1st Royal Lancs - 23/10/16

[Chris]

Hi all.

Woder if any one can help me find out what the above Bn, were up to on the 23/10/1916, and where they were, so i can determine the location of George Hindleys death. Also would anyone be able to check his detaiils on Soldiers Died. Extremeley grateful.

Thanks

Chris

[John_Hartley]

Chris

Soldiers Died gives Pte George Richard Hindley, 27256, 1st Bn Royal lancasters.

Born: Saxby, Lncs

Enlisted: Lincoln

No info on residence

John

[Bob Coulson]

Chris,

23rd October attack on Spectrum Trench - C & D Coys advanced at 2-30pm and passed thro' objective to sunken road, subjected to heavy fire from the right and fell back to Spectrum Trench.

193 casualties.

Bob.

[Chris]

Thank you very much John and Bob. Sorry to show my ignorance Bob, but roughtly where was Spectrum trench.

regards

Chris

[Bob Coulson]

Chris,

Spectrum Trench was just to the north of Lesboeufs.

Bob.

[jim_davies]

Chris,

A while back I came across two lads from Stamford, Lincs who died in Oct 1916 serving with the 1st Royal Lancasters, both had similar serial numbers to George.

Looking back at my notes for the time its interesting to note that the majority of the men (as shown on SD) in the Royal Lancs with numbers between 27000 & about 27370 are almost all Lincolnshire lads. For example most are either shown as residing, enlisting or being born in the county. Furthermore a high percentage are shown as "formerly" Lincolnshire Regt. This ranges from the later numbers of the 18000s through to 23000s, but also a large number of what appears to be territorial men.

Jim

[Northern Soul]

Chris, info on 1st Bn K.O.R.L.R.

Extract from “The King’s Own, The Story of a Royal Regiment, Volume III, 1914-1950,” by Colonel J. M. Cowper.

The third phase of the battles of the Somme opened with hopes which even the experiences of the second had been unable to quench. The Commander-in-Chief considered that there was good chance of success for a large-scale operation along the whole length of the Fourth, Fifth and Third Armies, always providing that the weather was normal. 1/King’s Own was selected to take part in this action when 4th Division was relieved in the [Ypres] Salient at forty-eight hours’ notice. Here the battalion was still commanded by Colonel Borrett and was employed on burying cables. The march to the front in the valley of the Somme lasted two days in pouring rain until Bernafay Wood was reached at three o’clock on Monday, October 9. An hour later the battalion moved on to occupy reserve trenches where there were no dugouts. The going was so bad that it was not until 8 p.m. that the trenches were reached; the next morning they were heavily shelled, the casualties amounting to ten killed and fourteen wounded, and in the afternoon the battalion withdrew to dugouts near Bernafay Wood, 4th Division was on the extreme right of the British line, and from the forward trenches the men could see through the haze the whole panorama of the battlefield. The ground sloped down gradually towards Le Transloy, Les Boeufs and Guedecourt, whence it rose steadily to the top of the next ridge, on the crest of which could be seen the outskirts of Bapaume.

A feature of the front line occupied by the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment was a trench called Spectrum which was partially held by the enemy, and it was essential to clear this if 4th Division was to be able to take part in the operation planned for October 15. On the 13th ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies went up to the line in working parties.

They were consequently without food and ill-equipped for trench warfare, but the garrison had sustained such heavy casualties that, much to their discomfort, these two companies were retained to stiffen the defence. There then began a struggle for Spectrum trench which was to continue for ten days and effectively prevent the co-operation of 1/King’s Own with the larger operation on its left, which was one of the most successful of the campaign. The German attention had been attracted to the Fifth Army front by the preliminary attack on the Hohenzollern trench, and in the subsequent fighting in the Fourth Army, Courcelette fell to the Canadians, Martinpuich to the Scots, Flers to the New Zealanders and Delville Wood was finally passed by troops who pushed on from Ginchy towards Les Boeufs. This time the French gains were not comparable with those of the British, but they also moved forward south of the Somme.

