Australians at Summerdown Camp, Eastbourne.

April 1915 saw the opening of the Summerdown Convalescent Camp, underneath the South Downs in Eastbourne. The camp held 3,500 convalescing soldiers and the facilities on site included a Cinema. All nationalities were sent to Summerdown to recover and later in the year Australians started to arrive.

Summerdown Camp, Eastbourne.

The Eastbourne Gazette contains an interesting article on the first Australian arrivals. The Soldiers give quite an account of fighting the Turks and this is also a time in England before conscription was introduced. Recruiting rallies were frequent and the Newspaper capitalizes on the fact the some men have not yet “answered the call” whereas these Australians have traveled 12,000 miles for King and Country.


“Australians and New Zealanders

Arrivals from the Dardanelles

Among the wounded soldiers now at Summerdown Camp are some Australians and New Zealanders who arrived last week from the Dardanelles. They are men who took part in the landing at the onset of the struggle now proceeding.

In the course of conversation a miner from New South Wales mentioned that the invaders were transferred from transports to barges which were towed to the shore by steam-tugs. Every time a tug put off with a convey of barges full of soldiers it was noticed that they were bombarded with the utmost regularity by the Turks, and the troops were anxious to know how the enemy learnt of their departure so accurately. They discovered the means employed on the second day. As they were advancing a Turk was discovered in a hole covered by bushes. With him he had sufficient food to last fourteen day; and there were about forty homing pigeons, one of which he liberated as each tug put off. Needless to say, he was given a short shrift.

Asked what struck him the most about England, a New South Wales man said that some of them had been driven up to the parade and he was amazed to see the number of young fellows not in khaki who came to look at them while they themselves had travelled thousands of miles to fight for King and country.

Among the overseas men at the camp are Sergeant Steed, Corporal Nixon, Privates McCauley, Rose, McCabe, East, MacBeth, Spang, Earl, Morgan, Bice, O’Donnell, Smith, Maxwell, Hasselt, Gallagher, Hensley and Godden (Australians) and Private Howell and Avery (New Zealanders)."

The Women's Land Army

Two articles about the employment of Women on farms during the war. The first is a press release from the Eastbourne Chronicle dated 22nd July 1916 and the second is a chapter from the book Women and War Work by Helen Fraser published on line at http://www.gutenberg.org/.

From the Eastbourne Chronicle:

“Women on the Land

Register of nearly 20,000

Farmers are taking advantage of the register inaugurated by the Board of Agriculture for the employment of women on the land. According to a statement by Miss Talbot, organising inspector of the Board of Agriculture for Women’s Employment on the Land in the nine counties which had sent in returns in recent months, the total numbers of women registered was 19,955 and over 7,000 had actually been placed in employment. The women now especially wanted are those who would like a course of training and will five full-time work to farmers till the end of the war. "

and from Women and War Work by Helen Fraser

"THE WOMEN'S LAND ARMY"

The Land Army of Women, which now numbers over 258,300 whole and part-time workers, has done splendid work. For some years before the war women had been very little used on the land in certain parts of England and Wales. In Scotland and in some of the English counties there had always been, and still were, quite fair numbers of women on the land.

Within eighteen months of the outbreak of war, about 300,000 agricultural laborers had enlisted and the work had been carried on with difficulty by the farmer in the first year of the war. The farmer secured all the labor he could, old men returned to help, and the army released skilled men temporarily, from training, to help. Soldiers were used in groups for seasonal work, the farmer paying a good rate for them. Groups of women were also organized for seasonal work by
various voluntary organizations, two of these being the Land Council and the Women's National Land Service Corps. The Women's Farm and Garden Union also did good work. The Land service Corps made one of its most important objects the organization of village women into working gangs under leaders. One interesting piece of work undertaken by the Corps last year was finding a large number of women for flax-pulling in Somerset. This the Flax-Growers' Association asked them to do as sufficient local labor could not be raised. The War Agricultural Committee made all the local arrangements. This was pioneer work of great value and importance as flax is essential in the making of aeroplane wings.

The Corps sent a group of 100 women under competent gang leaders. The workers were housed in an empty country house and the War Office provided bedding. The Y.W.C.A. undertook the catering at the request of the Corps. The work, which was a great success, consisted in pulling, gating, wind mowing, stocking and tying flax.

The Corps has already been asked to undertake this again next year. Owing to the Russian troubles and the closing of the Port of Riga, it will be necessary to put many more hundreds of acres under cultivation and it is probable four or five times as many women will be needed next year.

Some of the Corps members are doing good work in Army Remount Depots, working in the stables and exercising the horses. One of the latest interesting developments of women's work is in the care of sick horses, carried out in the Horse Hospital in London.

Within nine months of the outbreak of war, it was clear we must secure help for the farmers, in order to enable them to do their work. As the submarine menace developed, and the supply of grain in the world was affected by the numbers of men taken away from production, it was clear we must try to grow more food.

Our grain production at the best was only twelve weeks of our supply, and even to keep up to that seemed to be a problem.

It was clear that in agriculture, as in so many other things, women must fill up the ranks, and in the first official appeal of the Government for additional woman labor, the land had an important
place.

Lord Selborne, President of the Board of Agriculture, drew up a scheme for the organization of agriculture throughout the country. It consisted of War Agricultural Committee set up in each county who look after production, use of land, procuring use of motor machinery, etc., and of Women's Agricultural Committees. The latter undertake the organization of securing women workers for the land, choosing them, and arranging for training and placing out.

The voluntary groups of women who have been working at the problem in the war are now practically all merged in the Board of Agriculture's organization. The Women's Branch of the Food Production Department now controls and arranged the whole work and Miss Meriel Talbot is the able chief.

