Tournai (Hainaut): The Stone of Remembrance in Tournai Communal Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50649807537
In the south-western suburbs of Tournai, some distance away from the five towers of its spectacular romanesque cathedral, is the city’s cimetière du sud. This cemetery, known in English as Tournai Communal Cemetery, has a substantial plot of graves managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The city of Tournai was occupied by the Germans from August 1914 until the 8th November 1918, when units of the 47th (London) and 74th (Yeomanry) Divisions arrived at the city.
The cemetery was used by the Germans during the war, although the CWGC history of the site notes that graves “were later regrouped by nationality and some were brought in from other cemeteries and burial grounds in a wide area around Tournai” [1]. The list of those cemeteries and burial grounds is very long, a great many of them containing only one or two burials. The original burial places cover a wide geographical area, including the Belgian provinces of Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Namur, and West and East Flanders, as well as two burials from over the border in France (Nord).
Tournai (Hainaut): View of the Beffroi and Cathedral from the Rue Saint-Martin; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50649744348
I visited the cemetery in April 2018 on a brief afternoon trip from Lille, needing to return there in time for my Eurostar train back to London. The rail journey from Lille Flandres to Tournai doesn’t take that long, so I ended up with around two hours to get myself to the cemetery and back, which was a bit tight time wise. While there, I managed to visit the graves of two West Country men from 231 Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, who were part of 74th (Yeomanry) Division: 456028 Private Charles William Addicott (from East Harptree) and 456041 Corporal William John Arthur Davis (from Codford St Mary). They were two of seven members of 231 Field Ambulance that were killed on the 30th October 1918 near Baiseux (Nord) when a high-explosive shell fell on their cookhouse and food stores, as recorded in their War Diary (WO 95/3151/3) [2]:
[Field]. 30/10/18. H.E. Shell in cook house & food stores, Drs. Cruddas & Marshall, Corpl. Davies, LCorpl. Barrow, Pts. Addicott, Baker G., White B.C. killed, LCorpl. Howley, Pts. Jones A.S., Harris & Gillard wounded.
Corporal Davis, Lance Corporal 362011 H. Barrow, and Privates Addicott, 362010 G. E. Baker, and 456066 B. C. White belonged to the Royal Army Medical Corps, Drivers T4/036586 R. Cruddas and T4/211023 W. Marshall to the Army Service Corps. They were at first buried near Baiseux (Trench Map reference 37SE.N.25.b.1.9.), but their bodies were moved after the end of the war to Tournai.
Codford St Mary (Wiltshire): The name of Cpl. W. A. J. Davis, RAMC on the war memorial in St Mary’s Church; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/17141146357
While wandering around the cemetery, I also noticed a row of ten Somerset Light Infantry (SLI) graves in Plot II, Row J. On further investigation, all of them belonged to the 11th Battalion and all-but-one (Private 42072 Fred Ashworth) had died on the 23rd October 1918. One (Lance Corporal 266399 Edward Foster Cheetham) was an NCO, the remainder Privates. Where there ages were recorded, they ranged from nineteen (Privates 18534 Ernest Dudbridge, 18544 Frank Edley and 18547 Arthur Henry Smith) to forty-two (Private 17979 Edwin Spraggs). The CWGC records additionally showed that all ten graves had been concentrated after the war into Tournai Communal Cemetery from Ramegnies Churchyard at Ramegnies-Chin (Trench Map reference 37.I.25.c.8.9.), a village a few miles north of Tournai on the west side of the River Scheldt (Escaut).
Tournai (Hainaut): Grave marker of Pte F. Edley in Tournai Communal Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50649799147
The ten SLI burials were part of twenty-nine that had been moved to Tournai from Ramegnies Churchyard, twelve of whom had originally been buried in Froyennes German Cemetery. The evidence suggests, however, that all of the Somersets were originally buried by the British at Ramegnies Churchyard during October and November 1918. The CWGC concentration records from Ramegnies Churchyard also include a Second Lieutenant Lebrun of the 11th Somersets, who appears in the cemetery register as: Second Lieutenant Lewis Appleby Le Brun of the 3rd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, attached 11th Somerset Light Infantry. He died on the 31st October 1918, and is also now buried in Row J at Tournai.
Graves Registration Report Form for Ramegnies Churchyard, Ramegnies-Chin; one of several concentration records in the CWGC Archives. Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/478385/frank-edley/
The War Diary of the 11th Somersets (WO 95/3023/7) provides a single-sentence account of the fate of the nine men that died on the 23rd October 1918 [3]:
A shell struck a barn used as a billet by C Co at I.25.a.60.60. unfortunately causing the following casualties 9 O.R. killed & 9 O.R. wounded, the deceased men were buried in the churchyard at REMEGNIES-CHIN [sic].
This post will provide a short account of the war service of the 11th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry and their role in the British Fifth Army operations around the Scheldt that followed the capture of Lille on the 17th October 1918.
The 11th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry:
The 11th is probably one of the lesser known battalions of the Somerset Light Infantry. The excellent Long, Long Trail website provides a summary of its war service [4]:
Formed on 1 January 1917 from what had previously been the 85th Provisional Battalion of the TF. It had been formed at Yeovil in April 1915 from “Home Service only” personnel and was under command of 227th Brigade.
Known to have been at Herne Bay in October 1917 and Wrentham in March 1918. Between 27 April 1918 and 16 July 1918, it was entitled ‘Garrison Guard’ Bn.
6 May 1918 : moved to France and attached to 177th Brigade, 59th (2nd North Midland) Division.
Everard Wyrall’s history of the Somersets in the First World War provides an account of the formation of the battalion [5].
