Trench Lincs 11th January 2026
- Jan 18
- 18 min read
Good Morning,
Welcome to this week’s Trench Lincs with ten days of Dry January now completed. I hope you all have now settled into the post-Christmas world once again, and we can look forward to lighter nights and getting out and about once again.
The 2026 season of talks kicks off tomorrow night in Lincoln when our old friend John Chester will be unveiling a new talk at the Naval Club – see below for details. I hope to see many of you there tomorrow.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
Next event TOMORROW - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Monday, January 12th 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.
The 2026 season of talks kicks off at Lincoln Branch on Monday, January 12th.
HONOUR and TRADITION.
This evening we welcome back to Lincoln our old friend John Chester. John is well known to many of us as a presenter of interesting and educational talks on obscure subjects that, perhaps, dont immediately come to mind and this evenings is no exception to that rule.
When Britain went to war in 1914, it was with a Navy that had ruled the seas since Nelson’s day and acknowledged to be the best in the world, and an Army that had not suffered a major defeat for centuries and policed the empire. Both the aristocracy and the people knew their place. Many military traditions had been established and honour was to be found in the aristocratic officer class. However, World War 1 greatly affected these traditions and, when the war ended, officers were heard to say: “Thank God that’s over. Now we can get back to proper soldiering!” How did Honour and Tradition stand up to the trials of WW1?
John enjoyed a career in the Royal Air Force and has served the Western Front Association as Branch Co-ordinator and, until quite recently, Parade Marshall at the WFA's annual Armistice Day Service of Remembrance and Commemoration at the Cenotaph in London. He was also the founder and former Chairman of the Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch.
Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, Western Front Association, Winter/Spring/Summer 2026 Programme.
Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch WFA continues to meet at the Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG. Meetings continue to be held on Monday evenings, and doors open at 19.00 hours for a 19.30 hours start. The RNAC is easy to find being located just off the High Street in downhill Lincoln. It's a pleasant location with a friendly and helpful Steward who offers fair drinks prices - including a full range of low and zero alcohol beers - and a fine range of discount chocolates. There is ample free parking behind the Club, and on-street in front.
The winter/spring/summer 2026 programme will be as follows:
January 12th - John Chester presents "Honour and Tradition" (Further details to follow).
February 16th - Phil Watson presents "The Lancers; from the Boer War, to the Great War".
March 23rd - Chris Finn presents "Aviation in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli Campaigns".
April 27th - Brian Riley presents "The Shimmering Blue; Lincolnshire Aviation in World War One".
May - Due to our 5 weekly schedule, plus the May bank holidays, we do not hold a meeting in May.
June 8th - Grant Cullen presents "Quintinshill, 22nd May 1915; Britain's worst railway disaster".
July 13th - Branch AGM followed by the Chairman's Annual Lecture. Mike Credland presents "The Great War Memorials of Lincolnshire". Newly revised and updated.
August, date to be advised - Branch Annual Memorials Tour. Further details nearer the time.
September 28th - Nick Shelley presents "Motorcycle dispatch riders in 1914".
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Next Meeting - Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Thursday, January 22nd 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30 pm start - Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT.
Meanwhile, Spalding Branch will kick off their 2026 season on Thursday, January 22nd, when Jonathan D'Hooghe, will be presenting his new talk entitled "General Horace Smith-Dorrien; his two defining battles - Isandlwana 1879 and Le Cateau 1914."
At Isandlwana, only five British officers escaped the slaughter, one of these five was Horace Smith-Dorrien. His escape reads like a ‘Boy’s Own’ novel with copious amounts of ‘derring-do’, and as a result of his good fortune, he rose through the ranks to command II Corps of the BEF in Belgium and France in August 1914.
This talk examines his life and decision making at Le Cateau on 26th august 1914, and asks what may have happened in August 1914, if Smith-Dorrien had fallen with many other young British Subalterns in January 1879.