The Women's Land Corps, like the other organizations, was prepared to be merged in the new Land Army of the Board and to cease to exist as a separate organization. Its members were willing to become part of the new Land Army.

The Board found there was a distinct need for a voluntary association which would continue to enroll women, who could not sign on for the duration of the war, and who were able to forego the benefits of free training, outfit and traveling given under the Government scheme. Over 100 members of the Corps did enroll and the original Corps members do not require to appear before the local Selection Committees nor to submit references, which marks the Board's confidence in the Corps.

Many of the Corps Workers are now organizing Secretaries for the Counties or Assistant secretaries, or are travelling Inspectors under the Board of Agriculture.

The Corps still organizes the supply of temporary workers for seasonal jobs such as potato dropping, hoeing, harvesting, fruitpicking, potato and root lifting, etc., done by groups under leaders. The work of organizing in the Counties is carried out by the appointment of a woman as District representative. She is responsible for a general supervision of the work in all the villages in her district. Each village has a woman to act as Registrar and her duty (with assistants, if necessary) is to canvass all the village women and girls for volunteers for whole and part time work, and for training, and to canvass the farmer to find out what labour he needs, and in the beginning they had to induce him to use women. She puts the farmer and the women suitable for his needs in her own district, in touch with each other, and passes to the District Representative and to the Employment Exchanges the names of all women qualified to help and not placed, and of those willing to train.

All these committees, registrars and representatives are honorary workers. The Board of Agriculture appoints to each County for work with the committee a woman Organizing Secretary, and assistant also if necessary.

The Board of Agriculture, working through the Employment Exchanges and under the direction of their women heads, arranged a series of meetings and work of propaganda by posters and leaflets throughout the whole country early in 1916.

The Representatives and Registrars organized the meetings to which the farmers and the women were invited, and the whole scheme was explained. These were very frequently held in the market towns on market day and the farmer and his wife came in to hear after the
sales. We had to assail the prejudices of some of our farmers pretty vigorously and of the women, too. We found the women who volunteered best for land work were in the class above the industrial worker, and that the comfortable and well educated woman stood its work admirably.

The farmers were stiff to move in some cases and especially disliked the idea of having to train the women. "They weren't going to run after women all day--they had too much to do to go messing round with girls!" This objection was met by the Board of Agriculture arranging training centres in every county. Some of the training was done at the Women's Agricultural Colleges and among places that arranged training very early were the Harper Adam's College in Shropshire (Swanley); Garford (Leeds); Sparsholt (Winchester); The Midland Agricultural Training College (Kingston), and Aberystwith.

The Women's Agricultural Committee have arranged a great many training centres at big farms and on the Home farms of some of our estates.

The girls volunteering for training must be eighteen years of age. They are interviewed as to suitability and references by the Selection Committee. They must have a medical certificate filled in by their own doctor or by one of the committee's doctors.


On being passed, they go to the training centre, the travelling expenses being paid by the Board. Outfit is free and the uniform is a very sensible one of breeches, tunic, boots and gaiters or puttees, and soft hat, breeches, etc., cut to measure for each girl. Training and maintenance are free and there is always an instructor on the farm in addition to the farmer and his workers. The travelling to the post found, is again paid by the Government, and if work is not found at once, on completion of training, maintenance is paid till it is.

The training is generally of four to six weeks' duration and in some cases longer, and over 7,000 women have been trained in this way and placed.

Appeals for land recruits were made in February, 1916, and in January and April, 1917, when the Women's National Service Department asked for 100,000 women.

The Land Army women after three months' service receive an official armlet--a green band with lion rampant in red and a certificate of honour. The Land women are the only women who receive an armlet--the munition girl wears a triangular brass brooch with "On war service."

To induce the conservative farmer to try the women, exhibitions of farm work were arranged in different part of the country with great success, and the girls showed they could plough, and weed and hoe and milk and care for stock, and do all the farm work, except the heaviest, extremely well.

The War Office in its official memorandum of 1916 gives a long list of the farm and garden work in which women are successfully employed, and they have been particularly successful in the care of stock.

The farmer who used to declare he would never have a woman and that they were no use, and who has them now, is always quite pleased and generally cherishes a profound conviction that the reason why his women are all right is because he has the most exceptional ones in the
country.

Housing the worker and especially the groups for seasonal work has been a problem, but it has been done and the feeding of groups well has been managed, too.

The housing conditions for the girl going to work whole-time are investigated by the Board organizer, and the representatives of committee. Very frequently a small group of girls have a cottage on the farm.

The Inspectors of the Board are in charge of three counties each and look after all conditions.

The girls are now being trained to drive the motor tractors for ploughing, and for women who understand horses there is at present a greater demand than supply.

The Women's Branch of the Board is also at this time appealing for well-educated women to aid in Timber Supply for two pieces of work--measuring trees when felled, calculating the amount of wood in the log, and marking off for sawing, and as forewomen to superintend cross-cutting, felling small timber and coppice and to do the lighter work of forestry.

Girls and women are in market gardens and on private gardens in very large numbers. The King has a great many women in his gardens and conservatories. Most estates are growing as many vegetables as possible to supply the many hospitals and the Fleet, and girls are helping very much in this. A great deal has been done by work in allotments, plots of land taken up by town dwellers and cultivated. In one part of South Wales alone 40,000 allotments have been worked and the allotment holders are organizing themselves co-operatively for the purchase of seed, etc. We have Governmental powers now not only to enable Local Authorities to secure unused land for allotments, but to compel farmers to cultivate all their ground. We have fixed a price for wheat for five years, and a minimum wage for the agricultural man and woman.

