Welcome to March, and hopefully the arrival of some better weather will allow more outdoor activities, visits, gardening or whatever else floats your boat!
This last week has been a real nuisance with regard to my car and the engine management system – see below, we are so used now to reliability in modern cars, that when something goes wrong, not only is it a surprise, it is a real inconvenience too.
However, I hope you all find something to enjoy in Trench Lincs this week?
FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
Please find details for the next meeting of the Lincoln and North Lincs WFA Branch to be held at 7.30pm on Monday March 31st.
The speaker, Andrew Moody, will present - “The Great War on the Silent Screen”.
The venue as ever will be the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.
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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA Branch meets again on Friday 14th March when Simon Keable Elliott will speak about ‘Robert Keable and the South African Native Labour Corps.’
The talk will be held in St. Peter’s Church Rooms, Church Street, Ruddington, Nottingham, NG11 6HA with a start time of 7.30pm. Everyone welcome.
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The Spalding and South Lincolnshire WFA Branch will next meet on Thursday 28th March.
The venue is Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT with a start time of 7.30pm.
The speaker, Steve Warburton will present - “First In, Last Out: Brig-Gen C H T Lucas (87th Brigade, 29th Division) at Gallipoli”.
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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 25th March, at Leadenham Village Hall with a start time of 7.30pm.
This evening will be a Navy night with two speakers.
Presentation: Herbert Cheffings, leading seaman – based on the memoirs of this local man who took part in the Battle of Jutland and operations in Somaliland - by Alison Gibson.
Presentation: HMS Hermes and her role in the Fleet Air Arm 1959-1984, by Simon Hudson.
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Next month will see the 2025 series of lectures at the Friends of the Lincoln tank Group start once again.
All meetings on a Thursday night at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, with a 7.30pm start time.
March 13th - Alwyn Killingsworth will speak about "Lt. Bond and tank 743."
"The 15th September 1916, the date on which tanks were first ever used in modern warfare. This is the story of one of the tank commanders who fought on that day. Leonard Charles Bond was the commander of tank 743 at the battle of Flers. Although born in Gravesend Kent, there is a very strong Lincolnshire connection to his story as, indeed, there is to the battle of Flers itself. The presentation will show what the contribution Leonard, and tank 743, had to the battle and how he went on to have a full military career. Oh and yes he had two brothers who also had distinguished WW1 service and whose stories will be touched on."
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Andy Blow has been in touch, and I am delighted to let you all have details of his and Richard Pullen’s dates for Tank Tour Two when Richard Pullen and Andy deliver the story of the Lincoln tanks with old film and images.
On Friday night, March 14, we will be at Nettleham Village Hall for an event we are promoting with kind help from the Hall committee. Tickets £10. In each case ticketing is via Eventbrite.
Click here for Nettleham tickets. Thank you.’
[The event at Newark on 12th March is now SOLD OUT]
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I spotted this event being held at Thoresby in north Notts on 15th March. There is an opportunity to view relics from the battlefield at Waterloo and speak to the archaeologists involved in the dig. Thoresby is also the home of the Lancers museum, the sister museum to the Lancers museum that a party of us visited in Derby last Wednesday – see my report below.
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The next outing for those in the Lincoln area, although everyone is welcome who wants to make the journey, will be to the Newark Air Museum, Drove Lane, Newark, NG24 2NY. Home Click the link to see the museum website.
The date is Wednesday 26th March at 10.30am. The cost of entry is £11.50 or £10.50 for the over 65’s. There is a café, shop and toilet facilities on site, and for the nimble visitor, there will be the chance to climb inside some of the planes including the Vulcan and Shackleton.
As it is a booked group visit, I have to confirm the numbers prior to the date, so please let me know if you will be attending. Thank you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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Last week, I asked who this American officer, pictured by a Renault FT-17 tank was? He made a name for himself in WWI as a ‘go get ‘em’ thrusting officer but perhaps became more famous for his exploits in WWII.
