THE MORANT MEMOIRS by Kevin Richardson This summary covers the first three months with the 10th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry on the Western Front from May to the end of August 1915. It is based on the memoir of 10 DLI’s commanding officer, Colonel Hubert Morant. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You can download this work and share it with others as long as it is credited, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially © Kevin Richardson. Email [email protected] Page 1 THE MORANT MEMOIRS 1 12358 Private Fred Richardson The reason for my interest in this work is that my grandfather 12358 Private Thomas Frederick ‘Fred’ Richardson served with the 10th Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) and was reported “wounded” in the Illustrated Chronicle published 24 August 1915 2 and the Durham County Advertiser 3 September 1915.3 Hubert Morant was the Commanding Officer of 10 DLI, and his memoirs provide a first-hand account of his experience at the front during the early months of his service. Private F Richardson served in the DLI between 8 August 1914 and 31 October 1916 but his service and pension records have not been traced therefore exact details remain unknown. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Background Context 21/22 May 1915 12-20 June 1915 24-29/30 June 1915 18-27/28 July 1915 30/31 July-6 August 1915 10-14 August 1915 This summary covers the first three months on the Western Front from May to the end of August 1915. BACKGROUND 4 August 1914: Britain declared war on Germany. Field-Marshall Lord Kitchener appealed for volunteers to form a new army. The men of County Durham responded in great numbers and the Durham Light Infantry was tasked with providing new battalions. The first was the 10th (Service) Battalion, formed at Newcastle on 22 August 1914, as part of K1. The battalion was attached to the 43rd Brigade, 14th (Light) Division. It was disbanded in France 12 February 1918.4 1 Durham County Record office (DCRO) D/DLI 7/1230/3 “My Experiences and Impressions since the Declaration of War” HHS Morant, the story of the 10th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry in the First World War by its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Morant http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/material/21/ 2 Photograph states “wounded” 3 Durham County Advertiser p.3 column G: “Pte F. Richardson arrived home wounded in both legs.” 4 www.1914-1918.net/dli.htm This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You can download this work and share it with others as long as it is credited, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially © Kevin Richardson. Email [email protected] Page 2 Army Order No.324, issued 21 August 1914, authorised the formation of six new divisions of K1. Initially numbered the 8th (Light) Division, it was renumbered the 14th (Light) Division as Regular Army units became available to create the division. By May 1915, the recruits were judged to be ready for action and the division moved to France 21 May 1915 to serve on the Western Front throughout the war.5 14th [Light] Division Prior to June 1918, the division comprised the following infantry brigades: 6 41st Brigade 7th Battalion, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps 8th Battalion, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps 7th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort’s Own) 8th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort’s Own) 9th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort’s Own) 42nd Brigade 5th Battalion, the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 5th Battalion, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry 9th Battalion, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps 43rd Brigade 6th Battalion, the Somerset Light Infantry 6th Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry 6th Battalion, the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry 10th Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry Machine Gun Companies were formed in February 1916 and Trench Mortar Batteries in April 1916. Specialist troops such as Pioneers, Divisional Artillery, 5 www.1914-1918.net/14div.htm 6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_(Light)_Division This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You can download this work and share it with others as long as it is credited, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially © Kevin Richardson. Email [email protected] Page 3 Engineer Units, Field Ambulances, and the Army Service Corps formed part of the Division.7 10 DLI travelled from Newcastle to Woking, then in September 1914 commenced training at Aldershot, Witley, and Corunna Barracks at Aldershot, before leaving the town for Folkestone, 21 May 1915. They arrived at Boulogne, France the same night.8 CONTEXT The advances of 1914 were stopped and the war of entrenchment followed along the whole length of the front from Switzerland to the North Sea. By the end of 1914 and beginning of 1915, the Belgian Army held the most northern part of the front line around Dixsmuide, the British shared the line with French forces around Ypres, within Belgian Flanders and into northern France and the French held the rest throughout France and a small area of German soil. The British, French, and German armies took part in battles, engagements, and skirmishes throughout the early part of 1915 in France from Givenchy in January, Neuve Chappelle in March, Fromelles, Rue de Bois and Festubert in May and Givenchy again in June. In Belgium, actions at St. Eloi on 14 and 15 March, and Hill 60 from 17 to 22 April, taunted the Germans into a great offensive later to be known as the Second Battle of Ypres. This battle raged from 22 April to 25 May and is most notable for the first use of poison gas by the German forces (22-24 April) and locally, the introduction of our territorial units of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division to the Western Front (22 April). The British replied with the first attack on Bellewaarde on 16 June, then a series of actions at Hooge to the east of Ypres. The 3rd Division was involved on 19 July, the 14th Division on 30 July, and the 6th Division on 9 August. This preceded the great British and French offensive at Loos which took place from 25 September to 8 October. 9 The Western Front from Belgium to northern regions of Pas de Calais and Nord, France saw the full might of the destructive capability of modern, industrial warfare and the losses of men and materiel were felt on an unprecedented scale. It is within this scenario that Kitchener’s volunteers, men of his New Army, the citizen battalions from areas such as the coalfields of County Durham marched on the 22 May 1915. 7 www.1914-1918.net/14div.htm 8 “The Durham Forces in the Field 1914-1918 Vol.2 - The Service Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry” Captain W Miles, 1920. Note: Morant reports that they left Aldershot for Folkestone at 8pm on the 21st arriving at Boulogne at about 1am. 9 www.warpath.orbat.com/battles_ff/1915.htm [site no longer live] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You can download this work and share it with others as long as it is credited, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially © Kevin Richardson. Email [email protected] Page 4 21/22 MAY 1915: ARRIVAL IN FRANCE AND THE WESTERN FRONT The men of 10 DLI could hear the noise from artillery batteries as they exchanged their murderous fire.10 They moved through the towns and villages of Volkerinckhove, Noordpeen, Caestre. On 8 June at Bailleul, the battalion was employed in the construction of trenches and breastworks, then onto Canada Huts, Dickebusch, where they were shelled occasionally. They marched onto huts at Rozenhill and then the trenches near St. Eloi where they were subject to their own guns firing upon them.11 Welcome to the Western Front! 12-20 JUNE 1915: TRAINING FOR TRENCH WARFARE 12 12 June, 10 DLI marched to Danoutre where they were attached to the 46th (North Midland) Division for eight days of training in trench warfare. Here, Second Lieutenant Fairbairn was killed by a rifle grenade, seven other ranks (ORs) were killed and 13 were wounded. Later research records the following casualties: 14 June: 18914 Private C Forster aged 28 died of wounds, buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension 13442 Private T Stalker aged 35 died of wounds, buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension 17 June: 19458 Private J Blenkinsopp died of wounds, buried at Packhorse Farm Shrine Cemetery 19 June: 15188 Private P Welsh aged 30 died, buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension 10 Morant p.16 [DCRO D/DLI 7/1230/3 http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/material/21/ p.33] 11 Morant p.19 [DCRO D/DLI 7/1230/3 http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/material/21/ p.38] now called friendly fire 12 Morant p.20 [DCRO D/DLI 7/1230/3 http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/material/21/ p.39], Officers Died in the Great War (ODGW), Soldiers Died in the Great War (SDGW), the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), Miles reports 21 casualties p.14 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You can download this work and share it with others as long as it is credited, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially © Kevin Richardson.