Looking for Grandad

This week, Durham at War volunteer Amanda brings us a personal story.

Gilbert and Margaret, from the family collection

A couple of months ago, we inherited a large box of photographs, lots of pictures of stern looking women in their Sunday best and men in various uniforms of the First World War. Among them was one of a young couple, the man, again in uniform, looked quite like my brother-in-law, the young woman the pot-double of my daughter. The names on the back were Gilbert Hay Blanche and Margaret Yellowley Brown, my husband's grandparents from South Shields.

Family legend had it that Gilbert had served with the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) but had been invalided out before being sent to France. He had been caught in a storm while out walking with Margaret, or Madge as she was known, and had been struck by lightning. He had been knocked unconscious and when he came to, his boots were 20 feet away. He certainly walked badly for the rest of his life. But still, being almost killed by lightning had probably saved him from almost certain death on the Western Front.

A trawl through the military records on Ancestry produced no further information on Gilbert; like so many other men of the First World War, his attestation papers had been destroyed during the Second World War. And he appeared never to have been awarded either the British War Medal or the Victory Medal.

The military historian at Durham County Record Office kindly went through the DLI regimental records to look for any evidence of Gilbert receiving the Silver War Badge. Being invalided out of the army, he should have been issued with one of these badges to wear on his civvy clothes. This would show the world that he had already "done his bit"; he was not simply shirking his duty to serve King and Country. Staff at the Record Office suggested that Gilbert had possibly served with another regiment; perhaps he had been with the Northumberland Fusiliers or the Royal Engineers?

Gilbert Blanche, second from right, with other men at
Hartlepool after the bombardment (1914), from the family collection

Back to the box of photos again. This time I came across a picture of Gilbert in a formal photograph with other new recruits in the grounds of a training camp (possibly Cocken Hall) [it is – DaW team]. The men were all wearing their caps, the distinctive emblem of the DLI clearly visible on some of them. So, at least we had the right regiment.

We had previously seen family photos of the ruined buildings in Hartlepool after the bombardment in December, 1914, and had never really questioned why a Shields family would have such photos. But this time, I also found a photo, previously missed, of a group of soldiers (one looked barely 16 in a great coat four sizes too big for him!) standing in the ruins of a family home. There was Gilbert in the middle of the group, wearing what looked like a dustcoat over his uniform. With it was an old brown envelope with a thin sheet of yellowed paper inside, a telegram from Blanche in Hartlepool to Brown in Palmerston Road, South Shields, dated 17th December. The message simply said "All safe after attack."

Googling DLI and Hartlepool Bombardment brought up the Durham at War website which confirmed that the Durham Pals (18th Battalion DLI) had been garrisoned at Hartlepool at the time of the bombardment. Five soldiers had died, eleven wounded. No wonder Gilbert had wanted to send that telegram to Madge.

We have been unable to find anything else out about Gilbert's time with the DLI. Was he invalided out and, if so, why no silver badge? Or did he serve at home for the next three years? There is no-one left to ask; his generation and the following one are all gone. But at least, we now know his battalion and the significance of some of those photos. 

That old family story seems to have been true, after all.

[We have now found an article from the Yorkshire Post that confirms that Gilbert was indeed injured in a lightning strike - DaW team]

You can read more about Gilbert Blanche on the Durham at War website:

http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/story/13588/

The newspaper article can be found here:
http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/material/707/

The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge

The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, 20-25 September 1917, was the third phase of the Third Battle of Ypres, more commonly known today as Passchendaele. You can read blog posts about earlier action here:

http://ww1countydurham.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/vc-at-langemarck.html 

http://ww1countydurham.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/all-of-sudden-hell-let-loose-trench.html

A signals section of the 13th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, equipped with telescopes, field telephone and signalling lamps, watch the battalion's advance on Veldhoek on 20 September 1917, © IWM (Q 5971) IWM Non-commercial Licence

A new commander of the offensive, General Herbert Plumer, meant a change in tactics. Units would make short gains behind a barrage of British artillery, then consolidate their position and hold it against German counter-attacks. Air support provided observation to warn of counter-attacks. Other units would then move forward to take the next objective. The fighting was to gain ground; moving east of Ypres, pushing the Germans back. This tactic was called 'bite and hold'.