The 11th Battalion, Somerset L. I., known first as the “South-Western Brigade Battalion” and formerly the 85th Provisional Battalion, was raised at Yeovil in April 1915. It consisted of home-service and medically unfit men from the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Regiment, and from the 4th Battalion Dorset Regt. And the 4th Battalion Wiltshire Regt. The first C.O. was Colonel W. Helyar, late R. Warwickshire Regiment. The Battalion left Yeovil on 29th April 1915, and moved to Sandown, thence to Seaton Delaval on 12th May. While at the latter place Colonel A. V. Kyrke succeeded Colonel Helyar in command of the Battalion. On 23rd March 1916 a move was made to Whitstable and here on 12th October 1917, the Battalion received its title, “11th Battalion Somerset L.I. (T.F.).” The 11th was sent to Herne Bay on 12th October 1917, and to Wrentham on 12th March 1918: the Battalion embarked for France on 6th May of the same year under the command of Lieut.-Colonel H. S. Woodhouse. At this period the Battalion consisted of men of “B” category (home service or garrison duty abroad), but they were an extraordinarily staunch crowd.
The CWGC database [6] lists nine members of the battalion that died prior to their arrival in France in May 1918, the first six of whom were buried in various locations in the United Kingdom, the final three in France — one in Ste. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre (August 1917), the other two in Calais Southern Cemetery (September 1917). It is possible that they had been posted to the other side of the English Channel on Garrison Guard duties.
After the arrival in France of the entire battalion, the 11th Somersets moved from Calais to Brias on the 10th May, where the battalion War Diary (WO 95/3023/7) states that they “received permission of 59th Division to remain at BRIAS Station instead of marching to SAIN LES PERNES.” The following day they marched to Vielfort where the diary records the following curious exchange:
12.10 p.m. Colonel, medical officer and adjutant visit camp on hill; Tents (75) allotted to officers & companies (3 capts, 3 subs, 16 and 17 men per Tent).
12.35 p.m. Colonel & adjutant met Maj.-gen ROMER, Div. Gen. 59th Divn., who asked who we were, when the Colonel reported & said we had no FATHER, Gen. Romer said we were his children & he would be both Father & Grandfather.
The association of the 11th Somersets with the 59th Division, therefore, seems to have been established very shortly after their arrival in France.
Lieutenant-General Sir C. F. Romer. Source: 59th Division, 1914-1918 (Chesterfield: Wilfred Edmunds, 1928); via British Library.
The 59th (2nd North Midland) Division was a ‘second line’ Territorial Force (TF) unit that had arrived on the Western Front in February 1917, having spent most of 1916 in Ireland. Like its ‘first line’ counterpart (the 46th Division), the original configuration of the 59th comprised TF battalions from the Midlands, specifically from the North and South Staffordshire Regiments, the Sherwood Foresters, the Leicestershire Regiment, and the Lincolnshire Regiment. In 1918, the Division suffered massive casualties during the German Spring Offensive, happening to be holding the front line at Bullecourt on the 21st March 1918, and then afterwards was also hit very hard on the Lys front in April. As a result, the Division was reduced to cadre status in May. The consequences of this was described in the Divisional history [7]:
On the 6th May the Division proceeded to St. Omer, where, to the great distress of all ranks, the orders were received for the Division to be reduced to a Training Cadre Establishment, but which arrangement all Infantry, except 10 officers and 43 ranks per battalion, were taken away and put into the pool to form reinforcements for other Divisions.
On the 10th May, Divisional HQ moved to Hestrus, where various Category “B” battalions and Chinese Labour Companies were attached to the Division, where they were employed in making the “B.B.” Sector of G.H.Q. Defence Line.
A comment in the history suggests that the attachment of these new units was not without its problems [8]:
Considerable difficulty was experienced owing to the low category of the troops, many being sent to the Base daily by A.D.M.S. as being unfit for the work.
The War Diary of the 11th Somersets for their first few weeks in France is full of entries indicating work (“Battalion goes to work,” “Battalion parades for work”) and training.
The battalion had its first casualty on the 1st June 1918, although it does not seem to have been particularly serious:
VIELFORT WOOD. 1-6-18. 11 a.m. Two 15-inch shells burst near working party, one man slightly wounded on right forearm by shell fragment, NAME 17971 Pte. Clark, F., C Coy. This was the Battalion’s first casualty.
According to the history of the 59th Division, it was reorganised on the 14th June, being reconstituted as a “B” Division. It was as part of this restructure that the 11th Garrison Guard Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry would formally join with the 2/6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry and the 15th Battalion, Essex Regiment to constitute the 177th Infantry Brigade [9].
The only indication of this in the War Diary of the 11th Somersets is the recording of orders from Brigade, and a note on the 15th June that orders had arrived, “to prepare to move the next day, [with] a circular from Division, stating that it was hoped to put the Division through two months training, to hold quiet part / sector of line.”
On the 2nd July, the War Diary contained the following note:
[AUDINCTHUN]. 2.7.18. 8.45 am. Battalion paraded for training. The Commanding officer read out a letter of greeting to the re-constituted division (59) now about to take its place in the British Line, from Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. This letter stated that he fully recognised the mens’ physical limitations, and that they would not be given tasks beyond their powers.
