Young Soldiers

D/DLI 7/839/11 Young Soldiers, 52nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, mounting guard at a sentry post outside the town guardroom, Cologne, Germany, 1919, Private Thomas Brown, front row, extreme right

In 1917, the system for training conscripts was changed with Young Soldier and Graduated battalions being formed. Under this system conscripts aged 18 years and one month were first sent to a Young Soldier battalion and then, after basic training, moved into a Graduated battalion to complete their training. Every three months, this system produced a company of (about 200) trained 19-year-old soldiers ready for active service overseas. 

In October 1917, the War Office decided that the Young Soldier and Graduated battalions should, once again, be linked to a parent regiment. And so the 51st and 52nd (Graduated) Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) were born, whilst the old 17th (Reserve) Battalion DLI was reborn as the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion. 

In March 1919, these battalions would go on to replace older soldiers, such as those in 20th Battalion DLI who had not yet been demobilised, but were in Cologne, Germany, as part of the British Army of the Rhine (as named from January 1919). 

Map showing the zones of the Allied occupation of the Rhineland (NZ Government)

Conditions of the Armistice included the German Army withdrawing its forces across the Rhine, creating a demilitarised buffer zone between Germany and France/Belgium. In order to enforce this until the Peace Treaty was ratified, the four Allied armies, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and America, each had a zone of the Rhineland. Great Britain had Cologne and the surrounding area.

Germany had been given a time frame for its withdrawal, and Allied forces were not allowed to cross the Rhine until 13 December 1918. 20th DLI spent Christmas and the New Year in Belgium, 50 miles from the German border. They entrained for Germany on 6 January 1919.

The 51st and 52nd Battalions arrived in Cologne on 6 and 8 March 1919 respectively. The 53rd arrived on 4 April, but were almost immediately disbanded, and the men posted to the 51st and 52nd. The battalions were billeted at Rhiel Barracks, and much of their activity was to carry out guard duty in the city. Sometimes there would be warnings of civil disturbances, and reinforcements would be required.

Other activities included training, parades, and sports. Though this was a comparatively quiet life, the DLI battalions still left some of its men behind in the cemeteries of Cologne. These appear to be due to illness or accident.


Extract from a letter to the father of a deceased young soldier

It is difficult to trace the young soldiers, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission provides the names of those who died, the Absent Voters List of 1918 also gives some leads. 52nd DLI's war diary has a nominal roll of officers, but these are men with prior service. Even with names, it can be hard to trace them. As they did not fight in a theatre of war, or go abroad until after the armistice, the young soldiers were not entitled to any medals. What's more, for the service records I have found, the ink is extremely faint.

There are at least two names from the men buried in Cologne whose service records include inquiries into their deaths. The witness statements are very faded in some parts, but it is possible to piece together what happened.

On 7 April 1919, 110098 Private Thomas Hyde, 52nd DLI, of Dudley, Staffordshire, died in an accident, aged 19. A statement by 110344 Private TH Luckwood, also of the 52nd, describes what happened in Reihlerstrasse. 'I was in the grounds watching the swing boats. At 18 hours, I saw Private Hyde was in one of the boats in company with another soldier, fall out of it. I went up to him and found he was unconscious and bleeding from his head. A captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps came up shortly afterwards, and had him removed in a motor ambulance'. Private Hyde died in 44th Casualty Clearing Station. The service record states the clearing station as being in France, but by this time it had moved to Cologne.

102626 Private John Ridley, 19 years old, from Langley Moor, Durham, had enlisted back in June 1918. He was called up in the September and posted to 3/5th DLI at Sutton-on-Hull (Humber Garrison). In April 1919, Ridley arrived in Germany and was posted to 52nd Battalion. In June 1919, both 51st and 52nd DLI moved to Wermelskirchen, 20 miles north east of Cologne, for two weeks. Here, Private Ridley lost his life.

The date given by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 26 June 1919, is contradicted by Ridley's service record. This states that he died on 21 June when he 'went into the open air swimming bath at Wermelskirchen. Although a good swimmer, he was seen to disappear under the surface. He was eventually brought ashore (having been immersed about four minutes) and removed to No.7 Field Ambulance'. 113969 Private Rollinson's (51st DLI) conduct was noted in the inquiry. He made several attempts to rescue Private Ridley, and persevered until he was successful in bringing him to the surface. The text of the inquiry is extremely difficult to read. P1716 Corporal A Redall, No. 3 Traffic Control Company, is also noted for his conduct. A reference to artificial respiration being given to Private Ridley is made, and it could be this was provided by Corporal Redall. Private Ridley's cause of death is given as syncope and asphyxia.

The war diaries for both 51st and 52nd DLI end in June 1919, as the battalions returned to Cologne, and then left Germany for home. 

Sources:
Wearside Battalion, The 20th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, John Sheen
The Watch on the Rhine, The Military Occupation of the Rhineland, Margaret Pawley
51st Battalion, DLI, War Diary, The National Archives, WO 95/1438/12
52nd Battalion, DLI, War Diary, The National Archives, WO 95/1438/13
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
British Army Service Records, Ancestry