Trench Lincs 25th January 2026
- Jan 24
- 19 min read
Good Morning,
Just a week to go now until the end of Dry January, the gin and tonic beckons!
I hope you will enjoy this week’s offerings. There are a number of stories which I hope you will find interesting.
The new season of talks for the Friends of the Lincoln Tank Group kicks off in March and details can be found below. I am very pleased to have been asked to speak at FoLT in October.
The outing to Crich at the end of February promises to be of interest, so I do hope you will consider coming along. Please let me know if you require car share on the day.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank so many of you who turned out last Thursday night at Spalding to hear me speak about General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. The large attendance on such a wet and dirty night was not only appreciated by me, but by the Spalding and South Lincs WFA branch. Thank you for your support.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
Next event - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Monday, February 16th 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.
Phil Watson will present – ‘The Lancers from the Boer war to the Great War.’
Major Phil Watson (Rtd) will talk about the Lancer Regiments of the British Army, their role in the Boer War and how they adapted to twentieth century warfare, as warfare changed due to technological advances.
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Next Meeting - Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, WFA – Thursday 26th February, 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30 pm start - Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT
Major Phil Watson (Rtd) will talk about the Lancer Regiments of the British Army, their role in the Boer War and how they adapted to twentieth century warfare, as warfare changed due to technological advances.
If you miss this talk at Lincoln on the 16th, you can hear it at Spalding on the 26th.
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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 this coming 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.
Lord Chelmsford who led the British invasion of Zululand.
You can also view the update calendar for the first half of 2026 by clicking on this link.
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The Friends of the Lincoln Tank Group commence their 2026 season in March. The venue, as usual, will be the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG with a 7.30pm start. Entry is £5, and everyone is welcome.
Here is the programme of speakers for the year. All Thursdays.
March 12th David Moore The Chinese Labour Corps.
April 30th Jo Costin Cambridgeshire Kitcheners.
June 11th Brian Riley The Simmering Blue: Lincolnshire Aviation in WW1.
July 30th Steve Baldwin The CWG cemetery at Newport, Lincoln – a virtual tour.
Sept 10th Peter Jacobs By His Majesty’s Command – The Military Cross.
Oct 29th Jonathan D’Hooghe The importance of 20th November 1917 at Cambrai – And the characters that made it happen.
Dec 3rd Show and tell evening.
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The first Trench Lincs/Lincoln WFA outing for 2026 will be held, weather permitting, on Friday 27th February.
Everyone and anyone is welcome to attend at 10.45/11.00am at Crich Stand in Derbyshire. This is the memorial park for the Sherwood Foresters. There is an array of memorials on site covering the history of the Foresters from the Great War to their existence today as a battalion of the Mercian Regiment.
Following the First World War, plans were drawn up to construct a memorial tower to recognise the 11,409 men of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment (drawn from the counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire) who had fallen in the Great War.
The chief architect was Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Brewill, who had commanded the 7th Battalion (Robin Hoods) and who unfortunately passed away before the tower was completed. However, his son, Captain L C Brewill, oversaw the completion of the memorial. The official opening of the memorial was held on Monday 6th August 1923, when the tower was opened by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, who had been commissioned into the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment in 1877.
Over the years there have been additional dedications to those who have given their lives for their country.
In 1952 there was a further dedication to the 1,502 members of the Sherwood Foresters regiment who had fallen in World War II.
You will have the opportunity to walk to the top of the memorial tower, where on a clear day you can see well into five counties.
I have emailed the Regimental HQ and they have confirmed that the on-site café will be open that day, subject to the weather. Following a walk around the park and a coffee and snack, I will then lead a tour to the war memorials in Alfreton and Ripley.
Car parking at Crich Stand is £1.50 per car, payable in cash and the postcode to use for the tram museum which is adjacent is DE4 5DP.
So that I can let the park know our numbers, will you please drop me a line if you intend to join the outing. Thank you.
JUST ONE TAKER SO FAR – Please look at your diaries and come along!
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Tying up the loose ends from last week, I was surprised to receive very few comments about who the best soldiers were in the Great War. [See John Pritchard also, below – Ed]
Tony Nutkins very kindly writes; ‘Another bumper edition of Trench Lincs with the usual high standard of contributions, including your own, of course. It is sometimes easy to forget this as the standard remains so superbly high. [You are making me blush Tony – Ed]
I am not one for putting a case forward for "who might, or might not be, the best Army, Corps, Division, Brigade, Battalion etc. in WWI..." there will always be those for one or another but I reckon this paragraph of yours sums it up:
"Therefore, I would suggest that all of the men who served in the Great War did ‘their bit’, and that every battalion would contain good, bad and indifferent soldiers. What really counted was leadership, morale and when properly trained and led, this led to an elan and esprit de corps, that the Germans could not match. When this manpower superiority was combined with the Anglo-American economies supply of materiel, a war winning formula was eventually found".
