Timeline period - 1900

1900 - Regulars and Volunteers in the Boer War

Throughout 1900 the might of the British Empire continued to mobilise and head for South Africa, and still more soldiers of Gloucestershire were with them, hurrying to join 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment in the war against the Boers. 2nd Battalion arrived at Cape Town on 21st January 1900, and a Volunteer Company of 124 officers and men from 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions also landed at Cape Town on 16th March, with a squadron of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars arriving three days later. On 23rd April 4th Militia Battalion landed on St Helena to guard Boer prisoners.

2nd Battalion joined 6th Division, part of Lord Roberts' army which was soon on the march to invade the Orange Free State and Transvaal, relieving besieged towns like Ladysmith and Kimberley in the process. The march was hard and made much worse by the Boer capture of the supply train which reduced the army to short rations. Roberts aimed to surround the main Boer army under Piet Cronje and it was brought to battle and eventual surrender at Paardeberg on 27th February. But the war was far from over, and for the British increasingly took on the aspects of counter-guerrilla operations. Lieutenant Savage recalled the bravery of one of his men in an action fought by 2nd Battalion, at Driefontein, shortly after Cronje's surrender at Paardeberg:

"Another outstanding case was a young soldier whose name unfortunately I cannot remember. He belonged to my section. We were moving towards our objective in extended order, bullets and pom-pom shells were too frequent to be pleasant, and all the time he kept murmuring the word "Mother". We were now drawing near to our goal and the firing intensified. The order was passed - "Fix Bayonets," then "Charge." I could never fathom the change which came over him. Still muttering that adorable word "Mother" he charged, sometimes using his bayonet and then his magazine, into the very thick of it as though the tradition of the "Old Slashers" depended upon him. His example brought others less daring to his side until we reached the summit of the hill and victory."

Private Dix of the Volunteer Company remembered the daily grind and occasional excitements of outpost duty in Orange Free State at Sanna's Post (which had recently been successfully raided by Christian de Wett's Commando) near Bloemfontein:

"You will understand the difficulties in regard to food, clothing etc. in the South Africa Campaign. Practically all the materials had to travel hundreds of miles over a single line railway to Bloemfontein, hence by Ox or Mule Convoy. Our rations consisted of biscuits, Bully and McConnachie dried vegetables. I forget if we had a cigarette ration, but I don't think we did; but I do remember paying 5d per 5 packet of Woodbines at Sanna's Post. We did get a ration of Flat Black Army Cake tobacco which, when one got used to it, was really good. We also had Rum Ration twice a week in the wet season, also Lime Juice twice per week."

The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars squadron in South Africa formed "A" Company, 1st Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. It was a matter of some concern to the officers and men that they should not be regarded as mounted infantry, but as cavalry who could fight while dismounted. It was a moot point and the Hussars found themselves engaged in convoy protection duty, raids and many minor actions with the enemy between 1900 and 1901. Remounts were a constant concern. Lieutenant Altham Graham-Clarke wrote home on 15th September 1900:

". . . Yesterday I went to Newberry's the Millionaire to attach his race horses for remount purposes. Mrs N. is under suspicion and being sent to Cape Town. They have a lovely house and place all furnished by Maple of the best. I have done my business, stopped to lunch; quite funny to sit down to a table with three ladies (2 girls) both been presented and they have two boys at Harrow. I have got their carriage horses pulling in a gun. I am glad you have sold the Grey and Brown Horse, we will soon get some more if ever we leave this God forsaken country. . . . All my remounts stampeded night before last and old Campbell was in a fair stew. I think I have got the bulk of them back, but it is impossible to count them on the march. I shall be quite expert broncho driving soon."

Two days later Lieutenant Graham-Clarke saw some action, and added a postscript:

"Henry Clifford got hit late last night, but is all right; he was very weak and fainted and I stopped back with him and brought him in. The bullet went thro' the fore-arm, but missed the bone; he bled like a pig. I and three men were within 300 yards of them. Gordon Lennox, Campbell's A.D.C., who was with me, had his horse shot. Corporal Edwards (Glos) had his arm scratched. Bobby Golightly on his best new horse that I gave him could not mount, and I laughed like anything. Am awfully tired - have been on the gallop since 5 A.M. and now 9 P.M. I am writing this in my new waggon which I sleep in, and driven along with four horses. . . . Tell Mrs. Clifford Henry is doing A.1. and ate a good dinner last night and drank his lot of rum which did him a power of good, the first issue for a fortnight."

At Deadwood Camp on St Helena, 4th Militia Battalion were guarding Boer prisoners, and General Cronje was there too, having recently surrendered and been taken into captivity at at Paardeberg. Captain Hobbs wasn't too impressed, as he wrote in a letter to Captain Lovett on 12th June 1900:

"The prisoners, Transvaalers only, are an odd crew, all nationalities and ages. Most of them can talk English. All the officers are at one end of the camp, some have been let out on parole now. The O.C. troop here is a bit of an old woman and too lenient to them. Now the officers on parole are able to take out 10 of their men with them for walks. And go anywhere they please. . . .

"Cronje and his retinue live in a house guarded by the RA about 4 miles from here. He is an ugly looking beggar and pretends to understand English. He has been driven over here on 2 Sundays. When he attends, the Boer service goes on more or less all day."

