CHESTERFIELD WFA

Newsletter and Magazine issue 28

Patron –Sir Hew Strachan FRSE FRHistS

President - Professor

Peter Simkins MBE Welcome to Issue 28 - the April 2018

FRHistS Newsletter and Magazine of Chesterfield WFA. Vice-Presidents

Andre Colliot

Professor John Bourne BA PhD FRHistS

The Burgomaster of Ypres The Mayor of Albert

Lt-Col Graham Parker OBE

Professor Gary Sheffield BA MA PhD FRHistS

Christopher Pugsley FRHistS

Lord Richard Dannat GCB CBE MC rd DL Our next meeting will be on Tuesday April 3 where our guest speaker will be the Peter Hart, no stranger to Roger Lee PhD jssc the Branch making his annual pilgrimage back to his old www.westernfrontassociation.com home town.

Branch contacts Peter`s topic will be` Not Again` - the German Tony Bolton offensive on the Aisne, May 1918. ` (Chairman) anthony.bolton3@btinternet .com Mark Macartney The Branch meets at the Labour Club, Unity House, Saltergate, (Deputy Chairman) Chesterfield S40 1NF on the first Tuesday of each month. There [email protected] is plenty of parking available on site and in the adjacent road.

Access to the car park is in Tennyson Road, however, which is Jane Lovatt (Treasurer) one way and cannot be accessed directly from Saltergate. Grant Cullen (Secretary) [email protected] Grant Cullen – Branch Secretary Facebook http://www.facebook.com/g roups/157662657604082/ http://www.wfachesterfield.com/

Western Front Association Chesterfield Branch – Meetings 2018

Meetings start at 7.30pm and take place at the Labour Club, Unity House, Saltergate, Chesterfield S40 1NF

January 9th Jan.9th Branch AGM followed by a talk by Tony Bolton (Branch Chairman) on the key events of the last year of the war 1918. Councillor Steve Brunt (a member of the WFA) will also be present to tell members about Chesterfield Borough Council`s plans for a WW1 2018 Commemorations Group.

February 6th Tim Lynch `The Unknown Soldiers - the BEF of 1918` By 1918 the BEF was mostly made up of conscripts as it launched the most successful campaign in its history. How did an army many regarded as “shirkers” fight so effectively? Tim Lynch is a freelance writer and battlefield guide. This talk is based on research into his own family’s part in the Great War. March 6th David Humberston, Chairman of the Leicester Branch, will be making his first visit to WFA Chesterfield to talk about `Women Spies in The Great War`

April 3rd Peter Hart making his annual pilgrimage to Chesterfield. His presentation will be ` Not Again` - the German offensive on the Aisne, May 1918.

May 1st Making his debut as a speaker to the Chesterfield Branch will be Jonathon Steer who will compare and contrast the `BEF at Mons in 1914 with the BEF at Mons in 1918`

June 5th Rob Thompson – always a popular visitor to Chesterfield Branch. "Running Out of Road. Supplying the BEF During the 100 Days Offensives. 1918". This is a new talk dealing with the logistical and supply problems the BEF had as the end of the war approached (BEF needed Armistice as much as Germans).

July 3rd Dr. Graham Kemp. "American Expeditionary Force" – the story and experiences of the AEF, 1917-18. Talk covers the training of the new Army from the States to France. Taking in the experience, the hardship and humour. It looks at their first action at Belleville wood, and then turns to the success and tragedy of ‘Argonne Wood.’ It reveals the way the US Army contributed to the ending of the war and why afterwards US turned its back on Europe. August 7TH Peter Dennis is an artist who lives in Mansfield but he has made a name for himself as an illustrator for the Osprey series of monographs on The Great War (as well as other conflicts from ancient times to the present) Peter will explain how he carries out his researches for technical accuracy. He will also bring some of his original artworks for members to view. September 4th John Beech. “The Great Escape”. John needs no introduction to Chesterfield members as he rarely misses a meeting. In September 1917 a group of POW German officers escaped from where they were being held (now on the site of the University of Nottingham). Using his meticulous research, John will tell this story. October 2nd Making a welcome return to Chesterfield will be our former Chairman / Secretary, Peter Hodgkinson, who will explain the Battle of Selle in October 1918. November 6th Bryn Hammond. Another leading light in the field of historical research, study and publication on the Great War, Bryn will discuss `The 500 piece jig-saw: Tank – Other Arms Cooperation in the First World War. December 4th Rounding the year off in style will be Dr Phylomena Badsey on "Auxiliary Hospitals and the role of Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurses during the First World War"

2 Issue 28 – list of contents

1 Meetings and Speakers Calendar 2 Contents Page 3 Upcoming WFA Events (advert) 4 Personal Note from the Chair - 21 5 & 6 Secretary`s Scribbles & Chesterfield Borough Council letter 7 Parade Orders – Anzac Day 25th April 2018

8 & 9 Be part of Chesterfield Community Poppy Cascade (advert)

10 Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair – Mansfield (advert)

11 Worksop Armed Forces Day (advert)

13-31 March Meeting `Agents in Petticoats – Female Spies in The Great War`

31-38 Restoring the memory of Private George Wallace Jackson, 2/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters

39 – 41 The Munitions Crisis – part 10

41 – 50 The British Army corps of 1914-1918

Any opinions expressed in this Newsletter /Magazine are not necessarily those of the Western Front Association, Chesterfield Branch, in particular, or the Western Front Association in general. 3

4 A Personal note from the Chair (21) On Easter Sunday this year 1 April 2018 we will celebrate the Centenary of the Royal Air Force and to recognise this anniversary (and to extract more money from gullible stamp collectors like me), the Royal Mail has issued a set of Commemorative Stamps depicting aircraft of the RAF, the First World War being represented by a Sopwith Camel F1 on the £1.57 stamp. The issue also contained what is known by philatelists as a ‘mini sheet’ of four more stamps (what was I saying about extracting money) depicting the Red Arrows. It was particularly poignant that on the day they were issued 20 March, one of the aircraft crashed killing a member of the backup team. It is a reminder of the risks run by our armed forces even in peace time. On the subject of aircrew and losses I came across a piece in a book recently that pointed out that bomber crew losses in the strategic bombing of Germany during the Second World War were not very different as a percentage than the far better commemorated infantry losses of the First. I have mentioned previously in these Notes from the Chair that I represent you on the Chesterfield 2018 World War 1 Commemorations Working Group, elsewhere in this issue there are details of a proposed knitted poppy cascade which will flow around the Town Hall entrance. It is also intended that Chesterfield will remember ANZAC Day later this month an idea proposed by a visitor from Australia. At the time of the Great War the whole notion of the Dominions being separate countries from the Mother Country would not have been recognised by the majority of the populations. It is said with some substance that Gallipoli for Australia and Vimy for the Canadians were key steps towards a more separate and distinct national identity. Here in Chesterfield at Spital Cemetery there are three CWG headstones from Gallipoli veterans and it is hoped to have a short dawn ceremony there on ANZAC Day.

5 Secretary`s Scribbles We are now at the end of the last quarter of 2018 and in the past week or so we have seen the commemorations of the Kaiserschlact which commenced 100 years ago on March 21st 1918 and on Tuesday night we will have Peter Hart, always a popular speaker at Branch Meetings discuss the battles of the Aisne in May 1918. These of course could be called `second Aisne` given the bloody clashes there in 1914 as the British and French pushed the Germans back after victory on the Marne. It was good to see good coverage in the media of the events of 100 years ago on March 21st when so many BEF men lost their lives – often in `last stand` scenarios – or were taken prisoners and therefore taking no further part in the war. As you will read elsewhere, I attended a service of Commemoration and Rededication of a memorial in the churchyard at St. John the Evangelist church in Carlton in Lindrick to a young man who lost his life on March 21st. Despite it being a horrible wintry day a crowd of several hundred turned out, packing the lovely old church then standing around the memorial in the churchyard as it was rededicated in a blizzard! As Tony has outlined in his Notes from the Chair, things are moving apace with the Chesterfield Council Great War 2018 100th Anniversary Commemorations and following these `scribbles` you will see that it is planned to have two ceremonies to mark Anzac Day – April 25th. The first that day will be at Spital Cemetery in Chesterfield where three veterans of the Gallipoli Campaign lie in eternal rest. As this Newsletter goes to `press` I do not have times etc. for the brief ceremony at the gravesides – although it will be early morning on April 25th. As soon as we get a final confirmation, I will let everyone know what the plans are. Later that morning there will be a brief Commemoration at the town`s war memorial opposite the town hall. A copy of the letter of invitation which is being sent out to various local organisations is attached together with the timetable for the ceremony. I certainly intend to be present as I am sure other Branch members will be. I think Chesterfield Council are due praise for their recognition of the key events of The Great War – I well remember their `Blowing the Whistle` ceremony to remember the First Day of the Battle of the Somme , one hundred years on, July 1st 2016. You will also note that they plan a `Poppy Cascade` at the town hall, with all the poppies being handmade – knitted or crotched - by local organisations and individuals - a chance for everyone to become part of a unique project – details again follow this piece. In addition to these events in the town itself, we, as a Branch will be participating in the Local History Day in Mansfield on Sunday May 13th. We found the previous one in Worksop a couple of years ago a good event for taking the WFA to the wider public, indeed we signed up several new members at that event. – Full details of venue, times etc. are also in this Newsletter. We will also be participating at the Worksop Armed Forces Day on Saturday 30th June 2018. We attended the first such event organised by Worksop Royal British Legion and were pleased to be invited to participate again – again full details elsewhere in the Newsletter. Not shown on the advert but confirmed at a meeting of Worksop RBL last Thursday night will be - subject to the weather being OK on the day - a flypast just after 11am of the Lancaster bomber of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. 6 Unfortunately I Won`t be there as my wife and I will away be on holiday the previous week and don`t return until the day after the event Saturday 14th April sees the Great War Forum annual conference at the Tally Ho Conference Centre in Birmingham – always an interesting event – indeed one which usually sees a few WFA Chesterfield Branch members in attendance. A week later is the WFA Spring Conference and AGM – see full details elsewhere. Anyway, I think I have bored you all enough for this issue – hope to see as many of you as possible on Tuesday night – Peter Hart`s visit is usually one of the highlights of the year. Grant Cullen – Branch Secretary – 07824628638 – [email protected] XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Addressee 28th March 2018

Dear

Anzac Day 2018

This year Chesterfield Borough Council together with Chesterfield Combined Ex-Services Association are holding a ceremony to mark Anzac Day on Wednesday 25th April 2018 at 11.00.

