Trench Lincs 8th March 2026

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Good Morning,

Welcome to Trench Lincs. You were all very quiet last week. I didn’t receive any reader’s tales to share, but I do have news of the monthly outings for March and April, on the 27th and 24th respectively.

Everyone and anyone is welcome to join the outings, and it would be delightful to see some new faces. You would be assured of a warm welcome.

I have penned a short article about the visit to Crich, Alfreton and Ripley recently, and have had to get my thinking hat on this week, so that you have something to read!

Therefore, I have put together a ‘compare and contrast’ view of the experience in battle of the 2nd Lincolns and the 2nd Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) at the battle of Neuve Chapelle. A battle that will see its 111th anniversary on 10th March.

I hope you enjoy my thoughts and views and whether you agree or disagree with me, I would be very pleased to hear from you with your thoughts.

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS.

Next event - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Monday, March 23rd 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.

March 23rd - Chris Finn presents "Aviation in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli Campaigns".

The HF.20 was a remarkably simple aircraft to operate and maintain but was terribly under powered. They were designed and manufactured by Henri Farman. The HF.20 had a wooden fuselage of 28’-9”  with a height of 10’-0”. The wing structure, covered with canvas as was the practice in those days, was 51’-0”sq. The aircraft was powered by a Gnome 7A 7 cylinder, air cooled rotary engine capable of generating 80hp. With this engine, the HF.20 reached speeds of up to 65mph. Service ceiling was a pedestrian 9,000’. But while the aircraft lacked sufficient speed to operate against the newest German pursuit planes, the HF.20 had the ability to be airborne for 3hrs and 20mins, and important advantage in their mission profile which was primarily scouting duties. In case an enemy aircraft got to close, the 20 was armed with a rudimentary 0.30in machine gun. The plane was operated by a crew of two and its maximum take-off weight was 1,565lb.

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Next Meeting - Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, WFA – Thursday March 26th, 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30 pm start - Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT.

March 26th - John Chester presents "Honour & Tradition".

The Great War saw men flock to the recruiting offices, ready to join up and go and fight the foe, led by our great military leaders. This talk takes a look at how tradition and honour affected some of the thoughts and ideas these leaders had on what constituted the way to 'do' this war, and how good some of their decisions weren't.

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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch will hold their next speaker event on Friday 13th March 2026 at 7.30pm. The branch meets at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HA.

The speaker on this night is Vern Littley and his talk is ‘The Royal Artillery 1914-15.’

Everyone welcome.

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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 24th March at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.

Again, this evening will be a two-part event.

SHOW and TELL: FROM CUT to THRUST by John Goacher. The evolution of British Army Swords and Swordsmanship in the 19th Century, with some genuine examples to look at.

PRESENTATION: THE LINCOLNSHIRE YEOMANRY by Michael Credland. The history of the regiment, particularly in the Great War. Richly illustrated including unpublished photographs.

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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.

Thursday March 12th David Moore will speak about ‘The Chinese Labour Corps.’

The FoLT 2026 season of talks will commence on the Thursday 12th March when we welcome back our good friend David Moore. His presentation this time will be on the Chinese Labour Corps. In his own words:

“The Chinese Labour Corps is one of the lesser-known stories of the Great War. In 1916, both Great Britain and France began recruiting thousands of Chinese men as labourers. The presentation aims to provide an account of the recruitment, organisation, experiences and legacy of these men. Using some first-hand accounts from a recently discovered diary, the story of the Chinese Labourers will be looked at and the complexities of their service in Europe appreciated”.

As usual the venue for the evening will be The Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln. Doors will open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. An entry charge of £5 is payable on the door. Refreshments will be available at the bar and we will have our usual raffle. There is ample car parking available on site.

Don't forget, you do not have to be a member of FoLT to attend. Everyone, old, young, male, female will be welcomed. Just pop down on the night. I do hope you can make it and I will see you on the night.

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A third 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 19th March 2026 with a start time of 7.30pm.

The speaker on this occasion is LAS Chairman, Chas Parker, who will speak about ‘Spotting in the Seventies.’

