Trench Lincs 26th July 2026

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Good Morning,

I shall be at Heckington Show later today giving Peter a hand on the Lincoln WFA stand, so please come along and say hello.

The last week seems to have passed by very quickly. I spent two days at the cricket watching Notts play and beat Somerset and Warwickshire, one day on summer holiday grandpa duties, attended a 10th birthday party and somehow managed to find time to put this week’s Trench Lincs together!

Speaking of the cricket. At short notice, I shall be at Trent Bridge again this coming Tuesday for a 60th anniversary reunion of a group of old mates who all attended primary school together 60 years ago. Whilst we watch Notts v Leicestershire, I suspect that the beer may flow along with the old stories. We shall be on the upper deck of the Hound Road stand if you are at the game?

Also, the football world cup has ended. I unfortunately did not receive an invitation to the final as Alan Hicks suggested, but England did finish third after the great panic  disappointment against Argentina.

Of course, beating the French once again, this time 6-4, was a worthy way to end and it has been suggested that whilst the Bayeux Tapestry is on display in England this year, that perhaps we should add an additional panel before returning it to Bayeux. Here is a suggestion!

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS.

Next Meeting - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.

Please note that there is NOT a speaker event in August.

Next Event - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch - Western Front Association - SUNDAY, August 16th, 2026 - Annual Memorials Tour led by Branch Chairman, Mike Credland.

Lincoln Branch Chairman Mike Credland will once again be leading our Annual Memorials Tour on Sunday, August 16th, which this year will start from THE LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER, BUNKERS HILL, LINCOLN, LN2 4QT.   Please arrive at 10.45 am for an 11.00 am start.

These tours are always very interesting, calling as they do at a selection of local memorials, chapels and churches where Mike, who as we all know is extremely knowledgeable on the subject, will regale us with stories of their creation, and the life and times of selected people commemorated on them.  Wary as we are of the increased cost of fuel, this year's tour will be more compact than those of previous years, covering fewer miles while still cramming in some interesting locations along the way. Route maps and directions will be issued to participants on the day, and the tour will finish at approximately 2.30 pm.  We very much look forward to seeing you on the day.   

Sutton on Sea.

I have also recently received from Peter Garland, confirmation of the Lincoln WFA meetings until the end of the year.

September 28th - Nick Shelley presents: "Motorcycle dispatch riders in 1914".

October 26th - James Handley presents: "SMS Seydlitz; the ship that refused to die".

November 30th - Dr Scott Lindgren presents: "The Coastal Raids of 1915".

December 3rd (Thursday) - Annual Show n' Tell Evening (in partnership with Friends of Lincoln Tank). Attendees are invited to give 10 minute presentations on items of interest relating to The Great War.  Free event, followed by a Christmas Buffet Supper. 

December 21st - Jonathan D'Hooghe, MA, presents - "The Ottoman Empire in World War 1".

Please note that speaker events are all Monday nights as usual. It is just the shared Show n’ Tell evening with FoLT that will be on a Thursday.

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Finally, the Lincoln WFA Annual Christmas Lunch will be held on Saturday 12th December at the White Hart Hotel - £25pp. A three-course meal excluding drinks.

21 out of 25 seats are already booked. Drop me a note without obligation at this stage, if you would like to attend this always excellent event.

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The next meeting of the Friends of the Lincoln Tank Group will be held on Thursday July 30th at the Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG at 7.30pm.

The speaker on this occasion is Steve Baldwin, whose innovative talk will be ‘A Virtual Tour Around the CWGC Plot at Newport Cemetery, Lincoln.’

"The talk will start with a quick overview of the creation and development of the cemetery itself and its CWGC section, moving on to talk about some of the graves it contains. Some of the “residents” will be mentioned in passing and some others will be covered in more detail. Both World Wars will be covered to some extent but it is impossible to cover everything in the time available. This journey will be one of History, ancient and modern, with a little bit of Geography thrown in."

Everyone welcome, especially new faces. You do not need to be a member of FoLT to attend meetings, but members of FoLT pay just £10 a year and receive £250 of membership benefits from Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archives. It is well worth joining.

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Next Event - Spalding & South Lincs Branch, WFA Thursday August 27th at 7.30pm.

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 main 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, 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.   

August 27th - Nick Shelley presents "Motorcycle dispatch riders in 1914". 