1st Battalion, reunited after the Boers freed the prisoners taken at Nicholson's Nek, had left South Africa in August 1900 to guard Boer prisoners in Ceylon. 2nd Battalion served throughout the war, later holding lines of blockhouses and garrisoning Bloemfontein, where they were to remain until 1904. The Volunteer Company returned to England in April 1901, having served out its year of active service when it was replaced by a second Volunteer Company which remained until the end of the war. The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars left in June. 4th Militia Battalion remained on St Helena until the end of the war in 1902.


Picture: Men of the Gloucesters' Volunteer Company at Sanna's Post.

1908 - Reorganisation and Retraining

The lessons learned from the Boer War and the looming probability of war in Europe prompted in 1908 the biggest reorganisation of the British Army since 1881, pushed through by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Haldane, in the face of considerable opposition.

For the Gloucestershire Regiment, the two regular battalions were unaffected, and the two militia battalions saw the greatest changes. 3rd (Militia) Battalion became 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, its new role being to train soldiers for front line service with the regular battalions in war time. 4th (Militia) Battalion, which had seen its only overseas service in guarding prisoners on St Helena during the Boer War, was disbanded.

1st (City of Bristol) Volunteer Battalion became 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, Territorial Force. Likewise, 2nd Volunteer Battalion became 5th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, Territorial Force. In 1900 a 3rd Volunteer Battalion had been raised and this became 6th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, Territorial Force.

The new 4th and 6th Battalions gave up their old full dress uniforms to adopt the scarlet of the regulars, but 5th Battalion retained its rifle green uniform until 1925. The privilege of wearing the Back Badge was not granted to the Territorials until after the Great War. For service dress, the Territorial battalions wore the familiar khaki in which the British Army went to war in 1914.

With reorganisation went retraining. The British army had long appreciated the virtues of rapid and accurate fire, but with modern magazine fed rifles, the problem of ammunition supply became a thorny issue. As with the reorganisation of the army, there was opposition to the introduction of new drill and new tactics. Sir Mark Sykes, who had served in the Boer War, wrote a spoof military manual under the pseudonym of Major-General George D'Ordell called "Tactics and Military Training." It lampooned the Drill Regulations of 1896, which had guided the British army during the Boer War, and which still had its adherents:

"I have ignored, purposely, the late disastrous campaign in South Africa (well termed "The Grave of Reputations") because I think that, owing to its irregular conduct, it cannot be fruitful of any lessons to the regular soldier."

Concerning ammunition supply, D'Ordell satirized and quoted from the 1896 Regulations:

"Strict fire discipline and economical use of ammunition are to be enforced. This is most easily ensured by one round of ammunition only being issued per man. The remainder must be carried in carts or on mules at the base, and in no case should be issued. "Troops are not supposed to be in possession of any ammunition not actually carried."* This would be fatal.

* Drill Book, 1896, p.253."

If the British soldiers of the Boer War had worried about accounting for the ammunition they used in the heat of battle, the Field Service Regulations of 1909 went but a little way to allay their fears:-

"The account of rounds fired by any unit during an action is not the affair of the brigade ammunition column commander. Such accounts must be kept under the orders of the commander of the unit."

But field training kept ahead of the regulations, and the application of rapid fire, the so-called "Mad Minute", where soldiers were expected to fire at least fifteen aimed rounds in a minute, could only become the effective tactic it proved to be if the soldiers were adequately issued with ammunition in the first place.

The Infantry Training Manual of August 1914 recognized the realities that would be faced in war and had been highlighted by field training exercises:

"Whenever a collision with the enemy is probable battalion commanders will, on their own initiative, increase the number of rounds carried by each man to 200 from their regimental reserves, taking the necessary steps to replenish their reserves as soon as possible from the brigade reserve. It will usually be advisable to issue these extra rounds from the portion of the regimental reserve not allocated to companies."

The Regular Army of 1914 proved the point.

Picture: 2nd Battalion Shooting Team, circa 1910.

1914 - Outbreak of First World War

Following its invasion of Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August.

Within a week 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment had left their quarters near Aldershot and crossed to France as an integral part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Taking part in the retreat from Mons, they distinguished themselves in what later became known as 1st Ypres at Langemarck and again at Gheluevelt, before the battle front stabilised into the stalemate of trench warfare - a stalemate that was to last for the next four years.

Private Barton of No. 4 Platoon, "A" Company remembered the hot firefight at Langemarck on 23rd October:

". . . Our casualties were mounting rapidly. In the left traverse of the trench only one was left out of 7 and in my traverse, the second from the left, only 2 were left out of 6.

"Ammunition was becoming scarce, all the wounded and killed were searched for ammunition. The attack from the Farm Road was again pushed on and reached a point 75 yards from us where it was held. The fire from the ditch was so intense that practically all the bayonets in the trench were broken. When hit by bullets they snapped like glass and the fragments were responsible for 7 head and neck wounds. 2 of which were serious.

". . . Shortly after 1 p.m. the enemy fire died down from the ditch and quietened from the front. Some men ran from the village under Sergt. Wilson and brought more ammunition. The Germans were then seen to be trickling in small parties down the ditch in retirement. The platoon, now respectable in numbers kept up a continuous fire on them and caused a great number of casualties. Strangely enough we were not again fired on. This continued for an hour or so and the line in front which had attacked from the Farm Road were seen to be making movement. They arose in groups of 5 and 6 and as we were at point blank range and waiting for their movement they were all mown down, immediately after rising. No man reached the shelter of the road.