Given Chas’ background, I suspect that this talk will be about the Royal Observer Corps.

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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.

March 11th Nigel Denchfield

'Digging Up Dad's Spitfire.' The talk covers Nigel’s dad and his time in the RAF. From training through to joining 610 Squadron towards the end of the Battle of Britain. He was then shot down over France to become a POW.

April 8th Andy Stuart

'Tales from the Great War.' The story of Arthur Walton, my grandad.

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I am very pleased to be able to let you have details of the next two Trench Lincs/Lincoln WFA outings for March and April.

On Friday March 27th, there will be a self-drive group outing to The Royal Armouries in Leeds. Please register with me if you would like to go – everyone welcome.

I will then organise car sharing if required.

Royal Armouries Museum | Royal Armouries  click on the website link.

There are 1,200 payable car parking spaces on site but admission to the museum is free. The address is:

Armouries Drive 

Leeds 

LS10 1LT 

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Then, on Friday 24th April at 13.00h, I have booked a group visit to the WWII Fighter Control Room at RAF Digby, near Sleaford, Lincs.

As this is an operational RAF base, you will need to register with me, and drivers will need to give me details of their cars – Registration, make, model and colour. You will also need photographic ID with you on the day – driving licence, passport etc.

Would love to see a good turnout, and new faces are especially welcome. I look forward to hearing from you.

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Last week saw the first monthly outing of 2026, a group visit to the Sherwood Foresters memorial park at Crich in Derbyshire. Arriving in Crich half an hour earlier than expected, we headed to the parish church of St. Mary’s where we looked at the memorial in the churchyard….

….and the memorial tablet and Roll of Honour that adorn the walls of the church.

Despite the low cloud and mizzling weather, there was a good turnout on the day. The site warden allowed those that wanted to brave the elements to climb to the top of the tower, although the usual stunning views were obscured by the clouds.

After viewing the various regimental memorials on site, including the General Smith Dorrien memorial plaque, the on-site café proved to be a welcome home from home with excellent hot coffee and wonderful sausage rolls and cake.

Thoroughly replete and warmed, we headed as a convoy to the nearby town of Alfreton. Here, the town’s memorial stands proudly in the old market place. The memorial was unveiled by General Horace Smith Dorrien on 31st July 1927 and you can watch a colourised film of the unveiling by clicking on this link.

Colour Version: Alfreton Unveiling of the War Memorial to the Men of Alfreton 1927

The iconography of this memorial is very telling. The Tommy figure, complete with kit and rifle, is protecting a young girl who holds the victors laurel wreath. The symbolism of strength, protection, duty and victory comes across very clearly.

To the rear of the memorial, a large tablet lists all of the men of Alfreton who gave their lives in the Great War, and I read out a short biography of about ten of the more unusual stories for men who who are remembered at Alfreton - including Eric Oswald Read, a Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class , who was killed in action.

Next stop was at Ripley. Here the town memorial stands in the grounds of the parish church. A granite obelisk on a sandstone base with panels recording the names of the town’s war dead from 1914 right up to 2007 for an Afghanistan victim.

A further short walk took the party to the Crossley Park memorial park and bandstand, a functional memorial still used by the town for summer concerts in the park.

Returning to the cars, we headed to the nearby village of Waingrove to view the Methodist chapel memorial. Here we noted the fact that the chapel worshipping families, often refused to visit memorials that were on Church of England premises, and so they memorialised the men of their own congregation, and often the fundraising efforts of church and chapel clashed with each other and could cause community discord.

The memorial at Alfreton cost £2,600, of which, one wealthy donor gave £2,000, whilst the Waingrove Methodist memorial cost just £100 to erect.

As we stood viewing the memorial, the Minister walked over to speak with us, and before we knew it, we were all invited into the chapel for tea, cake and biscuits – a very welcome end to an informative and happy day out.

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece that included mention of Dave Burkitt’s father, Fred. I also shared a couple of photographs taken in the 1920s, when Fred and friends returned to the battlefields that they had served on during the Great War.

This prompted a family reply from Anabel Elwin, who wrote; ‘Please can I thank you for the wonderful write up on my Grandpa, Fred Burkitt.

