R. N. D.

Copyright © Leonard Sellers, 2001.

ISSN. 1368-499X

It might not always be possible to trace the copyright holders of all the material I will quote, and I would be pleased to hear from any such persons to whom this applies.

The picture on the frontcover is the Anson Battalion's cap badge. I am gratefulto John Morcombe & Kyle Tallett in combining their effortsin order to supply the photograph.

The R.N.D. is produced and designed at Honeysuckle House, 17A Bellhouse Road, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. SS9 5NL. (Telephone 01 702 521550)

E Mail:- [email protected] WESTERNFRONT

FATE

By Sub Lieutenant A.. P .. Herbert Hawke Battalion.

They tell you it ain't no good A-wondering when you'll die, Or lying low as a soldier should When aeroplanes is by; For whether it comes in a sudden way Or lingering, long and late, You won't go under until the day That's settled before by Fate.

Ah, well, and it may be true - But the lads I like to see Are the ones that do as they're told to do And stay where they ought to be ; For Fate may fixon a far-offdate And a death ofan easy kind, But it ain't no use encouraging Fate To change her feminine mind.

So I keep my rifleclean, And I use my eyes and ears, And I don't go wandering offthe scene A looking forsooveneers; And maybe the bullet that bears my name Is meant fora distant day, But I don't get playing the idiot game When the other ones come my way.

1680. I've been out many a day, And seen too many a mate With a leg or an arm blown clean away By a thing he thought was Fate. But when six men get playing about With a rusty old bombgone bad, Then what is it knocks the six men out ? - Not Fate, but folly, my lad.

And its better alive than dead You'll serve the old platoon, So try to do as the officer said, And not to die too soon. Though a man can't add to his earthly span, It's a thing worth trying to do, You take good care of yourself, young man, And Fate won't matter to you.

Sub Lieutenant A.P. Herbert.

* * * * * * *

Published in 'The Bomber Gipsy' by Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, in 1919.

I would like to thank A.P. Watt on behalfof Crystal Gale & Jocelyn Herbert for permission to reproduce this poem.

1681. OSTEND, DUNKIRK, CASSELL & ANTWERP 1914. BY SERGEANT W. H. MEATYARD PLYMOUTH BATTALION, Ply 13034 ROYAL MARINE LIGHT INFANTRY. PART ONE.

Transcribed by Bob Thompson from the original held at the Royal Marine Museum.

When war was declared with Germany a Brigade ofRoyal Marines was quickly formed forLand Service, Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Deal Headquarters each supplying a Battalion and so forminga Brigade of4 Battalions. There were many pensioners amongst us, one platoon of the Plymouth Battalion was composed entirely ofSgts and C/Sgts, most ofthem being pensioners. I was detailed as Battalion Signal Sergeant.

We formedand left barracks forPortsmouth under sealed orders, and got a greatsend off fromPlymouth. We were unable to march through the streets in fours, as they were so crowded, very much like the Sgt's Mess we had just left. I think nearly everyone except myself gave a song, and I was obliging on the piano.

Afterbusy times at Portsmouth, pitching tents, training, organising, shiftinginto school rooms etc. we returned again under sealed orders and found ourselves in Plymouth within a fortnight fromwhen we had left. We felt a bit ashamed afterthe send offwe had had, when leaving previously.

Ostend :- It was not long however beforewe were moving again, and we marched to the victualling yard this time, and embarked on four differentbattleships which took us across the Channel. We landed at Ostend, and took up outpostpositions on the outskirts of the town, I think it was more or less to keep offraiding Uhlans who were terrorising the Belgians at this time, andcommi tting many atrocities; and also it answered the purpose ofgiving the Belgium people confidence when they saw us there. It was a good sample of the Corps that we had at that time, all long service men with a good deal of time to their credit, and also a number ofRoyal Marine Artillery, fine big fellows. Nothing much happened duringour time there. I kept a signal station on top of a large building adjoining Ostend Station. In the daytime we used Helio and Flag, and at night the Begbie lamp. We were in communication with another station on a very tall tower, and they in tum were in communication with the Outpost stations. Our station was on top ofBattalion Headquarters and many signals came through, chieflyvery briefreports such as "Communications are cut to Thourout".

1682. After seven days some Belgian volunteers arrived, and we re-embarked to England, much to the sorrow of the Belgian inhabitants as they had good faith in the fighting qualities of the Royals. At this time the Royal Marines had no transport of their own, and we had to get on the best way we could without it. We were complimented by the Admiralty on the way we disembarked and amiably re-embarked, including the handling of our stores. We arrived at Deal and marched to the local barracks.

Dunkirk:- Aftera little training and re-organisation, we embarked again at Dover in transports, and this time we landed at Dunkirk, where we were billeted in the town for fourdays, and then moved under canvas on the outskirts of the town, the whole Brigade being here. Spies were oftensuspected , and no doubt there were plenty on the lookout for information.

Cassell :- A quick move came one day, and we entrained and found ourselves at Cassell. Here we were billeted in empty houses, having straw to sleep on. Fortunately forus the people had packed up in a hurry and they had left several items in the eating line, including a large store of pears, and we enjoyed these. Also a piano was left, and with the aid of it we were able to break the monotony. It is well known that an Old Soldier will findanything there is to be found, and it was not surprising thereforethat our Old Soldiers found some wine which had been hidden away in some remote place in the building. Our meals were cooked out in the back garden.

We stayed at Cassell 4 days and carried out several reconnaissances towards Lille, moving in two or three columns. My position was generally in frontwith the majority of the signal section, and we rode bicycles, which I founduncomfort able when carrying a full pack, especially when cycling uphill. About50 yards distance was kept betweeneach pair of cyclists, when acting as advanced scouts. The remainder of the column came on behind in London Omnibuses, (advertisements still on), which had been acquisitioned and brought over to France for transport purposes with their drivers, but not the conductors.

Being in the leading position we came in forwelcoming by the inhabitants of the different villages, who tendered fruit tobacco etc on us, they were so enthusiastic to think that the British had entered the war on their side.

At Cassell we had our respective places of assembly in case of attack. At 2 a.m. one morningwe received orders to get ready to move at once, aftera quick collection of stores we donned packs, and proceeded to Cassell station where we entrained, wondering where we were offto this time. Aftertravelling all day we arrived at a small village just outside Antwerp. As we passed Ghent some hospital nurses came along the platform, the train stopping there, and offeredus tobacco, cigarettes and beer. The Officers forbadethe issue of the latter, although the nurses assured them it was not at all strong. They apologised by stating that, had they known that we were coming through, they would have prepared more forus. However, as fast as one basket of tobacco was emptied, they went back and fetchedanother.

1683. Antwerp:- We eventually arrived at Oude Gued, a small village outside Antwerp about midnight, and the G.O.C. there gave a spirited paring speech, but the men were too tired to appreciate it, as they would have done under more ordinarycircumstances. All they wanted at that particular moment was foodand sleep.

This time we put up in empty schools with straw, and the men went around the shops that were still open and procured eatables. No doubt the shopkeepers were glad to sell their stock beforethe Germans came and took it gratis, although the arrival of our forcegave them further hope that the German invasion would be stemmed. We had a short nap from about 1 a.m. till 4 a.m., when we marched to a position already held by the Belgians opposite the village of Lierre and in line with the outer Forts of Antwerp. An advanced post by No 3 Cpy, O.C. Major Bude, was formedin the village of Lierre to command the bridge over the river (or tributary of the Scheidt ) calledthe Nethe.

During our march to this position we were besieged with handfuls of fruit, pears being in abundance. On arrival we found the position to consist of one shallow and wide trench (in a turnip fieldour Coy. No 4 was situated) with a sprinkling of pointed stakes in the ground andtrip wires out in front. To cover the front each man had about 4 yards of trench allotted to him, and justbehind the spot where I was situated was a farm where we deposited one of our renowned Old Soldiers, and he carried on the cooking in a very efficientmanner, as he had to findthe animal contents. Some tame rabbits were the first item; they had been left together with various other animals, as the occupants of most of thehouses had left them in a great hurry. There was also plenty of coffee, together with a goat, which several men tried unsuccessfully to milk. Afterputting up a heroic stand and suffering heavy casualties against overwhelming numbers, the advanced post was compelled to retire back to our trench.

The enemy's artillery was very superior to our own; in factour forcehad none, with the exception of an Armoured Train that was mentioned to be doing good work. The guns on the fortsmanned by Belgians were very small compared with the enemy's. I still have a piece of enemy's shell, one of many, which came buzzingdown from the fallafter the ground burst. It was quite hot so I had to pick it up twice, it being an outside portion I was able to measure it, and the circumferenceof the whole shell would bring the diameter to be about11 inches. Still the small guns kept blurting fromthe forts, until one by one they were all knocked out.

The odds were greatly against us, as we had to stick in a trench and sit down due to the heavy shelling of the enemy guns. and could reply with nothing, as there was no target for a rifle.At night time we tried to work reliefa, but there was not much rest forthose off watch, as there were continualalarms, with sudden bursts of machine gun and rifle fire, so that we were practically standing by all the time.

The huge shells bursts very near our trenches, and it was lucky forus there were not many direct hits. Parts of the railway line immediately behind occasionally went skyhigh, other shells could be heard roaringon some long journey overhead, eventually dropping on

1684. Antwerp, some miles behind which caused huge fires. Practically all our casualties were fromshell fire, and we could hear the hum of these huge shells some time beforethey reached us. We then got behind our parapet trusting to good luck that it would drop well clear. After it had burst we waited forthe pieces to drop again, which came humming down and we were very often covered with dirt and mud which also came fluttering down.

In the daytime, (as beforementioned), our battalion with the exception of the advanced post did not see anything to shoot at, the Chatham Bn. now on the right, however, did a good deal of fightingwith the rifleand machine gun. On our leftsome Belgians were supporting the Deal Battalion.

The routine at night was for one man in every three to be on watch, and afterdoing one hour called his relief, but as already stated there was not much rest in between. I was on the extreme leftof our battalion's line and there was a gap of about 15 yards to the right of the next battalion. The order came along, "Keep a sharp look out on the left", as no doubt the officerwas thinking about this gap. But I didn't need this warning, I was not going to give anyone a chance to work round and catch me in the rear with a bayonet.

Lierre was burningpractically all the time, and this at night, together with the firesof Antwerp behind, it made a weird spectacle, and our bayonets were kept well under the parapetso that the glint did not show on them.

The guns in the fortsabout us were gradually silenced. I afterwardsheard that all their guns had been sold to the Belgian Government byGermans some years previously, and that they were Krupps, so they knew the guns they were fighting.

We had orders to retire fromthe trench on a Wednesday morning and we told we were going to take up a new position at Bouehet. Receiving the order to move we commenced to retire insingle file, crawling on our handsand knees across the turnip fields. The Germanshad some observation balloons on the look-out. By the time I got to the hedge on the other side my knees were beginning to feel a bit sore, as we were carrying full pack, 500 rounds ammunition, besidespick and shovels etc. In one hand I carried a Belgian canteen tin fullof butter, which I intended to hang on at all costs, andevery time this hand went forwardon the ground, so the tin resounded, I oftenlaughed to myself when thinking about it afterwards.In the other hand I carried signalling gear.

One of the Old Soldier signallers had a narrow escapewhilst signalling with a small blue flag, standing outside on the drop door of a hayloft, which towered fairlyhigh. He was evidently spotted by the enemy; at leasthe thought so, as a shell hit the tower immediately under him carrying most of it away. He shifted position "Forthwith".

Having reached the hedge by companies, we came in fora good deal of the enemy's shell fire, which increased in volume; the reason beingthe Belgians followedus in our retirement of crawling across the fieldthey ran across in any formation,and beingin blue

1685. uniformthey were easily spotted by the enemy's observation balloons and consequently drew the shell fireas they followedus. Some confusion followed, close touch was lost, and we were scattered in small parties, another Sergeant andmyself finding ourselves with eight privates, made our way to the new position to the best of our judgement, still coming in for a good deal of shell fire, but dropping flat as each one hit the ground and exploded. We eventually reached a village called-nst, where a Belgian Corporal offered us a hot dinner inside a cafe, there wasn't much time to be lost, but a hot dinner of quality was a thing we hadn't tasted forsome considerable period, so we entered and partook of this meal, which was nothing less than steak, onions, potatoes and coffeeroyal.

Having hastily devoured this, out came the map and watch to find our road, andI found that we had 6 miles to go, so we tramped offand eventually came across one of our Staff Officersin a motor car, who gave us the directions of our Unit, and enquired if we had seen any more of the men. The battalion had just started to dig trenches along a hedge front, so that we were just in time to do our share. This completed, biscuits were served out, and it was now getting dark. One solitary large calibre shell dropped right in line with our trenches, (more about this later).

About 11 p.m. the order was passed along to stand by to move at once. The order was given to me by a Major in this manner "We have got to be up and out of it as quick as possible. Do you understand?" Needless to say I smelt a rat. We stole out as quickly as possible in the moonlight, it was quite clear and a hard frostynight. Aftergetting a short distance the order was given to return to our trenches again, and at midnight the order came again forus to move, and this time we did move. We formedup quickly behind a large wood, each one carrying in addition to a full pack, a pick or shovel, and here and there men had a tin of bully beef and a tin of jam tied onto the top of it all.

We learnt afterwards the cause of our quick shift. Two spies dressed up as Belgian Officershad given our position away, and the solitary shell that had dropped in line with ourtrenches no doubt was a registering shot, and had we remained there that night we should have beenblown to ****, as the trenches were afterwards. The spies were turned over to the Belgians who like the French fortunatelyhave a quick way of dealing with these detestable people, as they were immediately shot.

Bouchout was outside of the inner ring of forts, and aftera fewhours march we arrived at these fortsat dawn, and passed a Naval Brigade who were there entrenched. We were now halted just outside this ring and companies were told offto occupy different buildings. Our company went into a large disused photographic workplace, and in it there were some very interesting large photographs, and everything was in order, just as it had been leftwhen the workpeople left.Next door was a large grocery store, and combined with eatables that were collected fromvacated shops, a good all round selection foodwas served out. After a lot of trouble I managed to buy a loaf, and then we dined. I also took advantage of this halt to wash a pair of socks, my feetwere beginning to feel the effects of long tramping and it was some time since most of us had changed socks. I hung them up to dry, but some unkind individual "sharked" them; I expect he is dead now if my prayers areanswered. 1686. Before the day was out we shifted to a field just behind this factory, and dug a trench along the hedge, so that we might not be observed by the enemy's planes. We cut small bushes and placed them across on top, rose bushes in fullbloom were very conspicuous on this occasion.

The refugeeswere passing along in thousands, and one could tell who were enemies betterifwe could speak the "lingo". The Belgian soldiers did a lot ofquestioning, and I expect they founda fewspies amongst them.

We made some coffee,which was served out froma pail, found in a vacated dwelling house close by, also some fowl's eggs had been leftthere, and all the cooking utensils. But the cook got into hot water, as the first fewtried their coffee and hastily spat it out. It turnedout that the cook instead ofputting in what he thought was white sugar, put in salt. Imagine being very thirsty, coffee in sight, a good mouthful,and then !

About 10 p.m. the night fires were startedin the middle of the field, stores and straw were carried out and dumped there, to make any spies that were watching think that we were stopping there forthe night. But later that night we moved to a wood and at daybreak we moved back again to our prepared trenches. However, before daybreak we also had a shift to a street lined with houses, and here we lay down on the pavements. Whilst there some bullets evidently struck some ofthe windows above us, as several were broken and glass came tumbling down makinga loud clatter below, so that everyone jumped up, (the men's nerves at this time were being strained) and prepared to sell their lives dearly. But the C.O. assured us it was only a few drunken Belgian soldiers who had firedtheir rifles. He also told us that some heavy Naval Guns were being sent to our support, and read a telegram of gratitude, sent by the King of the Belgians on our splendid services; I think this little bit of inspiration certainly did some good, as it came at the right time.

The next evening 8th October we were told that owing to the critical position on each flank, there was nothing we could do but to retire. At midnight we moved to our place of assembly in single file, speaking only in whispers and dispensing with our mugs which had been clinking against our entrenching tool. A battalion of "Clinks" makes a lot of noise in the dead ofnight. It was very quiet except for occasional rifleshots, (and owing to the darkness there was no telling who was firing them), and now and then a huge shell wined over and the distant explosion heard as it dropped in the City ofAntwerp. The C.O. gathered the Officers and N.C.O's around him and gave the necessary orders in whispers. We formed up and marched a short distance to where we met the Naval Brigade, and I heard them remark "Here's the Royals" - someone who evidently knew a bit about the Corps, by the gladness of his expression.

We marched offin column ofroute, half of the Royal Marines leading the column, and the remainder formingthe rear. My battalion, the Plymouth, was in the rear. We marched with fixed bayonets, thus being ready to formthe duties ofa rearguard in case we were overtaken. Passing through the city of Antwerp, we observed huge fires, andby the light

1687. that was thrown along, one could see the long column swerving fromone side to the other, to keep as far as possible fromthe huge tottering, burning buildings. Also one could not help but notice a slight but regular movement as largeshells came down near and exploded in the next street. There was hardly a whole window left, and broken glass crunched under our feetwhile we marched. Also there were numerous obstacles such as fallentrees, dismantled tramway wires, dead horses etc, and this in addition the hard cobbles (which one sees in our Royal Dockyards) made marching very difficult.Many people were moving hurriedly with as much belongings as they could carry,others were standing at the doors, apparently content to remain, it is more than probable that most of these were of German origin.

Reaching the River Scheldt, there was a strong smell of oil, and it was noticed that a short distance down the river oil tanks were surrounded by fire. The bridge that we had to cross over the river by was very shaky, and being dark I could just notice that it was a pontoon type. The delay here was considerable, as the whole column had to pass over in single file with a distance of 6 paces between each man. Battalions, as they reached the other side, formed up again and marched on. When our Battalion had crossed, we were the last, it was foundthat the Naval Battalion in fronthad leftno connecting file.Thus left to ourselves our C.O. decided to alter his route and make for St XX:XXXXXX Giles, the remainder of the column having proceeded to St Nicholas. The roads were now very congested with all sorts of vehicles, Belgian Artillery, motor buses, dogcarts and thousands of refugees, all with bundles, and woman with babies. Several instances occurred of men taking the babies from the woman and carrying them along part of the way. Although the men must have been dead beat themselves, I must confess that I was ''walking in my sleep", and the dust was blinding. Dogcarts are very numerous in this country, they can be used to advantage in level country, and these dogs, some harnessed in pairs needed no whipping, they seemed to tug along, and to realise the desperate situation.

We came to a wood at the side of the roadway and here we were told that we could rest for a fewminutes, while our alert C.O. the late Colonel Matthews went forwardto reassure himself of the best road. We sat down in the road, with our packs on, and the majority dropped offto sleep right away. As dawn came we could see the wood was full of refugeestaking sleep the bestway they could, and I noticed that some children looked very tired and hungry. Two of them polished offa tin of cornedbeefl gave them "they were hungry", I could have eaten it myself but they needed it the most.

Now we had orders to move again and got back on the march, we had previously searched the village a few yards away for food, but in vain, every scrap had gone fromthe shops and houses. There were many dead horse lying about. Passing through it we came out into open county again and halting for a minute whilst the Colonel went to examine a train that was standing at a level crossing. The halt only lasted two minutes and we were ordered to boardthe train that was nearlyfull up with refugees.We were just off St Giles where our C.O. commandeeredthis train, and we were soon under weigh.

1688. Since our arrival on this side of the River Scheidt, (where we crossed over the pontoon bridge), we had seen nothing of the other part of the Naval or Marine Brigades. Once inside the train most of the men dropped offto sleep again, and were soon snoring. The train stopped at Bruges, and it was necessary for us to remain there some time, to allow other trains to come through in the opposite direction, as they were transporting part of an Army Corps that had landed at Ostend. Here I managed to get some loaves immediately outside the station, and shared them as far a they would go, to eat with our cornedbee£

About I O p.m. we moved again, andalthough we were packed like herrings, in a box, we slept again. Belgian soldiers who were evidently used to the trick were travellingon top of the train. This would have been more difficult had the train moved like some English expresses.

At dawn we arrived at Blankenburghe, and we were warnednot to touch the water, although we were very thirsty. A major said to me "Did you hear anything of the bombardment", I said, "Well Sir I fancyI did, but whether it was a dream or not I couldn't say." Everything seemed to be going bang when I was asleep, after the recent bombardmentswe had been subjected to, and it was a long time beforethis familiar sound leftthe ears. The major said that we had been bombarded, andthe engine driver stopped the train but after some persuasion moved on at top speed, and got through without mishap. Only that we should have gone to Ostend instead of Blankenburghe. From here we had to march about 16 miles, and we were very footsore by the time that we got to our destination. It was the firsttime that I had seen our C.O. limping fromthe effectsof marching, andhe washelping himself along with a stick. At Ostend we were packed onto a transport and the next day we sailed clear of channel mines to Dover.

Note :- This accountwas writtenby SgtW.H. Meatyard at the 1 s1 Reserve Battalion, R.M.L.I. Alnwick, Northumberland. 17.4.1919.

I would like to thank Matthew Little the archivist at the Royal Marines Museum for his permission to reproduce thismaterial in theR.N.D.

Also Bob Thompson fortranscribing it. If anybodyhas any additional informationand would like to contact him, his address is :- 2, NorthHill Cottages, Dunkerton, Nr Bath, BA2 8BB. Or telephone 01 761 4705511.

Information :- If a reader wants to check on the names and numbers of those who took part in the Antwerp Campaign one should obtain a copy of 'The 1914 Star to theRoyal Navy & Royal Marines' by W.H. Fevyer & J.W. Wilson, published by the Naval & Military Press in 1993.

The photographs on the opposite page are both from the J. Nicol Collection housed at the Liddle Collection, Brotherton Library, LeedsUniversity. I would like to thank Richard Davies forhis help. Above :- Taken in a cattle truck train travelling fromBurges to Ostend. Nicol was an officer in the Nelson Battalion and therefore one most likely sees Nelson Officers. Below :- Disembarking at Admiralty pier Dover.

1689.

GALLIPOLI

CASUALTIES OF THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION WITH NO KNOWN GRAVES.

Names appear on the Helles Memorial.

From the database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Leishman, Leading Seaman, R. Clyde Z/1971. Collingwood Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th June 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Leonard, Able Seaman,Thomas, Mersey Z/369. Hood Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th June 1915. Age 18 years. Son ofBenjamin and Emma Leonard,of 26, Woodford Road., New Ferry, Birkenhead. Panel 8 to 15.

Lewin, Private, G. A. P0/583(S). Portsmouth Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 6th May 1915. Panel 2 to 7.

Lewis, Stoker 1•1 Class, C. SS/108260(RFR). Howe Bn. Royal Navy. Died 4th June 1915. Age 23 years. Son ofSarah Ann Pinchin (formerly Lewis), of105, Kew Road, Birkdale, Southport, Lanes. Panel 8 to 15 and Additional Panel.

1 Lewis, Able Seaman, John Glover, Tyneside Z/1434. Nelson Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 6t1 June 1915. Age 24 years. Son ofWilliamina Lewis, of 47, Milburn Street,Workington, Cmnberland and thelate Robert Lewis. Panel 8 to 15.

Lewsey, Able Seaman, AW. Tyneside Z/1940. Collingwood Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th June 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

th Lilley, Stoker 1st Class, L. CH/355532. (RFR/B/6269) Hood Bn. Royal Navy. Died 4 June 1915. Panel 1 and 2.

Lintott, Sub Lieutenant,William. Nelson Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 12th July 1915. Age 30 years. Son ofWilliam and MaryLin tott, of Horsham. Panel 8 to 15.

Lister, Able Seaman, J. H. Tyneside Z/1019. Collingwood Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th June 1915. Age 22 years. Son of William and Mary Lister, of 9, Office Row, East Holywell, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Panel 8 to 15.

Little, Sub Lieutenant, H. W. Hawke Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 19th June 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Livingstone, Private, J. CH/435(S). Chatham Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 11 th July 1915. Age 24 years. Son of John and AgnesLivings tone, of lOC, Coursington Road, Motherwell, Lanarkshire. Panel 2 to 7.

Llewellyn, Able Seaman, Robert, Tyneside Z/222. Drake Bn. R.N. Died l lth May 1915. Panel 1 and 2 and Additional Panel.

1691. Lloyd, Private. W. CH/307(S).Chatham Bn. RM.L.I. Died 29th April 1915. Age 17 years. Son of Mrs. Margaret Lloyd, of 40, Ivy St., Boxton St., Shoreditch,London. Panel 2 to 7.

Able Seaman, V. KW/745. Collingwood R.N.V.R. Died 4thJune 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Logan,Lodge, Petty Officer,H. DEV/302198. Bn.Royal Navy. Died 4thJune 1915. Panell & 2.

Able Seaman, H.J. London Howe Bn. R.N.V.R. Died l41hJuly 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Long, Private, S. PLY/471(S). PlymouthZJ617. Bn. Nelson R.M.L.l. Bn. Died 3rd May 1915. Panel 2 to 7.

Long, Private. Arthur,P0/147(S). R.M.L.I. Died July 1915. Age 38 years. Brother-in-law ofMr. J. Batty, ofNorth Road, Retford.Panel tli 2 to 7. Longbottom, Portsmouth Bn. 13 Served as AbleBatty. Seaman, Jolm William, KP/437.T. Anson RN.V.R. Died 4thJune 1915. Age 34 years. Son ofArthur and Annie Longden, of 2, Ellen St., Masborough, Rotherham. Panel to 15. Longden, Bn. Stoker l st Class, J, SS/108431. (RFR/DEV/B/5798) Royal Navy.8 Died 3rd May 1915. Age 28 years. Son ofJohn and Eliza Lonnon, ofHamstead; husband ofFrancis Lonnon, of Railway Terrace,Lonnon, Hamstead, Birmingham.Panel 1 and 2. Nelson Bn.

Loughran, Petty Officer,Joseph Cuthbert, Tyneside Collingwood Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4fuJune 1915. Age 21 years. Son of Margaret Hodgson (formerlyLoughran), of 38, Worley St., Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the late Peter Loughran. Panel 8 to 15. ZJ2260.

Sub-Lieutenant, T.E. HoodBn. R.N.V.R Died 14fuJune 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Love, Private, W.G, CH/16863. Chatham R.M.L.I. Died 30fu April 1915. Panel to 7.

Love, Lieutenant, Frank Augustus, CollingwoodBn. R.N.V.R. Died7 fuJune 1915. Age2 32 years. Son ofJohn Henry and Charlotte AmyattLowe, ofWhitstone House, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Lowe,Panel 8 to 15. Bn.

Lowe, Private,George, P0/362(S). PortsmouthBn. R.M.L.I. Died 30th April 1915. Panel 2 to 7.

Able Seaman,J.A. Tyneside Z/1812. Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4thJune 1915. Panel 8 to 15. Lowrey, Collingwood Private,S.L, CH/18516. Chatham R.M.L.I. Died 19fuJune 1915. Age 18 years. Son of Thomas Leonard and Ellen Mary Lucking, of 105, WelbourneRd., Tottenham, London. Panel 2 to 7. Lucking, Bn. Able Seaman, E.G. TynesideZ.4562. Hawke R.N.V.R. Died 9t1tJune 1915. Age 17 years. Son ofMrs Florence M. Lumsdale, of39, Greenwell St., Darlington. Panel 8 to 15. Lnmsdalc, Bn. Lynas, Private,C.F.H., P0/353(S). Portsmouth Bn. RM.LI. Died 611i May 1915. Age 24 years. Son of W.E. and Mary Lynas,of 92, Glebe Rd., Middlesbrough. Panel 2 to 7.

Lyons, Petty Officer, A.E, SS/101622. (RFR/CH/B/7050) HoodBn. Royal Navy. Died 4tbJune 1915. Panel l and 2.

Private,Abraham, PLY/17505. Plymouth Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 21s1July 1915. Age 19 years. Son of William and Hannah Lyttle, ofBallynamoney, Lurgan, Co. Armagh. Panel 2 to 7. Lyttle,

1692. Macdonald, Stoker l st Class, J, SS/108033. (RFR/DEV/B/5616) Howe Bn. Royal Navy. Died 4t1, Jtu1e 1915. Panel 1 and 2.

Macdonald, Able Seaman, M, Clyde Howe Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th Jtu1e1915. Age 19 years. Son ofAlexander MacDonald, of16, Hutton Drive, Linthouse, Govan, Glasgow. Panel 8 to 15. ZJ229. Mackay, Private, A, PLY/167(S). Plymouth Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 3n1 May 1915. Panel 2 to 7.

MacKeller, Able Seaman, Peter,Clyde ZJ129 (C ).Howe Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 6th Jtu1e 1915. Age 19 years. Son of Mrs. MacKeller, of4, Clarence St., Clydebank, Glasgow, and the late Malcolm MacKeller. Educated at Glasgow High School. Enlisted, 1914. Panel 8 to 15.

Mackinnon, Stoker l st Class, Alexander, SS/106096. (RFR/DEV/B/4734) Nelson Bo. Royal Navy. Died 13th July 1915. Panel 1 and 2.

Magee, Private,Allan Eustace, PLY/16301. Deal Bn. R.M.L.1. Died 20th May 1915. Age 20 years. Son of Sarah Magee, of197, BramhallLane, Stockport,and the late James Magee. Panel 2 to 7.

Maguire, Leading Seaman, J.B., Mersey 3/169. Nelson Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 13th July 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Maher, Private,John Joseph, PLY/16802. Plymouth Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 3rd May 1915. Age 19 years. Son of John Maher, of10. Hanover Square, Lime Street, East Dublin. Panel 2 to 7.

Main, Able Seaman, George Christie, Clyde ZJl113. Hawke Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 19th Jtu1e 1915. Age 27 years. Son of Mrs. Jessie C. Main, of21, Guestrow, Aberdeen. Panel 8 to 15.

Maines, Able Seaman, Thomas, Tyneside Howe Bn. R.N.V.R. Died31 st October 1915. Panel 8 to 15. ZJ3533. Malcolm, Able Seaman, James, Clyde Zll940. Collingwood Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th Jtu1e 1915. Age 19 years. Sonof Mr. And Mrs. James Malcolm, of 44, Rannock St., Cathcart, Glasgow. Panel 8 to 15.

Male, Private, James, CH/38(S). Chatham Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 5111 May 1915. Age 36. Son of William Male; husband of Mary Collins (formerly Male); of 25, Park St., Penrhiwceiber, Glam. Panel 2 to 7.

Male, Stoker l st Class, William, CH/292088.(RFR/B/7682) HoodBn. Royal Navy. Died 4t1i June 1915. Panel 1 and 2.

Mann, Prvate, William John, CH/18722. Deal Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 5th September 1915. Age 18 years. Son ofJohn and Ada Mary Mann, ofHeatherdene,Snape, Saxmundham, Suffolk; late of New Maldon, Surrey. Panel 2 to 7.

Manzie, Able Seaman, William, Clyde ZJ478. CollingwoodBn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th June 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Marchant, Able Seaman, John Thomas, KP/844.Anson Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 4th June 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Marine, Able Seaman, William, KP/628. Anson Bn. R.N.V.R. Died 3rd May 1915. Panel 8 to 15.

Marlow, Private, James William, P0/17248. Portsmouth Bn. R.M.L.I. Died 20th July 1915. Panel 2 to 7.

Marren, Corporal, Dennis Joseph, CH/13874. Chatham Bn. R.M.L.I. Died l st May 1915. Age 26 years. Son of Dennis Marren (retired Schoolmaster) and Sarah Marren, ofLondon; husband of Daisy M. Marren, 78, Maida Rd., Luton, Chatham. Panel 2 to 7.

