THE JOURNAL OF THE WESTERN FRONT ASSOCIATION FOUNDED 1980 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 NUMBER 108 www.westernfrontassociation.com 2017 Spring Conference and AGM MAY University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1XE Programme for the day 9.30am Doors open. Teas/coffees 10.15am Welcome by the Chairman 10.20am British casualty evacuation from the Somme, 6 July 1916: success or failure? by Jeremy Higgins 11.20am Winning With Laughter: Cartoonists at War by Luci Gosling Newcastle upon Tyne 12.20pm buffet lunch 1.20pm Politics and Command: Conflict and Crisis 1917 by John Derry 2.20pm Teas/coffees 2.45pm AGM 4.30pm Finish of proceedings FREE EVENT / BUFFET LUNCH AT COST A loose leaf insert will be sent out with the next Bulletin (107) giving full details. Contact the WFA office to confirm your attendance and reserve your place. JUNE 6th WFA JULY WFA York President’s Conference Conference Saturday 8th July 2017 Doors 09.00 Saturday 3rd June 2017 Start 09.45 until 16.15 Doors 09.00 Manor Academy, Millfield Lane, 3 Start 09.45 until 16.30 8 Nether Poppleton, York YO26 6AP Tally Ho! Sports and Social Club, Birmingham Birmingham B5 7RN York l An Army of Brigadiers: British Commanders l The Wider War in 1917: Prof Sir Hew Strachan at the Battle of Arras 1917: Trevor Harvey l British Propaganda and The Third Battle l Arras 1917 - The lost opportunity: of Ypres: Prof. Stephen Badsey Jim Smithson l If we do this, we do it properly: l Messines 1917 - The Zenith of Siege The Canadian Corps at Passchendaele 1917: Warfare: Lt. Col. Alex Turner Rob Thompson l Fritz von Lossberg and German flexible l An equal and opposite reaction: The BEF’s defence 1917: Jack Sheldon response to the German counter-attack and l Panel Discussion including the final days of the Battle of Cambrai 1917: Prof. Peter Simkins and Prof. John Bourne Dr. Bryn Hammond BOOKING DETAILS: £30 for each conference which includes buffet lunch plus tea/coffee. £50 combined fee for both conferences. Book by contacting WFA Office - 020 7118 1914 The Western Front Association Stand To! No. 108 STAND TO! EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION The Journal of the Western Front Association Although 2016 is already receding into have buried another of their mates – Frank history at an alarming rate and we are Moorhouse – somewhere near Ypres three No. 108 January/February 2017 edging towards February, may I start by years earlier, so Albert had undoubtedly © Copyright 2017 ISSN 0261–6548 wishing all members and readers a very ‘done his bit’ in defending the Salient and Editor: Jon Cooksey happy and healthy New Year. eventually lost his life in it. His death, Holly Lodge, Church Road, Snitterfield, however, is beyond the 6 November cut- Stratford–upon–Avon, Warwickshire. CV37 0LE email: [email protected] 2017 was only a few days old when the off date for Third Ypres so do I qualify for The Editor is always prepared to consider original BBC broke news of the government’s plans a connection to the battle? According to articles for publication; they should be sent to him for a large-scale, national commemorative Michael LoCicero in his excellent study at the above address. event centred on Ypres in late July 2017. of the 2 December fighting -A Moonlight Stand To! is published in January, May and The main event will take place at Tyne Cot Massacre: The Forgotten Last Act of September and is distributed to current members of the WFA. Cemetery on 31 July to mark the centenary the Third Battle of Ypres - the Germans Advertisement enquiries to Ralph Lomas. of the Third Battle of Ypres and a ballot felt Passchendaele went on well beyond Tel: 01625 511645, Email: ralph@app–publishing.co.uk was opened for the 4,000 seat, ticket-only the Battles Nomenclature Committee Design, Typesetting, Production and Print ceremony, similar to that held for last year’s termination date. I will just have to wait Management by APP Publishing Consultants of Macclesfield, Cheshire. Tel: 01625 511645 Somme commemorations. Descendants of and see. those who fought in the battle and those with a personal connection to it are invited Although Third Ypres is the government’s CONTENTS to apply and there is still time if you wish to chosen peg on which it will hang its key Communication Lines 2–3 attend and haven’t yet entered as the ballot commemorations, 2017 also marks the closes on 24 February. Visit the official centenaries of other momentous events Zeppelins over Edinburgh website at https://passchendaele100.org/ which should not be forgotten. The new Truths and Myths of the First Bombing Raid visitors’ centre at Vimy Ridge is taking on Scotland by Alan Reid 4–9 In addition to the event at Tyne Cot shape