Northern Echo Durham Remembers Wrap

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE EDITION – DLI MEMORIAL SUPPLEMENT INSIDE
The Northern Echo
75p
THE GREAT DAILY OF THE NORTH
FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016
In memory of the members of the
18th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry
– known as the “Durham Pals” – who gave
their lives on July 1, 1916, 100 years ago today
Acting Lance-Corporal John Robert
Robert Adamson,
Adamson, of
ofSunderlandF.
Sunderland. Lance-Corporal
Lance-Corporal Th
Thomas
omas Baggott, 38, of
Sunderland. Private Thomas Barker, of Whitby. Private Arthur Bell, of Sunderland. Private James Bennett, 25, of South Shields. Private Thomas Berry, of West Hartlepool. Private Arthur Birks, of Stranton,
Hartlepool. Private Harry Birks, 19, of Stranton, Hartlepool. Private Percy Borrett, 18, of Seaton Carew.
Private James Boyd, of West Hartlepool. Private John Broadley, of Spennymoor. Private Edward Brown,
of Sunderland. Private Harry Brown, of Staindrop. Lance-Sergeant John Brydon, 24, of Sunderland.
Sergeant Thomas Buckle, 23, of Bishop Auckland. Private George Burlinson, 24, of Roker, Sunderland.
Lance-Sergeant John Carr, 23, of Wearhead. Private Edward Carter, 21, of Sunderland. Lance-Corporal
Sam Clarke, of West Hartlepool. Private Charles Norman Cleminson, 26, of Darlington. Private James
Coatham, of Durham City. Sergeant Richard Robson Corker, of Quebec, near Durham City. Private Arthur Cowan, of Sunderland. Private Arthur Croser, of Ferryhill. Private Charles Davies, 22, of Seaton
Carew. Private Arthur Dawson, of Richmond. Private Fred Dickens, 20, of Sunderland. Sergeant John
Duke, 24, of Wearhead. Private John Errington, of Fencehouses. Private Arthur Galland, of York. Private Tom Gardner, of Sunderland. Lance-Corporal Robert Gilbert, 18, of Linthorpe, Middlesbrough.
Private Edward Grieves, of York. Sergeant John Hall, 29, of Hartlepool. Private Thomas Harrison, of
Ryhope, Sunderland. Lance-Corporal William Hatton, 22, of Stockton. Private Wilf Hornsey, of Darlington. Private Arthur Hoy, of east Hartlepool. Private John Hutchinson, 26, of Tow Law. Private Thomas Lucas, of Sunderland. Private John Milburn, 35, of Whorlton, Barnard Castle. Private Robert Miller, of West Hartlepool. Private Henry Monks, 34, of Ferryhill. Private Herbert Needham, 17, Stranton,
Hartlepool. Private Harry Newby, 21, of Hartlepool. Private Nicholas Oldham, of Hetton-le-Hole. Private Richard Pickering, of West Hartlepool. Private William Pike, of West Hartlepool. Private Harry
Powell, of Knaresborough. Private John Reinecker, of West Hartlepool. Corporal John Robinson, 22,
of West Hartlepool. Private John Robson, of Sunderland. Sergeant Robert Robson, 25, of West Hartlepool. Private John Rowlands, of South Bank, Middlesbrough. Private William Rushton, of Oldham.
Lance-Sergeant Henry Scott, 31, of Hartlepool. Private John Scott, of Edmondsley. Lance-Corporal
Harry Shaw, 22, of Pallion, Sunderland. Private William Smurthwaite, of Bearpark, near Durham City.
Private Allan Stewart, of West Hartlepool. Lance-Corporal Robert Taylerson, 22, of West Hartlepool.
Lance-Corporal Harry Thompson, of Middlesbrough. Private Albert Thornton, 24, of West Hartlepool.