The girls on the land improve in health and increase in weight. The work is not only of supreme usefulness to the country--we have the submarine ceaselessly gnawing at our shipping and making our burden heavier--so we must produce everything possible. It has improved the physique of our girls--they like it, and many will permanently adopt it. Our Board of Agriculture is also encouraging, for the benefit of the country woman, the formation of Women's Institutes, like those in Canada and America.

In the Lord Mayor's Procession in London, on November 9, 1917, with the men-in-arms of all our great Commonwealth of Nations, with the Turks and the captured German aeroplanes and guns, the munition girls and the Land girls marched. No group in all that great array had a warmer welcome from our vast crowds than our sensibly clothed, healthy, happy and supremely useful Land girls.

Pozieres 1916 - Part 1 - The Great Offensive.

On the 1st July 1916 at 7.30am the British Army launched their great offensive over the Somme river valley. The attack had been months in the planning, the intention was to punch a hole trough the German lines on the high ground of the Thiepval – Pozieres - Ginchy Ridge and press in through to envelope the German line.

The Somme had traditionally been a quite sector and therefore the Germans had prepared very strong defences, the Dug-outs were in some places 30 feet deep. The British Army were well aware of the extent of the task that faced them, raiding parties had captured a number of prisoners who had told them that deep dugouts offered the German soldiers very good protection from any bombardment. This did not fill the General in charge of the attack General Rawlinson with over confidence, in fact he had his own misgivings about the offensive, but once it had been agreed there was unfortunately no going back.

The German defense had two extensive and full lines of defense and a third in the making. The first ran through the villages of Serre, Theipval, La Boisselle and Fricourt and was a well organized system of battle and communication trenches. The second line, was a mile or two to the rear of the first and deeply cut into the chalk ridge that ran through the region. It meant in reality that an offensive had to be two-part, one breaking the first line and the second overcoming the deep defenses on the ridge.

The ‘Volunteer’ new 4th Army under General Rawlinson had been given the task of breaking the German defences. The Fourth Army comprised over half a million men but although there were a number of regular divisions lined up alongside Kitchener battalions, the Army as a whole lacked battle experience. Sixty per cent of the battalions were comprised of New Army men and even the regular divisions no longer comprised purely career soldiers. The steady drain caused by casualties sustained over the previous 22 months and the exchange of battalions with New Army Divisions had changed the character of the regular divisions.

In March of 1916, General Rawlinson with his staff had first developed a plan that he called ‘bite and hold’. Rawlinson with mathematical reckoning thought that the army should be able to gain the German front line over a length of 20,000 yards and then in the second separate attack press on and overrun the second line. To aid them in achieving this, the British Army amassed 400 heavy and 1,000 field guns over 20 miles and for the seven days preceding they attack bombarded the German lines constantly day and night in the hope of smashing the German defences and destroying the defensive wire.

Winston Churchill in his book “The World in Crisis" explains it thus:

“The plan of the British and French was admittedly to pierce the whole German trench system on a front of many kilometers, and then by wheeling out­wards-the British to the north-east and north and the French to the south-east-to roll up from the flanks the exposed portions of the German line; and British and French cavalry divisions were held ready to be pushed forward through the gap so made. The French objective was to gain the rising ground east of the Somme south of Peronne, while 'the corresponding British objective' was' the semicircle of high ground running from the neighbourhood of Le Transloy through Bapaume to Achiet-Ie­Grand."…….

"The whole effectiveness of the plan depended on the speed of its execution. If for instance an interval of two or three days intervened between the penetration and the outward wheel the enemy's line would be switched back on both sides of the gap and a whole new web of fortifications would obstruct a further advance. All prospect of a great rupture followed by rolling up the flanks was dependent upon a rate of progress so rapid as to preclude the construction and organization by the enemy of fresh defensive lines. If the Joftre-Haig plan was to achieve any success apart from mere attrition, progress must be continuous and rapid, and the objec­tives specified must be attained at the latest in two or three days. If this were not secured, the great attack would have failed. Other attacks might subsequently be planned and might be locally successful, but the scheme of a grand rupture was definitely at an end. "


With the plan agreed, on 24th June 1916 the bombardment started and it unleashed a hell on earth. Some Germans and even the rats went mad and ran away. For seven days it pounded the German front line and it seemed to the British soldiers of the time that nothing could survive it. But the Germans did survive it and it failed in a majority of sections to cut the wire. At 7.30am on the 1st July 1916 the British Army rose from their trenches and commenced the attack, when the evening came they had lost 57, 470 officers and men, 19,240 of them killed and 2,152 missing.

In the south, the XV Corps under Henry Horne had taken Mametz and nearly made Fricourt. The XIII Corps had also taken all its objectives. But in the North of the attack the III Corps, X Corps and VII Corps had made only a few real gains.

Winston Churchill again describes it :

"At seven thirty o'clock in the morning of July 1 the British and French, armies rose from their trenches steel-helmeted, gas-masked, equipped with all the latest apparatus of war, bombs, mortars, machine-guns light and heavy, and, supported by all their artillery, marched against the enemy on a front of 45 kilometers. Fourteen British divisions and five French divisions were almost immediately engaged. South of the Somme on the French front the Germans were taken completely by surprise. They had not believed the French capable after their punishment at Verdun of any serious offensive effort. They expected at the most only demonstrations. They were not ready for the French, and the French attack, though unfortunately on a needlessly small scale, captured and overwhelmed the German troops throughout the whole of their first system of trenches.