If you missed this talk in November at Lincoln, hopefully you will come to Spalding on the 22nd?
Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, Western Front Association, Winter/Spring/Summer 2026 Programme.
Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch WFA continues to meet at the Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT. Meetings continue to be held in the evenings of the fourth Thursday in the month, and doors open at 19.00 hours for a 19.30 hours start. Meetings are held in a pleasant interior room of the Church and there is ample - unrestricted - on street parking in front of the building. Free refreshments are served at the end of the meeting. Finally, please note that, for security purposes the main double front doors are kept locked as we cannot monitor them from our meeting room (dont worry, there are ample emergency fire escapes) therefore you may need to ring the doorbell located on the single door to the right of the main double doors in order to gain entry.
The winter/spring/summer 2026 programme will be as follows:
January 22nd - Jonathan D'Hooghe presents "General Horace Smith-Dorian, his two defining battles; Isandlwana 1879 and Le Cateau 1914".
February 26th - Phil Watson presents "the Lancers, from the Boer War to the Great War".
March 26th - John Chester presents "Honour & Tradition".
April 23rd - Chris Finn presents "Aviation in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli Campaigns".
May 28th - Brian Riley presents "The Shimmering Blue; Lincolnshire Aviation in World War One".
June 18th - Branch Chairman Paul Berry will lead our annual evening Local History Tour. Further details nearer the time.
July 23rd - Grant Cullen presents "Quintinshill, 22nd May 1915; Britain's worst railway disaster".
August 27th - Nick Shelley presents "Motorcycle dispatch riders in 1914".
September, date to be advised - Branch Annual Out and About Day. Further details nearer the time.
[See also the event at Leadenham detailed below about Isandlwana – Ed]
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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch will hold their next speaker event on Friday 13th February 2026 at 7.30pm. The branch meets at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HA.
The speaker on this night is Peter Hart and his talk is ‘I’m out of here! – Escape from German POW Camps 1914-18.’
Everyone welcome.
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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 27th January 2026 at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.
This event will be an inter-active workshop which will look at the infamous Battle of Isandlwana which took place on 22nd January 1879 at the start of the Anglo-Zulu War.
All contributions on the night are welcome, or you can just sit, listen and hopefully learn.
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Please click this link to read the latest newsletter from the Sleaford and District Legionnaires Aviation Society.
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You will recall from last week that Mike Surr was aboard HMS Glasgow as a boy seaman in 1955 when it visited Gdansk, and he was surprised by the British Pathé News Reel that I found last week, and writes;
‘What a wonderful surprise for the Poland visit, I unfortunately did not recognise any of the crew. However, the last item of wreath laying in the forest made me remember that I was among those on parade that day, which was very emotional.
If my memory is correct, shortly afterwards on returning home the Captain left the Glasgow to take command of the Royal Yacht Britannia.’
Did you click on the link last week to watch the three-minute film? If not, here it is again.
POLAND WELCOMES H.M.S. GLASGOW (aka POLES WELCOME H.M.S. GLASGOW) - British Pathé
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First up in 2026 for a new UK memorial sent in by the readers is from John Pykett. John has been up in the north east and comments; ‘I look forward to reading your e-mail each week and always find something of interest to read. Many thanks. [My pleasure John – Ed]
On a recent trip back to Wearside, I heard about a sculpture at Seaham overlooking Seaham Harbour.
Having loaded coal and sailed out of Seaham Harbour many times, I thought it was time to have a look at the place again so off we went to Seaham, just south of Sunderland.
On arrival there we didn’t need to look very hard to find the sculpture.
It is about 2.9 metres tall and weighs over 1 ton.
It was created by a local artist Ray Lonsdale, it’s made from Corten steel, this eliminates the need for painting.
It is officially titled 11.01 but is known locally as “Tommy”
It seems strange that an inanimate object can give the impression of emotions, but I did, sorrow and perhaps relief that it’s all over.