Private Charles Thornton, 21, of Skelton. Lance-Corporal Les Turner, of Seaham Harbour. Lance-Corporal Arthur Vickers, of Sadberge. Private Herbert Walker, of York. Private William Walker, of Ryhope,
Sunderland. Private Alf Ward, of West Hartlepool. Private Herbert Weighell, of Sunderland. Private
Thomas Williams, of Chilton. Private Robert Willson, 28, of West Hartlepool. Private William Wilson,
of Sheffield. Lance-Sergeant William Wilson, 23, of Sunderland. Corporal Andrew Wood, of Sunderland.
In association with
Trustees of
the DLI
Gezaincourt 1916:
Gallant 18th Durham
Light Infantry
A poem written by Private John Scott,
left, of the Durham Pals, shortly after he had
survived the horror of July 1, 1916
Part One
’Twas easy enough at Gezaincourt (1) – thirty kilometres from the line –
To bray the enemy from the Somme and drive him back to the Rhine.
For there with the line of our advance mapped out on the level ground,
Day after day, “D” Company was reg’larly mucked around
“Over there’s supposed to be Gommecourt (them trees with the feathery tops).
Yonder’s Serre Wood, and over here our objective – Pendant Copse!” (2)
And every day we signallers on Pendant Copse would stand,
Signalling back to GHQ “Objectives gained as planned!”
Then a night or two before the attack (in Bus Woods then we stayed)
Some of us met behind our shack and under the trees we prayed!
Back home they said ‘twas a righteous cause! That King and Country claimed;
And we, who took it seriously, were scarcely to be blamed.
But “D” Company knew they had something on – them and 16th West Yorks –
When the big push started on the Somme to give old Fritz (3) the works.
Aye, every night, and all night long, while the regiment lay at Courcelles (4),
Lorries in convoy came rolling through bringing up loads of shells
Through that dark village street with clanking of chains over the bumpy ground
Where in billets we’re snatching uneasy sleep, with the rats a-scuttling around!
Don’t ask me what we prayed about; since then I’ve often prayed;
“No, not for safety Lord, but help me not to be afraid!”
So we take the road for Colincamps one night as the sun goes down.
Scouting “Taubes” (5) fly overhead – the warning whistle’s blown!
Hedges afford scant cover, where we crouch with anxious eye,
Convinced that not a move escapes that watcher in the sky!
Darkness! From earth and sandbags comes the now familiar stench,
As we grope and stumble down the long communication trench.
Then it’s “Pass the word to mind the wire!” “Loose board here!” “Lift your feet!”
And it’s “Watch your step!” (on them coggly stones going down Sackville Street) (6)
Now scrambling over awkward spots where the trench has been smashed in.
With a shudder, at what might come to ‘us’ before the day begin.
FOOTNOTES
Members of the 6th Battalion of the DLI in a trench
at Potijze, Belgium, on May 24, 1915.
Picture courtesy of Durham County Record Office
The 18th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry
was known as the “Durham Pals”. These were
volunteers who responded to Lord Kitchener’s
“your country needs you” appeal in the earliest
days of the war in 1914. Groups of friends, or pals,
were urged to gang together to join up – D
company was largely made up of pals from Hartlepool. These included the poet, Private John Scott,
who was born in Hartlepool in 1893. He was a
printer, both before and after the war, and wrote
several poems about his wartime experiences. It is
believed he composed this poem while still a
serving soldier. In peacetime, he returned to
Central Estate, Hartlepool, and worked on the
Headland. He died in 1982.
Our thanks to his grandson, Graham Broughton,
who now lives in West Lothian, for his help.
(1) On June 20, 1916, “D” company was dropped
back from the frontline trenches of northern
France to the small town of Gezaincourt, about
10km north of Amiens. Here they joined up
with the 16th West Yorkshire Regiment to
whom they were to be attached for the July 1
attack. As they were to be lead attackers, they
were given special training.
(2) The Pals’ target on July 1 was to be Pendant
Copse, part of Serre Wood – Serre and
Gommecourt were frontline villages. Once
the Pals reached the copse, they were to signal
their news back to headquarters.
Part Two
Old Fritz must have suspicions, but as yet he gives no sign,
All’s quiet as we take up our positions in the line.
