The Second Battle of Ypres - 7th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

D/DLI 7/700/24 A Vaux Brewery horse and cart, with Private George Thompson holding the bridle, and two unidentified soldiers of the 7th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, seated on the cart, while training as transport drivers [c. 1914]

Overview of the Second Battle of Ypres

What was the 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry?

• The 7th Battalion (7DLI) was one of the Territorial Battalions of the 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade
• Recruits came mainly from the Sunderland and South Shields areas
• Commanded by Colonel E. Vaux of Sunderland

What happened when war was declared?

• At the end of July 1914, 7DLI was at the annual brigade training camp at Conway, Wales
• 3 August – The battalion was recalled to Sunderland, arriving in the early hours of the 4th
• 4 August – The order for mobilisation was received in the evening at Battalion Headquarters in Livingstone Road, Sunderland

What did the battalion do at the start of the war?
There is currently no battalion history for 7DLI but one is being written; the Record Office holds an unpublished draft written around the 1920s by an unknown officer. We know 7DLI:

• Undertook coastal defence work
• Camped at Ravensworth Castle
• Were billeted around Newcastle and Gateshead

Sergeant George Thompson wrote an account of his time in the war; in 1914/15 he was a private and was selected to be a transport driver, working with horses:

• Stationed at the Drill Hall [Sunderland] whilst the government purchased horses for war service
• After hard training at Ravensworth Castle with the battalion, the transport section went to the Co-operative Wholesale Society stables in Gateshead
• Spent a week training with the Royal Field Artillery ‘…first riding bare back then with saddles on. We were sore for days after’ G. Thompson (1)

When did the battalion leave the UK?

1915

• 17 April – The transport section, 50 men and 60 horses and mules, set sail from Southampton on the SS Dunkirk; arriving at Le Havre, one mule had to be hoisted off the ship as it would not leave of its own accord
• 19 April – The rest of the battalion left for Boulogne and were reunited with the transport section there
• 23 April – 7DLI moved forward to Steenvoorde and joined up with the rest of the brigade (6, 8 and 9DLI)

When did 7DLI first engage with the enemy?

26 April

• 7DLI moved forward through Zevenkote to Gravenstafel; they were heavily shelled during both the advance and whilst maintaining their position

What were the worst days for 7DLI at the Second Battle of Ypres?

24 May

• About 3am there was a big chlorine gas attack by the Germans in the area where A and B Companies were attached to the 3rd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers; this was followed at 8am by a bombardment; they were forced back to the second line trenches suffering heavy losses
• Battalion HQ, C and D Companies were at Brielen; the gas reached them but fortunately they had pad respirators; they marched through a burning Ypres to the GHQ line near Potijze where 6 and 8DLI were already in position
• The remainder of A and B Companies joined them on 25 May
• Throughout the period of the battle, George Thompson and the transport section were backwards and forwards with ammunition and rations for the men, frequently under shell fire, ‘”Yes” I think Ypres was the worst front to be on, out of the whole lot. Out of my four years in France I think Ypres worst of the lot…’ G Thompson

D/DLI 7/63/3(87) Sketch made by Reverend JAG Birch, of a view of the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium, c.1927

Casualties

From the unpublished draft history

24-25 May                           KIA/DOW            Wounded           Missing

Officers                                      3                            1                            2

Other ranks                              25                          75                        181

KiA - Killed in action
DofW - Died of wounds

The Second Battle of Ypres is considered to have ended on 25 May 1915.  However, the lists in Solders Died in The Great War (does not include officers) shows 43 names for 26 May, 39 indicated as having been killed in action.  The war diary entry for this date reads ‘From GHQ line to bivouac near huts at Brielen’.  The unpublished history gives no indication of further fighting on this day.  All the men listed as killed in action have their names on the Menin Gate Memorial to the missing.  Never found, it may be these men were given 26 May as their date of death but we may never know for sure.

How do I find out more about what happened?

1)      Memoirs of G. Thompson, Durham County Record Office reference, D/DLI 7/700/11

2)      Faithful, The Story of The Durham Light Infantry – SGP Ward, 1968

The Second Battle of Ypres - 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

D/DLI 7/424/2(7) Soldiers of the 6th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry training at their billets in Bensham, Gateshead, taken by PHB Lyon, late 1914 or early 1915

Overview of the Second Battle of Ypres

What was the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry?

• The 6^th Battalion (6DLI) was one of the Territorial battalions of 151^st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade
• Recruits  came from the West Durham area, from Consett to Bishop Auckland
• It was commanded by Colonel HC Watson of Barnard Castle

What happened when war was declared?

