Lieutenant Maurice Dease VC

Posted on August 24, 2013 by DH

ImageLieutenant Maurice Dease won his VC at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914.

‘The machine gun crews were constantly being knocked out. So cramped was their position that when a man was hit he had to be removed before another could take his place. The approach from the trench was across the open, and whenever a gun stopped Lieutenant Maurice Dease… went up to see what was wrong.

‘To do this once called for no ordinary courage. To repeat it several times could only be done with real heroism. Dease was badly wounded on these journeys, but insisted on remaining at duty as long as one of his crew could fire.

‘The third wound proved fatal, and a well deserved VC was awarded him posthumously. By this time both guns had ceased firing, and all the crew had been knocked out.

‘In response to an inquiry whether anyone else knew how to operate the guns Private Godley came forward. He cleared the emplacement under heavy fire and brought the gun into action.

‘But he had not been firing long before the gun was hit and put completely out of action. The water jackets of both guns were riddled with bullets, so that they were no longer of any use. Godley himself was badly wounded and later fell into the hands of the Germans.’

H.C.O’Neill, The Royal Fusiliers in the Great War

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Photograph at Abbeville CWGC cemetery

Posted on August 22, 2013 by DH

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I stopped off at the CWGC cemetery at Abbeville, Picardy, last week.

Lying on one of the grass paths was this photo, depicting the Irvine Victoria football team presumably of some time around 1914.

I expect it had blown there from one of the graves nearby, but there was no way of telling which one.

There are 1,992 Commonwealth War Graves at Abbeville’s Communal Cemetery and Extension, of which there is more information here from CWGC.

 

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Missing Australian soldiers identified at Fromelles

Posted on August 6, 2013 by DH

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The CWGC has erected headstones to mark the graves of five newly identified Australian soldiers of World War I.

Private William Barber, Private Thomas William Francis, Private William O’Donnell, Private Thomas Henry Bills and Private John Gordon McKenzie, were among 250 Australian and British World War I soldiers who were recovered from a mass burial at Pheasant Wood in France in 2009.

The CWGC erected new headstones with the identified soldiers’ details ahead of annual commemorations to mark the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July.

The identification of the five soldiers was confirmed by the joint Australian Army and UK Ministry of Defence project team.

The Battle of Fromelles was the first major engagement fought by the Australian Imperial Force in France. The 5th Australian Division suffered more than 5,500 casualties (killed and wounded) in 24 hours. The British 61st (South Midland) Division reported over 1,500 killed, wounded and missing.

Private Barber’s relative David Barber travelled from South Australia to the new Fromelles military cemetery.

‘It’s very significant for us to have him identified and have him in a marked grave now with his name on it honouring the sacrifice he made,’ Mr Barber told AAP. ‘He can now rest in peace.’

Private Barber, from Goolwa, South Australia, was 47 years old when he was killed.

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Private Felix Henry Knell, Royal Fusiliers

Posted on August 5, 2013 by DH

Private Felix Henry Knell, of 53rd (Young Soldiers) Battalion Royal Fusiliers is buried in the churchyard at Leeds, near Maidstone, Kent.

He was the son of William Knell, a labourer from the village, and is buried next to his younger brother and sister.

CWGC lists him as having died, presumably because of an accident or illness.

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National Army Museum’s speakers focus on World War I

Posted on August 5, 2013 by DH

100 Days to Victory: How the First World War Was Won

Saul David

12 September 2013, 7pm

Employing the latest ideas and scholarship, author Saul David will explore the history of World War I from a new angle and will reveal the key part played by non-British and non-white soldiers on the Somme and elsewhere.

Fighting on the Home Front: The Legacy of Women in World War One

Kate Adie

2 October 2013, 7pm

In 1914 the world changed forever. When World War I broke out and a generation of men went off to fight, women emerged from the shadows of their domestic lives.

Becoming a visible force in public life, they began to take up essential roles – from transport to policing, munitions to sport, entertainment and even politics.

Former BBC chief news correspondent and bestselling author Kate Adie will chart the seismic move towards equal rights with men that began a century ago and asks what these women achieved for future generations.

Great Britain’s Great War

Jeremy Paxman

10 October 2013, 7.30pm, dining from 5.30pm

Army & Navy Club, 36-39 Pall Mall, London, Greater London SW1Y 5JN

Using a wealth of first-hand source material, renowned broadcaster Jeremy Paxman gives us an image of what life was actually like for the British during the World War I.