But swift fly the hours of darkness on that too brief summer night,
Till the roar of that pitiless cannonade that heralds dawn’s first light.
Dawn! While the screaming shells their relentless way pursue
Dawn! With the blessed larks singing in heaven’s blue
Dawn! With the startled enemy returning fire for fire!
Dawn! With the heavies streaming in to smash the enemies wire
Shell after shell comes crashing in, and even we feel the shock
Of the impact of that fierce barrage, making the very earth rock!
Can we stick it? Time drags slower now while we wait for Zero Hour;
With the sound of that furious cannonade ever increasing in power!
With streams of bullets raking the trench, it’s time to chance an eye
In the midst of Hell let loose, to spot where Pendant Copse does lie.
Comes another whine – and another burst – and – thank God – it’s another miss!
But we’re longing for a Blighty just to get us out of this!!! (7)
All Honour to the gallant lads who nobly played their part;
Who flinched not from the task assigned, though doomed – doomed from the start
The great attack, long heralded, was made, but made in vain;
And many a brave “D” Company lad was numbered with the slain.
And we, who survived that ordeal, have each our memories –
And I, too, have my memories – none more vivid than these –
Back from the hail of machine guns and the shrapnel bursting high,
Comes Ronnie Priestley, hobbling in, with a bullet through his thigh
Grimly joking in spite of his wound, as into the trench he drops;
“There’ll be no need for signallers today on Pendant Copse,
‘Tis plain the attack has failed, you chaps had best stay put”, he said
“I saw young Birks go down – and many more lie yonder dead. (8)
(3) Fritz was short for Friedrich and so was the
British Tommies (short for Thomas) nickname
for their enemy soldiers.
(4) Courcelles, a village, was a couple of kilometres
west of Gommecourt on the frontline, and very
close to Colincamps. At Courcelles, the rest of
the Durham Pals were stationed ahead of July
1, with the bombers practising their part in the
push.
(5) The Taube was the Germans’ first military
monoplane – here it is being used for
reconnaissance purposes.
(6) Trenches were given familiar names – like
London’s Piccadilly or Dublin’s Sackville Street
– to help soldiers find their way around.
(7) A “Blighty” was a wound that was serious
enough to force a soldier to be returned to
Blighty – England – but not bad enough to
endanger his life in the long term. To sustain
a Blighty was a piece of good fortune as it got
you away from the killing fields, as Joe
Anderson discovers in the next verse.
(8) The 18th DLI lost two men called Birks on July
1 – Lance-Corporal Arthur Birks, 20, and Pte
Harold Birks, 21. Both came from Stranton in
Hartlepool and so are believed to be cousins.
(9) Field cards were postcards with printed
phrases on them. A soldier could quickly
delete the inappropriate phrases and send a
message home that would not fall foul of the
censor.
The 1st Lancashire Fusiliers fixing bayonets
before going over the top on July 1, 1916, less
than a mile from the Durham Pals
And when that shell dropped in our trench, there, not two yards away,
A startled face, eyes fixed on mine! (It seems like yesterday)
A startled face, o’er which a sudden crimson hue o’erspread;
Next – deathly pale, as the lifeblood drained and he slumped on
the fire step – dead.
Later I saw Joe Anderson – Joe with his arm in a sling –
Clumping along the trench-boards, as happy as a King.
Joe with a nice little Blighty – going out of the line
Nor would I be the only one wishing such luck were mine!
Then down at Euston Dump I met Ron Priestley once again.
Lying on a stretcher – in his eyes a look of pain.
Grimly asking – “Are we winning?” as I helped him to a smoke,
And – if I got a chance to “Get a field card to his folks!” (9)
That night, when darkness fell, I sat and dozed on some dugout stairs,
Heedless of strafing overhead, whether ‘twas ours or theirs.
Eighteen-pounders banging away in an all-night serenade
While down there in the dugout was a dying soldier laid!
Lulled by the laboured breathing of our comrade dying there,
Already gone beyond recall – beyond all pain – all care.