• At the end of July 1914, 6DLI was at the annual brigade training camp at Conway, Wales
• 3 August – Recalled to battalion headquarters at Bishop Auckland and stayed overnight in the Drill Hall and the Town Hall
• 4 August – The companies were sent to their respective headquarters and the men dismissed, Colonel Watson received the telegram to mobilise at 8pm
• 5 August - 6DLI convened at and were billeted in Bishop Auckland

What did the battalion do at the start of the war?

• 9 August – 6DLI began the war stationed at Boldon, and spent the first week building defences and digging trenches
• 19 August – they went into camp at Ravensworth Park, near Gateshead
• Early in November they went into billets at Bensham at Gateshead and undertook intensive training until they left for France

D/DLI 7/424/2(28) Soldiers of the 6th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry standing beside a railway engine, en route to France, taken by PHB Lyon, April 1915

 When did the battalion leave the UK?

1915

• 17 April – The transport and machine gun sector left for Le Havre
• 19 April – The battalion marched to Newcastle Central Station for trains to Folkestone, from there they sailed for Boulogne “…on what must have been the first journey across the sea for most of the men.” PHB Lyon (1)
• 21 April – Marched to the vicinity of Cassel, France, in the early hours
• 23 April – Convened with the rest of the brigade at Steenvoorde

When did 6DLI first engage with the enemy?

• 24 April – 6DLI marched through Ypres that evening, “Of all the experiences which attended these weeks there is not one of which I have so vivid a recollection as that march through the perishing city…A shell came shrieking into it as we went through (how our hearts jumped at this first experience)…adjusting our ideas of war as best we could to this shattered reality, which lay about our path, clear-cut in the bright moon.” PHB Lyon

What were the worst days for 6DLI at the Second Battle of Ypres?

26 April

• 6DLI woke to news that the Germans had broken through the line
• Received orders at 10am to advance, “As far as can be gathered, our instructions were vague in the extreme…the objective was completely unknown.” PHB Lyon
• This vagueness created a great deal of confusion, the direction of advance was made by a hand signal; as the battalion advanced in two lines paths veered, men of different companies became mixed up, and unexpectedly found themselves coming upon other regiments
• PHB Lyon was in command of a platoon from D Company that were at one end of a line; to his left he saw the line veering off in that direction and began to do the same, Colonel Watson gave a signal for him to stay on his original course but not everyone saw this signal and “whistle and voice only carried so far”, he managed to keep two thirds of his platoon, but lost the rest of his company, all this took place under constant shell and gun fire, D Company were reunited and had received only superficial injuries
• The rest of 6DLI had not been so fortunate, Captain Jeffreys got the line organised but they were under severe machine gun fire and suffered many casualties
• At 6pm the battalion was ordered to support 7DLI and a battalion of Shropshire Light Infantry who were attacking a hill held by the Germans; for B Company it was the start of five days in a front line trench
• A and D company had been in a defensive position waiting for an attack which did not come, C Company had been sent for rations, finding themselves no longer needed, they realised they did not know where to go
• They found their way back to Zevenkote Farm and halted in a field favoured by German shells, ‘After trying to induce my dog-tired platoon to take some better shelter than that afforded by their greatcoats, I chose the deepest, wettest ditch and went to sleep sitting crouched up on two sand bags.” PHB Lyon
• Colonel Watson collapsed from physical and mental exhaustion and returned to England where, after recovering, he commanded the regiment’s training battalion.  Captain Jeffreys took temporary command of 6DLI

D/DLI 7/424/2(48) Soldiers of the 6th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry, captioned Some of 'D' Company in shelter near the farm, Belgium, [possibly Zevenkote Farm], taken by PHB Lyon, April 1915

 Casualties

• PHB Lyon: “Our first week of campaigning was over and we had lost, killed, wounded and sick, 16 officers and about 300 men.”
• According to the Soldiers Died records, 42 men of 6DLI died on 26 April, seven days after leaving Newcastle

How do I find out more about what happened?

(1) Memoirs of PHB Lyon, Durham County Record Office reference, D/DLI 7/424/2

(2) The Faithful Sixth, A History of the Sixth Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry – Harry Moses, 1995

(3) Faithful, The Story of The Durham Light Infantry – SGP Ward, 1968

The Second Battle of Ypres - 5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

D/DLI 7/63/2(22) Painting by JAG Birch, 5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, "Directly dusk set in some of the above signals went up from both lines"

Overview of the Second Battle of Ypres

What was the 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry?

• The 5th Battalion (5DLI) was a unit of volunteer soldiers. It was part of the Territorial Force in the British Army and was one of five territorial battalions in the DLI
• Part of the 150^th (York and Durham) Brigade, with 4^th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, and 4^th and 5^th Battalions, Yorkshire Regiment
• Recruits came from South East Durham, including Darlington, Stockton on Tees and Hartlepool 
• The officers were also local men – the commanding officer, Colonel G.O. Spence, lived at Preston Park in Stockton

What happened when war was declared?