I am so proud of his legacy, and the research my Uncles Dave and John have carried out to help us understand more of his WWI endurance.

I hope to visit Ypres in the next year or so and tread in his footsteps. Thank you once again for shining a light on Fred Burkitt.’

As you may imagine, I was delighted to hear from Anabel. It is creating moments like this that makes my weekly effort to produce Trench Lincs all worthwhile.

I replied to Anabel and sent her some pages from the battalion history detailing the attack in which Fred was wounded near Taube Farm in October 1917. I am also pleased to say that I will now be helping Anabel in due course, to put together an itinerary for her proposed battlefield visit.

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Next week sees the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10th – 13th March 1915. It is a battlefield that I have explored on a number of occasions and was the reason why Sir John Baynes Bart. wrote his marvellous book – ‘MORALE - A Study of Men and Courage’.

This is a book, so wonderfully written, that I return to it over and over again. Sir John Baynes was second in command of the 2nd Battalion Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) when the regiment was disbanded in 1968 – they chose to disband the regiment rather than amalgamate with another Scottish regiment – but his father, the 6th Baronet, Sir Rory Baynes, served with the 2nd Scottish Rifles at Neuve Chapelle and until he was wounded at Festubert in May 1915. Sir Rory commanded the battalion between 1933-37.

The battle of Neuve Chapelle was the last time that the field officers of the Scottish Rifles went into battle with swords sharpened and drawn, and I can thoroughly recommend this book to you. I have a first edition from 1967 on my book shelf, but there was an updated reprint launched in 1987.

[On Amazon currently, there is a used copy for sale in good condition at £25! – Expensive but worth it – Ed]

Here is a map of the disposition of British and Indian forces just prior to battle commencing. As you can see, it was a ‘pincer’ movement attack designed to pinch out the village and straighten the line, and it was the BEF’s first set piece offensive of the Great War without support from the French army.

If you look to the centre left of the map, you can see that the 2nd Lincolns attacked to the right of SIGNPOST LANE (Blue Arrow) and immediately to their left, the neighbouring attacking battalion was the 2nd Scottish Rifles. The same battle and the same mode of attack made at exactly the same time, and yet both battalions had very different initial outcomes.

Using various sources, from written accounts, diary extracts and the Western Front Association’s resources, please find a compare and contrast article that I have put together.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) was a major British offensive in the First World War aimed at breaking the German line in the Artois region of France. It was one of the first sustained, set-piece offensives by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and marked a shift toward coordinated artillery-infantry operations — with mixed results. 

Although elements of the Indian Army and other British units were heavily involved, the 8th Division’s 23rd Brigade — including the 2nd Lincolns and 2nd Scottish Rifles — played a pivotal role in the central assault aiming to seize the initial German trench lines and advance on the village of Neuve Chapelle. 

Order of Battle & Positioning

Both battalions were part of the 23rd Brigade, 8th Division under IV Corps (First Army):

2nd Lincolns — in the assaulting line alongside the 2nd Royal Berkshires tasked with clearing German trench systems and enabling follow-on units (notably the 1st Irish Rifles and 2nd Rifle Brigade) to push deeper.  

2nd Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) — also in the initial assaulting wave but positioned where the German barbed wire was less effectively suppressed by artillery, creating a different tactical challenge.  

Thus, although both experienced similar overarching objectives — to break into and through the German defences — their immediate tactical environments at the outset of the attack proved to be fundamentally different.

The Opening Assault: Artillery Preparation & Infantry Advance

The attack began at 08:05 on 10 March 1915, following a 35-minute artillery bombardment — the heaviest concentration of British artillery up to that point in the war. 

This bombardment had mixed success:

It created gaps in the German barbed wire along much of the front, facilitating infantry advance.

However, in some sectors, including where the 2nd Scottish Rifles were positioned, wire remained largely uncut due to terrain and coverage issues. A battery of 4.5” Howitzers detailed to support the Scottish Rifles, did not arrive on time and so failed to fire on the German trench line immediately opposite the Scottish Rifles. 