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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch will hold their next speaker event on Friday 14th August 2026 at 7.30pm. The branch meets at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HA and all visitors will be made very welcome.

The speaker on this occasion is Paul Cobb who will talk about the “Attack at Fromelles 19th/20th July 1916.”

This was a disastrous diversionary attack designed to draw German reserves away from the Somme battlefields. The newly arrived Australian 5th Division and the British 61st (2nd South Midland) Division were tasked with an unsupported assault over ground that had been fought over in May 1915. The result, as in 1915 and the other horrendous diversionary attack at Gommecourt on 1st July 1916, was a very bloody fiasco.

I have Paul’s book on my shelves and have visited Fromelles on many occasions. Now famous for the recent discovery of a mass grave of primarily Australian soldiers buried by the Germans after this attack. The CWGC constructed a brand new cemetery, Pheasant Wood, at Fromelles to accommodate the remains of the men discovered here.

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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 28th July at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.

There will be a two part event on this night, starting with:

Paul Robinson - 'Operation Manna'. The airborne food drop into the Netherlands by the RAF in April and May 1945.

This will be followed by:

Brian Riley - Operations Doomsday and Eclipse'. As Britian celebrated VE Day, British 1st Airborne forces were deployed to Norway and Denmark to oversee the surrender of all German forces and to guard against Soviet intentions in Denmark.

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Another group who meet at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG, is the Lincolnshire Aviation Society.

The next meeting of LAS will be held on Thursday 20th August 2026.

Dave Bentley will talk about – “Tornado Operations in Germany 1980’s/1990’s”

Everyone welcome especially new faces.

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The Peterborough Military History Group meets at the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery in Priestgate, Peterborough, PE1 1LF, on the second Wednesday of every month, 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

Everyone welcome, especially new faces.

August 12th David Lister

'Jerry doesn't like UP!'

Germany is often seen as the leader in Rocket technology during the Second World War. In reality, Britain used rockets far more widely and consistently than the Germans. This has largely been ignored and confused by post-war commentators simply due to naming conventions. Find out more, and Peterborough's links (small that they are) to that story.

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We are indebted to Angela White this week who attended the re-dedication of the war memorial at Scothern on the 16th July. Angela kindly sent me this detail from the Reverend’s address.

‘Good morning, and welcome. My name is Reverend Paul Maple, and I’m joined by Reverend Lynne Hawkins; and the Reverend Doctor Terry Nowell, who is representing the Methodist community here in Scothern. Thank you all for being with us today as we gather to rededicate our restored war memorial and, most importantly, to honour the men and women of the First World War whose names it bears.

This memorial was first unveiled on Saturday 8th May 1920 by Colonel J. S. Ruston, Managing Director of Ruston Hornsby in Lincoln and colonel of a Lincolnshire volunteer battalion. It was a bright, sunny afternoon and a large crowd had assembled — villagers, visitors from neighbouring communities, and at least a dozen former soldiers who had served in the war.

The original dedication service that day was a shared act of worship, led jointly by the vicar of St Germain’s and the Wesleyan minister. Together they offered prayers, and the combined choirs of church and chapel led the congregation in two hymns: O God, Our Help in Ages Past and Rock of Ages. The service concluded with the sounding of the Last Post and the presentation of rolls of honour to both church and chapel, which remain on display in each building to this day.

In the years since then, weather and time took their toll. The concrete plinth deteriorated, and the memorial became unstable. On behalf of the village, Scothern Parish Council with the aid of a grant from West Lindsey District Council were able to fund its restoration. During the work, the memorial was rotated ninety degrees so that the names could be read more easily, and three additional names — long deserving of recognition — were added.

Those names are:

Charlotte Fox, a Scothern woman who worked at the Barnbow munitions factory in Leeds. She died of her wounds following an explosion on 5th December 1916 and her body was brought home to Scothern for burial. She rests here in the churchyard beside her parents. [See Colour by CJS below - Ed]

Howitt ‘Dick’ Key Wilkinson, of Scothern Grange, who enlisted in the 11th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment at just 17, later transferring the 10th Battalion. He was killed on 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. His body was never found.

Harry Smalley, also of Scothern, who joined the Royal Navy at 16 in July 1910. He died when his ship, HMS Mary Rose was sunk east of Lerwick while escorting a convoy from Norway in October 1917. His body, too, was never recovered.