• At the end of July 1914 the battalion was at the annual brigade training camp at Deganwy, North Wales. Every year territorial soldiers attended a two week training camp.  The other four DLI territorial battalions belonged to a different infantry brigade and they were camped on the opposite side of the river at Conway.
• 3 August – 5DLI was recalled to Stockton
• 4 August – Battalion convened at Drill Hall, Stockton, and the mobilisation telegram was received at 5pm

What did the battalion do at the start of the war?

• The battalion did not go overseas immediately. The volunteers had eight months of intensive training in the North East to prepare them for battle
• For the first month of the war 5DLI was on coastal defence duty at Hartlepool and South Shields.  “While there, all officers and men were asked if they were willing to serve abroad, and, needless to say, the vast majority agreed to do so.” A.L. Raimes (1)
• Early in September 1914 5DLI moved to the brigade camp at Ravensworth near Gateshead where it was under canvas in bell tents
• In October the battalion moved into billets in Newcastle upon Tyne

When did the battalion leave the UK?

1915

• 14 April – Transport and machine gun personnel left for Southampton then on to Le Havre
• 15 April – Final inspection of the battalion
• 16 April – Marched to Central Station “Great numbers of Newcastle people lined the route to wish us ‘God-speed’.” A.L. Raimes
• 17 April – Arrived Folkestone 1am, immediately embarked for Boulogne, arriving just before dawn “It was a weird experience – crossing without lights and in silence, with destroyers guarding us on either side.” A.L. Raimes

D/DLI 7/424/2(72) Photograph of a military encampment near a stream, captioned: View near the huts, Belgium, taken by PHB Lyon, 1915

 When did 5DLI first engage with the enemy?

• 23 April – A fleet of buses arrived to transport the brigade towards the front lines “The roads were full of transport, artillery, and troops going forward, while a constant stream of ambulances, loaded with wounded, hurried in the opposite direction…We overtook two battalions of our DLI Brigade and gave them a cheer as we passed them.” A.L. Raimes
• 24 April – 5DLI had their first experience of shell fire
• 25 April – Orders received the previous night for attack to begin at 3:30am, first objectives were Fortuin, St. Julien, and Kitchener’s Wood, the advance was pushed back to 5:30am

What were the worst days for 5DLI at the Second Battle of Ypres?

25/26 April

• 25 April – 5DLI and 5^th Yorks to support an attack by 10^th Brigade on St. Julien
• Went towards Fortuin which was unoccupied by Germans, took up defensive positions, the battalion was “…in position in time to witness the failure of that magnificent assault” SGP Ward (2), miscommunication meant some battalions and artillery were not in the right place
• Ordered to fall back to Verlorenhoek, half the battalion was commandeered by another brigade to take up positions on the Gravenstafel Road, the rest were ordered to attack towards Fortuin and did so against machine gun and artillery fire, suffering heavy casualties
• 26 April – shelling began as dawn broke, continued all day, along with machine gun fire, resulting in many casualties
• Relieved those in the front line near Fortuin, including the 8DLI, during this process, the Germans began heavy machine gun fire, the battalion responded

D/DLI 7/424/2(67) A ruined street with house being demolished by demolition charge, captioned: A house being blown up near the Menin Bridge, Ypres, Belgium, taken by PHB Lyon, May 1915

 24 May

• 23 May – Whit Sunday, ‘ominously quiet’ AL Raimes
• 24 May – ‘Shortly before dawn, the Germans discharged a huge cloud of gas against our front from the Menin Road to beyond Wieltje, and followed it up with repeated infantry attacks.” AL Raimes
• 5DLI was in position by 5am
• A number of men who had been in Zouave Wood when the gas attack started were overcome
• D Company suffered many casualties from machine gun fire
• Two platoons of A Company had the Germans behind them
• C Company managed to hold most of their trench in an attack on Sanctuary Wood
• B Company and the other two platoons of A Company were not attacked but still suffered casualties from shell and rifle fire
• Captain P. Wood of C Company received Distinguished Service Order: “He and some thirty or forty of his company were holding an advanced trench, part of which the enemy had already captured, and up which they were moving to attack.  Like the rest of us at that time, Captain Wood knew nothing about bombs, but, finding a store of primitive “jam-tin” bombs, he lit them one by one with a cigarette, and held up the attack until three-quarters of his men were killed or wounded.  He then skilfully withdrew them to the main trench.” AL Raimes

Casualties

23-28 April          KiA/DofW            Wounded           Prisoner

Officers                       1                            2                        -

Other ranks               43                          95                        -

24-25 May

Officers                       -                            5                        -

Other ranks                26                         68                       4 

  
KiA - Killed in action
DofW - Died of wounds

Signal Sergeant J. Wilkes of the 5^th Battalion wrote a poem titled ‘The Second Battle of Ypres’ copies of which were sold to raise money for comforts for the battalion.  A transcript can be read here:

http://www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/Pages/TranscriptSecondBattleofYprespoem.aspx

How do I find out more about what happened?