There were many battalions involved in the battle as a whole, including 12th, 13th, and 20th Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI), who took part in the first days of the battle. 12 and 13 DLI were part of 68th Brigade of 23rd Division with 10th and 11th Battalions, Northumberland Fusiliers (NF). 20 DLI was part of 123rd Brigade of 41st Division. All four battalions of this brigade were from different regiments.

The following account of these battalions' actions is taken from their official war diaries held at the National Archives.

20 September 1917
3:00am
13 DLI battalion HQ moved to the Advance Brigade HQ.

5:40am Zero hour
13 DLI moved forward to Jam area trenches.
12 DLI A and B Companies moved forwards behind 10 and 11 NF and assisted in clearing a German strongpoint and snipers at Dumbarton Woods.
12 DLI C Company less the Lewis Gun Section formed up behind 13 DLI and worked as a carrying party making three journeys in total.
12 DLI D Company moved forward behind 11 NF to Jasper Drive 'encountering a strongpoint...which was successfully dealt with by a sergeant* and three men.' They dug in near Jasper Drive.

7:30am
13 DLI ordered to move forward again, arriving 8:50am.

8:00am
12 DLI A and B Companies dug in in front of Jasper Trench in support of 10 NF.

[no time]
12 DLI D Company ordered to reinforce 10 NF and remained dug in on the right of B Company.

9:00am
13 DLI Battalion HQ established.

9:40am
20 DLI received orders to 'move up to the original British front line between Shrewsbury Forest and Bodmin Copse and dig in there'.

9:53am
13 DLI advanced in attack.

10:00am
12 DLI C Company Lewis Gun Section moved to 13 DLI Advance HQ.

10:40am
13 DLI 'German prisoners passed Battalion HQ, about 150 in all'.

11:05am
13 DLI took objective and began consolidating the position.

11:45am
20 DLI D Company sent to help 124th Brigade take the second objective after they were held up by machine gun fire.

11:55am
20 DLI ordered to move up to the first objective line and dig in, and to be ready to help in the attack.

2:00pm
20 DLI received orders to push on to second objective between 122nd and 124th Brigade. Arrived in position about 3:00pm.

3:00pm
13 DLI repulsed a counter-attack by the Germans on the left company.

5:15pm
20 DLI ordered to attack the third objective on the forward slope of Tower Hamlets ridge. The orders were received 'too late' and the battalion dug in on the backwards slope. They were rejoined by D Company at about 6:00pm. The right flank of the battalion was 'in the air' as 124th Brigade had not managed to cross the stream.

Night
12 DLI A and B Company put under orders of 9th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (Y&L).

21 September 1917
1:00am
12 DLI D Company ordered to move back.

7:00am
20 DLI received orders to attack the third objective with 10th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment.

8:00am
13 DLI dispersed another German counter-attack on the left company by Lewis gun and rifle fire. One German officer and five other ranks captured.

9:00am
20 DLI attacked, the British barrage was only 'a few shells sent over at intervals and was in consequence insufficient to keep down the enemy machine guns.' 20 DLI rushed about 200 yards before being forced to dig in, but not before suffering casualties from the German machine guns.

[no time]
12 DLI C Company made two more journeys as a carrying party.

3:00pm
20 DLI drove back a German counter-attack over Tower Hamlets ridge by 'rifle fire and Lewis guns which inflicted heavy casualties'.
13 DLI repulsed attack by Germans on the right company 'coming up the valley from Gheluvelt' after a heavy bombardment.

Section of map from April 1917 showing trenches, Tower Hamlets, and Gheluvelt, (Map Sheet 28 NE.3 1) 'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland' The full map can be viewed here: http://maps.nls.uk/view/101464642

4:00pm
20 DLI A German barrage began.

7:00pm
13 DLI 'After two hours heavy shelling the enemy was seen massing on the right of the the Ypres-Menin Road near Gheluvelt preparatory to attacking. The SOS signal was sent up on our right and left and the enemy was caught by our barrage before his attack could materialise'.