". . . During the day I fired 600 rounds of ammunition."

Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion was on the other side of the world at Tientsin near Beijing in China, being the British contingent of an International force which also included French, Russian, German, Austrian, American and Japanese troops. On 1st August the German commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Kuhl, wrote to the British commander regretting the movement of his troops, concluding:-

". . . The friendly relations which have always existed between us remain a very pleasant memory."

The British commander concurred:-

". . . On my own behalf, and that of the officers N.C.O.s and men of the British troops under my Command, I can only say that we sincerely regret the severance of those friendly relations - a severance which we earnestly hope may only be a temporary one."

2nd Battalion left China the following month and on December 19th 1914, they landed in France.

As soon as the war had broken out, the Territorial battalions were mobilised and went into a period of intensive training, not seeing their first action until the next year. As volunteers rushed to fight for their country, the Territorial battalions destined for overseas service were divided and then brought back up to strength. 1/4th, 2/4th, 1/5th, 2/5th, 1/6th and 2/6th Battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment were all destined to play their parts on the Western and Italian Fronts.

Private Henry Buckle of 1/5th Battalion, who was something of an amateur photographer and artist, noted in his diary, while training near Chelmsford:-

"My giddy aunt, what a parade, the only thing was we were nearly all the same colour, misfits galore. At the dinner hour we had a general swop round with caps and tunics, resulting in a much more presentable appearance this afternoon, like a row of Turveydrops from Bleak House.

"What rumours today, millions of Russians passed through last night, France must be full and we are going to Egypt or somewhere hot, for there are trucks of pith helmets at the station! But cannot meet anyone who has actually seen either Russians or Helmets so far."

Additionally, as a flood of volunteers poured into recruiting stations in response to Kitchener's call to arms, several New Army battalions were raised from around the county including Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucester and the Forest of Dean. Seven of these were raised in 1914, and more would follow. Later, too, additional Special Reserve Battalions were raised which acted in support of 3rd Battalion as training battalions. As the year wore on, these raw recruits eventually received their uniforms and arms and they too went into training to become part of the great British Army of the later years of the war.

Picture: Recruiting poster.

1915 - Gallipoli

Once the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who had rushed to join the British Army were allocated to their various regiments and corps and trained for war, so the size of the British armies on campaign overseas swelled in numbers. 1/4th, 1/5th and 1/6th Territorial battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment were the first to join the two Regular battalions, landing in France in March 1915. Soldiers of the New Army, in 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th and 13th Service battalions followed the Territorials into France, and on 11th July 7th Battalion landed on the Gallipoli beaches.

The Gallipoli front had been opened as a result of the Royal Navy's failure to clear the passage of the Dardanelles Strait, dominated as it was on either side by Turkish shore-based artillery. The landings made in April had secured for the Allies a precarious foothold on the Gallipoli peninsula, and both sides had sustained heavy losses. 7th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment saw its major commitment to battle in the attempt to take the hill of Chunuk Bair, just inland of Anzac Cove. On 7th August the battalion went into battle almost 1,000 strong, but only 181 emerged from it completely unscathed, the rest being either killed or wounded. Of the battalion's twenty officers, ten were killed and ten were wounded.

Private Domican from Bristol, who had to have his right hand amputated as a result of a wound he had suffered in the battle, recalled a few months later:-

"The big attack took place on Sunday morning. As soon as day broke we had orders to rush for the ridge, about 600 yards away, in extended order, and this we did amidst a hail of shrapnel. Our orders were to extend out two yards, take all possible shelter, and one man was to dig and the next one to open fire on the enemy who were about forty yards away.

"It was my duty to follow out the firing order while my companion was digging. I was struck in the face by shrapnel early in the attack and my wrist was shattered. With some 250 Australians [actually New Zealanders], Ghurkas, and Gloucesters, I remained in the gully until eight o'clock in the evening, shells continually bursting in the vicinity.

"When sunset came those of us who were able crawled back to our lines and had our wounds attended to. We, of course, heard the firing all day on the ridge, and afterward learnt of the terrible losses which the 7th Gloucesters and other regiments had suffered both in men and officers."

Chunuk Bair remained in Turkish hands.

The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, who had been part of the Territorial Forces since 1908, arrived in Alexandria in Egypt on 24th April 1915, a mounted force 537 strong, without having lost a single horse or mule on the voyage. Training, escort and guard duties came to an end when the Regiment was ordered to Gallipoli on 11th August, but to leave its horses behind. As with so many others who had landed there before them, the Hussars landing was not unopposed. Second Lieutenant Edgerton Cripps noted in his diary for August 19th:

". . . The boat we went in was oddly enough a Bristol pleasure-steamer: much appreciated by the Bristol Troop! We put off at dark and steamed for five hours. I slept on the boards well, with my pack under my head. We landed . . . as luck would have it, ran up against the Gloucestershire transport, such as it is, and put my valise down and joined up. Very glad to see them I was, about sunrise yesterday morning. We marched on up from the landing-stage and lined up on the side of the hill, just above the landing -- very broken ground, with low, thorny scrub, rocks and stones on a clayey soil. They began to shell us, or rather the next landing party, so we dug ourselves into temporary graves! -- you can't call them anything else -- with head-stones to protect us. Mine is just long enough to hold me, two feet deep, piled up all round with earth, a stone at my head, two pieces of wood I found floating in the sea in the middle of each side, and my mackintosh sheet as a sun shelter. . . ."