Very different were the fortunes of the British. Everywhere they found the enemy fully prepared. The seven days' bombard­ment had by no means accomplished what had been expected. Safely hidden in the deep dugouts, the defenders and their machine guns were practically intact. From these they emerged with deadly effect at the moment of assault or even after the waves of attack had actually passed over and beyond them. Though the German front line was crossed at every point, the great advance into his position failed except on the right. The three British divisions on that flank captured Montauban and Mametz and an area 4 1/2 miles wide by 1 1/2 miles deep, thus isola­ting Fricourt on the south. The 21st Division north of this village also made progress and gained nearly a mile. But though the defenders of Fricourt were thus almost cut off, the attempt to storm the village failed. Northwards again the two divisions of the Third Corps, though they advanced a thousand yards, failed in spite of repeated efforts to capture La Boiselle or Ovillers on the long spurs of the Pozieres plateau. By night­fall the gain in this part of the field comprised only two pockets or bulges in the enemy's position. The attack of the X Corps with three divisions broke down before the immense defences of the Thiepval spur and plateau. Although two of its great supporting points, the Leipzig and Schwaben redoubts, were cap­tured, all attacks on Thiepval failed, and the failure to take Thiepval entailed the evacuation of the Schwaben. Opposite Beaumont-Hamel, on the extreme left, the VIII Corps, after reaching the German front line, was driven back to its own. trenches. The subsidiary attack made by the Third Army against Gommecourt completely failed, practically no damage to the German defences having been done in the long bombardment.”

The reports that got back to General Rawlinson were inaccurate, he misunderstanding of the disaster that had befallen the Army pressed on with the next phase. The next day July 2nd, they attempted to in vain to take Ovillers, less than 1 mile from the original front.

Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig in his dairy entry for July 2nd, gives us glimpse at the thinking that was at G.H.Q at the time:

“A days of downs and ups! As regards weather, the day was fine, bright sun and cool wind, but the barometer registered a fall during the night.

I also visited two Casualty Clearing Stations at Montigny, one under Major Thomas, the other under Colonel Macpherson. They were very pleased at my visit. The wounded were in wonderful spirits. I saw Sir Wilmot Herringham with his coat off, setting a fine example, by washing and attending to the slightly wounded cases…..

The A.G. reported today that the total casualties are estimated at over 40,000 to date. This cannot be considered severe in view of the numbers engaged, and the length of front attacked. By nightfall, the situation is much more favourable than when we started today.”

On July 6-7 the British took La Boiselle and Contalmaision, but the Germans regained it only a few hours later. The same day an attack by the British on Mametz Wood was repulsed, the wood would eventually be taken a week later. In fact after ten days hard fighting on average the Germans had only been pushed back a few kilometers.

On July 13th the British broke through the German lines along the Longueval Ridge at Bazentin-le-Petit in a daring night attack. The sector was 3.5 miles wide and real hope of a breakthrough was hoped for but this soon disappeared. July 15th saw the Army reach High Wood but they were unable to capture it. Just along the road south the battle for Deville Wood commenced the same day. But a day earlier, July 14th the British army made its first attempt to take the small village of Pozieres.

Despite the failure to achieve a real sustained breakthrough the feeling with the public and soldiers was still one of optimism. C.E.W Bean in the “A.I.F. in France” explains that gains were made but little knowledge of the cost was known:

“To the average British soldier, as well as to the people at home, the reports of the Somme battle appeared almost wholly favorable. It is true that the great results announced on July 1st and 14th had in each case been followed only by more heavy fighting. But the public and even the army – except the divisions which had taken part on July 1st – had little conception of the cost, or of how far the results fell short of the intentions. Two great blows had undoubtedly been struck; the British for the first time were making headway through a firmly established enemy position; the lines which most of the troops had believed impregnable were being slowly penetrated. This was a valuable achievement, but, to the army and people who yearned so long for success, the intermittent advances on the Somme often signified far more than they were worth; and, as the communiqués of G.H.Q (prepared for enemy consumption) were rose-coloured and unfavourable comment was suppressed by the then censors, the average citizen or soldier entertained few misgivings.”

It was with this feeling of optimism that the 1st Australian Division encamped to the south-west of the battlefield prepared to enter the fight.

More Information:

For an excellent detailed overview of the Somme offensive, go to the Long, Long Trail.

Jam by Edward Dyson

I love poems with a sense of humour, 'Jam' by the Australian Poet Edward Dyson is one of them.

JAM.
(A Hymn of Hate).

WHAT is meant by active service
'Ere where sin is leakin' loose,
'N' the oldest 'and's as nervis
As a dog-bedevilled goose,
Has bin writ be every poet
What can rhyme it worth a dam,
But the 'orror as we know it
Is jist jam, jam, JAM!
Oh, the 'ymn of 'ate we owe it--
Stodgy, splodgy, seepy, soaky, sanguinary
jam!

There's the "fearful roar iv battle,"
What gets underneath yer 'at,
Mooin' like a million cattle
Each as big as Ararat;
There's the red field green 'n' slippy
(And I'm cleaner where I am),
But the thing that's got me nippy
It is jam, jam, JAM!
Druv us sour it has, 'n' dippy,
Sticky, sicky, slimy, sloppy, stummick-strafin'
jam!

Of the mud that's in the trenches
Writers make a solemn fuss;
For the vermin 'n' the stenches
Little ladies pity us;
But the yearn that's honest dinkum,
'N' the prayer what ain't a sham
Is that Fritz may bust 'n' sink 'em
Ships of jam, jam, JAM!
For we bolt 'em, chew 'em, drink 'em,
Million billion bar'ls of beastly, cloyin'
clammy jam!