1693. GALLIPOLI

AFTER NINETEEN YEARS SOME NOTES ON THE CRUISE TO GALLIPOLI APRIL - MAY 1934. By Lieutenant F. H .. Mann, R.N.V.R. Formerly R.N.D. Engineers ..

THE PILGRIMAGE

The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shallflourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds. ADDISON (CATO).

h On the night of Friday, April 201 1934, there sailed fromLiverpool the C.P.R. liner Duchess of Richmond, with more than 700 passengers bound forthe scenes of the Dardanelles campaign of 1915. Of these, 257 had taken an active part in the operations, and the remainder a large number had been drawn by personal association of one kind or another. Some went to explore the ground they had known only as a blasted, disease infecteddesert; others to stand beforethe graves of son or husband.

A special train had been run fromLondon and a large party had gathered at Euston to wish the travellers "bon voyage" and to send vicariously a tribute to formercomrades whom the Peninsula still held.

The company who embarked that night included on equal terms officersof high rankand privates of the line; priests and those who had not known the hand of war- all to make pilgrimage to that insignificantpeninsula where, nineteen years before, the flower of youth withered and died, and unsurpassed effortand bravery against immense physical difficulties brought no material gain and met frustrationon every hand; where if anywhere in the history of human endeavour it could be said that Browning's dictum was accomplished and man's reach exceeded his grasp.

1694. Even to the casual observer the atmosphere of this cruise was not such as usually prevails. It was not that spirits were subdued by the cloud of remembrance: on the contrary the ex­ service men were distinguished by a cheerfulness oftenbordering on the ribaldry of earlier days. Nor were the usual diversions of a cruise lacking: dancingwas indulged in, sports held their usual place in the daily routine; but pervading everything was a subtle current - a sense of gravity and purpose foreignto the usual pleasure cruise. A difference was even noticeable as the ship moved away fromPrince's Stage: no ribbonswere broken, no cheering took place; only a little badinage exchanged with friendsleft on shore fellthinly on the widening gulf.

In the ship there was something of an air of subduedexp ectancy: a speculation as to how far long-anticipated renewals of :friendshipwould materialise - whether one would have grown hopelessly away fromold companions, or, casting back the years, findin rejuvenated spirit the old camaraderie unspoilt by time. Men of the grave, complacent, middle years tried to recapture something of the feelingsof a spring of nineteen years ago as a youth they embarked forthe unknown. Others of an older generation, pilgrims to the grave of youth, tried to see with the eyes of those they had lost, and mould their thoughts to a consciousness long flown.

Those who have known the rigors, exigence and comedy of service life, no matter their errand, can let no occasion with the merest hint of old association pass without quip or reminiscent pun, and as time went on the blinds were drawn up on a liftpast and gone as its incidents were recalled by action or word. Thus it was that the appearanceof a certain ex-sapper, remembered forhis predatory habits as a souvenir collector, was the signal for a general buttoning up of coats and similar demonstrative safeguards.

As we fell into the lifeof the ship it was noticeable that a close reproduction of the conditions of 1915 was at once established. Morning tea was brought with almost equal regularity, and one's general needs looked afterwith a degree of care and forethoughtthat could scarcely have been exceeded by any of the series of orderly officers whose tender solicitude we remember as contributing so markedly to the comfort and bonhomie of that other voyage!

Naples was to be the firstcall, and interest in the intervening week lay chiefly in the recognition of various landmarks: the coast of Wales, the rocky shores of Scilly; and then the passage through the Bay where a swell fromthe Atlantic kept the ship rolling and appreciably diminished the attendances at meals. The light at Cape Finisterre was passed late on Sunday night and on the following day, the 23rd, we awoke to that touch of warmth and depth of colouring in sea and sky that marks the journey south.In the afternoonwe were runningdown the coast of Portugal. This was the 19th anniversary of the death of Rupert Brooke:

1695. On such a daythe song of one was stilled Whowas our youth and wroteits message wide. We who are dim shadows of that youth- A generation dedicate to death - Go now to seek his spirit loosed afar And those of others kin to us, who fell. His was the urgent voice of changeless truth To set down in memorial of his soul A thought as talisman to such as stay. No other hand could carve those magic words As live in changing sands above his tomb; And it is meet for those who passed before - Poor ghosts that cry to God from whitened bones - That his dead hand should write their epitaph.

Tuesday morning broke calm and cloudless and soon we were nearing the Straits of Gibraltar with the western end of the Sierra Nevada range and the romantic country of Don Q in view on our left while, one by one, the gloomy heights in Morocco cut the sky with savage stroke. Gibraltar was passed at noon and soon afterwards the higher Sierras with their snow-covered slopes, hardly distinguishable from the angels-wing clouds which lay in their corrals, came into view. On our right fromtime to time were to be had glimpses of the higher Atlas towering far to the south behind the coa<;t hills of Africa.

It had been feared that days of inactivity and the contemplation of scenes of peace and beauty might seriously effect the morale of the troops. As those whose spirit flags in the long wait beforethe zero hour. To what extent the earlier exploits of the R.N.D. could be attributed to the stimulus of rum will never be known, but it is clear that without its support, and despite all the resources of the "Pig and Whistle" - as the after-smoking room came to be known - some of the most heroic spirits were rapidly wilting. The staff therefore with unusual promptitude breathed the magic word ''rum" and there were no defaulterswhen, on the after-deck, the precious fluid flowed. The order to bring mugs was somewhat loosely interpreted, with the result that utensils designed forquite different purposes were freely introduced.

The proceedings were "compared" with a certain liveliness by one Davy, whose guileless countenance and frank,blue eyes of youth, set offby an original Oxney Bottom costume, hardly seemed to consort with a somewhat sophisticated, if not ribald, habit of speech. Nor did it appear wholly seemly that his sweet lips should be eagerly caressing the tap of the rum cask forthe last few precious drops.

In what had we changed? In looks? - some of us almost beyond recognition: yet, after a few days together, we each saw each other with eyes of former years and knew no change. In manners ?- can it be that Davey's cacophonic ripple is he less strident or the

1696. deeper gurgle of a near alliterative less sonorous than of yore? As for outlook, what can be said of the influence of nineteen years of the ways of peace when a tot of rum can restore all our latent ferocity?

To maintain the high standard and elevated spirit of the afternoon the Divisional Engineers, R.N.D. whose ''year" it was, entertained in the evening the 42°d Division- the rendezvous being the select, well-insulated resort, known as the "Lido cafe". That a workmanlike job had been contemplated was indicated by the fact that some of the hosts refrained from dressing. The programme opened with a semblance of propriety; but a slight declension from the earlier standard was noted from time to time. Of the numbers performed a tone poem by Dr. O'Grady on some popular aspects of physiology and some stories of Lancashire domestic delicacies were listened to with rapt attention, whilst a number of simple bed-timestories which followswere no doubt appreciated by those who were in a condition to do so. Curiously enough, despite the spirited attack, the casualties were slight and no stretcher-bearers were called for. It must be remembered however that only seasoned troops were engaged.

April 25th was Gallipoli Day, the 191h anniversary of the attack and landing on the Peninsula. The service was conducted by the Rev. Bevill Close, a former Chaplain of the Royal Naval Division, from a stage on which were clustered wreaths for the men of various units and forindividuals who had fallen. General Davis and Captain Wetternread the lessons. In the faces of many of those figures crowding the ship around the stage could be seen the shadow of a poignant wistfulness as their eyes rested on the glittering waters of the Mediterranean and memory stirred with thoughts of how this scene must have appeared to those who passed this way nineteen years ago, Thoughts were crystallised into common form when the "Last Post" was sounded, and the communion wrought by the silence that followed was the closer for identity of interest. Yet no words can tell their secret thoughts; no lips proclaim their inmost feelings. It seemed indeed that all found relief in that expression of the sublime which lies in the words of "Lead Kindly Light"; and those who could not in their several ways bring themselves to lean so heavily on such guidance were content for once to abandon their own questing and follow humbly in the path of a highmind whose guidance came of troubles journeys.

For words to paint the carnage at Relles and Anzac the Padre' went to him whose strange prophecy had made his dying the epitome of youth's sacrifice. This was as much as we could bear, and one less familiar with the rigors of active service or the mentality of the soldier might easily have tipped the delicate balance of sensibility into a sickening pathos. For our part we did not fear that the dead would be betrayed by any faltering from the poise that made this priest loved of the ranks, whose outlook was seldom sentimental, never heroic. Yet we of that company were moved beyond belief at that restraint when every instinct must have prompted him to open a heart of feeling in homage of the beloved dead.

This day was furthercommemorated by a message from the King in response to one from the ship's Company describing its mission.

1697. 1 At Naples, which was reached early on the morning of the 27 \ General Sir Archibald Paris, who commanded the R.N.D. at Gallipoli, joined the ship and was welcomed by a representative gathering. Parties visited Vesuvius and Pompeii while some went on to Amalfi. Pompeii was reached by way of the fine "Auto Strada" twelve miles long, bordered by vineyards and the town was entered through the Porta Marina, here the party was taken in hand by a guide who knew the ''rope."

Of Pompeii and its past nothing can be written here but it may not be out of place to record the impressions of life as lived that took one back to the patrician and gladiator, and to an imagery of a dead age that rarely arises from the dust of ruins. In the museum we stood before the restored figures of skeletons which had been preserved in the attitudes of suddenly arrested activity and agonising death. In one case a wrapping around the mouth seemed to show that the vomit of lava and ashes had been proceeded by searing vapours devastating all lifein their path.

Of the monuments perhaps most interest wasshown in the Basilica (Court of Justice); the amphitheatre with its stage appointments and seating for 5000 under the sky; while those who looked a little more closely into architectural form would be sensible of the Greek origin of some of the earlier work. The state of preservation and sense of habitability of the house ofVitii, with its cool, enclosed gardens, gave some indication of the standard to which the art of living had grown and of the development of domestic architectural style and decorative art, this being particularly well expressedin the coloured frescoes.

Many members of the party found exceptional interest in the records of ancient pastimes, some of which are even practised at the present day, and it is evident fromthe portrayal of the gentleman who was earnestly weighing his solid capital against his more liquid assets that the gold standard was even then a "pressing" problem!

Then over the misty Apennines, tree-clad to their summits; through vineyards and olive groves, and by way of tortuous passes, to Amalfi, a coast town built into the cliffs, of which it seemed to formpart. We ate a meal betweenthe bare, white walls of what had been a Cappuchine monastery, perched high above the road, fromwhich it was attained by a lift. The existence of interlaced arches supporting the remains of an adjoining chapel seemed to suggest an influence fromfurther east.

The return was by way of Positano, Sorrento and the Coast, with its deep chines and cathedral like cliffs, clothed to the summits. The dark mass of Vesuvius, which had been obscured for the greater part of the day, now loomed up, still bearing heavy masses of cloud through which the featherof steam over the crater could beplainly discerned.

As we left the left the Bay of Naples in the closing darkness the nearer Apennines darkened the night sky under a high-riding moon. Little could be seen of Capri beyond its bold outlines and the lights of its terraces. Soon these had faded and the lights of the funicular on the Volcano became dim; but it was long before the spangled belt that was Naples had sunk into the sea.

1698. Early on the following morning, April 28t\ entering the Straits of Messina, the solitary cone of Stromboli rose above the filmy mist, which soon dissolved to leave a sea that made the sky seem pale over the varied palette of the Straits. Soon we were abreast of Messina itself, straggling under the Sicilian hills, with the great slopes of Etna filling the background. The higher parts of the volcano appeared to be snow-covered and a plume stood above the summit. For hours the mountain remained in view, until only its white cap hung as a cloud above the horizon. By noon the toe of Italy had been passed and we were standing into the Ionian Sea, where a small flight of swallows and martins, laggards froma migratory flight, took refugein the ship and did not abandonus until the morning.

In the morning of the 29th General Paris held a reception of members of the R.N.D., who were individually presented to him by the Rev. Bevill Close - a happy re-union.

A fancy-dress ball was held in the evening of the same day and the Divisional Engineers found some representative disguises, Wettern as Players Navy Cut making a typical figure of the British sailor as he has never in any age or circumstances appeared, whilst Davey as a night nurse was in great demand: indeed it was imperative to hurry a photograph of the group, as his virginal expression showed a decided tendency to wilt under exposure to unladylike remarks.

On Sunday Cape Matapan was passed in the morning and thereafter the greyish, rather sterile looking coast of Greece, with occasional glimpses of the red rock which forms a characteristic featureof the islands in the easternAegean, was in sight forthe greater part of the day. At the service it seemed there might be many present, who in their normal outlook might be prepared to ''take a chance with Socrates for bliss," but who by this attendance thought in some way to prepare themselves forthe goal of their pilgrimage on the morrow.

111 Sleep came to few of the ship's company on the night of 29 April and those who remained on deck might have seen in the early hours of the following morning the dim shape oflmbros slipping past like a shadow in the darkness. This was the first stroke on a long-closed door, and a sense of awed expectancy gripped the watchers as the world took shape in the unfolding day, and the mass of the Peninsula loomed ahead with the great Memorial at Relles surmounting the high ground above W beach. Then through the lifting shadows we could make out the beaches, first X and W, then V Beach lying under the ruined forts of Sedd-el-Bahr. It was almost at this hour that the original landing had been made, when units of the 29th Division and Royal Naval Division gained a footing in the face of a fire which left some regiments with less than half their strength to hold the precarious positions attained. The River Clyde from which the Munsters, Hampshires and some of the Anson Battalion had issued and gained the beach in the faceof a concentrated machine gun and rifle fire, was no longer there. She was refloated after the War and, it is said, now sails under a foreign flag, still bearing the marks of her sojournin these waters when as a stranded hulk she formedfor months a target forTurkish gunners.

1699. Passing up the Dardanelles it could be seen that Relles was no solitary memorial. This was a scene no borrowed eyes could see: to everyone watching those sandy beaches and low cliffs a differentscene was painted. To the newcomer expectancy keyed to an almost painful pitch: to the serviceman the recognition of old landmarks, aspects of the land he had never beenpermitted to know in '15. But to everyone this much was common and the scene appeared almost as it might be to one come after a weary journey to Mecca, and, having lain to rest without the City, awakesto the vision of the seven minarets in the first gilding of dawn: This then is the place of my questioning spirit.

The shattered but still imposing pile of the Sedd-el-Bahr forts was now astern and we were passing Mo1to Bay, whose waters afforded such heavenly benison to weary bodies in that burning summer of 1915. De Tott's Battery was next in sight, and it was soon possible to distinguish the remains of the French trenches on the precipitous ravine of Kereves Dere, which formed the seaward limit of the line. Soghanli Dere, the site of the Turkish G.H.Q., lay sheltered under the slopes where the high and broken ground to the north-east of Achi Baba breaks to formone of the loveliest valleys of the Peninsula.

Approaching the Narrows we could make out the inscription "18.3.1915" cut in the cliffs on the Asian side of the Dardanelles to mark the utmost point reached by any of the allied surfacefleet and commemorating forthe Turks our failure to force the Straits.

Between Kilid Bahr, with its clutch of red-roofed houses, and Chanak, on the Asiatic shore, the ship was stopped for port formalities and we were able to obtain an excellent view of this town, where architecture of characteristically modem Mediterranean style lies primly pink and white flanked by the rugged bastions of the forts of Saladin. Shortly afterwards the ship had passed Maidos and came to anchor in Khelia Bay, on the Gallipoli side and some eighteen milesabove Relles.

Almost before the ship had anchored in Khelia Bay news was brought that a Turkish delegation was coming on board, and several generals found them selves dressing with unusual celerity. Among the visitors were the Governor of Chanak, the sub-governor of Maidos, and the harbour-master, who had been responsible for the Straits minefields in 1915; there were the 0.C. searchlights and Mehmet Bay, the commander of the heavy battery at In Tepe, who, of course was immediately associated with "Asiatic Annie." He seemed to be immensely gratifiedby the cheery reception accorded him by those who had once constituted his target. The good relations established at this meeting were consolidated by the spontaneous invitation from the Commander of the ship, Captain Rothwell, forthe delegation to dine in the ship with their ladies on the following evening.

From our anchorage the Anzac position lay to the north-west on the remote side of the Peninsula. On the extreme left in distant silhouette stood the Memorial to the Australian dead at Lone Pine, this forming the extremity of a ridge which sloped gently to the right where it terminated in the New Zealand Memorial at Chanuk Bair. These two monuments seemed aptly to mark the limits of our progress in this sector.

1700. The landing parties were divided into two groups, each of which followed a similar itinerary on alternate days. The party to which General Sir A. Paris and the majority of the R.N .D. attached themselves went ashore at Khelia Bay and were taken by cars in various stages of dilapidation to the Anzacand Suvla area, where we traversed the ground between the original positions won by the Australian and New Zealand forces to the culminating point at Chunuk Bair. The route lay across the Peninsula, past Gaba Tepe, almost to the coast, then up a steep and rugged track to Lone Pine Memorial, where in a small memorial hall reposes the register of the Australian dead. From this point the road follows closely the old front line, past Johnson's Jolly, Courtney's and Quinn's Posts, each with its cemetery- an area that was remembered not only forthe exploits of the 4th Australian Brigade but as the scene of distinguished work by the Portsmouth and Chatham MarineBattalions.

Walker's Ridge, once held by the Nelson and Deal Battalions, lay on our route north, and we then came to the Nek, the site of the Turkish Memorial, which had been completed only just before our arrival. Leaving this the party turned to the north-east and took the road along the ridge of Sari Bair in the direction of Chunuk Bair, one of its dominant heights, and the scene of some of the bitterest fighting in the history of the campaign. Some of the party, fearingthe capacity of the ramshackle vehicles to survive the :frequent collision with boulders and precipitate lurches into gullies, which even the clever Turk drivers could not avert, walked up the rugged track to the New Zealand Memorial. From this eminence we were able to look across the foreground of confused and disjointed scrub-covered ravines, and catch a glimpse, betweenthe heights which flank the plateau ofKilid Bahr, of the blue streak that was the Dardanelles, the further shore and the distant heights in Asia Minor. When after what was perhaps the most costly attack of the campaign the New Zealanders and Gloucesters, reduced to a handful, rushed the summit and viewed that scene in the dawn of August 8th, it must have seemed that at length something tangible had been accomplished and that at long last there was a hope of final success. And this may have appeared within measurable grasp of realisation when on the following day other troops followed, held the summit and drove the Turks from the eastern slopes. But the parallel thrust that should have come from Suvla was not forthcoming, and in the great Turkish counter-attack of August 1 Oth the troops, exhausted from four days of incessant fighting, and reduced to a fraction of their original strength, were overcome by weight of numbers and forcedto yield possession of the hill.

For those of the party who had been engaged in this sector a fascination seemed to lie in the contemplation of the distantscene that so fewhad looked upon and survived - of that four miles across the neck of the Peninsula that were so nearly ours - andthe memory of the bitter fruitless struggle of that fiery August seemed to brood over everyone as we returned past Lone Pine and madeour way down Shrapnel Valley to find ourselves on the beach close to the place where the Portsmouth, Chatham, Deal and Nelson Battalions, with the R.N.D. Engineers and the 2°d Field Ambulance went ashore in 1915.

1701. After lunch on Brighton Beach, where, stretching to the south the coast defence of concertina wire could be seen, we were able to inspect the famous artillery road 1h constructed by the R.N.D. Engineers on April 30 . Much of it remains intact, less seared by the winter storms than many of the native roads. The party then drove past Anzac Cove to Ari Burnu and Canterbury, then by way of the ?1h Field Ambulance cemetery and Hill 60, to Green Hill. From this point some went on to Lala Baba Cemetery and, walking over the plain around the Salt Lake, reached Hill I O and Azmak cemetery. This country in this region is of milder shape, set with oaks and a species of dwarf silver birch, and the spring-green hue of the cultivated fields and richer foliage were in grateful contrast to the dusty scrub of the Sari Bair highlands we had left only a few miles to the south. But for an occasional stork fishing in the marsh the scene might have reminded one of the fertile lands under the wolds of Lincolnshire.

The following day the same party was taken by Turkish steamer "Deniz Is" to Cape Relles and went ashore at Sedd-el-Bahr, at a point close to the original landing from the River Clyde. To the right of the landing place a shapeless mass of twisted steel lay rusting, the remains of a dump of war material that had been abandoned at the evacuation. Some who visited X Beach reported their discovery of the remains of the jetty which the R.N.D. Engineers had commenced to build. (See photograph page 1704).

On the high ground above the beach and somewhat to the leftstands the Belles Memorial to the memory of 20,500 of the Navy's dead and to those of the 29th and other Divisions whose remains lie in unknown graves or under the waters of the Hellespont. Here a memorial service was held by the Rev. B. Close and the R.N.D, share in the memorial dedicated.

The Photographs on the next pages are as follows :-

Top left, page 1703. 'The Vineyard' The Royal Naval Division front line near the Krithia Road and not far from 'The Horseshoe' Please see location map on page 792 ofR.N.D. issue 9. ImperialWar Museum PhotographReference Q 61117.

Bottom left,page 1703. The Howe Battalion at the R.N.D. rest camp of Drake's Hill, in June 1915. Even today, trenches can be foundon the top of this hill. Imperial War Museum Photograph Reference Q 14801.

Top right, page 1704. 'X' Beach in November 1915. The tents are those of an R.N.D. Field Ambulance. Today you can still walk down the track where the horse and carts are climbing. Imperial War Museum Photograph ReferenceQ 14857.

Bottom right, page 1704. Horse linesin the French area. One can see the water towers, later to be destroyedby shell fire. The R.N.D. worked alongside the French in this area. Imperial War Museum PhotographReference Q 14845.

1702.

The party then broke up into small groups intent on visiting the scenes with which they had been most closely associated. Every mark which could be recognised was hailed with affectionateinterest and the remains of dug-outs were discovered almost with the feelings of the wanderer returning after long sojourn in foreign parts. One member indeed was so excited at finding the site of his former home that he at once brought into play every resource of his celebrated international language in the endeavour to interest a young Turkish sentry, whose stony stare and rather suspicious bearing marked one of a generation that had little concern with the historic sentiments of a former enemy.

In this account it is only possible to sketch in the salient points and reference to many features of interest must be omitted. We set out from Relles afoot and it was not long before Walmer Castle and Zimmermann's Farm were located. The presence of stone huts which had been erected subsequently made it difficultto recognise Backhouse Post.

Many local landmarks could be identified. Romano's Well, in good repair, could spare a supply for a fountain on the road to Zimmerman's Farm, which seems now to be somewhat reduced from its former proportions. Some difficulty was experienced in identifying Brown House and White House and it was thought that reconstruction had altered the features of these once-familiar buildings. We were able to trace the route of the Relles evacuation and to locate Caesar's Camp, the last camping ground of No 1 Company of the Divisional Engineers.

Of the trenches, the Eski line could be identified at several points, and some of the party were able to point out Trotman and Mercer Roads, "Crosscut B" and Piccadilly Circus. Some dug-outs were found in a fair state of preservation. The "water towers," whose origin and purpose were formerly the subject of so much speculation, no longer strode across the plain, having been finally demolished during the occupation. (See photo page 1704.)

Time has dealt healingly with the once scarred and devastated land, and the stony waste of the Relles sector is now clothed again with heather and wild thyme, and stunted oaks and firs, most abundant in the shallow ravines, afford occasional shade. But the wild flowersof those early months in '15 were scarcely seen, forthe Spring's bounty had been stolen by long drought, and the blossoms had withered under the quickening sun.

Trenches were for the most part grown up with scrub and, bereft of revetting, had often fallen in to about half their original depth. No sandbags remained. Often the trenches were difficult to locate until, on stumbling into a shallow indentation, one recognised fromits formation, and perhaps fromthe presence of relics missed in the garnering forthe graveyards, that such had been the refuge and last home of many of those shadowy companies of the past.

Of all the once-familiar featuresof this part of the Peninsula the appearanceof the Nullah, overgrown and weathered so that a foothold could hardly be gained on its slopes, was perhaps the most changed. The site of Skew Bridge appeared to be a matter for

1705. conjecture, but No 2 Field Company, who had built it, found the abutments still standing and were left with no doubts as to their handiwork. A large cemetery has been formed near here on the site of the original burial ground of this company at Walmer Castle. Sheltered on three sides by thick belts of trees, it contains in hallowed seclusion the remains, in their original resting places, of many of this Company who had fallen in Gallipoli.

Among the varied experiences of this visit memory will cherish nothing longer than the scenes in which the cemeteries and memorials are set. Those who had known Gallipoli through the summer of 1915 told each other that there wa5 something about the Peninsula they missed. It was the smell of death they missed, and instead, they found these lovely gardens of death. Amid the unkempt growth of a landscape seared with sudden crevasses and storm-washed ravines, one comes upon these oases of peace, watered and tended as an English garden, of which indeed they are redolent, with their hedges of rosemary and wild thyme, their blowing roses, iris blooms and shapely shrubs. If consolation were to be foundin the legend "They arenot forgotten," our visit was not in vain. Some who looked beyond and saw the spring loveliness of the Peninsula set offby towering Samothrace and nearer Imbros across the shimmering azure of the Aegean, might have thought that here at least Beauty watched over those remote resting places. (See Drawingpage 1769).

During the day a wreath was laid at the French memorial by Generals Davis, Farquharson and Mudge. This memorial, of rather more elaborate design than our own, stands out at the head of the French cemetery on the high ground above and to the north-east ofMorto Bay.

On the third day, May 2°d, the party were driven to a point near Krithia whence groups deployed intent on scaling the heights of Achi Baba - that elusive objective of nine months' campaign. As the higher slopes were reached the scrub became very dense and progress increasingly difficult. Thyme yielded its scent to our trampling, and wild acanthuses were in bloom. Once the plain had been left the distinctive and symmetrical contour of the hill was lost and some difficulty was found in keeping a bearing for the summit. When it was eventually reached, the existence of deep excavations although much weathered suggested that this had formed a Turkish strong point of considerable importance. To the south-west the whole plain of the Peninsula lay exposed, sloping gradually to the depression a little way inland fromRelles. Save forthe beaches and some dead ground in the Nullahs our positions, it seemed, must have been as an open book to the Turks, and is problematical whether tenure of a military position so unfavourable was ever before maintained so long or with such comparative success. On the north the country was seen to be wild and broken, and it was evident that the taking of Achi Baba could scarcely have been conclusive, as furtheradvance would have been threatened from ridge afterridge of the scrub-covered hills- natural fortresses- which lay beyond.

1706. If in the past there had been no stint in admiration for the tenacity of the troops who took and held so precariously the toe and a sector on the north-west side of the Peninsula, the true nature and configuration of the ground as now disclosed makes their task seem to have been incredibly difficult. To the natural advantage of elevation, and contours that favoured a grazingfire and gave new lifeto the spent bullet, the enemy were favoured by every circumstance of feature and growth. Able to rest his troops in the rear, with a plentiful water supply; with men seasoned to the climate and therefore more immune from disease; with artillery positions that could be chosen at will and effectively concealed, he opposed a forcethat must grasp and hold every hard-won inch of land; with artillery that could scarcely be hidden and subject to shelling from the front and the right; that yet inflicted losses of much greater magnitude than its own and broke the main Turkish army to pave the way forAllenby' s success in Palestine. It has been said that the Dardanelles campaign was a failure: failure in objective perhaps, but not in achievement; failure only in the loss of lives senselessly frittered away - in the sense that all war is failure.

After descending Achi Baba a number of the partywalked through Krithia, a deserted ruin, to the old front-linetrenches which lay just beyond. Save forthe weathering of nineteen winters this part of the Peninsula remains much as it was in 1915, and relics of the struggle were plentifulin these shadowy paths. Entanglements, bits of equipment and the debris of war lay everywhere; untouched since the evacuation. The trench belt was much broken owing to the presence of old communication trenches and the deviations of the frontline itself and progress was easieron on-man's land. (SeePhoto of 'The Vineyard' page 1703). Those making towards the east crossed the formidableobstacle of Achi Baba Nullah, and, traversing the Horse Shoe and the old R.N.D. front line with the salient which had been won by the Battalions in the brilliant advance and desperate fighting of July 12th and 13t\ came to the French front,which was the finalevacuation sector of the R.N.D. Eventually the head ofKereves Dere was reached, the trenches approaching nearer and nearer to the edge of the precipice until a point is reached fromwhich they dip sharply down the side ofthe cliffto the bottom of the ravine. Those who had occupied these trenches and who had supposed that they were sited on an elevated ridge from which the ground in front merely dipped out of sight were surprised to findthat they were so precariously sited.

Others of the partywho had exploredthe trenches to the west made their way to the coast at Fusilier Bluffand, turningsouth, reached Gurkha Bluffon Y Beach. Returningto where the cars had been leftnear Krithia they were joined by the others and the party returnedby the Krithia- Kilid Bahr road, through the beautifulvalley of SoghanliDere, the site of the Turkish H.Q. Here was a scene which, set offas it was by the dark masses of trees growing to the summits of the hills that flankedthe road, might, save for a glimpse of the Asian shore, have reminded us of the Valley of the Dart.

During the morningof the third day of our visit a wreath had been laid at the Turkish memorial at the Nek by Generals Davis and Paris "In respectful memory of a chivalrous foe."Later in the day the Turkish delegation responded similarly at Lone Pine Memorial.

1707. Some will not easily forgetthe nights when the ship lay in the Dardanelles, and the moon, rising over the plains of Troy gradually brought into relief the strange contours of Gallipoli as of some slumbering animal. But at length the haunted place must be leftand we could at last reflecton the strange experience of passing through what was formally enemy ground or military objective. And as we steamed into the Sea of Marmora - for foursyears, except forthe intrusion of a few daring submarines, a mere name - there was a sense of trespass and even of menace, and it seemed scarcely real that we were traversing those legendary waters, pastthe Bulair lines, to that former illusiveobjective - Constantinople. In the still, warmnight, with the sluggish ripple splashing the moonbeams into out faces, thoughts of past years crowded upon us, andthose who could find no rest might have wished their passage had been through the waters of Lethe.

The morningbroke somewhat misty, and Istanbul lay, a blur of beauty, in the pearly light. In this view the primness of some of the modernbuildings in Galata was obscured, while the tawdriness of decoration of some of the ancient monuments was hid until such time as on nearer approach we should be ready to accept it as a foilto the greater beauties it could not mar.

From our anchorage near Leander's Tower with Scutari and Haida Pasha leaning on their green slopes to the south, we saw as the mists cleared the slender minarets ofthe great mosques take shape and the interesting domes of the Blue Mosque of Asmed. When afterwardswe stood on the vast floor of the mosque ofSancta Sofia and followedthe trace of successive cultures and found no clash, it seemed that here in this monument of high aspiration, where even the ordering of the carpets differedbut a fewdegrees from the set of the temple to Nazareth, the spiritual gulf might be bridged. Yet who would look foryielding or compromise with a spiritual independence that allows the symbolismof another faith to adornthe walls of the anti�chambers to its mosques and scarcelytr oubles to remove the golden crosses in the mosaics of the dome itselfl In the Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmed no tribute to a gentler church is paid, but here is all the hard brilliance of a firmer faith, as ifto give it joyous proclamation. Again the Moslem indifferenceto the legends and symbolism of another faithblazoned in their midst is shown in the preservation of the decorations in the Kahrie Mosque, the ancient Christian Church where the warmth and grace of Byzantine art lives in scriptural pageantry in the rich mosaics.

In the morninga deputation headed by General Davis laid a wreath at the monument of the Turkish Republic at Taxim, and the ceremony was followed by a lunch at the Hotel de Londres, where a party fromthe ship, including Generals Davis, Armstrong,Farquharson andHare, wasentertained by the Istanbul section of the British Legion under the presidency of Sir Percy Loraine, the British Ambassador. Several Turkish officerswere present. At a dinner held on the Duchesss ofRichmond on the evening of the same day the hospitality was returned.