General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, watched the Hussars advance on Chocolate Hill on the 21st August:-

"The advance of these English yeomen was a sight calculated to send a thrill of pride through anyone with a drop of English blood running in their veins. Such superb martial spectacles are rare in modern war. Ordinarily it should always be possible to bring up reserves under some sort of cover from shrapnel fire. Here, for a mile and a half, there was nothing to conceal a mouse, much less some of the most stalwart soldiers England has ever sent from her shores. Despite the critical events in other parts of the field I could hardly take my eyes off the yeomen; they moved like men marching on parade. Here and there a shell would take a toll of a cluster; there they lay. There was no straggling; the others moved steadily on; not a man was there who hung back or hurried."

For the next six weeks the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars were in and out of the front line around Chocolate Hill and Cator House trenches. Second Lieutenant Cripps noted in his diary for August 26th:-

"Am in a dug-out in the firing trench. Came up last night and was sent with my men to dig a new communication trench in the dark. Boring performance, as they sniped at us in the moonlight all night. Got the men back to the trench at 2 a.m. went to sleep - very smelly - four dead Turks found buried in the corner! We buried over 30 in front of the communication trench last night. . . . This morning had such a good breakfast, as Pemberton (machine gun officer, Warwicks), who is with me had some rations - bacon and jam - which he shared with me.

"Sniping goes on all the time. One man spots, the other shoots. I had ten shots at one man making a trench 950 yards, and hit the bag last two shots. Such fun! I get so keen I could go on all day, only it means putting your head over the trench to fire and I am much too careful of my skin. You can't imagine how interesting and beastly it all is. I quite enjoy it in an extraordinary way that I can't explain. The shelling is the worst part. They gave us a doing last night and found our camp for the first time. The men bolt like rabbits, and only two were hit."

By 17th October the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars were down to an effective strength of 95, all ranks, with battle casualties and, more decisively, disease, having taken their dreadful toll.

Picture : Soldiers of 7th Battalion advancing up Chunuk Bair

1915 - The Battles of Second Ypres and Loos

At the beginning of 1915 the two regular battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment were present on the Western Front. 2nd Battalion was to be involved the battle of Second Ypres, the German offensive which saw the first use of gas. The Gloucesters were fortunate in not coming under gas attack during this battle, and the Canadian Army made a name for itself in stopping the first German assault, but the later fighting involving the Gloucesters was fierce nevertheless.

Captain George Power wrote to his aunt in England on 6th May:-

". . . A shell landed on our dug-out or rather the corner thereof last night, but there being a healthy roof and the shell being small the damage was nil, but we don't want any "crumps" on our home, do we? Fritz has a heap of guns up here. So he has everywhere apparently. For the most part they seem to be engaged in ploughing up fields untended by their lawful owners, but now & then they strike a winner and the place thereof knoweth it (whatever it is) no more. The parcels have all arrived safe and sound and are very comforting indeed. Please send me a piece of soap! Some day soon there is going to be a mighty washing of the person and raiment. The inconsiderate and uncleanly Hun has destroyed my laundry with a 17 inch shell. Luckily none of my clothes were there, but all the apparatus of cleansing garments has vanished in a cloud of smoke. The trees are now nearly fully out and look lovely - No more news."

On 9th May later the 2nd Gloucesters' position in Sanctuary Wood came under heavy attack. The Germans failed to break through but drove the British from their forward positions, the Gloucesters losing 145 officers and men. Captain Power had time to write a brief letter three days later:-

"I have not written I am afraid for a long time except for a post-card now and then. I am so sorry, but there has been very heavy fighting round here during the last few days. You and I have lost one very good friend and some more wounded. The regiment has done splendidly. It has been awfully trying. I am very well, but very dirty and suffering from a chronic headache; and that back from the frontiest of front lines so you can imagine what the poor fellows have been through. I will write and tell you all about it one day when Mr Censor will let it pass. I want this bit of a letter to get through so will not put any contraband goods in it. I am more sorry than I can say about Conner. [Major Conner, wounded and captured, who died as a prisoner of war four months later]. The respirator has arrived, thank you so much. Just the thing. Bye bye for a bit."

In August 10th Battalion joined 1st Battalion in 1st Division, and together, both the New and the Old, they would take part in the battle of Loos that Autumn. 2nd Battalion had fought at the second battle of Ypres earlier in the year, 1st Battalion had suffered heavily at Fromelles, and by early summer the Territorial battalions of 48th (South Midland) Division were already in and out of the front line and back again around Ploegsteert and Hebuterne.