We are sorry-sick of peaches,
'N' we're full right up of plum,
'N' innards fairly screeches
When the tins of apple come.
Back of Blighty piled in cases,
Jist as close as they can cram,
Fillin' all the open spaces,
Is the 'jam, jam, JAM!
Oh, the woe the soldiers face is,
Monday, Sunday, ruddy, muddy, boundless
bogs of jam.

Wimereux Communal Cemetery, France.

Wimereux is a small town situated about 5 kilometers north of Boulogne.
Wimereux was the headquarters of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps during the First World War and in 1919 it became the General Headquarters of the British Army. From October 1914 onwards, Boulogne and Wimereux formed an important hospital centre and until June 1918, the medical units at Wimereux used the communal cemetery for burials, the south-eastern half having been set aside for Commonwealth graves, although a few burial were also made among the civilian graves.




By June 1918, this half of the cemetery was filled, and subsequent burials from the hospitals at Wimereux were made in the new military cemetery at Terlincthun.

Wimereux Communal Cemetery contains 2,847, Commonwealth burials of the First World War, two of them unidentified.

The Commonwealth section was designed by Charles Holden. Because of the sandy nature of the soil, the headstones lie flat upon the graves . Buried among them is Lt.-Col. John McCrae, author of the poem "In Flanders Fields." There are also five French and a plot of 170 German war graves. The cemetery also contains 14 Second World War burials, six of them unidentified.

Lieutenant Colonel Harman Grisewood.

In May 1915, Lieutenant Colonel Harman Grisewood, from Bognor was given command of the 11th Battalion Royal Sussex regiment, (1st South Downs). He replaced the battalion founder Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lowther , however on the eve of the attack at Boars Head on 30th June 1916, he had serious doubts about the success of the plan of attack.

The plan had to be carried out and Major General R. Dawson dismissed Grisewood beacause of his doubts and dropped the 11th Battalion to a supporting role, replacing them with the 13th Battalion. Lieutenant Colonel Grisewood left his men on the eve of the battle, never to return. After a period in England, he was posted to the 17th Manchesters in 1917 and commanded them in the field until severely gassed.


Lieutenant Colonel Grisewood sent a final message to his battalion which found its way into the Eastbourne Gazette courtesy of Privates D and W Ashby.


“Colonel Grisewood’s Farewell Message

Writing to their parents Mr and Mrs D. Ashby of Woodside, Hellingly. Privates D and W Ashby of the Southdown battalion says: - “We are both keeping well and getting on nicely; hope you are keeping fit too. Our Colonel (Lieutenant Colonel H.J. Grisewood) has left us. He was very much upset at going and so were all the men. Everybody was sorry when he went as he was respected by all. I am sending you his last message to the men.

“In relinquishing the command I have been so proud to hold during the past fourteen months. I wish to record my gratitude to each and every man in the battalion for the loyal co-operation they have given me in the great work we undertook together and so to express my appreciation of all the assistance each has rendered. The battalion has earned a great name and a splendid reputation and I know they will add to a record of glory and bravery worthy of the regiment to which we belong. The memory of the two years we spent together will always be with me, and to everyone in the battalion I wish God’s speed and good fortune.””

9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.

The call to arms in 1914 given by Lord Kitchener was answered by the men of Sussex. In Chichester in September of that year the 9th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was formed.

The newly recruited battalion went into camp on the South Downs around Brighton. It became part of the 73rd Brigade of 24th Division.

(The British 24th Division was a New Army division that was sent to France between August and September, 1915. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. From its arrival in France to May 1917, it was commanded by Major-General John Capper.

17th Brigade (from October 11, 1915)

1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
3rd Battalion, the Rifle Brigade
12th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (from 73rd Bde. disbanded February 1918)
8th Battalion, The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment (from 72nd Bde. February 1918)
8th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment (from 72nd Bde. disbanded February 1918)
1/2nd (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (until February 1916)
The brigade joined the division from the 6th Division in October 1915, swapping with the 71st Brigade.

71st Brigade (until October 11, 1915)

9th Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment
9th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment
8th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment
11th Battalion, The Essex Regiment
The brigade moved to the 6th Division in October 1915, swapping with the 17th brigade.

72nd Brigade

8th Battalion, The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment (to 17th Bde. February 1918) 8th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent) Regiment (to 17th Bde. October 1915)
9th Battalion, The East Surrey Regiment
8th Battalion, The Royal West Kent Regiment
1st Battalion, The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) (from October 1915)

73rd Brigade

12th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (to 17th Bde. October 1915)
9th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment
7th Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment
13th Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment
2nd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) (from 17th Bde. October 1915 until February 1918)).

The 9th Battalion landed in France, at Boulogne, on 31st August 1915. Just a few weeks later on September 25th the battalion tasted it first action, as it went into the hell that was the Battle of Loos, it suffered heavy losses.

In 1916 it was at Hooge (14th February), Wulverghem (30th April). During the battle of the Somme it fought at the Battle for Delville Wood (11th -22nd, 31st August – 2nd September) and the Ballle for Guillemont (3rd – 5th September).

1917 saw the battalion take part in the attack on Bois en Hache at the Vimy Ridge (9th -14th April), the balle for Messines Ridge (7th – 14th June) and in the Third battle of Ypres, Pliken Ridge (31st july – 13th September) and Langemarck (16th – 18th August).

1918 saw the 9th battalion take part in the defence of the Somme from 21st – 27th March and the Battle for Avre on 4th April. October 8th – 12th they were at the Battles of Cambrai and Selle. Finnally on 4th November the Battle of the Sambre and the Passage of the Grande Honnell on 5th – 7th November.