Peter Garland, Richard Godson, Frank East, Matt Colley, Ed Newby, Tim Chamberlin, Tony Nutkins and others all came up with the correct answer – George S Patton, he of the pearl handled revolver fame.
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Tidying up the loose ends from last week, John Pritchard kindly sent me this photo of York’s Boer War memorial which stands near the Minster, and I have to admit that I missed it. Thank you John for the inscription which reads; "Remember those loyal and gallant soldiers and sailors of the county of York who fell fighting for their country's honour in South Africa 1899 to 1902 and whose names are inscribed on this cross erected by their fellow Yorkshiremen. AD 1905".
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Dave Burkitt and Peter Garland both wrote in to say that Mallard still holds the fastest steam engine title and Peter notes; ‘Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 Pacific, "Mallard", still holds the record of the world’s fastest steam locomotive having reached 126 mph down Stoke Bank, near Grantham, between Little Bytham and Essendine at milepost 90 1/4 on 3rd July, 1938, with a train of 7 coaches weighing 240 tonnes! Driver Joseph Duddington- known to "push" locos to the limit, which is why the London & North Eastern Railway chose him for the record attempt - later said he thought 130 mph might have been achieved had he not had to slow for a set of junctions at Essendine. There have been competing claims since, especially from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in America, but none have been verified, and all the claimants hauled lighter trains, so "Mallard's" record still holds.’
Peter also pointed out that Stephenson’s Rocket at the York Rail museum is actually a replica with the original being on display at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, County Durham, alongside two other early locomotives; Timothy Hackworth's "Sans Pareil" - another Rainhill Trials entrant - and George Stephenson’s "Locomotive No.1" which hauled the world’s first public passenger train on the Stockton to Darlington Railway in September, 1825.
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And Ray Sellers tipped me off and writes; ‘For your information, when you go to York again, apart from the Army/Dragoon Guards Museum in Tower Street which you mentioned, there is also the Kohima Museum located in the Imphal Barracks. I can highly recommend both. There is also a Kohima memorial within the grounds of York Minster. Also regarding Alec Cranswick from last week, our readers may be interested in a book entitled Pathfinder Cranswick by Michael Cumming.’
[I have already had a number of folks contact me to say they would like a day in York in the near future, so if you want to be kept in the loop regarding the date of the next visit, please do drop me a line – Ed]
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You will recall that David Gray from the Peterborough Military History Group kindly sent in the story last Sunday about Henry Hodson who drowned after being jilted virtually at the altar by a young lady that he had fallen for.
David then dropped me a line thus; ‘Thanks again for a very interesting 'Trench Lincs'. Thanks also for including my piece about Henry Hodson and also for mentioning the PMHG once more.
The article on the death of Sidney Dawe was fascinating. One can't help thinking about conspiracy theories in relation to some sort of cover up, and I suspect, after reading all of the clues you point out, that if this happened today, the powers that be would have arrived at a very different verdict.
Your cathedral visit in York has inspired me to visit Peterborough Cathedral and take photos of all the military memorials. They range from the Boer War to modern day, and I bet with a little research a great many interesting stories could come out.’
David then continued; ‘I forgot to mention how shocked I was when reading in Trench Lincs what, in context, would have been only a tiny incident at the time.
I really cannot think of many more cowardly acts than shooting dead an eight-year old boy from a moving army lorry. If he survived, I hope that man suffered with his conscience for the rest of his long life.’
This was in reference to Nadine’s latest snippet from Ronse in Belgium. I therefore, put Nadine in touch with David, and Nadine replied to David; ‘Thank you for your comment on Eric’s tragic death on the day my town Ronse was liberated.
I agree with you, because the very same thought crossed my mind when years ago I first heard of the fate of that poor little boy who only wanted to see the British Army pass by on that glorious day in September 1944. I hoped that German would have lived for a very long time, being reminded of what he did every single second of his miserable life.