These three names now stand alongside the others on Scothern’s roll of honour, and we will remember them — and all the fallen — later in our service.’

There was a good turnout on the day including all of the children from the local primary school.

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Last week I finished with the Colour by CJS picture of the Handford brothers from Southwell who were both killed at the Hohenzollern Redoubt on October 15th 1915. I also mentioned, that by a remarkable coincidence, I received a further piece of work about the Handford boys and their brother in law, Major John Becher.

The author is Simon Wilson and he writes for us; ‘If you head out of Newark and go past the rugby club, you will get to the river at Kelham. On your right you may be lucky enough to see the vague outline of a Civil War star fort that once defended the bridge from rascally Roundheads. On your left there is a large building that has been a monastery and council offices in its time, and is now a hotel. This is where the oil rig workers were billeted during WWII (I'm still preparing that story). Follow the road round and you will come to Southwell.

In the Saracen's Head you can take a drink and imagine what it was like to be Charles I staying there on the night before the Scots handed him over to Parliament. Or you can look round the Minster. It is quite an impressive place, the Nottingham equivalent of Peterborough Cathedral, with a variety of memorials, including one to the 14,500 Poles massacred at Katyn and another to the men of 12 Group, Fighter Command.

My favourite is outside, on the ivy-covered wall. It's a wooden cross, which has seen better days. One day I suppose it will finally fall apart. In the meantime, it is still there and it has a metal plate on it which reads, ‘In memory of Major J P Becher DSO (1/8th Sherwood Foresters) who died on 1.1.16 from wounds received in the attack on the Hohenzollern redoubt 16.10.15. Sans Peur. Sans Reproche.’

Major J P Becher and his original wooden grave marker.

The epigraph Sans Peur et Sans Reproche (Without Fear and Beyond Reproach) was first applied to the Chevalier Bayard, a French knight famous for his chivalry, leadership qualities and great personal courage. It seems incongruous to apply it to a country solicitor from Nottinghamshire, but he too proved to be without fear and beyond reproach. The fuller version appears on Becher's CWGC marker. It is an original wooden grave marker, as used on military graves during and after the Great War.

There were many styles of cross as they were often put up by comrades of the dead men and they made them out of whatever was available. When they were replaced by the neat white markers that we now find so familiar, the families were given the chance of having the wooden ones sent home. Many of the ones that were returned were put in local churches, but Major Becher’s family put his up outside the Minster. So far it has lasted 100 years, but every time I return to look at it, I worry that it will have disintegrated. This isn’t the place to go into the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, but the logistical effort of returning the markers, at a time when they were still recovering bodies by the thousand, must have been tremendous. There were an estimated 10,000 crosses sent back to families so they could have something tangible to link them to the graves of their loved ones. Many of them, of course, are now lost. Many families, of course, were not able to take up the offer as the cost of transport was too much for their fragile budget, or because their loved one had no known grave.

There’s no reason why you should have heard of Becher. [Other than he appeared in TL last week! – Ed] He was a country solicitor from Southwell. I assume he pursued the life of an English provincial gentleman in the years before 1914, possibly playing golf (maybe even chatting to the club professional John Egleshaw, who would die serving in the RNAS in 1917, when he walked into a moving seaplane propeller at Calshot) and probably frightening the local wildlife. His name is mentioned several times in the period before the war, in connection with his legal career and his attendance at various social functions.

He entered the volunteers in 1906 when, on November 1st 1906” John Pickard Becher, Gentleman,” was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th (Nottinghamshire) Volunteer Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) regiment. The Volunteers were the ancestors of the Territorial Force, which was formed in 1908. Becher’s battalion became the 8th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters, based in Newark. He was embodied with the battalion in 1914 and went overseas with them in February 1915. The battalion was quickly in action and in April 1915 he performed the first of several acts of gallantry that would lead to the award of the Distinguished Service Order. It was often given out for non-combat duties, but in Becher's case it was most definitely for gallantry in action.

This was his citation, published in the London Gazette. ‘Conspicuous gallantry and good service on several occasions. On April 4th 1915 at Kemmel when part of his trench was blown in under heavy fire, he personally assisted in repairing the parapet and digging out buried men. On June 15th at Kemmel when part of his trench was blown in by mines, shells and trench mortars, he displayed great gallantry and coolness in reorganising the defences. On July 30th and subsequent days at Ypres he displayed great coolness, cheerfulness and resource under trying circumstances when in temporary command of his battalion.'