From politicians and generals to factory workers, wives and children, he captures the mood and morale of the nation and explains how life and identity in Britain were utterly transformed not always for the worse.

Ticket prices £10 standard £7.50 concession £25 ticket plus signed, first edition of Great Britain’s Great War. Dining optional extra: £22 two-course seated menu including event ticket.

Catastrophe: 1914 Europe Goes to War

Max Hastings

16 October 2013, 7.30pm

1914 was the year that Europe violently shifted from the glories and glamour of the Edwardian era to the tragedy of war.

Bestselling author Max Hastings will examine the formative sacrifices, follies and misfortunes that left Europe facing a horrific pattern of attrition.

Ticket prices Standard: £10, Concession: £7.50

To find out more about the museum, click here.

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Derry Journal tells tale of soldier shot at dawn

Posted on July 21, 2013 by DH

The Derry Journal reports how a 19-year-old soldier from the Inniskilling  Fusiliers was shot at dawn and how an officer refused to be involved with the execution.

The newspaper also states that Private Robert Hope was shot for desertion in 1917 and his teenage bride added the words, ‘Of Waterside, Derry’ to his gravestone.

Hope served under an alias and was originally from Sunderland, where the Inniskillings recruited especially after Home Rule issues meant fewer Irishmen were prepared to volunteer.

To read the original story, click here.

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Canadian soldiers added to Dorchester memorial

Posted on July 21, 2013 by DH

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The names of two Dorset men who lost their lives fighting with the Canadian forces in World War I have been added to a war memorial in Dorchester.

Charlie Cutt and George Quinton were omitted from the monument when it was unveiled in 1921.

Cutt had only just emigrated to Canada when the war broke out and was soon back in Europe with the army of his adopted country. He was killed in 1917 while serving as a corporal with the 47th Battalion, Canadian Infantry.

Quinton was visiting a brother in Canada when he joined up. He was a sapper with the 3rd Tunnelling Company, Canadian Engineers and was killed on 17 September 1917. His name also appears on the Menin Gate in Ypres.

Dorchester World War I historian Brian Bates was contacted by relatives of the two men and helped to ensure their names were added to the 239 already on the town’s Portland stone cenotaph.

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Three South African soldiers re-buried at Tyne Cot

Posted on July 9, 2013 by DH

Three unknown South African soldiers, who died while fighting on the Western Front in 1917, were re-interred today at a ceremony at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium.

The service was organised by the South African Embassy, located in Brussels, and the South African Defence Force.

The remains of the three soldiers were found near a brick factory in Zonnebeke at the end of 2011. Indications are that these soldiers were never formally buried, but that their graves were covered during battle by mortar and/or artillery fire.

Based on objects recovered, including unit insignia, as well as the location of the find, the remains were accepted as those of three unknown South African Soldiers from the 4th Regiment South African Infantry.

The Regiment was known as the South African Scottish and wore the Murray Atholl tartan. They were recruited from the Transvaal and Cape Town, among other places.

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A South African RAF pilot

Posted on July 8, 2013 by DH

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CWGC lists lieutenant Charles Perring as belonging to the Aircraft Acceptance Park at Hendon Aerodrome in London.

He was killed in an air crash at Lympne in Kent on 9 August 1918 and originally came from Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Acceptance Parks were used to assemble and store aircraft before they were flown out to squadrons in France. It seems possible that lieutenant Perring was taking an aircraft from Hendon to France via Kent when he crashed.

There is more about the history of Hendon airfield and the Acceptance Park here.

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CWGC searches for family of World War I NCO

Posted on July 1, 2013 by DH

Research by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) has identified the grave of Company Serjeant Major (CSM) Andrew Gale of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, Belgium.

CSM Gale was commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, but research has shown that the grave of a previously unknown CSM in the above cemetery is his.

CSM Gale was born in Hammersmith, enlisted in Battersea, and resided at 14 Quinton Street in Earlsfield with his wife, Olivia Emma, and their three children.

He died on 28 September 1918.

The Commission and UK MOD are appealing for family to come forward so that arrangements can be made to mark the grave with a suitable headstone.

The Commission is asking for anyone with any information on the subject to contact casualty.enq@cwgc.org.

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