Some of the battalion’s early experiences were farcical:
[RUISSEAUVILLE. 21-22.7.18]. 1 p.m. Two companies B and C under the command of Major HOW together with the Adjutant Capt Burden [?], and Lewis Gun officer Lt. Campbell proceeded by bus to Camp [illegible]. From thence they travelled to H.Q. 6th Lincolns who were in the front line with the 33rd Bde 11th Division at RUTOIRE ALLEY. reaching HQ they were told to return, the Companies having been stopped, and they had to retrace their steps to the HQ of 33rd I Bde at CHATEAU MAZINGARBE where they arrived tired and hungry after having gone 8 miles. 3 a.m. Major HOW was billeted in the chateau, the Adjutant & L. Gun officer slept on the floor of a deserted estaminet kindly provided by the Town Major. Next morning the 2 limbers carrying the L Guns were eventually unloaded & sent back to the 34th Bde & given instructions to proceed to Framecourt instead of TRAMECOURT which was a clerical error on the part of either the 11th or 59th Division.
5.15. p.m. The two Companies embussed and proceeded to Monchy CAVEAUX, but on arrival they were instructed by the 59th Divn to proceed to Ruisseauville from whence they came.
Bellacourt, Bretencourt, Wailly, Blaireville, and Ficheux. Detail from Trench Map 51C.SE; Scale: 1:20000; Edition: 2C; Published: 1916; Trenches corrected to 22 June 1916: https://maps.nls.uk/view/101465107
The 59th Division moved at the end of July to relieve the 2nd Canadian Division in the Mercatel sector.
On the 25th July, the 11th Somersets arrived at Bellacourt, from where various subalterns would visit the front line over the next few days. The battalion’s billets at Bellacourt were obviously within range of the German guns as the battalion suffered its first death on the 31st July:
[BELLACOURT] 31/7/18. 8.45. Training was as usual.
5 pm. Parade for training.
5.45 pm. Five shrapnel shells burst in the village, wounding L/Cpl Scriven W.G., L/Cpl Locke E.H. and Pte Fogg (slight). Also wounding a small child about 10 years of age. First aid was promptly rendered by the M.O.
The War Diary does not mention it, but 18361 Lance Corporal William George Scriven (from Bristol) would be the 11th Somersets’ first member of the battalion to die since their arrival in France.
The 11th Somersets moved up to trenches near Wailly on the night of the 2nd/3rd August 1918.
TRENCHES. 4.8.18. 10 pm. Hostile shelling on our sector during ration delivery and our casualties were: 2 man killed, 1 man wounded and 1 missing. Two horses were killed, one wounded and sent back M.T.S. [?] and one was wounded but the poor beast had to be shot.
The man killed was probably 266028 Pte Gilbert John West (from Charlton All Saints, near Salisbury), although the CWGC gives his date of death as the 3rd August.
The 11th Somersets took over the front line late on the 6th August, with a quiet first day on the 7th: “This day was passed very quietly. Nothing of interest occurred.” The battalion was relieved and marched to billets in Barly on the evening of the 8th.
Ficheux. Detail from Trench Map 51C.SE. & 51B.SW (Ficheux); Scale: 1:10000; Edition: 3B; Published: 1916; Trenches corrected to 7 October 1916: https://maps.nls.uk/view/101464759
The battalion’s second spell in the trenches ran from the 20th to the 23rd August, this time in the “Purple Line trenches 51SE.4.R.35.36,” presumably 51c.R.35 and 36, near Ficheux.
TRENCHES. 21.8.18. all day. Aircraft very active. Surrounding villages were bombed by the Bosches during the night. One bomb unfortunately fell on one of A Cos. billets, killing 2 men and wounding 2 men.
22.8.18. [all day]. Enemy aircraft made three attempts to get through but only one succeeded in getting through. During the night several crossed our lines on bombing raids. One appeared to be downed by our patrols and fell approx. WAILLY area.
The dead men were probably 18927 Cpl George Bartlett (from Grazeley, near Reading) and 265740 Pte H. C. Carter (from Steeple Langford). Both (as well as Pte West) were buried at Bellacourt Military Cemetery, Rivière.
At the end of August, the 59th Division moved north, where they would relieve the 74th (Yeomanry) Division in trenches in the Merville area. The 11th Somersets entrained at l’Albret on the 24th for Berguette, from where they would march first to Mazingham, and then to Robecque (Robeq). It was in the area to the east of Robecque that they would relieve their regimental colleagues in the 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry.
ROBECQUE. 27.8.18. 7.15 pm. After a quiet day the Battalion marched off for Front Line, there relieving the 12th Batt. S.L.I. The relief was carried out satisfactorily.
The War Diary of the 11th Somersets does not give details of exactly where they relieved the 12th Battalion, so it is necessary to consult the War Diary of the latter (WO 95/3152/3) to discover that companies of the latter had been astride the trench map letter grid squares 36a.Q and 36a.R, south-west of Epinette [10].
L’Epinette. Detail from Trench Map 36a.SE; Scale: 1:20,000; Edition: 8A; Trenches corrected to 22 June 1918; Series ID: GSGS 2742; Source: McMaster University Library: http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A70173
The War Diary of the 11th Somersets shows that the Germans were already in retreat.
TRENCHES. 28.8.18. all day. Front line companies reported numerous fires started by the enemy, and it was found that he was retreating quickly. The only serious opposition offered to our advance was M.G. Fire. The sky at night was lit up by the many fires started by the enemy.
[TRENCHES]. 29.8.18. [all day]. Enemy still retiring and LESTREM was observed to be on fire at various places. We continued to keep in touch with the enemy who went back rapidly.
[TRENCHES]. 30.8.18. [all day]. Enemy fires still prominent and enemy still retreating. The Battalion received orders to go forward to EPINETTE and marched there and established headquarters.
EPINETTE. 31.8.18. Spent the day here and received orders to hold ourselves in readiness to relieve the 15th Batt, Essex Reg. who were in front line just through LESTREM.
