Personal Diary: September 7th 1916

Went round the trenches with Welch & Cookson, starting at 4.30am, the work the KOSBs did last night was rotten, their offiers are rather hopeless. A flight of about 17 of our aeroplanes passed over us at 9.30am heading for Germany, they got well peppered, but I did not see any hit. There have been one or two airfights above here lately, in every case the Bosch has bolted precipitately. The Bosch were firing big mortars away on our left at dusk.

Personal Diary: September 8th 1916

The SWB and KOSBs were relieved by the 86^th Bde after dark and went back into rest camp near Poperinghe.

Personal Diary: August 29th 1916

Went round the right subsector with Welch at 5.30am, found lots of gas cylinders not properly sandbagged in. The gas was to have been let off tonight accompanied by a bombardment but the wind changes so it was off. Rain started coming down in torrents about 3pm and flooded all the trenches. A gas alarm started some miles S of us and spread all along the line about 10.30pm, we managed to stop it going further. Have not heard whether any gas was really let off. Bayley dined & slept.

The Inniskillings and Borders relieved the KOSB & SWB respectively after dark & must have got nice and wet going up.

Personal Diary Entry: August 25th 1916

As the defences of Wieltje have got to be pushed on the Inniskillings were turned on tonight to dig a new trench to connect B.10a with Monmouth trench. Yesterday morning a German got into the front line trench held by the left coy KOSBs about 9am. The line is very thinly held owing to lack of men, and there are some holes in the breastwork where it has been blown down by shells. The man was removing his clothes and apparently intended to put on a sergts greatcoat which was lying near. He was flushed by a passing signaller who had no arms; the German escaped whilst the signaller went for assistance. One of our aeroplanes had to land behind the german lines in our front this afternoon.

Personal Diary Entry: August 20th 1916

Dined with Handress Lloyd at the Inniskilling hd qrs in Ypres prison. Gillan came too. A quiet day, hardly any shelling. A KOSB patrol brought in 2 dead Germans from in front of their wire.

The 4^th Divn and 4^th Canadian Divn are going to take over the Canadian Corps line to allow them to go south. This means that all our 3 divns will be in the line the whole time, and no one in Corps reserve.

Personal Diary Entry: August 18th 1916

The SWB and KOSB went up to Ypres preparatory to taking over the trenches tomorrow night. Dill came in to lunch. Rode in to Poperinghe with Cookson after tea.

War Diary Entry: August 7th 1916

Went around the right sub-sector with De Lisle starting at 5am. We crawled over the open to look at Mill Cot, Nickalls was with us. A big trench mortar is being dug in there. So as to give the whole show away he then insisted on the 3 of us sitting on the old windmill mound close by, with an open map between us for ten minutes, in full view of the whole German line. He was not very pleased with our trenches, but then went on to the 88^th, these appeared o annoy him more than ours, so he decided that we should be relieved tomorrow and the next day instead of the 88^th. 2 or 3 of the KOSBs were gassed during the night by gas shells whilst working on the Strand and Fleet St. Bayley stayed the night with us. Welch dined and we had some bridge. Dill looked in after tea.

War Diary Entry: August 6th 1916

The Borders relieved the SWB & the Inniskillings the KOSB in the firing line after dark. The Bosch was very quiet during the relief.

War Diary Entry: August 5th 1916

Went round the KOSB trenches with Welch at 5am. Bayley left a t3.45am. Mellor (O.C. group RA) came in in the morning. Ruthven and Abbot (corps staff) looked in about tea time. Percy called in for a few minutes at 6.30pm.

War Dairy Entry: August 1st 1916

The Brigade took over the trenches in the left sector tonight. The SWB took over the left half and the KOSBs the right half . The Borders came up to the canal bank and the Inniskillings into the prison. Relief completed by about 12.30am.