An Australian citizen visiting Chesterfield at that time approached the Council to request permission to play his bugle at the war memorial and hold a brief ceremony. Given the significant role the ANZAC Forces played at Gallipoli and the centenary commemorations taking place this year a decision has been taken to support this request.

The format will be similar to that of our 11th hour ceremony but follows the traditional Anzac order of service. Please see the enclosed running order. The Council extends an invitation to you to attend the Service and I shall be obliged if you will let me know whether or not your organisation will be able to attend by completing and returning the enclosed slip in the pre-paid envelope provided.

Yours Sincerely

Amanda Clayton Members and Civic Support Officer

7 Parade Orders Anzac Day 25th April 2018

1 10:50 The Queens Colour, Standards and Ex-service personnel will form up to the left of the Town Hall for briefing. Mayor to arrive on top of the Town Hall steps and be met by the Mayor’s Escort. Parade will form up in a hollow square.

2 10:50 Parade Commander “Ex-service personnel March on.

3 10:52 Parade Commander “Standard Bearers, Standard Bearers, March on the Standards”

Standards will march and halt in front of the War Memorial. Parade Commander “Standard Bearers, Right Turn”.

4 10:53 Parade Commander “March on The Queens Colour”. The Queens Colour will march and wheel in front of the War Memorial

5 10:55 Mayor joins the Parade

6 10:58 Parade Commander “Parade, Parade stand at ease”

7 10:58 Parade Commander “Parade, Parade Shun”

8 11:00 Invocation Mayor to lay a wreath on behalf of the Borough of Chesterfield.

Mr Barry Telfer to lay a poppy. Any other wreaths to be laid.

9 11:05 The Ode (Act of Homage) Bugler to play The Last Post A minute’s silence will be observed.

10 11:07 Bugler to pay the Reveille

11 11:09 Parade Commander “March off The Queens Colour”. The Queens Colour will right wheel and march to the left of the Town Hall on the pavement and halt and Dismiss.

12 11:10 Parade Commander “Standard Bearers, Standards Bearers will right turn, March off the Standards”. The Standards will march to the left of the Town Hall on the pavement halt and Dismiss.

13 11:10 Parade Commander “Parade, Parade will march off under their own Staff, ex-service personnel right turn by the right Quick March” Parade will march off to the left of the Town Hall on the Pavement. 7 8

9

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13 March Meeting With the late wintry weather `seemingly` behind us, Branch Chair, Tony Bolton opened the meeting in front of a healthy attendance before welcoming our speaker for the evening, David Humberston who would be assisted during his presentation by his partner Valerie Jacques. A keen student of history since boyhood, David enjoyed a 30 year career in banking whilst indulging his passion for the Great War. He is current Chairman of the Leicestershire & Rutland Branch of the W.F.A. and, with Valerie, runs a popular tour to the battlefields of the Ypres Salient each November. In the presentation “Agents in Petticoats – Female Spies of the Great War”, David would go on to tell the story of some of the heroines who operated as foreign agents, gathering intelligence behind the enemy lines. Many of these gallant ladies, whose names are now long forgotten, would pay a heavy price for their service to their country.

David began by saying that Espionage – the procurement of intelligence - is often described as the second oldest `profession` - was both disorganised and intermittent in the years leading up to 1914. Traditionally agents and informers were only employed in times of war and only for the duration of that particular conflict. Women had been employed as such but only on a small scale and on a rather informal basis. David then showed two pictures, Bella Boyd and Pauline Cushman.

Bella Boyd was a Confederate spy in the American Civil War. She operated from her father's hotel in Front Royal, Virginia, and provided valuable information to Confederate General `Stonewall` Jackson in 1862.

Pauline Cushman was an American actress and a spy for the Union army during the American Civil war

14 Between the formal setting up of the British Secret Service Bureau in 1909 and the official conclusion of the First World War in 1919 over 6000 women worked as members of either the military or civil intelligence community. Compare that to 1909 when the Bureau had only two male staff a Royal Naval captain, Mansfield Smith-Cumming (left, below) and a Major in the Army, Vernon Kell (below, right)

At the outbreak of the The Great War, this Bureau was divided into two sections, Military Intelligence Five – which we now know of as MI5 dealing with domestic counter-espionage and MI6 dealing with foreign intelligence and run by Kell and Smith-Cummings respectively. In some quarters the involvement of ladies was not welcome, Ferdinand Tuohy, a member of the British Army Intelligence Corps which was formed in 1914 was quoted as saying, “Women spies fail both in the hand and in the heart and also in charcter composition fot the business in hand, women are fundamentally inaccurate, the eperience the constant urge always to be working in limelight jibing at the patient composition of dull details which forms the basis of spying. The root difference is that, for a woman to be a spy she must be adventurous by nature whereas a man agent can just be any unit stepping from the train at Victoria station each morning at nine o` clock “ David then said it was not his intention in this talk to trace the history and development of the various intelligence services or indeed the vital work done by women who laboured behind the scenes. However, with regards to the former, after the first few weeks of the war when the lines on the Western Front began to settle after the First Battle of Ypres, it became abundantly clear where the espionage war would need to be fought.

15

British military intelligence services quickly realised that the only way to obtain information from the German side of the lines would be through neutral Holland to the north of Belgium and who shared a border with Germany. On the 22nd of November 1914, it was agreed by the British, French and Belgian military intelligence services it was agreed that a central bureau should be established at the port of Folkestone for as long as the Dutch/Belgian frontier remained in German hands. There were many advantages in choosing Folkestone, it was a port of entry for refugees from Belgium but it was also a point of entry for visitors from neutral Holland.

Some of these refugees could be recruited and once suitably trained could be returned to occupied Belgium and France to act as spies. Eventually the British military would run three distinct organisations, one a Folkestone under the control of Major Cecil Cameron, another in London under Major Ernest Wallendar and a third at St. Omer in France. Neither of the domestic branches cooperated particularly well with each other , nor with MI5 or MI6, resulting in little 16 fiefdoms each doing their own little bits. This hostility was a nuisance and indeed endangered the lives of the agents. However, some of the women would prove Mr Tuohy very wrong. The women who faced the constant danger of betrayal and capture as they sought to operate on the `wrong` side of the front line. On the outbreak of war the government took control of all ports and communications, tracking foreigners both from belligerent states and neutral nations, suppress any domestic subversion and collectively gather intelligence from abroad. They were not slow to act. The 1914 `Aliens Restrictions Act` was passed on the 5th of August – one day after the Declaration of War which required all foreign nationals or `aliens` as they were now termed to registered with the police which could lead to internment or deportation, Three days later this was followed by the `Defence of the Realm Act` or `DORA` as it became known as, designed to prohibit the obtaining of, or communication of, information which could assist the enemy. In terms of the 1911 Official Secrets Act the rights actions of non British born subjects was seriously restricted. Under these Acts, all foreignh nationals, under suspicion or regarded as being potential German spies were either interned or deported. Arrests and convictions continued throughout the war, indeed 11 male German spies were actually executed during the War in the Tower of London indoor firing range(below).

It is not known, however, how many successful German spies did operate in Britain but German spies schools did operate in neutral Holland and many were sent to Britain from the ports at Rotterdam and Flushing. By the November 1914, a month after with the fall of Antwerp, the Germans had established in that city under the legendary `Fraulein Doktor` - believed to be an Elisabeth Schragmuller – a spy school. The challenge for German spies and Britain would prove similar to those of Allied agents behind the German lines, especially the ultimate task of transmitting secret information to their headquarters, the English channel being, of course a formidable barrier. British port controls created a severe impediment to smuggling reports out of the country.