EPINETTE. 1.9.18. 6 am. The Batt. marched from EPINETTE to LESTREM thus relieving the 15th Batt. Essex Regt. Headquarters were established in LESTREM. Our front line troops were soon in touch with the enemy and reported them still retreating.
TRENCHES. 2.9.18. all day. After a quiet night the enemy shelled various parts of LESTREM but not very heavily. Our front line troops advanced, but were met with much M.G. fire. During the night enemy again shelled LESTREM at intervals. Fires were still being started by the enemy and he continued his retreat. We were relived by the D of W’s Reg during the evening, and the Batt. then marched to a spot just outside MERVILLE there bivouacking for the night.
Wyrall’s regimental history summarises the 11th Somersets role in France up to that point in time [11]:
The [11th] Battalion was first employed in digging trenches, but the need for men on the Western Front was so urgent that in August the 11th Battalion was called upon to man some front-line trenches south of Arras. About the middle of the month the 11th Somersets, as part of the 177th Brigade, 59th Division, went into the line east of St. Venant and Robecq, reliving the 12th Battalion of the Regiment […] After following the retreating enemy to Epinette and Lestrem the 11th Somersets were relieved and returned to bivouacs at the latter place on 6th September.
From Merville, the 59th Division would begin its advance towards Lille and the Scheldt [12].
The enemy having commenced his retirement towards Lille, the 59th Division advanced rapidly, D.H.Q. moving to Carvin on 7th September, L’Epinette next day, Rill Works on 4th October, Fleurbaix on 17th, St. Andre on 19th, Hem on 20th, and to Sailly les Lannoy on 31st.
[…]
D.H.Q. reached Esquelmes, near the River Scheldt, on 10th November. Detachments of infantry, cavalry and cyclists had crossed the river and were pushing on very rapidly when the suspension of hostilities was ordered on November 11th.
The role of the 11th Somersets during these operations have been summarised by Wyrall [13]:
The 11th Somersets (177th Brigade, 59th Division) were, on 6th September, in Epinette, the 177th Brigade then occupying the Epinette-Paradis area, but it was not until 13th that the Battalion moved up to the front-line trenches north-east of Laventie. The general advance had not then begun and inter-battalion reliefs took place until the night of 22nd, when the Somerset men were relieved and moved to billets at Bout Deville. Here training was continued until the end of the month. On the 16th the 11th Battalion had a new C.O., Lieut.-Colonel W. A. Gillat arriving and taking over command vice Lieut.-Colonel H. R. S. Woodhouse.
It should not be forgotten that the 11th Somersets were originally formed as a garrison guard battalion, consisting of elderly men whose health was not of the best, unfitted for the heavy strain in the battle areas imposed upon younger and physically fit soldiers. All the more credit, therefore, is due to the Battalion whose officers and men, seeing the urgent need of troops, trained hard, and by sheer grit fitted themselves for the front line, so that finally the words “Garrison Guard” were dropped and they became a fighting Battalion.
On 3rd October the 11th Somersets again went into the front-line trenches in the Bois-Grenier sector, the Battalion taking over the left sub-sector with the 2/6th D.L.I. on their right, but the relief was hampered by the fact that the British front line was on the move forward, and it was not until 6.30 a.m. on 4th that the Somersets and Durhams were finally settled in the line, A and D Companies of the Somersets in front and B and C in support.
Orders were issued that a further advance was to take place on 5th, and during the night 4th/5th patrols were sent out by both front-line battalions. Considerable progress was made until the enemy, strongly entrenched, was met with. The Durhams, however, succeeded in establishing themselves on the Armentieres-Wavrin railway, and the Somersets at Grand Marais and in the Distillery. Again on 5th patrols were pushed out by both Battalions, but soon met with strong resistance, nevertheless when darkness had fallen the Somersets had succeeded in advancing to Large Farm and the Brewery, whilst the Durhams gained 300 yards of ground east of the railway.
Assisted by Stokes mortars and the guns, the Durhams made further progress on the 6th, but the Somersets who attempted to clear a wood on their front were driven back. B and C Companies of the latter Battalion now relieved A and D, but nothing of interest occurred until the 10th, when the 177th Brigade was relieved by the 178th and moved back to an area north-west of Fleurbaix, the 11th Somersets to Croix de Rome, where for six days the usual programme of training was carried out.
On the 16th October there began a series of moves and marches which eventually brought the 11th Somersets to the River Escaut, where they gained possession of the crossings in the face of much opposition from the enemy.
The first of these moves took place on 17th October, when the Battalion marched to Perenchies and billeted for the night in the village. The next morning the march was continued to Marquette, which place was reached at about 4 p.m. Billets were obtained, but later, orders were received to move on to Mons-en-Bareuil, east of Lille. At 8.15 p.m. the Somersets moved off with a three-hours’ march before them. No mention is made in the Diaries that the Battalion passed through the northern suburbs of Lille, but such was the case – the 11th Somersets were probably the first British soldiers to enter the city after its evacuation by the enemy. At noon on 19th the Somersets set out to march to l’Hempon Pont, arriving at 4 p.m. The march ended at Willems on 20th, where until 22nd the Battalion “stood by” awaiting further orders.
The Scheldt. Detail from a handwritten map published in: 59th Division, 1915-1918 (Chesterfield, Wilfred Edmunds, 1928), via British Library.