I would only add that the defeat of Germany on the Western Front was achieved from a standing start with a small British Regular Army in 1914 and the ways and means of fighting our first European War for 100 years all had to be learned from scratch and the equipment, weapons and materiel sourced, designed and manufactured to do so. Similarly, the Empire and Commonwealth contributions. By any stretch of the imagination this was a truly remarkable achievement in a little over four years fighting, what was at the time, the best Army in Europe.
The Germans, with their preoccupation for gathering and recording information of all sorts of usefulness, made lists of who they believed, as the war progressed, were the best of the Allied formations and these changed as the various battles were fought. In mid-1918 the 47th (2nd London) Division was number two on their list and described as a specialist counter attack Division.’
You make a very good point Tony, about the British Army going from a standing start as an Empire ‘police’ force, to a major army that comprehensively defeated the German Army in the space of just four years.
Whilst we know that many terrible decisions were taken by the British High Command during the war, Tony’s point really nails the lie that they were all ‘Butchers and Bunglers.’
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We also talked about books and in particular memoirs last week. Authors like Graves, Blunden, Dunn, Richards and Sassoon, who all served together, and Joe Murray, who so graphically recorded his time in Gallipoli.
I always hope that bringing these wonderful books to the forefront will encourage some TL readers to ‘have a go’ and read them. They are mainly all available now in second hand paperback versions on sites like Amazon and can be acquired cheaply.
Goodbye To All That, by Robert Graves, sparked a recollection for Maureen Connelly who commented; ‘Just a note to say that I first read “Goodbye to all that” as part of my English A Level course. It was by far my favourite book on the syllabus and may well have been the first to spark my interest in the Great War.’
There you have it, reading a book can trigger a spark, which can lead to a lifetimes passion or interest. I hope others will follow suit? Please let me know.
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Whilst on the subject of memoirs, what about something from the German point of view. Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger is a good read, not least of which is his description of the bloody fighting near Croisilles on March 21st 1918, the opening day of the German Spring Offensive.
I find his writing about this day to be very poignant, as it is here on this day, that my ancestor, Lance Corporal (Unpaid!) Herbert D’Hooghe, 7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Robin Hoods) was severely wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans.
I have previously written; ‘Herbert, by now promoted to unpaid Lance Corporal, faced the German onslaught bravely, but the battalion was swiftly overrun and took more casualties on this day than did any other British battalion on the opening day of the German Spring Offensive.
The Robin Hoods were approximately 660 strong on the morning of 21st March 1918 and during the fighting that morning, 171 men and officers were killed and 470 were wounded and/or taken prisoner, including the Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel Toller and Lance Corporal Herbert D’Hooghe. King George V inspected the remnants of the battalion a few days later and only 14 men answered the roll call.
The International Red Cross records for British Prisoners of War show that Herbert was serving with 15 Platoon of D Company and that he was wounded in the face and shoulder when taken prisoner near Croiselles. His address was given as 163 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham. He arrived at a POW camp at Limburg directly from the front.
Herbert suffered nearly nine months in captivity but appears upon a list of repatriated prisoners dated 3rd December 1918. The German medical authorities will have treated his wounds after his capture, but nevertheless, Herbert was discharged from the army on 29th April 1919 under King’s Regulations 392 (xvi) ‘No Longer Physically Fit For Active Service’, and awarded a Silver War Badge for his wounds received as well as the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Herbert D'Hooghe's Red Cross POW record. It really is amazing what is available online!
The German prison camp record for Herbert.
List of prisoners arriving back at Dover 3rd December 1918.
163 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham as it is today. Herbert's home back in 1918/19.
Junger’s words are powerful; ‘"The trench battle is the bloodiest, wildest, most brutal battle of all...
Of all the exciting moments of war, none is as powerful as the meeting of two storm troop leaders in the narrow trench...
There is no mercy there, no going back, the blood speaks from a squeaky cry of appreciation ripping from the chest like a nightmare. "
Captain Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), soldier and writer, lived to be 103, and he was the last living recipient of the German Pour le Merite, awarded for personal bravery in World War I.’
Ernst Junger.