1708. On Friday, May 4t11, during the returnpassage of the Sea ofMarmora, a memorial service forthe lost submarine crews was held and a wreath cast on the waters which had closed over them in those days of fearless action andmany-sided death. In the afternoonwe were again steaming past the Peninsula, andat 5.35, aswe passedCape Relles, the ship's company lined up silently on the starboard side as the beaches slipped past and were gone, while three mournful blasts fromthe ship's siren bade farewell to the sleepers ashore who now were left to eternal rest. Soon the Relles memorial grew dim; but even as it faded fromsight a glint of sunshine on the cliffs irradiatedonce more its setting. Then only the low-browed Achi Baba stood above the pale sea Many stood quite still until the evening mists closed in and Gallipoli was once more a memory. * * * * *

Reference:- 'After Nineteen Years' by Lieutenant F. H. Mann, R.N.V.R (Formerly R.N.D. Engineers was printed by Valentine & Sons,Ltd., London & Dundee.

There is a note:- The writer of these notes wishes to acknowledge the help he has received fromCapt. E. F. Wettern, Mr. A. Gillott and others who kindly supplied him with information as to certain features of the battlegrounds he was himself unable to inspect.

Note:- 1) I was given this booklet by Vera Murray the daughter-in-law of Joseph Murray of the Hood Battalion. In pencil on the front cover Joe has signed his name.

2) During the reproduction of this account I contacted John Wetternthe son ofCapt Eric Wettern, mentioned in the text.Re informed me, that his father, of the R.N.D. Engineers, had in factarranged the pilgrimage himself He dealt through Thomas Cook who had hired a ship the Montrose operated by a Canadian Shipping Line. However, he had no idea how many people might takeup the offer.In fact, so many people wanted to go that he had to upgrade the ship, booking the Duchess of Richmond as a replacement.

* * * * *

1709. GALL/POLL THE HELLES HOTEL

By Sub Lieutenant A .. P .. Herbert.

Hawke Battalion.

When I consider how my lifeis spent In this dark world of sugar-cards and queues, Where none but babes get proper nourishment And meanly men remunerate the Muse, I dream of holidays when Peace is sent, But not such dreams as common persons Use- I know a headland at the Dardanelles Where I shall build the best of all hotels.

I know a cliff-topwhere the wealthy guest From languid balconies shall each day view Far over Samothrace the tired sun rest And melt, a marvel, into Europe'sblue, To come back blushing out of Asia's breast And hang, at noon, divided 'twixt the two, While shuttered casements looking out to Troy Shall faintlystimulate the Fifth-Formboy.

There shall they have, with those delicious skies, All that rich ease for which the Armies prayed, Nor dust nor droughtnor shortage of supplies, But long cool glasses in the cypress' shade, And starlight suppers, and, of course, no flies, And in their bathing-place no mules decayed; Shall swim in the Aegean, if they want, Or go and do it in the Hellespont.

1710. There shall they hear fromolives overhead The cricket call to them and no shells sing, While painted lizards flash beforetheir tread And in green gullies trills the sudden Spring; Shall walk, unblinded by disease and dread, Where myrtlebeckons androck-roses cling, And findit difficultto tell their aunts The proper names of all these funnyplants.

There shall they see across the storied Sound Some snow-peak glisten like a muffled star, And murmur, "That's Olympus, I'll be bound," And tread old battle-fieldswhere vineyards are; With scarred young veterans they'll amble round The Turks' entanglements at Sedd-el-Bahr, And practice at a reasonable charge Heroic landings in the hotel barge.

But there are dates when tourists shall be Banned, High dates of Apriland of early June, When onlythey that bearthe Relles brand, A fewtired Captains and the Tenth Platoon, Shall see strange shadows in that flowery land And ghostly cruisers underneath the moon: They only then shall scale the sunny hills, And they alone shall have no heavy bills.

Sub Lieutenant A.P. Herbert.

I would like to show my appreciation to A.P. Watt on behalf of Crystal Gale & Jocelyn Herbert forpermission to reproduce this poem.

Published in 'The Bomber Gipsy' by Methuen & Co. Ltd. in 1919.

1711. WESTERN FRONT

th th REPORT ON OPERATIONS 5 to 8 OCTOBER 1918.

BATTLE OF CAMBRA!.

Once again I have left in the map references to allow an in dep th s tudy of these opera tions.

th 5 October 1918.

The Division was under orders to entrain foran area in the First Army, having been relieved in the Sector South ofCAMBRAI on the 1st;2 nd October by the 52nd Division.

The Division was disposed as under:-

Divisional Headquarters L.1.c.4.9. on theGRAINCOURT-CANTAING ROAD.

th 188 InfantryBrigade Group. Midway betweenANNEUX and CANTAING.

189th InfantryBrigade Group. West of ANNEUX.

th 190 Infan try Brigade Group. About 1,000 yards South-West ofCANTAING.

Machine Gun Battalion & Pioneers. GRAINCOURT South of 190th Infantry Brigade Group.

At 14.00 the Divisional Commander proceeded on leave to England.

At 18.20 a telephone message was received fromthe XVII Corps that the orders forthe move of the Division to the First Army Area were cancelled and that the Division would be required to takepart in a furtheroperation at an early date.

A warning order cancelling the move to the First Army was issued at 18.50. (G.839)

The Divisional Commander was warned to return and arrived at Divisional Headquarters at 20.30.

Major-General Blacklock was Commanding Officerof 63rd Div from 30th August 1918.

1712. At 21.00 hours, the C.R.A., acting as Divisional Commander, G.O.C. 1881h Infantry Brigade and G.S.0.1. leftto attend a Conference at the XVII Corps Headquarters. At this Conference the Corps Commander explained briefly that the attack would take place about dawn on 7th October. The objectives were NIERGNIES and the road running through. H.1.c and a., B.25.c. andXVII Corps order G.206 was issued. (APPENDIX 1.)

The enemy were stated to be retiring on the fronts of the Fourth and FifthCorps and there was the possibility of this retirement being extended Northwards opposite the fronts of the VI and XVII Corps.

The objectives of the VI Corps were WAMBAIX andFORENVILLE and the line of the road H.7.b. and H.1.d.

The 2nd Division was attacking on the leftof the VI Corps.

The attack was to be carried out by the 63rd (RN) Division, who would also be responsible for the protection of the left flank from where the Railway and Trench met in G.4.b. Eastwards and the 5?1h Division fromthat point Westwards. The advance necessitated the 6Yd (RN) Division going through the 2nd Division.

th 6 October 1918.

B.Gs.C. & O.C. 63rd Battalion Machine Gun Corps and a company of the 52nd Battalion Machine Gun Corps were summoned to a conference at Divisional Headquarters at 08.30 on the 6th. The Divisional Commander explained the plan of attack. Brigades were warned that they were to be preparedto move at 16.00 on the 61h.

At 10.10 the operations were postponed 24 hours and all concerned were warned accordingly. The postponement enabled subordinate commanders to devote more time to reconnaissance than had originally been expected.

During the course of the morning, arrangements were made for harassing fire of both heavy and Field Artillery to be continued intermittently until Zero hour.

The 9 Field Brigades were divided into a right Group of four Brigades and a leftgroup of 5 Brigades to support the attack, whilst the 35th Brigade R.G.A. was to be affiliatedto the Division and three Brigades R.G.A. were to remain under Corps control. Two Field Artillery Brigades were told offto engage all known and likely Machine gun emplacements on the leftflank of the attack and one Brigade to provide a special smoke screen on that flankas faras the 1s t objective. The creeping barrage would move at the rate of 100 yards in four minutes throughout the operation. In each group one Battery fromBrigades west of the CANAL was to advance at Zero plus 30 minutes and act in close support of the Infantry. Immediately the 1s t objective was reached the remainder of the Brigades were to move to the VALLEY in G.4. and G. 10. (VXII Corps. G.0.220).

1713.

In accordance with XVII Corps G.O. 221, the 24th Division was to act in support of the 63rd Division when the objective had been reached and to be ready to relieve the 63td Division on the night 8th/9th or 9th/1 Oth and to protect our leftflank against any counter­ attack from CAMBRA!.

At Zero, Brigades of the 24th Division were to be disposed as under:-

72nd Brigade in Square C.14. 73rd Brigade in L.9. (Area A.3.) 1 ih Brigade in area C. I. and C.2. Square L.

Early in the afternoon the XVII Corps Order No. 166 was receive (APPENDIX 2.)

The 63rd (RN) Division Order no. 277 (with Barrage Tables and Administration Instructions) was issued at 17.00 (APPENDIX 3.) The attack was to be made on a two Brigade front with the 18sth Infantry Brigade on the right andthe l 89t11 Infantry Brigade on the left with the 190111 Infantry Brigade in support of the 188th.

The 188th Infantry Brigade was to attack on a one Battalion front. The 2nd Royal Irish Regt. was to attack the lst objective, the R.M.L.I. were then to be directed on to the 2nd objective and the Anson Battalion was to encircle NIERGNIES fromthe South East.

The 189th Infantry Brigade was to attack on a two Battalion front,the Drake Battalion attacking the 1 st objective the Hawke Battalion being responsible for the protection of the left flank fromTrench end road junction in G.4.b. Eastwards to the 1 st Objective and the Hood Battalion being responsible fortaking NIERGNIES and the protection of the leftflank.

The 190th InfantryBrigade was to be prepared to meet hostile counter-attacks and ear­ mark Battalions forthese tasks.

The 63rd Battalion Machine Gun Corps and 2 Companies 52nd Battalion Machine Gun Corps provide overhead barrage for the advance forthe first objective, earmarking two companies to cover the advance on the 2nd and in conjunction with two companies of the 57th Battalion Machine Gun Corps cover the left flank of our advance.

Three tanks were to work in conjunction with the Hawke Battalion, one with the Drake, nd one with the 2 Royal Irish Regt and one with the Royal Marine Light Infantry.

Details regarding the BRIDGES over the CANAL were issued to all concerned and instructions regarding the assembly and movement to the jumpingoff line for the operation on the 8th were issued. (GA.5/198. APPENDIX 1.)

The tracks up to the assembly areas and thence to the jumping offline were cleared by the Field Companies of the Division.

1717. 1•11 October 1918.

At 14.00 watches were synchronised and Zero hour and date (04.30 on the 81h) were notified to representatives of Units.

Owing to the presence of Germans in a house at G.4.c.2.1., the opening line of the barrage was altered and a pause of 30 minutes East of the 1 st Objective was increased to 44 minutes.

With the view of assisting the troops to keep direction, arrangements were made to frre incendiary shell into NIERGNIES at 22.00 on the 7th and 04.30 on the gth (C.A.5/215).

At 16.00 the 199th Infantry Brigade Headquartersclosed at F.26.a.2.1. and the Brigade moved to assembly area via BRIDGES 5 and 12.

At 16.30. the 18911i InfantryBrigade started to move to assembly area and crossed the CANAL by BRIDGES 8 and 15.

Advanced Divisional Headquartersopened at L.10.d.1.3. NINE WOOD at 1700.

At 17 .15. the l 90th InfantryBrigade moved offto assembly areas, L.1 O.b. andL.11.a. where they arrived at 19.55. with Report Centre at MONT SUR L'OEUVRE.

At 17.45 Headquarters,188 th Infantr;Brigade, opened at MONT SUR L'OEUVRE and Units of the Brigade arrived in their assembly areaby 18.50.

Headquarters of the 189111 InfantryBrigade opened at MONT SUR L'OEUVRE and the Brigade was reported in its assembly area by 20.00.

The march to the assembly area was accomplished easily and without interruption. One Pontoon Bridge was destroyed by shell fire, after the Brigades had passed. It was at once repaired.

The rallying point forTanks on the gth instant was arrangedat G.2.a.1.1.

At 19.48. informationwas received fromthe XVIICorps that, should a break-through be th 1h effected, or little or no opposition be met, on the g October, the leading Brigade, 24 Division, (72"d Brigade) would beplaced temporarily under the orders of the 63rd (RN) Division to exploit to AWOINGT (GB. 720), and the 24th Division would subsequently advance to the line CAUROIR-CAGNONOLES whilst the 63rd Division provided flank defence to the North.

NIERGNIES was reported to be burningat 22.15. By 23.30. a bridge forInfantry at L.5.d.8.8. and an additional Bridge for Transportabout 250 yards S. E. of it, were completed.

1718. Afterdark a General StaffOfficer visited the Tanks and arranged to conduct them on the following morning to their jumping offplaces.

At midnight the 190th Infantry Brigade moved to G.16. in the followingorder :-

4/Bedford Regiment. 1 st Artists Rifles. 7/Royal Fusiliers.

th s October 1918.

At 01.00 the 188th Infantry Brigade moved from assembly area to jumping offpositions :-

2°d Royal Irish Regiment. R.M.L.I. Anson Battalion.

The 189th Infantry Brigade also moved at the same hour in the following order:-

Drake Battalion. Hawke Battalion. Hood Battalion.

The night was dark, but taped trackshad been laid up to the jumping offline and the move was completed without hindrance.

At 03.50 Corps and neighbouring Divisions were informed that Units of the 63rd (RN) Division were in the vicinity of their jumping-offpositions.

The attack was launched at 04.30. The enemy, though strong in numbers, offered little resistance and the artillery retaliation wasslight.

About06.00 the enemy artillery firewas largely directed on the CANAL CROSSINGS But did not seriously interferewith the passage of troops. The lst objective was taken about 06.10. and prisoners began coming in steadily.

A fullrep ort of the situation was given by a Contact Aeroplane about 06.30.

At 06.14 the Protective barrage liftedfrom the first objective. The Royal Marine Light Infantrypassed through the 2°d Royal Irish Regiment and little opposition was found until the southernedge of NIERGNIES and the CEMETERY in H.1.c. were reached. The Hood Battalion were considerably inconvenienced by finding a trench some 200 yards west of the l st Objective which was notmarked on any map or photograph.

1719. The tanks mopped up the Machine Gun Nests successfully.

Meanwhile the Hawke Battalion had made good the flank of the 189th Infantry Brigade and when the 57th Division stated at 07.35 that the right ofthe objective had not been reached and asked forassistance fromour leftbattalion. We were able to inform them that arrangements had already been made to work westwards andto get in touch with the troops of the 57th Division.

At 07.50. the right company ofthe 57th Division got in touch ·with ourleft company on the 1 st objective.

The enemy offeredresistance at LA BELLE ETOILE but by 08.10 the whole ofthe 2nd objective, with the exception ofLA BELLE ETOILE, was taken.

The Hawke Battalion was seen consolidating north of BEURRE MILL, which proved to be enemy Battalion H.Q. and at the same time a tank was seen patrolling the WOOD in A.30.c.

At 08.00 Corps Cyclists were ordered to CROSS ROADS G.15.a.15.45. the C.O. to report to G.9.a.0.0. MONT SUR L'OEUVRE. Cavah-y was to stand fastin present positions.

At 08.27. portions of the Hood andAnson Battalions were working through NIERGNIES and captured a number ofprisoners. The second attack on LA BELLE ETOILE by the Royal Marine Light Infantryand portion of the Anson Battalion resulted in the captureof that position by 08.40.

About 8.30. numbers ofGerman Infantry were reported collecting a.boutA.23.c.5.3.

The Heavy Artillery and 160 Machine Guns were turnedon to them and the impending Infantry counter-attack did not materialise. The Tanks, however, continued to advance.

The S.O.S. was sent up at 08.05 by ourtroops S.W. ofNIERGNIES and 10 minutes later numbers of the enemy were soon emerging fromthe village.

According to a reportreceived fromthe 2nd Division the Germans were stated to have counter-attacked about 07.45. and driven the 2nd Division who were right of63 rd Division back fromthe 2nd objective.

At 09.00 information was received fromthe 2nd Division that the water in the CANAL had fallen15 inches in 17 hours since noon on the ih. The 57th Division was informed and an officer despatched to verifythe information.

At 09.10 the 315111 Army Brigade RF.A. was tran-sferredto 57th Division. (GB.732).

1720. 7 captured British Tanks emerged fromthe sunken road A.30.b. andencountered one of our Tanks aboutLA BELLE ETOILE which had runout of ammunition. One Tank was dealt with by a captured Anti-Tank Rifle by O.C. Anson Battalion. One was dealt with by the O.C. Hood Battalion using a captured German Gu� two were dealt withby fire fromour guns and another was knocked out by the Artillery using a captured German gun reversed. The two other Tanks escaped towardsW AMBAIX.

In Volume 12 of 'The Great War' Edited by H.W. Wilson, page 454 & 455 appears the following :-

Though the naval men lost NIERGNIES for a time, it was more by accident than by any weakness against superior numbers. In the course of the morning the Germans gathered from the railway line at AWOINGT and the Le CATEAU highway and , collected in the sunken road, stormed back to the key village. With them came some seven Tanks.The naval men thought the leading storming cars were British. In this they were correct. They naturally concluded that British Tanks would help them. In this they were wrong. The chariots of warhad been captured by the enemy, repaired by his engineers, and provided with trained German crews.

They were reserved fora great surprise on an important occasio� and sent out to save CAMBRA!. There was only one British-manned Tank in NIERGNIES, and it had exhausted its ammunition in breaking into hostile machine-gun positions in the advance, so could do nothing against the perverted landships. The naval men had to fall back fromthe village, but by this time they understood the character of the new Tanks, and replied to the enemy's trick by using captured German weapons.

At 09.10 the B.G.C. 72"d InfantryBrigade was defmitely placed under the orders of the 63rd (RN) Division for use at the Divisional Commander's discretion. (G.B. 734).

At 09.20. the regrouping of Artillery Brigades was ordered as under:-

with 57th Div. Artillery.

9th & 56th ) and 72"d ) Right Group 63rd Div. Artillery. ArmyBde.)

178, 181 ) & 2"dN.Z. ) Left Group. ArmyBde.)

74 th Brigade under 63rd Div Artillery control.

1721. By 0955 the village ofNIERGNIES was again :inour hands.

At lO'o'clock the situation was restored and all objectives regained.

About 10.20 the Corps Commander informedthe Divisional Commander that the attack on the remainder of the front of3rd and 4th Armies was progressing satisfactorily.The Divisional Commander stated that he did not know when he would send the 72nd Infantry Brigade through to AWOINGT, but thatit would probably takeplace in about 3 hours. Shortly afterwardsthe 72nd Brigade were ordered to move to G.14 West ofRUM ILLY.

At 11.35. a report was received fromthe 21st Balloon Company timed 11.00 that several parties ofthe enemy could be seen moving fromRIEUX and towards CAUROIR and CARNIERES m1d that the Canadian heavy Artillery had been warned and were taking steps to deal with them. The Corps heavy Artillery were also warned to deal with these parties.

By 11.15. the 190t11 Infantry Brigade had reached the area G.5.c. and G.6.c. and G.12.a. with Headquarters at MONT SUR L'OEUVRE.

LA BELLE ETOILE was unoccupied at 12.15. but the R.M.L.I. were reported to have re-occupied the whole ofthe 2nd Objective.

At 12.40 telephone instructions were received that the 72°d Brigade were to pass through the 63rd Division and takeover the fmal objective. This information was subsequently confirmed. (GB.744).

At 13.00 the 2nd Division was reported as being back on their 1st objective and the 2nd Division informed the 63rd Division that they were bombarding FORENVILLE preparatory to another attack on the 2°d Objective at 15.00. This 2°d attack also failed and a third attack was arrangedto take place at 18.00.

Six 19 pdrs. were despatched to NIERNIES to engage any hostile tanks should they appear.

Between 12.00 and 14.00 reports were received ofenemy movement in a westerly direction in considerable numbers in the area5 between CATTENIERES and ESTOURMEL.

Enemy concentrations in sunken roads on the front were dealt with by our Artillery as they were reported.

At 13.15. Warning Order G.M.50 regarding 72°d Brigade passing through the 63rd Division and being responsible forthe left flankwas issued. (APPENDIX 5.)

1722. At 14.00 hours the situation was as follows:-

The 2°d Objective was reported held, also flank as ordered were in touch with 5ih Division. Informationreceived pointed to counter-attackby the Germans later fromthe direction of COUROIR-CARNIERES.

At 15.00 the 24th Division notified that G.O.C. was proceeding to NINE WOOD forthwithto take over front of 63rd (RN)Division.

At 16.30. Corps Cyclists ordered to stand fast at G.15.a.15.45. and await instructions from 24th Division.

At 16.30, after heavy bombardment, the enemy made strong counter-attack on the junction of the 63rd and 2°d Divisions, chiefly on the left of the 2°d Division. The counter­ attack was eventually checked and our troops occupied a line about 200 yards west of the 211d Objective. The Anson Battalion caught the attacking Germans in enfilade.

A hostile tank was put out of action by an officer of the 2°d Royal Irish Regiment using an Anti-Tank Rifle.

Verbal orders were issued that the line occupied was to beheld until the 72°d Brigade had passed through and the troops would withdraw in accordance with instructions already issued.

At 16.40. the C.R.A. was ordered to remain in command of the Artillery covering the Divisional fronton the withdrawal of the 63rd Division (G.B.747).

About this hour information was received fromthe 24th Division that the l7 th Brigade were to move to the position Square G.14. vacated by the 72°d Brigade.

th Corps mounted troops were transferred to the 24 Division from18.00.

At 18.00 the 3 floating bridges at L.6.c.1.3. were replaced by Trestle Bridges.

At 21.30 it was reported that the attack of the 211d Division which commenced at 18.00 had resulted in the occupation ofFORENVILLE.

Command passed fromthe 63rd to the 24th Division at 21.20 and thereport centre was closed at L.10.d.3.l.

At 23.40 instructions were received that Divisional Headquarters would move to CROSILLES on the 9th and the Division would beaccommodated in the MORCHIES area.

1723. During the course nf the operations the following German Divisions were identified:-

206 Division. 208 Division.

The Following prisoners and material were captured :-

34 Officers. 1,155 Other Ranks. 81 Machine Guns. 9 Field Guns. 2 Trench Mortars. 5 Tanks destroyed.

The Total number of prisoners and material captured during the operations carried out by the Division whilst in the VXIICorps was :-

0. O.R Mac/Guns. Heavy Guns. Field Guns. Trench Mortars.

301b Aug - 81b Sept. 1. 209. 202 5 3 27th Sept -2rut Oct. 63 2,138 400 5 51 90 51"0ct -Sib Oct. 34 1,155 81 9 2

Grand Total. 98 3,502 683 5 65 95

Details of the Casualties suffered are given below :-

Unit. Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. 0. OR. 0. OR. o. OR. 0. OR. 1•1 R.M. Battalion. 1. 9. 6. 116. 14. 7. 139. Anson Battalion. 2. 8. 3. 67. 5. 75. 2°d R. IrishRegt 4. 2. 39. 5. 2. 48. 1891b Int: Bde. H.Q. 2. 2. Drake Battalion. 2. 5. 54. 7. 2. 66. Hawke Battalion. 3. 14. 3. 87. 10. 6. 111. HoodBattalion. 1. 10. 5. 90. 4. 6. 104. 7 Royal Fusiliers. 2. 1. 10. 1. 12. 4th1h BedfordshireRcgt. 1. 2. l. 21. 2. 23. 1/28th London Regt. 1. 1. 2. 12. 3. 13. 111 190 T.H. Bty. 8. 8. 249tb Field Co. R.E. 2. 2. Signal Company. 1. 1. l 481h Field Ambulance. 16. 16. 149th Field Ambulance. 1. 9. 10. 150th Field Ambulance. 6. 6. 14/Worccs Regt. 1. 2. 1. 2. 63nt Bu. M.G.C. 5. 4. 21. 4. 26.

Killed. Wounded. Missing. Casualty Totals. 0. O.R. 0. O.R. O.R. 0. O.R.

Total:- 12. 61. 27. 563. 40. 59. 664. 1724. Thetotal casualties sufferedby the 63n1 (RN)Division during the operations carried out by the Division whilst in the VXIlCorps have beenas under :-

Officers. Other Ranks.

h 30 August to 8th September. 35 945 1 27th September to 200 October. 106 2,711

6th October to 8th October. 39 664

Total. 180 4,320

(1) THEFOLLOWING CONGRATULATORY MESSAGESWERE SENT AND RECEIVED:

FROM XVIICORPS COMMANDER.

Warmest congratulations to you and the Division on theirsuccess to-day AAA I told theArmy Commander theywould not failand my confidencehas been amply justifiedAAA It is a finefinish to theexploits ofthe Division while withXVII Corps.

TO "A" COMPANY52 m1 BATIALIONM.G. CORPS.AND 52 nd DMSION.

63rd (RN) Division wish to thankthe Company52 nd M.G. Corps for the excellent support theygave the Division today.

TO ALL UNITS.

The Divisional Commanderwishes to convey to all ranks ofthe Royal Naval Division his greatest appreciation ofthe wholeheartedway in which theyperformed theirtask yesterday.

Without theDivision taking part,the Third Army would have been unableto participate in fuegeneral battle all along the line - NIERGNIESbeing the key to the position.

The splendid success whichthe Division attainedshows the highest standard ofleadership, and a wholehearted discipline and willingness on thepart of the men.

No betteraward could be asked forthan thenews publishedin thismorning's Communique.

RR.SMYTH

A.A.& Q.M.G. 9t11 October 1918.

1725. FROM TIIBGENERAL Ol<'FICE'COMMANDING THE 'IHIRD ARMY.

10.10.18. Headquarters, TI1ird Army. B.E.F.

I cannot allow the 63'd (RN)Division to leave theThird Army without expressing my sincerest appreciation of the gallant behaviour during the battle of CA:rvIBRAI.

In every operation success has crowned its efforts.This was brought about by sound preparation on the patt of its Staff,;, by skilful tactical handling by all leaders and by determined resolve on the part of all ranks to beat the enemy.

TheThird Army's record of ground gained and prisoners and guns captured is a splendidone, and I owe my deepest thanks to all ranks of the 63rd (RN)Division fortheir fineshare in the achievement.

J. BYNG. General.

TO WHICHTHE FOU�OWING REPLY WAS S:KNT:-

Headquarters, 63'd (RN)Division. 13m October 1918.

General BYNG,

All ranks and ratings of the63 rd (RN)Division are deeply gratefulfor your appreciation of the work they have done.

The Division feelsproud to have had the privilege of sharing the fortunes of the TI1ird Armyfor the past ten months, at1d it is with feelings of sincere regret that they now leave it.

C.H. ROUGEMONT. Brigadier-Genera� Commanding 63'd {RN)Division.

Note :- It appears that Major-General Blacklock had now got his leave.

FROM COMMANDER:,..rvn CORPS. I wish to express to all ranks of the Royal Naval Division my appreciation of and sincere thanks for the splendid work which they have done since joining the Corps on the31 s1 August.

TheDivision has always been in the frontof every fight,and has never failed to get its objectives, however difficultthe task-- its finalperformance, the capture ofNIERGNIESwith 1,000 prisoners, could only have been effected by troops embued with determinationand soldierly spirit.

I congratulateall ranks, and wish themall good luck and success in the future.It will always be a matter of pride to me to have been associated with theRoyal Naval Division during their eventfulperiod of the War.

Clli\RLESFERGUSSON, Lt. General.

1726. THELESSIONS OF THE OPERATIONS ARE SUMMERISEDAS UNDER:-

(1) The benefitderived from Officers and men knowing each otheras compared withthe strange Feeling prevalent in units full of reinforcements- In short thespirit of mutual confidence-was very marked.

(2) The time forpreparation, 48 hours, was adequate, quite long enough forreconnaissance and yet Not so long as to fostersuspense in the mindsof thetroops detailed to carryout the operations.

(3) IntelligenceOfficers who studied the groundfor 2 4 hours beforehandgained a knowledgeof it which was undoubtedly useful.

(4) Parties specially detailed to handle captured Germanguns accompanied Battalions and were of great service, especially during hostile counter-attack of Tanks.

(5) Our Tanks did excellent work and had theopposition been in proportion to the machine guns or infantry encounteredtheir assistance would have been invaluable.

Thehostile Infantry, swamped by our Artillery and Machine Gun Barrage and terrorised by the advance of our Tanks and Infantry, offeredless opposition thanin the previous two phases of the fight. Our Infantry,unaccustomed to hostile Tank attacks and fullyrealising the power of our own Tanks, were shaken andfor a time became somewhat disorganised but orderwas quickly restored by the gallant conduct and example of commanding officers on the spot.

(2) Theuse of incendiaryshell against NIERGNIES wasvaluable, as the burningvillage affordeda useful beacon to our advancing troops.

26th October 1918. Lieutenant Colonel, General Staff.

* * * * *

Public Record Office,Kew. ADM 137/3941.

1727. WESTERN FRONT.

THE R.N.D's 'SUICIDE CLUB'.

63rd (RN) Division Machine Gun Battalion.

By Allan C. Mott ABIPP

For those of you who have read my book 'The Mudhook Machinegunner' will realise that it is another piece of the jigsaw that makes up the history of the Royal Naval Division. In addition to the Naval units there were two companies of the Machine Gun Corps, which became the 63rd (RN) Division Machine Gun Battalion. The Battalion was distinguished by its uniquecap badge of crossed machine guns of the MGC with a 'rocker' ofRND. The Machine Gun Corps was raised in 1915 by Royal warrant and disbanded in 1922 and recruited its members fromall the British Army Units as well as the R.N.D. Nicknamed the 'Suicide Club' because of the short life expectancy 'in the line', some have said that the average life expectancy was only 20 minutes in battle.

The title 'Mudhook' I took from the divisional magazine of the same name and this is quoted in the book. The actual book is based on the original manuscript 'Such a Quest' written by my Grandfather, David Polley' fromthe diaries he kept while serving with the R.N.D. The only thing that has been changed is the punctuation. The rest is as writtenby him when he complied the manuscript in the 1920's fromhis diaries and while it was still fresh in his memory. Why it was written I believe was not only therapy, but my Grandfather was employed by the 'Times Book Company', part of the Times Newspaper group, and he had access to everything that was being published in the 1920's, as well as selling it. The bookclub bought about 75% of most print runs of most published books. My Grandfather decided that of the First World War accounts he read were written in a lot of cases by people who were not there but had got their inspiration to write fromother books or fromgoing to the cinema.

The 'Espit de Corps' of the RND Machinegunners must have been very high. My Grandfather, for example, was gassed in August 1918 and subsequent received hospital treatment. When he was declared fit he successfully used all his skills to rejoin his RND Unit, rather then be reassigned to another unit at the MGC depot at Camiers.

My book traces his service fromenlistment and serving in the Pay Ports, training with the Bedfords, and the Machine Gun Corps at their depot in Grantham and subsequently moving with the company to the WesternFront and the 63rd (RN.) Division.

1728. Photographs :-

Above :- Cap badge of 63'd (RN)Division Machinegunners. Photograph the property of Len Sellers.

Below :- Taken in Elouges in Belgium in 1919. It shows David Polley (Rearright), His best friendFrank (Rearleft), surname unknown. This photograph Allan Mott calls 'I am alive photo' and shows them in uniformwith their service history displayed on it

I would like to thank Allan Mott for supplying it fromhis collection.

1729. Since compiling the book many thingshave come to light. The researcher, Mr. Jim Parker, of the Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades Association has identifiedmany of the characters mentioned in the book andthe events where they were involved. I have also met one ofthe survivors of the R.N.D., the late Mr. John O'Neill who was 101 years old at the time. One thing he said 'You never called a Petty Officer 'Sergeant' without trouble.'