The 11th Somersets on the Scheldt:
On the 22nd October 1918, the battalion were at billets in Willems (Nord), which is a village on the French side of the Belgian border south of Roubaix. The War Diary of the 11th Somersets (WO 95/3023/7) takes up the story, although it does not contain that much detail. The death of nine members of the battalion on the 23rd October occurred when a barn that was being used as a billet was hit by shellfire:
WILLEMS. 22.10.18. The Batt moved off at 11.00 for EPINETTE there to relieve the 17th Batt Royal Sussex Reg in the front line. Dinner was served at TEMPLEUVE at 13.00 and the Batt moved off at 14.00 arriving about 15.00. Headquarters were established at H.28.b.3.0. and the relief was successfully carried out. The enemy’s retreat ceased he having apparently decided to hold the line of the river ESCAUT temporarily. [MAP REF. SHEET No. 37 1/40,000]
FRONT LINE. 23.10.18. Batt HQ were advanced to H.29.a.9.8. the inter Batt Boundary having been removed from grid line I.20 central to grid line I.14.d.0.0. Enemy artillery very active. A shell struck a barn used as a billet by C Co at I.25.a.60.60. unfortunately causing the following casualties 9 O.R. killed & 9 O.R. wounded, the deceased men were buried in the churchyard at REMEGNIES-CHIN [sic].
I am not sure that I fully understand all of the Trench Map references provided in the War Diary, but the higher-level part of the grid reference (i.e., I.25a) indicates a location in the village of Ramegnies-Chin, to the north of the church.
Ramegnies-Chin. Detail from Trench Map 37NW; Scale: 1:20,000; Edition number: 3a; trenches updated to: 1918; Series ID: GSGS 2742; Source: McMaster University Library (Chasseaud Collection): http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A70337
While the battalion remained in the front line after the 23rd October, the 11th Somersets would engage in some raids across the Scheldt. The War Diary entries are unusual in that they list the names of all those that took part in these raids, both officers and other ranks.
[FRONT LINE]. 24.10.18. Enemy artillery again very active and the area round Batt HQ was shelled, but no casualties sustained. A patrol went out from C Co. across the river ESCAUT and captured an enemy light M.G. returning without sustaining any casualties. The Patrol was under the direction of 2/Lt J. A. Proctor who had under his command the following OR: L/Sgt Downes E., L/C Blackler H., L/C Hammerton E., Pte Evans J. C., Pte Grimstead, E., Pte. Stevens E. A, Pte Burkitt J. A., Pte Coombes H. W., Pte Phillips C. E. The Brigadier visited Batt HQ and congratulated 2/Lt Proctor on the exploit.
FRONT LINE. 25.10.18. All day. During the early morning Enemy artillery very active. A Co. changed positions with C Co and took up their position in the front line. A Patrol set out by A Co to reconnoitre the EAST side of the river ESCAUT captured an Enemy light M.G. and four prisoners (1 Corporal & 3 men of the 7th Bavarian Infantry Regt. 5th Div). The patrol was under the direction of the O-C Capt R. H. Ridler and was in charge of 2/Lt A. W. Jenkins who had with him the following OR: Cpl James E. J., a/Cpl Cox C. H., L/Cpl Bernard H., Pte. Biddle H., Pte Trull H. F., Pte Johnson W., Pte Jarrett H. B., Pte Fox B. G., Pte Crowhurst A., Pte Towman J., Pte Dally G., Pte Dean A.
The same evening a covering party was sent out to cover a party of Engineers who were to build a footbridge across the river. This party occupied the captured M.G. Post, but after about two hours had elapsed all were compelled to withdraw owing to hostile T.M. & M.G. fire. The party was under the direction of Sgt. Bainfield A. with the following: L/Cpl Thomas G. W., Pte Potter A.L., Pte Hawkes A. B., Pte Crowley T., Pte Cummings E. R., Pte Reeves F. R., Pte Peppin A. V., Pte Elias J., Pte James A. R.
[Note added to War Diary] The Brigadier wrote cordially congratulating the Batt on the success of the operations which resulted in valuable identifications being secured.
[FRONT LINE] 26.10.18. All day. Enemy artillery quiet. The Batt was relieved by the 15th Batt Essex Reg. The relief started at 16.00 and was carried out successfully. Billets were taken over from the Essex Reg at HULLANS and the Batt placed in support.
The battalion relieved the 2/6th Durham Light Infantry in the front line on the 30th October. The War Diary records that Second Lieutenant Le Brun was killed by a sniper on the 31st October, and was buried in the churchyard at Ramegnies-Chin, “the Chaplain officiating at the graveside.”
Wyrall continues the story [14]:
The Battalion now held Esquelmes. Across the river was the Cabaret Lietard – used by the enemy as a machine-gun post. At 10 p.m. on the night of 1st November A Company raided this place and took one light machine gun and six more prisoners, killing the remainder of the garrison. The raiders then returned. On the 5th a fighting patrol from B Company was sent across the river at 3 p.m. after a five-minute barrage, to reconnoitre the Cabaret Lietard. The village was searched but no signs of the enemy were found. Another patrol, under Captain Moseley, then went out and advanced beyond the railway without encountering the enemy. Subsequently, on passing this information back to Brigade Headquarters, the Somersets were ordered to occupy the village and A Company advanced to do so. But the enemy had returned and a heavy machine-gun fire met the advance, the Company being force to retire to the banks of the river. B Company relieved A at 3 a.m. on 6th November. A Company had suffered heavy casualties. That night the Battalion was relieved and marched back to Hulans.
Wyrall notes that no casualties were noted in the battalion War Diary. The CWGC database includes five members of the battalion that died between the 2nd and 3rd November, one of whom is buried at Tournai (42072 Private Fred Ashworth), the others at Obigies Communal Cemetery on the east side of the Scheldt (others may have been wounded). Amongst those buried at Obigies is 206327 Private Albert Victor Peppin (died 3rd November), who was one of those that had formed part of Sergeant Bainfield’s raiding party a week-or-so previously.