Of course, his military career didn’t last long. There are old soldiers, and there are bold soldiers, as they say, but there are few old, bold soldiers. On 13th October 1915, the British attacked the Hohenzollern Redoubt as a follow up to the Battle of Loos. The 1/7th Notts and Derbys (the Robin Hood Rifles) were heavily engaged with Captain Vickers being awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the assault. The 1/8th were also heavily engaged, sending all their battalion bombers in to support the attack. Becher was seriously wounded and lay out in No Man’s Land for 48 hours, only thirty yards from the German Lines. Lt. Colonel G H Fowler, commanding the battalion, was killed in attempting to bring him back to safety. [See below - Ed]

It would take him three months to die. Too badly wounded to be moved, he lay in hospital in France and eventually died of blood poisoning. The battalion history recorded the events like this: 'the more or less fruitless battle of Hohenzollern Redoubt. Though we held a portion of the Redoubt as a result of the fighting, it was of no tactical value, and indeed later on was evacuated or blown up... we can only look back on the whole attack as, through no fault of our own, a dismal failure.”

In January 1916 the Newark Herald reported on the sermon of the Bishop of Southwell, detailing many of Becher's fine qualities as a man and a leader, and telling of him leading the attack in darkness with a lantern strapped to his back to show the troops where to follow. The service concluded with the buglers of the 8th Battalion sounding the Last Post. Both his brothers-in-law, Everard and Basil Hanford were killed in the attack, neither of them having a known grave. All three of them are commemorated on the War Memorial in the Minster and Becher is further commemorated with a stained-glass window. He was also commemorated on the Holy Trinity War Memorial in Southwell, Nottinghamshire Law Society Memorial and the memorial to Employees of Nottinghamshire County Council. The family was not finished yet and further tragedy awaited Gertrude Becher. Having lost her husband and two brothers to the war, she would, in the next war, lose her only son, Squadron Leader John Henry Becher, killed in an Italian bombing raid on RAF HQ in Aden in 1940. He is commemorated in the Minster by a silver cross, and at the time of my visit, by his name written in biro on a poppy cross. His mother really knew more tragedy in her life than anyone should have to endure.’

John Henry Becher.

Thank you Simon for this addition to the story of the Handford brothers and Major John Becher. Colonel G H Fowler who commanded the 8/SF and is mentioned above, is well known to us as Mike Credland is the owner of Fowler’s dress sword, a fortunate find in a local Lincoln antique shop some years ago.

As you may imagine, I have an original copy of the 8th Sherwood Foresters battalion history and I set out the details of all of their deaths as recorded in the battalion history.

At the Hohenzollern Redoubt – “….urged on by the shouts of the Lincolns and Leicesters, the left half of A Company ran through the West Face and began pushing on…..Everard Handford was killed instantaneously by a bullet in the head, whilst numbers of men also fell.”

14th October – “….they received orders to carry water and grenades over the open to the Redoubt. They started shortly after 7.30am., but as it was quite light they were seen immediately, and heavy machine gun and rifle fire was opened on them at once. Basil Handford and several others were killed instantaneously……”

15th October – “By the tragic irony of fate, as the Guards were actually filing into West Face and the relief was nearly complete, Colonel Fowler, who was taking a last glance over the top to see if he could find any trace of Major Becher, the last signs of whom had been the flashes of his lamp, to guide us across to the Redoubt – was killed instantly by a sniper’s bullet. So determined had he been to find Becher, that he had himself gone out during the night with Sergeant Stokes in a gallant but unsuccessful endeavour to find him.”

15th October – “Much to our delight, just before leaving, we heard that Becher had been found. It appears that whilst we were going over to the attack, he had been bombed by the Boches and badly wounded, as also had Daniels, his batman, who was with him. They got separated but managed to crawl away, though Becher eventually had to lie by in an old bit of trench near the German lines. It was from here that, after having been discovered by an officer of the Leicesters, he was eventually rescued on October 15th by Company Sergeant Major Haywood and Lance Sergeant T Martin, who carried him a distance of 200 yards under more or less continuous rifle fire. Alas, however, he was not to recover, and after lingering on for ten weeks, he died in hospital on January 1st 1916. In John Becher the battalion lost one who was beloved by all……He lies buried in the British Cemetery at Abbeville. It was hard fate that struck down John Becher and his two brothers-in-law, Basil and Everard Handford – two of the most promising young officers in the battalion…..”

