The Second Battle of Ypres - 8th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry

D/DLI 2/8/60(71) Soldiers of the 8th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, constructing a trench, 1914

Overview of the Second Battle of Ypres

What was the 8th Battalion Durham Light Infantry?

• The 8^th Battalion (8DLI) was one of the Territorial battalions of 151^st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade
• Recruits mainly came from the Durham City, Chester le Street and Houghton le Spring areas
• Over 150 students of Bede Teacher Training College in Durham City served in 8DLI; the college produced a magazine called The Bede for students and alumni which contains several accounts of the battle
• Commanded by Colonel WC Blackett until October 1914, then by Colonel J Turnbull

What happened when war was declared?

• At the end of July 1914, 8DLI was at the annual brigade training camp at Conway, Wales
• 3 August – The battalion left Conway in the evening, arriving at Durham City in the early hours of the 4^th
• 4 August – Gathered in the Market Place; no orders were received during the day so men were allowed home with orders to report as early as possible the following morning; mobilisation orders were received at 7pm
• Battalion strength was 29 officers and 996 other ranks

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

• 5 August – 8DLI moved to the Sunderland area for coastal defence duty
• 19 August – Moved to training Camp at Ravensworth Castle
• Moved to billets at Gateshead prior to the end of 1914; undertook further training and remained there until April 1915

D/DLI 2/8/59(6) A  group of officers of the 8th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, at Cassel, France, April 1915 Left to right: Lieutenant E.A. Leybourne, Captain J. Turnbull, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Turnbull, Lieutenants P. Kirkup, F.M. Weeks, and C.L.B. Whall

When did the battalion leave the UK?

1915

• 17 April – Transport and machine gun section left for Le Havre
• 19 April – The rest of the battalion marched to Newcastle Central Station for trains to Folkestone, embarked for Boulogne aboard the Onward
• 20 April – Moved to the vicinity of Cassel
• 23 April – Ordered to move forward to Steenvoorde, then Poperinghe, halting at Vlamertinghe
• 24 April – Moved further forward, marching through Ypres under shellfire, arriving in the early hours of 25^th at Boetleers Farm where some Canadian troops were stationed

When did 8DLI first engage with the enemy?

25 April

• A and D Companies were ordered forwards to trenches to relieve the Canadians holding them
• B and C Companies were entrenched at the farm
• The Germans line was an arc covering two sides

Map of positions at Boetleers Farm on 25/26 April 1915, based on a map enclosed in '8th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, 1793-1926' (1)

What were the worst days for 8DLI at the Second Battle of Ypres?

25-26 April

• The Germans attacked from the left side of D Company 8DLI
• Shelling broke the communication lines back to Boetleers Farm
• A German plane scouted the locations of A and D Companies; shells began to land in the D Company trenches, then in those of A Company
• Several of the accounts in The Bede say there was little or no support from British guns
• As the Germans made their way around from the left to the rear of the British line, those left of A and D Companies gathered in one trench, holding the position until the evening
• Surrounded on three sides, the decision was made to withdraw through the remaining gap ‘…the force retired under a perfect Hell of fire; shells, high explosive and shrapnel, machine guns and rifles dealing out Death on all sides…The slaughter was fearful – the scene indescribable.’ The Bede
• Some of the men made it back to Boetleers Farm, others found their way to Vlamertinghe
• Whilst this was happening, some of B Company had tried to move forward to reinforce A and D Companies but were driven back
• B and C Companies had their own close encounters with German troops who were found to be occupying some nearby farm buildings; the Germans advanced and 8DLI retaliated but were eventually forced to retire
• Those still at Boetleers Farm were relieved by 5DLI on 27 April

Casualties 

The 8^th Battalion history gives the total number of killed, wounded, and missing (including those taken prisoner) for these days as 19 officers, 574 other ranks.

The Soldiers Died record lists 102 names as killed in action on 26 April 1915 (no names are given for 25 April, it seems possible that as the fighting was continuous, those killed on this date were all recorded as 26 April).

Another account from The Bede records the thoughts of a soldier as he is transported in a Red Cross train to Boulogne: ‘Thank God! he said...  But his friends and comrades, what had become of them?  They had vanished like a dream.  When would he get to know how many were still alive?’

Due to the heavy losses suffered by the battalion over the course of the Second Battle of Ypres, orders were given on 7 June for it to amalgamate with 6DLI to form the 6/8^th Composite Battalion.  The drafts from Britain were insufficient to bring them up to fighting strength.  The battalion comprised one company of 8DLI and three companies of 6DLI.  They remained as the 6/8^th until August of that year.

How do I find out more about what happened?

1) 8th Battalion., The Durham Light Infantry, 1793-1926 – EH Veitch, (no year)

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