A Rifleman, DoW 19 Oct. 1016

[Tony]

Not quite the recipient's story as I don't have anything that was awarded to him for his service to King and Empire.

3702 Rfm. Ernest Stanley Gard of 1/5 City of London Rifle Brigade the London Regt. died in hospital on 19.10.16 in Etaples aged 19 from wounds received in action. He was the son of Rev. John and Elizabeth Gard, of Home Farm, Sipson, Middlesex.

It's unusual to find memorial cards for British soldiers, Ernest's father the Reverend John Gard is probably the reason this card went to print.

[Tony]

Etaples had eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, all of which could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick.

The British War Cemetery at Etaples has 11479 identified graves, some of which are from the early months of 1940 including German war dead.

[Tony]

Ernest was born in 1897 and lived at 10 Belmont Rd. in St. Peter Port Guernsey along with his brother John, parents and Ada the servant. At some stage before 1914 the family moved to the mainland, taking up residence at Home Farm in Sipson, Middx.

Ernest may have taken part in the first day of the Somme at Gommecourt (a diversionary attack) where the 1/5 suffered something like 588 casualties so I would think the 5th London Regt. LRB which appears to have been out of the line from 2.7.16 to 2.9.16 must have been made up of many new drafts by the time they went back into battle.

The battalion served and fought in the following areas between the beginning of July 1916 and end of October 1916:

July

1st Gommecourt

2nd Bayencourt

3rd St Amand

6th Fonquevillers

8th Hannescamps

16th Bienvillers

19th Hannescamps

23rd Bienvillers

30th Hannescamps.

August

7th St. Amand

15th Hannescamps

20th St. Amand

21st Sus St. Leger

22nd Wavans

23rd Cauchy.

September

3rd Corbie

4th Happy Valley

6th Chimpanzee valley

7th Falfemont Farm Line

8th Leuze Wood attack

11th Citadel Hutments

12th Billon Farm

13th German Trenches

15th Angle Wood

16th Loop Trench

18th Angle Wood

24th Trench in front of Combles

26th Combles

27th Meaulte

29th Talus Bois

30th Guillemont.

October

2nd Les Bouefs

4th Between Trones and Bernafay Woods

8th Attack on Les Bouefs

9th Trones Wood

10th Mansel Copse

12th Picquigny

21st Huppy

23rd Pont Remy

24th Paradis

27th Croix Barbee

28th Richebourg L'Avoue

With help I've received from members of the Great War Forum, it seems likely that Ernest Gard may have been wounded either during the attack on Les Bouefs, Trones Wood or Mansel Copse.

According to Soldiers Died, the 1/5 LRB suffered 154 casualties in the first 19 days of October 1916 but only shows details for 149 men. I'm not sure if the numbers for officers are correct as research carried out by NigelS on the GWF shows 11 officers killed and 9 wounded on 8.10.16. Soldiers Died CD (which does have mistakes) shows 7 officers killed and according to the CWGC only 2 have known graves, the other 5 are remembered on the Thiepval Memorial to the missing.

The numbers and dates below are from the above mentioned CD and show the numbers of men who died, many of them were recently transferred from the Middx. Regt.:

4.10.16 – 2 ORs killed in action

8.10.16 – 4 ORs killed in action and 1 OR died of wounds 6 2/Lieut. and 1 Lieut. killed in action

9.10.16 – 125 ORs killed in action and 1 OR died of wounds

10.10.16 – 1 OR died of wounds

11.10.16 – 1 OR died of wounds

12.10.16 – 2 ORs died of wounds

13.10.16 – 1 OR died of wounds

14.10.16 – 1 OR died of wounds

15.10.16 – 2 ORs died of wounds

17.10.16 – 1 OR died of wounds

18.10.16 – 1 OR died at home

19.10.16 – Ernest Stanley Gard dies of wounds in Etaples

[paul wood]

Not quite the recipient's story as I don't have anything that was awarded to him for his service to King and Empire.

3702 Rfm. Ernest Stanley Gard of 1/5 City of London Rifle Brigade the London Regt. died in hospital on 19.10.16 in Etaples aged 19 from wounds received in action. He was the son of Rev. John and Elizabeth Gard, of Home Farm, Sipson, Middlesex.

It's unusual to find memorial cards for British soldiers, Ernest's father the Reverend John Gard is probably the reason this card went to print.

Very nice thing. Interestingly as research tool it is quite useful if you can get Great War parish magazines which will often give details of members of the congregation KIA or invalided home these are often available in local PROs or sometimes the church it self retains copies. An interesting if not so freely available source.

Paul

[Tony]

From the German front:

A major offensive against the 1st Army started on 7.10.16, from early afternoon on the front between Ancre and Bouchavesnes waves of enemy infantry, tanks and the RFC attacked nonstop into the night. Although vastly outnumbered, the heroic resistance of Gruppen Stein (26 Würtemberg Res. Div.), Armin (Marine Inf. Brig., 4th Ersatz, 6th and 7th Res. Div.), Boehn (15th, 17th and 18th Res. Div.), and Garnier (10th Res., 113th Inf. and 9th Res. Div.) saved the day. Only the village of Le Sars and advanced positions in front of Le Transloy and Sailly were lost.

