Minden Day

Well chums three things to update you on, where I currently am and what has been happening recently, and the Minden Day celebrations.

At present myself and the battallion are in the front line trenches at Auchonvillers. We've been here sine the 19th of August. Quite a long stint this time but it hasn't been too bad. C Company were mightily shelled yesterday evening and had 1 man killed and 11 wounded. Other than that it has been fairly quiet. I've heard we are set to stay here for another few days yet. Crickey I thought, the army must be short of men if they are keeping us few in the fron line, we still aren't up to strength!

The last time I wrote  was the 14th of August, I seem to have got out of the habit of writing about our exploits each week. I must make an effort to rectify this.

During the period of the 14th to the 19th were were billeted at Forceville. We had quite a relaxing time interspersed with inspections, reorganisations and route marches. Then on the 18th we relieved the Kings Own and took over in the front lines once more. Since then we have been going about carrying repairs and renovation together with constructing new dug outs and trench work. We're quite a dab hand at it us old boys, the new chaps don't know their arse from their elbow, we are having to teach them everything.

There's been the occasional shelling but other than that we haven't been troubled by the Hun. I'll settle for this quiet life any day. The amount of muck and bullets I've been through is enough to last a lifetime.

Anyway chums onto more happier times; Minden Day.

For those of you not in the know, Minden Day is named after the Battle of Minden that took place on August the 1st 1759. It was fought between the armies France on one side and Britain, Hannover and Prussia on the other. it was part of the Seven Years War, a major conflict between Britain and France that took place on many different continents including Europe and the Americas.

It seems funny to think that the French were our enemies and the Hun were our allies, its the opposite way around in this flaming war!

The French had captured the fortified town of Minden and us the British together with the Hannoverians and Prussians marched forward to kick him out. There were about 9,000 British soldiers in the field and six regiments marched forwards to take on the French. The 20th of Foot, now the Lancashire Fusiliers, were one of them.

We, the British, were the front troops and main body to take on the French. We marched forward following a mistaken order and everyone thought the regiments would be annihlated by the French Cavalry but they were wrong. Three cavalry charges were repulsed and the lads marched on to victory. Over 7,000 French were killed. It was a major victory for us.

Whilst our brave boys were marching into battle they passed through German gardens full of roses which they picked and put on their tunics and hats. So every Minden Day, the 1st of August, we wear a rose on in our cap in honour of these men and celebrate this victory.

So chums on the 1st of August we duly carried out our celebration. This wasn't long after we had come out of the trenches after we had fought the battle of Pilkem and lost lots of our pals. We weren't really in the mood but to honour those brave chaps of years ago and those of recent times we mustered ourselves and put on a good show.

We were told that Major Blencowe was seriously considering toning down the celebrations and not wearing the roses so as not to upset the French but the tradition got the better of him and he passed the order to don the roses and wear them with pride.

The day commenced with a service in a woods, this was well within shelling distance of the Hun but he left us unmolested that day.We then had dinner. This was various meats, vegetables and then fruit. Major Bowes and our Doctor had travelled to Amiens the previous day to try and purchase as much as possible but there wasn't much to be had. Nevertheless we had a hearty feast. To wash our food down there was a barrel of beer per Company. Not a lot but better than nothing, it was all to be had.

At 4:00pm we retired to the woods again to a place where a clearing had been made. We were going to take part in some sports. The clearing was large enough to allow the game to take place and small enough to allow the spectators to be covered by the trees. This was most advantageous as it prevented the Huns aeroplanes from spotting us.

The main event was the Ramparts Race. This was about 1 mile in length, it was twice round the woods and then down the road in front of the spectators. Private Greenwood of D company won and Sergeant Baines and Lance-Corporal Masters came second and third. These were both of C company. There were two novel yacht races that gave us great amusement. We also had a Tug of War. This is always the most favoured event by the men and everyone cheered the teams most fervently. Of course my company won this. when it comes to pure strength you can't beat us.

I've copied the results of the Minden Day Sports Events below. As you can see D Company won the most honours and carried off the day.