7:30pm
12 DLI A and B Companies received orders to move back but due to a counter-attack, A Company were ordered to move forward to reinforce the Y&L. B Company remained in position to protect the right flank.

7:40pm
20 DLI drove off another counter-attack as it was assembling with artillery, rifle, and Lewis gun fire.

Night
12 DLI C Company Lewis Gun Section ordered to reinforce right flank.

9:00pm
12 DLI C Company Lewis Gun Section ordered to move back by the officer commanding 13 DLI.

9:30pm
12 DLI A Company 'situation became normal' and returned to Jasper Trench.

22 September 1917
3:00am
13 DLI relieved by 8th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and moved back with the exception of HQ and two platoons of B Company.

6:30am
12 DLI A and B Companies ordered to move back as per the original orders of the previous night.

Afternoon
12 DLI A and B Companies worked as carrying parties.
12 DLI C Company moved to Holy Corn dug out.
20 DLI Enemy shelling and barrage but no counter-attacks.

6:00pm
12 DLI D Company moved to Lucky dugout area to relieve D Company of 11 NF and acted as a carrying party.

Dusk
13 DLI HQ and the remainder of B Company were relieved.

23 September 1917
1:00am
20 DLI relieved by 13th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, reaching camp at 8:00am.

[no time]
12 DLI A and B Companies continued carrying work.

4:00pm
12 DLI C Company moved up to trenches near Jasper trenches.

24 September 1917
[no time]
12 DLI A and B Companies relieved by 16th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, and returned to camp.

4:00pm
12 DLI C Company relieved by a unit of the Queen's Regiment.

4:40pm
12 DLI D Company relieved by 9 Y&L.

The battle was mostly successful in that it achieved most of its targets except for taking Tower Hamlets. However, it was not without great cost to the Allied forces (British and Australian). According to the figures in the official history, 20255 British men and officers were killed, wounded, or missing between 20 and 25 September. The Australian casualties are counted at 5013.

The 12 DLI war diary doesn't provide casualty figures but the diaries of 13 and 20 DLI were:

20 September
13 DLI
Killed – 1 officer, 1 other rank
Wounded – 4 officers, 177 other ranks
Missing – 16 other ranks

20 DLI
Killed – 1 officer, 1 other rank
Wounded – 4 officers, 6 other ranks

21 September
13 DLI
Killed – 14 other ranks
Wounded – 37 other ranks
Missing – 1 other rank

20 DLI
Killed – 2 officers, 33 other ranks
Died of wounds – 1 officer
Wounded – 6 officers, 188 other ranks (one of these officers died of his wounds 25 September 1917)

22 September
13 DLI
Killed – 1 other rank
Wounded – 5 other ranks
Missing – 1 other rank

20 DLI
Killed – 6 other ranks
Wounded – 14 other ranks
Missing – 21 other ranks

*
Sergeant B Cruddas
Awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions. The citation reads:

'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Dumbarton Wood in September 1917. An enemy strongpoint which had been overlooked in the advance was causing heavy casualties to carrying parties and supporting troops. He left the carrying party of which he was in charge, and going forward alone, located the strongpoint. He then attacked it with three men, and captured it after a very stubborn fight, putting all the garrison out of action. He showed great powers of organisation, and was a splendid example to all ranks'.

Sources:
12th Battalion War Diary, The National Archives ref. WO 95/2182/1
13th Battalion War Diary, The National Archives ref. WO 95/2182/2
20th Battalion War Diary, The National Archives ref. WO 95/2639/1

Third Ypres - Passchendaele, The Day by Day Account, by Chris McCarthy

The Long, Long Trail http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-ypres-1917-third-ypres/
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Menin_Road_Ridge
Commonwealth War Graves Commission https://www.cwgc.org/learn/news-and-events/news/2017/09/15/13/11/8-facts-about-the-battle-of-the-menin-road-ridge
The Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E97

“All of a sudden hell let loose” The trench raid at Chérisy

This week, Steve Shannon tells us about events at Chérisy, and a new exhibition at Durham County Record Office.

First panel of the Chérisy exhibition

One hundred years ago today, Durham soldiers raided a German trench in northern France. Trench raids were commonplace on the western front during the First World War, carried out to take prisoners and gather intelligence, but above all, to kill as many enemy soldiers as could be found.