War Dairy Entry: July 31st 1916

Borrowed a car from the ASC and started off for LA Panne at 1130am with Gillon. We passed through Furnes, which has a very nice old market square and Hotel de ville. The NE end of the town has been shelled a bit but not much damaged. The Belgian army are all over this area, and are smarter than I expected. On arrival at La Panne we stopped at a house to ask the sentry the way to the British Mission (Military with Belgian Army). The house turned out to be King Albert’s, and he was there at the time. O’ Connor is with the mission and we intended to have lunch with him but Prince Algernon of Teck who is head of the mission met us at the door and asked us to lunch. O’Connor turned up later. We had a very good lunch, and borrowed their bathing kit afterwards and bathed. All along the cost there are wire entanglements along the sand and machine gun emplacements just behind, which form the defences. O’Connor showed us round the town. We started back about 3.30pm ,  we wanted to go through Dunkirk but were told we should be stopped without proper passes, so we went back through Furnes. Outside Furnes we were stopped by a sentry, and as we had not got a pass to travel in the Belgian area, he would not let us go through the town but made us take a detour round the E side. However we took a wrong turning and some found ourselves going through the square again.

The 88^th Brigade took over the right sector of the divn line last nigh.

The SWB and KOSB moved up into Ypres this evening , the SWB relieving a battn of the 71^st on the canal bank and the KOSB, a battn Ypres prison and surrounding cellars.

War Diary Entry: July 22nd 1916

The Borders & Inniskillings relieved the SWB & KOSB respectively in the trenches during the afternoon. When the relief was half through we received a message saying the whole divn was being relieved in the line tomorrow, but it was too late to stop the relief then. The 25^th Divn are taking our place. I went down to tea with the divn, and whet through our honours list, just going in, with De Lisle. Hear we are being moved to Ypres. When I got back to Englebelmer I found Armitage) Brigadier of 74^th Bde, relieving us) waiting there, he had just been round the trenches.

War Diary Entry: July 17th 1916

87^th Bde relieved 88^th Bde in left subsector. Hd Qrs in Englebelmer, this not so pleasant as the place is regularly shelled and the cellars are not shell-proof. All the buildings near our old deep dugout are knocked flat , and there is not room for everyone in the deep dugout, so we are now at the E end of the village. 

The KOSB took over the left half of the firing line, the SWB the right, the Borders a platoon each in Withington & Anley & rest of bde in huts in Mailly Wood. The 88^th Bde were glad to clear out for a rest. 

Englebelmer was shelled with 5.9” from 8.30pm – 9.15, at 1.5 mins interval, but all fell at far end (W) of town.

War Diary Entry: 8th July 1916

An absolutely peaceful day around our head quarters, there was only one short burst of shelling lasting 5 minutes at 5pm. It blew a bit of the railway line onto our dugout. They shelled Hamel steadily most of the day putting 3 shells into the roof of the KOSBs but beyond breaking a beam little damage was done.

The 86^th Brigade relieved us during the afternoon. They did not take over our head quarters but are wisely having theirs just behind Mesnil. The relief was finished about 8.30pm and the whole brigade came back into the huts in Acheux Wood except the MG company which remains behind at Englebelmer. The mess and my bedroom are in a cottage in the village. Brand has been applied for to go as GSO2 of the Gds Divn. Brand , Perse and I got back here about 10pm in a car, the road was not shelled at all the whole way.

War Diary Entry: July 4th 1916

Thiepval Wood again bombarded both morning and afternoon it must be getting a regular shambles. They put a lot of 5.9 shells Hamel during the day all round the KOSB & SWB hd qrs. An exceptionally heavy rain storm came on just after midday ,it kept on raining most of the afternoon. All the trenches were washed out and fell in in many places; in the low part of Hamel all the trenches cellars and dugouts were flooded. 

An order came from the Army (we are now in the reserve Army since 2 days) that the line had to be pushed out in front tonight, Fuller & Bayley came up about 6pm with 2 RE subalterns on their way up to mark it out, the 2 subalterns have a pleasant night in store for them. We received information during the afternoon that the 49^th Divn were going at 2am tomorrow morning to try and clear the germans out of the lengths of trench which the 49^th hold on the high ground, but which the Germans occupy down by the river end. They were also going for the Hill & Mound. After this rain the marsh will be absolutely impassable so they will not be able to reach them. We have offered to take on the Mill (a very small ruin in the marsh) instead of them, & are sending out half a dozen men to reconnoitre it tonight. 