2nd Lincolns: A Successful Initial Advance

The 2nd Lincolns’ war diary records a bold and coordinated advance:

Infantry went over the parapet immediately after the barrage lifted.

After cutting the German wire quickly, they seized the first German trench with relatively low losses – less than 20 men.

They pushed on down the German trench line, dispersing defenders with grenades and closing quickly on the second line. This is where the majority of casualties occurred. 

This assault behaviour — maintaining momentum after crossing no-man’s-land and aggressively clearing successive trench lines — was emblematic of early BEF offensive doctrine at Neuve Chapelle. 

Nevertheless, the advance was not without human cost:

Lieutenant-Colonel George McAndrew, the commanding officer of the Lincolns, was killed between the first and second German trenches by friendly artillery shell fragments.

The battalion’s second-in-command was killed the following day.

In total, 111 officers and men were killed or died of wounds in the battalion during the battle. Including Cecil Peake, as noted in Trench Lincs last week – killed by a German officer who surrendered, and then pulled out his pistol and shot Peake at close range.

This highlights the brutal reality of even a tactically successful assault: momentum did not stop casualties, and losses among battalion leadership fell heavily.

2nd Scottish Rifles: A More Ferocious Struggle

In contrast, the 2nd Scottish Rifles’ experience was characterised by heavier German resistance and failed wire suppression:

The uncut barbed wire in front of their position turned no-man’s-land into a lethal killing zone during their advance.

German machine guns and rifle fire exacted an especially cruel toll on the battalion’s officers.

Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfred Bliss, the commanding officer, was killed early in the assault, alongside a catastrophic loss of other officers.  

Accounts from regimental histories and war diarists describe the attack as one of the hardest-fought and costliest within the brigade. Despite this, survivors of the Scottish Rifles showed tenacity.

Under the remaining junior officers, the unit managed to push through or around strong points, even engaging in close-quarters trench combat.

Captain Ferrers and Lieutenant Bibby are recorded as rallying elements of the battalion and forcing their way into trenches despite horrific casualties.  

In sheer numbers, the Scottish Rifles suffered more:

Nearly 200 officers and other ranks were killed, with a disproportionate number among the officer cadre.

Multiple officers were buried side by side at Brown’s Road Military Cemetery, underscoring the ferocity of enemy fire faced by the battalion’s leadership and assault elements.  

Comparison of Tactical Outcomes

Aspect 2nd Lincolns 2nd Scottish Rifles

Role in assault Central assault, cleared first German trenches and supported follow-on attack Central assault, on sector with largely untouched wire

Wire obstacle effect Wire largely neutralised, advance more cohesive Wire largely uncut, severely restricting movement

Initial contact First trench seized with relatively few casualties Contact with intact defences, heavy casualties

Leadership losses CO killed mid-assault; second-in-command soon after CO and most officers killed or incapacitated early

Infantry progression Progressed into and through German trench systems Struggled more to breach defences; close-quarters fighting

Total known fatal losses 111 KIA or died of wounds Nearly 200 killed; 450 more wounded

This comparison shows that, although both battalions were involved in the same offensive, their battlefield experiences diverged sharply due to:

Differences in terrain and obstacles encountered (cut versus uncut wire).

Variation in initial German defensive strength and positioning.

The impact of losses among leadership on unit cohesion and morale.

The Human Dimension: Leadership, Training, Morale

The devastating losses among officers in both battalions raise significant questions about command and control during early BEF offensives:

Effect of Officer Casualties

For both battalions, the loss of commanding officers had immediate repercussions:

With officers killed or wounded, junior NCOs and lieutenants were often forced to assume command while under fire, testing the depth of training and morale within the units.

Despite this, both battalions demonstrated remarkable resilience, with surviving leaders rallying men and pushing on with assigned tasks.  

Training & Regimental Culture

The Cameronians had a long tradition of marksmanship and co-ordinated platoon action, and some historians note that extended pre-war regimental training contributed to strong trust and cohesion among men under fire. 

In contrast, the Lincolns, a county regiment with less storied battlefield experience before 1915, still performed their tasks with discipline, suggesting that standard BEF training effectively prepared units for coordinated offensive action when supported by artillery preparation.