Eric was the second civilian victim that day. A few minutes before Eric, a housewife was killed by a German, again from a lorry. That housewife had just done her laundry and she was hanging sheets on the washing line outside when the lorry passed. Unfortunately for her, the sheets were white as all sheets were back then. Whether it was the same sniper or not, we don’t know. But it goes without saying that only a cold blooded murderer and a coward can kill a defenceless and innocent boy and a housewife.
I will take a photo for you of the house where Eric lived and where he was killed on the pavement.
As Jonathan already mentioned, in WWI, my town was a garrison town under German occupation.
Situated away from the front, Ronse doesn’t boast a famous battle field nor a large CWGC cemetery but the town has many buildings which played an important part during the Great War and many stories of ordinary people who lived under constant fear but carried on regardless. These stories offer us a fantastic view on life under occupation. They need to be told lest we forget and I consider it an honour to share them with you in Trench Lincs, for which we are greatly indebted to my good friend Jonathan.
And I end by saying that in my turn I was very touched by your story of the poor soldier who was ditched by his bride to be. That story shows that sadness and tragedy is not limited to battle but can also be found closer to home. Thank you for sharing it with us all,’
As David said in his very first email to me, ‘Us like minded folk need to stick together.’ And I am sure we will.
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My featured colourised photo this week from CJS is an interesting character who lived life to the full, but gave his all towards the end of the war.
Captain Francis Leopold Mond
Francis was born in 1896. His family home was in Storrington, Sussex. He was the eldest of five siblings, and his father was a prominent chemical engineer.
He was educated at Rugby School and Peterhouse College, Cambridge, and joined the army in July 1914 just a month before the outbreak of the First World War. He was granted a commission in the 6th London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, before he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in February 1915. After gaining his pilot wings he was posted to France in June 1915.
After service in France he spent 18 months in a non-operational posting at the Air Board, but he eventually returned to the front on 3rd April 1918 joining 57 Squadron.
The unit were equipped with the excellent DH4 aircraft and flew long-distance reconnaissance, bombing and photography missions.
On the morning of 15th May 1918 he took part in a raid on an ammunition dump at Bapaume, on the Somme, where his aircraft was attacked by several enemy aircraft and shot down. It crashed in No Man’s Land and Francis and his Canadian observer Lt Edgar Martyn were both killed. An Australian officer, Lt A H Hill, earned a Military Cross for creeping out under fire and retrieving the bodies.
The two comrades are buried next to each other in Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No.2.
Francis Mond was just 22 years old.
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As promised last Sunday, here are some snaps from the interior of York Minster. Like all large cathedrals, there are many tablets and plaques of interest covering many eras of history, including the Indian Mutiny, the Crimean War, the Boer War and the World Wars. From the military perspective, York Minster contains three dedicated regimental chapels for the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the York and Lancaster Regiment and the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment. In addition, there are noticeable tablets commemorating individuals and organisations like the Freemasons.
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As I am sure you all know by now, I am particularly interested by the history of the Sherwood Foresters battalions in the Great War, especially the 7th Battalion, The Robin Hoods, who recruited in the city of Nottingham.
One of their Territorial sister battalions in 46th Division was the 6th, ‘The Wild Men of the Peak’ – whose recruiting area was Chesterfield, Buxton, Glossop, Chapel en le Frith etc.
Therefore, imagine my great delight when I was tipped off by Bill Pinfold that a chap would contact me looking for information and help regarding his ancestors who all served in the 6th Battalion.
The email duly arrived and attached were the following four photos, which I think are superb, although I could do with some second thoughts on the musician’s cap badge – I cannot find anything similar in my military reference books. Could it be a ‘fancy’ civilian band uniform? Or am I missing the obvious?
The email and photos came from Morgan Walters, who I assume, was named after one of the men in the pictures, Morgan Richard Walters and his two brothers, Frank and Maurice.
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I had a quick look up for surviving records, and whilst all three men have a Medal Index Card, only Frank’s Service Record has survived.