Ray Lonsdale has done other sculptures in steel relating to WWI and WWII, maybe next time I am up north I will try to find them.
Hoping that this may be of some interest? [It certainly is – Ed] I have sent photos of Tommy and the sea front war memorial.
There was a VC holder from WWI from Murton/Seaham. His name was William McNally of the Yorkshire Regiment.’
The Seaham war memorial.
In the best traditions of Trench Lincs, I just had to look up William McNally as he is a VC winner that we have not covered before. The first thing that I discovered is that he also won the Military Medal, twice.
When six British Divisions were sent to Italy to bolster the Italian army in late 1917, William was one of the men who found his battalion suddenly in Italy, and it was here that he won the Victoria Cross.
His VC citation reads:
“For most conspicuous bravery and skilful leading during the operations on the 27th October, 1918, across the Piave, when his company was most seriously hindered in its advance by heavy machine-gun fire from the vicinity of some buildings on a flank. Utterly regardless of personal safety, he rushed the machine-gun post single-handed, killing the team and capturing the gun. Later at Vazzola, on the 29th October, 1918, when his company, having crossed the Monticano River, came under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, Serjeant McNally immediately directed the fire of his platoon against the danger point, while he himself crept to the rear of the enemy position. Realising that a frontal attack would mean heavy losses, he, unaided, rushed the position, killing or putting to flight the garrison and capturing a machine gun. On the same day, when holding a newly captured ditch, he was strongly counter-attacked from both flanks. By his coolness and skill in controlling the fire of his party he frustrated the attack, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Throughout the whole operations his innumerable acts of gallantry set a high example to his men, and his leading was beyond all praise.”
William McNally VC, MM and Bar.
William McNally was born on the 16th December 1894 in the village of Murton in County Durham. At 14 he would follow his father down the pit at Murton Colliery. At the outbreak of war, he enlisted on the 3rd September, aged 20, into the Yorkshire Regiment, The Green Howards, and was posted to the 8th (Service) Battalion.
The Battalion travelled to France in August 1915 as part of the 69th Brigade, 23rd Division. It was during the Somme offensive in 1916 that William won his first Military Medal, having gone out into No-Man’s-Land to rescue a wounded officer. The following year during 3rd Ypres, generally known as Passchendaele, he received a bar to his Military Medal, again rescuing men wounded or buried under shellfire.
In late 1917 his division was part of the detachment of British and French troops sent to the Italian front to bolster the Italians after their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Caparetto. In October of 1918 the allied advance culminated in their victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto paving the way for the total defeat of the Austrian Army. It was during this battle that William received the Victoria Cross having put to flight the enemy and capturing a machine gun.
William left the Army in February 1919 and returned to life down the pit at Murton Colliery, returning to work whilst still wounded for the third time with a bullet in the leg. He married in July 1919, just a few days before being presented with his VC by the King at Buckingham Palace on the 17th July.
In 1940 he joined the Local Defence Volunteers in Murton and the following year served in the Durham Home Guard. In 1947 he became a foreman at a timber yard that made pit props retiring in 1958 aged 65. William was in attendance at the Hyde Park VC re-union in June 1956.
William McNally VC, MM and Bar, died, aged 81, on the 5th January 1976.’
William McNally in later life.
In 1978, McNally's widow unveiled a plaque to her late husband at Murton.
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We are indebted to Ray Sellers for his latest instalment from his trip to Ireland and Ulster last autumn.
Ray writes: ‘Please find the latest batch of photos regarding my recent trip to Ulster. Photo 58 is Stormont, East Belfast. This is the Parliament building for the Northern Ireland assembly. It was opened by the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII in 1932 and for its time, it is a very grand building indeed.
On the ground floor, the walls are lined with portraits and photos of many famous and some infamous! politicians. One of these people, shown in Photos, 96 and 7, is Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson. Almost forgotten now, he was one the early notable victims of the IRA in 1922. The building is open to the public via airport style security.