The book is a picture oflife at the time and this is recorded in some detail. Some of the incidences are comical considering the dangers that existed. One such incident concerned the carrying of ammunition, rations and water at night :-

'That night it was my lot to be detailed forthe ration carrying party.My chum Dan was another of the number, but Frank \Vas on duty. On such occasions it was usual, when any ofwe three were on these jobs, forthe one remaining behind to sit up until the others returned,and to brew a mess tin of tea. No matter how long the vigil, it was a point of honour that teas be brewed.

Having told Frank we were going, we set offwith the others to meet the Limbers. 'Solids' were brought up in sandbags and water in petrol tins, and the men who were given sandbags to carry were lucky, for if one's load was water, it meant two petrol tins strapped together and slung over the shoulder, one tin hanging in front,and the other behind and four gallons of water weighs a lot, even when carried in this manner.

However we shouldered our rations and trudged off.Over the top as far as was considered 'safe' and then through thetrenches, visiting the various gun postsand delivering food,water, mails and ammunition.

On this sector it usually took about four hours on winding in and out of trenches to complete the journey. The trenches were good and dry, with the exception of Marine trench, where fora distance of about 40 fe et, water lay to a depth of 18 inches, it was too risky to go over the top, as the enemy were continually sweeping the line with machine gun fire, and one, in consequence, finishedthe tour feelingunpleasantly moist in the lower regions, in spite of the sacking one tied round the legs.

When we reached this spot we found, to our dismay, that the parapet had been blown in and the message was passed back, "Trench Blown In".

Message passing was a frequent occurrence on these midnight errands and such terse expressions as "Shell hole on the left," "Mind the wire", and "Dead horse on right", were continually being whispered down the length ofthe 'Indian File'.

1730. This method of conveying information was the practice while in training in England, anduntil troops had had a certainamount of experience the message received by the last man was apt to vary considerably from the original. I remember on one occasion during training a message was passed. "Sergeant­ going to advance, send reinforcements." I happened to be the last man, and the sentence which reached me was "Sergeant going to a dance, send three and fourpence". But as the company jester was about halfwayalong the line I do not think that the 'swop' was altogether due to misunderstanding.

To returnto our present experience. Unfortunately 'Fitz' had a machine gun trained on the gap, and was firing singles. We waited a while and soon discovered that the bullets were arriving at 3 second intervals. So directly one shot had passed, a man would dash across the broken stretch to the shelter of the unharmedtrench. There was just time for one man to rush across between rounds. My turn came, the man in frontcalled "Wait for it Lander". I waited and just as I braced myself for the run a bullet whizzed by my face missing me by inches ! This completely unsettled me and I slipped, taking a clean header into the mud and slush. The petroltin strapped round my neck did not improve matters and fora few moments I wondered whether it were better to be drowned or shot. The only good point was, that I was no longer a target for the German marksmen. A submarine would no doubt, have found good sport.

At last I managed to crawl through into the dry trench. I thought of the youngsters who wade through the mud at Gravesend and beg for pennies from steamer passengers and laughed. Thank Heaven for a sense of humour !

I Remember - I Remember

I remember, I remember The trench when I got wet The 'Marine' trench where the Boche His deadliest sniper set He never shot a sec too soon Nor winged a Tommy once But how I often wished his gun Were not so close to us.

This poem based on an original work by Thomas Hood, a poet of the time, was modified in the 'Mudhook' and in turnmy Grandfather did some small modifications of his own.

1731. I mentioned earlier that when I transcribedthe manuscript which my Grandfathercalled 'Such a Quest' I kept the reproduction as close to the original as possible, only altering the punctuation. As the story unfolcled it was like talking to him. I would call this 'Coherent Writing', as it clearly reflected events being witnessed at the time. Original, unedited accounts can contain much more experiences of the writer as they can also depict the ethics and attitudes of the time. Some extracts from the manuscript have been published in other works which in tum help authenticate the account, notably :-

Julian Thompson "The Royal Marines - From Sea soldiers to a Special Force' published in May 2000 and J. H. Johnson '1918-The Unexpected Victory' published in 1997.The latter caused me to begin the transcribing frommanuscript to book. It was 'Such a Quest' in doing it.

My book 'Mudhook Machinegunner ISBN O 946995-79-6 is published by Galago Books of Bromley. Tel: 020 84020428 and can also be obtained fromMK Book Services Tel: 01480 353710.

Allan C Mott Abipp 192 Miller Way Brampton Nr. Huntingdon Cambs PE18 8UA

******************************

1732. ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION PERSONALITY. Commander 'Lofty' Archibald Walter BUCKLE .. D.S.O .. & Three Bars. Formerly London 10/1523.

Drake, Hawke, Nelson & Anson Battalions.

Born16 th FebruaryPen Picture 1889, at Chelsea, by his London. youngest After son school Lionel he attended Buckle. Islington Training College. He was appointed teacher at St. Augustines Boys' School, KilburnPark Road, LondonN.W. 6. fromDecember, 1909 unti1August, 1914.

He married Elsie Louisa Meeks at St. Mary's Church,Fulham, benefiting by a guard of honour by the RoyalNaval Volunteer Reserve. As prior to this date he had joined the R.N.V.R. London, training on HMS. President.

Called to the colours, whilst on honeymoon, in Scotland. He was demobbed in June 1919 aftera welcome by the Prince ofWales, when 900 men of the R.N.D. marched past on Horse GuardsParade, Commander A.W. Buckle leading the Anson Battalion. A newspaper report of the 7th June outlines this event:-

Last Parade of the Heroes of Antwerp. Glorious Record.

There is always "something to see" down about the Horse Guards Parade, but yesterday morning about eleven the casual strollers found something more than usual.

The Royal Standardwas broken to float over a fair-haired young Guardsmanon a bright chestnut charger who was reading from an unobtruded bit of note-paper, in a voice almost as good forparade-ground purposesas the King's speech of congratulations and farewell to a greatsquare of men who were stiffly erect in khaki, and yet looked not quite like any other square of soldiers.

They were those glorious amphibians who were ''taken aboard" at the Crystal Palace when the warwas a fewweeks old, who lay beforeAntwerp on a puzzled dawn, who watched the sullen crouch ofAchi Baba loom through three weary seasons, and ''winkled" the last Hun out of the cellars ofBeaucourt - the Royal Naval Division, now being disbanded. 1733. Right :- Commander Buckle's portrait by Ambrose McEvoy is in the possession of the Imperial War Museum.

Below :- the last parade of the 63rd (RN)Division on the 6t11 June 1919. Buckle can be seen leading his Anson Battalion in the final march past.

I would like to thank Lionel Buckle for supplying all the photographs used in this article on his father.

1734 Among The Lookers-on.

"There are few of the men here to-day to whom the King bade farewellin 1915," the Prince of Wales' voice rang out. There were few indeed. Standing in the civilian border of spectators there may have been one or two more. There anyhow were Freyberg, V.C., the wonder :fighter, who out-LeanderedLeander of the Hellespont, and the "Oc" Asquith with the limp and the ribbon he got on the Ancre. (Who walks now down the avenue the Hoods called afterhim in Gallipoli?) Near them were Eddie Marsh, thinking, maybe, of the good Georgian poets the R.N.D. had taken from him, and Winston Churchill, whose "I offered the Naval Division" will be bound inhis biographies, remembering, perhaps how he once toiled over the primrose-strewn Dorset downs to review the battalions excited by sun-helmets and thoughts of marching through Constantinople to a Christian service in St. Sophia.

The Glorious Dead.

But more than of these living men one thoughts of those who will look no more on the greenery of St. James- of Rupert Brooke, who made "forever England" an olive-sheltered niche of Skyros, of F. S. Kelly, the diamond sculler, who has left fine music behind him- (there must have been those in yesterday's ranks who saw him return perilously with the piano forwhich he had scoured a Greek archipelago in a motor-boat, while the Division took its breath afterleaving Gallipoli. - Denis Browne, Ivan Heald, Charles Lister- no melancholy ghosts in their ever-young splendour.

Brigadier-General Leslie, R.E. was in command of the parade. Commander Pollock, D.S.O., headed the Hood Battalion, Commander Beak,V.C., D.S.O., the Drake, Commander Skelton, D.S.O., the Hawke, andCommander Buckle, D.S.0., the Anson.

Three cheers rang out forthe Prince at the end of his speech, and each cheer echoed back fromthe tall cliffof the Foreign Officewith a startling promptness. It was as though the others- the men who were not there- had cheered, too. Then the band rolled out, and the hollow khaki square marchedaway through the crowd until the last bit of khaki was swallowed up inthe Park, the Prince still sitting his horse by the Royal Standard. It was the end of a brilliant bit of history forin a day or two the R.N.D. will be disbanded. But it goes marching foreverin uncounted hearts and minds.

Appointed Director of London County Council Camp School for disadvantaged children at Upper Lodge, Bushy Hili Hampton Hill, Middlesex. But he was disappointed with this role, having probably been appointed, because of his War Record, but he stayed two

1735. years. Subsequently, he was appointed Headmaster ofRotherhithe, New Road, L.C.C. School. His school, trained boys forthe Royal and Merchant Navies. They completed a three years course and vacancies of 40 ,each year, were always grossly oversubscribed. Another article, this time, in the 'Evening News' gives one a description of the school:-

LONDON's SEA-PUPS.

WhereSchoolboys are Turnedinto Sailors :

Few Londoners seem to know that within the boundaries of their great city there is a freeschool where boys arebeing made into sailors- future captains anp.officers of our mercantile marine, with all its huge shipping lines plying to every comer of the globe.

Yet at the Rotherhithe New-Road School fortyLondon boysare being turnedout every year, either into the merchant service as apprentices or into the Royal Navy. They have a three-year course in general seamanship and navigation, so that actually they can earn their living immediatelyon leaving the school.

The only expensethe boysare put to is about£15 fortheir kit enjoining one of the big shipping lines.

Seventeen Boys to One Firm Alone.

"The nautical branch of this school was opened in 1914," Commander Buckle -a breezy naval man, head master of the school-told an Evening News representative, "And, of course, during the six or seven yearsafter that date every thing was abnormal.

"There was the war, with its disorganising elements, and then the periods of slump when there was literally no demand fora sailor or any description.

"In the last three years, however, things have bucked up immensely, and I have been unable to tum out enough boys to meet the demand for apprentices alone - without counting the many I could have put into the Royal Navy.

"I have sent seventeen boys to one firmalone, and one of those boys- he came to the school in 1915 and leftin 1918 -has already taken his first mate's certificate.Another boy, in the same company passed the examination forhis second mate's certificate with 97% marks." - probably a record ------�

1736. Hobbies, in those early days were wireless construction, painting, and mendingcars. He spent a lot of time helping men fromhis old battalion, in getting boys to sea.

Three weeks beforeEaster 1927 he scratched his arm above his wrist, whilst repairing a car. This injury turnedinto a boil. He was taken objecting, to Westminster Hospital with Jenkins and Durrant's help. However, eventually the poison crept into his old war wounds th and bones. He finally died on the 6 May 1927, aged just 38 years.

His widow was leftwith three children, Geoffrey 10, Roland 7 and Lionel 3. His portrait by Ambrose McEvoy hangs in the Imperial WarMuseum and his medals have now been presented to the museum.

Full military honours were accorded the deceased, the coffinbeing conveyed to the cemetery at Brockley, on a gun carriage, drawn by six horses. Members of his battalion, escorted the coffinand some of the boysfrom his school formeda guard of honour, inthe church grounds.

OBITUARY IN THE NEWCROSS AND HATCHAM REVIEW.

Funeral at Brockley 12th May 1927.

Yesterday afternoon, at Brockley Cemetery, the funeral took place of Commander Archibald Walter Buckle, D.S.O., R.N.V.R., of 33, Crescent Way, Brockley, headmaster ofRotherhithe, New Road, L.C.C. Schoo4 who died suddenly in Westminster HospitaL on Friday, at the age of 38. The service was held at St. Johns, Lewisham High Road, the cortege assembling at the cornerof Crescent Way and Tyrwhitt Road.

Full military honours were accorded the deceased hero, the coffinbeing conveyed from the house to the Church on a gun carriagedrawn by six horses, with out-riders. The coffin, which was covered with the Union Jack, also bore the Commander'ssword and five medals.

A number of deceased's comrades in the Anson Battalion walked beside the coffin, and the boys of the Rotherhithe Nautical School formed a guard of honour in the church grounds.

The service was conducted by Revs. R.R. Neill. J. Gouldie (a chaplain of the Anson Battalion), Coun. L. Llewelyan and D. McLaren.

1737.

The Vicar, in the course of his address said that, amid the gloom of darkness and sorrow of bereavement, a ray of hope and sunshine came fromheaven in the words "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Even so saith the spirit they rest fromtheir labours." They read God would wipe away all tears fromtheir eyes. No human hand - not even an angel - wasentrusted with that task, but God had reserved that task to Himself.

A crowded congregation included the managers, masters and scholars ofRotherhithe New - Road School.

Commander Buckle leaves a widow. His name will ever be linked with the Anson Battalion, which he commanded in the Great War: he was awarded the D.S.O. andthree bars. Was thrice wounded and was fivetimes mentioned in dispatches. Mr. Winston Churchill has referred to Buckle as one of the "salamanders bornin the furnace,"who survived "to lead, to command, and to preserve the sacred continuity. At the inquest on Tuesday, :Mrs.Elsie Buckle the widow, said her husband was wounded several times during the war, but made light of his injuries and would never complain. He would never apply fora pension. Recently a boil appeared on his wrist and he was sent to Westminster Hospital.

Lieutenant Colonel John Dodge, D.S.O., D.S.C. said Commander Buckle served with him in France and was awardedthe D.S.O. with three bars. He startedas a seaman andended as commander ofa battalion. He was recommended forthe V. C. in 1918. He always made light of his physical disabilities.

Medical evidence showed that death was due to bronchial pneumonia through ostemyelitis, probably accelerated by shrapnel wounds which had lowed the vitality. A verdict accordingly was recorded.

The Coroner said death was accelerated by his war wounds. He had had a brilliant career andwas the type of man who wounded over and over again, made light of his sufferings.

THE PADRE AT THE FUNERAL WROTETO BUCKLE's WIFE WITH A NOTE OF THEWORDS AS :FAR AS HE COULD RECOLLECT THAT HE SPOKEAT THE GRAVE.

My fellow mourners, friends and strangers, it is my privilege as a Padre of Commander Buckle's old battalion to say a brief word by way of tribute to the memory of your good comrade and mine. It is hardto believethat he has gone so suddenly fromour midst, and it ic;; harder to bearthe thought that we shall see his face no more on this side of time. We bow beforethe will of an

1740. inscrutable God who gives and then takes to himself again. But we can do no more than be resigned. We can thank that same God forthe memory of one we knew and loved so well and we can resolve to keep the memory fresh and green.

Our comrade was a bornsoldier -and a brave one. He was a big man in more senses than one, forbeneath all his silent strength and apparent gruffhess there lay the sensitiveness of a woman, and there beat the heart of a little girl. He was the last to lay claim to saintliness and he rarely spoke about his religion. No, but he lived it. He was strict with the boys of his school- but he would always be fairand just.

He was strict with the men of his battalion- but he was even more strict with himself And we thankGod today for the friendshipwe enjoyed with this clean-living courageous and kindly soul.

I know forcertain that there are many parentsand wives of the men who fell in France who will cherish his letters of sympathy to their own dying day - these letters he so faithfully wroteout yonder when the rest of the tired battalion were asleep. I too know that many ex-servicemen he helped will be the poorer forhis passing. And as forthe saintliness of this man- some good men have a strange idea of what constitutes saintliness.

Did not Christ himself call and command and love men just like him- men with vital strength and passion forjustice, anda devotion to duty and all this selflessservice fortheir brethren?

And as we mournour loss, we sorrownot as those without hope. He would not have us sorrow so.

All through the service today I have been thinking that if our comrade's voice could reach us from beyond the Great Divide, he would be saying here and now:- "Why all this fuss- this talk-these tears? My work in the world was done and I have been promoted to higher service. Get back to your jobs, you fellows. Don't forgetme - don't grieve forme. Carry on!"

Please God we shall try to forhis sake pledging ourselves to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.

But what of those who loved him most because they knew him best- his widow andhis children?

We pray that God will filltheir lonely hearts with a sense of his presence and the certainty of His promise in Christ of a life beyond the Grave where partings areno more. 1741. And as we turnaway fromthis new made grave we ask for them and forourselves the faithto believeand to rejoice that our comrade who fought a good fighthas again won his early promotion and has foundthe young battalions of the bravest and the best.

"They shall not grow old as we that are leftgrow 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."

Amen.

* * * * *

AN APPRECIATION : BY A COMRADEIN ARMS.

With the passing of Archibald Buckle a dear friendis taken fromthe circle of those whom one had learnedto trust and to respect in the yearsof general strife.

That he was the only man in the country holding the D.S.O. with three bars is proof of his military prowessand courage. That Add OBIT. DwghetoVM myt.shebcol is patent to the world. But it was not given to many to lmow the inner soul of the man. To know his dogged adherence to the principles of independence and of right and to know the beatings of the great heart hidden behind a manner which sometimes appeared staccato and abrupt. Not over-tactful? To outside appearances, sometimes, perhaps. But it was a tactlessness bornof a love of directness, a hatred of pretence or of veneer. For to Buckle sham of any sort was like a red rag to a bull, and second as a provocative only to injustice. To suffer or to see injustice roused his fighting ire, and, in standing up for the rights of himself or his fellowmen, he was as great a thornin the sides of his seniors in his junior days as to his subordinates in his later days.

For Buckle this path to promotion and fame was not always an easy one, and, fully as his exploits were recognised by the end of the war, it was never more than a fullmeasure of his merits. And whatever recognition he ever obtained wasnever forany of those showy acts of gallantry which had little effecton the final operations, for Buckle always played firstand foremostfor his team, sinkinghis individuality for the general good. He had no love of war: his strivings were always forthe end and fora returnto the wife with whom th he passed but a fewdays of the brief honeymoon when the call to arms on 4 August, 1914, caused a hurried returnto London and duty, andto the son who had bornto him

1742. whilst he was striving on the battlefields. He went with the fatedexpedition to Antwerp: was of material assistance to his battalion, the Drake Battalion, during the retreat and soon after his returnwas given commissioned rank. Then followed a period irksome to him, but supremely useful to the Division. Draftafter draft of officers and men departed forGallipoli, but time aftertime Buckle was retained by reason of his value in the training ofofficers and men. Like a hound straining at the leash, he longed to take his part in what he felt to be his job in the line, and many were the passages at armswith those in authority in which Buckle was bound to come out second best.

It was not until 1916 that his chance came at last and he went to France. Well can one remember his first appearance in the line. He had footedhis way up to the front,and had stopped fora brief rest in a shanty in which a firewas burning, and as he enjoyed the grateful glow his face had darkened with the smoky grime, so that, all unbeknowing, he had assumed the colour ofa Hottentot- and there were no mirrors to apprise him ofthe fact. In the struggles on the Somme around Puisieux at the opening of 1917 he played a brave part, and, although the old Burberry which he was wearing was riddled by bullets, he sustained not a scratch. Soon after,in the fighting forGa vrelle in frontof Arras, he again proved his worth and firmlyestablished his position as a redoubtable military leader.

How well one remembers his coolness in reorganisingthe men when practically every officer had been lost. How one recollects the calm parade ground air with which he assisted "Long John" Taylor to take up a position with his Stokes gun on the roadway leading up the hill to the Mayor's House, which was a nest ofmachine guns, and afterwardsto witness the crash as a Stokes shell plopped through the roo£ But though Buckle's prowess was recommended forrecognition during this engagement honours were not yet, though his undoubted giftfor leadership then displayed laid the foundation for his futurepromotion and success. One need proceed no further. Four times was he decorated by the King, fivetimes mentioned in despatches. The records of his prowess are recorded forthose who care to read.

But it is not to record his deeds which earned military glory that, as an old comrade, I would write. History will guard those forall time. It is to record animpression of his honesty of heart andof purpose; to speak of a nature honest and blunt, abhorring cant and pretence, asking favoursfrom none : ofa man's man, yet singularly ignorant and innocent of the grosser factsof life : of a nature devoted to the stern dictates of duty, anxious to please, but not afraid to criticise; appreciating recognition, yet scorning to seek popularity : a nature, which some did not appreciate, but which everyone trusted.

I remember a non-commissioned officerin France confidingwhen Buckle was a Company officer- "Ifwe were out ofthe line and the Colonel said 'Join any Company you like' Lieutenant Buckle wouldn't have many in his Company. But ifhe were just going intothe line and he said the same thing he'd have pretty well the whole Battalion." "Why?" I asked. "Because he looks after his men, he never tells you to do a job unless he knows what he's doing. Greater praise no officercan have.

1743. Commander Buckle showing his different ranks.

Top left :- As a Sub Lieutenant with his wifeElsie Louisa Buckle, nee Meeks.

Top right :- As a Petty Officer 1st Class, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1913.

Bottom right :- As a Commander, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

1744. To those who had the privilege of his friendshipthe name Archibald Buckle will not soon fade.The memory of his deeds and his awardsmay become dimmed with time, but the memory of a simple honest gentleman, whom scenes of strife couldnot coarsenand whom plaudits and honours could not spoil, will remain untarnished while memory lasts.

"Lofty" Buckle, Petty Officer! Commander Buckle. D.S.O.! Different in this world's degree, but never varying in heart, which is the index in which worldly status can have no place. Far from the rear of the guns and the strife where fameand honours were gathered. may his great soul rest in peace. And, in facing lifebeneath the shadow of a great fighter, his sons can remember that the shadow is that of a great man and a very stalwart gentleman.

W.A.

I would like to thank Lionel Buckle of Buckinghamshire forsupplying this information on his father. ****************************

SERVICE RECORD ARCHIBALD WALTER BUCKLE.

SERVICE BEFORE THEWAR. 23/01/1908 Joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Age 18 years and11 months. 6 feet1 and a half inch tall, The London Division as numberLl0/1523. Address 33, Mansell Road, Acton, London. A Student at Islington Training College, London. SERVICE BEFORE ms COMMISSION. Mobilized 02/08/1914 in therating of Petty Officer. Service in Royal Naval Division. 02/08/1914-21/08/1914 at London R.N.V.R. Headquarters. 22/08/1914-03/10/1914 Drake Battalion at Walmer Camp. 04/10/1914- 11/10/1914 Antwerp. 12/10/1914-21/11/1914 Walmer Camp. 22/11/1914-17/12/1914 Duns,Berwickshire. Discharged to take up commission as Sub Lieutenantin R.N.V.R. Time forfeited- Nil. Next of Kin:- Wife, of Upper Lodge, Bushy Park, Hampton Hill, Middlesex. SERVICE AFTER ms COMMISSION. Temporary Sub Lieutenant at Crystal Palace 18/12/14. Temporary Lieutenant23/03/15. 31/03/15. 1 st Res Battalion posted temporally to command B Company.

1745. 13/04/15. Attached 2nd Res Battalion. July 1915. 1"'1 Battalion. 07/08/15 Received at Blandfordattached to Battalion and reportedfor duty. May 1916. With3 rd Res Battalion. 10/05/16 200 Hawke Battalion. B.E.F. nd 29/05/16 2 HawkeBattalion. Draftleave from 24/05/16 to 30/05/16. 14/07/16.2 ru1 Hawke Battalion. Absent on Duty to Royal Army Medical College, Millbank. London S.W. for course ofinstruction in Defensive Measures against Poisonous Gases. 17/07/16. Returnto Camp. 07/08/16. (4th Res Battalion). Proceeded as Conducting Officer with Nelson Battalion draft. 16/08/16. (4th Res Battalion). Returnedto Campfrom duties as Conducting Officer. 24/09/16. Conducting Draft Officerfor Hawke Battalion from this date. 30/09/16.Returned to Camp for duty as Conducting Officer. 30/11/16.Drafted to Nelson Battdion B.E.F. from 4th Res Battalion, Blandford. 14/12/16. Joined Nelson Battalion. 16/03/17 PromotedLieutenant Commander.. 23/04/17 Wounded, remained at duty. 15/06/17. Leaveto U.K. with Ration Allowance to 25/06/17. 17/07/17. Wowided,remained at duty. 20/08/17 Accidentally injured at Deity, fell fromhorse, abrasion to hand slight. 07/11/17. Mentioned in DespatchG.O.C. Deserving Special Mention. 4th Supp Gazette 11/12/17. Page 12908. nd 18/12/17 2 In Command Anson Battalion. B.E.F. 19/12/17.Mentioned in Despatches,Lon Gazette 30421. 19/12/17. Entitled to wear badges ofrank ofT /Lieutenant Commander RN.V.R. pendingapproval to date 16/03/17. 20/12/17. Assumed command of Anson Battalim1,

Awarded the Distinguished Service Order forgallantry and distinguished service in the field. (4th Supp London Gazette04/03/18. Page 2727.) D.S.O. was conferred"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Whenin command ofa battalion Detailed to counterattack he ca.rriedout a daring reconnaissance under extremely heavy artillery fire enabling him to formsound dispositions, which resulted in the recapture of an important position.Throughout the day his coolness inspired all ranks." (4 Supplement London Gazette 16/08/18. Page 9560)

30/01/18. Resumes duty as 2nd in Command ofAnson Battalion. 07/02/18. '1914' Star Ribbon handedto thisofficer. 16/02/18. Anson leave to U.K. 28/02/18. Assumed Command ofAnson Battalion. 07/03/18. Resumed duty as 2nd in Command ofAnson Battalion. 13/03/18 In Command ofAnson Battalion. 27/03/18. To Command Anson Battalion and to be Temp. Commander R.N.V.R vice Major (T/Lt. Col.) H.F. Kirkpatrick, D.S.O. (Died ofWounds). Mentioned in Despatches ofC in C., B.E.F. (3rd Supp London Gazette 20/05/18, page 5942.) 11/07/18.Anson Battalion course ofinstruction. 16/07/18. Anson leave to U.K. to 30/07/18.

Awarded Bar to D.S.O. 23/04/18 R03952. "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of a battalion. He repelled the enemy'sattack, organised a counterattack and drove the emery completely out ofthe menaced area. It was largely due to his courage initiative and leadershipthat this important success was obtained." (5 Supplement London Gazette 26/07/18. Page 8735)

1746. 08/10/18. Wounded. Admitted to 20th General Hospital. Dannes Camiers.11/10/18. Gun Shot Wound to leftshoulder, slight 11/10/18. Invalided to England on Hospital ship. 11/10/18. Admitted to ArthurStreet Hospital, Chelsea, London S.W.3. with G.S.W. left shoulder. 19/10/18. S.M.O. informed. nd Awarded 2 Bar to D.S.O. R04506. "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the progress of the brigade at a critical moment was checked by machine gun fire,he went forward himself with his battalion staff, reorganised his battalion and led it forwardonto commanding ground,seriously threatening the enemy's retreat. Thesuccess of the operation was largely due to his courage and fine leadership. (London Gazette 11/01/19. Page 577)

Awarded 3n1 Bar to D.S.O. RO 4555 "During thefighting round NIERGNIESon 08/10/1918 he showed courage and powers of leadership. Afterthe enemy had counter attacked and succeededin enteringour lines, he seized an enemy anti-tankrifle and engagedthree hostile tanks with it and drove them off.He thenrallied men of various unitsin his neighbourhood and led them forwardto the position whence they had been forced. Throughout he did excellent work. (London Gazette 04/10/19. Page 122137)

Mentioned in DespatchC in C BEF (6'h Supp London Gazette 20/12/18, page 14922. ) Ol/01/19. Rejoined Anson Battalion and assumed thecommand. Mentioned in Despatch C in C BEF 16/03/19 London Gazette 05/07/19. Page 8486. 2nd Supp. Ol/04/19. Hurt Certificate received fromMedical Record Office.For wounds received. RND/11410. Applicationfor gratuity for wounds. 2303/19. Anson 13. Leave to U.K. to 05/04/1919. But leave extended to 12/04/1919. Awarded a Gratuityof £169.8.0. forInjury Sustained 08/10/18. 22/05/1919. Embarked at Dunkirkfor U.K. 08/06/19. Demobilised at Crystal Palace. 13/06/19. Received Army forms Z.3. & Z. 4. (Dispersal Unit at Crystal Palace.) Medical Category "A.l." Schoolmaster. 14/06/19. H.Q. Alnwick informed. (RND/11328)(Alnwick Ord. 83.)

*******************************************

The Above service records are taken from three setsof records as set out below :-

1) Royal Fleet Air ArmMuseum, (RN.D. Records.) Box D6, R.N.A.S. Yovilton, Somerset, BA22 8HT.I thankMrs Jan Keohane forher help regardingthe earlyrecords, beforehis commission, when numbered London 10/1523.

2) Admiralty Library, Great Scotland Yard, London.from therecord bookR.N.D. 'Record of Officer'sService' ROS 102. Vol 1. I would like to show my appreciation to theAdmiralty Historian, Captain Christopher Page andthe Admiralty Librarian Miss JennyWraight for their assistance.

3) Public Record Office,Ke w. ReferenceADM13 7/339. Royal Naval Division service paperson microfiche. Released to the public 5/9/00. I thank John Morcombe forsupplying a copy.

1747. TIIE DIARIES OF SUB-LIEUT JAMES CURZON HIL 1,0N 'D' COMPANY, HOOD BATTALION. st th 1 AUG. 1915 TO 12 JlJ�iJ: 1916e

PART r-fl-IREE - DECEMBER 1915 TO JANUARY 1916.

(Copyright RE. Charter, nee Hilton)

Transcribed by C. B. Charter. November/December 1999.

Wednesday December 1 st 1915

Got up at 7.45 am & packed my kit bag before breakfast, all ready for the trenches. After breakfast I packed all my exposed films up & gave them to Brandt, as he was going to Malta with dysentry. Then I walked down to W beach to see the dentist. He told me he couldn't do anything except pull the tooth out, as it was a wisdom tooth. Called at D.A.W.O.S. and the canteen on my way back, but didn't buy anything. Had lunch at 12.0. At 12.30 we set offfor the trenches, D Coy leading. We relieved Howe Battn in Rue de Paris between Sap 6(30) and B Communication trench(N) at 2.0 pm. Sid & I shared a dug out at the bottom ofN: I agreed to share watches with Sub Lieuts Callingham & Cole in No 6 Barricade. Had dinner at 4.30 pm, but hadn't time to finish it before stand to arms at 5.0 pm. So we had the rice after stand to arms at 5.40 pm. At 6.0 pm I went on duty in No 6, and stayed on till 8.0 pm when I was relieved by Callingham, so I turned intill 12.0 midnight. Very nice & bright all to day, but 5till cold especially at night

nd Thursday_Dec: 2 1915 (Paid Knaggs 10/-)

Was on duty till 2.0 am when Cole relieved me. Sid also came offduty at 2.0 am so we had a little feed offa tin of sardines a._'ld biscuits. Stand to arms at 6.0 am,& I went on duty in No 6 till 10.0 am. Had my breakfast in the Sap at 8.30 am. After which I spent some time watching a Turk who kept showing himself at a loophole. AfterwardsSid & I straffed the loophole & two more besides. During the morning the Turks sent over a number of bombs, which consisted of a kind of small shell on the end of a stick about 18" long. A number of them didn't explode so we were able to examine them. They contained a black powder, probably gun powder. All the men had to take offtheir boots & socks sometime during the morning & massage their feet, in order to prevent frost bite. General Paris & his Staffcame round. One of the Turkish bombs dropped on my dug out when I was in rubbing my feet. It didn't do any damage but covered me with dirt & soil.