Here is a summary of my reply to Morgan; ‘Private 2675 Morgan Walters arrived in France on 28th February 1915 as a member of the 6th Battalion (Territorial Force). The 6th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, which recruited in the Peak District, served in 46th (North Midland) Division and they were the first full Territorial Force Division to arrive on the Western Front in February 1915.
As you know, they served east of Ypres in the Sanctuary Wood area and on The Bluff, before being withdrawn in preparation for the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 13th October 1915. At some point, either through illness (Trench Foot – you believe) or due to wounds, Morgan was discharged from active service on 12th April 1916. I have attached his Medal Index Card which shows that he was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.
I could not find any pages of a surviving Service Record for Morgan.
Private 1377 Frank Walters also served in the 6th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters, and also served in the Royal Engineers. I have attached his Medal Index Card too, but in Frank’s case, a number of pages of his service record have survived. They are somewhat damaged and not always easy to read but I list below what I was able to discover.
Frank enlisted in the army in March 1911 aged just 17. He was mobilised on 5th August 1914, the day after war was declared. With his brother, Morgan, he arrived in France on 28th February 1915. Just before the fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Frank was hospitalised at 23rd General Hospital at Etaples, near Boulogne on 16th September 1915.
At the hospital it was noted that he was admitted due to Trench Foot but that he was also suffering from “Disorderly action of the heart caused by shock and exposure in trenches. Commenced October 1915” – his heart rate was noted as being 104. Frank was evacuated back to the UK on 26th November 1915 and he remained in the UK until 10th May 1917. During this time, he was hospitalised once again between 11th February 1916 and 4th March 1916, suffering from Scabies.
On 29th February 1917, Frank was transferred to 323rd Quarry Company Royal Engineers as WR10443 and later 260233. Frank served with the Royal Engineers until demobilised on 7th February 1919. The 323rd Quarry Company was formed at Buxton and landed in France at Le Havre on 11th/12th May 1917 – they would have quarried stone for road construction I believe. The Company consisted of 4 officers and 264 men and during this time, Frank was promoted to Lance Corporal and was awarded additional pay for his skilled proficiency.
Frank was also awarded the trio of Great War Medals – The 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.
Life in civvy street obviously didn’t suit Frank, or maybe there were no jobs available, but on 12th July 1921, Frank re-enlisted back into the 6th Battalion Foresters as Private 4964912.
I turn now to Maurice. The best record match I could find is that of Private 60594 Maurice C Walters. Maurice also served with the Foresters and I have attached his Medal Index Card too. Unfortunately, I could not find anything else about Maurice, other than to say that his Medal Index Card reveals that he did not claim his medals and that they were returned under King’s Regulations 1743.’
If you would like any help in researching your ancestors Great War records please let me know.
On this subject, please note that prior to the next WFA meeting in Lincoln at the Royal Naval Club on 31st March, I have arranged with the management to be able to log onto their internet at 6.30pm to give Steve Baldwin a lesson in trawling the available records that are on-line.
If anyone else wants to listen in to this session with Steve, please let me know.
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We have two family weddings coming up in June of this year and as you may expect, we are all very excited, and my wife is already looking out for a suitable dress (or two!). To this end, she wanted to visit a couple of shops in both Oakham and Stamford.
We visited Oakham this last week and will be in Stamford next week. What better opportunity for me to combine dress shopping with visiting the historical attractions of each town at the same time.
Oakham is the county town of the historical small county of Rutland, although current local government reorganisation plans may see Rutland disappear once again to be combined with Leicestershire.
Nevertheless, it is a lovely town to visit and we started at the site of what was once Oakham Castle. The only part of the castle, other than its outer walls, that survives to this day is the Great Hall.
Oakham Castle Click the link.
The Great Hall is of the late Norman period and was built between 1180 and 1190. Until relatively recently, it was also the site of the Rutland County Court but the main attraction is the collection of horseshoes that adorn the wall.