Photo 26 is in Royal Hillsborough Village, and It shows the village war memorial for both world Wars in the form of the traditional Celtic cross. Also shown is the Church of St. Malachy.
Photo 49, is the War Memorial within the church. The building dates from the 17th century and has many interesting monuments evoking its Royal Protestant heritage. Hillsborough also has an ancient castle with Civil War connections, however, the village is best known for its Royal Palace also known as a castle, shown in photo 52. This castle is the Royal residence when the Monarch is in Northern Ireland, and also the official residence for The Secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Its state apartments are open for guided tours only, and are well worth a visit.’
Thank you Ray. We look forward to the next instalment.
I wrote about Sir Henry Wilson briefly before Christmas. He was from an old and staunchly Unionist family tracing their roots back to the 17th Century in Ulster.
Because he was assassinated in 1922, he did not have the benefit of writing his memoirs in the post war years, and as a result of the publication of his personal diaries after his death, he is widely thought of as a scheming, mendacious tittle-tattler, who played off the Politicians (Frock Coats) against the (Brass Hats) General staff.
His diaries were frankly written and his description of his contemporaries was not always flattering. He was not over friendly with, but was loyal to Sir Douglas Haig until the 3rd Battle of Ypres, when he strongly came out against Haig’s war of attrition and the ever growing casualty lists. This was a view shared by the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, and Wilson was involved in the scheming to find a replacement as C-in-C when Lloyd George looked to sack Haig in early 1918.
The General Staff remained loyal to Haig and neither Plumer or Gough sought Haig’s job. The fall guy for all of this scheming was Welbourn’s own son, Sir William Robertson, who resigned as Chief of the Imperial General Staff in February 1918 and was replaced by Sir Henry Wilson. Lloyd George had made Robertson’s position untenable by reducing his role and offering him a more junior position as Britain’s representative on the Allied Supreme War Council at Versaille, knowing full well that Robertson would not accept this.
Wilson, remained as CIGS until the war’s end and did a good job of holding the Entente Alliance together during the German Spring Offensives. His relationship with the French General Staff was always excellent, and some of his British contemporaries thought him almost treasonous as he always appeared to take the French viewpoint for the conduct of the war.
Following the war’s end, Northern Ireland was granted a devolved parliament but Wilson opted to stand for election to Westminster in the North Down constituency, where he was duly elected as an Ulster Unionist in February 1922. He spent his short time in Parliament speaking against the Liberal/Conservative coalition under Lloyd George’s leadership.
In June 1922, Wilson, in full Field Marshal’s uniform attended the unveiling of the war memorial to the Great Eastern rail workers at Liverpool Street station. As he walked home, he was shot dead in the street by two IRA assassins, Dunne and O’Sullivan. Both men had served in the 16th (Irish) Division during the Great War and O’Sullivan had lost a leg at Passchendaele.
The police arrived on the scene, and O’Sullivan in particular, with his false leg could not escape and during the melee, they shot and wounded two police officers and a chauffeur who intervened. Eventually, the two men were overpowered by a crowd of bystanders and they were arrested, tried, found guilty and hanged in August.
Wilson is a most interesting character of the Great War to study, and a man who is not often talked about, as he was a staff officer and did not command in the field. This book is recommended should you fancy learning more.
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Two weeks ago, Jo Stacey wrote in and one of the points she made, was that her visit to the Old Contemptibles exhibition in Peterborough, had revealed that her Great Grandfather, John Pont, who served in the Royal Marines Light Infantry (RMLI) was indeed an OC.
Jo had a collection of papers and photos relating to John and his wider family. One of the photos that Jo sent to me – see below – showed John in the uniform of the Salvation Army, and Jo confirmed that her family were all historically Salvationists.
I carried out some further research and found John Pont’s Naval service record was available at The National Archives. I quickly downloaded the record and sent it to Jo. She confirmed that she had a copy of part of this record, but did not know that his service from 1914 to his discharge in 1921 was on the page above – see link below.