For more information

Royal Sussex Regiment - 9th Battalion.

The Long, Long Trail - 24th Division.

5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.

The 5th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (Cinque Ports) was formed on 1st April 1908 as part of the newly constituted Territorial Force.

The new force of volunteers was organized as follows:

A - Company at Hastings (depots at Eastbourne and Hailsham)
B - Company at Battle (depotts at Dallington, Sedlescombe, Staplecross, Robertsbridge and Bexhill)
C - Company at Wadhurst (depots at Burwash, Flimwell, Hurst Green, Ticehurst and Frant)
D - Company at Lewes (depots at Glynde and Stanmer)
E - Company at Rye (depots at Icklesham, Winchelsea, Peasmarch and Northiam)
F - Company at Uckfield (depots at East Hoathly, Hadlow Down, Nutley, Buxted, Newick and Heathfield)
G - Company at Crowborough (depots at Blackham, Hartfield, Groombridge, Mayfield and Rotherfield)
H - Company at Ore (depot at Westfield)

In 1914 the 1/5th were also re-organized into four companies as follows:

A - (Hastings) & E (Rye) became A Company
B - (Battle) & F (Uckfield) became B Company
C - (Ticehurst) & D (Lewes) became C Company
G - (Crowborough) & H (Ore) became D Company

The original battalion was thereafter known as the 1/5th, with two reserve units formed later - the 2/5th and 3/5th. These supplied drafts to the 1/5th Bn in France, and later personnel to several battalions of the regiment.

It first posting came in early 1915 when it was called for duty at the Tower of London. Around this time several composite battalions of the Cinque Ports were formed.

On 18th February 1915 the battalion crossed to France on SS 'Pancras' and landed at Boulogne. Their first action in 1915 as part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division was at the Battle of Aubers Ridge on May 9th. The 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was also serving in the 2nd Brigade and they fought side by side.

On the 20th August 1915 it was transferred and became the Pioneer Battalion of the 48th (South Midland) Division. The New ‘Sussex Pioneer’ Battalion joined its new division on the Somme at Heruterne.

(The British 48th (South Midland) Division was a Territorial Force division. Originally called the 'South Midland Division', it was redesignated as the 48th Division in 1915.

143rd Brigade (Warwickshire)

1/5th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
1/6th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
1/7th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
1/8th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment (until September 1918)

144th Brigade (Gloucester and Worcester)

1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
1/6th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
1/7th Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment
1/8th Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment (until September 1918)

145th Brigade (South Midland)

1/5th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment (until September 1918)
1/4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
1/4th Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment)

Pioneers

1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment)

(Pioneer battalions : - Although they had existed in the Indian Army before 1914, pioneer battalions were essentially an innovation of the British Army during the First World War. During the war there was a much heavier reliance on field work and roads and railways needed to be maintained. Engineers alone could not meet the heavy demand, while rifle men were always needed at the front. Therefore, pioneer battalions were raised to meet the needs of both and trained to support engineers and infantry.)

The 48th Division fought on the Somme at the Battle of Bazentin Ridge (15th-17th July), the Capture of Ovillers (17th July), next to the 1st Australian Division at the Battle of Poziers Ridge (23rd – 27th July), The Battle od Ancre Heights (3rd – 11th November) and Battle of Ancre (13th – 18th November).

In 1917 the Pioneers were fighting at the Hindenburg Line (14th – 5th April), Peronne (18th March) and at the Third Battle of Ypres: Langemarck (16th -18th August), Polygon Wood (28th September – 3rd October), Broodseinde (4th October) and Poelcapelle (9th October).

In November 1917 the battalion went with the division to Italy, and in November 1918 was in Austria, east of Trent. It returned to England in 1919.

For more information:

Royal Sussex Regiment - 5th Battalion.

Regiments.org - 5th Battalion.

The Long, Long Trail - 48th Division.

Pioneer Battalions - The Long, long Trail.

Australian Pioneer Battalions.

Etaples Cemetery, France.

Etaples cemetery contains 10,773 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915. 35 of these burials are unidentified.

After the war, a number of graves were brought into the cemetery from other French burial grounds. Of the 119 Second World War burials, 38 are unidentified. Etaples Military Cemetery also contains 658 German burials and a few war graves of other nationalities.

Etaples is a town about 27 kilometres south of Boulogne. The Military Cemetery is to the north of the town, on the west side of the road to Boulogne.

During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway from both the northern or the southern battlefields.

In 1917, 100,000 troops were camped among the sand dunes and the hospitals, which included eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick.

In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals and the Q.M.A.A.C. convalescent depot remained.

Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, Étaples Military Cemetery is the largest CWGC cemetery in France, and contains the remains of soldiers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Germany. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has only published the number of Commonwealth and German dead buried in Étaples, although its records for the cemetery note that it contains 'a few war graves of other nationalities'.

"In Etaples the hilltops which mark out the horizon to the south have a magnificent and calm nature. A few clouds slowly came to rest there. It was a grand and wonderful sight."

Victor Hugo

Private Daniel Leonard Beames, 8th Battalion A.I.F.

Private Daniel Leonard Beames, 5038, 8th Battalion A.I.F.

He was born in Portland, Victoria the Son of Daniel and Rebecca Beames, of Hurd St., Portland, Victoria, Australia

He was 5’ 9” tall, weighed 143 lbs, had brown eyes and dark brown hair.

He served in the Australian Naval reserve for 3 years.

31st January 1916 he enlisted at Portland, Victoria.

His job at enlisted was a labourer.