Most raids took place under cover of night and involved few raiders but the raid on a German trench at Chérisy on 15 September 1917 was unique. This was not only because of the number of soldiers involved, but also because flying above the raiders was a Royal Flying Corps warplane taking the only known photographs of a trench raid in progress.

Enlarged copies of these unique - and fascinating - photographs form the centrepiece of a new exhibition, which opens in Durham County Record Office on Friday 15 September. Also on display will be copies of original maps, documents and photographs from the Durham Light Infantry’s archive, cared for by the Record Office on behalf of the Trustees of the DLI Collection, plus full explanatory labels telling the story of this unique raid.

The aerial photographs on display at Durham County Record Office

This raid at Chérisy is largely forgotten today, submerged beneath the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele but, at the time, it had an important outcome. The majority of the DLI’s raiders came from the 9th Battalion DLI, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Roland Bradford VC MC from Witton Park. For two weeks before the raid, Colonel Bradford trained his men hard until every raider knew what he had to do. This included practising attacks on a full-scale model of the target trench dug behind the lines with a farmer’s plough.

During one of these practice attacks, the raiders were watched by senior officers, including General Byng, commanding the British Third Army. Such a high-ranking audience for a raid was most unusual. Were they watching to see how Colonel Bradford commanded and trained his battalion? Was Roland Bradford, despite being only 25 years old, being tested for promotion?

The answer came after the successful conclusion of the raid. On 5 October, Roland Bradford was promoted to brigadier general and became the youngest general in the British Army. Sadly, just a few weeks later, on 30 November 1917, a German shell killed Brigadier General Bradford. He was still only 25 years old.

Exhibition location:
Along the corridor leading to Durham County Record Office at County Hall, Durham.

Access:
The exhibition can be viewed Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm. Please note that the Record Office searchroom is closed to the public on Thursdays and Fridays.

The Merchant Navy

D/DLI 13/2/170 Embroidered postcard with Red Ensign and anchor

On 3 September, Durham County Council flew the Red Ensign above County Hall for Merchant Navy Day. This day of remembrance began in 2000 to honour those that served during the two world wars, and to celebrate those who served during peacetime, and continue to serve.

As an island nation, shipping has always been an important part of trade and transport for Britain. At the outbreak of war, more than half the food consumed in this country was carried by merchant shipping. During the war, the Merchant Navy were responsible for ‘supplying the nation and the armed forces with food, transporting raw materials for the manufacture of munitions, maintaining ordinary cargo and passenger trade, and transporting troops and materiel to theatres of war’. (http://media.cwgc.org/media/231265/the_merchant_navy_memorial__tower_hilll__ww1_.pdf)

It didn’t matter that these men were civilians, they were still exposed to the same dangers as the military. The sea became rife with mines from the early days of the war, then the German U-boat campaign began. This increased each year until its most devastating period of 1917. Over 17000 Merchant Navy men lost their lives during the First World War, around 13000 of these were British, with the other 4000 being made up of a wide variety of nationalities from both within, and outside of the Commonwealth.

The Mercantile Marine Medal, with thanks to Football and the First World War, used under the Creative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License 

One of our Durham at War volunteers, David D, put together the story of John Alfred Roch, who was born in Sunderland in 1903. His father, who was born in Russia but became a naturalised Brit in 1909, worked as a mariner, and as a crane driver when ashore. John’s mother was the daughter of a mariner, so it is no surprise that he followed in their footsteps. 1917 saw John, aged only 14, serving as a deck boy on the SS Lady Ann. On 16 February of that year, the ship left Sunderland for Kent, laden with coal. As the SS Lady Ann passed Scarborough, she is thought to have been torpedoed by a German U-boat. Eleven of the crew, including John, lost their lives. He was awarded the Mercantile Marine Medal, and the British War Medal for his service.

John’s body was never found, but he is remembered on the Tower Hill memorial, across the road from the Tower of London. This memorial recognises the men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died during the two world wars, and have no known grave. 