In early September, Private William Fisher of 10th Battalion wrote home to his parents while training in France for the planned offensive:-

"Dear Mother & Dad,
I am just writing you a few lines hoping you are quite well as this leaves me very well at present glad to hear Lil is got a lot better and I hope she will keep so. We are still having it very warm out here, they have mostly finished harvest out here, I have had two letters and fags from Bisley they said all of them are keeping very well, I have plenty off letters to write now but we have not much time for writing for we are at something most off the time, I am a bomb thrower, and Bert is something to do with the wire that is put in front off the trenches, I don't know when we are going to them again but I don't think it will be long do you know whether Bill Ayers is come out here, I heard that their lot was out but I don't know if it is right. I see in the paper that they done a lot of damage in London with the air raid we had three of our chaps wounded with one but they are got pretty well over it now, they are a crafty lot of people they want a good doing down and I think they will have it now. I suppose Bill Morley is kicking about there he out [ought] to be out here but I daresay he would soon want to be back again and I don't think it will be long before some of the slackers will have to come and do their share. Well I have not much news to tell you as we don't see much out here. So I think I must close trusting this will find you all quite well. I remain your everloving Son, Will XXXX . Tell Lil I received her letter quite safe and will write soon."

Will was not to survive the battle, and nine days after writing to his sister Lily he was killed on 13th October during the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, one of a hundred and fifty men of the battalion who were killed, wounded or went missing that day.

1st Battalion was also heavily engaged, particularly on 8th October when, after coming under a heavy preliminary bombardment, they drove off a German attack on their position opposite Bois Hugo. Captain (later Brigadier) A.W. "Patsy" Pagan recalled:-

"It is estimated that six battalions were employed by the enemy in the attack at the Chalk Pit; their casualties must have been heavy. There is little doubt that they expected that their intense bombardment would have subdued all resistance, and that they would overrun our position easily; on this occasion they counted without their host. The Regiment lost about 130 men during the day, but had a good fight; all ranks were overjoyed when the time came to meet the attackers with the bullet, thus to get their own back, not only for the shelling that they had endured earlier in the day, but also for the never-forgotten ninth of May. In many cases, when the shooting began, wounded men, stripped of their shirts for the dressing of their wounds, were on the firing-step, taking their part in the battle; it was instructive to hear eager marksmen counting aloud the number of their hits as they obtained them. In such a light all did well, but outstanding was work of the signalling sergeant, Sergeant Biddle. When the war began he was a signalling storeman, beyond which height it is probable that his military ambition never would have soared. The war proved him to be a real leader of men as well as a most courageous fighter who enjoyed his fighting. He finished up the war as a Company Sergeant Major with a Military Cross, a D.C.M. and bar, and a Military Medal and bar; he deserved every one of them."

Picture: Private Will Fisher, killed at Loos.

1916 - The Gloucesters on the Somme

By the summer of 1916 twelve battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment were on the Western Front. 1st and 10th Battalions in 1st Division; 1/4th, 1/5th and 1/6th in 48th (1/South Midland) Division; 2/4th, 2/5th and 2/6th in 61st (2/South Midland) Division; 8th Battalion in 19th Division; 12th Battalion in 5th Division; 13th Battalion in 39th Division; and 14th Battalion in 35th Division.

The Gloucesters were fortunate to not have been in action on the first day of the battle of the Somme, when the British Army lost over 19,000 men killed and another 40,000 wounded. But the battle was to continue, relentlessly, with periodic flare-ups, for another four and a half months, by which time British and Empire losses in dead alone had gone beyond 95,000 on the Somme Front. And yet, the British Expeditionary Force of 160,000 that had gone to war in 1914 was, by the end of 1916, over one and a half million strong, nearly a quarter of million of them being Empire troops from Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

1st Battalion went into action at Contalmaison on the night of 16th/17th July. Colour Sergeant Charles Wilson had a good view of the advance, being in the rearmost company:-

". . . All that the eye could see was masses of men going forward at the walk with bayonets fixed and in dead silence. The Germans panicked and ran for their lives, for they had seen what I had and they evidently didn't like the look of things. After dawn on the 17th I saw a sight which will seldom be seen again – I saw hundreds of our men out in front of our lines souvenir hunting!! The Germans had been so badly scared that they retired almost a mile."

Elsewhere on the Somme Front, the Gloucestershire Territorials of 48th Division went into action on the same day. 1/4th Battalion led the attack with 7th Worcesters against the German positions in front of Ovillers. Fortunate for the moment was Lieutenant E.E. Wookey of 1/4th who was far behind the front line recuperating from illness. While his comrades were in the thick of the action, Wookey managed to do some shopping and sightseeing in the town of Arques-la-Bataille, as his diary records with some home thoughts from abroad:-

"A quiet morning. Did some shopping, including an important and very necessary visit to the Banque de France. Visited church of St. Jean close by. A fine old church of ample proportions, pillars reminiscent of Gloucester Cathedral. A quiet afternoon and evening. Weather bad very nearly all day. At 5.30pm I receive a wire from England. It is from father and is my first definite news of their safe arrival in England of which I am very glad. It is sent from Paddington and says that permit to visit me can not be obtained, can I get leave. I ask M.O. but he gives no hope as I expected. I write for evening's post & address to Weston."