A terribly sad and tragic story of one family, which, in Becher’s case, would have most likely had a different ending if penicillin was then available!

Major John P Becher.

Everard and Basil Handford, Major Becher's brothers in law.

The 46th Division's attack at the Redoubt - 13th - 15th October 1915. The communication trench dug from the British lines (blue) to the West Face of the Redoubt by men of the 7th and 8th Sherwood Foresters can clearly be seen, marked B - D.

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Staying with the theme of tragic family stories, Stuart Ainsworth was quick off the mark last Sunday with news of another family that has been discovered as losing five sons in the Great War.

Stuart writes; ‘I was particularly interested in your work on bereaved families who lost 5 sons.  Can I point you towards the attached newspaper cutting regarding the Shaw family.’

The Shaw boys were the sons of Mr and Mrs Thomas Shaw of Bournefield Road, New Cross.

Lieutenant Edward John Shaw, 9th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. Killed in action May 3rd 1917 (Same date as his brother Thomas below).

Lance Corporal Henry James Shaw, Royal West Kent Regiment, killed in action 15th September 1916.

Rifleman Thomas Samuel Shaw, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action May 3rd 1917.

Private Jesse Shaw, 13th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. Died of wound at Gallipoli, 1915.

Private James Friend Shaw, 20th County of London Regiment. Killed in action August 31st 1917.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

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Following on from Stuart’s discovery of the Shaw brothers, Arthur Wood kindly shared photos of the headstones and memorials that commemorate the five Smith brothers who were killed, and who appeared on my list of families last week.

John Smith (Served as John Stout ). His name is on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Robert Smith is buried in Dernacourt Communal Cemetery Extension.

Frederick Smith is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.

Alfred Smith is buried in Terlincthun British Cemetery.

George Smith is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme.

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On the same subject of families who lost five sons, Steve Baldwin reminded me of our visit last year to RAF Wittering and Easton on the Hill. Steve notes; ‘As you have recently been looking into families who lost five sons during the Great War, you stirred a memory from one of your outings some time ago.

On this particular outing, one of the places we visited was Easton-on-the-Hill where we met up with some locals in the pub. [Andy Baker and friends – Ed]

Before they escorted us to the village memorial, I got talking to one of these locals about a local family and their losses during the war and he was kind enough to give me a sheet of paper in which was information about the Nicholls brothers. Please see the attached picture’

Well done Steve, I had forgotten about this family too and owe Andy Baker an apology!

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Peter Garland dropped me a line with a question from Neil Bell.

Peter notes; ‘Neil Bell from Beverley recently visited the CWGC Le Touret Military Cemetery at Richebourg-L'Avoue and was surprised to find the graves of some 23 men of the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment with dates of death between 30th July 1916 and 26th August 1916 in the cemetery. On returning home he checked through every book he has on the East Yorkshires to find out what they were doing in that area at that time and found nothing to indicate why they might have been moved from the Somme area.

The Cemetery was begun by the Indian Corps (and in particular by the 2nd Leicesters) in November, 1914, and it was used continuously by Field Ambulances and fighting units until March, 1918. It passed into German hands in April, 1918, and after its recapture a few further burials were made in Plot IV in September and October. The grave of one Officer of the London Regiment was brought in in 1925 from a position on the Estaires-La Bassee road near "Port Arthur", and the 264 Portuguese graves of March, 1917 and April, 1919 were removed to Richebourg-L'Avoue Portuguese National Cemetery after the Armistice.

There are now over 900, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. The graves of three men of the King's Liverpool Regiment, which were destroyed by shell fire, are now represented by special headstones. The Cemetery covers an area of 7,036 square metres, is enclosed by a low brick wall and is a site we have visited on many occasions across the years. 

It also incorporates the highly ornate Le Touret Memorial to the missing. Designed by John Reginald Truelove (1886-1942) and made from stone brought from Nimes, it was unveiled on the 22nd March, 1930, by the British Ambassador to France, Lord Tyrrell, and commemorates the names of 13,479 men who have no known grave, and who fell in the area between October 1914 and September 1915, when the Loos Memorial takes over.’

Thank you for that question and further cemetery details Peter. 

I replied to Peter to say that the answer would be found if the battalion War Diaries have survived the last 100+ years.