Minden Day Sports Results 1915

Far from being the finish for the day there was the IV Division Band who had come over from Acheaux to entertain us. They put on a stirring rendition of all our pomp and circumstance tunes as well as some of our marching songs which we duly joined in with. Then to top it all there was a show by the world famous Follies. This was much appreciate by all and well applauded. we all showed our gratitude to these young ladies for entertaining us. They were a sight to behold.

We then celebrated the end of the day in traditional style by toasting our fallen pals and fellow soldiers. Its tradition that the youngest officer on Minden day has to eat his rose however on this Minden Day our officers decided they would all do this. Only Major Blencowe, Major Baines, Captain Salt and Lieutenant Best Dunkley were exempt. In honour and remembrance most of the men also ate their rose, yours truly was amongst them.

So we then retired to bed. Our stomachs were full, we'd had a joyous and raucous time at the sports and then some stirring tunes from the band. The Follies had made our hearts flutter and they were a sight to behold. We had toasted our fallen and fellow soldiers. The day was now complete. I fell into a deep sleep that night.

I have a copy of the Minden Day pamphlet. I'm going to keep at as a reminder of this day. If I get chance I'll copy some of the pages for you to see.

So chums even though it was a period of sorrow for the Battalion we were still able to put on a good show and for a time forget where we were or what we had gone through. It was a great morale booster and came at a time when we were at rock bottom.Since then we have all moved on and now we are back in the front line albeit in not so hot an area.

I'll write to you next week and if i get chance I'll send some copies from the Minden Day pamphlet.

All the best

Albert x

A Well Deserved Rest

Well chums I haven't put pen to paper for two weeks now. Myself and the Battalion have been at rest since the Pilkem Saga. Boy was that a rum old do and did we deserve a rest? You bet.

When I last wrote to you it was from our billets in Proven. I had just described the last couple of days of the battle at Pilkem and our leaving there on the 10th. Well folks since then we have been moving about a bit, from one set of billets to another. We've also been on light duties in reserve trenches, not surprising considering the considerable loss of men the battalion has suffered. I'll now bring you up to date on everything.

After the battle of Pilkem the roll call showed that we had suffered tremendous casualties. We went into this battle with 22 officers and 780 men. At the roll call there were 5 officers and 400 men. Of the missing men, 73 had been killed, 20 others died of their wounds, 13 men were unaccounted for and 274 were wounded. This was another complete devastation of the battalion and it came just two months after the Hun gas attack had all but wiped the battalion out. By my reckoning over the last three months there has been about 1,500 casualties. That's the best part of two Battalions lost. Bloody astounding. And bloody amazing that I'm still here!

The officers killed were as follows:

Captain Smyth

Lieutenant Simpson

Lieutenant Pickering

2nd Lieutenant Kelly

Lieutenant Breckell

2nd Lieutenant Breckell

2nd Lieutenant Stanwell

2nd Lieutenant Nairne (died of wounds)

2nd Lieutenant Charleston (died of wounds)

Officers wounded:

Lieutenant Colonel Griffin DSO

Captain Spooner DSO

Lieutenant Appleby

2 Lieutenant A S MacIver

2 Lieutenant C B Johnson

2 Lieutenant E E W Grainger

2 Lieutenant A S Wase-Rogers

2 Lieutenant Mason

The thing to note about all the deaths is the fact that most of the men were either blown to bits, buried by the earth thrown up by shells or left in the open because we couldnt retrieve them. During the height of the fighting there wasn't time to deal with the dead, only the wounded. Consequently later on in lulls of the battle some men who were seen to be killed earlier could no longer be found or their bodies be pieced together, only their deaths were recorded. It saddens me to think we had to leave our fellow soldiers on the battle field, but what could we do? Chaps such as Captain Smyth was seen to be killed but he was never recovered for burial. As far as I know his grave is in the front line trenches of Pilkem.

Captain Smyth

I've reckoned that 80% of the dead at Pilkem were never recovered. Their graves are that now hallowed ground. Hard fought for and hard won. I hope it was worth the price. I hope that it never has to be fought over again.