Aftermath: Consolidation and Strategic Impact

By 12 March, the overall battle had bogged down despite initial British success. Communications problems, ammunition shortages, and German reinforcements stalled further exploitation beyond Neuve-Chapelle itself. 

Both battalions stayed in the line during the consolidation phase:

They helped defend positions against German counter-attacks.

They provided manpower for the hard work of entrenching and fortification in newly captured ground.

The broader offensive ultimately failed to achieve its strategic breakthrough, but it demonstrated the potential — and the severe risks — of coordinated infantry-artillery attacks for the BEF. This was not the only time that the BEF found that they could break in, but not break through the German trench lines.

Conclusion: Shared Sacrifice, Different Experiences

The experiences of the 2nd Lincolns and the 2nd Scottish Rifles at Neuve Chapelle illustrate the complex and mutable nature of First World War combat:

Both units displayed courage and discipline under fire.

Both were exposed to intense artillery and machine-gun fire.

Yet the nature of the obstacles they faced, the initial tactical environment, and the balance of casualties among leadership produced distinct battalion narratives within the same battle.

The Lincolns’ relatively smoother advance into German trenches — and their ability to sustain operational momentum despite losses — contrasts with the Scottish Rifles’ struggle against intact wire and lethal defensive fire. These differences underscore how small variations in battlefield conditions could produce vastly different soldiering experiences, even within the same brigade. 

Together, their stories reflect not only the horrors of early trench warfare but also the adaptability and tenacity of British infantry in 1915 — grim foreshadowing of the attritional combat that would dominate the Western Front for years to come.

The outcome of the opening of the battle as detailed above, gives an account of each battalion’s experience, but, what did the survivors have to say?

2nd Lincolns: Progress and Determination.

The 2nd Lincolns advanced in a sector where the preliminary bombardment had largely succeeded in cutting the German wire. Several surviving accounts suggest that the battalion crossed no-man’s-land with a sense of grim anticipation rather than immediate chaos.

One private soldier later recalled that when the whistles blew at 8:05 a.m., “the smoke from our shells hung low and grey, and we went through it as if stepping into fog.” The artillery barrage had stunned many German defenders in the forward trench. According to regimental recollections, the first trench was entered with surprisingly little resistance — a jarring contrast to the weeks of expectation that any attack would be suicidal.

Yet this relative tactical success did not insulate the battalion from trauma. A frequently cited detail in regimental memory is the death of their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel George McAndrew, killed by shellfire as the battalion pressed beyond the first German trench. One officer wrote afterward that the men “had hardly realised we were in the second line before word came down that the Colonel was hit.” The shock of losing a respected commander during what appeared to be a victorious advance had a profound emotional impact.

Letters from Lincolnshire soldiers after the battle frequently juxtapose pride and grief. One corporal described the day as “a grand show for the regiment, though dearly paid for.” The phrase captures the battalion’s paradoxical experience: operational achievement paired with heavy loss.

There is also evidence in personal testimony of disorientation once the initial trenches were taken. The battlefield around Neuve Chapelle quickly became a maze of smashed parapets and cratered communication trenches. One junior officer wrote that “maps were useless, and the trenches twisted like rabbit runs.” While the Lincolns managed to maintain forward momentum early on, they too experienced confusion when advancing beyond their immediate objective. This reflects a broader problem at Neuve Chapelle: success outrunning command-and-control systems.

The 2nd Scottish Rifles: Wire, Fire, and Catastrophe

In contrast, testimony from the 2nd Scottish Rifles reveals a far more desperate opening phase. Positioned where the artillery had failed to cut the barbed wire effectively, the battalion encountered intact entanglements and intense German machine-gun fire almost immediately upon leaving their trenches.

A surviving account from a private in the battalion describes men “climbing and hacking at the wire while bullets struck sparks from it.” This image — soldiers trapped against uncut wire — recurs in multiple regimental histories. It was a nightmare scenario for any assaulting infantry: immobilised in open ground under direct fire.