On 19th July it was the turn of 1/5th Battalion to take up position in the front line trenches, ready to press home 48th Division's attack at Ovillers the following day. Private William Wood, who was Deputy Editor of the Battalion's newspaper "The Fifth Glosters Gazette", recorded in his diary entry of 20th July:-

"The Battalion left for Ovillers-La-Boiselle to engage in the Battle of the Somme. Passing through Albert one noticed the shell-torn church. In the vicinity of La Boiselle one saw the battlefield of July 1st. One heroic group of dead met my gaze on the left of the road. They were all Lewis gunners, and their officer lay out-stretched in the centre of them. The long winding German trench leading to Ovillers-la-Boiselle was littered with German corpses. The relieved Battalion of Worcesters filed past us in the trench, and many of them were in a state of hysteria. HQ Details made a temporary harbour in a spacious down-sloping dugout - fitted up by the Germans as a Dressing Station. At the far end stood the operating table, while on the floor were scattered the ghastly remnants thrown down by the surgeon. The stench was terrible. We all filed into this fearful place until the dugout was packed with men. Most of us threw off our kits. Ten minutes elapsed, and to our horror the gas alarm was raised. I went "cold", for it was a couple of minutes before I could find my respirator in the darkness amongst the jumbled kits. It turned out to be a false alarm. The Battalion held a portion of a Communication trench leading to Sky Line Trench, while the Germans held the remaining length. A thick barrier of Hun dead thrown up by the Germans separated the combatants."

1/6th Battalion, the third Gloucester battalion of 48th Division, was thrown into the fight on 23rd July. Captain L. Cameron Nott, one of three brothers who were all killed while fighting with 1/6th, wrote home to his mother:-

"Just a line to tell you how things are going. This fighting has seen some changes in officers & men, all good comrades, killed, wounded or missing have gone from us & our hearts are heavy with their loss.

"Major Coates died splendidly at the head of his men & after he was hit cheered them on continually till he died. With all his faults we mourn a keen & brave soldier.

"Paramour, who was attached to us & who was commanding A Coy, the men say was magnificent, walking about arranging things as if on the barrack square though the ground was literally boiling all round him with machine gun fire. I have never taken such a fancy to a man so quickly; he was only 20, a perfect gentleman & one of the most gallant fellows I ever knew.

"Smith, poor fellow, has died of wounds. I passed him on his way down - though hit in seven places, his courage was wonderful. I asked him how he felt & he said with a smile "There is some lead in me which ought not to be there & I am afraid I have done in your tunic. I am awfully sorry". I had lent him my old tunic as since he had his commission he had not been able to get leave & get his kit.

"Elliott too died finely, leading on his Coy. Three other Officers are killed. During the fight the Colonel & I had some providential escapes. There were at least 4 direct hits on the dug-out we were in but no one was hurt. The candles were continually going out & once when we were out in the trench a 5.9 landed about 5 yards away.

"The casualties of the N.C.O.'s & men are also heavy & some of them did very fine acts. The VIth [1/6th] failed where no one could have succeeded. The fire was too hot but the way they advanced makes one still more proud to belong to them. . . ."

In Britain, the national press daily reported the weary litany of casualty lists, and local newspapers dutifully recorded in greater detail the lives and deaths of all those who had fallen at the Front. Families received the dreadful news of the deaths of their loved ones from official sources and from the brothers-in-arms of those who had died, whether they were senior officers or close friends. One such local newspaper report recorded the life and death of nineteen year old Private Nelson Griffin of 12th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment (Bristol's Own)

". . . who was killed in France on July 29 in an heroic attempt to get his platoon officer, who was badly wounded, under cover.

"Private Griffin was in his 20th year. He was employed by Messrs. R.A. Lister and Co. before war broke out, and enlisted in "Bristol's Own" on Dec 27 1914. This young hero bore the reputation of being a brave and fearless soldier, and was greatly liked by the officers and men of his regiment, by whom his death is greatly regretted.

"He was a member of the Coaley Parish Church choir, and also a member of the local Bellringers' Association. In peace days he played in the Uley Brass band and Listers' Works Band, and was an excellent musician. . . . "

Sergeant Tristram Risdon, who was later to gain an officer's commission, wrote to Private Griffin's father on 7th August:-

"I am writing to you on behalf of the platoon of which your son, Pte NF Griffin was a member, to express to you their deep sympathy on the loss of your son. I can assure you that we have all felt his loss most acutely, as he was quite one of the most popular boys in the company.

"Speaking for myself I can only tell you that I always found your son one of the very best. He was always cheery and willing and never showed the slightest fear even when exposed to hot fire. I may not tell you where he was killed, but I may say that at the time he met his death he was helping to get out platoon officer, who was wounded badly, under cover. It may perhaps be of some consolation to you to know this for he undoubtedly met his death in an unselfish attempt to save another. I am afraid I have not expressed myself very well how much we miss your son, or how deep our sympathy is for you and Mrs Griffin, but I hope you will excuse me for this and will try and understand our feelings. . . . "

The officer whom Private Griffin and another fatality, Private Charles Blake of Portishead had tried to shelter was 2nd Lieutenant Herbert Ryland, who, while living and working in Jamaica, had enlisted as a private soldier in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and in that capacity had sent back frequent reports to the Jamaican newspapers concerning his experiences on the Western Front. Later he gained his commission in the 12th Gloucesters, and after he was wounded his injuries were reported in both West Indian and Gloucestershire newspapers, he having his origins in the county.