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I spoke with one of the guides on site and learnt that every time a member of royalty or the peerage visits Oakham for the first time, they present the town with a horseshoe. The earliest horseshoe on display dates from Edward IV’s visit in 1470 and the newest is from 2024, when Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, now the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh visited Oakham last year.
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The names on display are a remarkable array of the great titled families of Britain, including the late Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, who have visited over the centuries. Of relevant Great War interest, was the horseshoe from Field Marshal Sir John French, later the Earl of Ypres, who visited in 1915.
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Also on display in the Great Hall is the Great War memorial to the 48 men of A Squadron, the Leicestershire Yeomanry, who fell in the service of their country between 1914-18. A Squadron was centred on Melton Mowbray but had Drill Stations at Uppingham, Rearsby, Harby and Oakham, and of the 48 men from this Squadron that died in the war, 22 of them fell on the 13th May 1915 near Frezenberg during the 2nd Battle of Ypres, when it was all hands to the pump, and cavalrymen were dismounted and rushed into the trenches to keep the Germans back following their first use of gas the previous month.
Two Squadrons of the Leicestershire Yeomanry held their sector of the front line just north of Bellewaarde Lake and the village of Hooge on the Menin Road. Under severe pressure, they were forced back, but a third Squadron of the Leicestershire Yeomanry, in a support trench 300 yards to the rear, brought such a rate of rifle fire to bear on the Germans that their advance was stopped and they were unable to exploit their earlier success.
I also found time to visit All Saints Church, but was unable to enter, as the church is currently closed due to renovation work taking place. However, the town’s memorial stands proudly in the churchyard.
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Then it was off to the dress shops! Anyway, I am looking forward to Stamford next week.
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We have all become accustomed to modern cars being very reliable, but in many cases, they are now ‘too clever’ by half with everything being electronic and computerised and mechanics have now become technicians.
Therefore, it has come as a surprise to be ‘carless’ for two days this last week whilst the technicians attempted to trace an engine management system fault. Fortunately, my good mate, Robin Sayer, has been on hand to pick me up and run me around and on Wednesday last, we headed for the little known church of All Saints at Greetwell. I spied this church, which is accessed down a private gated road, when I attended the service at Cherry Willingham three Sundays ago.
As I expected, the church was locked, but records show that there are two war graves in the churchyard. One was easy to find, being a standard CWGC headstone, but the second was a private headstone set in a Marshall family plot.
Charles Marshall had emigrated to Canada prior to 1914 and was living in Moose Jaw, but enlisted to do his bit for King and Empire, serving in the 46th Infantry Battalion of the Canadian Army. I admit to not having had time to look up his service record, but I assume he died in the UK of wounds or illness and his body was repatriated to his parent’s village church for burial.
His mother and father, Mary and Barney Marshall, were residents of Greetwell and must have been devastated at the loss of a son but ironically, pleased, to have him home once again in their safe keeping.
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The CWGC headstone records the death of Private R T Howarth who served in the 2nd/7th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. A very quick look up of the 1911 Census showed Howarth living at 8 Frederick Street, Lincoln in the parish of All Saints church, hence his burial there.
I found his original Medal Index Card which showed his service number as 7/18970 [The first 7 shows that he was in the 7th Battalion – Ed] and his headstone records his six figure service number after the Territorial battalions were re-numbered – 292982. We also now know that his name was Roger.
The 2nd/7th Battalion NF served in the UK until January 1917, when they sailed to Egypt where they spent the rest of the war on Garrison duties. As his death was recorded as 3rd April 1919, I would take an educated guess that after his return to the UK, he died of illness, quite likely, the flu.
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Next stop was Branston. Again, the church was locked but one CWGC headstone caught my eye as it displayed an unusual cap badge motif, that of the Training Reserve, a General Service badge.
With the introduction of conscription in 1916, the regimental system could not cope with the number of new young men joining the ranks and thus, on the 1st September 1916, the Training Reserve was formed.