A 5.9” shell landed full in our office at Englebelmer yesterday laying it level with the ground. All our people were out at the time.

War Diary Entry: July 2nd 1916

Get orders in the middle of last night that we (87^th) were to take over the 36^th Divn trenches between the 29^th Divn right & the R Ancre by noon today. The 108^th Bde were holding these trenches and had been badly knocked yesterday. No one knew the trenches and everything was a little upside down, but we managed to complete the taking over by about 1pm. The KOSB (337 strong) took over the right down by the river, the SWB (200) the centre, the Borders (280) the right , the Inniskillings(200) reserve in Hamel. The Germans are giving Thiepval wood (just the S side of the river) a bad time, but on our side it has been fairly quiet. We carried out 2 bombardments on their trenches today, which brought a certain amount of reply. 

The 48^th Divn were ordered to attack the trenches in front of us at daybreak tomorrow. They are at present somewhere just behind Mailly. All their COs were round this morning reconnoitring the trenches. There is very little room for them to get their men in preparatory to an attack although the trenches are now almost clear of killed and wounded. About 11pm, just as they were all marching up the order was cancelled. Some of their battns had reached our trenches by that time and had to return to Mailly. Both sides have been heavily bombarding the Thiepval Wood area all day. The 49^th Divn have relived the 36^th in this area are still in possession of some 300 yards of the German 1^st line system, the result is both sides are very frightened of being attacked there.

The Story of the 29th Division: Quote

'The Story of the 29th Division: A record of gallant deeds' 
Captain Stair Gillon

published by Thomas Nelson (First Edition published 1925)

p.81

'...the 87^th had no better permanent success. The RIF did succeed in penetrating the first line. Their steadiness in crossing NoMan’s Land was that of troops on parade. But though on the right the trenches were crossed by portable bridges, in the main the wire proved a complete obstacle. The same applies to the SWB. The effort of the first line of assault was in vain. The reserves meanwhile suffered from the enemy’s gunfire sans coup ferir, and it was a damaged mass of troops who at 7.35 clambered over the trenches of the KOSB and Borders. With the exception of a few of the leading sections of the latter, the second wave did not reach the first. The 87^th Brigade was practically knocked out…the 87^th Brigade had the heaviest loss – over 60% of its available strength…'

This is taken from one of CHTL's 2 copies of the First Edition of the Divisional History.

War Diary Entry: July 1st 1916

The bombardment began again early & became more intense. At 7.20am the mine under Hawthorn Redoubt went up. As this mine contained 20 tons of ammonal (4 times larger than any single mine we have put up during the war) everyone cleared out of our dugouts in that part of the line. It made quite a good show, masses of earth going up in the air. The crater was immediately rushed by a party of 86th brigade.