17 The port of Folkestone was seen as a prime target for German spies as a port of entry for persons from neutral countries, as well a major embarkation port for troops going to France, as well as the presence of a large army Garrison in nearby Shorecliffe. One woman, suspected of spying was Mrs Albertine Stalloway, a French born dressmaker. She had moved to Folkestone and married a ship`s steward thereby acquiring British citizenship. With her husband now away serving with the Army in India , she now became intimately acquainted with a number of Belgian refugees, including one Pierre Rocqout, who in turn took a room on Sandgate Road and took many pictures of those coming and going to and from the offices of the French military secret service which was across the street. When anumber of agents were arrested and subsequently executed by the Germans, Rocqout was arrested and handed over to the French in November 1915 who tried and convicted him. Despite strong evidence that Albertine Stalloway was implicated, no prosecution was brought against her, although she was interned in Aylesbury Prison for the remainder of the war. Another inmate was Lizzie Worthy, a former Berlin prostitute who had married a naturalised British subject in 1902, although they had separtaed in 1913. Recruited by German intelligence, Lizzie had initially been under observation, having been showing great interest in British naval officers serving at Rosyth in Scotland. Arrested in June 1915, the questioning of a known male associate, Reginald Rowland, actually revealed that he was Georg Breikau. Both he and Worthy were tried at the Old Bailey the following September and found guilty. He was subsequently eecuted at the Tower of London on October 30th whilst she was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, being sent to Aylesbury jail where , in 1918 she was certified insane in what was described as `chronic persecutory complex`. She died of TB in Broadmoor in July 1920. A third inmate in Aylesbury was Eva de Bournonville . Eva was a Danish born, naturalised Swede, shorthand typist and clerk, she arrived in London in September 1915, only to be arrested in November 1915 when a letter in her handwriting was intercepted en route to a well known German espionage address. She then admitted to compliing reports for her German paymaster on anti- aircraft defences and also the result of an air raid on Croydon. She was tried at the Old Bailey in January 1916, found guilty and sentenced to hang but a plea for clemnency by the Swedish Legation in London saw the sentence reduced to life imprisonment. She was subsequently deported to Sweden in 1922. Captain Vernon Kell, the head of MI5, had opposed the reprieve for de Bournonville, on the grounds that because she was a women, and when the Germans realised that the British would not execute German lady spies, they would flood the country with them. Neither the Germans nor the French, as we shall see in due course would display any such feelings towards women spies. The number of female spies executed by the French is difficult to establish, numbers being quoted vary as 6, 11, 14 and even a massive 81 depending upon the source of the information. There is no doubt as to whom was the most prominent – Margaretha McLeod or Mata Hari was a citizen of neutral Holland and a fading exotic dancer and striptease artist who had enchanted Paris in the early years of the 20th century. Now regarded as an ageing courtesan seeking love and wealth wherever she could find it, with war declared, she was seen by some as a wanton and promiscuous women and potentially a dangerous seductress. As a citizen of a neutral country she had freedom of movement and she took full advantage of these frequently travelling with trunks of clothing in tow. However it was not long before her travels and liaisons had attracted the attention of British and French agents who put her under surveillence. In September 1915 she was visited by one Karl Kroma, the Honorary Consul for Germany in 18 Amsterdam who offered her 20000 franc to spy for the Germans and allocating her the codename `H21`. Despite accepting the money, Mata Hari felt no particular obligation to deliver, she had always taken money from male admirers in the past and intended to carry on doing so in the future. I 1916, now nearly 40, plump, and with her dancing days clearly behind her, Mat Hara came to the attention of Captain Georges Ladoux, head of French intelligence and seeking to come up with a morale boosting trial resulting in the conviction of a foreign spy. He set out to snare his chosen prey – Mata Hari. Surprisingly, his first move was to ask her to spy for France. First she made contact with a German attache and began providing Ladoux with a series of reports written in invisible ink. She omitted to say that she had received 3500 francs from this latest admirer and a series of intercepted German messages reached Ladoux indicating the activities of a new German spy and these movements matched the movements of Mata Hari who was arrested in February 1917. This photgraph (left) shows how she looked at the time of her arrest. Her subsquent protestations of innocence were a mixture of fact and delusion, including a niaive confession to having received sums of money from her German associates sealed her fate. The military tribunal deliberated for less than 45 minutes before returning a guilty verdict and /mata /hari was executed by firing squad on the 15th of October 1917.

The execution by firing squad of Mata Hari – she is the little dark figure in the right of the picture. The extent to which she was involved in espionage even today remains the subject of conjecture and argument, although the evidence was indisputable .

The wisom of British intelligence having a bureau in Folkestone soon began to pay dividends. In January 1915 there arrived on a boat from Boulogne a lady, Louise Debetigne , a thirty four yrear old inhabitant of Lille, a city which had fallen to the Germans on the 12th of October 1914. Loiuse was fluent in French and German and had, at one time , worked as a governess for the Bavarian Royal Family. Following the occupation of Lille by the Germans, communications with unoccupied France was inevitably prohibited. Louise, however, devised a possible solution. In January 1915 she left Lille determined to reach neutral Holland, beneath her skirts she wore a petticoat upon which was written, in lemon juice – used as invisible ink – 300 tiny messages from trapped families to relatives in unoccupied France. Managing to reach Holland, she then sailed to England and from there to St. Omer in France. Here, the petticoat 19 was ironed to reveal the messages and cut into 300 small pieces which were then posted on to the families to whom they were addressed. Her exploits, however, did not go unnoticed and while at St. Omer, Louise was asked by British and French military intelligence to spy upon the Germans upon her return to Lille. She chose to act for the British and returned to England, to Folkestone where she was accommodated in a local hotel. Subsequently she met with Major Cecil Cameron (left) and after completing her military training and being given the pseudonym `Alice Dubois` she sailed back to Holland and made her way to the Belgian border. Her brother, a local priest, had obtained from the Germans a pass for her to return to Lille in the name of alice Dubois, stating that she was a refugee from the village of Neuve Eglise, south west of Ypres and, very conveniently, now under British military control. The alias, therefore was beyond the abilities of the Germans to ratify. During her training, Louise, like other agents would be shown the sort of information that was required, principally the movement of troop trains, which usually indicated that a planed assault on the British or French lines was underway. This training included a brief course on the insignia of the uniforms of the Germany army to aid the identification of regiments and units. A train carrying infantry may contain few horseboxes – infantry don`t need horses - but would have field kitchens on wagons at the end of the trains. Cavalry regiment trains would be almost all horseboes whilst artillery trains would have guns on open wagons. The `train watchers` as they were called had to note the general appearance of the troops and their apparent morale. 40-50 trains per day almost certainly indicated that a full division was on the move and, if a series of reports from different train watchers of the same trains in consecutive order could draw a conclusion as to where the trains were destined and may give adavance warning of an attack from that area. The resulting reports had to be written using a magnifying glass being on the thinnest yet toughest tissue paper that could be procured before being rolled into atiny cylinder before being secreted almost anywhere on the human body. It was later claimed that one colleague of Louise was able to write 1500 words on the back of a postage stamp! The chief of each spy group in the interior gathered the reports then deposited them in the major towns or cities like Antwerp, Brussels and Liege at a designated address or `letterbox`. A courier would then take these reports from the `letterbox` to a `tuyap` or place of passage from where they would be collected by `passuers` who would take them across the frontier with Holland, to be forwarded to British or French intelligence accordingly. The Germans , of course, were fully aware of what was going on and were not slow to take steps to try to stop the passage of this information, including, by the spring of 1915, constructing a high voltage electric fence along the frontier andan unbroken cord of sentries spaced apart but able to be in sight of each other. It has been estimated that over 1000 peole lost their lives during the war trying to cross through this fence. Training thus completed, Louise wasted no time in getting stuck into her tasks and her qualities of leadership were quickly recognised and she was placed in charge of a group of spies known as the `Alice Network` after her own alias. This group was organised in two weeks and at its peak operated between 80 and 100 agents, all working within a 25 mile radius of Lille. It was, of course, highly dangerous work and Louise, as head of the network was required to travel on both sides of the wire and regularly visited Folkestone carrying coded messages sewn into the hems of clothing, secreted in a handbag or rolled around a worn hairpin. Other messages written in invisible ink on cellophane glued to transparent glass giving appearance of lenses on a pair of spectacles. Posing aa a professor of literature – not a difficult task given her talent for languages and armed with a special passport and a large Franco-German dictionary she moved 20 between Lille and Brussels en route to neutral Holland. This however, required more care and the help of a number of guides and nocturnal escapades became very much the `order of the day`. The network, however, was highly effective, information usually reaching her superios within 24 hours of despatch. It was also highly reliable not only giving information on troop movements but on the construction of military airfields and other installations, indeed many newly constructed artllery emplacements were quickly neutralised. When one of her agents reported on a planned visit by the Kaiser to Lille station said Royal was greeted by a bombing raid by RFC aircraft. Not only did the information tell of which platform the train was due to arrive at but also the time of arrival. The British were delighted with her exploits, indeed one was moved to write, “ I cannot speak too highly of the devotion , bravery and patriotism of this young lady, her service to British intelligence are simply invaluable” Louise, of course had many accomplices including a citizen of Roubaix, Marie-Leonie Vanhutte who operated under the alias Charlotte Lameron and had worked as both a nurse and in the ambulance service allowing her to travel freely around the Lille area. She gathered information on German troop movements and installations alongside delivering mail to families of soldiers outside the occupied areas. It must be understood that Louise, Marie-Leonie and their accomplices operated under the constant threat of detection and betrayal to the German secret police whose efforts in counter-espionage continued to meet with success. In September 1915 Louise received a warning from Cecil Cameron in Folkestone to be extra vigilant as there was rumours of the imminent arrest of foreign agents. A few days later came the news that Marie – leonie had been arrested on the 15th and was imprisoned at Tournai jail. The work, however, had to continue. In October Louise set off on one of her customary journeys to England via Holland intending to cross the border at a Belgian village called Froyen, a local café, usually crowded with German soldiers was the only danger point and on previous journeys the atmosphere had been relaed an jovial and passing through had not been a problem. When she arrived there on the 20th October she found security unusually tight with those wishing to cross the border into Holland being subjected to what we today would call a `strip search`. I the process of unbuttoning the back of her dress, Louise camly smoothed a crease in the material, drawing a ring a cross her mouth thus allowing her to swallow the tiny piece of paper hidden inside it. A German soldier observed this and immediately alerted his comrades that she had swallowed something and must therefore be a spy. Forced to take an emetic which she promptly spat out she was felled by a rifle butt to the chest and placed under arrest. She was taken to the prison at Tournai where Marie-Leonie Vanhutte was also held. Neither, of course acknowledged the other, for obvious reasons although the Germans suspected a connection. Louise was soon joined in her cell by a Mademoiselle Labett, who quickly won her trust. Labett told her cellmate that she had found a way to pass messages to other inmates in the jail – is there anybody Louise would like to contact ? Of course there was - Marie-Leonie and she scribbled a quick note. Labett promptly handed this to her Grman paymasters who now had positive proof of the connection between the two ladies. More interrogations took place and the Germans made preparations for their trials. The verdicts, on March 16th 1916 was probably predictable given their crime was a capital offence by the occupying authorities. Both ladies were sentenced to death. After the sentences were pronounced Louise and Marie-Leonie were returned to prison together finally able to talk freely for the first time in six months. A week later the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment for Louise and 15 years with hard labour for Marie-Leonie. At this stage in the war only two women had actually been executed in Belgium for either aiding escaping soldiers or participating in an inteligence gathering network. Most sources reckon that of1135 Belgians executed in the entire war, only eight were lady but to 21 this total must be added one from Holland and one from England. Another source names Marie Gervaise who was apparently executed as early as September 1914. David said that during his extensive researches on the subject being presented tonight, this would appear to be a death more likely attributable to the attrocities wrought upon the Belgian population as the German army came through Belgium in the early weeks of the war. However on the 7th June 1915, Louise Derache was executed at Liege, she and others had worked for a network run by a Justine Lenders. Louise disguised herself as a butter merchant travelled carrying a basket with a false bottom to and from Maastricht in neutral Holland, carrying butter on the outward journey and returning with false passports for the Netherlands hidden in thre basket bottom. Denounced by a false courier, she was arrested and the group promptly collapsed and led to the arrest of others who had been `train watchers`. It was said that when volunteers were asked for from the German garrison at Liege to form a firing squad, none came forward and a detail was selected by the officers. At dawn, on June 7th 1915, the condemned were lined up against a wall in the Chartreuse Fort and when soldiers in the firing squad party realised they had to sheet a woman, they fired instead at Louise`s legs. She fell to the ground, in agony and it was reported that the priest in attendance fainted at the sight before him. An NCO was them ordered to deliver the killing shot by revolver. The remainder of the prisoners were then shot. Louise had written to her mother on the eve of her death and David`s partner , Valerie Jacques, read an extract, “The fatal hour has arrived but do not grieve as I am happy to die for Belgium. Be strong and courageous my dear mother, we will meet again in paradise”