Well chums another interesting fact is that during the fighting we went through over 8,000 Mills Bombs. That's an astounding amount. I hardly doubt it because I was lobbing as many at Fritz as I could get hold of. It was the only way to stop him from overrunning us at times.

Well on the 10th we bade farewell to Pilkem and went to Proven where we stayed for several days. We must have put up a good show at Pilkem because on the 13th we were inspected by Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert C O Plumer, he's the Commander of the 2nd Army. He's as pretty high as you can go in the top brass ranks. Then to our amazement we were inspected by Field Marshall John French. Now there isn't any higher than that unless Kitchener turns up.

General Sir Herbert Plumer

Sir John French, Commander in Chief

I can tell you chums we were proud to bursting point with such high ranking officers coming to see us. We turned out in great style and were all spik and span, spit and polish. The brass marched down the line stopping to inspect men and ask polite questions. There was only 400 of us and we were still licking our wounds but we stood proud and tall to represent our fallen mates. This Pilkem action must have been a good news story for the generals and we were chuffed to feel the thanks being shown to us by all.

We stayed at Proven for 10 days having a good old rest. Other than the top brass inspections we were left to recuperate and please ourselves what we did. The weather was fine, it was warm and sunny. We took our time in anything we did, it was a time of leisure. We weren't in a hurry to do anything and we weren't in the mood either. Too many good blokes had been lost in the Pilkem battle. Captain Smyth was at the front from the start of the war. I knew him from the 3rd Battalion. He was now gone. It really hits you when some of the old timers go. I'm one of the few remaining. I'm not intending to go anywhere except home, alive and in one piece!

On the 21st of July we marched to Godewaersvelde where we boarded a troop train to Doullens. The train set off at 4:30pm and we arrived at 12:30am. We then marched to Authieule where we bivouaced for a few hours and then we marched on to billets at Forceville. This village seems to be in the middle of France but even so there are trenches here with the Hun not far away.

On the 23rd we were put to work on moving munitions from stores up to the trenches. Then on the 24th we had a visit from another top brass. General Charles Monro, the Commander of the 3rd Army, came and inspected us. By eck we've now had three commanders come and visit us, all we need now us Haig and Kithchener to pay a visit and then we'll have had the lot.

Sir Charles Monro

On the 25th and 26th we had general inspections and route marches. It seemed to me that the army was getting us back into shape to go about making war again. On well I suppose we can't sit on our bums for too long.

I shouldn't have spoken too soon should I, on the 27th we route marched to Mailly Maillet. Upon arriving yours truly and the machine gunners were sent into the reserve trenches at a place we nicknamed ocean villas, the French name is Auchenvillers. I though to myself, easing us back in are they?

On the 28th we had some bad news, Capt W Tyrrel RAMC was detached from the battalion and we had a new RAMC attached, Lieutenant J Roberts RAMC. I'll fondly remember Capt Tyrrell, he was a great bloke, I wish him all the best in wherever he is off to.

Captain W Tyrrell RAMC

On the 29th we received 170 new men and 7 Officers. Fresh blokes from Blighty. Then on the 31st we had another two officers and 95 men join us. Our ranks were filling up quickly once again.

We held Minden Day on the 1st of August, it was a fantastic day of fun and celebration. It was a much needed day of frivolity and high jinx, and a change from the mundane billet life or the life threatening stints in the trenches. I'll write about it in my next post. 

On the 2nd of August we were once more put into the front lines. We relieved the kings own in trenches just north of Auchenvillers. I was fortunate, my Company, B Company, was put into the reserve trenches.

Between the 3rd and 9th we were in the trenches engaged in general improvement work. We were improving the parapets and repairing and building wire entanglements. It was very quiet and there was little activity on both sides regarding shelling, sniping or bombing.

On the 10th we were relieved by the Kings Own and we marched to billets in Forceville again. That's were we are now. 

Since the 11th we have been reorganising, receiving instruction and carrying out route marches. I suppose it's all to lick the new boys into shape.

Well chums that brings you up to date. I'm safe and sound in billets some distance from the front and thats where I want to stay. I'll write to you about the Minden Day festivities next week unless I have some other pressing news to bring you. 

So once more its goodbye from me, 

Albert x