and will be the focus of major there will also be a free public event Canadian events on 9 April but the British The Home Base – The UK 1914–1918 Part One – Mobilising the Nation the night before in the Grote Markt in Army’s efforts at Arras and the Australian by Bob Butcher 10–11 Ypres following the traditional Last Post struggles at Bullecourt – battles which ceremony at the Menin Gate. The plans have for so long been in the shadow of Death in the Ramparts – December 1917 for this sound fascinating - a multi-media Passchendaele - will also be remembered. by Colin Taylor 12–17 extravaganza combining live performance Neither should the successes at Messines with projections thrown onto the grey stone in June be forgotten, nor the fighting at AIF Battalion Commanders in the Great War façade of the Cloth Hall to tell the story of Cambrai in November and December which The 14th Australian Infantry Battalion – the Great War in the Salient. It is sure to a Case Study by William Westerman 18–22 will see the year 2017 draw to a close. attract large crowds and again interest can Doubtless some members will be travelling The Camera Returns (90) be registered on the official website. to France to mark these events. There will by Bob Grundy and Steve Wall 23–25 Readers will perhaps know that I have be many others, however, who, throughout spoken of my great uncle Albert Cooksey the year, will think of those - on land, at General Sir John Steven Cowans before. He was killed in the two-division sea or in the air - who may not have been Pre–eminent Military Administrator attack north of Passchendaele in the early directly involved in the major battles of and a War Winning Genius by Terry Dean 26–32 hours of 2 December 1917. Newspaper 1917 but who nevertheless gave their lives John Kipling: On the Balance of Probability reports dug out by Linda Hutton in Barnsley one hundred years ago. We will remember by David Langley 33–35 confirm that he and John Burke claimed to them. ‘Big’ Cross, ‘Little’ Cross – Why? by Tom Tulloch–Marshall 36–39 Contact Sarah Gunn at the WFA Office: To notify change of postal address and/or email address. With all enquiries relating to A Great War Legend: Major Frederick Elliot (‘Boots’) Hotblack by Colin Hardy 40–44 membership, Gift Aid status and services provided by the WFA. To purchase Stand To! Reprints Volume 3 (Volumes 1 and 2 now out of stock), Stand To! and Bulletin binders, Great Scientists and Gunnery Innovation Mapping the Front DVDs and additional/past copies of Stand To! and Bulletin. in the Great War by William Van der Kloot 45–51 Tel: 020 7118 1914 Garrison Library 52–61 BM Box 1914, London, WC1N 3XX. Email: [email protected] The views expressed in articles in Membership Prices from May 2016 are: this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect UK Single £29, UK Dual £32 / Europe Single £35, Europe Dual £37 or represent those of the Editor, his associates or the Trustees of the World single £40, World dual £44 Western Front Association. Neither do these persons endorse, recommend or If you are not a member and would like to join, guarantee any item or service offered by an advertiser in this publication. The Editor reserves the right to decline please ring Sarah Gunn at the number above or go to or accept an advertisement without giving a reason. http://eshop.westernfrontassociation.com/product-category/wfa-membership-new/ Photographs in this publication with an IWM credit are reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London. Trench Maps and Front Cover: Repair and re-use: Two French girls photographed by Lieutenant John Warwick Brooke washing Crown copyright material in the National Archives salvaged boots before they were repaired at the Army Boot Repair Shop in Calais, 24 June 1918. Courtesy appearing in this publication are reproduced by kind permission of the Controller of the Stationery Office. IWM Q6739 1 The Western Front Association Stand To! No. 108 Communication Lines Footnotes is now in the hands of the Royal College Smoking poet ST 106 – the Somme Special – was an excellent of Surgeons. In 1930 Gillies invited his With reference to the very interesting article issue to which I am still turning. Many thanks cousin to join his specialist practice in ‘Smokes for the Blokes’ in ST 107, the March for your hard work and indeed that of the plastic surgery. He took up the challenge 1916 edition of the Growler Magazine, produced various authors. If I may I should like to add and became pre–eminent in this field in the for the 16th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers a couple of belated ‘footnotes’ to two articles: Second World War – his name – Archibald (Newcastle Commercials), featured this 1.