Growing fainter and fainter as his life ebbed swift away,
I fell asleep on those dugout steps – Yes! Slept till break of day.
Dawn! What a glorious morning! All quiet again, thank God!
Save for that sniper’s bullet that spitefully bites the sod!
And a far, faint cry from the battlefield, where still some wounded lie
And again the call comes “Carry on! Gallant 18th DLI!”
A Date with Destiny:
How the Durham Pals found themselves
on the frontline on July 1, 1916
get their first sight of the German-held
village of Serre.
May 19
Withdrawn to Colincamps, but this
village is, like the frontline, under
constant attack – D Company’s
field cooker takes a direct hit and is
destroyed.
May 23
Lance-Corporal Frank Lockey, 34, a
grocer’s son from Durham City who
had been educated at Barnard Castle
School, is killed by a sniper while
repairing barbed wire on the frontline.
May 24
They are moved further back to
Warnimont Wood, where they train
for the Big Push, using model enemy
trenches. It is now clear that D
Company, comprising mainly
Hartlepool men, is to lead the attack.
June 4
1914
As soon as the war broke out on August
4, 1914, volunteers had come forward
to join the Durham Pals – the 18th
Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry.
They were immediately caught up in
the bombardment of Hartlepool on
December 16.
1915
After training at Ripon and Salisbury
Plain, the Pals were sent to Egypt for
desert training, arriving in Alexandria
on December 19.
Arrive Marseilles. D Company, the
advance party, are the first off at
6.30pm. All get on board a cattle train,
with 30 men plus kit crammed in each
cattle truck, which at midnight begins
to head north. It travels so slowly that
two men who fell off are able to jog
ahead to the next station and reboard
the train.
March 14
Arrive Pont Remy – a town on the River
Somme – at 3am. Snow is falling. They
walk for seven hours to Citerne where
they are billeted in farm buildings.
After several days marching, the
battalion arrives at Beaussart, near the
frontline. Almost immediately it suffers
its first casualty when shrapnel from
a bomb dropped by a German plane
kills Pte Arthur Armstrong, 26, of High
Grey Street, Crook.
March 5
After months in the desert, the Pals
June 20
March 11
March 29
1916
The Pals move up to Courcelles au Bois,
just behind the frontline. Their duties
involve venturing into no man’s land to
check German defences.
board HMT Ivernia at Port Said. They
believe they are heading for either
Mesopotamia or Salonika.
March 30
Three officers and 197 NCOs of D
Company leave to join the Bradford
Pals in the 16th West Yorkshire
Regiment, also near Courcelles, to
receive special training for the assault.
March 31
Cpl Harold Leake, 22, of York, is
killed by a sniper’s bullet – the first of
the battalion to die in the trenches.
April 3
At 8pm, the Pals are withdrawn and
stationed in Bus les Artois, where they
are employed in training and carrying
items to the frontline.
April 20
They return to the Auchonvillers frontline, only 200 yards from enemy trenches. Pte Levi Sutton of A Company,
whose wife and two children live in
Westmoreland Street, Darlington, is
killed by a trench mortar.
April 24
They are withdrawn to Colincamps and
then Bertrancourt, where they are able
to pay their respects at the grave of Pte
Armstrong, the battalion’s first casualty.
May 6
Back to Bus les Artois.
May 14
To the frontline, where they
June 30
8.45pm D Company moves forward
with the Bradford Pals to their frontline
trenches, near Serre.
10.15pm The 789 men who make up
the rest of the battalion move forward,
past Colincamps, which was on fire
from enemy shells.
July 1
4.50am The Durham pals reach
Maitland trench, ready for the attack. D
Company are dug in just in front.
7.30am Zero hour: D Company goes
over the top into the fire and heads for
its objective of Pendant Copse, near
Serre. The rest of the battalion follows
two hours later…
The Pals are in the frontline trenches,
facing the Germans at Auchonvillers –
nicknamed “ocean villas”.
Friday 1st July 2016
75p