4th February 1916 he joined 14th Depot Battalion at Ballarat.
22nd March 1916 he transferred to Broadmeadows and was allocated to the 16th reinforcements of the 8th Battalion.
1st April 1916 he embarked on “Suffolk”.
14th May 1916 he disembarked at the Suez.
28th May 1916 he embarked on the “Tunisian” for France.
4th June 1916 he disembarked at Marseilles.
7th June 1916 he arrived for training at Etaples.
29th July 1916 he joined the 8th Battalion.
18th August 1916 he was wounded in action.
20th August 1916 in No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station.
21st August arrived at 22 General Hospital at Estaples with a gun shot wound in the back.
4th September 1916 joins the training at Etaples
4th October 1916 he re-joins the 8th Battalion.
9th November 1916 sent sick to hospital.
12th November 1916 admitted to 11 Sty Hospital at Rouen with Trench Fever.
14th November 1916 sent to England on the “St. George.”
17th November 1916 admitted to 1st London General Hospital for observation.
25th January 1917 he is discharged from hospital, given furlough.
10th February 1917 he reports to Perham Downs (1st Command Depot).
15th March 1917 he goes back to France via Folkestone.
16th March 1917 he arrives at the training depot at Etaples.
10th April 1917 he re-joins the 8th Battalion.

4th October 1917 He was killed in Action aged 32.


He is buried in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, Belgium.

Source : National Archives of Australia

Private Alexander Munro, 8th Battalion A I F.

Private Alexander Munro, 4342, 8th Battalion A I F.

He was the son of Andrew and Janet Munro, of Boyco, Victoria, Australia.

A native of Nhill, Victoria.

He was 5’7” tall, weighed 150 lbs, had blue eyes and sandy hair.

His occupation at enlistment was a Farmer.

Enlisted at 26th July 1915, Nhill, Victoria.

23rd November 1915 he was allocated to the 13th Reinforcements of the 8th Battalion at Broadmeadows.
29th December 1915 he embarked at Melbourne on the “Demosthenes” for Egypt.
3rd February 1916 admitted to hospital with measles.
19th February 1916 he was discharged from hospital.
29th March 1916 he departed from Alexandria on the “Transylvania” for France.
4th April 1916 arrived in Marseilles.
7th May 1916 he was admitted to hospital with mumps.
31st May 1915 rejoined Base Depot.
29th July 1916 joins the 8th Battalion.

18th August 1916, he was killed in action aged 22.

He is buried in Pozieres British Cemetery Ovillers-La-Boisselle

Source : National Archives of Australia

The Effect of Infation on a Weekly Budget after the First Year of the War.

This is an interesting article from "The Great War a History" published “The Gresham Publishing Company” in 1916, which talks about the inflation rises in the first year of the war.

It is interesting how the writers thought that the poorer working-classes felt the effects of inflation less because they were used to lower quality and quanity in purchases!

The biggest inflation rise on a weekly item was fish which nearly had a 50% increase.

It was estimated that most families in 1915 spent approx £2 a week on their: food, clothing and utilities, which was about 75% of their total income.

"The Board of Trade for instance, called together an ad­visory committee of persons who influenced the wholesale prices of groceries. The committee met once a fortnight to recommend the prices to be adopted by the retailers, and the Board of Trade saw to it that these prices were fair and reasonable. Prices varied, of course, in different parts of the kingdom, but the follow­ing was a London housewife's weekly budget for July, 1915, which, without attempting completeness, may be ac­cepted as fairly representative of the increased cost of living among' the middle classes since the beginning of the war. It was the weekly budget of a middle-class family of' five people, including one small child, and the husband a professional man, whose income had, if anything decreased as a result of the war.

The cost, like that of the war itself, rose as the months slipped by, and the National Budget of September, 1915, still further increased the impost on sugar and tea, and raised the income tax all round. That, however, lies outside the scope of the present survey, which ends roughly with the first twelve months of the war. People learned in the hard school of experi­ence to practice economy by a slight lowering of the standard of living. When new-laid eggs, for example, rose to 3 ½ d. each most people were content to go without, and grumble less at the monotony of the breakfast rasher.

London's food prices were no worse than those in many other parts of the country. They were better, indeed, than some, though there were variations in different items everywhere.

In Manchester it was estimated that by the end of the first year of war the cost of living had risen by some 35 per cent. For many of the poorer classes this inevitably meant a reduction both in the quality and the quantity of the food consumed, but the working-classes as a whole probably felt the increased cost of living less than most people.

Wages rose proportionately as labour grew scarcer. Men and women worked day and night in countless numbers in the manufacture of war supplies of every description, earning more money by overtime and largely increased personal effort, as well as by some general rise in the rate of wages, than they had ever earned before. "

The Cost of Hutting in the First Two Years.

This report in the Eastbourne Gazette on 23rd August 1916, gives a real feel to the enormous cost Britain had to face in just suppling huts for the war effort:

It came a shock to me as i read it, imagine how it felt back in 1916!


"Cost of Army Hutting

£24,500,000 in Two Years.

The return showing the approximate cost of the hutting provided, or being provided for the accommodation of troops (including hospital patients) and horses in the United Kingdom, in the years 1914 to 1916, was issued on Friday as a Parliamentary paper. The total outlay was £24,500,000 and the following are details of the services carried out by agents of the War Department:


Sir John Jackson Ltd - Expenditure £3,624,300, Establishment Charges £51,000, Commission £150,700.

Merricks, Crane & CO. - Expenditure £646,600, Establishment Charges £10,300, Commission £25,100.

Perry & Co (Bow) Ltd. - Expenditure £1,416,400, Establishment Charges £25,800, Commission £19,800.