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Private Wilkinson is noted as serving with the 14th Battalion (Sherwood Foresters Regiment) Training Reserve when he died on 11th February 1917, probably at Brocton camp on Cannock Chase, where the battalion was in training. He therefore missed the further reorganisation of the Training Reserve, which came about in May 1917, when this battalion was renamed and numbered as the 13th Young Soldier Battalion.
Just to complete the morning, we then headed to Dunholme where an impressive village memorial stands on a green opposite the village church of St. Chad. Described in Mike Credland’s book of Lincolnshire War Memorials, as an ‘….almost twenty feet high Weldon stone cross’, it was unveiled in August 1920.
In the church, there is a further tablet to the Portus cousins who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War and a more recent tablet to 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF, who served at RAF Dunholme Lodge during the 1939-45 conflict.
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A big thanks to Robin for his sterling taxi service this last week, and after three days in and out of the repair shop, I am now getting used to my courtesy car!! but hope to have my vehicle back soon, no doubt with a large invoice to pay – such is life.
IN MEMORIAM - The Lincolnshire Regiment 2nd March.
1916
Fifty-six men of the Lincolnshire Regiment are recorded as having died on this day. Virtually all of them from the 7th Battalion – See below.
1918
656 Corporal Arthur Buckley, 10th Battalion, aged 22. Remembered on the arras Memorial, France.
1919
39985 Private J R Ferguson, Depot, aged 30. Buried in Sunderland Cemetery, UK.
8071 Private Ralph Godfrey, 2nd Battalion, aged 30. Buried in Lincoln Canwick Cemetery, UK.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
As noted above, fifty-six men of the county regiment died on 2nd March 1916. The 7th Battalion were south-east of Ypres on a section of the line known as The Bluff.
I am sure that you will be aware that both Belgian and French Flanders are very flat and open landscapes, and therefore, any small raised area gave the occupiers the ability to overlook the enemy’s lines.
The Bluff had been created in the 19th Century by the digging of the Ypres-Comines canal when the spoil from the excavations was piled high, thus creating a long section of raised ground. The opposing trenches were often no more than 50 yards apart and as the spoil was relatively new, it was easy to tunnel into. The landscape became a charnel house of corpses as the opposing armies mined and counter mined each other.
On 14th February 1916, the Germans attacked in strength and pushed the British defenders off The Bluff. It was into this scenario that the 7th Lincolns together with the 9th King’s Own and 1st Gordon Highlanders were tasked in recapturing the high ground.
Simpson’s history of the Lincolnshire Regiment records; ‘At 4am on the 2nd March parties of our men crawled quietly forward and gathered in groups, lying down near the German wire, which was found to be in bad condition. At 4.30am, there was a sudden burst of heavy fire which the enemy was accustomed to regard as invariably followed by a pause and a second short burst and then quiet, so that when our men went over the top and into the German trenches, the Germans were completely taken by surprise.
The rapid capture of the front line was followed by steady progress into the support trenches, whilst the Lincolnshire rushed up their machine guns and took heavy toll of a mass of retiring enemies.’
Captain, later Brigadier General Metcalfe said; ‘I have always regarded the concentrated gunfire put down on us by the Germans during and after our re-capture of The Bluff as the heaviest bombardment I ever experienced.’
It was in this attack and the subsequent German counter attack on the 2nd March, that the 7th Battalion suffered their casualties before being relieved at 10pm on the 3rd.
Today, The Bluff, is a linear walk with the location of the opposing trenches clearly marked and the canal, now dry, can be walked in and you can visit the remains of the canal locks where the British housed their battalion headquarters. It is a very emotional location to visit as the Territorial Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire battalions of 46th Division were also here in the summer of 1915 before they moved to assault the Hohenzollern Redoubt in the October, and nearby, you will find one of my favourite and most picturesque CWGC cemeteries, Spoilbank Cemetery.
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I look forward to hearing from you with any stories, news or snippets of interest.
Until next week
All best wishes
Jonathan
© Jonathan D’Hooghe
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