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Matt Colley, not content with having been one of the main driving forces behind the recent Peterborough Old Contemptibles exhibition, has been carrying on his ongoing work to help Andrew Thornton to compile a full register of all men who qualified to be an OC.
As part of this ongoing work, Matt sent me this document – click the link below – which has come from a Lincoln church. Matt writes; ‘Look what I have received from St Peter’s at Gowts Church.
I can feel another field visit coming on!
It is a fascinating snap shot in time, showing the names of men who were attendees at the Lincoln OC branch and what happened to them. As you can see, by January 1977, there were very few men still alive, although there was a reasonable list of widows still going strong.
Thank you Matt for your excellent ongoing work. To that end, Matt, myself and Andrew Thornton have a very special visit in the diary for February 20th, all will be revealed soon.
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One of TL’s prolific reporters, Melvyn Dobbs, has dusted off the Christmas cobwebs and is out and about once again for us.
Melvyn notes; ‘With reference to a previous Trench Lincs regarding missing names on War Memorials, I happened to be in Warwickshire when a local paper mentioned that four names had added to a War Memorial within in a church not too far from where I was staying.
So off I went to explore the Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels at Claverdon.
The first pictures show the original plaques for WWI and WWII names, the memorial window and the addition of a new plaque for the four additional names of men who made the ultimate sacrifice during WWI.'
Original WWI plaque.
Claverdon WWI memorial window.
The four additional WWI names that have been added.
Plaque to the men of Claverdon who fell in the 39-45 conflict.
Melvin continues; 'Whilst in the Church, I purchased a book titled Lest We Forget, (first Edition 2024). In remembrance of the men from Claverdon who gave their lives for their country in three wars, Afghanistan, WWII and WWI.
The biographies are presented in three sections. The first deals with the Afghanistan War 2001-21, the second deals with the four men who died in WWII, and the third section deals with the twelve men who died in WWI. Of these, eight are commemorated on the original war memorial plaque within the Church, while the additional four have been identified during the research for the book, and now have a new plaque.
What really struck me was a page within the book listing the occupations of Claverdon's agricultural community during the turn of the century (taken from the 1891 Census).
I think all those of us of my age and older may just about remember some villages/parishes like this or very similar. Here, the population found employment locally, but after the industrialisation of farming many of those jobs disappeared as did those of servitude, which became socially unacceptable to many, and unaffordable for the gentry.
Having said that, my mother was a housemaid after leaving school and during WWII until she met my father after he came into the area after Dunkirk...but that’s another story for another day!’
The occupations of the Claverdon villagers in 1891.
Sergeant Collard, who died in 1916, lies in the churchyard.
As does Private Lewis of the Parachute Regiment who died in 2011.
Thank you Melvin for this very interesting visit. Our churches really are worth visiting.
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John Pritchard can always be relied upon to turn up something of interest for us, and this week he is at it again.
John comments; ‘What a nice way to spend some time learning history and having the grey cells challenged in the article on "who was the best soldier", Australians or New Zealanders?
I have always thought that all of the "allied" troops who were involved in the Great War from the Commonwealth, had their various and different qualities in giving their very best, and sacrificing so many lives, in the common cause of defeating the enemy and making this world a much better place.
Anyhow, I do have a real "soft spot" for Sir John Monash, and what he achieved in so many ways with the Australian Army.
I have been searching through far too many books stacked on shelves in my "office" to find a book I brought in a bookshop, in Adelaide!
Books are expensive as they are taxed by the government - I paid $30 AD (£15) which I thought was quite reasonable, just so long as it did not add too much weight to the suitcase for the return flight home.
It is a huge volume which I have to say I have started reading but, not yet reached the last page!
A picture attached of the book, also, a picture of the Monash Memorial Hall - in Monash, a small settlement I have passed through on one of the many holidays enjoyed in South Australia.
One blink and you could have missed this place.’
John also sent me this photograph this week, as did James Handley, that they both came across online. It is the Mablethorpe Primary School Old Boys memorial.
The fact that it now appears to be in a shop surprised me, so I carried out some research. On the War Memorials Online website, the memorial is listed as having been moved following the closure of the school in 2019.
There is an appeal dated 2019 for news of its current location, and another note from the War Memorials Trust, dated October 2025 saying that it is in their current casework.
John’s online link that he sent me suggests that the memorial has been installed in a new Budgens supermarket, which I assume has been built on the site of the old school. James, however, thinks that the old school building has been converted into a supermarket.
Anyway, I have submitted the new photo and a note about Budgens to the WMO website and hopefully it will now be recorded as being safe once again.