John Pont was born in 1881 and joined the Royal Marines in 1900, if you have clicked the link above, you will see that he served in the Chatham Battalion of the RMLI and you can follow his service up to the outbreak of war in 1914.
Comparing his service record with the history of the Royal Naval Division, I am very sure that John was in Ostend in August 1914, in Antwerp in October 1914 and in Gallipoli throughout 1915.
After evacuation from Gallipoli, the RND served on the Western Front, and here it is more difficult to decipher his service, especially as we know he was wounded at some point, as Jo has this very special photo of John at a convalescent home somewhere in the UK.
John Pont is on the extreme right with the hand drawn arrow pointing to his feet.
I have spent some time examining this wonderful photograph, which sadly is not dated. My findings are as follows; - of local interest, the chap with the eye patch looks to be Lincolnshire Regiment and the man behind him with a glove on is Leicestershire Regiment. The chap behind the Leicester with his hand on his shoulder is Durham Light Infantry. The Scots are Gordon and Seaforth Highlanders, there are clear cap badges for the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Light Infantry bugles, Fusilier flaming grenades – the chap in the back row with the superb moustache is RA and to his right (left as we look) that chap is Machine Gun Corps. The man on the left with a sling is a Fusilier (bit blurred) and to his left (right as we look) that fellow is Army Service Corps – the 8 pointed star is always easy to spot. The man in the front row with the girl on his knee is a King’s Own Scottish Borderer. John Pont’s RMLI badge is also visible – a circular laurel wreath with a globe in the centre and the Light Infantry bugle horn at the top.’
Another photo that Jo showed me is John’s landing immigration card at Norfolk, Virginia, USA when he arrived on the SS Wearwood in April 1918. His service record shows him being in the RM Reserve at this time, and I wonder if he was placed on the Reserve following recovery from his wound?
Further research revealed that the merchantman, SS Wearwood - was built in 1912 by John Blumer and Co. Ltd. It had a long history and was eventually torpedoed and sunk in 1944 during World War II.
Therefore, if any sharp eyed TL readers can help decipher John’s service record, particularly the section that appears at the bottom of the page above his main record, or you can identify the hospital shown, please do let me know.
Ch/11384 John Pont, Chatham battalion RMLI. John served from 1900 to 1921.
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It is now 110 years since 1916 dawned, the year of the Irish Easter Uprising, the opening of the Somme offensive and the disastrous diversionary attacks at Gommecourt and Fromelles. For the French army, February would see the start of the German onslaught at Verdun.
I believe that 1916 was a pivotal year in the Great War and although the casualty lists for both sides were huge, the German losses at Verdun and the Somme saw the death of the ‘Old German’ army.
The losses in experienced men would never be made up during the course of the war, although the German army would remain formidable, it would weaken slowly but surely until November 1918, when the entire birth year of young men born in 1900 was committed at the front.
The revisionist historians of the 21st century will argue that this justified Sir Douglas Haig’s war of attrition, but that is a debate for another day.
My mind turned to January 1916 and I thought that I would pen a few lines about the Lincolnshire Regiment and what their battalions were engaged in at the start of the New Year, 1916.
1st and 2nd Battalions
Both regular battalions had been on the Western Front since 1914, having fought in early battles such as Mons and the First Battle of Ypres.
In January 1916 they were holding trenches, rotating through front-line, support and rest positions in the British Expeditionary Force’s sector (northern France/Belgium), conducting trench warfare, routine patrols, repair work and training between tours in the line.
Detailed war diaries for these units record typical trench duties rather than major offensives at this stage of the war.
Officers of the 1st Lincs.
Territorial Battalions (1/4th & 1/5th
1/4th and 1/5th (TF) — Part of 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division
In January 1916, these territorial battalions were not in the trenches on the Western Front. After their serious mauling at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, the previous October, they were part of a division ordered to move from France to Egypt in early January.