Mr.William Willett- Expenditure £152,700, Establishment Charges £2,700, Commission £5,600.

Mr. Roland Burke - Expenditure £44,700, Establishment Charges £0, Commission £300.

Total - Expenditure £11,474,600, Establishment Charges £183,500, Commission £402,900.

The first seven agents receive for part of their work a percentage in respect of establishment charges only, at rates varying from 1 ½ to 2 ½ percent. For the rest of their work they receive 1 ½ percent to cover establishment charges and 5 percent commission. The next five agents receive for all their work 1 ½ percent for establishment costs and 4 percent for commission. Mr. Roland Burke received only a lump payment of £250 with £50 for his staff. The percentages are not leviable on the value of certain materials supplied by the War Office."

New Year's Day 1915 - In Furnes, Belgium.

Sarah Macnaughtan had a very different New Year's Day 1915 to anything she could have imagined before the war.

This extract from her amazing story ‘MY WAR EXPERIENCES INTWO CONTINENTS’ .

"31 December, 1914.—The last day of this bad old year. I feel quite thankful for the summer I had at the Grange. It has been something to look back upon all the time I have been here; the pergolas of pink roses, the sleepy fields, the dear people who used to come and stay with me, and all the fun and pleasure of it, help one a good deal now.

Yesterday was a fine day in the middle of weeks of rain. When I came down to breakfast in the Joos' little kitchen I remarked, of course, on the beautyof the weather. "What a day for Taubes!" said Monsieur Max, looking up at the clear blue sky. Before I had left home there was a shell in a street close by, and one heard that already these horrible birds of prey had been at work, and had thrown two bombs, which destroyed two houses in the Rue des Trèfles. The pigeons that circle round the old buildings in Furnes always seem to see the Taubes first, as if they knew by sight their hateful brothers. They flutter disturbed from roof and turret, and then, with a flash of white wings, they fly far away. I often wish I had wings when I see them.

I went to the station, and then to the hospital for slippers for some wounded men. Five aeroplanes were overhead—Allies' and German—and there was a good deal of firing. I was struck by the fact that the night before I had seen exactly this scene in a dream. Second sight always gives me much to think about. The inevitableness of things seems much accentuated by it. In my dream I stood by the other people in the yard looking at the war in the air, and watching the circling aeroplanes and the bursts of smoke.

At the station there was a nasty feeling that something was going to happen. The Taubes wheeled about and hovered in the blue. I went to the hospital for lunch, and afterwards I asked Mr. Bevan to come to the station to look at some wounded whose dressings had not been touched for too long. He said he would come in half an hour, so I said I wouldn't wait, as he knew exactly where to find the men, and I came back to the Villa for my rest. As I walked home I heard that the station had been shelled, and I met one of the Belgian Sisters and told her not to go on duty till after dark, but I had no idea till evening came of what had happened. Ten shells burst in or round the station. Men, women, and children were killed. They tell me that limbs were flying, and a French chauffeur, who came on here, picked up a man's leg in the street. Mr. Bevan sent up word to say none of us was to go to the station for the present.

At Dunkirk seven Taubes flew overhead and dropped bombs, killing twenty-eight people. At Pervyse shells are coming in every day. I can't help wondering when we shall clear out of this. If the bridges are destroyed it will be difficult to get away. The weather has turned very wet again this evening. We have only had two or three fine days in as many months. The wind howls day and night, and the place is so well known for it that "vent de Furnes" is a byword. No doubt the floods protect us, so one mustn't grumble at a sore throat.

1 January, 1915—The station was shelled again to-day. Three houses were destroyed, and there was one person killed and a good many more were wounded. A rumour got about that the Germans had promised 500 shells in Furnes on New Year's Day.

In the evening I went down to the station, and I was evidently not expected. Not a thing was ready for the wounded. The man in charge had let all three fires out, and he and about seven soldiers (mostly drunk) were making merry in the kitchen. None of them would budge, and I was glad I had young Mr. Findlay with me, as he was in uniform, and helped to get things straight. But these French seem to have very little discipline, and even when the military doctors came in the men did nothing but argue with them. It was amazing to hear them. One night a soldier, who is always drunk, was lying on a brancard in the doctor's own room, and no one seemed to mind.

3 January, Sunday.—I have had my usual rest and hot bath. I find I never want a holiday if I may have my Sundays. I spent a lazy afternoon in Miss Scott's room, she being ill, then went to Mr. Streatfield's service, dinner, and the station. A new officer was on duty there, and was introduced to the kitchen. He said, "Les anglais, of course. No one else ever does anything for anybody."

I believe this is very nearly the case. God knows, we are full of faults, but the superiority of the British race to any other that I know is a matter of deep conviction with me, and it is founded, I think, on wide experience.

6 January.—I went to Adinkerke two days ago to establish a soup-kitchen there, as they say that Furnes station is too dangerous. We have been given a nice little waiting-room and a stove. We heard to-day that the station-master at Furnes has been signaling to the enemy, so that is why we have been shelled so punctually. His daughter is engaged to a German. Two of our hospital people noticed that before each bombardment a blue light appeared to flash on the sky. They reported the matter, with the result that the signals were discovered.

There has been a lot of shelling again to-day, and several houses are destroyed. A child of two years is in our hospital with one leg blown off and the other broken. One only hears people spoken of as, "the man with the abdominal trouble," or "the one shot through the lungs."
Children know the different aeroplanes by sight, and one little girl, when I ask her for news, gives me a list of the "obus" that have arrived, and which have "s'éclaté," and which have not. One can see that she despises those which "ne s'éclatent pas." One says "Bon soir, pas des obus," as in English one says, "Good-night, sleep well."