Wyrall provided a fitting epitaph for the battalion [15]:
The 11th Somersets had served their last tour in the front line, for on 9th they moved back to Toufflers and were still in billets when the Armistice came into force, though on 10th they again moved forward to the neighbourhood of Pecq and Trieu de Wasnes. But they had done splendidly. Their grit, tenacity and perseverance were an example to younger men: their fighting qualities were first class, though they were graded as men “unfit for general service.
Incredibly, the battalion War Diary does not mention the Armistice at all, merely commenting on the 11th November that, “the day was spent in carrying out the usual training programme.”
Some notes on the composition of the 11th Somersets:
The CWGC database lists seventy-one members of the 11th Somersets that died during the First World War. While there are probably other casualties not included, e.g. those attached to the battalion from other units, the information provided does provide some insight into the battalion and those serving with it.
The six that died between February and July 1917 are all buried in various locations in the United Kingdom. Their earliest overseas burial was Private Richard Thomas Bartlett, who died on the 15th August 1917 and was buried at Ste. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre. From that point on, the database shows relatively small numbers of burials in numerous cemeteries, some near the Channel coast, others closer to the front line. There are ‘clusters’ of burials at Bellacourt Military Cemetery, Rivière (August 1918), Vieille-Chapelle New Military Cemetery and Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue (September 1918), Croix-du-Bac British Cemetery, Steenwerck, Obigies Communal Cemetery (both October 1918), and Lille Southern Cemetery (November and December 1918), as well as at Terlinthun British Cemetery (a cemetery on the coast near Boulogne-sur-Mer). The ten burials in Tournai Communal Cemetery represent the largest ‘cluster’ of all, providing evidence that the incident on the 23rd October 1918 represented probably the biggest single loss of life that the battalion had suffered throughout the entire war.
Curiously, all of the seventy-one battalion dead listed in the CWGC database are ‘other ranks,’ the most senior of them being 42046 Sergeant William John Tilbury (died 28 September 1918, buried St Venant Communal Cemetery). This may have arisen because many of the battalion’s officers had been attached from other regiments — as was the case with Second Lieutenant Le Brun from the 3rd Hampshires. Also, all but one of the seventy-one have known burial locations — the exception being 18431 Private Thomas Henry Cudmore (killed in action 21 September 1918), who is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing.
Table 1: Age distribution of 11th Somerset Light Infantry casualties, 1917-1919. Source: CWGC database.
There was also something notable, if not particularly surprising, about the age profile of the battalion’s casualties (Table 1). This was presumably in part the result of the battalion’s “B” status, but perhaps also reflects the character of many British units at this late stage of the war. Of the seventy-one names listed, the CWGC database provided age-at-death information for forty-seven (66.2%). The ages of the forty seven for which we have information ranged from nineteen to forty-five. Seven of them were nineteen years old, presumably being relatively recent recruits. Of the twelve that were in their 20s, four were NCOs. Twenty eight of the forty seven (57.6%), including five NCOs, were over thirty years old, including nine that were over forty. The age distribution of those that died, therefore, seems to have been skewed towards the very young and the over-thirties.
The nine that were killed in action on the 23rd October 1918, all of whom are now buried in Tournai Communal Cemetery, reflect some of the same general age characteristics, including at least three who were aged nineteen:
- 266399 L/Cpl Edward Foster Cheetham, aged 24, enlisted Hull; formerly 1466 Hampshire Regiment
- 39902 Pte George Cox, enlisted Birmingham; formerly R/258988 Army Service Corps (ASC)
- 18534 Pte Ernest Dudbridge, aged 19, enlisted Bristol; formerly 68657 Devonshire Regiment
- 18544 Pte Frank Edley, aged 19, enlisted Birmingham; formerly 68658 Devonshire Regiment
- 18542 Pte Frederick Albert Hawkins, enlisted Camberwell; formerly 68651 Devonshire Regiment
- 266241 Pte Arthur William Jewell, aged 36, enlisted Bath
- 266421 Pte Harry Mitchell, aged 33, enlisted Blackburn; formerly 3144 East Lancashire Regiment
- 18547 Pte Arthur Henry Smith, aged 19, enlisted Birmingham; formerly 68688 Devonshire Regiment
- 17979 Pte Edwin Spraggs, aged 42, enlisted Bridgwater; formerly 62307 Devonshire Regiment
I have added enlistment places and former service details to this list, which have been derived from the Soldiers Died in the Great War database (available from Findmypast) [16]. It seems that a lot of the members of “C” Company, and in particular the nineteen-year olds, had previously served with the Devonshire Regiment. Most of their service numbers also fall within quite narrow bounds, although I’m not personally sure how that should be interpreted.
The collation of Soldiers Died data with the casualty lists in the CWGC database showed that the overwhelming majority of the battalion dead had served with other units before they joined the 11th Somersets — which is probably not that surprising given the manner in which the battalion was formed. The Soldiers Died database provided former unit affiliations for forty-nine members of the battalion, showing that they had previously served in nineteen different regiments. All but one of these were line infantry regiments, the exception being the Army Service Corps. The units most frequently encountered were: the Wiltshire Regiment (12), the Devonshire Regiment (7), the Cheshire Regiment (6), the Dorsetshire Regiment (3) and the Worcestershire Regiment (3). As with the casualties now buried at Tournai, there sometimes seemed to be close links between units and a particular company — we have already noted the link between the Devonshire Regiment and “C” Company. I am sure that those with a deeper knowledge of unit service numbers might be able to identify other trends in this data.
