised that the Germans had already recaptured parts of this line to the south and were approaching the British troops using stick grenades to clear the trenches. Tired, low on ammunition, suffering heavy casualties and with no mills bombs left, the British troops were forced back to the old German first line. During the course of the afternoon the Germans also used gas shells.

The British high command still wanted to push the Germans from Bellwarde Ridge, to deny them the high ground which was helping them position their shells to drop into Ypres with ease. At 15:30 two battalions of the 7th brigade, the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles and the 3rd Worcestershires were pushed forward to try and recapture the gains made in the morning. In daylight they left the German front line which was filled with the dead and wounded and advanced into a whirlwind of steel. Within minutes the attack had failed, men were ripped to shreds by concentrated German artillery, rifle and machine gun fire. Survivors of this attack again returned to the old German first line.

Reinforcements , two battalions from the 42nd Brigade, arrived at 16:00 but following the destruction of the earlier 15:30 attack it was deemed senseless to send them forward. At 18:00 the GOC decided to consolidate the day?s gains which consisted of 250 yards in an 800-yard front.

The Germans still held most of the ridge and used it to their advantage, shelling all the time and increasing the frequency of this barrage between 19:00 and 20:15 when British observers noted an average of ninety shells a minute dropping in this small area, possibly an attempt to destroy the British before they could regroup under the cover of darkness.

At 20:00 the 8th Brigade took over the old German front lines, the 7th, 9th and 42nd were withdrawn to their camps at Bussebom to rest and to take stock of the action and call the rolls to find out how many of their comrades weren't coming back, being either captured or, more than likely, growing cold in Bellwardes fields.

In the case of the Liverpool Scottish, it went into battle with 21 officers and 519 men. At the end of the day the figures read like this: 10 officers and 170 men dead, 9 officers and 209 men wounded, leaving only 2 officers and 140 men unscathed.

The Northumberland Fusiliers started the day with 15 officers and 645 men; by the end of the action 35 were dead, 157 wounded and 194 missing . The first line troops suffered the most as they were at the thick of the fighting. The table below gives the casualty rates for most units present.

BATTALION REGIMENT OFFICERS MEN

1st Wiltshire 2 57

4th Royal Fusiliers 2 125

1st Royal Scots Fusiliers 4 115

1st Northumberland Fusiliers 4 128

3rd Worcestershire 3 61

10th King?s Liverpool Scottish 10 170

2nd Royal Irish Rifles 3 61

1st Lincolnshire 4 94

Honourable Artillery Company 1 34

1st/4th South Lancashire 2 39

1/1st Cheshire Field Coy RE10 10

Royal Field & Horse Artillery 1 7

Army Service Corps 1

In some ways those killed outright were at an advantage, the wounded lay in the bullet and shell-swept no mans land unable to move or be rescued although some attempts were made. Sergeant H.T. Smith of the 4th Royal Fusilier carried two wounded men back to safety after bandaging them under heavy fire. Private A. Beckett of the same battalion was killed carrying a wounded comrade along a trench. With the stretcher bearers of the Liverpool Scottish, Private F.F. Bell received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his work in rescuing wounded and the Battalion Medical Officer Lieutenant Noel Godfrey Chevasse, Royal Army Medical Corps, was awarded the Military Cross11. Even with these brave men's efforts, most wounded stayed out until darkness fell.

One of the wounded was Private Fife of Z Company of the Liverpool Scottish. He was wounded early on in the attack and whilst out in no-mans land took a camera from one of his pouches and took pictures of the attack, troops coming up and the landscape of the battlefield. It was an offence to carry a camera, but in view of the fact that Fyfe had been a press photographer before enlisting he seems to have got away with it.

Below is an extract from the 4th Royal Fusiliers for the Battle of Bellwarde:

16th Our artillery commenced bombardment (shelling) of German trenches at 02:50 and continued with the exception of two short intervals till 4:15, when our first line jumped off the mark and got through the Germans and into their trench in a marvellous manner. The men were so eager that they went forward a great deal too fast into the second and third German trenches, only to be mown down by our own artillery. Having lost a number of officers and men, we withdrew and took a line in a communication trench that Captain Delaperrelle had taken up and turned into a fire trench. This was consolidated and held against all counter-attacks and frontal attacks, as well as a bomb attack on the right until told to leave the trench after 12:00. The Brigadier of the 7th Bde took over at 10.00 and ordered the CO, Major R G Hely Hutchinson to go into the wood we had just captured and reorganise the men that remained. This was done immediately - these men were subjected to heavy shelling all day - casualties were appalling. The Adjutant, Captain G Thomas O'Donnell, was killed with his orderlies and operators by a high explosive shell. The heavy shelling that the Germans were subjected to had a most demoralising effect on them. Our men acted splendidly - their eagerness cost them a number of casualties. L Cpl Jilten MG stuck to his gun all through the day though wounded; the MG Sgt, Sgt Jones, also did a job throughout the day until sent to the Dressing Station to have his wounds dressed - he was wounded early in the day. We lost fifteen officers.

As we have seen it was a day of enthusiasm and bravery. Medals were awarded but some would go unnoticed and, due to an accident, the Liverpool Scottish's recommendations were lost in a fire at the HQ and by the time the recommendations were represented the medals for Bellwarde had been allocated, although three men were awarded DCMs on the recommendations of other units, and in 1916 ten Military Medals were awarded for the action12. What has also been shown was the fighting spirit of the British soldier still fighting under heavy fire and against a well prepared enemy, but what was also obvious is that more time had been needed to prepare for the assault, preparations starting only on the 9th/10th13. At the end of the day altogether 3rd Div lost 140 officers and 3391 men, two thirds of which were sustained by the 9th Brigade. Most casualties were caused by artillery fire, both German and British.