1748. We had lunch at 12.0 noon, after which we sat talking to the Artillery officer. Very pleasant this afternoon, but cold out of the sun. Stand to arms at 5.0 pm till 5.40 pm. Afterwardswe all had dinner in Mr A's dug out. Sid & I turnedin about 6.30 pm. At 8.0 pm I went on watch in No 6 barricade & relieved Cole. About 8.45 pm the sentry in the lefthand far goggle was killed by a bullet, which went through his left eye. His name was Wood, & he wasan old Collingwoodman. At 10.0 pml was relieved by Callingham. We had a party of 40 men digging out in the open tonight. I turnedin about 10.30 pm. Not very cold tonight but looking like rain.

rd Friday. Dec. 3 1915.

At 2.0 am I went on watch again in Sap 6. Sidney also went on watch at this time but in the firing line (Rue de Paris). Very black looking, overhead and kept trying to rain. Nothing unusual happened whilst I was on watch, but we bombed the Turks a lot. I went offduty at 4.0 am & turnedin. No one wakenedme at stand to arms(6.0 am) so I slept till breakfast time. Wet day, fine drizzle, very dull looking. After breakfast I had a rifle inspection at 10.0 am. The rest of the morning I stayed in the dug out. The porridge ration began for the men to day, and they also got bread again, but only 1 loaf between 5 men. Three pairs of waders came up for our Coy, and were used by the water party. A new draft of men & officers reported to be in bivouac. Lieut Healy has come out to the Howe battn, & Lieut Cmdr Lane to the Hawke Battn. I heard yesterday that Lieut Sprange left the Peninsula last week. I didn't hear what was the matter with him. I believe the Hood Battn are going to get over 100 men of the new draft. Had lunch at 12.30 pm. I went on watch in No 6 at 2.0 pm & stayed there till stand to arms at 5.0 pm. Nasty wet afternoon & night, very dull overhead. Had dinner at 6.0 pm. I had a bad attack of toothache & neuralgia to night. I did not take a watch tonight as Bloor & Foster ofA Coy arrived back fromMalta, where they had been in hospital.

Saturday. Dec: 4 1915 th Had breakfast in my dug out this morning. My neuralgia much better but the tooth still very sore. After breakfast I had a rifle inspection at 9.30 am. Then I saw that all my men took offtheir boots & socks & massaged their feet. I reported them all correct to Mr Asquith. Had a good wac;h & shave this morning. Lunch at 12.30. Two men from each platoon were told offto go out with me tonight to rewire the trestles on our front. Twelve trestles in all. All this afternoonI spent in measuring out 12 rolls of barbed wire each 70 feetlong. Each pair of men takes 3 rolls. There was quite a heavy bombardment of the Turkish trenches this afternoon, which lasted about 3/4 of an hour. Fine all day with a little sunshine. Stand to arms at 5.0 pm till 5.40 pm. Had dinner at 6.15 pm. Bully beef as usual. At 8.0pm I went out with my party ofwirers. Got it all finished in about 1/2 an hr without any accidents. Glad & thankful to be back safely. Turnedin about 10.0 pm.

Sunday. Dec: 5 1915. th Stand to arms at 6.0 am. After which Sid & I turned in till 8.30 when we had breakfast in our dug out. We greatly enjoyed the porridge &cream. Fine this morningbut rather dull. Had rifle inspection at 9.30 am& then inspected the men's feet to see there were no cases offros t bite. Sid & I spent the rest ofthe morningsniping at the Turkish loopholes etc.

1749. We also knocked over a helmet they put up on the end of a stick. \Ve had some fine sport. Afterlunch we did a bit more strafing& then I wrote a long letter home. Just before stand to arms a man was hit by a stray bullet, just near our dug out Stand to arms at 5.0 pm till 5.40 pm. Had dinner at 6.15 pm. Sid took second watch in the firing lh1e from 9.0 pm to12.0. Fine all day & very mild. Sub Lt Chapman was excused duty to night as he felt seedy.

Monday. Dec: 6 1915 th I relieved Bloor in the firing line at 3.0 am & was on duty till stand to arms at 6.0 am. After stand to arms I got another hours sleep before breakfast. I enjoyed my breakfast very much as usual. After breakfast I had a rifle inspection followed by an inspection of the men's feet. Afterwards I did a bit of sniping. A shell dropped about 20 yds from me this morning & covered me with soil & debris. Fine morning but rather dull. Did a bit of sniping before lunch. I was on duty this afternoon from 2 till 6.0 pm. And then I took first watch to night from 6.0 pm till 10 0 pm. Stand to anns at 5.0 pm till 5.40 pm. Had dinner after stand to arms about 6.15 pm. We put up several new loopholes during my watch & also put up a bridge in Worcester Flat as a protection against stray bullets. Tamplin relieved me at 10.10 pm, & I was very glad to turnin and read my letters.

Tuesday Dec 7 1���.: th Stand to arms at 6.0 am. I was on duty afterwards till 10.0 am. I went in No 6 Barricade before breakfast to taJk to Callingham. Had breakfast at 8.30 am. At 9.30 am I had my rifle inspection & then I i.."lspected the men's feet. Did some sniping afterwards. Had a good wash this morning. Very bright & sunny morning. Lunch at 12.45. Heard that we weren't going to be relieved tomorrow. Some: quite lively shelling went on this afternoon both by the Turks & ourselves. \Vent very cloudy & looks like rain. Stand to arms at 5.0 pm till 5.40. Had dinner at 6.15 pm. We sat talking in Mr A 's dug out till about 7.15 and then I turnedin. Sid took first watch from 6 to 10.0 pm, & then I relieved him. About 8.0 pm one of my platoon a man called Murphy was killed whilst working in Sap N. About 7.45 there was some very lively firing by both sides.

t!J Wednesday. Dec: 8 1915.

At 2.0 am this morning I was relieved by Tamplin & turned in about 2.30 am. Stand to arms at 6.0 amtill 6.45 am. Then I had forty winks before breakfast and also wrote a few pcs. Afterbreakfast I had a rifle inspection at 9.30 am followedby an inspection of feet. I was on duty at 10.0 am till 2.0 pm. During the morning the General of 52nd Division came round. Had lunch at 12.45. Some very lively shelling took place this afternoon quite a lot being done by the Turks. Most of the shelling seemed to be on our front. At 3.0 am [pm?] I went down with four ofmy platoon to attend the funeral of Murphy. A R.C. padre took the service, and 1\/rr Asquith & the CO were also there. Edmondson came round to see us this afternoon. Stand to arms at 5.0 pm. Had dinner at 6.15, then I turned in about 7.15 pm.

1750. th Thursday. Dec: 9 1915.

I relieved Sid at 2.0 am, and I was on duty till 6.0 am, when we stand to armstill 6.40 am. Afterwards I wrote a letter & didn't bother turning in again. Had breakfast at 8.15 run. Rifle inspection at 9.30 followed by an inspection of the men's feet. Sid & I strafed numerous Turkish loopholes this morning. About 11.0 am the officers of the K.O.S.B's came round, previous to taking over our sector. Very nice & sunny this morning. Both sides did a certain amount of shelling during the morning. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. A few minutesafter we had left our dug out to go forlunch , a Turkish shell came (3 ") & smashed up the happy home. The place being a total wreck & filledwith shrapnel. After lunch we had to find a temporary dug out for the night. The Turks shelled our trench again this afternoon with shrapnel & H.E. but did very little damage We had a Japanese mortar frringon their trenches during the afternoon. It seemed to do a deal of damage. The Turks endeavoured to knock the gun out with their shells, but failed as usual. We stood to arms at 5.0 pm till 5.45 pm. Had dinner at 6.15. I took first watch tonight, from 6.0 to 10.0 pm. Very quiet night during my watch, except for one little spell of rapid fire on the right. Very nice & fineall day. I was relieved by Tamplin at 10.0 pm, then I turnedin.

th Friday. Dec: 10 1915.

Standto arms at 6.0 am till 6.45. We had to have our gear down at the dump by 6.30 am. Had breakfast at 7.15 am. Sid & I did a bit of sniping this morning. All the trenches were cleared up by 9.30 am ready to be relieved by the K.O.S.B's. Not much firing going on this morning. Fine, but rather cloudy overhead. We moved off back to bivouacs about 10.15 am Sid & I had a bathe before lunch. Whilst we were dressing on the rocks two shrapnel burst over heard & we had a very narrow escape from the bullets; some of which struck only 6' away from us. After lunch we walked down to D A D O S at W beach. I got a canvas bucket & Sid got a tunic. Some recent shells had done considerable damage at the beach, or rather the stores. One shell dropped into the Y M C A tent. Had dinner at 6.0 pm & turned in about 7.30 pm. But sat up for some time reading & writing. Fine all day but rather dull & cloudy.

th ,Saturday Dec 11 1915

Got up at 7.15 am as I am officer of the day today. Saw a working party offat 8.0 am: under Sub Lt Hall. Then I inspected the new guard. Had breakfast at 8.30 am. At 9.45 am the C.O. gave a lecture to all officers on the general slackness of the men with regard to saluting. I inspected rifles at 10.15 run. During the morning we got some rather big shells over fromthe Turks, several of which dropped in the Drake lines, just near us. The Hood Battn played the Anson Battn at football this morning in the final of the Dardanelles cup. The result was a draw 5-5. It was a nice bright sunny morning, & I had a short sleep in the sun. Lunch at 1.0 pm. In the earlypart of this afternoonthe Turks shelled W beach, & also two destroyers which were firing on the left. They didn't hit the ships, but their shells must have done a lot of damage at W beach. Sub Lt Bloor is posted to our Coy & has the 3rd platoon in place of Sid who is now 2nd in command.I got 4 new men in my platoon today fromthe new draft. At 4.0 pm I had to attend defaulters & then a rum issue to the machine gunsection. At 5.30 pm I received the muster of the companies & reported all correct. Dinner at 6.0 pm afterwhich I turnedin & wrote some letters.

1751. th Sundav. Dec: 12 1915.

Got up at 7.15 am. At 8.0 am I attended a service at X beach. There were a number of officers there including the CO & Mr Egerton, & about 150 men. The first part of the service consisted of prayers, hymns & a short address, after which those who wanted could go, but about 7 officers& 9 men stayed forHoly Communion. Vle had breakfa-,t at 9.0 am. I had a rifle inspection at 10.0 am & then took the particulars of the men in my platoon fromthe new draft. About 11.0 am there was a good deal of heavy rifle fire on the right, followed by artillery fire. Just before breakfast the Turks fired at one of our destroyers out at sea. Had lunch at 1. 0 pm. Mr Ahad a guest fromD A D O S called Capt . A beautiful afternoon, so warm & bright. I spent most of the afternoon lying out in the sun reading & writing. The Turkssent over a number of shells during the afternoon. One dropped into D Coy's lines & slightly iI\jured one man. Had dinner at 6.0 pm. Lieut Aldridge RM:dined with us. Nice moonlight night & very mild. The men got paid today &drew £5.

th Mon9..ay. Dec: 13 1915.

Got up at 7.45 am Had breakfast. Then had an inspection at 10.0 am of all gear, & also inspected the men's feet. After this I went down to the old D HQ to see the Paymaster about the men sending money home furChristmas. I did this journeyon a bike & went on to D A D O S to try to get some clothes, but didn't succeed. I also called at the canteen, but couldn't buy anything. While I was away from the Camp several shells fell in our lines. One fell in the Howe galley and killed a boy of 18. Another dropped about 25 yds fromom· dug out & damaged a water tank. Had my lunch at 11.45 am. At 12.15 I had to start offwith a party of 100 men to report at Romanos for work in Sauchiliall St. We arrived there about 1.15 pm & set to work deepening the trench. This is a new part ofthe Peninsula to me. Major Tupman came round. The fmal for the Dardanelles Cup was played today & the Hoods lost 0-5. Sid won a sweepstake on it amounting to £4-4-0. We got back to camp from our working party about 4.30 pm, & I found a mail awaiting me. Had dinner at 6.0 pm. I went to bed about 8.0 pm & sat up writing & reading. Fine all day except fora slight shower this afternoon.

tb Tuesday. Dec: 14 1915.

Got up at 7.30 am. F,11aggs got me some hot water so I used the shampoo :tvfabel sent me & washed my hair. Afterbreakfast I had a hot bath, the firstI have had since I landed here 4 months ago. At 10.0 I inspected the rifles of the lst & 2nd platoons & also their feet. Then inspected the meat for the Company. Very nice this morning, & I lay in the sun & wrote letters. Had lunch at 12.30. At 2.0 pm we had a Battn parade, to look for deserters from other Battalions. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing & censoring letters. The Turks didn't shell our camp today, I am glad to say. Our own big guns did a lot more frring than usual. I took the muster at 5.30. Dinner at 6.0 pm. Turnedin about 7.30 pm & read for a short time.

th Wednesday. Dec: 15 1915.

Got up at 7.30 am. Breakfast at 8.45 am. Fine again all day but rather a strong coldNorth

1752. wind blowing. This morning I brought my platoon roll book up to date, also censored some letters. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. Sid had his hair cut short this afternoon. I took a roll of films of various subjects. Heald, Callingham & I went down to the beach this afternoon & had some revolver practice. Afterwards I wrote letters. There was not as much shelling as usual today. Had dinner at 6.0 pm. Afterwards we sat round the stove in the mess & smoked & talked. Just about 8.0 some very heavy rifle fire started, followed by artillery fire. It lasted about half an hour. Very moonlight tonight, but cold.

th Thursday. Dec: 16 1915.

Got up at 7.30 am. Knaggsbrought me some hot water fora shave. Had breakfast at 8.45 am. I ought to have taken a working party of 20 men to Brigade Hd Qrs this morning but Mr Asquith asked the CO to send a P.O. instead. So I escaped. About 10.0 amthe Turks began to shell our area rather heavily. My orderly & I had a very narrow escape . A shell dropped within a footof him & knocked him head over heels into the bath, besides which he was sitting washing some clothes. After that we got about 20 shells all around us. A fewmen were hurt but no one was killed. Sid & I went to sit on the cliff, to read & write. Fine all morning but rather cold & dull. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. The C.O., Mr A & Mr Egerton went up to see the new area this morning & stayed forlunch with Egerton. After lunch I borrowed a bike & went fora ride to W beach &_thence round by Seddul Bahr & Taylors Post back again. I took some rather interesting_photographs. I called at the officers clothing store & bought two pairs of thick fur lined gloves. Had dinner at 6.0 pm, afterwhich I retired to bed & wrote a letter.

th Friday. Dec: 17 1915.

Got up at 8.0 am. Sid was Officer of the Day so he had to be up early. After breakfastI packed up a parcel of souvenirs (bullets etc) to send home. At 11.0 am I had to start offa party of 80 men (20 per Coy) to report to the Engineers at Old D.H.Q. The men were set to work to dig a trench 6' deep near Taylor's Post, where our new bivouacs are to be. We worked till 2.30 pm when a party under Sub Lieut Cole relieved us. When I got back to camp I felt both tired & hungry. Had dinner at 6.0 pm & then I turnedin at 7.30!

[On Back, apparently the subjects of some of the photos he had taken] 1. Surgeon Molesworth looking through glasses & Sub Lieut Fullerton. 2. Water cart passing along road on edge of cliff. 3. Group Heald. Fish. Molesworth. Morrison. Fullerton. 4. Sid & Self outside dug out. 5. Hood Machine gun being overhauled. 6. View from edge of clifflook towards Anzac& Suvla.

Saturday. Dec: 18th/15

Got up at 7.30 am. After breakfast we had a very busy time packing up our things & dismantling our dug out. I went over to the new bivouacs overlooking Morto Bay. All morning & afternoonwe were up to the eyes in moving, & allotting dug outs to the men. I had a very scratch lunch consisting of two sandwiches. We also had a very hurried dinner as A & B Coy Officers were waiting to use the table. Bloor, Chapman, Fish & I had to sleep together in a barn sort of a place, which was infestedwith fleas. The majority of the

1753. dug outs we took over were very nice & comfortable. The French do know how to look after themselves. I was Coy duty officer & had to attend to the rum issue & take the muster. An7..,ac & Suvla were evacuated by our troops without loss.

th Sunday Dec 19 1915.

Up at 8.0 am & had breakfast at 9.0 am. A B C & D Coy officers all messed together. Afterwards I made a returnof men who had been inoculated for typhoid & cholera. We got a few shells over our Camp this morning. I borrowed a bicycle & rode down to W beach to do some shopping. I went to D A D O S first & bought a pair of breeches with leather strappings, & also a stout pair of boots. I paid 25/- for the lot. Then I went to the post office & sent a parcel of souvenirs home to Mumsie. I had to pay 1/- for postage. A fewshells landed in the A.S.C. whilst I was atthe beach. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. At 2.0 pm a bombardment of the Turkish trenches began. First of all the monitors fired then all the batteries took it up. The Scotties in the centre blew up a mine & advanced under cover of the smoke made by the shells. I heard afterwards that they took a line of trenches & a communication trench. During the shelling Sub Lt Kem1y of the Nelson Battn was killed by one of our own shells. The bombardment lasted about an hour, but the rifle fire went on nearly all afternoon. Had dinner at 5.45 pm & then turnedin, Sid & I drew hammocks fromthe QM store. Fine all day.

tll M,onday. De��= 20 19.l;l..:.

Got up at 8.0 am After breakfast I went across to the lines, but couldn't inspect the platoon as they were mostly on guard. I spent the morning writing & pottering about. Very dull looking this morning & rather cold. Asquith went up to see our new sector at 5.30 this morning. I had to have lunch at 12.15 in order to take a working party of 50 men to report to the Engineers. They were set to work digging dug outs. The ground was like concrete in some places so they had to blast it. During the afternoon a Taube came over & dropped several bombs, so we all had to lie low till he had gone. \Ve finished our work at 4.0 pm. At 5.0 pm we had to inspect all the men's gear. Then we had to pack up our own things ready to go to the trenches. Had dinner at 6. 0 pm & then I turned in.

st Tuesday Dec: 21 1915.

Got up at 3.45 am. Afterdressing I had a cup of cocoa & a ham sandwich. At 4.45 am we set off forthe trenches. A & B Coys did not come up today. Mr Asquith stayed behind to look afterthe half Battalion & so Sid was in charge of D Coy. The CO came up with us. We walked in the open for abouthalf an hour & then got into a trench. About 6.45 am we relieved the French. C Coy went into the firing line & D Coy in supports & reserve. My platoon were in the 2nd support line. We had French..men next to us on the right & the Drakes on the left. Bloor & I shared a dug out in the support line. Didn't get any breakfast. About 2.0 pm it commenced to rain very heavily. For our lunch we got a slice of bread, some sardines & a bit of cheese. Rained all afternoon but luckily our dug out was rainproof except in one place which didn't matter much. We got our dinner about 6.0 pm & it consisted of a slice of bread & jam & a cup of cocoa. However I opened a tin of potted chicken so we had that too. I opened a tin of biscuits Auntie Amy sent me & found them a delicious assortment. Tamplin came up about 7.15 pm & told me I was to take last watch in the first support line. 1754. nd Wednesday Dec: 22 1915.

Didn't get a very good nights rest thanks to a large number of shells which kept dropping all about our trench. At 2.30 am I relieved Chapman in the first support line. I had to borrow a pair thigh waders to get there. Owing to the rain all the trenches were in a disgusting state, & in many places the water came over my knees. The parapets fell in, in a number of places & made it rather dangerous. I am glad to say the rain had ceased when I went on at 2.0 am. But the mud was terrible. About 3.0 am one of the men (Kyte) was blown to pieces by a shell. Stand to arms at 6.15 am, I then waded back to my dug out to dry my feet & change my socks. I managed to get forty winks before breakfast. Two slices of bacon & some jam & bread satisfied my hunger somewhat. After breakfast I had a rifleinspection of my men who were on fatigueduties & then I made them dry their feet & those who could, change their boots & socks. After this I did my best to drain offthe water fromthe trench. But it all collected in one place, & formed a pond nearly 5 foot deep, in the trench. The morning turned out fineso I got my things out to dry in the sun. I was pleased to receive a number of letters in the course of the morning. Bloor was confined to his dug out. Had lunch about 1.30 pm, consisting of bully beef, porridge & jam & bread, but could get nothing to drink. I had a very easy afternoon & wrote a letter. Stand to arms at 5.15 pm to 5.45 pm. Had curry & rice forour dinner but nothing to drink. I borrowed a pair of waders to go down to the support line at 6.30 pm. I took a watch there from 6.30 pm to 10.0 pm. During my watch I had an interesting conversation with some Frenchmen. Tamplin came on watch at 10.15 pm

th Friday Dec: 24 1915.

Got up at 5.15 am for stand to arms. At 7.0 am I turned in again for a short sleep. Had breakfast down in 1st Support line with Sid etc. After breakfast at 10.15 am I had to attend an inquiryinto Sub Lt Bloor & give evidence. He was found guilty of disobeying the orders of a superior officer, & was referred to the General. After this I inspected rifles & feet. Then I did a bit of work on the trench to get the water out of our line. Had lunch with Sid at 1.0 pm, consisted of bully beef, cheese & bread & dates. We also had some of Sid's shortbread. Just as we finishedlunch the Turks began a heavy bombardment of the sector held by our Battn. They shelled us in the most alarming manner, & we all expected them to make an attack. But, they didn't worse luck. Our own artillery soon got on their track & made things hum. After about half an hour things began to quieten down. We only lost one man, PO Winter though several were wounded. Fine all day & quite sunny this afternoon. Had dinner in Morrison's dug out at 6.30 pm. I went on watch in the firing line at 7 .0 pm & was relieved by Edmondson at 10 pm.

Saturday Dec: 25 1915. th I went on watch in the firing line at 4.0 am& relieved Sub Lt Hall. Stand to arms was at 5.45 this morning, being earlier than usual. I went to bedagain at 7.0 am & slept till 8.30 then I had breakfast; it consisted of porridge, bacon plum jam & bread & cocoa Afterwards I had a rifle & foot inspection. During this inspection two shrapnel shells burst over our trenches & one of my Leading hands named Robert Fear, was wounded. The bullet went through his right breast & came out of his back. We bandaged him up & sent him offto the ambulance. I did not have a very peaceful morning, what with one

1755. thing & what with another. I went down about 1.0 pm & had my Christmas lunch with Mr Asquith, Sidney, & Morrison. We had bully beefstew which was very good, followed by bread & cheese. \Ve also had a drink of port, presented to us by Mr Kelly of 11B" Coy. Everyone was expecting the Turks to attack us today, so we were all on the q v. After lunch I was sent with a map to explore the communication trenches in rear. A lot of them were in a very bad state & had been shelled rather heavily. During my tour I was met by an orderly with a note saying I had to report to Head Qrs at 2.0 pm [see below] & then to go & replace Sub Lt Barrow Green as O.C. Ligne de Repli. On my way to Hd Qrs I saw Padre Close who was also going to Hd Qrs so we travelled together. When we got there the Adjutant told me to get my gear together & go to the Ligne de Repli. He said that on the way I could call at the Sick Bay where a Holy Communion service was going to be held. Just as I got to Sick Bay the Turks began a somewhat heavy bombardment of the sector on our left. Only two ofus were able to get to the Communion Service, i.e Surgeon Molesworth & Myself Padre Close held the service in Molesworth's dug out. I was very glad to be able to go on Christmas day. I then made my way through a sea of mud to the Ligne de Repli and found Sub Lt Barrow-Green. After he had explained my duties to me he packed up his things & departed to the Dumezil [?] Head Qrs. I occupied his old dug out as my Hd Qrs. I now being O.C. Ligne de Repli. P.O. Muirhead took me round showing me the limits etc. of my command. The trenches in some places were in a very bad state. I was kept very busy all afternoon & evening. For my Christmas dinner I had a cup of soup from the men's galley, and a bit of cold plum pudding. I went round afterwards with rum, each man getting a tot. I turnedin about 10.0 pm, after having spent a busy & somewhat unique Christmas Day.

[Loose note enclosed] To O.C. D. Coy 25/12/15 With reference to the wire from G.O.C. please detajl Sub Lt Hilton to report here[?] at 15.00. Sub Lt Wright will go down with him and help him to take over Sub Lt Barrow Green's duties. W. E.[?] Egerton, Adjutant.

Sunday. Dec: 26 1915.. th Stand to arms at 6.15 am till 7.0am. I had my breakfast about 8.30 am, it consisted of bacon and jam & bread with a cup of tea. During the morning inspected the men's feet and their rifles. Found two men with bad feet & sent them to the Doctor. Had lunch at 12 noon. Bread & potted meat, jam & bread & then porridge. Also a cup of cacoa au lait. After lunch I had a good wash my first since last Monday. Sub Lt Heald came up to see me this afternoon & we had quite a long chat. Mr Egerton also came up just before stand to arms to see me about various things. We stood to arms till 6.0pm. Had a busy time getting offthe working parties. Had dinner, offbully beef (minced) and potatoes, & then some biscuits & chocolate. Censored a lot of letters & Xmas Cards tonight. Turned in about 8.30 pm. Fine all day. MrAsquith called in to see me to night on his way down to take temporary command of the Nelsons.

Monday. Dec: 27 1915� th Came on to rain very heavily about 4.20 am, & kept on for about 3/4 hr. I got up at 6.15 am forstand to arms. TI1e trenches were in a very bad state after the rain. Carry on at 7.0 am. Had breakfasta little before 8.0 am. It consisted of bacon, jam & bread & tea. The

1756. rain stopped about10.30 am. I had a rifleins pection & then saw the men's feet. Busy morning as usual. After the rain stopped the sky gradually became blue, and we had a beautiful afternoon finishing up with a gorgeous sunset. I had lunch about 12.30, off bread & butter & sardines & a plate of porridge. The Turks bombarded the sector on our leftvery severely this afternoon. They used some very big shells. Our batteries & ships replied effectively. Our [one?] big high explosive dropped into a 1st platoon D Coy dug out & damaged a number of men. Stand to arms at 5.15 till 6.0pm. I had stew for dinner followed by bread & cheese.

th Tuesday. Dec: 28 1915.

Woke up with a start and found it was daylight & 7.20 am. The LS of the watch had forgotten to call me, so there was no stand to arms this morning. I had breakfast at 7.50 am, bacon & bread & jam & a cup of tea After breakfast I inspected rifles& the feet of the men who were not on working party. Rather a quiet morning & afternoon, there not being as many shells as usual. Had lunch at 12.0 noon, consisting of Wilts brawn, Consomme, bread & cheese & cocoa au lait. Busy with odd jobs this afternoon. Sergt Major Walker was killed by a shell. Four of our aeroplanes were up most of the afternoon Usual artillery duels this afternoon. Stand to arms from5.15 to 6.0 pm .. Then I haddinner off fresh meat & potatoes & a little plum pudding. Mr Egerton came down to see me tonight. I got to sleep about 9.0 pm. Had a rum issue at dinner time.

th Wednesday Dec: 29 1915.

Stand to arms at 6.0 amtill 6.45 am. Had breakfast at 7.15 am, bacon, brawn & bread & jam. After breakfast I had rifle & foot inspection. Very busy this morning getting things ready to go back to camp, as we are to be relieved by the Nelsons tonight. Had lunch at 12.0. Soup, sardines & bread & jam with a cup of cocoa au lait. Just afterlunch there was some rapid frre on our left. I think it was the Scotties making an advance. I also saw a duel in mid air between one of our planes & a Taube. The latter got much the worst of things. My gear was packed up & taken to the dump at Point d'Eau [?]. I heard this afternoon that we are to be relieved next month. Another issue of rum after dinner today. I was very busy this afternoon taking a list of the gear to be turned over to the Nelsons, & inspecting the lines. I had a littlebread & cheese formy tea. Stand to armsat 5.15 till 6.0 pm. Then I went round to see if the guides for the Battn. were posted alright. VIe were relieved by a Coy of the Nelsons under Lieut Cmdr Lane & Truscott about 9.0 pm & we moved offfor bivouacs about 9.30 pm. Unfortunately we got sandwiched between two Coys of the Hawkes & our progress was very slow indeed. We seemed to stop about every 20 yds. We eventually got baGk to bivouac about 1.0 am & all were dog tired. Had a drink of soup. Sid & I in the same dug out with Hall & Edmondson.

th Thursday Dec 30 1915.

Got to sleep about 2.0 am. Had breakfast in bed this morning about 9.0 am. Then I had a good bath & felt much better. Sid had to go to the trenches this morning & see the extreme right sector which we are I think taking over from the French. I hear we are going up again tomorrow. Went to the platoon afterI had my bath. Recd several parcels this morning& had a good time opening them all. Beautiful & fine& warm. The Turks

1757. sent over several nasty shrapnel this morning. Had lunch about 2.0 pm. Very busy all afternoongetting things ready to depart from the Peninsula. Dinner at 6.0 pm. I turned in about 9.0 pm. Packed up my green kit bag today. st Friday. Dec: 3!__l915.

Got up at 8.0 am & had breakfast. My platoon were all out on working paiiy this morning. The sole topic of conversation is the great departure. This morning packed up more of my gear. Had lunch at 1.0 pm, kidneys & sardines & bread & cheese. About 6.0 pm Lieut Dugon & a number of men including my orderly & Sids went offwith the baggage. We were only allowed to keep what we could carry ourselves. After dinner I went to Hills dug out & had a talk with him & \Vright. Hill lent me an overcoat to sleep on. I turned in about 10.0 pm. During the afternoon a Taube dropped a bomb about 30 yds from Sid & I.

st Saturday. January1 1916.

Got up about 8.0 am. Had breakfast offporridge & bacon. Busy this morningpacking up my gear ready to go to the trenches tonight. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. At 2.0 pm inspected the rifles& gear generally of my platoon. Lieut Kelly shot a vulture this afternoon, & I took a photograph of it. I also took a photograph of Heald & the Doctor playing tennis. At 4.30 pm we had dinner & then at 5.30 we had to get our equipment ready to move off. At 5.45 we started, D Coy leading the way. On our way we passed the Anson Battn coming down. We travelled by the Avenue de Constantinople to Boyan Nord No 2 & along to the firing line where we relieved the Nelson Battn. AfterI had posted my platoon I turnedin. Sid & I shared a dug out as usual.

nd Sunday. Jan: 2 1916.

I went on watch in the firing line at 1.45 am & relieved Tamplin. At 3.30 am I was relieved by Bloor, so I turnedin & slept till breakfasttime. Had bacon & potted meat & a cup of cocoa for breakfast. Afterwards I inspected my men's rifles . Then I bon-owed Sids binoculars & went round looking forTurkish loopholes. I discovered two & strafed them. During the morning a Turkish aeroplane flew over our lines & came very low. We all opened fire on it & drove the beggar off. I was on duty in the firing line from10 0 am till 2.0 pm. Had lunch at 1.0 pm, potted wild duck & cheese & rice. Fine all morning & afternoon but rather cold & like snow. I took a walk round the support line after lunch. Stand to arms at 5.15 till 6.0 pm. All D Coy officers had dinner together in our dug out. We had Machoniche stew. During dinner Mr.A gave us instructions about our relief Afterdinner I turned in till 9.15 pm, then I had to take a party of 2 POs & 2 LS to Point D'Eau & fromthere findthe way across country to Harrods, which is near 1st Brigade Hd Qrs. We leftthe frring line at 9.25 pm & reached Harrods about 10.20 easy walking. We rested there about 1/4 hr & then came back the same way. I turned in about 12.30 am, & didn't takea watch tonight.

rd Monday. Jan: 3 Jan 19Jl.6.

Got up forstand to arms at 6.15 am. I had to move my platoon fromthe centre of the line to the extreme right, next to the Howe Battn. Then I turned in & got 40 winks before

1758. breakfast. Got bacon cocoa & bread this morning. Inspected rifles etc at 10.0 am. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. Bully beef & bread. Very busy this afternoon. Sid wasn't well being very sick, so he stayed in the dug out & lay down. Stand to arms at 5.15 to 6.0 pm. Bully beef & bread for dinner. I turned in about 7.30 pm. At 10.0 pm I went on watch in the firing line & relieved Chapman. Turks very quiet. Our men had orders not to fire from 1.0 am to 5.0 am.

th Tuesday. Jan 4 1915.