Some individual stories:
In order to avoid this post getting too abstract, I resolved to research a few of the individuals buried in Tournai Communal Cemetery a little further. The following three members of the battalion were all killed in action at Ramegnies-Chin on the 23rd October 1918 and had family links with the West Country.
Private Arthur William Jewell:
Arthur William Jewell was born at Twerton (aka Twerton-on-Avon), Bath in the second quarter of 1882, the son of Edward James Jewell and Ellen Jewell (née Pitman), who had been married at Bath in 1875 (the 1871 Census recorded that Ellen Pitman, born at Hadspen in 1850, was a domestic servant in the household of Francis Bampfylde at 10, Darlington Street, Bathwick). At the time of the 1891 Census, the Jewell family was living at Caledonian Road, Twerton, where Edward was thirty-nine years old and working as a carpenter, while Ellen was forty-one. Arthur W. was nine-years old, the third eldest of six children. By the time of the 1901 Census, Arthur Jewell was boarding at 14, East Street, Warminster (Wiltshire), the household of George and Kate Hill. He was eighteen years old and working as a hair dresser’s assistant.
Arthur William Jewell married Lily Comley at Bath in the first quarter of 1908. Lily had been born at Bath in the second quarter of 1882, the daughter of George Comley and Louisa Comley (née Bailey). The 1901 Census recorded Lily living with her family at 2, Trinity Square, Bath. At the time, Lily was eighteen years old and working as a ‘carpet upholstress’ (as were two of her older sisters). Her father George was working as a chimney sweep.
In the second quarter of 1908, Arthur and Lily had a daughter, Lilian May, but she seems to have died shortly afterwards. A son, Arthur Edward George Jewell, was born in the second quarter of 1911.
The 1911 Census recorded the twenty-nine-year-old Arthur William Jewell living at 13, Stanley Place, Twerton, his occupation being listed as “hair cutting and shaving.” At the time the census was taken, his wife and infant child were staying 10 Hanover Terrace, Snow Hill, Bath, the household of the family of Arthur’s brother-in-law, Joe and Alice Hansford.
Tournai (Hainaut): the grave marker of Pte A. W. Jewell, Tournai Communal Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50649712411
The Soldiers Died database records that Arthur William Jewell enlisted at Bath but there does not seem to be very much other information available about service career. He was thirty-six years old at the time of his death.
Bath Chronicle, 9th November 1918, p. 2; via British Newspaper Archive.
A short obituary appeared in the Bath Chronicle of the 9th November 1918, while a photograph appeared in the Roll of Honour published in the same issue [17]:
TWERTON MAN KILLED.
Pte. Arthur W. Jewell, Somerset L.I., of 12, Stanley Place, who formerly carried on business as a hairdresser at Twerton, was killed in France on October 22nd. The sad news was conveyed to his widow in letters from his Chaplain and from Sergt. Cottell, a Bath man serving in the same unit. The deceased soldier, who was 36 years of age, leaves one child, a boy.
Arthur William Jewell is commemorated on Bath’s main war memorial at the Royal Victoria Park as well as on the Twerton war memorial cross.
Bath (Somerset): The name of A. Jewell on the Twerton war memorial cross
Arthur’s widow, Lilly Jewell, died at Bath in the third quarter of 1956, aged 74.
Private Edwin Spraggs:
Edwin Spraggs was born at Dunwear, near Bridgwater (Somerset) in the fourth quarter of 1876, the son of William Spraggs and Eliza Spraggs (née Jeanes), who had been married at Long Sutton in 1863. At the time of the 1881 and 1891 Censuses, the family was living at Dunwear, where in 1891 Edwin was a fourteen-year-old servant boy.
Edwin married Emily Davey at Bridgwater on the 18th March 1899. The census returns record that Emily was born at Ebbw Vale (Monmouthshire), so she seems to have been the Emily Eliza Davey born at Bedwellty (registration district) in the second quarter of 1878, but baptised at North Petherton (Somerset) on the 4th August the same year. Emily Eliza was the daughter of William Davey and Ellen Davey (née Webber). The 1891 Census recorded Emily E. (aged 13) and her younger brother Henry J. (11) living at St Mary’s Street, Bridgwater with their widowed mother, who was a forty-year-old washerwoman.
The 1901 Census recorded the married Edwin and Emily Spraggs living at Somerset Bridge, North Petherton (Somerset Bridge is a crossing of the River Parrett just outside Bridgwater, not that far away from Dunwear). They already had two daughters: Ellen and Jessie. At the time of the 1911 Census, Edwin and the two daughters were living at Bisgood’s (or Bisgood) Buildings, Somerset Bridge, while Emily Spraggs was a patient at the hospital in Salmon Parade, Bridgwater. Edwin was thirty-five years old and working as a brickyard labourer, while Emily was thirty-three. Ellen and Jessie were respectively twelve and eleven years old and still at school.
Tournai (Hainaut): the grave marker of Pte E. Spraggs, Tournai Communal Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50649799427
The Soldiers Died database records that Edwin Spraggs enlisted at Bridgwater and that he served with the Devonshire Regiment before joining the 11th Somersets, but I have not been able to discover any additional information about his service career. He was forty-two years old at the time of his death.
Bridgwater (Somerset): War Memorial panel; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/23195231916
It is possible that Private Spraggs is the “E. Spragg” that features on the main Bridgwater war memorial on King Square. He is also commemorated on the memorials in St Mary’s Church, Bridgwater and at Northmoor Green.