"Lieut. H. C. Ryland, son of Mr. T.H. Ryland, of Stow-on-the-Wold, was severely wounded on July 29. He got over the parapet of his trench with the object of leading his men forward, when the enemy immediately turned a machine gun on him, and he received the charge in his right hip, the femur being fractured. From then till August 1 he passed the time in field ambulances and clearing stations, and then he was admitted to hospital at Rouen, where he is being well attended to. At his father's request Bom. Raymond Alden, an old chum, visited him and found him quite cheerful."

The battle of the Somme dragged to its conclusion in November, with little ground having been gained by the Allies. The pressure had been taken off the French army at Verdun, and the coalition held together.

Picture: Soldiers of 1/4th Battalion on the Somme with captured German equipment.

1916 - With the Yeomanry in Egypt

On 22nd November 1915 the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars left Gallipoli and sailed back to Egypt. The regiment was gradually brought closer to full strength and within a few months the yeomen were again in action, and this time their horses were with them. The British defence of the Suez Canal was centered on the town of Romani, about 30 kilometres to the east, and reconnaissance and aggressive patrolling of Turkish forward positions typified the work of the hussars during the spring of 1916. Lieutenant Algar Howard described one such patrol in his diary entry of 2nd April:

". . . The post at Abu-el-Afein has been reconnoitred and found by B squadron, the Turks having left it two hours before. There are no signs of guns. The natives all report that the Turks moved back and our advance guard say they saw 12 go. Meanwhile our aeroplane comes over and drops a message "all clear". The C.O.decides to move on to Bir-el-Abd at 0900. Bir-el-Abd is where the Turks have formed a market in opposition to ours and they of course collected lot of information from them. We arrive at Bir-el-Abd 1030. I was immediately sent off to destroy and search the first encampment. There was one large hut. We took three sacks of corn and gave it to the native women who are all half starved and were most grateful. We also took a sack of ammunition. We smashed 32 cast iron pumps and burned with paraffin 30 wooden troughs, much timber, 2 syce [groom] tents, various tools and the whole hut, which went off in a splendid blaze.

". . . In all, the horses travelled over 50 miles in 19 hours. Fortunately, the weather was not too hot. We all regret not having fired a shot but at the same time we accomplished our task exactly as the G.O.C. wished us to. The whole country is desolate except for a few Bedouin women and children and a few very old men, the others all having been taken by the Turks to fight. The former is all half starved and eat any scraps we give them. The rest of the time they spend sifting the chaff they pick up in Camp and thereby pick up a few grains of corn. We are not allowed to interfere with them."

The Turks got their revenge, however, when they launched a sudden raid on the Camps guarded by "A" Squadron at Qatia and by two squadrons of the Worcestershire Yeomanry at Oghratina on 23rd April, Easter Sunday and St George's Day. The Worcester squadrons were all but wiped out, and despite the efforts of "B" and "D" squadrons of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars to relieve the outpost at Qatia, the Hussars lost a total of 113 all ranks in killed and wounded and, mostly, prisoners.

Lieutenant Howard was with "D" squadron of the relieving force. A brigade of the Australian Light Horse arrived the following day to relieve the Yeomanry who fell back on Kantara, as Howard noted in his diary:-

". . . At 12 noon the G.O.C. ordered us to march to Kantara and a brigade of Australian Light Horse arrived to relieve us. Our horses were very exhausted and the men and we arrived at Kantara at midnight. . . . On the way there in the pitch dark Charles Turner halted the Squadron and sent for me, and said he could hear a Maxim firing in front of us. This was very awkward. However, we strengthened our advance guard and settled if attacked to just gallop into the dark and try and get on. However, nothing happened and we got home safely. Meanwhile, the Australians were supposed to go on to Romani and Qatia and attend to our dead and wounded. They got to our camp and looted and took possession of everything we had left - practically all our kit there. Our Brigadier sent up his three servants to recover his kit, but the Colonel there threatened to put them under arrest if they touched it. They did not get to Qatia till Wednesday morning and practically all the wounded they found died of exposure before they got them in. . . ."

The Turks were not to launch another major attack aimed at the seizure of the Suez Canal until August, and this was to prove to be their final attempt. The Battle of Romani opened on 4th August 1916, and the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars were to play their part in holding the line as part of the Anzac Mounted Division, and in the capture of an enemy artillery battery. Brigadier-General Wiggin of 5th Mounted Brigade described the action in his official report:-

"When Col. Yorke's two squadrons arrived on the ridge they saw below them large numbers of the enemy and four camel guns in emplacements 400 yds in their immediate front. One of his squadron leaders, Lieut. Mitchell, gave orders to concentrate five rounds rapid at each gun in succession, and so knocked out one gun after another by killing or wounding all the gun detachments. I state emphatically that no one took any part in knocking out these guns beyond Lieut. Mitchell's squadron of the R.G.H. Many Turks then ran forward towards the ridge with white flags and were told to come up. The total prisoners at this point was 450 and the total for the day 500."

The pursuit of the beaten enemy began the following day and continued across the northern Sinai for the rest of the year, with the Turks fighting repeated rearguard actions. Lieutenant Edgerton Cripps was enjoying himself immensely, following the line of the telegraph poles in the dark with his patrol, during a brief withdrawal. His diary entry for 10th August reads:-

"It was exciting and weird in the dark, feeling you were the only man left behind. Nothing happened and I followed on an hour afterwards and, as the telegraph poles are still up, had no difficulty in finding my way. . . . I lay down and got an hour's sleep after wandering about on my pony in the dark, trying to find the other outposts. We were relieved in the early morning, came on here, watered and fed and got some tea, biscuit and jam. Had a real slack day: made a good shelter with horse rugs and palm leaves, had a wash and shave and feel cleaner; . . .