The loss of Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfred Bliss and a large proportion of the officer corps early in the attack compounded the chaos. One NCO later remembered that “officers seemed to fall all round us,” leaving sergeants to rally fragmented groups of men. In some platoons, command devolved within minutes of the advance beginning.

Yet even amid devastation, there were examples of determined initiative. Accounts speak of small parties forcing their way through gaps or crawling along the flank to enter the German trench from less defended angles. One lieutenant reportedly gathered fewer than twenty men and charged a machine-gun position that had been enfilading the battalion’s line, silencing it in close combat. Such actions did not eliminate the heavy casualties, but they prevented total collapse.

The emotional tone in Scottish Rifles letters is notably different from that of the Lincolns. Where Lincolns’ correspondence often blends pride with sorrow, Cameronians’ accounts frequently emphasise shock at the scale of loss. One soldier wrote home that “our company is but a shadow,” a stark expression of the attrition suffered in a single morning.

Shared Themes: Fear, Discipline, and Adaptation

Despite their differing tactical situations, testimony from both battalion’s reveals shared emotional and psychological themes.

1. The Artillery’s Ambiguous Role

Both sets of accounts comment on the overwhelming noise and smoke of the preliminary bombardment. Soldiers described the ground shaking and the air thick with dust. For some Lincolns, the barrage provided confidence that German defences had been shattered. For many Scottish Rifles, the discovery that wire remained intact created a bitter sense of betrayal — not directed at their own artillerymen, but at the unpredictability of modern firepower.

One Scottish Rifles private noted, “We had been told the wire was gone. It was not.” That short sentence encapsulates the gulf between expectation and battlefield reality.

2. The Collapse and Reinvention of Leadership

The death of commanding officers in both battalions forced rapid adaptation. In the Lincolns, despite losing their CO, enough of the officer structure remained to preserve cohesion. In the Scottish Rifles, officer casualties were so severe that NCO leadership became critical almost immediately.

Personal recollections often praise the steadiness of sergeants and corporals. A Lincolnshire sergeant wrote that “the lads kept their dressing as on parade,” an echo of pre-war drill discipline under extreme conditions. Similarly, a Cameronians’ lance-corporal recalled that men “looked to the stripes when the stars were gone,” a poignant description of rank insignia assuming symbolic importance when officers fell.

3. Close-Quarters Combat

Once inside German trenches, both battalions experienced brutal hand-to-hand fighting. Testimonies mention grenades, bayonets, and revolvers. The Lincolns described bombing down trenches methodically, clearing dugouts one by one. The Scottish Rifles, when they managed to penetrate the wire, recounted chaotic melees in narrow trench corridors.

One Cameronian wrote after the war that “it was not battle as imagined, but murder in a ditch.” The rawness of this phrasing conveys how alien trench fighting felt compared to pre-war conceptions of open manoeuvre warfare.

Memory and Regimental Identity

Post-war commemorative accounts also reveal differences in how each battalion integrated Neuve Chapelle into its regimental identity.

For the Lincolns, the battle was remembered as a hard-won success marred by grievous officer losses. Regimental histories often frame the action as proof of the battalion’s professionalism and offensive spirit.

For the Cameronians, Neuve Chapelle became a touchstone of sacrifice. The clustering of graves of Scottish Rifles officers in military cemeteries near the battlefield reinforced the sense of collective martyrdom within the regiment’s memory. Veterans’ reunions frequently invoked the fallen of March 1915 as emblematic of the regiment’s endurance.

Yet in both cases, letters reveal ordinary soldiers framing the experience in more personal terms: the loss of friends, the exhaustion after days without proper rest, and the strange quiet that followed the initial assault.

The Aftermath in Personal Perspective

After the first day’s fighting, both battalions endured the exhausting work of consolidation. Diaries describe digging in on captured ground under intermittent shellfire. One Lincoln wrote that the excitement of the charge gave way to “a weariness like lead.” A Cameronian described lying in a shallow scrape, “too tired even to think,” while shells burst nearby.

Food and water shortages are common themes in both battalions’ recollections. Communication breakdowns left forward troops uncertain of wider developments. Many soldiers only learned days later that the hoped-for breakthrough had stalled.