Private Ernest Dudbridge:
The Soldiers Died database states that Ernest (Ernie) Dudridge enlisted at Bristol. To complicate matters, there were at least two Ernest Dudbridges born in Bristol at the turn of the twentieth century, but the additional information provided by the CWGC database helps to clarify that the one serving with the 11th Somersets was the son of Charles and Francis (or Frances) Sarah Dudbridge, of 11, Orange St., St. Paul’s, Bristol [18].
Ernest Dudridge was born at Bristol in around 1899, the son of Charles Dudbridge and Francis Sarah Dudbridge (née Lewis).
Charles Dudridge, Ernest’s father, had been born at Bristol in around 1864, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Dudbridge. The 1881 Census records him living with his family at 16, Orchard Square, Redcliffe, Bristol; he was seventeen years old and working as a wheelwright. Charles Dudbridge married Francis Sarah Lewis at St John’s Church, Bedminster on the 24th December 1882. The 1891 Census records the couple living at 10, Redcliffe Square, Bristol, with three young children. Both Charles and Francis were twenty-eight years old, and Charles was still working as a wheelwright.
Ernest arrived in around 1899. By the time of the 1901 Census, the Dudridge family had moved to 75, Essex Street, Bedminster. By early 1901, Ernest was two years old and the youngest of six children (the 1911 Census later recorded that Charles and Francis had had nine children, of whom six were still living at that time). The family were still living at Essex Street at the time of the 1911 Census. Ernest was still the Dudbridge’s youngest child, at that time thirteen years old and still at school. His father was forty-nine years old and was still working as a wheelwright (the census return specifies that he was working for a coach builder), while his mother was forty-eight. Three of his older siblings were working, his sisters as bottle washer (mineral water) and apprentice (tailoring), his brother as a labourer (coach building).
Tournai (Hainaut): the grave marker of Pte Ernie Dudbridge, Tournai Communal Cemetery; via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13706945@N00/50649796412
Ernest was just nineteen years old when he died. It is sobering to think that he would have been less than half the age of Edwin Spraggs.
References:
[1] Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tournai Communal Cemetery: https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/54800/TOURNAI%20COMMUNAL%20CEMETERY%20ALLIED%20EXTENSION/
[2] WO 95/3151/3, 231 Field Ambulance War Diary, The National Archives, Kew.
[3] WO 95/3023/7, 11th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry War Diary, The National Archives, Kew.
[4] The Long, Long Trail, Somerset Light Infantry: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/prince-alberts-somerset-light-infantry/
[5] Everard Wyrall, The history of the Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s), 1914-1919 (London: Methuen, 1927; Naval and Military Press reprint), p. 316.
[6] Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/
[7] “59th Division: Notes,” in: 59th Division, 1915-1918 (Chesterfield: Wilfred Edmunds, 1928), pp. 166-172; here p. 171; via British Library: http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100002279633.0x000002
[8] L. H. Goadby, “Notes on the 2/1st North Midland (59th) Division,” in: 59th Division, 1915-1918 (Chesterfield: Wilfred Edmunds, 1928), pp. 115-125; here p. 122; via British Library: http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100002279633.0x000002
[9] “59th Division: Notes” in: 59th Division, 1915-1918, p. 171
[10] WO 95/3152/3, 12th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry War Diary, The National Archives, Kew.
[11] Wyrall, pp. 316-317.
[12] L. H. Goadby, “Notes on the 2/1st North Midland (59th) Division,” in: 59th Division, 1915-1918, p. 122.
[13] Wyrall, pp. 346-347.
[14] Ibid., p. 348.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Soldiers Died in the Great War; via Findmypast (£): https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
[17] Bath Chronicle, 9th November 1918, p. 10; via British Newspaper Archive.
[18] According to service records available from Findmypast (WO 363, First World War Service Records ‘Burnt Documents’), the ‘other’ Ernest Dudbridge from Bristol, the son of George Edwin and Louisa Dudbridge of 254, Newfoundland Road, made several attempts to join the Gloucestershire Regiment while he was under-age. Ernest first tried to join the Territorial Force (Army Form E 501), enlisting into the 4th Gloucestershire Regiment at Bristol on the 12th May 1915 — his medical report giving his apparent age as “19 years 1 month.” He served for a few months with the 2/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (Service No. 5607), until he was discharged at Epping in October 1915, “having made a false statement as to age on enlistment” (citing K.R. para 392 vi.a). Incredibly, Ernest enlisted again at Bristol on the 1st November 1915, this time for short service (Army Form B. 265), claiming to be aged 18 years and 8 months (he was actually still 15). He served 68 days in France with the 1st Gloucesters (Service No. 24914) between March and May 1916, before being posted home and discharged on the 9th June 1916, again “having made a mis-statement as to his age on enlistment.” Whether the Army bureaucracy ever connected Ernest’s two attempts to enlist is unclear. Approaching the age of eighteen, Ernest John Dudbridge enlisted in the Royal Navy at Bristol on the 15th May 1918, serving with the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marine Light Infantry (Service No. 20694), before transferring to the Royal Navy (Service No. K55345) in February 1919 for twelve years’ service (ADM 159/198/20694; ADM 188/971/55345). The naval records (as well as the annotations in his Army service records) give Ernest’s date of birth as the 21st May 1900, meaning that he would have been still approaching his fifteenth birthday when he made his first attempt to join the Gloucesters. Ernest’s older brother Robert did successfully manage to enlist in the 4th Gloucesters. Sadly, Pte. Robert Dudbridge of the 2/4th Gloucestershire Regiment was killed in action on the 27th August 1917, aged 20, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
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