When first ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies reached the front line they occupied unconnected trenches known as Windy and Thistle, and although ‘A’ Company began to dig a communication trench, day dawned before it could be completed. Officially known as support and reserve trenches, they were very shallow, in full view of the enemy and heavily shelled. ‘A’ Company found some tins of Bully Beef and the remains of loaves of bread and other food in Thistle trench, but there was nothing of the sort in Windy and C.S.M. E. William and Sergeant Dyson collected what they could and walked across the open with it. It seemed a miracle that both returned safely. Ina desperate attempt to clear Spectrum for the morrow’s battle, the battalion tried to force the sandbag barricade which divided the British from the German portion of the trench. By the evening of the 14th sixty yards of trench had been consolidated, but the Germans still occupied their portion of Spectrum and the King’s Own had lost six men killed and twenty-four wounded. Three more unsuccessful attempts were made to drive the Germans out before ‘B’ Company was relieved on the evening of the 15th by ‘D.’ That morning a German officer was found mortally wounded near the barricade. He refused to accept any offers to move him into a more comfortable position, and although obviously able to speak English as he understood the offers of help, he refused to do so and curtly rejected them in French. He died a few hours later in great agony, defying his captors to the end.

At 5 p.m., after the main attack had been launched all along the line, the Germans put down a very heavy barrage on the support trenches and the rear of the front line. 4th Division was to co-operate with the French attack on the right, timed for 8.30 a.m. on the 17th. 11th Brigade was brought up on the right of the King’s Own, and the battalion opened the day by making another attempt to clear Spectrum so as to be able to go forward at the same time. Zero hour was fixed at 3.40 a.m., over three hours before sunrise. After an intense bombardment of twenty minutes, bomber parties of ‘D’ Company set out punctually to bomb down the trench. Flanking parties from ‘C’ Company floundered through the quagmire on either side, stumbling into water-logged shell holes when they were not stuck fast in glutinous mud. One of these parties attempted to push on in the darkness to establish a post in the Les Boeufs - Le Transloy road at the southern end of Spectrum trench. It was never heard of again. When dawn broke the battalion found that it had gained nearly ninety yards of trench which, much to its surprise, was not counter-attacked.

This was the day on which the quadrilateral east of Ginchy was finally mastered, but the struggle for Spectrum went on throughout the period of preparation for the next general offensive on the 25th. The 18th and 19th were spent in consolidation, and the battalion was relieved that night, having lost two officers killed and three wounded, eleven other ranks killed and sixty-nine wounded. They returned to the line on the 22nd and spent the night deepening the trenches and making steps to facilitate the preliminary attack the next day. The battalion, which on October 8 could muster thirty one officers and nine hundred and forty-seven other ranks, could only raise eleven officers and four hundred and thirty-six other ranks for this assault.

At 5 a.m. all was ready, the operation being planned for 11.30 a.m., but when day broke the mist was so thick that it was decided to put it off until the afternoon. At 2.30 p.m. the barrage came down and crept slowly forward followed by ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies, who at last succeeded in driving the enemy out of Spectrum trench and went on to secure the first ridge. Here they came under heavy fire, and as the battalion on the right had not reached the objective the King’s Own flank was in the air. Consequently these two companies had to withdraw to Spectrum trench. ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies set out ten minutes after ‘C’ and ‘D’ with object of passing through the position on the first ridge and carrying another beyond. As soon as they left Thistle trench these two companies were so heavily shelled that they were unable even to reach ‘C’ and ‘D’, let alone pass through them. A few individuals may have joined the forward companies before they started to withdraw; others met them on their way back and retired with them; all the survivors were in Spectrum when the Germans counter-attacked. Sergeant F. Beard was largely responsible for the inability of the enemy to regain the trench, which was now wholly in British hands. He established a barricade and remained in charge of it for thirty hours, during which time he repelled several bombing attacks. The day’s work cost the battalion four officers killed and two wounded, a hundred and twenty-six other ranks killed, a hundred and eighteen wounded and forty-three missing. Captain J. A. G. Leask and Lieutenant S. F. Jewers were the only two officers other than those at battalion headquarters who went through the attack unscathed.

These operations were described by an officer who was there as the worst experienced by the battalion. The weather was cold and wet, the mud sticky and greasy, the trenches shallow and confined, and the enemy’s shelling accurate and unceasing. Such a combination of circumstances would have been a hard test of endurance for experienced troops, but the majority of the men were just out from England and were having their first taste of warfare. The battalion did not take part in the final attack of the battle which took place on the 25th and was the best day of the whole campaign. North of Combles, Les Boeufs and Morval were taken; in the south-east Rancourt fell to the French, while the Fifth Army made the surprising capture of Thiepval.

There were 68 Other Ranks killed in this action. As an aside, all the ones who have known graves are buried in Guard's Cemetery, Lesboeufs, so it is possible that Pte. Hindley may be buried there too as an "Unkown Soldier"

Best wishes.

Andy.

[Chris]

A big thank you to everyone for all the help, its really helped build a picture of what happened to George Hindley.

Jim interesting that what seems a large number of Lincs lads served with the Royal Lancs. Will look into that further.

Thanks everyone

Chris