The memorial is a large marble tablet with 168 names of ex-pupils on it, of which 150 men survived the war.
Thank you for flagging this Lincolnshire 'lost' memorial up John and James.
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Trench Lincs readers from the Lincoln area and further afield, are aware of the importance of Lincoln to the development of the tank, and indeed, the importance of the tank to Lincoln. Therefore, we are indebted this week to my old mate in Shetland, Jon Sandison, who posted this wonderful piece of tank based propaganda from December 1916. It is the front cover of The Sphere, a wartime periodical that quoted a report from The Times newspaper, and illustrated it so well in this ‘tank sweeps all before it’ wonderful drawing.
Good news at the end of 1916 was in short supply following some 600,000 casualties on the Somme that year, but the introduction of the tank in September and illustrations like the one below, gave a morale boost to the Home Front as the third Christmas of the war loomed into view, a Christmas that would be marked in many homes by an empty chair or two.
"The Sphere", Saturday, December 2nd 1916.
A BRITISH ARMOURED TANK APPROACHING A GERMAN TRENCH.
“The Germans,” says a “Times” correspondent, “have now had fair opportunities of seeing something of the animals. More than one has lain crippled out between the lines, where the enemy has been able on the one side, as we were able on the other, to creep up and examine it, always subject to the possibility of being shot or bombed in the operation. No ‘tank,’ however, has fallen into the enemy’s hands.
The Germans have been able to reach the beast and fondle it, but they have not been able to persuade one to follow them home. Many thousands, also, have seen the things coming into battle, and they must have been a terrifying sight to those who saw them first dimly outlined in the grey light of dawn, spitting fire and death as they came. One can pity even Germans who only saw the vague horror moving against them and were killed by it before they knew what it was that killed them.”
Proper John Bull style propaganda, with the enemy in complete disarray.
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Names that you will probably all recognise have two things in common. Festubert, Richebourg, Laventie, Aubers, Fleurbaix, Bois Grenier and Armentieres are all in French Flanders, that is just south of the Franco-Belgian border and all were elements of the Western Front manned by the British in January 1915, one hundred and eleven years ago.
By January 1915, the Western Front had settled down into static trench warfare and we think of deep trenches and even deeper dug outs, especially as constructed by the Germans in the chalk to be found on the Somme.
Deep German dugout on the Somme near Fricourt. Note how many steps down there were.
Deep German trenches on the Somme near Thiepval. Note the communication trenches linking the first and second lines.
However, in French Flanders, especially in the winter, the water table was so high that it was impossible to dig trenches very deeply before you hit water and ended up with a flooded trench and all of the associated problems of collapsing trench walls and of course, discomfort for the men, including the terrible illness that was ‘trench foot’.
Many British soldiers were supplied with Wellington Boots or galoshes, in an attempt to relieve the discomfort and stop trench foot from setting in in the first place.
So, what was the answer? From the autumn of 1914, as the trench lines became established, trenches were erected in French Flanders as breastworks, that is above ground barricades of sand bags and timber. The front cover of Mud, Blood and Determination shows soldiers of the 46th Division running the gauntlet of German snipers by dashing past a gap in the sandbagged trench wall.
Eventually, these sandbag trench walls could be as much as 15 or 20 feet wide and protected by wide belts of barbed wire, almost impossible for attacking troops to assault, as machine gun positions were loop holed into the sandbag wall.
It was attacking German positions like those described above, that caused such grievous casualties for the men of the BEF in May 1915 at Aubers and Festubert. German strongpoints such as the ‘Sugar Loaf’ and ‘The Boar’s Head’ proved impossible to approach, never mind attack.
Where excavation was attempted, the winter rain made life in the trenches almost unbearable and this colourised photograph of Colonel Philip Robertson, CO of the 1st Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), attempting to visit his men in the front line in January 1915 at Bois Grenier, proves the point.
January 1915
Image: © IWM (Q 51569) Photo by Lt. Robert Money
Lieutenant Robert Cotton Money, 1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), working a pump in a communication trench between HQ and "C" Company, Bois Grenier.
Image: © IWM (Q 51568) (photo maybe by Col. Robertson? - Did they take turns with the camera? Quite likely.)
Whilst most British battlefield visitors to the Western Front concentrate on the Somme and the Ypres Salient, these less visited 1915 battlefields are well worth a trip. The ground is mainly very flat and open, and although it is all heavily cultivated today, it is still possible to walk and follow tracks that appear on 1915 maps and which still exist today.
If a trip appeals, please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any help in putting an itinerary together.