Before I reveal the answer to the War Diary conundrum, I think I should explain the relevance of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment. 

These four battalions were all Kitchener New Army ‘Pals’ battalions raised in the city of Hull and they were brigaded together to form the 92nd Brigade of 31st Division.

They are fondly remembered by their battalion nicknames.

The 10th (Service) Battalion (1st Hull Pals) – The Hull Commercials Battalion.

The 11th (Service) Battalion (2nd Hull Pals) – The Tradesmen’s Battalion.

The 12th (Service) Battalion (3rd Hull Pals) – The Sportsmen’s Battalion.

The 13th (Service) Battalion (4th Hull Pals) -  T’Others!

In November 1915, the division sailed for Egypt and spent time guarding the Suez Canal before the division arrived in France in March 1916. The division then played a full part in the fighting on the Western Front, including the Somme, 1st July 1916, (Attack on Serre), the Battle of the Ancre, the horrendously bloody fighting on the Scarpe and at Oppy Wood in 1917, and a major role in the 1918 100 Days Advance to Victory, which saw the division fight at St Quentin, Bapaume, Arras, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Nieppe Forest, La Becque, the capture of Vieux Berquin, the final fighting at Ypres and Tieghem, and at the Armistice, the division was across the River Scheldt and advancing on Everbecque.

The division was so depleted by April 1918, that the 92nd and 93rd Brigades were amalgamated, and by the time the division was disbanded in May 1919, they had suffered 30,091 men dead, wounded and missing.

Returning now to the War Diaries; when I first started researching the Great War, the only available resources were the National Archives and the regimental museums, but with the advent of digitisation and online search engines like Ancestry, life has become easier for the researcher.

When looking for a battalion War Diary, I always start with Ancestry as my subscription gives me access to British War Diaries from the Western Front and Gallipoli. If the diary that you are after has not been digitised, then a search of the National Archives catalogue is required to see if the diary has survived and is available to order.

In the case of the four East Yorkshire battalions listed above, my Ancestry search failed to find the battalion war diaries, but there was a file of some 850 pages for the 92nd Brigade. Clicking on this link, revealed that the individual battalion war diaries were all part of the 850 pages.

As an example, here are the pages of the 10th Battalion War Diary for late July and August 1916, clearly showing that the battalion (and brigade) were in trenches at Richebourg St. Vaast and you can see that they were losing a small number of men on a regular basis. These then are the men who lie today in the Le Touret cemetery.

So hopefully, that has answered Neil’s question. If you have any similar questions or queries, please do not hesitate to shout out and I will always try to help.

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Last Sunday, 19th July, was the 110th anniversary of the disastrous attack at Fromelles which is the subject of the next talk at East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch. On this day the 61st Division and the 5th Australian Division attacked across open ground and suffered some 7,000 casualties within a couple of hours.

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra, released various press releases and one that caught my eye was this one appertaining to Alfred Momplhait, because the image of him is so clear and beautifully detailed – a perfect example of how stunning the old glass plate images can be.

“Today, on the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles, we remember all those who died during the fighting on 19th July 1916.

Among them was Private Alfred Victor de Rohan Momplhait, one of the many Australian soldiers lost in one of the most devastating actions of the First World War - and one whose identity would not be restored for almost a century.

Alfred was born in Alberton, Adelaide, in 1887 to Jean Baptiste Momplhait, a Mauritian who had settled in Adelaide, and Edith Helen Sawtell. He grew up in the Port Adelaide district and was well known for his involvement with St. Paul’s Church and his sporting talent.

After enlisting in the AIF in June 1915, Alfred joined the 32nd Battalion and embarked for overseas service. After arriving in France, the 32nd fought in its first major action at Fromelles on 19th July 1916.

The battle was one of the most devastating actions for Australian forces during the entire war. The battalion suffered 718 casualties, or almost 90% of the battalion's fighting strength, including Private Momplhait. His body was later recovered and identified by the Germans and buried in a mass grave at Pheasant Wood.

The burial site was rediscovered in 2008, containing the bodies of 250 Australian and British soldiers. Through a process of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA information, Alfred Momplhait was one of the 180 soldiers who have been able to be identified and laid to rest at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.”

Image: Studio portrait of 3282 Private Alfred Victor Momplhait. H06484.