Researching merchant seamen of this period is not easy, there was no official registration, and some other records didn’t survive. What do exist are ships’ crew lists. The National Maritime Museum, with the National Archives, have digitised and indexed the lists for 1915, and these can be searched here:

http://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk/

Royal Museums Greenwich website has a detailed research guide available here:
http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/researchers/research-guides/research-guide-c9-merchant-navy-first-world-war

A Treasured Possession

D/DLI 7/801/8 Temporary Second Lieutenant Frederick Youens

A hundred years ago this week, on 29 August 1917, Mrs Lizzie Youens, the widow of a basket maker from High Wycombe, went to Buckingham Palace. There King George V presented her with the posthumous Victoria Cross that had been awarded to her son, Second Lieutenant Frederick Youens, who had been mortally wounded a few weeks earlier during the Third Battle of Ypres.

Born in High Wycombe in August 1893, Frederick - or Freddy as his mother called him - did well at his local National School and won a scholarship to the town’s Royal Grammar School. There he excelled in sports and gained his first military experience in the school’s Officer Training Corps.

On 5 September 1914, just a month after the outbreak of war, Freddy Youens left his teaching job and enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. The following spring, he transferred to the East Surrey Regiment and was soon in action on the Western Front. Private Youens, however, did not forget his medical training and, during the Battle of Loos in September 1915, worked all night dressing wounds and helping the wounded to shelter, until he was seriously wounded himself.

Out of action for a year while his arm healed, Freddy was finally fit enough to re-join the East Surrey Regiment. His talents, however, were soon recognised and in January 1917, after officer training, he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant attached to the Durham Light Infantry. On 13 March, Second Lieutenant Youens joined the 13th (Service) Battalion DLI in Belgium.

During the Third Battle of Ypres (or Passchendaele as the battle is better known today), 13 DLI took over newly captured positions in Impartial Trench, west of Klein Zillebeke. Just after midnight on 7 July 1917, Second Lieutenant Youens led a three-man patrol into no man’s land. There they came across a group of 40 Germans and Freddy and another soldier were wounded. Safely back in the Durhams’ trenches, Freddy was having his wounds dressed, when he was told that German raiders were fast approaching. He immediately ran from the dug-out, forgetting his shirt and tunic, to rally his men. A bomb (grenade) then fell near a Lewis machine gun crew but failed to explode. Freddy fearlessly picked it up and threw it out of the trench. Shortly afterwards another bomb fell nearby. Again, Freddy picked it up to throw it away, but it exploded in his hand, mortally wounding him, and some of his men. Second Lieutenant Frederick Youens died from his wounds shortly afterwards and he was buried in Railway Dugouts Burial Ground at Zillebeke.

Grave marker for Frederick Youens, Australian War Memorial P00735.010 (public domain)

On 2 August 1917, the London Gazette announced the award of a posthumous Victoria Cross “for most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty” to Second Lieutenant Youens and, before the end of the month, his mother went to Buckingham Palace to receive her son’s VC. This became her most treasured possession, along with letters from the chaplain and from Freddy’s commanding officer, who described her son as “an ideal soldier - keen, efficient and brave”.

Mrs Youens died in 1958 and her treasured possession was then sold but in 1976, thanks to the generosity of the DLI Association, Freddy’s Victoria Cross was acquired and presented to the DLI Museum. Today his medal is part of the DLI Collection, held by the University of Durham at Palace Green Library, whilst Durham County Record Office preserves the letters and photographs also treasured by Freddy’s mother.

During the DLI Association’s campaign to acquire the Victoria Cross, one of Freddy’s brother officers visited the museum and was interviewed by local media about the day Freddy won his VC. Born in Scotland in 1892, Roderick Mitchell was teaching in Sunderland when the First World War began. Later, he was commissioned as an officer in 13 DLI and was awarded the Military Cross twice for his bravery during the war. In his interview, this old soldier, proudly wearing his medals, vividly remembered the German raid on his battalion’s trenches and seeing Freddy Youens pick up a German bomb, before a second exploded in his hand.

Roderick Mitchell was the last surviving eye-witness of the events in the 13th Battalion’s trenches on 7 July 1917. He died a few months after visiting the museum, in June 1977.