7 January 1916: The 46th Division (including 1/4th and 1/5th Lincolns) left Marseilles for Egypt as part of strategic redistribution of forces.
They landed at Alexandria around mid-January, went into camp and acclimatisation duties, then the order was reversed and they re-embarked for France in early February (1/5th subsequently landed in France on 9 February 1916).
1st/5th Lincs Transport section.
Service Battalions (Kitchener New Army units)
10th (Service) Battalion — “Grimsby Chums”
This Kitchener unit was part of the 101st Brigade, 34th Division.
January 1916 was significant for them: the 10th Battalion was arriving in France from training in the UK at this time.
They began their service in the trenches in early February 1916 after acclimatisation and movement forward.
Their first months in France involved learning trench warfare, working parties, fatigue duties, and occasional tours in the line ahead of their first major battle later that year (the Somme).
Officers of the 10th Lincs.
6th (Service) Battalion
Previously evacuated from Gallipoli in late 1915, they arrived in Egypt in January 1916 as part of redeployment after Gallipoli.
Their immediate duties would have been rest, refit, training, and garrison duties in Egypt — not yet committed to the Western Front until later in the year.
7th and 8th (Service) Battalions
Both battalions were on the Western Front having arrived in the summer of 1915. The 8th battalion was particularly hard hit at Loos the previous September.
Officers of the 7th Lincs.
9th and 11th (Reserve) Battalions.
Both battalions were in the UK training new recruits to be drafted to the fighting battalions.
Reserve, Second Line & Home Service Units
2/4th, 2/5th, 3/4th 3/5th, and other non-first line battalions
In January 1916, 2nd Line territorial battalions (2/4th, 2/5th) were still training in the UK in preparation for overseas service (they would go overseas later in the war).
Reserve and training battalions remained at home, processing reinforcements and supplying drafts to front line units.
1st Garrison Battalion.
Was formed in 1915 and moved to India in October where it remained for the duration of the war.
I hope this little piece has given you some food for thought. Any questions? Please do not hesitate to shout out.
Pioneers of the 2nd/4th Battalion.
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The first offering for 2026 from Chris at Colour by CJS is;
Second Lieutenant James Pedraza Stephen
James was born in 1898 in Banff, Scotland, to a father who was a director of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
James was educated Glenalmond College where he was a member of the 1st XV rugby team and Pipe-Major of the School Cadet Corps.
He joined the Royal Flying Corps in May 1916, and after qualifying as a pilot in August 1916 he was posted to 46 Squadron in the UK, where shortly after his arrival, he was injured in a crash on 20th August 1916 following engine failure.
On 19th October 1916 James and his comrades flew to France with 46 Squadron. The squadron was equipped with Nieuport two seaters and flew reconnaissance and photographic missions, until, in the spring of 1917 the squadron converted to the agile single seat Sopwith Pup and became a fighter squadron.
On 23rd May 1917 his patrol became embroiled in combat and James was severely wounded. It is recorded that he managed to land or crash land his aircraft but died of his wounds later that day.
Jimmy Stephen was just 19 years old and he is buried in La Gorgue Communal Cemetery.
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In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 11th January.
1916
9108 Private W A Taylor, 2nd Battalion, aged 23. Buried in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, France.
6088 Lance Sergeant Norman Evans, 1st Garrison Battalion, aged 29. Buried in Calcutta Cemetery, India.
1917
9773 Drummer Edward Archabold Seward, 3rd Battalion, aged 17. Buried in Portsmouth, UK.
19511 Private Thomas Herbert Lenton, 1st Garrison Battalion. Buried in Calcutta Cemetery, India.
1919
33190 Private G R Godfrey, 1st Battalion. Buried in Irchonwelz Communal Cemetery, Belgium.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Don’t forget John Chester’s talk tomorrow evening, 7 for 7.30pm.
Until next week,
All best wishes
Jonathan
© Jonathan D’Hooghe
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