There is also evidence of early war optimism fading. Some Lincolns wrote confidently that Neuve Chapelle showed the Germans could be beaten. By contrast, several Scottish Rifles accounts express a more sobering conclusion: that even success came at fearful cost.

Conclusion: Lived Experience Within the Same Battle

Personal testimonies illuminate how two battalions fighting within the same brigade at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle could experience profoundly different emotional and tactical realities.

For the 2nd Lincolns, the day was marked by initial momentum, operational accomplishment, and the devastating loss of senior leadership amid success. Their accounts often blend pride with grief.

For the 2nd Scottish Rifles, the assault began in near-catastrophe against uncut wire and murderous fire, producing a tone of shock and sacrifice that shaped regimental memory thereafter.

Yet beneath these contrasts lie shared threads: courage under fire, rapid adaptation when leaders fell, the confusion of trench fighting, and the exhaustion of consolidation. The soldiers’ own words — whether measured, bitter, or quietly proud — reveal Neuve Chapelle not as a single unified experience, but as a mosaic of intensely local and deeply human stories.

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We finish again this week with a colourised photograph, and this week it is of royalty. If you have visited Ypres Town Cemetery, you may be aware that Prince Maurice of Battenberg is buried there.

Here is a photograph of his headstone that I took on my last visit to Ypres.

Maurice of Battenberg (1891-1914), was the son of Prince Henry of Battenberg and his wife Beatrice. He was born at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and was given the name Maurice after his great-grandfather, Count Mauritz von Hauke. His mother, Beatrice, was a daughter of Queen Victoria, and she only allowed Beatrice’s marriage to Prince Henry to go ahead, if they stayed in the UK after the marriage. Therefore, Maurice grew up there and was considered a part of the royal family. 

His father Prince Henry died in 1896, when Maurice was just 4 years old, and as the youngest son he then became his mother's favourite. Like many members of his family, he was sent to Lockers Park Preparatory School, Hemel Hempstead to be educated before he eventually attended Wellington College, a boarding school in Berkshire with a strong military tradition.

As a young man, Maurice was described as active and lively. He enjoyed fast cars and emerged from his teenage years with a reputation for being a bit “reckless”. He was a handsome young man, popular in London society, often attending balls and other social events. He was also very family loving, resulting in him to be very protective with his older brother Leopold who suffered from the blood disease haemophilia.

[A genetic trait in inter married Royal families at this time, particularly for the Czar of Russia’s son – Ed]

In 1900, upon hearing of the news of the death of his cousin, Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein during the Boer War, Maurice vowed that he would join the same regiment, and in 1910, following his training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Maurice joined as a Second Lieutenant in the 60th King’s Royal Rifle Corps.

On the outbreak of war in August 1914, Maurice went to France with his regiment.

Sadly, Maurice became one of those young men who would never return home from the war. He died on 27th October 1914, aged 23 after being in action at The First Battle of Ypres. He was buried in Ypres Town Cemetery, Belgium where he now rests among many other fallen British soldiers.

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In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 8th March.

1915

7200 Sergeant C Higgins, 1st Battalion. Buried in Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery, Belgium.

1916

15070 Private Albert Henry Prestwich, 7th Battalion, aged 21. Buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.

12971 Lance Sergeant John James Tulloch, 7th Battalion, aged 26. – Ditto. –

14998 Private D Jarvis, 8th Battalion. Buried in Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, France.

1917

15267 Lance Corporal Arthur Cragg, 2nd Battalion. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

241885 Corporal Bertie Nicholson, 2nd/5th Battalion. – Ditto. –

1918

42964 Private M Richardson, 7th Battalion. Buried in Ruyaulcourt Military Cemetery, France.

22678 Corporal H Vallance, 7th Battalion. Buried in Flesquieres Hill British Cemetery, France.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

I look forward to hearing from you with your news and views and taking registrations for the trips in March and April.

Until next week,

All best wishes

Jonathan

www.jonathandhooghe.co.uk

e: trenchlincs@gmail.com

© Jonathan D’Hooghe