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We finish as usual with another excellent picture from Chris at Colour by CJS, this week a Victoria Cross winner that we have not covered before.
Private Patrick Bugden VC.
Patrick was born in South Gundurimba, New South Wales, Australia. His father was a farmer and died when Patrick was still a child, aged six. His mother re-married and after leaving school Patrick worked in a Hotel owned by his step-father.
Like many young men in search of adventure, Patrick enlisted in May 1916 in Brisbane, and arrived in the UK in December of that year.
He was deployed to France in January 1917, where he served with 31st Battalion A.I.F and saw his first action in the 3rd Battle of Ypres.
For his conduct between 26th and 28th September 1917 Patrick Bugden was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
The citation published in the London Gazette read:
"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when, on two occasions, our advance was temporarily held up by strongly defended pill boxes. Private Bugden, in the face of devastating fire from machine guns, gallantly led small parties to attack these strong points, and, successfully silencing the machine guns with bombs, captured the garrison at the point of the bayonet.
On another occasion, when a Corporal, who had become detached from his company, had been captured and was being taken to the rear by the enemy, Private Bugden, single-handed, rushed to the rescue of his comrade, shot one enemy, and bayonetted the remaining two, thus releasing the Corporal.
On five occasions, he rescued wounded men under intense shell and machine gun fire, showing an utter contempt and disregard for danger. Always foremost in volunteering for any dangerous mission, it was during the execution of one of these missions that this gallant soldier was killed."
Patrick Bugden was 20 years old, and today, he lies in Hooge Crater Cemetery on the Menin Road, just east of Ypres. Patrick’s Victoria Cross can be viewed at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane.
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In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 25th January.
1916
11880 Private Robert Henry Armstrong, 8th Battalion, aged 18. Buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
1917
Second Lieutenant John William Hooper Labett**, 9th Battalion, attached to 9th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment. Remembered on the Basra Memorial, Iraq. [See below – Ed]
1918
Thirteen men of the regiment are recorded as having died on this day.
1921
16957 Private A Handford, Depot, aged 47. Buried in Adwick Le Street Cemetery, UK.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
** Second Lieutenant John William Hooper Labett was born in 1894 in Belize, British Honduras and was the son of Frederick Henry Hooper (a Wesleyan Preacher) and Ines Bertha Labbett (who died 1st February 1917 aged 46, a week after her son). His father Frederick was born in 1860 in New Brompton in Kent and his mother Ines Bertha was born in 1870 in Belize, British Honduras.
According to the 1911 census they had been married for 18 years (C 1893) and had 4 children, sadly one of whom had died in infancy, their three surviving children were John William Hooper b1894 in Belize, Bertha Evelyn b 1898 in Cornwall and Sydney Bevan b1899 in Llanelli, Camarthenshire. In the 1911 census the family are living at 169 Dudley Road, Grantham and is shown as Frederick aged 51 head of the family a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he is living with his wife Ines Bertha aged 41 and their three children, John William Hooper 17, an apprentice furniture upholsterer, Bertha Evelyn 13, a scholar, and Sydney Bevan 13, also a scholar.
John William Hooper Labbett was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant on 10th March 1915 into the 9th battalion Lincolnshire Regiment. He went out to Mesopotamia on 4th August 1916 and was attached to the 9th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment when he was killed in action. His name is commemorated on the Basra Memorial in Iraq.
His brother Sydney Bevan Labbett served during the Great War, he served in the Royal Navy and was born on 4th March 1899 and joined the Navy as a boy entrant on 31st December 1916, he enlisted for 12 years-service on his 18th birthday 4th March 1917. He served throughout the war and was discharged on 20th March 1920.
Article published 2nd February 1917 in the Nottingham Evening Post “SOUTHWELL MINISTER'S DOUBLE BEREAVEMENT. “The Rev. F. H. H. Labbett, Wesleyan minister at Southwell, has sustained a poignantly sad double bereavement. “He received the news on Thursday morning [1st February 1917] that his son, Lieut. Labbett, had been killed in action on the Tigris. At the time the young officer's mother was seriously ill, and the news was kept from her. Although she had only been ill since Monday pneumonia set in and death took place on Thursday night following a seizure.”
John Labett’s name is on this memorial in Southwell’s Wesleyan church.
The Basra War Memorial. Sadly, somewhat neglected over the last 30 years due to the troubles. Photo courtesy of Liam Kelly.
I hope you all have a good week, and I also hope that you will consider making up a car load to come to Crich next month.
Until next week,
All best wishes
Jonathan
© Jonathan D’Hooghe
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