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TL readers by and large, are not only very knowledgeable, many of them are well travelled, and this particularly applies to Ray Sellers. Ray writes this week; ‘The attached photos are of the war memorial in Victory Square, in a city/country that most readers will possibly have never heard of! The city is Bishkek, the Capital, and the country is Kyrgyzstan. We have just spent 10 days there.

Once part of the vast Russian/Soviet empire, it became independent in 1991. It’s known as the Switzerland of Asia, as 90 per cent of its territory, is covered by mountains, so it's a scenic gem, and has many unique traditions too! The Memorial is to the 160,000 who died, and the many more thousands of Kyrgys who served, either in the Soviet Army or on the Home Front during WWII.

The country, being at the extreme east of the Soviet empire, and bordering China, became a huge arsenal for the Soviet war effort, being so far away from the front line.’

Thank you Ray for opening our eyes to what is out there!

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We finish once again, in the usual manner, with a finely colourised photo from Chris at Colour by CJS.

In the article above regarding the rededication of Scothern war memorial, it was noted that three names have been added, one of which is Charlotte Fox, a munitions worker who died as a result of the Barnbow disaster in Leeds.

Therefore, it tied in beautifully with this photograph and biography of the girls who perished. Charlotte is No. 14 on the list.

The army could not fight without ammunition. With a large proportion of the male workforce away serving in the military, women took on many traditional male roles in factories and manufacturing businesses.

In the U.K over 800,000 women worked in the munitions industry during the First Word War.

The work was dangerous. It is estimated that about 400 women were killed in accidents or died from chemical poisoning in munition factories.

On 5th December 1916 an explosion in Hut 42 of the No.1 National Shell Filling Factory at Barnbow, Leeds killed 35 women and girls.

Because it was wartime, news of the incident was heavily censored and went largely unreported. Full details were not published until 1925.

The accompanying photos show two of the victims, Sarah Jennings and Olive Yates.

A memorial in Manston Park, Leeds commemorates the workers who lost their lives at the Barnbow site.

Those killed on 5th December 1916 are listed below:

1 Martha Alderson (27)

2 Elsie Martha Atkinson (18)

3 Kate Bainbridge (40)

4 Margaret (Maggie) Barker (17)

5 Helena Beckett (33)

6 Jennir Blackamore

7 Mary Jane Blackstone (35)

8 Polly Booth

9 Mary Elizabeth Carter (22)

10 Katie Chapman (41)

11 Kathleen Violet Eastment (14)

12 Lilian Eva Ellis (19)

13 Jane Few (21)

14 Charlotte Fox (46)

15 Mary Gibson

16 Ada Glassby (30)

17 Eliza Grant (40)

18 Ethel Agnes Jackson (20)

19 Sarah Ann Jennings (38)

20 Emmie Keyworth (26)

21 Edith Levitt

22 Elizabeth Mason

23 Agnes L. Power (36)

24 Gertrude Reid (27)

25 Maria Evelyn Rowley (19)

26 Mary Amelia Schofield (42)

27 Emily Sedgwick

28 Alice Smart

29 Amelia Stewart (28)

30 Edith Sykes (15)

31 Elizabeth West (53)

32 Florence Whiteley (31)

33 Ida Worslop

34 Mary Elizabeth (May) Wortley (38)

35 Olive Yeates (17)

LEST WE FORGET.

In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 26th July.

1915

6/10399 Lance Corporal W H Cummings, 6th Battalion. Remembered at Redoubt Cemetery, Helles, Gallipoli.

6/10064 Private C B Hall.  – Ditto. –

2534 Private Sidney George Inckle, 4th Battalion, aged 18. Buried in Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, Belgium.

2318 Lance Corporal Harold Olden Siggs, 4th Battalion, aged 26.  – Ditto. –

10073 Private Albert Stephenson, 6th Battalion. Remembered on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli.

1916

3/16554 Private T Andrew, 6th Battalion. Buried in Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, France.

6/11513 Private F Hodson, 6th Battalion, aged 20.  – Ditto. –

1467 Private H Parkinson, 10th Battalion. Buried in Mont Huon Cemetery, France.

1917

Twelve men of the regiment are recorded as having died on this day.

1919

64322 Private J Parkes, 1st Battalion, aged 30. Buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, UK.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Hope to see some of you later today at Heckington Show.

Until next week,

All best wishes

Jonathan

E: trenchlincs@gmail.com

www.jonathandhooghe.co.uk

© Jonathan D’Hooghe