A notice was posted on the walls of Liege on the 7th of June:

(The following) were shot to-day, the 7th of June, 1915, by virtue of the finding of the Council of War of the 5th of June, 1915:

Louise Frenay, née Derache, shopkeeper, of Liege; Jean-Victor Bourseaux, shopkeeper, of Liége; Julies Descheulter, shopkeeper, of Liers; Pierre Pfeiffer, artisan, of Haunt-Pre; Oscar Delarge, railway employé, of Statte (Huy) ; Justin Lenders, of Liege; François Barthelemy, shop-keeper, of Grivegne; Charles Simon, draughtsman, of Namur; all Belgian subjects, except Simon, a British subject. They had taken an active part in an organisation which forwarded to the enemy information as to the movements of our troops (obtained) from the military service of our rail- ways. They were found guilty of espionage. If the death of Louise Derache received little attention, the death of the next lady provoked international condemnation.

22 At 6 am on the 12th October 1915, the British nurse Edith Cavell was taken from her prison cell in Brussels to a rifle range on the outskirts of the city and executed by firing squad. Her crime was not spying but aiding and abetting, alongside many others the escape of British and French soldiers out of occupied Belgium. The Germans had infiltrated this group and brought 35 members to trial. Of the 35, 5 were sentenced to death although three were later commuted to life imprisonment. Edith Cavell was not one of them. She was 49 years old, the daughter of the late vicar of Swardeston in Norfolk and spent her last night in the company of the Reverend Stirling Gahan, the only British chaplain still in Brussels and he recorded her conversation with him that night, including the following words, read again by Valerie Jacques. “I have no fear or shrinking, I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me but this I would say, standing before God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone” The British government heard of the execution six days later and international outrage followed, the Germans had created a martyr and a heroine and the propaganda value was immense as was shown by this charity stamp produced soon after – an unknown nurse became an instant legend which continues to resonate to this day.

It was subsequently suggested that `German justice fears the repercussions of another Cavell case`, for example of February 24th 1916, one Margarethe Blaenkaert,, a twenty year old typist was tried for having helped an estimated 200000 volunteers to leave the country and join the army. The subsequent death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Again, the first two days of March, a major trial in Mons, in which the death sentence was requested against 17 accused,including a young seamstress Hermine Juaneacom. Hermine had played a major role in 23 centralising the various threads of a railway observation unit which operated on behalf of British Intelligence from November 1915 overa wide area of Belgium from Gent in the north east to Sant Ghislain close to the French border in the south. Her role confirmed, the prosecutor requested a double death sentence with an added ten years as an additional punishment ! Obviously he was worried in case she got off with it. Once again the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and like Margarethe she survived the war. One death sentence was announced at the same time as Louise Debetigne and for this lady, Gabrielle Petit, there would be no reprieve. Petit's espionage activities began in 1914, when she helped her wounded soldier fiancé, Maurice Gobert, cross the border to the Netherlands to reunite with his regiment. She passed along to British Intelligence information about the Imperial German army acquired during the trip. The British soon hired her, gave her brief training, and sent her to spy on the enemy. She proceeded to collect information about enemy troop movements using a number of false identities. She was also an active distributor of the clandestine newspaper La Libre Belgique and assisted the underground mail service "Mot du Soldat". She helped several more young men across the Dutch border.

Petit was betrayed by a German who represented himself as Dutch. She was arrested by the German military in February 1916. She was imprisoned at the Prison de St. Gilles (a suburb of Brussels), tried, and convicted for espionage, with the death sentence imposed on the following 1 March. During her trial, Petit refused to reveal the identities of her fellow agents, despite offers of amnesty. Among such agents, Germaine Gabrielle Anna Scaron, 23 years of age, daughter of a local magistrate, and a close friend of Mlle Petit, was arrested with her on similar charges, imprisoned but spared and, despite the opposition of German military, released later for lack of sufficient evidence, which Petit could have divulged but heroically kept secret.

Whilst in prison she wrote a letter to her sister, once again read by Valerie Jacques in which she said.

“I regret nothing”

On 1 April 1916, Gabrielle Petit was, at the insistence of German military, shot by a firing squad at the Tir national execution field in Schaerbeek. Her body was buried on the grounds there. According to popular legend there was final act of defiance. Refusing a blindfold Gabrielle declared that she would show her executors that a Belgian woman knew how to die and she perished with the words `Vive Belgique` on her lips. There is, however, an eye-witness report from a priest who was present which contradicts this although the more dramatic version became part of her legend. Unlike Edith Cavell there was no outcry after her death and it was only after the war that she was elevated to the status that she had craved all her life.

Gabrielle`s arrest took place against a backdrop of a massive arrest of those involved in the spying networks, German Intelligence was working diligently and was involved in some major cases. In October 1915, for example, as well as arresting Louise Debetigne and Marie-Leonie Vanhutte, the Germans also infiltrated the so-called Parventie Group, name after its telegraphist leader Charles Parventie and this led to the collapse of four other major services 24 between October 1915 and May 1917. This of course coincided with the lengthy battles at Verdun, the Somme and Arras. Frustratingly, the activities of all Allied intelligence services on the Western Front at this time had reached a low point.

After a short break, David continued. On March 4th 1916, a man Dieudonne Lambrecht was arrested at his house by German intelligence officers. Quickly tried and condemned to death, he was like Louise Derache, executed at Chartreuse Fort , Liege, which, incidentally was an old monastery abandoned a century earlier, in his case in the early morning of the 18th of April just over two weeks after the execution of Gabrielle Petit. With the collapse of the Lambert network, it did in fact give rise to an even greater and more effective network of the entire war - `La Dame Blanche` - The White lady. Named after a legendary female ghost whose infrequent appearance usually foretold of the demise of the current head of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

The Dame Blanche network was founded in 1916 by Walther Dewe, (left) an engineer working in a telegraph and telephone company in Brussels. The decision resulted from the arrest and execution of Dewé's cousin, Dieudonné Lambrecht, who had himself founded an intelligence network codenamed "Lambrecht". In order to save the group, Dewé took control and developed it under the name Dame Blanche.