Some stories from that day took years to come to an end. For years after the war Mr and Mrs E Bartlett knew nothing apart from the fact their son was amongst the missing of Bellwarde. 3010 Gordon Bartlett was a twenty-one year old Corporal with the 10th Battalion King?s Liverpool Scottish. He had volunteered for service in 1914 and had worked in a Liverpool office before enlisting. Cpl Bartlett is mentioned for heroic action during the battle and there is a letter from Lieutenant Chavasse stating that he had been seen to fall. In 1927 the family received a letter from Lagow in Germany. The letters author was a Doctor P Schwirzke, who was an infantry officer who had taken part in the same action. Dr Schwirzke recalled that in a stretch of trench that his platoon had recaptured there were three unmarked14 British bodies dressed in the uniforms of a Scottish regiment. Cpl Bartlett was identified by a telegram found in his uniform. The telegram informed him that his father had survived the sinking of the Lusitania15.

The Germans buried Cpl Bartlett and his comrades where they fell, but Schwirzke kept the telegram and an Oxford circular he picked up and he returned them to the Bartlett's in Liverpool, enclosing with it a map showing the position where he and his men buried the British soldiers. Cpl Bartlett is remembered on the Menin gate, panel 4 and on the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle.

Bellwarde today has reverted to farmland. Looking down from the Tunnelers Monument you can see what a bird?s-eye view the German observation officers must have had. You can see the reconstructed Ypres in the distance and the area where the British troops would have formed up is nearly within spitting distance. The farm has been rebuilt and the land is green and fairly featureless, although some of the larger craters can be seen and in some places the routes the trenches would have taken. Munitions can still be found when the fields are ploughed. During my visit I picked up a piece of a driving band from a shell, and barely ten feet from the Liverpool Scottish memorial, near the farm, an unexploded shell was awaiting collection. Bits of corroded barbed wire could be picked up and bits of unidentifiable metal could be seen in the plough ruts. On the way back to the minibus we consulted a copy of the map sent to Cpl Bartlett?s parents and pinpointed the spot where he is believed to be buried. No remains have been found to that date in the area so either they were destroyed during the fighting or Cpl Bartlett and his comrades are still entombed in the Belgian soil.

[perce]

Bit more from the files

APPENDIX I

The following is a list of names of those who are mentioned in the diary as casualties (deaths)

NAME RANK NUMBER DATE OF DEATH

Hughes Albert Private 2267 3rd March 1915

Weldon Joseph Private 2791 3rd March 1915

Smith, Thomas Private 1350 17th March 1915

Higham George Corporal 1990 21st March 1915

Denton, Peter Private 2470 27th March 1915

Green, Joseph Private 2351 27th March 1915

Williamson, Ernest Private 1020 27th March 1915

Percival, Fredrick Private 2210 9th May 1915

Hill, Peter Stanley Private 2414 25th May 1915

Betts, Joseph Sargeant 704 7th June 1915

Holden, Leigh Second Lieutenant 9th June 1915

CASUALTIES OF THE 1st/4th SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT BATTLE OF HOOGE 16th JUNE 1915

NAME RANK NUMBER

Frost, Edmund Lionel Lieutenant

Bailey, William Sargeant 475

Gill, Thomas Sargeant 533

Libbiter, Christopher Sargeant 1138

Ince, Sidney Thomas Corporal 1674

Alldred, Arthur Private 2116

Bannister, John Edward Private 1785

Bates, William Private 1328

Berry, Edward Private 1622

Brimelow, John Private 1261

Brown, William Private 1926

Carter, John Henry Private 1593

Cattell, Harry Private 2412

Coyne, John Thomas Private 1814

Dodd, Henry Private 2074

Earley, Arthur Private 2142

Gibson, William Private 2532

Gill, Thomas Private 533

Hambleton, Joseph Private 1273

Harding, Gilbert Private 2149

Hollowell, William Private 1884

Holmes, Walter Private 2573

Houghton, John Joseph Private 2036

Jackson, Henry Private 2386

Knowles, Charles Private 1736

Lightfoot, Albert Private 1620

Littler, John Private 2123

Marsden, Elijah Private 1321

Monks, Arthur Private 2309

Perce, Samuel Private 91

Plumpton, Henry Private 2215

Rhodes, Harry Private 2793

Ryder, John Private 125

Sharp, James Private 1614

Smith, Thomas Private 2364

Sumner, George Private 1486

Taylor, George Private 1612

Taylor, Robert Private 2306

Turner, Harold Private 1462

Williams, Frank Private 1650

Wilson, Norman Private 1754

Perce

[Tony]

Thanks Perce. It's always very interesting to read a soldier's own account. It reminds me of a personal diary I have belonging to 1.7.16 Sherwood Forester casualty, a while ago I was even sent a copy photo of him, probably from a newspaper back in 1916.

Tony

[perce]

Hi Tony

Do you want a transcript of the full diary?

Cheers

Perce

Thanks Perce. It's always very interesting to read a soldier's own account. It reminds me of a personal diary I have belonging to 1.7.16 Sherwood Forester casualty, a while ago I was even sent a copy photo of him, probably from a newspaper back in 1916.

Tony

[Tony]

Have sent a pm.

Cheers

Tony

[leigh kitchen]

Perce, Private Fifes photos - have you got copies of them? I take it that these are the series that show a line of British troops laying down, facing to the viewers right, with a man in a great coat stooping behind them, facing the same direction. Great photos.