1) The Fifth Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry 1914-1918 – Major AL Raimes, 1931

2) Faithful, The Story of The Durham Light Infantry – SGP Ward, 1968

3) Memoirs of JAG Birch, Durham County Record Office reference D/DLI 7/63/2

Four more years

We're pleased to announce that our stage 2 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been successful and the First World War project will be continuing throughout the centenary period, as will the blog.  

The official name for the project website is Durham at War: Mapping the Story of County Durham and its People in the First World War and we expect this website to go live in September 2014.

You can read the official press release here:

http://www.hlf.org.uk/news/Pages/DurhamatWar.aspx

The Second Battle of Ypres

Throughout April and May will be a series of posts about the Second Battle of Ypres and the role the Durham Light Infantry played in it.  In this first post is a summary of the battle as a whole.  The next five posts will look individually at the Durham Light Infantry territorial battalions involved before a final post looking at what was happening at home during this period.

During October and November 1914, British troops successfully resisted all German attempts to capture the small Belgian town of Ypres (Ieper) and march on to the Channel coast, but were unable to prevent the German Army from occupying a ring of higher ground that overlooked the town on the east and south. This higher ground allowed German artillery to fire down on the British trenches and to reduce Ypres and its neighbouring villages to ruins, and to make the Salient one of the most dangerous places on the Western Front.

Notes:

Salient: A salient was a bulge in a trench line into enemy territory that enabled the enemy to attack from the sides or flanks.

Casualties: refers to dead and wounded.

Territorial Force:  Formed in 1908 of militia and volunteer units, these were part time soldiers trained for home defence, not obligated to serve abroad, they could choose to do so.

D/DLI 7/63/2(15) Sketch map captioned Situation at 9 a.m., showing Ypres, and environs, Belgium, 24 April 1915 from the war diary of Rev. J.A.G. Birch, 5^th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

On 22 April 1915, German forces attacked the northern part of the Ypres Salient, held by the French, with poisonous chlorine gas, described in many accounts as a greenish-yellow cloud.  One of the first times a gas attack of this size had taken place, the French troops suffered casualties whilst others fled.  The resulting break in the line was 4 to 5 miles long, however, the Germans were slow to advance, perhaps in fear of the gas themselves or not realising the extent of the gap.  The result was that Canadian troops were able to reinforce the line before too much ground was lost.  

The Canadians continued to defend the line when, on 24 April, the Germans unleashed heavy artillery and another gas attack.  British territorial forces, including Durham Light Infantry battalions, were sent up to help.  The Canadian forces suffered very heavy losses during this two days of fighting.  Canadian and British troops continued to defend the line but were driven back and the Germans pushed past the village of St. Julien. 

The next few days saw a series of unsuccessful counterattacks before the decision was made on 1 May to fall back to a new defensive line.  The withdrawal was made over the first few days of May under a continued assault by the Germans including another gas attack on 2 May.

On 5 May the German forces recaptured Hill 60, a strategic observation point the British had taken control of on 17 April; on 8 May the Germans began an offensive on British lines at Frezenberg Ridge causing numerous casualties.  The first and second attacks were repelled but the third broke the line.  A night time counterattack restored this.  Attacks and counterattacks continued along the line in the Salient throughout May with a period of intense fighting on 13 May followed by a lull of about 10 days.

D/DLI 7/63/5(35) Illustration captioned 'Distant view of Ypres from rough trenches dug to protect from shrapnel', 23 May 1915, by Rev. J.A.G. Birch, 5^th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

In the very early hours of 24 May, the German forces launched a vicious onslaught of artillery fire and more chlorine gas on the British.  The hour meant many soldiers were sleeping, and the close proximity of the two sides meant there was little forewarning of the gas, not giving soldiers much chance to don protection.  This was immediately followed up with an assault by the German Infantry.  The attack took place along the whole British line, the Germans broke through at the north and south ends but the British held strong in the centre. 

A counterattack gained back some ground but a further counterattack that night led to heavy casualties, a new line was formed and the German offensive ceased.  The Second Battle of Ypres is considered to have ended on 25 May 1915.

All five territorial battalions of the Durham Light Infantry were involved in some way in this battle.  By the end of it, they had suffered heavy losses, yet these battalions had only been in Europe for five weeks.

Sources:

Faithful, The Story of The Durham Light Infantry – SGP Ward, 1968

The Fifth Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry 1914-1918 – Major AL Raimes, 1931

http://www.cwgc.org/ypres/content.asp?menuid=35&submenuid=36&id=36&menuname=SecondYpres&menu=sub

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/61-battlefields/426-ypres-war.html