The network was at first affiliated to the British military intelligence service Cameron Folkstone. After constant infiltration by German counter-espionage it reverted to MI6 at Rotterdam where they were handled by Captain Henry Landau. Dewe had one condition before agreeing to work with MI6 – all his agents had to be enrolled as soldiers. Once this was agreed – indeed Landau was not sure he could actually deliver on this promise, three special `battalions` were created at Liege, Namur and Charleroi. These were subdivided into companies and then into platoons. The organisation of this highly structured and hierarchical network would eventually number 1084 people and by July 1918 when the German advance had reached Chateau Thierry the network was able to provide information on all the major rail routes. After the end of the war, Mansfield Smith-Cumming, head of MI6, estimated that Dame Blanche had supplied as much as 70 percent of all military intelligence collected by Allied intelligence services world-wide, not merely that from German occupied Belgium and northern France.

Another defining feature of this group was the prevalence of family connections, the aristocracy playing its part in this their chateau and abbeys being used as safe houses for soldiers trying to escape into Holland, all led by Gabrielle Demange who until her arrest had conducted nearly 400 soldiers to the border. In 1918 many of the old Demange network formed platoon forty nine of La Dame Blanche and by this time the only member of the Redigle family not in jail was Therese and her three daughters, Margarete, Marie-Antoinette and Agnes and she would later declare,

“The feeling of danger hanging over our heads night and day did not dishearten us indeed the more the danger became, the more enchanting was our work”

Enchanting or otherwise, dangerous it most certainly was and arrests continued to occur.

By the end of the war, its 1,084 agents covered all of occupied Belgium, northern France and, through a collaboration with Louise de Bettignies' network, occupied Luxembourg. The network was known for its high proportion of female members; women may have made up as much as 30 25 percent of its total personnel. During the second German occupation of Belgium in World War Two, Dewé used the experience of the Dame Blanche network to start a new network, codenamed Clarence. He was shot and killed while trying to avoid capture by the Germans in 1944.

Fragments of the original Lambrecht network continued to operate and again whole families were involved, four members of the Granpierre family, Constant, Francois and their sisters Elise and Marie first helped escaped soldiers in the Ardennes area before becoming train-watchers, couriers and running a `letterbox`. The `front` for these activities was Constant Granpierre`s work as a tanner which he continued whilst working for British Intelligence. His work allowed him to travel freely between towns in the area, giving him access to more information. Elise, a forty year old spinster, had many roles but principally she was a collator and transcriber of information. She, and to a lesser extent her sister Marie, transcribed reports in invisible ink on to ordinary objects such as packing paper, box covers and book pages. The reports were then carried to the chief of the intelligence network in Liege. In late January 1917 they were betrayed by a double agent and all four, together with two associates were arrested and subsequently tried two months later. The death penalty was pronounced on Constant and Elise and on Andre Gregoire, the others being sentenced to fifteen years hard labour. As the condemned trio awaited their fate, Elise received a daily visit from a nun from a local convent. Each day, at Elise`s request , the nun would bring a small piece of ribbon, one day black, next day red, third day yellow. Finally on the evening of the 7th May 1917, the three prisoners were transported to the Chartreuse fort on the outskirts of Liege where they were to be executed the following morning at dawn. When the time came for the execution, Elise produced from the neckline of her dress, three small Belgian flags which she had made from the red, black and yellow ribbon brought to her by the nun on her daily visits. She passed a flag to her brother, and one to Andre Gregoire and said,

`Have courage, go forward` At the last moment, before the volley rang out, she raised her hand to the sky and said `Courage, Vive Belgique`

Two other resistance networks, still active in Ghent, known as the British DP Brigade and) and the Pegoud Service. The former, which reported to Ernest Wallenger in London and was run by a Camille DePouy (hence DP) a railway station clerk at Courtrai. He was perfectly placed to gather information on German troop movements. With his brother in law Alphonse Bergere he made many visits to Ghent where information was given to two lady passeurs, Leonie Ramelout and Emily Schatterman who lived in a small village 17 miles north of Ghent, again very close to the Dutch border. These ladies also assisted escapees across the border with the previously mentioned electrified fence along the border, adding to their difficulty, but they were assisted by a local gamekeeper, Isadore Vanflandern and information continued to be dispatched, with reports being tied around stones and physically hurled across the fenced border into Holland.

In the summer of 1916 Camille Depouy, who was also associated with Jules Duway, a member of the Pegoud Service, operating in Courtrai. The Pegoud Service was named after a French aviator, Adolphe Pegoud, - France`s first `ace` - and so highly was he regarded that these Belgians named their spy network after him. Pegoud was shot down and killed on the 31st of August 1915.

By 1916 Marie Desmet, codenamed Prudence, 41 years of age, was running a café in Ghent which was a `mailbox` for the Pegoud Service, and this café was frequented by many barge owners. Barge owners were allowed by the occupying forces ready access into Holland. Information written on cigarette paper, rolled and placed in the coats and hats of these men when they were on the café hat stand, making them subsequently easy to deliver across the border. Marie employed a maid who became a mistress of one of the barge owners was a Pegoud 26 service courier. This affaire, offensive to Marie`s strict Catholic faith, Marie told the maid to choose between her job and the relationship with the barge owner. The maid chose to leave Marie`s employ and in an act of revenge betrayed Marie and two others to the German authorities and they were arrested on March 19th 1917. After further investigations and interrogations a total of 47 arrests were made. Camille Depouy managed to escape to France but died soon after from TB in early 1918. By July, the trials had taken place and sentences passed, of those arrested 20 were sentenced to be executed, although five were later reprieved. Of the remainder 12 were released, two had committed suicide and the others received heavy imprisonment sentences. On September 12th 1917, Leonie Ramelout, Emily Schatterman and Isadore Vanflanderen were all executed at the municipal rifle range in Ghent. On arrival at the place of execution, the two young ladies began to shout defiantly, even walking away from the execution area. They were dragged back to their places when one, believed to be Leonie, stumbled and fell. She was shot on the spot. The wound proved not to be fatal and when she started screaming in agony the German officer killed her with a shot to the chest. Three days later it was the turn of Marie Desmet and Alphonse Bergere. One source suggests that as Marie had some difficulty in standing she was allowed to sit in front of the execution post. Consequently, she was shot through the forehead rather than the chest. The maid, despite her revelations which led to the mass arrests, was sentenced to hard labour and deported to Germany. After the war she was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Belgian authorities.

David said that to us, in modern times, the tying of messages to rocks and throwing them across the border was an archaic method an even older method was used. French and Belgian s have always had a great interest in pigeon racing.

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This activity was identified as a way of sending intelligence reports over the border into Holland. Keeping of such birds was declared a capital offence by the Germans and a number of executions took place. Outside Lille station there is a memorial to the pigeons destroyed during the First World War. From 1917 balloons, carrying pigeons in wicker cages were raised up in the early evening from behind the allied trenches and the cages opened by a wire. attached to each released birds leg was a questionnaire asking details of German troop movements, sometimes as much as eight pages in length, which was to be completed by any patriotic French or Belgian citizen, re-attached to the pigeon which would be released and fly back behind the allied trench lines, perhaps to a mobile loft like this.

The birds, despite the weight managed to return within ten hours of release and it is estimated that around 40% of these messages actually arrived. There was, however, a high mortality rate amongst the pigeons and an equally high rate of arrest of those in possession of the messages or the birds themselves. At Tournai, for example, four inhabitants of a small village near the Belgian border with Holland were executed on 31st October 1917 for sending information over the border by carrier pigeon. Two were married women.

A French lady, Angele Lecat, a citizen of Rouvray, was arrested when a questionaire she had completed fell into German hands. She was incarcerated for six months and she explained all her activities to her cellmate – but this lady was another planted German agent. Angele was then charged with espionage and sentenced to death. She was executed on 25th march 1918 but not before the terrified young lady clung to the soldiers and was dragged to the place of execution. A narcotic drug had to be administered before the sentence could be carried out. The last execution of a lady spy of the war was thus completed in these traumatic circumstances.

(An interesting tribute – in French – to Angele Lecat can be found on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYlVqv_ctK4)