I was relieved at 2.0 am by Tamplin, so I got to sleep till 7.0 am. Breakfast at 8.0 am, bacon & cocoa. Afterwards I inspected rifles & iron rations of the 3rd & 4th platoons. I had to go up to Hd Qrs this morning& see Mr Egerton. For lunch we had a tin of steak & onions that Sid had had sent to him. Afterlunch I had to take a party of 5 men & LS Ellis to the junction of Eski Lines & the Mule Track. The Hawkes were in Eski & I spoke to Colonel Wilson. I got back to the firing line about 4.0 pm. Stand to arms at 5.15 till 6.0 pm. I then had my dinner, bully beef stew & cheese. At 7.0 pm I left forEski again. On my way I had to pick up LS Ellis & 10 men near Battn Hd Qrs. We went via Point D 'Eau & across the open to Eski. When I got there I had to post my men on either side of the road, to stop all parties coming down. It was to test the different control stations. I then had to telephone to DHQ the times the test parties passed. I left for the firing line again about 9.15 pm & turnedin about10.30. During the afternoon the Turks shelled our firing line rather accurately.

th Wednesday. Jan 5 1916.

I was on watch in the firing line from 4.0 am to stand to arms at 6.15 am. Had breakfast about 9.0, a plate of porridge & jam & bread. Inspected the rifles of the 3rd & 4th platoons at 10.30. Then I did some sniping. Very cold morning. Bully beef & biscuit for lunch. I was on watch from 10.0 am to 2.0 pm. After stand to arms I had my dinner, maconiche stew & bread & cheese. Then I had to take my piquet down to the control station at Eski again, & have them posted by 7.45 pm. Things went a lot better tonight & I left forthe firing line again about 9.0 pm. When I got to my dug out Sid & I made some soup & had it nice & hot.

th Thursday. Jan 6 1916.

Stand to arms at 6.15 am. Afterwhich I turned in again till 9.0 am. Had breakfast outside the dug out, the morning was so warm & bright. For breakfast we had bacon & jam & bread. General Paris & Major Sketchley came round the firing line this morning. After the rifle inspection I did some sniping. Several Taubes came over this morning & as a result we got some nasty shells over us. Lunch at 1.0 pm. Bully beef and jam & bread as usual. Tamplin, Chapman, Sid & I all had lunch together out in the open. This afternoonI went round to Hills dug out, & had a chat with him. Stand to arms at 5.15 pm till 6.0 pm. Had dinner at 6.30 pm. Biscuit & jam & a drink of cocoa. At 10.0 pm I went on duty in the firing line.

1759. Friday Jan: 7 191.2:, th At 2.0 am I was relieved by Tamplin. Before tum.mg in Sid & I had a drink of hot soup. Stand to arms at 5.15 am till 6.0 am. Then I had a good sleep till 9.0 am when we had breakfast, consisting ofthe usual biscuits bully & jam. Rifle inspection at 10.30 am. Very fine & bright morning so I put my bedding out in the sun. Om ships were very busy this morning shelling the Turkish gun positions. For lunch we made some very nice soup & followed it with bully beefjam & biscuits. The ships are still at it this afternoon & the Turks are replying to our fire. About 3.45 pm the Turks shelled our portion of the line very heavily especially with shrapnel, but didn't do much damage. At the same time they attacked the 13th Division, on the left at Fusilier Bluff, but as usual they got badly straffed. Stand to arms at 5.15 pm till 6.0 pm. Sid had to take the first watch, as Tamplin went to find the way to V beach. We had dinner at 6.30 pm, bully beef, & jam and biscuits and a drink of tea. The Supports under Lieut Cockey moved down to Eski tonight.

Saturday. January 8 1916. th At 2.0 am I went on watch in the firing line and relieved Chapman. Things were very quiet as our men weren't doing any firing from 11.30 pm to 5.0 am. Stand to arms at 6.15 am till 7.0 am. Then I turned in again till breakfast at 8.30 am. For breakfast we had OXO, bully beef and jam & biscuits. Afterwards I inspected the rifles of 3rd & 4th platoons. Then I had a good wash & general tidy up. At 11.30 am I attended a Holy Communion Service. There were 6 ofus present, all officers. They were the Padre (Rev Close), Edmondson, Hall, Sidney, Chapman & myself The service was held in the firing line in the "Chateau", only about 15 yds from the Turks Barricade. After the service I went up to Head Qrs to see the Adjutant (Lt Cmdr Egerton). I got my orders for the night from him & then made my way back to the firing line. During the morning the Turks shelled with some very big shells, 10 inch I think, our line, especially just in the rear of the "Chateau". Luckily we had no casualties. Sid & I had lunch together about 2.0 pm. \Ve had hot soup, bully beef, & biscuits & jam. After lunch I packed up my gear ready to move off. Our aeroplanes were up all day & kept offthe Taubes I am glad to say. Hill came round for a chat this afternoon. Stand to arms at 5.15 pm. At 5.30 pm I put on my equipment and set offfor Eski Lines to take up my post there. After stand to arms all RNDmen had to wear a white band on their right arm. On my way down to Eski I called at Hd Qrs & had a cup of tea there. I arrived at my post, i.e. the junction ofthe road & Eski Lines, about 6.45 pm. I had the control of all parties ofthe Hood & Drake Battalions proceeding to the ship from the firing line. The first party passed my post about 8.0 pm, they were the Drake Machine guns - Sid passed about 8.30 pm. Then we had a quiet time till 11.30 pm when the remainder fromthe firing line conunenced to arrive. The last part leftthe firingline just before midnight.

tb Sunday Jan: 9 1916.

About 1.0 am the last party from the firing line had reached Eski. So I had orders to smash up the telephones & make my way down to the beach. The Turks were still sniping quite merrily although the whole ofour firingline was empty. Cmdr Freyberg,

1760. Lieut Cmdr Asquith, Lieut Cmdr Egerton, Lieut Riley, and Myself together with eleven men were the last party to leave Eski. We walked down to V beach in quite a merry mood. We were stopped at DHQ by Lieut Col Oliphant who wantedto know our numbers etc. We passed through the French bivouacs (empty of course) and past the Cyprus trees, then through the ruined village of Seddul Bahr. All the stores we passed were soaked in paraffin, included several motor ambulances.

At last we reached V beach & had to form up & wait our turn to get on the boat. The Turks shelled the beach with their Asiatic guns but did no damage. One shell dropped just near us but luckily didn't explode. The French were very busy getting offas many guns as possible, and one big 10 inch gun was firing right up to the last minute. This gun had to be blown up, beforethe last man left.

We boarded a destroyer called HMS Grasshopper about 2.30 am andleft Helles about an hour later. Just after we left a powder magazine on the beach was blown up & the explosion shook the ship. The whole of Helles & Seddul Bahr seemed to be one huge furnace. Immediately the Turks noticed the fires they commenced to shell the beach like blazes. All the officers taken aboard the Grasshopper went down to the Ward Room where we were given hot cocoa & sandwiches. The number of officers on board was more than the ward room could accommodate & a number of them had to be content with the passage. Unfortunately for me a heavy sea got up & I had to retreat to the ------­ suffering from mal de mer, rather badly. And what's more I spent the remainder of the voyage there, until 8.0 am when we arrived in Imbros harbour. Went up on deck to look round. Very cloudy overhead & came on to rain a little.

About 8.0 am we went alongside HMS Mars, & we all transferred to her. Had a very decent breakfast consisting of porridge, sardines, & jam & bread & butter. Went on deck after breakfast & had a look round. HMS Hibernia was lying alongside us, and we were able to listen to their morning service. Afterwards the band came aboard the Mars & played to cheer us. Managed to get a good sleep in, on the couch beforelunch. For lunch we had stewed mutton & potatoes. After lunch I had a wash & then another snooze, we were all terribly tired & worn out. Had a cup of tea about 5.0 pm. At 6.0 pm we got up steam & departed :from Imbros. Couldn't eat any dinner tonight as I felt rather ill again. Everywhere was very crowded & there was very little room to lie down, I managed to get to sleep, lying on the middle deck. Mr Asquith slept on the table in the Wardroom.

th Monday Jan 10 1916.

When I went on deck this morning we were in Mudros harbour. Breakfast was a very rough & tumble affair as every one was trying to get something to eat before leaving the boat. I got some porridge & a little tinned salmon. About 9.0 am a steamer came alongside to starboard & took off the 42nd Division, mostly Royal Scots & K O S B's. Shortly afterwardsa lighter came on our port side to take offRND. We landed at South pier. On the way we passed two monitors "Roberts" & "Raglan". My orderly met me at South pier & showed us the way to the camp, which was about 3 1/2 mls away. I was very pleased to be safe & sound in a tent once more. There were four of us in the tent, Sid, Tamplin,Morrison & Myself.

1761. [ Notes at the end of this part of the diary which appear to be a record of photographs taken. Unfortunately the location of these is unknown.) 1. Vulture. shot by Lieut Kelly. 2. Sub Lt Heald & Surgeon Molesworth playing tennis with very primate [sic] instruments. 3. Self taken by Sidney. Standing outside my dug out in the firing line.

1. Our dug out being dismantled prior to moving to new bivouacs at Sidle Bahr. 2. View ofMorto Bay & De Totts Battery fromour bivouacs. 3. Heald working in new dug out. 4. Edmondson, picking, Heald standing behind. 5. Watchingthe bombardment fromour bivouac. The 3 on the right are Freyberg, Egerton & Asquith.

1. Sidney & Self taken by Heald. 2. Sub Lt Donaldson having his hair cut. 3. Sub Lt Callingham, with Sub Lt Fullerton in background. 4. Self taken by Callingham. 5. 4 Indian cartsreturning frombeach. 6 Sidney after his "prison crop".

1. View ofW beach & piers being constructed. 2. Scene at Helles. Greeks, Indians & English. Taken on top of cliff. 3. Another view of Cape Relles & W beach. Taken fromtop ofcliff. 4. Sunken boats formingpier at V beach also showing part of battered fort at Sidle Bahr, 5. View ofold village at Sidle Bahr now French bivouacs. 6. RiverClyde & stone pier leading out to an old French battleship run aground.

th Tuesday Jan 11 1916

Got up at 7.30 am. Afterbreakfast we had a Coy parade at 10.0 am. All ammunition was collected and iron rations as well. Afterthis we did a little platoon drill & fixing bayonets etc. We had all our meals in our own tents today. This afternoon everyone was freeto do as they liked, there being no parade. The men for a route march and a bathe this morning. I couldn't go as I was Coy orderly officer. Sub Lt Baird took the NCO's for platoon drill.

th Wednesday. Jan 12 1916.

Reveille at 6.30 am. We had breakfast in the tent & quite enjoyed the porridge, some very good friedham & then potted meat. Parade at 9.30 am. Beautiful fine morning. The men were marched to an open space near the camp, & we carried out some company drill. After lunch Fish, Donaldson & I started offto go to the Ordnance Store to buy some gear but when we got halfway we met some officers coming back & they told us the store was closed, so we returnedto camp.

1762. th Thursday. Jan 13 1916.

Got up at 8.0 am. Had breakfast in the tent. Parade at 9.0 am. Marched to the village of Canada this morning & did some drill at an open space on the way. We rested in the village & the men were allowed to buy oranges etc. Came back a different way & arrived in camp about 12.30. Had lunch in the tent. This afternoon Sid & Tamplin went to DADOS to buy some clothes. I spent the time getting particulars of my platoon, next of kin etc. Had tea at 5.0 pm. Then I had to drill the guard for half an hour. My green kit bag arrived during the afternoon. Dinner at 7.0 pm, we had it in our new mess. I received a huge mail tonight. I had my hair cut very short. th Friday Jan 14 1916.

Got up at 7.30 am. Cold morning. Had breakfast in the new mess. D Coy are duty Coy today so we are having a slack time. I was inundated with parcels this morning & had a rare old time going through them all. Went across to RND Ordnance to try to get the remaining kitbag of mine, but it hadn't come. Lunch at 1.0 pm. I spent all this afternoon opening parcels & reading letters. Mr Asquith, Egerton & Kelly went to Castro this afternoon & are staying the night I think. At 5.0 pm the CO spoke to all platoon commanders about being smart & seeing the men were tidy. I got my white kitbag this afternoon.. After the CO's lecture Sid & I went for a stroll down by the sea. A 4 funnelled hospital ship came in harbour this afternoon, I think it was the Aquitania. Had dinner at 7.0 pm. Rained very hard all night. Sid cut offhis moustache today.

th Saturday Jan 15 1916.

Simply poured all night. Had breakfast in the tent & quite enjoyed it thanks to all the parcels I got yesterday. Sub Lts Hill, Wright & Ritson went home on leave this morning. Rained all morning & a lot of the tents were flooded out. I spent the morning reading. Had lunch in the tent. Still very wet all afternoon. We all had to stay in the tent & spend the time either reading or writing. Dinner tonight at 7.30 pm. Had a very good mutton chop & some potatoes. Still pouring down & blowing hard.

th Sunday Jan 16 1916.

Got up at 7.45 am. Rained all night but almost fine when we got up. Had breakfast in the tent, sausage & bacon, then jam & bread. Enjoyed it very much. About 10.0 am Tamplin & I set out for a walk as it was still quite fme. We went as far as the Greek village of about 2 1/2 mls away. A very quaint place but rather dilapidated. Got back in time for lunch. Spent this afternoon getting out a return of clothing required for my platoon. Had tea at 5.0 pm. During dinner I received quite a nice batch ofletters & 3 parcels. Sat up till nearly 11.0 pm reading & writing. Got a lovely wristlet watch fromHolly Bank.

th Monday. Jan 17 1916.

Got up at 7.30 am. I am Battn Orderly Officer today. Inspected the guard at 8.0 am. Then had breakfast. Parade at 9.0. Inspected all the tents in the lines at 10.0 am. D Coy were paid this morning. Tamplin & Sid got permission to go to Therma & have a hot bath. They startedoff about 11.0 am. Request men & defaulters fellin at 12.0. Very fine

1763. morning. After lunch I had to send off a party of 200 men to go down to South pier for mails. Then at 1.0 pm, 2.0 pm & 3.0 pm I had to inspect the men for the liberty boats. T drew £5 pay today. Mr Asquith was awarded the Medaille de Guerre by the French. Had dinner at 7.0 pm. At 9.15 pm I had to take the muster & then report the Battn to the Adjutant. Fine all day, but rather cold to night. The Aquitania which is now a hospital ship left harbour here this afternoon.

Tuesday ,Tan: 18 1916.. th Got up at 8.0 am. Had breakfast at 8.30 am. Battn paraded at 9.0 am. During the morning the 2/2 & 2/4 Londons went offto Egypt. They are now attached to the 29th Division. The 15th & 16th platoon of D Coy were out on a working partythis morning at D.H.Q. digging drains. Afterparade the remaining 2 platoons of D Coy were marched off to an open space about a mile away, & there Mr A asked me to take them in Company drill. Very nice & warm this morning & all afternoon. After lunch I sat out in the sun & wrote letters. Sub Lt Bloor left for England to day. I had my tea outside my tent & enjoyed the sunshine. At 5.0 pm the Battn were issued with a lot of new gear. My platoon received tunic, trousers, cap, putties, socks (2prs), shirt, braces, boots, laces, razor & toothbrush. We had dinner about 7.0 pm. The men were able to buy beer tonight. I turnedin about 10.0 pm

Wednesd,!.yJan 19 1916. th Arose as usual about 8.0 am. Had breakfast at 8.30 am. Battalion parade at 9.0 am. Remainder of the morning was spent in doing platoon drill. Also men who got boots & clothes too big for them yesterday were allowed to change them. At 11.30 am we stopped drill and let the men play football. I had a game myself & quite enjoyed it. This morning we took the names of men who landed at Relles beforeJune 1st 1915. I hold 13 such men in my platoon, they were mostly petty officers & leading seamen. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. This afternoon I had a very slack time reading & writing. Had tea in my tent at 4.0 pm. Fine all day but rather cold. At 7.30 pm we had dinner a very grand affair. We had the table & the tent decorated with things Olive had sent me. Sub Lt Heald came in as a guest. Our mess president had procured a turkey from somewhere, & we greatly enjoyed our turkey & sausage, followed by plum pudding, desert & some excellent cigars. When we had finished eating we had singing. And a whisky punch was passed round in the fom1 of a loving cup. We kept up this merry party till after 10.0 pm & then sang Auld Lang Sync & departed to our beds.

Thursday Jan 20 1916. th Felt very lazy this morning so I didn't get up till nearly 9.0 am & then we had breakfast in the tent. The cook made us a very good omelette. This morningA & B Coys had to pack up their gear ready to go to Tenedos. They had lunch at 11.0 am & left camp at 12 noon. The tents they had been using were packed up & stowed away, & the camp looked very bare. We had lunch at 12.0 pm, & it included some of my Turkey & Tongue sent from Marks, which was excellent. At 1.10 pm Tamplin, Morrison & I set out to walk to Thenna for a bath. Ourorderlies we took with us & let them carrythe soap & towels. On

1764. the way we noticed that the YMCA had set up a canteen, between the Drake lines & ours. We had a splendid walk across the hills, through some very pretty country to Therma, a very small village. The walk took us about 1 1/2 hrs, and was I should think about 4 mis. When we got there we had to wait our turn for a bath, so spent the time eating oranges. During the wait I took a number of photos. Hill & Edmondson turned up on bicycles, during the afternoon. There was room for two in the bath so Tamplin & I went in first. There was a lovely marble bath & the water came through a pipe froma natural hot spring. To say the least of it, it was delicious to pour great cans full oflovely hot water over one. I came out feeling very much cleaner & refreshed. We then ordered something to eat, & were given an excellent omlette & some biscuits, also a cup of tea, but no milk or sugar. Then we had some more oranges. This tea cost us one shilling and five pence each & the bath ten pence each. About 5.10 pm we started back on our returnjourney over the hills. There were quite a lot of sheep both black & white, feeding on the hillside, & I was very surprised to find they had some very tiny lambs at this time of year. We arrived back to camp, in very clear moonlight, just before 7.0 pm, & so were in nice time for dinner.

st Friday. Jan 21 1916.

Very tired this morning after yesterdays walk. Got up at 8.0 am & put on clean clothes after my bath. Had breakfast at 8.30 am. Afterrifle & general inspection, D Coy marched offto an open space about 1 ml away. Here we did some Coy drill under Fish & then under myself. The latter part ofthe morning we did platoon drill. Then we marched back to camp & were dismissed at 11.30. I am Coy orderly officer today so am not allowed out of camp. After lunch I issued some more kit to the men, consisting of shaving brushes, haversacks, oil bottles, pull throughs, & waterproofsheets. Fish Tamplin & Morrison went off about 3.0 pm to the Canadian hospital & had tea with some Canadian nurses there, who were friends ofTamplins. During the afternoonI rigged up a rough bedstead to raise my valise from the floor. Had dinner about 7.0 pm. Then I sat up writing & reading till after 10.0 pm.

Saturday Jan: 22 1916. nd Got up at 7.45 am. During the night it rained very heavily. Had breakfast at 8.30. The Hood Battn was duty Battn today and "D" Coy was duty Coy, so I had a slack time all day. This morning I spent in straightening my kit bag. Had lunch at 1.30 pm. This afternoon Morrison & Fish went to the Canadian hospital to visit the nurses there. They both came back after tea, but went offagain at 6.30 pm to a concert at Turks Head. I issued greatcoats, vests, underpants, & mess tins to the men in my platoon that reqd them. I wrote letters this afternoon& after tea I had a lot ofletters to censor. Had dinner at 8.0 pm & turned in about 9.0pm. Very cold & windy all day. Sid got back about 11.30 pm afterhaving supper with the Egyptian Labour Corps.

Sunday Jan 23rd 1916

Twenty-one to day. My orderly came to waken me at 6.10 am, and then got me some washingwater, and cleaned my boots. I got up at 6.30 am, & dressed quickly and went to look for the tent where a Holy Communion Service was going to be held at 7.0 am. When at last I found it, I was informed that the service wasn't till 7.30 am. So I went back to my

1765. tent and had a wash. Then I went offagain at 7.25 to the service. The padre (Rev Close) didn't turn up till about 7.45 am. About 5 officers and 12 men were present at the service, which I enjoyed very much. Got back to my tent by 8.15 am & had a shave before breakfast. Breakfast at 8.45 am, porridge, bacon & tomato, & marmalade and bread & butter, with a cup of cocoa. Turned out quite a nice morning, but rather cold. At 11.30 we had a church parade for the Battn. A party of Engineers came down to join us. The Rev: Close conducted the service, which lasted about half an hour. After church parade we had defaulters up before Mr Asquith. One of my men called Stirling was had up for writing a letter likely to cause despondency and despair. He was let offwith a caution and the letter tornup. We had lunch at 1.0 pm. After lunch I set out for a long walk. I went along the shore forsome distance and then cut inland over some very rough ground to the summit of a neighbouring height. From the top I had a ripping view of the surrounding country.

When I had rested a short time, & eaten my two tangerines, I walked over the top of the hill and round the other side. On my way back I took some interesting photographs of the Greek peasantry. There seemed to be no villages, just odd farms dotted about the hills. The wooden plough drawn by two bullocks amused me very much. There were any number of tiny lambs knocking about on the hill side. On my way back to Camp I met a number of Tars offHMS Hussar. They had been ashore for a game of football. I got back to Camp about 5.15 pm. We had dinner at 7.30 pm & I enjoyed it very much: the Chinese figs were delightful. I turned in about 9.0 pm.

tll Monday. Jan: 24 191.§.:

Got up at 7.45 am. Had breakfast at 8.15. Battn paraded at 9.0 am. I had to inspect the N.C.O's. Then I had to give "Hood Battn" --- "Battn" "Shun", "Right Dress". When this was done to my satisfactionI reported the Battn, all correct to Lieut Cmdr Asquith. Next thing I had to do was to go and see Actg StaffCapt Galloway at 1st Brigade Hd Qrs, about the Hood Battn mails. And eventually we made arrangements to have the mails sent here , instead of sending them to the other half of the Battn at Tenedos. When I got back Mr Asquith very kindly offeredto take both Sidney & I aboard HMS "Arragon" for lunch, in order to celebrate my 21st. So we all set offabout 10.45 am for South pier to catch the 11.30 am ferry to the Aragon. There were quite a lot of important people on the ferry boat, includingMajor General Paris, Lieut Col Tupprnan and Lieut Col Mullins. When we got aboard the Aragon we had to wait some time, & amused ourselves by reading the latest war news. At 12.30 we went into lunch. There wasn't room for us all at one table, so Sid & I sat together , & Mr A sat by himself. Sitting at our table was Lieut Nicholson, late Sub Lt of the Hawke Battn, so I had a chat with him. We had a most excellent lunch. At 2.0 pm we had to catch a ferry back to South pier. When we got there we paid a visit to the canteen & I bought some cigarettes (State Express). Then we walked back to camp. A number of sick men returned to the Battn this afternoon. Had dim1er at 7.0 pm. At 8.0 pm Mr Asquith went up to see the Brigade Major. There was a rum issue at 8.30 pm

th Tuesday. Jan 25 1916.

Got up at 8.0 am. Had breakfast at 8.30 am. The Battn paraded at 9.0 am. After parade D Coy went to Ordnance to look for their packs, & kit bags. At 11.0 am a party of Hd Qrs Staffwent offunder MrAsquith, to Therrna forhot baths. At 11.20 the 1st and 2nd

1766. platoons went offunder Sub Lts Fish & Battersby and at 11.40 the 3rd & 4th platoons marched offunder Sub Lt Baird. Beautiful morning, so warm & bright. Sub Lt Chapman took the last party to Therma at 12.20. We had lunch at 1.0 pm. The Acting StaffCapt (Sub Lt Galloway) came round to see me this afternoon. I sat out in the sunshine & wrote a letter. Sub Lt Truscott stopped and had a talk with me. The first party arrived back from Therma about 4.45 pm. I had my tea outside this afternoon. Sub Lt Tamplin had the day off, and set out with Lt Cmdr Ellis to walk to Castro. They arrived back about 6.30 pm. We had dinner at 7.0 pm and had two guests, Lt Cmdr Ellis and Lt Dix of Drake Battn, We were quite a party, and the Coy very kindly drank my health in honour of my 21st birthday. Sub Lt Battersby sang some very good songs forus.

th Wednesday. Jan: 26 1916.

I got up at 8.0 am & had breakfast. There was no parade this morning. "C" Coy were duty Coy, and had to provide Divisional guard, as we were duty Battn. "D" Coy had the day offto mend and wash clothes. Many of the men amused themselves with the boxing gloves this morning, and this afternoon we had inter platoon football matches. Sub Lt Baird took B Coy details & half Hd Qr details, to Therma to have hot baths. Just before lunch we received back to the Battn, Sub Lts Callingham & Gealer and 27 men, all returned from Hospital at Alexandria. I had quite a busy time, allotting them to their companies, putting up tents etc. Comdr Nelson also arrived today, but I donut know what Battn he will be attached to. At 6.15 pm Sub Lt Callingham and 6 men of A Coy set off for North Pier, prior to embarking for Tenedos tomorrow morning at 7.0 am. Dinner at 7.0 pm.

Thursday. Jan: 27th 1916.

Got up at 7.45 am. After breakfast there was a Battn parade at 9.0 am. D Coy were duty Coy to day. "C" Coy went out forthe morningto do some drill. Sub Lts Tamplin & Baird had to take a party of men to the beach for mails, this morning. Lunch at 1.0 pm. We sent all available men, amounting to 222, to South Pier for mails, this afternoon. Sub Lts Corbitt & Gealer went in charge of the party. Besides the mails, they brought back some instruments belonging to the band. My camp bed, mattress, wash bowl & bath, & tunic arrived safely fromEngland. Had dinner at 7.30 pm. Lt Cmdr Nelson came as our guest.

th Friday. Jan: 28 1916.

Arose shortly before 8.0 am & had breakfast at 8.30. C Coy, Duty Coy today. No Battn parade. At 10.30 D Coy went out for a march & took rations with them. I censored a huge batch of letters this morning. Sent all available men to the beach for mails, under Sub Lts Hall & Bentham. Also had to send a working party of 50 men to D.A.D.O.S., both morning & afternoon. Had lunch at 12.30 pm. The Actg StaffCapt Sub Lt Galloway arrived after lunch with an invitation for Mr Asquith to dine with the General tonight. At 2.30 pm we sent another party under Sub Lt Corbitt to the beach for mails. This afternoon turned out nice and warm so I sat outside & wrote letters, & attended to numerous messages which kept arriving. Had my tea outside, about 3.30 pm. Sidney & his party got back from their walk in time for tea. Had dinner at 7.15 pm. Sub Lt Collins came as a guest.

1767. th Saturday Jan: 29 1916.

Up at 8.0 am & had breakfast about 8.45 am. No Battn parade today. D Coy was duty Coy and had to provide Divisional fatigues as well. Rather cold all day. C Coy and Hd Qrs sent 100 men to have a bath & also have their clothes disinfected at RND Hospital. Sub Lt Corbett and 20 men left this morning for Malta. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. This afternoon I was kept busy as usual. Had tea in our tent about 4.0 pm. We invited Lieut Dugon to join us, and had peaches & cream and cake. Had

Sunday. Jan: 30th 1916.

Got up about 8.45 am & had breakfast in my tent. Nothing much happened this morning. After breakfast I had to go up to Brigade Hd Qrs to see Lt Col Tuprnan, about some official letters that had been returned to us. At 11.30 am we had a church service in our lines, forHood Battn and Divisional Units. A new padre, conducted the service, I do not know his name. It was very cold standingstill, and the padre was rather long winded. After the service the men were taken for a walk. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. Tamplin, Morrison & Dugon walked to Kastes to day. After lunch Mr Asquith, Mr Nelson & Mr Montague went for a long walk. Sid & I had a very slack afternoon, sitting in the tent reading, writing & eating. Had tea brought to our tent. Censored a pile of letters after tea. Busy with Battn orders, before dinner. Had dinner at 7.15 pm. Turned in at 10.0 pm.

st l\1onday.Jan:31 1916.

Up at the usual time, 8.0 am. Had breakfast at 8.30, porridge, bacon & sausage, marmalade & cocoa. The Battn paraded at 9.0 am. Very cold morning. After parade 1-'fr Asquith went up to see the General. I was kept busy in the orderly room, seeing to the acquitancerolls etc. The band had a practice this morning. They played remarkably well & cheered us all up. Had lunch at 1.0 pm. Very busy all afternoon. Had tea at 4.0 pm. Bitterly cold wind blowing today. Had an earlydinner at 6.30 pm. Capt Montague, Lieut Chapman (of the Supply) & Lieut Cmdr Nelson came in to dinner. At 7.45 pm the Hood Battn gave a concert in the YMCA tent. The place was simply packed. General came in for a short time. There were also a large number of Nelson Battn officers there. The concert on the whole was a remarkable success. The Hood band was the star tum, Sub Lt Battersby sang several songs & was very good. The rest of the programme was supplied by the men. The concert finished shortly before 9.0 pm & we then adjourned to our Mess & had supper & more songs. The General & Col Tupman came & had supper with us. Sub Lt Ely, Lieut Cmdr Nelson, & Capt Montague, also came. We had quite a merry time.

1768. Officer's Service Records :-

Fish. Sydney Howard. M.C. Born02/05/1894. Father James and Louisa Fish of 13, Ashland Avenue, Wigan and 7, Brownlow Terrace,Plasingt on, Blackburn. Promoted fromthe ranks, formallyMersey Z/180. R.N.V.R. 31/01/1915 Sub Lieutenant RN.V.R. at Crystal Palace. April 1915 to Blandford. 29/06/1915 with M.E.F. to Gallipoli with HoodBn. 28/03/1916 promoted to Lieutenant. 22/05/1916 Disembarked at Marseilles. 21/06/1916. Concussion due to fall fromhis horse to hospital. 13/11/1916. Wounded gun shot wound to foot, slight 19/11/1916. To England. Awarded the MilitaryCros s. (Supp London Gazette 1/1/18. Page 36.) Acting LieutenantCommander. 23/01/1917. Blandford. 02/04/1917. B.E.F. with Hood Bn. 16/10/1917. Promoted LieutenantCommander. 25/08/1918. Killed in action, France. Age 24 years. Buried Bucquoy Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France. Grave A.3. Approx 16 kilometres south of Arras.

Below:- A drawing by Sydney Fish, showing a view of the islands fromGall ipoli. On a clear day this wonderfulview can be seen. The Royal Naval Division had moved to the Aegean Sea side ofthe Peninsula in October 1915.

From the papers of his friend,James Cun.on Hilton. I thank Guy Charter for forwarding this pencil sketch for publication. 1769.

r I"}� l�D� -}'

\... Bloor. Ellis George. Born05/06 /1893. Next of Kin :- Mother of 23, Adams Street,Portman Square, London W. Promoted fromthe ranks, formailyDcal/3611 (S) R.M. 19/01/1915 Temp Sub Lieutenant at Crystal Palace. Blandford. M.E.F. Hood Bn. 10/09/1915. Promoted to Temp Lieutenant R.N.V.R. 17/01/1916. (C3773) Invalided fromMudros. 25/01/1916. Pyrexia slight. Promotion to Temp Lieutenant cancelled 09/03/1916. (C3902) Commission terminated 09/03/1916. To Blandford. Tem1inated R.N.D. 09/03/1916.