After the explosion our Brigade began to file out of the trenches and form up in no man's land. A certain amount of machine gun fire was at once opened on them. At 730am the barrage lifted and the whole line advanced on the german 1st line, while the reserve companies moved forward out of our trenches. Very heavy machine gun fire was immediately opened on them. It looked as though a number of our people (the SWB on the left & RIF on the right of the line in the front line) were pushing through their frontline. One party of RIF were seen to place their bridge over the German 1st line, look down into the trench and then pass on. About 10 minutes later the 2 reserve battns (Borders on the left and KOSBs on the right) moved out of our 2nd & 3rd lines and advanced across the open swept by machine gun fire. About 745am flares began to go up in the Station Road. As this was the signal that the leading troops had reached their objective, things looked quite satisfactory. It was then seen that a number of Germans were still in their front line showing themselves and shooting at the men lying out in no mans land. This looked as though we had passed over their 1st & 2nd line without leaving enough men to deal with the Bosch as he emerged from his deep dugout. After waiting some time to see if the leading battns would send back a number of men to mop these up, the Newfoundland & Essex Battns were ordered forward to clear the frontline and pass through the 87th Bde. During this period it was reported that parties of the 87th had been seen fighting down by Beaumont Hamel cemetery and the station buildings. The Newfoundland battn started across the opne and was mown down by MG fire. the Essex were somewhat later, and I believe only 2 companies advanced and they met the same fate. By now no mans land was a mass of killed and wounded, and the Germans were firing at them with guns, rifles and machine guns. They also shelled our frontline very heavily with 5.9" HE shells. This trench was already packed with killed and wounded. Orders were then received that a fresh bombarment would be carried out after which the Worcesters (88th Bde) would assault the trenches about 1245pm. The bombardment started, but at the time laid down for the attack nothing happened.The Worcesters had been quite unable to get up the communication trenches into the frontline all of which were blocked with killed and wounded. The 88th bde were then told to report when the Worcesters were ready in position to attack. Fortunately shortly after the attack was cancelled, as it was bound to have met the same fate as the previous one. The afternoon was spent trying to clear the trenches of casualties and reorganise the battns (their remnants) of the 87th & 88th Brigades. It was subsequently sicovered that hardly a single man had reached the German frontline and that te best part of 6 battns were lying out casualties in no mans land. all the afternoon the Germans bombarded our front line. the 88th bde took over the front line and the 87th Bde collected their remnants in St Johns Road. this account only refers to what happened on the 87th Bde front (about 1000 yds).

During the night about 300 unwounded men of the brigade were collected, most of whom had crawled back from no mans land, including about 6 officers of about 80 who had gone over the parapet. A large number of the wounded were got in including a number of officers. Raikes (SWB) came in about 10.30pm, he had previously been reported killed. Welch (KOSBs) had fortunately not taken his hd qrs forward so was all right, all other COs and adjutants were killed or wounded.Every battn had left behind in billets 10% of their men & all officers over and above 22 per battn. With these and the survivors by morning (2nd) we had collected some 700 men. The 36th Divn on our right made no headway this side of the Ancre but S of it they went straight through the the German 3rd line. In the afternoon they were counter-attaked and driven back to the Germans 1st system of which they still hold a part. The 86th Bde got into the German line in places, I believe, but by the evening they were all in their own lines.

War Diary Entry: 28th June 1916

Last night’s wire cutting and raiding parties were not a great success anywhere. The Germans seem to have expected it as all the parties were fired upon, and so came back. At 3am this morning they put about 20 shells round our headquarters, one fell in the middle of the road and knocked out some gunners, we had no casualties in the brigade. Pouring with rain this morning, the trenches will be in a filthy state; it cleared up during the afternoon. Shelling went on as usual all day, it doesn’t sound very much from here as we only hear the big guns going over, but it is pretty noisy in the firing line. 

We have cleared away nearly all their wire in the front system of trenches. They do not reply very much.  The 15” guns and 190lb trench mortars have layed Beaumont Hamel and Beaucourt level with the ground, and the trenches round Thiepval are blotted out, but the trenches in front of us are not so badly damaged yet. Went onto a conference at the divn at midday, a car came and took Williams and myself in . Afterwards I went & saw the KOSBs & Borders in Acheux Wood & got back here about 2.30pm. Got a message from the divn at about 3pm to say that operations were postponed 48 hours (I believe because of the weather) so the attack does not start tomorrow. 

Went for a walk with Cookson after tea,  we went and watched one of the 15” guns firing, you can see the shell in flight for quite a long way; then we went on to have a drink with Gillon at his prisoners camp, between here and Foxeville. Just as we were getting back the Bosch put a few 5.9” shells into Englebelmer so we hung about outside til it was over.

War Diary Entry: 16th June 1916

Going (commanding SWBs) and Hilton (Bd Major KOSBs) arrived from home yesterday. We now aveage about 35 officers per battn. Out all the morning watching battns training. Lectured on the coming attack to all officers from coy commanders upwards at 5pm. Archdale came to lunch, he commanded a battery in John’s bde in the 3^rd divn and now has a bde in this divn. Carter (Hunter Wston’s ADC in the Peninsula) came to tea. Hilton dined. Battns practicing the attack all day in the training area.