28 Louise Debetigne and Marie-Leonie Vanhutte were incarcerated in a prison in Brussels before being transferred to a prison at Seeberg near Cologne. In addition to these ladies other inmates had been members of La Dame Blanche and several associates of Edith Cavell. The prisoners lived and worked in difficult conditions which only strengthened their sense of persecution and their will to survive. Their daily rations were a small piece of black bread and what the prisoners called `insect` or `mouse` soup. Later, when they were recognised as prisoners of war, a military biscuit ration was obtained. One of the other inmates later wrote of Louise Debetigne, `The poor girl was exasperated at being inactive and knew that she was very hard to replace. She was frequently punished for insubordination and fomented a spirit of disobedkience amongst her fellow inmates` Some were employed in the making of munitions something that Louise was not slow to denounce and when one young girl refused to undertake the work, Louise was identified as the ringleader of the supposed `strike` and was sentenced to solitary confinement and a diet of bread and water. Still refusing to be cowed, the rest of the prisoners rallied to the cause and following a three day hunger strike another of the ringleaders Margarethe Langarde, who had been reprieved from execution in February 1916, jumped up at Sunday mass to appeal to her fellown inmates. `Let us all be punished together than do anything which may harm our soldiers` The orator was quickly removed to a punishment vcell whilst the prison authorities tried to decide what to do next. Howebver, as both Louise and Margarethe had previously been sentenced to death no more severe punishment could be imposed, and the cases were referred to higher authority. Word came back that war materials had no longer to be made at the prison. Louise and the other ladies had won. The `victory`, however came at a personal cost, Louise`s health began to decline and by early 1918 she was diagnosed with an abcess in her stomach, possibly as a result of the blow with the rifle butt when she was arrested. An operation was necessary and with the pridson infirmary lacking the appropriate hygene, Louise demanded the right to be transferred to a civilian hospital. The prison authorities refused. Desperately ill, the operation was carried out at the prison hospital on April 15th 1918 and she was left with a wound that would not heal. Her condition continued to deteriorate and Louise died just six weeks before the Armistice. One fellow inmate later wrote, `Mmlle Debetigne was the one I most admired in the prison she served as an eample of courage and sacrifise for us all` In early November freedom came with Germany now in the grip of revolution, the doors of the prison were flung open on the afternoon of November 8th. Advised of their imminent departure, the women scrambled to retrieve their civilian clothing and possessions and then were despatched by train to Cologne. With difficulty they reached Liege and Louvain on November 10th . Another lady making her way home to Roulers was Marhha Cnokaert. She began studying at the medical school at Ghent University, but her studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. In August 1914, German troops razed the village, burning her home down and temporarily separating her family. Having trained as a nurse, Cnockaert gained a job at a German military hospital located in the village, where she was valued for her medical training and her multi- 29 lingual skills, speaking English and German as well as French and Flemish. She was awarded the Iron Cross by the Germans for her medical service. In 1915, she was transferred to the German Military Hospital in Roulers, where she was reunited with her family who had also moved there after the destruction of their home. Around this time, she was approached by a family friend and former neighbour, Lucelle Deldonck, who revealed to Cnockaert that she was a British intelligence agent, and wished to recruit her to an Anglo-Belgian intelligence network operating in the town. For two years, Cnockaert (codenamed "Laura") used her cover as a nurse and her frequent proximity to German military personnel—at both the hospital and as a waitress at her parents' café—to gather important military intelligence for the British and their allies, which she passed on to other agents in local churches. She mostly worked with two other female Belgian spies: an elderly vegetable seller codenamed "Canteen Ma", and a letterbox agent codenamed "Number 63", both of whom helped her relay messages to and from British General Headquarters. Her exploits during the war included destroying a telephone line which a local priest was using to spy for the Germans; and obtaining details of a planned but cancelled visit by Kaiser Wilhelm II for a British aerial attack. At one stage, her German lodger, Otto, tried to recruit her to spy on the British. Cnockaert attempted to relay harmless but seemingly important information to him for a short time, but when operating as a double agent became too difficult, she arranged for him to be killed. She discovered a disused sewer tunnel system located underneath a German ammunition depot, and placed the explosives herself to destroy the ammo dump; however, this operation led to her exposure and capture when she lost her watch, engraved with her initials, while placing the dynamite. In November 1916, Cnockaert was sentenced to death for her espionage; however, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment due to her Iron Cross honour. She served two years in a prison in Ghent, and was released in 1918 when the Armistice was declared, ending the war. Cnockaert was awarded British, French and Belgian honours for gallantry for her espionage work—she was Mentioned in Despatches on 8 November 1918 by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig in recognition of her intelligence work, as well as receiving a British certificate for gallantry from Winston Churchill; she was also made a member of the French and Belgian Legions of Honour.

She married John "Jock" McKenna, a British army officer. Her memoir I Was a Spy! was ghost written by her husband and published under her married name in 1932.

Churchill wrote the foreword for the book. The publication of her memoir was prompted by the visit of an English author who encouraged Marthe to write and publish details of her wartime experiences. Following a warm critical and popular reception of her memoirs and other espionage anecdotes, the McKennas published a string of over a dozen spy novels. Although published under Marthe's name, it is speculated that her husband was largely responsible for their writing.

The couple moved to Manchester during World War II and despite her retirement, she was listed in the ‘Black Book` ' of prominent subjects to be arrested in the case of a successful Nazi invasion of Britain. 30

The McKennas later returned to Marthe's family home in Westrozebeke and no further books were forthcoming when the McKennas' marriage ended around 1951. She remained in Westrozebeke, and died in 1966.

Despite the deprivations suffered in captivity, most of the ladies returned to good health, some did not, including Gabriele Demange, who was mentioned earlier and died in 1929 aged 46, and Gabrielle Rescha, like Edith Cavell a nurse in Brussels but did actually supply information to an espionage network. She was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and sent to Seeburg and died in 1924 from TB contracted during her imprisonment.

Such sacrifice was, however, rewarded, and in 1919 three supplements to the London Gazette announced awards to 1992 men and 743 women of foreign nationality, for their work during the war. 180 awards were posthumous. The French and Belgian governments were, quite rightly deeply generous over the following years. The ladies returned to their civilian lives although there was occasional reunions to honour them.

In 1936 a statue was erected in Brussels to honour Gabriele Petit, Cnokaert gave a speech to the nation, declaring,

`A Belgian woman died but did not betray`

Some of `our` ladies wrote memoirs – including Marthe McKenna as mentioned above. She also wrote a series of adventurous spy novels.

The bodies of the executed ladies were exhumed and buried in their towns and cities across Belgium and France, with great reverence and ceremony. Monumental statuary was also erected in many places.

A monument to the Dame Blanche resistance organization was been built near the city of Liege. It is the Chapelle Saint-Maurice (mémorial Walthère Dewé), Rue Coupée 94, Liège, Belgium. Many streets are named in honour of our heroines in towns and cities across Belgium and France. 31

Left - Representative headstones commemorate those executed at the Chartreuse Fort, near Liege and there is a memorial chapel on the site of the rifle range at Ghent where other executions took place. David left the final word of the evening to one of the gallant ladies Jean Delwade, a key Dame Blanche operative, who was arrested in 1917. Despite seven months of intense interrogation she denied all accusations of spying and was imprisoned as were so many others at Seeburg. She would later write,

`Soldiers without uniform, we have not known the exhilaration of combat but we advanced, elbow to elbow to the seductive clarion call. Nor the knights of battle, we have no violent struggle, but we have seen the voids in our ranks and felt the fear of arrest as we were tracked by the German police`

May their exploits and their sacrifices never be forgotten.

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Restoring the memory of Private George Wallace Jackson, 2/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters

Four years ago, Bassetlaw MP, Mr. John Mann asked the primary schoolchildren of the constituency to go out and visit churchyards and cemeteries and see if they could find War Memorials and report on their condition. Children from Carlton Ramsden Primary School in Carlton in Lindrick came upon this sad, neglected memorial in the local churchyard of St John the Evangelist church. The figure was now headless and had once held a rifle in its right hand

th The memorial to Private George Jackson, 2/5 Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, before restoration. 32

The inscription reads:

“To the glorious memory of Pte George Wallace Jackson, 2/5 Sherwood Foresters, who fell in action in France, March 21st 1918, aged 22 years.

‘Greater Love Hath No Man Than This: That A Man Lay Down His Life For His Friends.’

This memorial was erected by his sorrowing mother.”

A further inscription marked the death of that mother, Charlotte Padley (formerly Jackson) in 1926. A search of the newspaper archives revealed this moving report from the Worksop Guardian of 1st August 1919:

After many months of suspense, the news has reached Mrs. Charlotte W. Padley, Carlton that her son, Pte George Wallace Jackson, 2nd / 5th Bn. Sherwood Foresters, reported missing since March 21st 1918, was killed on that date. Pte Jackson, who was 22 years of age, was a well- conducted youth and respected by all who knew him. Before enlisting, he was employed by the Worksop Co-operative society, where he went as soon as he left school, his brother and sister also being employed by the same society. Pte Jackson was a son any mother might be proud of, and he leaves behind a memory which will long be cherished. The Army Council forward a message of sympathy from the King and Queen, and his mother has also the sympathy of all who knew her gallant son in her bereavement.

George’s body was never recovered and he is one of nearly 35,000 names on the Arras Memorial. His mother, Charlotte, would have received the £24 12s 6d owing to George in back pay and war gratuity.

The page from the Army’s Register of Soldiers’ Personal Effects relating to George Jackson (c) ancestry.co.uk 33

Maurice Stokes, a parishioner started to look into the possibility of restoration, hoping to have this completed by the 100th anniversary of George`s death.

Mr. Stokes also set out to try and trace any living relatives of George Jackson. George had four surviving siblings plus a half-brother, Cyril Padley who, like George served with the Sherwood Foresters and died in 1976, aged 77, in Retford, Nottinghamshire.

His siblings were:

Evelyn Georgina Jackson (1888-1945) Bazell Jackson (1891-1914) Mildred Jackson (1895-?) George Jackson (1896-1918)

Evelyn married George Betts in 1909 and they had five surviving children. These people were the nieces and nephews of Private George Jackson.

Joseph Norman Betts (1913-1995) John Charles Betts (1915-1991) Irene Betts (1917-1998) Charlotte Betts (1920-2013)

They all seemed to have retained a connection to North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. George Wallace Jackson’s father, George Jackson, had been killed in a mining accident in 1898 whilst working at Wath Main Colliery in South Yorkshire. He was 30 years old and was run over by a wagon on an inclined plane. Here we have a picture of Charlotte, the widow of George Jackson sr and the mother of Private George Wallace Jackson. It was Charlotte who paid to have the original memorial erected.

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And so we come to the present time, four days short of the 100th anniversary of George`s death, helping with his comrades to hold the line on the first day of the Kaiserschlacht in 1918.