Callingham. Lawrence Frederick. Born 05/02/1888. Next of Kin:- Father F.R. CaUinghamof Pitt Place, Great Baddow, Essex.

Promoted from the ranks, formallyLance Corporal st Bn. Artists Rifles). 29/05/1915 Temp Sub Lieutenant. R.N.V.R. at Crystal Palace.1 Blandford. M.E.F. HoodBn. 05/10/1915. Anglo Amer Hospital, Ghezereh 26/12/1915. Jamdice. B.E.F. France 22/05/1916. Wounded slight gun shot wound to right hand. 13/11/1916. To England 21/11/1916. Terminated in R.N.D. to Excellent.

Cole. William Stephen. Next of Kin:- Wife, 77, Nightingale Road, Dover, Kent. Promoted fromthe ranks, formallyDEV/100113. R.N. (Sto. P.O. R/F/R. SS100113) At Antwerp with Hood Battalion. D.S.M. whilst in rank. 13/09/1915 Temp Sub Lieutenant. M.E.F. Hood Bn. 13/09/1915. Awarded C.G.M. (C3455) with £10 peryear. Blandford Oct 1916. 20/12/1916. Temp Lieutenant. Passed Grenade Course at Godstone - Instructor'scertificate in bomb throwing.RND 7797. 03/03/1917. Injuredat Bombing School at Blandford,through explosion. Injured back of hand slightlyand thigh. Granted Hurt Certificate. 1914 Star Riband to Ret:,>tDepot Salamanca Barracks, Aldershot.12/03/1918. 31/07/1918. In Command R.A.F. at Blandford. Terminated R.N.D. 28/07/1918 to R.A.F. 1914 Star to party13 th Feb 1919. Clasp issued 18th Feb 1920.

1770. Dugon. Arnold Louis. Born24/09/1892. Next of Kin Mother:- of Mariners, Park Hill Road, Sidcup, Kent. 31/01/1915. Temp Lieutenant 31/01/1915. R.N.V.R. Crystal Palace. Blandford. Appointed Hon Lieutenant 22/02/1915. M.E.F. BenbowBn. 14/05/1915. Temp Lieutenant R.M. 01/05/1916. Appointment as Hon Lieutenant & Q MasterR.M. Terminated and appointed Lieutenant R.M. for Divisional Train. Posted as Q Master 2nd HoodBn on formation. (See Div Train Roster (Page 119)

Kenny. Bernard William. Born08/04/1892. Next of Kin Father:- William Charles Kenny of Freemantle House, Southampton. 12/02/1915 Temp Sub Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Crystal Palace. 21/04/1915 Blandford. M.E.F. Nelson Bn. 17/07/1915. Killed in Action Dardanelles 19/12/1915. His name appearson the Relles Memorial as he has no knowngrave. Panel 8 to 15.

Lane. William Arthur Powlett. Born07/12/1878. Next of Kin Wife:- Margaret Laneof Field's Oak, Blandford. 01/10/1914 Temp Sub Lieutenant at Crystal Palace. 12/12/1914 Lieutenant R.N.V.R. 18/10/1915 LieutenantCommander. Oct 1915. M.E.F. Hawke Bn. Wounded Gun shot wounds to hand, head & eye. 03/01/1916. 15/03/1916 To England. 25/03/1916 Admitted to Hasler Hospital. Severe Shell wound to righteye - enucleation - loss of righteye. Gratuity of £255 grantedand pension forlife of £200 a year. RNDC 4908. In TemporaryCommand of Command Depot during the sick leave of Colonel Ramsden. Acting Camp Adjutant Blandford24/04/1916. Assistant P/Marshall 12th to 16th Sept 1916. Medical Board Blanford24/12/1917. Permanently Unfit for General Service. Fit for Garrison Unit abroad or at home. 07/01/1918 2nd in Command of 2nd Res·Bn. To be 1st Class Assistant Instructorat Military Con Hospital 23/10/1918. (Sup Lon Gaz. 21.12.18. Page 15009) Demobilsed 01/03/1919 at Fovant.

Note :- Officers service records were taken fromthe books 'RecordOf OfficersService' ROS 182. Vol 1 & 2. Admiralty Library, Great Scotland Yard, London.

Details of commemoration is from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission date base.

The1914 Star to theRoyal Navy & Royal Marines By W.H. Fevyer & J. W. Wilson. Published by the Naval & Military Press in 1995. 1771. ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION

ROLL OF HONOUR - NAVAL BATTALIONS

OBSERVATIONS and ANALYSES

(Incorporating amendments up to 18th February 2001) By Thomas S .. Muirhead.

Thomas Muirhead has spent many years researching those that died in the serviceof the Naval Battalions of the Royal Naval Division.. His findings are a useful tool, resu!ting fromhis study of almost 6,000 officersand men. It does not of course, include the Marines or Army Battalions. The author is the first to state that this is not by any means a complete list I do not think that we will ever be in a position to say that such research is 100 % complete. It is a fact, however, that such a large sample as this clearly shows trends and highlights knowledge that would otherwisebe lost to the historian.

A study of the many features set out in these papers produces an interesting outlook on some of the factors which applied to the Royal Naval Division's naval battalions during the Great War. It is essential, however, to keep reminding oneself that they relate to individual officers and men caught up in a war which killed them, and that they are not some sterile academic analysis.

During the 1990s the Department of Printed Books of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) compiled a series of documents containing the Rolls of Honour of sLx of the Royal Naval Division's eight 'naval' battalions. Details from those books, expanded and rectified in some instances by reference to reports obtained from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) have been collated on a combined database to enable information to be more accessible. A-; the IWM had no record of the losses of the Benbow and Collingwood Battalions, disbanded on Gallipoli on 8th June 1915, reports from the CWGC's database have been supplemented with details from "The Collingwood Battalion" by Lieutenant Stanley Geary, RM.

Reference has also been made to "The Royal Naval Division" by Douglas Jerrold (Second Edition) and to "The 1914 Star to the Royal Navy & Royal Marines" by Fevyer and Wilson, which latter identifies by battalion and unit those named on the medal rolls for the 1914 Star as having served on shore in France or Belgium between 5th August and 23rd November 1914. In the case of the naval battalions it also indicates those who were interned or taken prisoner of war and, where appropriate, most of the dates of death where it occurred while a man was still serving (discharged dead). From "With Full and Grateful Hearts - A Register of Royal Marines Deaths 1914-19" compiled by the Royal

1772. Marines Historical Society, a list of RN ships and armed merchantmen on which RM personnel died has been of help in establishing that a significant number of members of the naval battalions were transferred to sea service immediately after Antwerp. Over 30 of them died on 13th January 1915 aboard the merchant cruiser HMS Viknor when she was lost offthe Irish coast. Among RNVR men who also transferred to sea service there were, unsurprisingly, a small number of the "KX" category, army volunteers allocated to the RND as surplus to the immediate requirements of northern regiments, to be then persuaded perhaps by seafaring comrades to seek a life on the ocean wave. Of two known cases, one died on 31st May 1916 in the sinking of the battle cruiser HMS Queen Mary at the Battle of Jutland, the other on 9th July 1917 when the battleship HMS Vanguard exploded in Scapa Flow. A Sub-Lieutenant and three RNVR ratings, all of whom had served with the Howe Battalion at Antwerp, died on 5th June 1916 when HM:S Hampshire, carrying the Minister of War, Lord Kitchener, was mined off the Orkneys on her way to Russia.

"The 1914 Star" lists 6,448 members of the naval battalions, most of whom took part in the Antwerp expedition, and of whom 891 were discharged dead or whose medal was sent to a relative or legatee indicating that the recipient was no longer living. Thus just over 1 in 7, or 13.8%, of them died on or consequent on war service. When the 1,982 who were interned or taken prisoner of war are excluded, there remain 4,467; of these 756 died at Antwerpor subsequently during the War which represents a mortality rate of 1 in 6 or 16.9%. (Looked at differently, 5 out of every 6 survived the War, not all of them whole in mind and body however.) If one assumed simplistically that a similar level of fatalities had applied generally throughout the War, then by extrapolation the total number to have seen service in one or other of the naval battalions would have been in the order of 32,000. However it would be of dubious validity to suggest that the Antwerp force's fortunes ( or lack of them) could be considered a microcosm of the operational experience of the naval battalions for the duration. Some had left the RND and served with the Fleet or in other naval establishments, others continued to serve with the RND and survived the War, but both categories were at potential risk over an extended period : the duration of the risk to which those who joined the RND at later phases of the War were subjected was consequently limited. Of course internment also had its risks, 27 of the 1,213 internees dying during the war or subsequently. Moreover privations routinely inflicted on prisoners of war, as well as the effects of any wom1ds, resulted in their case in a mortality rate of 1 in 7.2, identical to that of the whole Antwerp force : the total of 112 who died during or subsequent to captivity is an indication that there was more to contend with behind barbed wire than harsh monotony.

Last but not least, the authoritative and willing help of the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), where the personal records of the RND ratings are maintained, is gratefully acknowledged. It must be admitted that the whole collection of information thus garnered cannot purport to be a definitive document, bearing in mind not least the caveats of both the IWM and the CWGC in respect of their own data At best it merits a cautionary "E & OE", as seen on invoices, "Errors and Omissions Excepted", and might be considered a useful reference tool for research. To that extent the existence of an RND Card Index at the Public Records Office at Kew has recently been announced, which may well clarify some of the gray areas identified in preparing this series of documents.

1773. Subject to that qualification the figures show that fatalities in 1915 represented some 27 per cent of the total, in 1916 they were at 16 %, in 1917 at 32 %, and in 1918, 24 %. The proportions of Officers died to Other Ranks died during those years averaged 1 to 14. 7, 13.2, 20.9, and 14.2 respectively, averaging over the whole war 1 to 15.7. (In a letter to the Chief ofthe Imperial General Staff, shortly after the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, General Montgomery wrote : "My casualties to date are 400 officers and 5,400 other ranlcs. A marked featureis the high proportion ofofficers killed to other ranks killed - as high as 1 to 6 in some units, and averaging 1 to 9 in the whole army. It has never been more than l to 15 before.") [1 ]. This rate of losses among officers is about double that of their complement on the full authorised strengths of battalions - which was seldom deployed, even when attained, in action.

In 1915 losses of officers up to company commander rank, and of senior ratings, exceeded substantially those of subsequent years. Particularly noticeable was the number ofRN Reservist CPOs, especially as the Reservists had been reclaimed by the Admiralty by the August. (The lower numbers of those Reservists to die in 1915 in the Benbow, Collingwood and Hawke resulted from those battalions having been reconstituted following the Antwerp expedition in October 1914, when the original battalions had been substantially internedor taken prisoner of war.) The situation in 1915 may reflect, as well as courage of a very high order, an initial exces de zele combined with a lack of realistic training and current operational experience at all levels; whatever the reasons, statistics suggest that lessons were learnt. The aggregate proportions ofNCOs to die in 1915 and 1916 stood at around 16 and reduced quite substantially in1917 and 1918 to some 12 %, averaging just under 14 %. For officers variations in the proportions mirrored quite accurately those of the NCOs,% being in the region of7 during 1915 and 1916 and then in 1917 they also reduced substantially, to 4.6 %, increasing again in 1918 to near 7 %; their average was 6 %. Proportionately Lieutenants and% Lieutenant Commanders were hardest hit in 1915, whereas Sub-Lieutenants lost heaviest in 1916 and 1918, although not all battalions suffered uniformly.

The increase in deaths among Sub-Lieutenants during 1918 is no doubt ascribable in part to the more fluid fighting in both defensive and offensive actions, and also to the extent to which casualties among more senior officers meant that occasionally quite junior officers, including experienced ex-rankers, found themselves temporarily leading a company[2]. Fatalities among Battalion Commanders totalled 15, one at Antwerp in 1914, then three each in 1915 and 1916, with fourdying in 1917 and in 1918 : the Hawke and the Hood each lost three (two of the Hood's being of Lieutenant Commander rank - Shaw-Stewart, and Fish), the Anson, Collingwood, Drake, and Nelson two each, and the Howe one. Whether any conclusions can be drawn from those periods during which higher proportions of officer deaths occurred is not clear. Taking some account ofthose who succumbed later to their wounds, 276 officers and 4,016 ratings died during or consequent on major engagements, a ratio of1 officer to almost 15 men, and representing 84 and 77 % of their respective deaths. Looked at another way, one in every five deaths resulted from the insidious effects of attrition in one or other of its more, or less, violent% forms.

This conclusion came as a surprise, after being formany years under the impression that the greater killer in the First World War was the attrition oftrench warfare. The

1774. mathematics on which this premise is based show that actual periods of the naval battalions' participation in major actions extended in aggregate to only some three months. Thus the equivalent of three and three quarters years in the front line, reserve lines and in support trenches, as well as in training and "rest" out of the line, resulted in about one fifth of total deaths, which, stating the obvious, indicates that being in action was infinitely more dangerous. Arras and the Somme were perhaps preferable, however, to the trenches on Gallipoli, where lessons had to be learnt from experience by new troops, where the terrain always favoured the enemy, and where the lack of hygeine, and the climate - as indirectly it was also at Passchendaele - were killers.

The number of deaths may be a very broad indication of the operational component of men of a particular division, and of the extent to which from time to time they were deployed by battalion. Overall Tyne Division accounted for24 % of all ratings fatalities and 20 % were from Clyde. Recruited to the RNVR after brief periods of service in the Army Reserve, subsequent to RND administration and control having passed to the Army in 1916, the "R" category's losses also comprised 20 % of the overall total, but from191 7 they accounted formore than one in three of all ratings deaths. In the RNVR divisions deaths tailed off after 1917, in the absence of replacements. However from relatively low figures in 1915 and 1916, Bristol and Wales divisions suffered their heaviest losses in 1917 before falling back in 1918, whereas Sussex started in 1915 with its highest figure and then dropped off sharply. The "K" (Kitchener) category, comprising transfers of an initial surplus from northern Army regiments at the beginning of the war, received no subsequent reinforcement and while their casualties, no doubt in proportion to surviving strength, declined substantially after 1915, they nevertheless sustained 10 % of the overall total. Service numbers of ratings who entered the RNVR before the war are prefixed by the divisional letter and the number of the company to which appointed, eg L 6 - London Division, 6th Company. Of the 230 such men on the rolls of honour there were five CPOs, 33 POs, 49 LS, 1 AB(HG), and 142 ABs. They came mainly from Clyde Division (73), Sussex (47), Mersey (41), and London (40), and over 70 per cent of them had died by 1915.

Some of the pre-war entrants who were ratings during the Antwerp expedition and were subsequently commissioned also feature in the Roll of Honour. AB D. Milroy of the Nelson fell on 4th June 1915 on Gallipoli as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Collingwood, CPO H.W. Weaver of the Howe died of wounds in June 1915 as 47 year-old Sub-Lieutenant, still with the Howe, AB G.N. Strang of the Benbow was reported missing presumed killed in action at Beaucourt serving as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Howe, and CPO H. Gealer also died at Beaucourt as a Sub-Lieutenant, still in the Hood; CPO B.H. Ellis, DSM, of the Benbow, died of wounds in April 1918, commandingthe Hawke.

Of all the facts which may be extracted from a Roll of Honour, those in respect of gallantry must be the least definitive : in order to qualify for a bravery award an act of heroism must have been witnessed by an officer (who himself has to survive long enough to certify it), and only the Victoria Cross may be awarded posthumously. Set out in the accompanying tables are some statistical details of the total of 130 separate awards, including four bars to awards, made to the 121 individual members of the naval battalions who are commemorated on the Roll, as ascertained from the sources consulted.

1775. Of the four members of the naval battalions who were awarded the Victoria Cross, two were killed in action shortly afterwards - Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall of the Anson, in May 1915, and CPO Prowse of the Drake, in September 1918. The three battalions in which VCs were won appear to have been accorded a more positive reputation than the others, but even so, the writer's own father's lifelong pride in having served in the Hawke did not detract from the high esteem inwhich he held all the other battalions. Bear in mind that from his ownand neighbouring pit villages were men serving in each of them, excepting perhaps the Benbow but including, to a lesser extent, the RMLI battalions, and that their own (Catholic) priests did the rounds of them all, even when they were in France. And, despite intimations to the contrary, it is of course possible that the choice of the Howe and Nelson Battalions fordisbandment in February 1918 was made by simply striking offthe last two froman alphabetical list of battalions' names.

Home addresses, or addresses of next of kin, show that 65 % had originated from England with 19 % from Scotland and 5 % from Wales. No addresses have been established for a further 524 (9 %), of whom one fifth were officers. The principal locations were : Co. Durham - 592, Yorkshire - 522, London - 355, Northumberland - 319, Glasgow 295, Glamorgan 148, Newcastle-on-Tyne 148, Aberdeenshire/Kincardineshire - 129, and Lancashire - 125. From the six counties of Northern Ireland there were 19, eight of whom were RN etc Reservists; and 39, among whom 17 RN etc Reservists, camefrom "Southern" Ireland. From overseas came 34, ten of whom were Canadian in origin. As might be expected, there was a concentration of addresses aroundthe main recruiting ports of each RNVRdivision, although a significant number of TZs were from the Sheffield area, and, there being just the one division in Scotland and one in Wales, the majority of Scots and Welsh were CZs (Clyde Division) and WZs respectively. Generally the numbers of addresses from the traditional areas declined proportionate to the increase in casualties from the "R" category, which tended to be from a broader spectrum, less localised. Not included in the Roll of Honour nor its associated tables, it was nevertheless remarked that in a significant number of cases one and sometimes both parents were already deceased by the time that the CWGC had obtained detailed personal information of casualties. In a similar fashion, there were several cases where addresses of nextof kin obtained by the CWGC differed from those provided in the IWM's Rolls of Honour, from which it may be deduced that concomitant changes in economic or other personal circumstances, perhaps stemming from their losses, may have brought about some of those changes of address.

Total deaths for the whole war were 5,517, of which 1,508 or 27 %, related to service on Gallipo Ii. There were 1, 172 men who died of wounds in respect of the whole war, of whom 309, over 26 %, died during the period 25th April 1915 to 31st May 1916, such deaths being on, or due to service on, Gallipoli. Given the difficulties in providing medical services early in the war as well as the adverse climate this situation appears on paper to be better thanmight have been expected. It may also be an indication, however, of the comparative difficulties experienced on Gallipoli in recovering wounded men before they died. The context of this tragic dimension of warfare is also suggested by the fact that the overall total of missing and presumed, assumed or reported killed in action was 840 of which 347, a disproportionately high 41 %, relate to 1915. Thirty were presumed to have died of wounds

1776. The total of 212 who died of disease included 115 who succumbed during 1915, largely ascribable to conditions on Gallipoli where dysentery was rife during the summer months - that September the 30 such deaths accounted for half of the month's fatalities. Of the 212 in respect of the whole war, six were officers, a ratio of 1 to 34 other ranks. Comparable figures for the period 25th April 1915 to 31st May 1916 were 122 and 4, a not dissimilar ratio of 1 to 29.5. Since officers were not engaged in manual work, had by and large less harsh living conditions, and were more likely to be able to supplement the poor diet by purchases from Lemnos and by parcels sent from home, it might have been expected that their rate of deaths from sickness would be lower than that among the troops; this is not borneout by the statistics, as the proportions appear to approximate to respective established strengths, although admittedly the smallness of the 'sample' must limit the validity of extrapolation.

During 1918-19 the virulent "Spanish 'flu" swept through the whole world. It came in two waves, the first in mid- to late 1918, the second in the spring of 1919.[3) Deaths from disease had averaged 17 in 1916 and 1917: 50 died in 1918-19, of whom 40 died from mid-1918 onwards. Just five are identified as resulting from influenza, although ten more succumbed to pulmonary disease. No specific disease was identified in 26 cases, of which it may be presumed that they included a number of victims of Spanish 'flu. Ten of the deaths from disease post mid-1918 were prisoners of war or returned prisoners, of whom six were suffering frominfluenza or pulmonary ailments.

Nineteen died as a result of accidents (three in one incident during bombing training in 1916, and one in a flying accident when attached to the RAF), while two committed suicide, two died fromself-inflicted wounds, one was executed, one died from alcoholic poisoning and one from syphilis. One officer was executed in captivity by the enemy. Of the 13 who died during internment, three were on passage to England in SS Copenhagen, presumably on parole, when the ship was attacked by a U-boat. Ninety­ seven died in captivity as prisoners of war, and subsequently 14 former internees and 15 former prisoners of war were discharged dead. Four officers died on the Western Front when attached to the RFC/RAF, and one sergeant apparently when on detachment from the Anson to the Royal West Kent Regiment. Two Surgeons were killed in action, three died of wounds, and one of septicaemia, two dying in each of 1915, 1916 and 1918. Two were serving with the Drake (Pocock and Rees), two with the Hawke (Sivright and Ward), and one each with the Anson (Gow) and the Hood (MacMullen). Six army officers, of whom three were battalion commanders, died serving with the naval battalions, as did seven Royal Marine officers, among whom four were battalion commanders.

There were 493 officers and men in respect of whom no cause of death has been established, the majority of whom did not feature in the IWM Rolls of Honour and of whom the Hood and Drake Battalions account for 300; most of these casualties died during 1917 and 1918. The Collingwood's 47 such losses include 24 who died during or subsequent to internment or captivity following Antwerp; the remainder who died on Gallipoli were probably killed in action. The Hawke's 47 included 19 after Antwerp, and 16 who died during the March 1918 withdrawal. They number 2,379 who have named graves in cemeteries overseas; a further 177 are named on Special Memorials. Including the 84 named on the three Naval Memorials (Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth) who

1777. were buried at sea, a total of 2,715 are commemorated on Memorials to the Missing, principally: Relles Memorial 914, Thiepval Memorial 608, Arras Memorial 536, Vis-en­ Artois Memorial 287, and Tyne Cot Memorial 240. A total of 186 died in the UK and are buried either near their homes or in one of the service cemeteries.

Ages have been established in 50 % of the total. They range between (a reported) 15 and 52, the average being 24 which varied slightly only in 1916 when it came down to 22Yz. Of the known ages, after 1916 there was a sharp decline in the percentage of those under 20 years of age, from almost one quarter of deaths in 1914/15 to just ten per cent in 1918/21; the forty and over age band shows a similar trend, although from appreciably lower numbers.

A certain amount of contradictory information existed in the several sources from which information has been extracted, and at this distance in time absolute confirmation is unlikely. By and large the CWGC data has been taken as definitive but not exclusive. Examples of some anomolies encountered are

(a) PO Impey, A.W.S. RN/Dpt!K/10336, Howe Battalion. 27th March 1915. This NCO is shown in the Battalion Roll of Honour as having been killed in action on Gallipoli. The date, which agrees with that given by the CWGC, was one month before the main landings when, according to Jerrold the RND was in Egypt. He is named on the Helles Memorial, and the "1914 Star" shows his date of death as 27th May 1915.

(b) AB Needham, Albert. TZ/6680, Nelson Battalion. 1st February 1917. The Roll of Honour states that he died as a prisoner of war in Germany whereas the CWGC website shows that his name appears on the Thiepval Memorial.

(c) AB Brannon, G.N. TZ/3241, Hawke Battalion. 23rd April 1917. Although killed in action while the RND was in action at Gavrelle, he is buried at Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont Hamel, some 20 miles to the south. As in the case of AB Llewellyn, a photographof his headstone was one of those taken by the author in 1980.

(d) AB Llewellyn, John. R/3347,Hawke Battalion. 3rd September 1918. Shown on the Roll of Honour as "Missing, subsequently presumed killed in action", with the following note : "AB Anderson states that to the best of his belief, AB Llewellyn was blown to pieces with five or six others, as he had left Llewellyn only five minutes before. He did not actually see Llewellyn's body or anything belonging to him, by which he might be identified. Sgd. R/4017 AB Anderson, A." Notwithstanding which, the CWGC shows that AB Llewellyn is buried in a named grave in Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension, and coincidentally the author of these notes, visiting the battlefields with his late father (CPO, DCM, Hawke Battalion) in 1980, photographed his headstone along with those of a number of other Hawkes.

1778. (e) Sub-Lieutenant Ernest Rennie. Drake Battalion. 15th May 1918. The Roll of Honour shows him as having been killed in action in France on the above date, which is confirmed by the CWGC; he is buried in France. This contradicts Jerrold [4] who says that he was killed on Gallipoliin May 1915.

(f) AB Hall, James A.R., R/1535, Drake Battalion. I Ith September 1918. The IWM Roll of Honour states that he died of diptheria whilst a Prisoner of War at Limburg at Germany. However he is buried nearly 200 miles to the west, in Denain Communal Cemetery in France. Of course Denain was at the time in German hands. (g) AB Guest, Frank, TZ/4756, Hood Battalion. 5th December 1918. Having been buried in a Dutch cemetery, it would have been expected that he would have been an internee. However the IWM Roll of Honour shows him to have died in a Prisoner of War camp in neutral Holland.

(h) AB Wilkinson, Robert, TZ/3717, Drake Battalion. 9th January 1919. Also buried in a Dutch cemetery, like AB Guest above his service number shows that he could not have taken part in the Antwerp expedition and interned, and his status also is unclear.

Looking at relationships across the naval battalions exposes concentrations of enlistments, by comparing names and addresses and service numbers, sometimes across different battalions. Not infrequently it is seen that groups of such individuals died on the same date, or in the same engagement, demonstrating where ties of kith and kin, maintained on enlistment, had continued on active service up to the end. The only two men from Jersey, from the same village in fact, to feature in the Roll of Honour, had joined up together; both died serving with the Hawke although on different dates. It will be appreciated that the statistical relevance of figures such as these derived from Rolls of Honour is limited, as they relate only to deaths. The difference between life, following a serious wound or disease, and death, could depend on whether a man could be extricated from where he lay, on the availability and quality of medical facilities, on his physical condition, and sometimes, in extremis, on his will to live. Even more random was the effect of enemy shelling and machine-gun fire, which had led to the fatalistic but somehow comforting view that you'd only get it if your number was on it : the idealism of the early days would not have supported such thoughts on Gallipoli until 4th June 1915, when 456 died, but by the morning of 13th November 1916 at Beaucourt it must have been a forlornhope, when the day's death toll among the sixnaval battalions would be 554, with at least 180 more yet to die of their wounds. Inch' Allah. [For the sake of comparison - even though all comparisons may be said to be invidious - the total number of Allied pilots lost during the three months of the Battle of Britain has been quoted at 544.]

One of the country's leading poets of the day, Sub-Lieutenant Rupert Brooke of the Hood Battalion, died of disease shortly before the Gallipoli landings and is buried in an isolated grave on the isle of Skyros. A poet of the Romantic tradition, the opening lines of what is perhaps his best-known composition read like a self-fulfillingprophesy :

1779. "IfI should die, think only this of me: That there's some comer of a foreign field That is foreverEngland. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed ...... "

(That final sentence seems, however, as though it might have borrowed something from Fitzgerald's translation of the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam"

"I sometimes thinkthat never blooms so red The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled ...... ")

The French writer and poet Charles Peguy (1873-1914) wrote in the dedication to his dramatic trilogy 'Jeanne d'Arc' that "only the founding of the universal socialist Republic" can "cure the universal pain" : yet he could also write, notwithstanding the debt it clearly owes to the Beatitudes

"Happy are they who die in great battles, Lying on the earth in the sight of God. Happy are they who at the last heights fall, Amid all the pomp of the grand funerals."

Peguy, like Rupert Brooke, seems to have been anticipating his own death. He was killed in action on 5th September 1914 within 20 kms of Paris, in the first counter-attacks of the Battle of the Marne. [Translation by the writer of these Notes.}

ANALYSIS BY YEAR

In October, the 1st and 2nd Naval Brigades comprising all eight naval battalions, and the four battalions of the 3rd (Royal Marine) Brigade, were despatched to take part in the defenceof the forts at Antwerp. There were no fatalitiesin the 2nd Brigade but in the 1st Brigade the Battalion Commander of the Collingwood was among its 12 dead, and Lieutenant Commander Oswald Hanson, a company commander in the Benbow, was executed by the enemy after capture.£5J. More significant militarily was the internment or capture of the majority of the Benbow, Collingwood and Hawke Battalions, a fate avoided by only the Drake among the 1st Brigade. A total of 1,444 members of the naval battalions were interned in Holland and a further 634 were taken prisoner of war, 2,078 in all; the reported strength of all eight battalions was 7,000.[6} Ten of the 19 who died in 1914 arecommem orated on the Nieuport Memorial.

1780. The naval battalions' heaviest losses in one day on Gallipoli, when 456 died, occurred at the Third Battle of Krythia, on 4th June,. (There may be a certain irony in the fact that that date, the day after the King's birthday, was Eton College's annual Speech Day which habitually culminated in a spectacular fireworks display; Old Etonians would mark the day even on active service.) The tragedy of the battle was memorably recalled by (Old Wykeharnist) A.P. Herbert, who had been the Hawke Battalion's Scout Officer, and subsequently its Adjutant[7], in his poem "Dedication", reproduced in the RND Magazine, Issue No. 7, pp 525-6. ["Think not I now forget.... "]

The total number of other ranks who died in 1915 was 1,385, and officer deaths totalled 94, a ratio of one officer to every 14. 7 other ranks. Total NCO deaths were 228, and Seaman, Stoker, and Marine deaths in the naval battalions were 1,157, producing a ratio of 1 NCO to 5.1 Seamen etc who died.

Drake and Hawke losses were appreciably less than those in the other naval battalions, apart fromBenbow. Nelson, with 270 lost from all causes in 1915, heads the list, having suffered its heaviest monthly loss, 113, in July : significantly in excess of the other five battalions during that month. In a month with total losses of 697 (including Anson's 114, Howe's 130, and the 201 Collingwoods which resulted in the Battalion being disbanded along with the Benbow), June 1915 can be compared for severity with the November 1916 total of 694. Total fatalities for May, June and July were 1,188, whereas the aggregate forthe later months was 270 reflecting the relatively passive role forced on the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) by dint of a lack of reinforcements for its high casualty list. Dysentery took hold in June when conditions and heat were extreme and treatment primitive and sanitation primitive to non-existent; from August to November 76 died of disease out of a total death toll of 192. Hood with 24 and Howe with 23 lost most to sickness during 1915, and Anson, with 14, the least. Of the 81 who died in Egypt during 1915, casualties of the Gallipoli campaign, 46 died of wounds, 33 from disease, one resulted from an accident and one cause unknown. Howe with 20 among them, Hood with 15, Nelson with 13 and Anson with 11 were the worst affected. Subsequently 4 died in Egypt during 1916. Commemorated on the Relles Memorial are 913 who died in 1915 and one who died in 1916; 205 have named graves on GallipoJi or on the islands (including the poet Rupert Brooke), 149 arenamed on Special Memorials, and a further 74, featured on the Naval Memorials, who mostly died in transit whilst being evacuated as hospital cases, were buried at sea.