After hand to hand fighting during the night, the 8th of October began with unsuccessful enemy thrusts near Courcelette, Le Sars and Rancourt finishing with a heavy French attack against Gruppe Garnier. This was repulsed with great losses to both sides. The enemy reported more than 1600 prisoners. German attacks near Le Sars, Gueudecourt and Rancourt resulted in the capture of about 175 prisoners.

9th October 1916

A report from Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht speculated that British and French troops would endevour to increase their attacks on the Bapaume to Bertincourt front and reduce their efforts in the Mont St. Quentin to Peronne area. This was proven to be true with almost immediate effect.

Between the 9th and 11th October the enemy made small advances between Thiepval and Bouchavesnes and although they only gained a small amount of ground, around 1700 men were taken prisoner.

British troops in the north between Gommecourt and Beaumont Hamel began to liven up again by attacking the position of the 52 Inf. and 28 Res. Div. with a heavy barrage and clouds of gas. A report from the 1st Div. calls them „our worst enemy“ and goes on to say „ .... ever superior in ammunition especially heavy caliber. They smash our positions, cause the most casualties, hinder traffic behind the lines and rob our troops of necessary rest. Therefore our low trajectory artillery pieces (Flachbahngeschütze) which are already being transported here, will be used primarily to prevent enemy ammunition supplies getting through.“

By this time Ernest Gard had probably been wounded and taken out of the line. The battle carried on for several more weeks before officially ending on 18.11.1916.

The maps below show the advance, if you can call it that, made by the allies in the Les Bouefs – Le Transloy area between the end of September and November.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Tony

[Tony]

17th October 1916

Edited January 14, 2010 by Tony

[Tony]

23rd Oct. 1916

Edited January 14, 2010 by Tony

[Tony]

29th Nov. 1916

[Tony]

The following is a report from the New York Times.

301915672.pdf

[Tony]

From the CWGC:

Le Transloy

The Battles of the Somme; the Battle of the Transloy Ridges, 1 -18 October 1916.

Heartened by the occupation of much of the Thiepval Ridge, Haig determined to continue large-scale offensive operations into the autumn. The Battle of the Transloy Ridges represented Fourth Army's part in this grand design, and its constituent costly attacks were intended to coincide with simultaneous advances by the Reserve Army planned for early October.

The fighting took place during worsening weather and dreadful battlefield conditions. Fourth Army's objectives necessitated, as a preliminary, the taking of Eaucourt L'Abbaye and an advance on III Corps entire front was launched, after a seven-hour bombardment, at 3.15pm on 1 October. The attack met fierce German resistance and it was not until the afternoon of 3 October that the objectives were secured. Rawlinson’s follow up attack was delayed by atrocious weather. Starting at 1.45pm on 7 October the advance involved six divisions and resulted in heavy British casualties and little success except for 23rd Division's capture of Le Sars. Continuous rain during the night hampered the removal of casualties and further forward moves. The failure to secure original battle objectives led to a renewed major assault on the afternoon of 12 October when infantry on Fourth Army’s right floundered towards German trench lines in front of Le Transloy, while formations on the left slogged towards the Butte de Warlencourt. Despite the slightest of gains (measured in hard fought for trench yards) the operation was not successful.

Orders for a fresh attack, issued late on 13 October, ignored the desperate conditions and physical state of the attacking troops. The subsequent early morning assault on 18 October (well before daylight) witnessed heroic efforts to advance but minimal were made against resolute defenders well supported by accurate artillery fire.

[Tony]

This photo shows the area between Les Bouefs and Le Transloy today, I've attempted to show the approximate position of the British frontline trenches (marked as German trenches above in the scan of an original map from September 1916).

The Lille to Paris motorway which I've driven along many times but never further south than that old Roman road exit leading to St. Quentin in the east and Amien in the west, cuts through many of the old trenches.

[Tony]

Anyone who has ever visited the battlefields in France or Belgium will know that the places mentioned in battles that dragged on for months are only a few minutes apart when travelling by car. It always makes me wonder if Blackadder Goes Fourth was actually filmed based on a serving officers daily diary or not.

The Soldiers Died CD shows 11936 ORs and 717 officers serving in the British army in all theatres died during the first 19 days of October (that's averaging more than 600 men per day), Ernest Stanley Gard was just 1 of 360 ORs and 24 officers who, on 19.10.16 would no longer suffer in the trenches, would never see their parents, wife, girlfriend, home, friends or another sunset again.

I don't know how many men serving in the Canadian, S. African, ANZAC, Indian armies as well as the RN and RFC also lost their lives in those few days.

If anyone knows of a better translation for Flachbahngeschütze please let me know.

Tony

[Tony]

Very nice thing. Interestingly as research tool it is quite useful if you can get Great War parish magazines which will often give details of members of the congregation KIA or invalided home these are often available in local PROs or sometimes the church it self retains copies. An interesting if not so freely available source.

Paul

Hello Paul,

I'm afraid I live quite a way from Sipson, I also believe Sipson is one of the parishes which is to be turned into another runway for Heathrow.

No doubt the church has a memorial to all the men of the village who never came back home, it'd be great to be able to go there and look around.

Tony