Following the successful efforts of Mr.Maurice Stokes, the community of Carlton in Lindrick, and local sculptor, Phil Neal, the memorial to George Wallace Jackson was restored and a service ofMemorial and Dedication held at the church on Saturday March 17th 2018. I was running late and was one of the last to enter the church – to an unbelievable sight – the church was packed – and it was only thanks to one of the stewards that I managed to get a seat.

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The service commenced at 12 noon with the Processional Hymn `For all the Saints` with the standards of the various organisations, including the Royal British Legion, Sherwood Foresters Associations and youth Groups being brought into church.

The Vicar of St John the Evangelist Church, Reverend Mark Orr, welcomed all the guests and visitors to the service before leading the congregation in prayer.

The Ramsden Primary School choir then sang two songs

Mr. Peter Barton then read the story of the life of Private Jackson followed by the famous poem `The Soldier` by Rupert Brooke read by Niall McGovern, dressed in authentic WW1 Sherwood Foresters uniform.

The Ramsden Primary School Choir then led the congregation in singing `Tipperary`, Pack up Your Troubles` and `White Cliffs of Dover`

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The Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, resplendent in his ceremonial uniform then spoke, thanking those who invited him, and giving thanks to all those in the community who had made the restoration possible. Rev. Mark Orr then led the congregation in prayer before everyone filed out of the church having sung the processional hymn, `I Vow to Thee my Country`

Upon re-assembling in the churchyard, around the memorial, now draped in our Nation`s flag, Rev. Orr, now joined by the Bishop of Sherwood Right Reverend Tony Porter (right in above picture), led the assembly in singing the hymn `O God our help in ages past`, accompanied by a local Brass Band.

Rev. Orr then read from Scripture, John 15: 12-13

“This is My Commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one`s life for one`s friends” 37

The Memorial was now Dedicated

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them

The bugler then sounded Reveille, and standards raised

38

Rev. Orr spoke the Kohima Epitaph

`When you go home, Tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, We gave our today`

Following prayers, the singing of the National Anthem and The Blessing all were invited into the Parish Centre for a cup of tea.

Some of the youngsters of the Ramsden Primary School Choir got to meet the Ceremonial Party from the Mercian Regiment – complete with mascot `Private Derby` Quite a remarkable day which despite the wintry weather saw an amazing turn-out for this Memorial and Dedication Service. Well done to all involved. Grant Cullen

39

The Munitions Crisis – Part 10

By mid-September 1914 the Board of Trade discovered that the feared unemployment was not materialising; by November there was an unsatisfied demand for 6000 armament workers, and the shortage of labour grew as the need for munitions increased until the deficiency of workers became one of the greatest problems facing the nation at War. The Cabinet Committee on munitions, which was constituted in October 1914 was not called together from 23rd October until 23rd December and at this meeting the supply of labour was found to have become a matter of acute difficulty. There were three main factors operating to accentuate the labour difficulty. The first was that enlistment had been particularly heavy in the big industrial districts, especially those associated with engineering. Between 4th August and 4th November 1914, enlistment per 10000 had been only 80 in the East of England and 88 in the South West, while it was 150 in Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, 196 in Warwickshire and the Midland Counties and 237 in Southern Scotland, in all of which areas the population was mainly industrial. The same high percentage of recruitment obtained also in South Wales and other industrial centres. By October 1914, 12.2 per cent of the male workers in the engineering trades had enlisted – a proportion which rose by July 1915 to 19.5 per cent. In far too many cases it was the most energetic and competent skilled workers who rushed to the colours and the less efficient who were left behind. The second issue was the fact that as labour grew less plentiful and the demands on it increased, workers found themselves in a stronger bargaining position than they had ever experienced. Employers were unwilling to quarrel with and dismiss a worker whom they would find hard to replace, and there was a growing competition to secure the services of the skilled artisans. If dismissed from one post he could get another job immediately, often at higher pay. This led to a tendency amongst some workers to bad timekeeping, slackness at their work and in certain cases to excessive drinking. The number against whom such charges would be brought was no doubt a relatively small percentage of the whole body of workers. None the less, the failure of a few men in a factory to keep their own process up to time had often the effect of holding back all the other workers engaged on the job. As a result, nationally, there was nothing like the full possible output even from the staff and workers which were still employed in the factories. A third cause of the shortage of labour for munitions production, which has previously been mentioned, was the fact that the War Office policy was to deal only with a limited number of companies. As a consequence of this many of the engineering shops in the country were doing little or no work for munition production, but were carrying on with private contracts, on the principle of “business as usual”. This meant that a considerable proportion of the engineering labour in the country was not being mobilised for munitions production. In order to solve the labour problem, the following actions to be taken were identified. (a) To check the enlistment of skilled men; if possible to recover from the army those who had already joined up ; and ultimately to dilute the available supply by bringing in as much additional unskilled labour as could be safely utilised in the processes of manufacture. (b) To induce workers to keep better time and abstain from slacking at their work and continually changing their employer (c) To ensure a more rigid control of drinking facilities in the areas where munitions were being manufactured. (d) To train and employ women for the class of work for which they were suitable. 40 (e) To bring the needed munition work and the available labour in the kingdom together, either by transferring all workers to the established armament firms, or by spreading production amongst all the suitable engineering establishments. Prior to setting up of the Ministry of Munitions, the handling of the labour problem was primarily the duty of the Board of Trade, working in consultation with the War Office. The Board of Trade gave a great deal of time and effort to this task and worked out various schemes for dealing with it. A number of causes, however, combined to hinder these schemes having the desired effect. At a meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence on January 27th 1915, the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener expressed fears that any attempt to conserve to British munitions manufacturers their pivotal men might directly or indirectly prejudice recruiting more than seemed likely at first site. He objected to any system which entailed the rejection of any willing recruit. As a consequence of Lord Kitchener`s attitude, the only conclusion reached by the Committee was a recommendation that when a valuable man in industry was recruited then his employer should fill his place with some man or woman ineligible for military service. In the course of January 1915, arrangements were made whereby valuable skilled men serving with the colours could be released and sent back to the munition firms from which they had left to join up. But, in fact few were actually released under this system until late summer. A War Office system for `badging` was brought into existence in March 1915 to identify those on essential munitions work who might otherwise be targeted with the `white feather` or taunted in the street as cowards or shirkers. A typical `On War Service` badge is shown on the left.

During the first seven or eight months of the war, when enthusiasm for enlistment had been at its height, the most vital industries suffered losses which no subsequent efforts could altogether repair. When once a man had joined up no power could make him return to civil work against his will and the influence of all of his military superiors, from the General Officer to the youngest corporal was exerted to keep him in the Army if he looked like becoming a useful soldier. Therefore, it could be said that the activity of the recruiting officer in denuding the country of its best skilled workers was subjected to no effective check in the first year of the war. Every outside influence was against the retention of the artisan at home – especially the patriotism of the worker. Who often could not be persuaded that his work was necessary to the equipment of the army. Arising out of the discussion in the Cabinet Committee on Munitions on December 23rd 1914, various efforts were made to bring about the expansion and dilution of available labour. Belgian workmen, who had fled their country after the German invasion and subsequent occupation of their country were taken on as fully as possible, and a certain number of women were brought into armament work. The first systematic attempt to enrol women for replacement of male labour was made by the Board of Trade on March 16th 1915. In the following two and a half months to June 4th 1915, 78946 women were enrolled on the Special War Register for women for work connected with munitions, but of these only 1816 of these were actually given jobs. The subsequent history of women`s work in the production of munitions is one of success and the vital part they played in maintaining the supply of vital materials to the military services. 41 Indeed it was of the many curious revolutions effected by the war that the lead in organising women and girls for national service was taken by the very people who, prior to the War had been in the cause of women`s suffrage, the thorniest opponents of the Government. Sylvia Pankhurst (left), her daughter Christabel, Miss Annie Kenney, Mrs Flora Drummond and other prominent suffragettes were prime movers in this new crusade

To Be Continued

The British Corps of 1914-1918

The British Corps The Corps was an intermediate level in the command chain. It reported up to an Army, and commanded Divisions. The Corps HQ also had a number of units directly under its command.

Note: the army used the word Corps in a number of different ways, too. One infantry regiment was called the King's Royal Rifle Corps. The artillery, engineers, transport, ordnance and various other arms of the service were also known as Corps. These are quite different meanings from the organisational entity described on this page.

I Corps

Organised during pre-war planning of BEF. Proceeded to France August 1914 as part of original BEF, under the command of Sir Douglas Haig. First engaged in the Battle of Mons but peripherally. Then

. The Battle of Mons . The Battle of the Marne . The Battle of the Aisne . The First Battle of Ypres . The Battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert . The Battle of Loos . The Arras Offensive . The Battles of the Lys . The Final Advance in Artois

42

II Corps

Organised during pre-war planning of BEF. Proceeded to France August 1914 as part of original BEF, under the command of Sir James Grierson, soon succeeded by Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. First engaged in the Battle of Mons.

. The Battle of Mons . The Battle of Le Cateau . The Battle of the Marne . The Battle of the Aisne . The Battles of La Bassee, Messines 1914 and Armentieres . The Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The Battles of the Somme 1916 . Operations on the Ancre . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Third Battle of Ypres . The Final Advance in Flanders

III Corps

Formed in England on outbreak of war and took command of Divisions in France on 31 August 1914 under Sir William Pulteney. First engaged in the Battle of the Marne.