The origins of the 1915 fatal casualties show that Clyde Division (of which Nelson lost 70, Collingwood 63, and Anson 57) suffered 308 fatalities; Tyne Division lost 297 of whom 105 were in the Collingwood; the three "Kitchener" categories - KP, KW and KX - sustained an aggregate of 284, 108 of them in the Anson. The RN and naval reservists lost 227, of whom 84 were serving with the Hood. Addresses for 1914/1915 were mainly - Co. Durham 198, Northumberland and Newcastle-on-Tyne 172, Yorkshire 162, London 125, Glasgow 119, and 60 each from Liverpool and Sussex. The majority of the remain der came generally from the catchment areas of the recruiting ports, although in 65 instances addresses are not known. In aggregate, English addresses represented 69 per cent, Scots 22, and Welsh only 2; in fewer than5 per cent of the total addresses were not known. 1781. When Lieutenant E.H. Gilbert of the Hood died of wounds on 25th October he was the only fatality of that day, the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. His death is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

ANSON BATTALION

The bulk ofthe Anson's243 deathswas represented by 103 fromKP. Among Clyde's 57 were 13 Leading Seamen (all of whom had enlisted in the RNVR prewar,) out of the Battalion's total losses at that rank of 34 - which exceeded substantially the other naval battalions' losses. RN Reservist etc losses in the r\nson in 1915 included 3 CPOs, 4 POs, a further 8 of those 34 Leading Seamen, and yet only 11 Stokers. Thirteen officers died, the proportion of officers to other ranks being 1 : 17.7. The Battalion sustained 91 fatalities on 4th June alone. Disease accounted for fifteen, including one death from the effects ofsunstroke. Having been awarded the Victoria Cross forhis gallantry during the landings, Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall was killed in action on 6th May. Commemorated on the Relles Memorial, AB Ralph Elliott, a TZ from Birtley, Co. Durham, died of wounds on 30th June; while the CWGC gives his age as 16, his personal record held in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Y eovilton shows that he would in fact have been 18 when he died. This may have been the case of a keen lad adding years to his age on enlistment, or it might have been a simple clerical error; the writer's own father's record provides some evidence of this latter feature. The names of 178 officers and men of the Battalion are recorded on the HellesMemorial .

BENBOW BATTALION

The Benbow landed on the peninsula with the Collingwood and the Hawke on about 27th May. In reserve on 4th June, the Battalion sustained just ten fatalities during the year, nine during the Gallipoli campaign, and was disbanded sho1ily afterwards, its personnel being distributed among the remaining six naval battalions.

COLLINGWOOD BATTALION

Having arrived on Gallipoli with the Benbow and the Hawke, the Battalion went into action on 4th June when it lost 15 officers and 171 other ranksdied that day and, like the Benbow, was disbanded, its survivors also being distributed among the other battalions. Including those who died in internment or as prisoners of war in Germany, total losses forthe year were 16 officers and 194 other ranks, a ratio of1 to 12.1. Half ofits fatalities were from Tyne Division and 63 were from Clyde, and the service numbers of only 8 show that they enlisted pre-war. Of the total of210 who died during 1915, 51 only were classified as killed in action; 112 were missing, presumed killed, and 29 died ofwounds; the cause of death in respect of 18 is not known. The Battalion Commander and one Lieutenant Commander died, as did 5 Lieutenants and 9 Sub-Lieutenants. Of the 19 AB(HG)s to die in 1915, 16 were members of the Collingwood. The Relles Memorial records the names of178 officersand men ofthe Battalion who have no known grave.

The CWGC gives as 16 the ages of OS George Stewart Dempster, who died on 6th February, and AB CZ/2081 Norman Gilchrist Walker, missing on 4th June. The service number given for Dempster was actually allocated to someone else, and Walker's date of birth on his personal record would have made him 18 when he died. The remarks inrespect ofElliott ofthe Anson, above, apply equally to these two young men. 1782. DRAKE BATTALION

Total deaths were 7 officers and 136 other ranks, a proportion of 1 to 19.4. In reserve until late on 4th June, the Drake's casualties were the lowest of those battalions which served throughout the Gallipoli campaign. Just one man is shown as missing presumed killed in action, andthe total of 14 who died of disease was the lowest battalion total; one man died of a self-inflicted wound. On the Relles Memorial are recorded the names of 56 officers and men ofthe Battalion.

HAWKE BATTALION

The Hawke, like the Benbow and the Collingwood, arrived on the Gallipoli peninsula after the May battles, and had suffered the loss of many of its experienced men interned or taken prisoner at Antwerp. It featured 49 from Tyne Division out of its 121 other ranks who died, and with nine officers the proportion of officers to other ranks died was 1 to 13.4. The Battalion was at rest camp on 4th June. Eighteen died of disease. The Relles Memorial records the names of74 officers and men of the Battalion.

Assistant Paymaster W.F. Paton had not accompanied the Hawke when it sailed for Gallipoli on HMT "Ivernia", but was coming later. On 22nd May he was travelling by troop train, along with one half of the I/7th Royal Scots, to embark on the troopship "Empress of Britain". The train collided with an express at Quintinshill, one mile north of Gretna, near Carlisle, and Paton was one of 215 fatalities; 246 more were seriously injured.

HOOD BATTALION

Of its 216 other ranks who died, 84 were RN Reservists etc, including 6 of the 13 POs. Fourteen officers died, making the proportion of officers to other ranks 1 to 15.4. The Battalion sustained 82 fatalities on 4th June, and the Battalion Commander died on 6th May. The sole fatalitysuffered by the Hood on 18th July was 37-year-old Stoker 1 Albert John Walls, RFR, Len Sellers' great-uncle. An OS at Antwerp, Robert Walker had been promoted to CPO by the time that he was killed in action on 28th December. Disease claimed 24, the highest such battalion loss. Data from the CWGC shows AB S.G. Brookman, a BZ fromSwansea, to have been only 15 when he died on 4th June, whereas Yeovilton records his date ofbirth as 1896, which would have made him 18 years old: a similar situation to that encountered in the Anson and Collingwood, above, perhaps. One man committed suicide in England during September. On the Relles Memorial are commemorated 139 officers and men of the Battalion.

HOWE BATTALION

RN Reservists etc, with 45 deaths, included 5 of the 6 CPOs to die, and 7 of 18 POs, among the Battalion's 228 other ranks. Sussex Division's 43 losses were the largest single concentration from that Division, and included 7 POs and 5 Leading Seamen. Petty Officer losses, totalling 17, were substantially in excess of those of the other battalions, and Leading Seamen deaths were also comparatively high. Officer losses totalled 12, and the proportion ofofficers to other ranks deaths was 1 to 19. The

1783. Battalion sustained 91 fatalities on 4th June. Twenty three died of disease. James Duncan, of Stanwix, Carlisle, had been awarded a Life-Saving Certificate by the Royal Humane Society as a 12 year old. On 8th May 1915, when (according to the CWGC) he was 15, a TZ AB with just five months' service, he was killed in action and is one ofthe 140 officers and men of the Battalion commemorated on the Relles Memorial.. His personal record gives his date of birth as 19th December 1896, which would have made him 18 when he died; he is perhaps one more example of under-age enlistments, despite his height (5'3") and physique (chest expanded 34Vi") being unexceptional.

NELSON BATTALION

Of the eight naval battalions the Nelson sustained the year's heaviest fatalities, with 23 officers and 247 other ranks, the proportion of which, at I to 10.7, was also the highest. A major factor in this latter regard was that the Nelson lost 15 of its Sub-Lieutenants killed (reflect on the fact that the officer executed in France had been a Sub-Lieutenant with the Battalion on Gallipoli,) whereas only the Collingwood had lost more than half of that number. The Battalion Commander died on 14th July. There was preponderance of Scots among those who died, the 70 from Clyde Division including 3 of the 6 CPOs (again the most at that rank lost by any naval battalion), all three hailing from Glasgow; the other three were RN Reservists, as were 4 of the 10 POs and 5 of the 15 Leading Seamen. The 23 officerdeaths in a single year would be equalled by the Hawke in 1918 - and indeed exceeded by the Anson that same year when it sustained 29. Seventy-two were assumed killed in action (again it was only the Collingwood which suffered more in this respect), and deaths from disease totalled 19, The Battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties taking part in the ANZAC defence, was at rest camp on 4th June, but lost 92 in an attack with the Portsmouth (Marine) Battalion, in support of the 52nd (Lowland) Division, on 13th July. Anecdotally there was a strong affinity between the RND and the 52nd Division, exemplified by the following signal received early in September 1918 :-

"From 52nd Lowland Division To 63rd (Royal Naval) Division Your old pals ofGALLIPOLI glad to be alongside you again."

To which the followingreply was sent:

"From 63rd (RN) Division To 52nd Lowland Division Heartily reciprocate your greeting AAA[*} Cheered and confident knowing comrades ofBACKROUSE POST FRONT on our right." [8} [*"Signalese"forafull stop]

Another indication of the relationship between the RND and the 52nd may be gleaned frompage 799 et seq ofthe RND Magazine,Issue no. 9, in an extractfrom "The War to End War" by AB Thomas MacMillan. Commemorated on the Helles Memorial are 176 officersand men of the Battalion,

1784. The first nine months of the year saw the RND's return from Gallipoli and its induction into conditions, equipment and operations on the Western Front. On 1st July the Battle of the Somme opened, the final engagement of which was the Battle of the Ancre along the front Serre - Beaumont Hamel - Beaucourt - St Pierre Divion. The RND went over on 13th November at Beaucourt, with the 1st Marine Battalion on the left, then Howe, Hawke and Hood in line abreast, the latter along the river valley and railway line. Following up, again in line abreast, to go through them and attack subsequent objectives, were respectively 2nd Marines, Anson, Nelson and Drake. The death toll for November was 694. At the Ancre the RND had alongside them, on their left up the hill in front of Beaumont Hamel, the 51st (Highland) Division, and in the taking of both their objectives despite sustaining very heavy casualties the two divisions gained a ( or in the case of the 51st, consolidated its existing) high reputation. The French word "Ancre" translates into English as "Anchor"; the headstones of the naval battalion graves all bear engraved in relief the Royal Navy's insignia, which is, of course, an anchor. In 1916 there were 62 officerdeaths and 819 other ranks among the naval battalions, a ratio of 1 to 13.2. NCOs totalled 148 against 671 Seamen/Stokers, a ratio of 1: 4.5. Tyne Division sustained 282 losses and Clyde 255, and among the battalions Nelson suffered most with 169, Hawke next with 167, then Anson with 160 fatalities. Addresses in England provided almost 60 per cent of the total, Scotland 28 per cent, Wales just over 5 per cent, and 7 per cent not known.

ANSON BATTALION

Total losses for the Battalion in 1916 were 160, of whom 134 died in November at the Battle of the Ancre. Of the other ranks total of 147, there were 51 from Clyde and 49 from Tyne Division, 12 of the 22 NCOs corning from Clyde. With 13 officers, the ratio of officers to other ranks who died was a comparatively high 1 to 11.3. The Battalion Commander was among those killed, and twenty two were assumed killed in action.

DRAKE BATTALION

Total losses in 1916 were 116 including 71 in November, Clyde again losing most with 41 died. Seven officers died, the ratio of officers to other ranks being 1 to 16.6. At the Ancre, following the Hood, the Drakes attacked along the line of the river valley and were perhaps not so exposed to enemy fire as were the battalions higher up the hill, accordingly suffering fewer fatalities, notwithstanding which the Battalion Commander and one Lieutenant Commander were among those killed.

Although the Admiralty had reclaimed its contribution to the RND of naval regular and reservist ratings by the summer of 1915, they had not wholly succeeded. Serving with the Drake in the trenches of the Souchez Sector CPO J.E. Horton RN, who had been a Stoker 2nd Class during the Antwerp expedition and was presumably also a veteran of Gallipoli, was killed in action on 9th August 1916. He is buried in Bois-de-Noulette British Cemetery.

1785. HAWKE BATTALION

Ten days after the Battalion landed in France from Gallipoli a Sub-Lieutenant and two ABs were killed, and two more injured, in an accident during bombing training near Abbeville : the funeral service took place at 7 pm that same day; one horse was destroyed "by orders"[9]. A total of 167 died in 1916 including 11 officers, the ratio of officers to other ranks died being 1 to 15.1. Tyne Division lost 61 including half of the NCOs lost; Clyde lost 42 and London 30. November claimed 141 lives when the Battalion lost heavily attacking an enemy strongpoint at Beaucourt - eliminated the following day by a single tank without further loss - and at least 36 died of wounds. The Hawke's 41 who died of wounds was the year's highest battalion total; 36 were assumed killed in action. In the post mortem (no pun intended) to the attack on Beaucourt entitled nsome lessons which may be deduced fromthe operations on the Ancre" [JO], item 7 - 'Tanks' - noted that "Even when the chance of tanks being able to act seems most unlikely it is well worth keeping some as close up as possible, it is never worth while to throw away even a hundred to one chance." Jen-old, himself one of the Hawkes seriously wounded at the Ancre, losing a leg, observed that six tanks which had been allocated to the RND were withdrawn forno satisfactory reason on the eve of the attack{]I].

HOOD BATTALION

Other ranks total for the year was 104, and officers 9, the ratio being 1 to 11.6. The heaviest losses were in Tyne, 39, and Clyde 32, which included 8 and 7 NCOs respectively. November losses were 86 which, with Drake's 71, were the lowest among the assaulting battalions at Beaucourt, where the Hood lost one Lieutenant Commander killed, and Lieutenant Colonel Freyberg seriously wounded winning his Victoria Cross. One man committed suicide in France in December.

HOWE BATTALION

Total losses of 142 included 11 officers, the ratio being 1 to 11.9. Tyne suffered 48 fatalitiesand Clyde 39. November losses were 121.

NELSON BATTALION

Other ranks losses were 158 and officers 11, a ratio of 1 to 14.4. Clyde Division lost 50 and Tyne 60. The Nelson's 35 NCOs was the worst such loss in 1916. The Battalion followed the Hawke's line of attack at the Ancre and its Commander was among those killed. November losses were 118 killed or assumed killed in action, and at least 21 died of wounds after the battle; 10 Sub-Lieutenants died during the year: one was executed in January 1917 for failing to obey an order at Beaucourt. On 12th June PO M3/214 A.V. Hunt died. He is now buried in Baghdad (North Gate) Cemetery, in Iraq. Since the burial grounds from which British graves were brought to this cemetery had included the Prisoner of War Cemetery at Adana, Turkey, it may be that he died in captivity after having been taken prisoner of war on Gallipoli, unless he had been involved in some other theatre of operations which seems less likely.

1786. 1917

The RND took part in operations in February, firstly at Puisieux/River Trenches, Grandcourt, and then at Miraumont, which saw the beginning of the German withdrawal from the Somme. In April the costly attack on Gavrelle left the RND at about half strength. Holding action around Oppy Wood in the same sector continued throughout the summer, until the RND was directed to the Ypres front in October. They were engaged in the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, from26th October to 6th November exposed to the worst possible conditions, along already marshy terrain rendered almost impassable by continuous rain. The first phase had incurred substantial casualties for little gain; that success which was attained, and at comparatively low cost, came from adapting tactics locally to meet the situation. Casualties at Passchendaele in the two naval/marine brigades were 449 killed and missing, with 336 wounded including 58 gassed[l2]. The year ended with the RND in front of Cambrai at Welsh Ridge, attempting to hold onto gains achieved by the successful use of tanks in force but being forfeited forwant of back-up.

Deaths in 1917 were 1,672 other ranks and 80 officers, a total of 1,752 which were the heaviest losses in any one year. The 1,467 ABs who died represented both actually and as a proportion of the total (84%) the highest such loss. The ratio of officers died to other ranks died was 1 to 20.9. There were 203 NCO deaths, (numerically the most in any one year, yet as a proportion of the year's totaL the least,) representing a ratio of one NCO to 7.2 Seamen. The most significant losses by division were - Tyne 446, R category 374, Clyde 321 and London 140. Deaths from wounds were 360, the highest annual total of the war, 185 were assumed killed in action, while the number where cause of death is not known was 170.

English home addresses were 62 per cent of the total, Scots reduced to 18, Welsh up slightly to almost7, and not known increased to almost 12 per cent.

ANSON BATTALION

Although other ranks losses were 270, the roll of honour includes only 6 officers, giving a proportion of 1 to 45.0. Tyne Division lost 63 of whom 9 were NCOs, and Clyde 50 including 8 NCOs. The newly arrived R category fatalities were 60, all ABs, whereas London lost 6 NCOs of its 15. The toll of those who died of wounds was, at 77, the highest of the naval battalions in 1917, and 32 were assumed killed in action. Third Ypres deaths totalled 125. The spread of home addresses followed the general pattern, with the north-east prominent. Sub-Lieutenant A. Sandell died on 30th March and is buried in Baghdad (North Gate) Cemetery; the circumstances appear similar to those in respect of PO Hunt, [see 'Nelson' notes for 1916] whereby he may have been taken prisoner of war on Gallipoli and died in captivity.

DRAKE BATTALION

Drake's 319 fatalities forthe yearwas the largest battalion total; losses of 15 officers and 304 other ranks produced a ratio of 1 to 20.3. The Battalion Commander was among the fatalitiesat Third Ypres but the most significant losses numerically, 79, were sustained at

1787. Welsh Ridge in December. The R category suffered 67 deaths during the year, while Clyde Division lost 66 and Tyne 58. Fifty-one Drakes died of wounds in 1917; 102 were assumed killed in action (the second-highest such total, behind that of the Collingwood on Gallipoli, forthe whole War) and the cause of death of a further 53 is not known. The 43 NCOs to die was the highest battalion loss of the year.

HAWKE BATTALION

Other ranks deaths were 207 and officers 9, a ratio of 1 to 23. In February, 87 died assaulting Puisieux and River Trenches, Grandcourt, and the Battalion Commander was among the 32 who died at Gavrelle in April. Tyne Division deaths were 76, R category 44, and Clyde 34. Nineteen-year-old AB Theodore Anderson, who had left his doctor parents behind in Chekiang, China, to enlist on the Clyde, had recovered from wounds he received at Beaucourt only to be killed in action on 11th May near Roclincourt; he is buried in Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St Laurent-Blangy.

HOOD BATTALION

Against other ranks losses of 281, officer deaths were 20 giving a ratio of 1 to 14.1. Tyne deaths of 92 including 11 NCOs, R category 48 ABs, and Clyde 66 including 9 NCOs were the most significant. The 15 Sub-Lieutenants who died was the highest for that rank in 1917. Lieutenant Commander Shaw-Stewart, commanding the Battalion, died at Welsh Ridge. Of the 52 who died in October, the cause of death of 37 is not known; the Battalion's total 'not known' forthe year is 90.

HOWE BATTALION

Howe losses for 1917 totalled 316, being 16 officers and 300 other ranks, a ratio of 1 to 18.8. The total of 38 NCOs dead was also the highest for the year. Clyde Division deaths were 76, Tyne 73 and R category 68, the latter predominating by the end of the year. The BattalionCommander died at Welsh Ridge.

NELSON BATTALION

Total fatalities were 304, compnsmg .13 officers and 291 other ranks (including 35 NCOs), a ratio of I to 22.4; 64 died of wounds. In April Gavrelle claimed 117 lives, the heaviest battalion total, and 71 died at Welsh Ridge. R category losses were 87, the highest such total for a battalion during 1917; Tyne Division's 77 included 12 NCOs, and Clyde's 44 included 9 NCOs. London suffered30 deaths including 6 NCOs. Two CPOs were killed at Gavrelle.

Total deaths for 1918 were 1,341, fatalities among officers being 88, and other ranks 1,253 giving a ratio of 1 officer to 14.2 men. The year began at Welsh Ridge, in the area of which the RND remained until the March withdrawal when it sustained 327 fatalities including, among the naval battalions alone, two Battalion Commanders; eighteen men

1788. are identified as having died from the effects of poison gas during March and April. Twenty-one officers and 208 ratings died during that period, a very high ratio of1 officer to 9.9 men. The Division then took up position on the ground over which it had fought in the Battleof the Ancre in 1916. The RNDs partin the "advance to victory" as it has been called, beginning in August, was aimed first at Bapaume, and then in September, further east, on attacking the Hindenburg Line; finally in October the capture ofNiergnies broke down the German hold on Cambrai. Commander Beak, DSO, and CPO Prowse, DCM, both ofthe Drake Battalion, were awarded the Victoria Cross in these actions; sadly the CPO was killed in action shortly afterwards. Total fatalities for August were 259, September 279, October 150 and November 60; 54 officers and 694 ratings died, a ratio of 1 to 12.9. A further 8 died during December. Deaths in Anson, Drake and Hawke were remarkably similar� at over 300 each, whereas the Hood sustained 263, some 50 fewer.

Total deaths from disease in 1918 were 40, which occurred more or less evenly throughout the year. Those assumed killed in action totalled 175, and 325 died of wounds. There are 219 where the cause ofdeath has not been ascertained. Numerically officer deaths were just six fewer than in the perhaps more reckless, less rational days of 1915, 21 ofthem falling in March/April, and 54 in the final advance. The ratio ofNCOs to ABs/Marines who died was 1 to 6.5. Six CPOs died, two each serving with Anson, Drake, and Hood; the two Drakes died on the same day, 28th September. At 645 the R category deaths comprised just over halfof other ranks losses; 204 died ofTyne Division and 146 of Clyde. Four Battalion Commanders died, two leading the Hawke, one the Anson, and one the Hood. Addresses became more widespread, and the numbers from the north-east and Scotland declined quite sharply. In aggregate, England provided this year 68 per cent of the total, Scotland nearly 12 per cent, and Wales five per cent; the addresses ofalmost 14 per cent were not known.

It has been seen that in 1915 the RND's naval battalions were deprived of substantial numbers when the Admiralty reclaimed its RFR and RNR reservists. A parallel situation arose in respect ofthe Marine battalions in 1918, when the formation of a fourth RMLI battalion for the Zeebrugge raid of23nd April (St George's Day) required manpower for the want of which the RND's two Marine battalions in France, being thus unable to replace their heavy casualties, were no longer separately viable and were merged in April. [13}

ANSON BATTALION

With 316 deaths, Anson suffered the third-highest losses of 1918, 193 dying in the last four months ofthe War. Officers deaths were 29 officers and other ranks 287 other ranks gave a very high ratio of1 to 9.9; the 29 officers died was the heaviest annual loss ofthe war among the naval battalions. Similarly the number of Lieutenants who died, eight, was also the highest for the rank in any one year, as was the total of19 Sub-Lieutenants. NCO deaths were 34. R category lost 158 died, over halfof the Battalion total; Tyne's 44 included 7 NCOs, and Clyde 23 including 6 NCOs, while KP and KW had 8 NCOs among their aggregate of15 deaths. The Battalion Commander died ofwounds on 27th March. Forty-one were assumed killed in action, and 79 died ofwounds.

1789. DRAKE BATTALION

Fatalities totalled 328 overall, the Battalion's highest of the War and the highest battalion total for 1918. Officers died were 16 and other ranks 312, a ratio of 1 to 19.5. Forty-six NCOs died. The Battalion lost 101 during March, twice as many as any other battalion. R category deaths were 146, Clyde Division 46 including 9 NCOs, and Tyne 51 including l3 NCOs. Wales Division's 13 deaths included those of CPO Prowse, VC, DCM, and five other NCOs. There were 63 assumed killed in action, 74 died of wounds and 26 where the cause of death is not known.

HAWKE BATTALION

Total fatalities were 320, of which 23 were officers and other ranks 297, a ratio of l to 12.9. Two Battalion Commanders died; Commander Bernard H. Ellis, DSO DSM, who died of wounds on 21st April, had been a CPO until commissioned after Antwerp. NCO deaths totalled 43; R category losses were 140, including 6 NCOs, Tyne's 54 including 13 NCOs, and Clyde's 41 including 10 NCOs. Twenty-five were assumed killed in action, 91 died of wounds and in 31 cases the cause of death is not known. During the finaladvance deaths totalled 239.

HOOD BATTALION

Total fatalities were 263, of whom 18 were officers and 245 other ranks, producing a ratio of 1 to 13.6. Two further officers died, one in 1919 and one in 1920. Twenty-nine NCOs died. R category losses were 137, Tyne's 42 included 8 NCOs, as were 10 of Clyde's 27. There were 52 deaths during March; reported killed in action during the March withdrawal, 19 year old AB John Mangan, and others, were buried by the enemy in Cambrai East Cemetery. Total losses during the final phase were 129, of whom the cause of death of 82 is not known. Lieutenant Commander S.A. Fish died leading the Battalion during the August advance. There were 30 assumed killed in action, 49 died of wounds and a total of 114 where the cause of death is not known.

HOWE BATTALION

Disbanded in February, the Howe's fatalities were 56 including 4 NCOs and no officers, the majority being from the R category. The cause of death of 14 is not known.

NELSON BATTALION

Total fatalities were 43, including 2 officers and 6 NCOs. Like the Howe, the Nelson was disbanded in February. Again, the majority was fromthe R category.

1919 -1921

A total of 45 deaths occurred over this period, 33 in 1919, 11 in 1920 and 1 in 1921. Three were officers and 4 NCOs. Eight died of wounds and 16 (including 1 former internee and 2 ex-POWs) of disease; of the 21 in respect of whom the cause of death is not known, 7 were formerinternees, and 4 ex-POWs. While details are sparse, it seems likely that the Spanish influenza pandemic accounted for not more than some twenty deaths in the naval battalions.. 1790. PERSONAL NOTE

In perusing the list of TZs, a man whose number was just two away from that of the writer's father stood out. The pair of them must have joined up together, he at Carlisle, father on the Tyne, on 4th January 1915, and he had been killed with the Hood on 2nd September 1918, only one day before father, with the Hawke, got his Blighty one. Another poignant moment came in recognising the name and address of an 18 year old who died with the Collingwood on Gallipoli on 4th June 1915, and who would have been, had he lived, the uncle of a school chum of sixty years ago. It also gave a kind of perspective on the reason why the chum's father decided during the dark days of World War II to stop taking the magazine "War Illustrated". All perhaps part of what the poet Wilfred Owen had in mind when he wrote about "the pity of war".

Whencompiling a paper such as this, as an amateur it is advisable to restrict oneself to description, leaving explanation to those more qualified. Inevitably however, personal interpretations creep in, a few from deduction and some by taking forward the point of 11 view of "one who was there , learnt, although not understood, as a youngster, yet still half-remembered. Others may well have contraryviews, differentmemories.

T.S. MUIRHEAD. Tuesday, 4th June, 2001

************************************************

SOURCES

[l] Nigel Hamilton, "Master of the Battlefield: Monty's War Years, 1942 - 1944", McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1983, p 343

[2] Frank Hawkings, "From Ypres to Cambrai, the 1914 - 1919 diary of an infantryman", TheElmfieldPress, 1974, p 116

(3] Jay Winter and Blaine Baggett, "1914 - 18, the Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century", Community Television of Southern California1996 (BBC Books) , p 314

(4] Douglas Jerrold, "The Royal Naval Division", SecondEdition, Hutchinson & Co London, p 129

[5] RND Magazine Issue 10, p 903

[6] W.H. Fevyer & J.H. Wilson, "The 1914 Star to the Royal Navy and Marines", The Naval & MilitaryPress, 1995, pp 234-5

[7] Sir Alan Herbert, C.H., "A.P.H. His Lifeand Times'', Heineman, London 1970, pp 3, 148

[8] "Report of the Operations of the 63rd (R.N.) Division from30th August to gth September.1918", Public RecordOffice Ref ADM 137/3939

1791. [9] "Report on Operations of 63rd (R.N.) Division 13th- 15th November 1916", Public Record OfficeRef ADM 137/3929

[10] Douglas Jerrold, op cit, p 201

[11] "Hawke Battalion War Diary", Public Record OfficeRef WO 95/3114

[12] "Report on the Operations of the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division East of Ypres 241 October- 5th November 1917", Public Record OfficeRef ADM 137/3931 h

[13] Paul G. Halpern, Ph.D. (Ed.) "The Keyes Papers, Vol. I : 1914 - 1918", Navy Record Society, 1972, pp 451 et seq, and James D. Ladd, "Royal Marine Commando", The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd .. (Book Club Associates) 1982, p 88

By Thomas S. Muirhead 92, Overbrook Road Hardwicke Gloucester GL24RZ

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1792. THE ISLANDS.

These reports show that even before the Gallipoli evacuation, plans were in hand regarding the future of the Royal Naval Division.

Secret. 0145/445. (M.0.1.) War Office. S.W. 7.1.16.

The Secretary of State forWar presents his compliments to the First Lord of the Admiralty and begs to inform him that he has had under consideration, the question of providing a garrison forthe islands ofLemnos, Tenedos and Imbros which he understands are, for the present, to be held by a British Force.

It appears to Lord Kitchener that this duty can most advantageously be undertaken by the Naval Division at present serving with the Dardanelles Army and he will be glad to be informed whether this proposal meets with the concurrence of the First Lord of the Admiralty and if so, whether the Lord C. of the Admiralty will be prepared to undertake the whole responsibility forthe security of these islands?

Lord Kitchener hopes that an early reply will be sent in regard to this proposal, in order to enable the necessary instructions to be conveyed by telegraphto the general commanding the M.E.F.

The First Sea Lord presents his compliments to the Secretary of State for War and begs to reply as follows to his secret letter No 0145/455 (M.0.1) of the th January 1916.

The L.A.C. will be prepared to undertake the whole responsibility for the security of the islands of Lemnos, Imbros and Tenedos subject to the Naval Division (serving with the Dardanelles Army) being placed at their disposal for this purpose and subject also to military assistancebeing provided in details which the Division lacks.

The details which would be required are principally :- (a) Land Transports, including animals. (b) Tents and camp equipment. ( c) Field Hospital equipment. (d) Sufficienthospital buildings at Mudros, forthe requirements of the Division as a Stationary Hospita� to be leftintact and equipped for use. (e) Some artillery. The 4 inch Naval Battery fromSouth Africacomplete, might be transferred.

All the requirements are not known fully here and it is suggested that the G.O.C. Vice Admiral De Robeck and General Paris should mutually decide on what is necessary as regards military details to be attached to the Naval Division. The First Lord begs to state that the First Lord is in agreementwith these proposed arrangementsand would be glad to be informed if the S of S for War concurs. Admiralty, 9th Jan. 16. SignedH.F. Oliver.

Reference:- Public Record Office, Kew. ADM137/3088.

1793 If you have an article, papers or photographs on any subject concerning the R.N.D. I will be pleased to hear from you.

Next issue, number 19 will be published in December 2001.

st It will contain :- The 1 part of an article by Captain Christopher Page the current Admiralty historian :- Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiraltyand the Royal Naval Division 1914-1915.

nd The 2 part by Sergeant Meatyard of the Plymouth Battalion on the raid at Kum Kale & landing at 'Y' beach in 1915. Transcribed by Bob Thompson.

An account by Commander V. L. A. Campbell, D.S.O., commanding officerof Drake Battalion at Antwerp.

The experiences of Joseph 'LuckyDurham' Murray before the battle of the Ancre November 1916. (This should have appeared in September, but was delayed due to lack of space.)

Narrative formation and subsequent movement of 63rd Divisional Details Battalion. March 1918.

And so much more.

If you enjoyed the R.N.D. please tell a friend. Remember all back issues are still available.

I would like to express my appreciation to Tony Poucher of Chichester, Sussex for supplying the Anson Battalion battle honours, reproduced on the back page 1795.

1794. Royal Naval Division THE 1\NS0NIts cleecb cmd 81lTT1\LI0N traclitions; to recc111 tl1e comraclesl,ip ot all n,ose w110 toug11t witl1 it one.I 10 serve os ti tril)lll"C to the pcrsonc1l services or

2./?>�'o%/ /.J, A f3t 1t

ANTWEHP �IAHTJNPUICH EGYPT AVELUY WOOD GALLI POI,! HAMEL HELLES ABLAlNZEVELLE SUVLA LOGEAST WOOD ANZAC THILLOY STAVHOS LE BARQUE BULLY-GHENAY PRON VILLE BEAUCOURT QUEANT GRANIJCOURT MCEUVRES GAVHELI.E CANAL DU NORD PASt:;CHENDAI.E GHAINCOUHT WEL!:>H HJDGE PROVILLE FLESQUIERES NIEHGNIES 13EHTINCOURT VILLEHS ST. GHISLAIN

1795.