. The Battle of the Marne . The Battle of the Aisne . The Battles of La Bassee, Messines 1914 and Armentieres . The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Cambrai operations . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Battle of Amiens . The Second Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Artois

IV Corps

Moved to Belgium in October 1914, under the command of Sir Henry Rawlinson, under orders to assist the defence of Antwerp. Along with I Corps, took brunt of heroic defence at First Battle of Ypres.

. The First Battle of Ypres . The Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The Second Battle of Ypres 43 . The Battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert . The Battle of Loos . Operations on the Ancre . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Cambrai operations . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Second Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

V Corps

Moved to France January 1915. First engaged in battle of Neuve Chapelle.

. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The Second Battle of Ypres . The Bluff and St Eloi . The Battles of the Somme 1916 . Operations on the Ancre . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Battles of Arras . The Third Battle of Ypres . The Cambrai operations . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Second Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

VI Corps

Formed in France on 1 June 1915 and placed under Lt-Gen Sir J. L. Keir. First seriously engaged in the Ypres area in the second attack on Bellewaarde, a diversionary action to the attack at Loos.

. The Battle of Loos . The Arras Offensive . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Second Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Final Advance in Picardy

VII Corps

Formed in France on 14 July 1915 and placed under Lt-Gen Sir T. d'O. Snow. First seriously engaged in the Somme offensive. 44

. The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Arras Offensive . The Cambrai operations . The First Battles of the Somme 1918

VIII Corps

Formed at Gallipoli as the British Army Corps in May 1915 and renamed VIII Corps in June 1915. Commanded by Lt-Gen Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston. Moved to France in March 1916. Had major responsibility for failure of northern sector of British offensive on the Somme, 1 July 1916, and was never again responsible for a major offensive. Disbanded in June 1918.

. Gallipoli . The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The Second Battles of Arras 1918 . The Final Advance in Artois

IX Corps

Formed for Suvla Bay operations at Gallipoli which commenced August 1915. Commanded by Lt-Gen Sir Frederick Stopford. Moved to France a year later, with its first serious engagement at Messines in June 1917.

. Gallipoli . The Battle of Messines 1917 . The Third Battle of Ypres . The Battles of the Lys . The Battle of the Aisne 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

X Corps

Formed in France on 14 July 1915 under Lt-Gen Sir T. N. Morland. First serious engagement on Somme in July 1916. Remained in the Ypres area and Flanders throughout the war.

. The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The Battle of Messines 1917 . The Third Battle of Ypres . The Advance in Flanders . The Final Advance in Flanders 45

XI Corps

Formed in France on 29 August 1915 under Lt-Gen R. Haking. First serious engagement a disaster at Fromelles, a diversion to the Somme offensive. Moved to Italy in November 1917 but returned to France March 1918.

. The Battles of the Somme 1916 . Italy . The Battles of the Lys . The Advance in Flanders . The Final Advance in Artois

XII Corps

Formed in France on 6 September 1915 under Lt-Gen Sir H. F. M. Wilson. Moved next month to Salonika.

. Salonika

XIII Corps

Formed in France on 15November 1915 under Lt-Gen Walter N. Congreve. First seriously engaged on the Somme in 1916.

. The Battles of the Somme 1916 . Operations on the Ancre . The Arras Offensive . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Advance in Flanders . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

XIV Corps

Formed in France in 3 January 1916 under Lt-Gen the Earl of Cavan. First seriously engaged on the Somme in 1916. Moved to Italy in November 1917 and temporarily became GHQ for that theatre in April 1918. Reformed as XIV Corps in October 1918.

. The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Third Battle of Ypres . Italy

46

XV Corps

Formed in Egypt on 9 December 1915 but effectively disbanded and reformed in France on 22 April 1916 under Lt-Gen Sir Henry Horne. First seriously engaged on the Somme in 1916.

. The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . Operation Hush . The Battles of the Lys . The Advance in Flanders . The Final Advance in Flanders

XVI Corps

Formed in Salonika under Lt-Gen George Milne.

. Salonika

XVII Corps

Formed in France on 9 January 1916 under Lt-Gen Sir Julian Byng. First seriously engaged at Arras in 1917.

. The Arras Offensive . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Second Battles of Arras 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

XVIII Corps

Formed in France in January 1917 under Lt-Gen Sir Ivor Maxse. First seriously engaged in the pursuit of the enemy withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. Merged into VIII Corps in July 1918.

. The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Third Battle of Ypres . The First Battles of the Somme 1918

XIX Corps

Formed in France in February 1917. First seriously engaged in the Third Battle of Ypres.

. The Third Battle of Ypres . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 47 . The Advance in Flanders . The Final Advance in Flanders

XX Corps

Formed in Egypt in June 1917 under Lt-Gen Sir Philip Chetwode.

. Palestine

XXI Corps

Formed in Egypt in June 1917 under Lt-Gen Sir Edward Bulfin.

. Palestine

XXII Corps

Formed in France in December 1917 from what had been II ANZAC. First seriously engaged at the Battles of the Lys in which it incurred heavy losses and was not fit to return to action for several months.

. The Battles of the Lys . The Second Battles of Arras 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

Reserve Corps

Formed in France in April 1916 under Lt-Gen Sir Hubert Gough, it became the Reserve Army (which later became Fifth Army) in May 1916 and was first engaged in the Somme offensive.

Indian Corps

Formed in France in September 1914, in command of the Meerut and Lahore Divisions, under Lt-Gen. Sir James Willcocks. Disbanded December 1915.

. The Battles of La Bassee, Messines 1914 and Armentieres . Winter operations 1914-15 . The Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The Battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert . The Battle of Loos

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)

Formed for operations at Gallipoli, it was later (February 1916) renamed I ANZAC and then (December 1917) Australian Corps. Moved to France in 1916. Eventually grew to command of all five Australian Divisions. From formation, the Australian Divisions always remained together as a national Corps. They 48 were not affected by the reduction of brigades from four to three battalions, as happened to British formations in early 1918.

. Gallipoli . The Battles of the Somme 1916 . Operations on the Ancre . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line . The Arras Offensive . The Battle of Messines 1917 . The Third Battle of Ypres . The First Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Battle of Amiens . The Second Battles of the Somme 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line

Canadian Corps

Formed when the 2nd Canadian Division moved to France in September 1915, and placed under Lt-Gen Sir E. Alderson. Later command by the Hon Sur Julian Byng (May 1916) and later Sir Arthur Currie (from June 1917 onward). Eventually grew to command of all four Canadian Divisions. From formation, the Canadian Divisions always remained together as a national Corps. They were not affected by the reduction of brigades from four to three battalions, as happened to British formations in early 1918.

. The Bluff and St Eloi . The Battles of the Somme 1916 . The Arras Offensive . The Third Battle of Ypres . The Battle of Amiens . The Second Battles of Arras 1918 . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line . The Final Advance in Picardy

Cavalry Corps

Formed in France in October 1914 under Sir Edmund Allenby. Broken up in March 1916 but re-established in September of that year.

. The Battles of La Bassee, Messines 1914 and Armentieres . The Arras Offensive . The Cambrai operations . The Battles of the Hindenburg Line

49

Indian Cavalry Corps

Formed in France in December 1914 but broken up in March 1916.

Tigris Corps

Formed in Mesopotamia in April 1916

. Mesopotamia

I Indian Corps

Formed in Mesopotamia in November 1916.

. Mesopotamia

II Indian Corps

Formed in Mesopotamia in April 1915.

. Mesopotamia

III Indian Corps

Formed in Mesopotamia in December 1915. Was also called the Tigris Corps. Split into two in November 1916, one part becoming Tigris Corps, the other I Indian Corps.

. Mesopotamia

Desert Mounted Corps

Formed in Egypt in August 1917.

. Palestine

XXIII Corps

Formed in England in February 1918 and remained there.

XXIV Corps

Formed in Egypt in March 1918 but disbanded after just a week.

50

What comprised a Corps?

Early days

A Corps was a formation of the army that in 1914 was composed of two Divisions, plus a Signals Cable Section of the Royal Engineers to provide communications. It was properly titled an 'Army Corps', but the full name was usually shortened. Corps, normally commanded by a Lieutenant-General, reported up to GHQ, and later, to Army HQ. (Although in the smaller theatres where there was no Army level, Corps usually reported to HQ or GHQ). The Corps HQ consisted of 18 officers and 71 other ranks. The Divisions were permanently attached to their Corps.

Development during the war

As the army grew in size the composition of the Corps changed considerably. The number of Divisions under the command of the Corps remained nominally at two, but could be increased if fighting conditions required. Divisions were now moved from Corps to Corps as they came in and out of the line and were moved from place to place. The Corps HQ generally remained fixed in place, while the Divisions were moved around. Corps were gradually given more responsibility for the supply lines and other features of their area, so the specialist units directly under Corps command also increased. The latter included heavy artillery, from April 1916 onwards.

By the late stages of the war, Corps HQ had grown to consist of 50 officers and 141 other ranks. Corps troops included a cavalry regiment, the heavy artillery (including a motor transport company), a heavy trench mortar battery, a cyclist battalion, signal troops, a motor transport column, mobile workshops of the Army Ordnance Corps and an Area Employment Company. In all, this would amount to perhaps 2000 officers and men, depending on the Divisions under command at any time. The establishment varied in theatres other than the Western Front, and were generally smaller.