"We don't know what is going to happen to us. We hear the New Zealanders say they would sooner have one regiment of Yeomanry alongside them than a Brigade of Australians. We have got quite a reputation. I tell you this because there are certain people in high places who can't say anything too bad for us after the "disaster", which was bad management and nothing to do with us. So I don't suppose we shall get much credit. It will be interesting to see. Our Anzac General is delighted with us and says all sorts of nice things, and told Ralph we saved the situation at Romani, where we were told to hold on at all costs till the infantry came up in the morning. They will probably send us to rest now if we can be spared. I don't mind now, but I would not have missed this week's fighting for anything."

Picture: RGH trooper cleaning machine gun in the Sinai.

1917 - The Hindenburg Line & Third Ypres

In March 1917 the Gloucesters still had twelve battalions on the Western Front, several of which, in various Divisions, were to be involved in the fighting that took place during the cautious pursuit of the German Army as it withdrew back towards the heavily fortified Hindenburg Line.

61st Division (mockingly referred to as the "Sixty-Worst" by some) included 2/4th, 2/5th and 2/6th Gloucesters. Second-Lieutenant W.G. Shipway enlisted as a private soldier with 4th Battalion in 1914, and after his commission in 1916 was posted to 2/4th Battalion, as he explained in his memoir:

"I was posted to the 2/4th Battalion Gloucesters (Territorials) part of the 61st Division (we called it the sixty-worst). This was a second line division which got very few replacements for casualties or wastage. It was not used in main attacks usually but for holding line after attacks and in quiet sectors."

Nevertheless, Shipway was to win a Military Cross for his action at Fresnoy on 5th April during a local German counter-attack as the British advanced. The citation read:-

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He displayed great gallantry and initiative in the face of heavy fire, withdrawing his men to a better position and holding it with complete success."

Private Henry Done, also of 2/4th, also took part in the advance on the Hindenburg Line in March and April, recalling that the men

". . . were soon going to face a period of booby traps that called for all the skill and sense not to touch anything that looked inviting, especially the village pianos. One favourite with the German booby trappers was to suspend a small shell or minenwerfer on copper wire somewhere in the church crypt with a special small container with acid-soaked wadding until the wire was rotten and not strong enough to take the weight, explosive shell, bomb or what have you. One could think of many ways in which the Germans did their traps. One special trap was very inviting; this was where civilians had had a factory many miles behind the line. They used coke, and when the Germans pushed, they in turn used the coke, but when they had to go they would bury 4 or 5 shells in a heap of coke and then start a fire. After a day or so, 4 or 5 tons of coke makes a welcome, warming place, except when the whole lot goes up."

The advance of 2/5th Battalion from Caulaincourt to Vermand on 31st March was described by Captain R.S.B. Sinclair:-

". . . patrols were sent forward to ascertain if the village of Vermand had been evacuated. This was found to be the case and A Company was sent up to consolidate east of the village. Whilst digging we saw Uhlans skirmishing in Holnon Wood - - - they made off towards Bihecourt, about a mile east of Vermand and our rifle fire had no effect on them. This was the first and only time that I saw German Cavalry in the War."

The three major war poets of the Gloucestershire Regiment were all to be found in 5th Battalion, and their front line newspaper, "The Fifth Gloucestershire Gazette", encouraged literary outpourings from all ranks. Captain Cyril Winterbotham, of 1/5th Battalion, and editor of the Gazette, was killed on the Somme in 1916. Lieutenant Will Harvey, started the war in 1/5th and it was with them that he won a Distinguished Conduct Medal while still a Lance Corporal. After his commission in 2/5th Battalion, he was captured in August 1916. He completed a slim volume of poetry, "Gloucestershire Friends: Poems from a German Prison Camp", which his German captors forwarded, untouched, for publication in England in 1917. The third of the trio was Private Ivor Gurney of 2/5th Battalion, a close friend of Harvey. Gurney served with the battalion until the end of the war, but was mentally damaged by the war, and ended his life in and out of psychiatric care. One of his poems, published in 1919, was dedicated to his fellow soldiers:-

RECOMPENSE
(To the Men of the 2/5 Gloucester Regiment)

I'd not have missed one single scrap of pain
That brought me to such friends, and them to me;
And precious is the smallest agony,
The greatest, willingly to bear again -
Cruel frost, night vigils, death so often ta'en
By Golgothas untold from Somme to Sea.
Duty's a grey thing; friendship valorously
Rides high above all fortune without stain.

Their eyes were stars within the blackest night
Of Evil's trial. Never mariner
Did trust so in the ever-fixed star
As I in those. And so their laughter sounded -
Trumpets of Victory glittering in sunlight;
Though Hell's power ringed them in, and night surrounded.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Nivelle Offensive in the spring of 1917, which included the bitter fighting around Arras for the British, largely passed the Gloucesters by, except for 12th Battalion. The next big push was to be the three month long Third Battle of Ypres, or Passchendaele, which began that summer, on 31st July.


One veteran soldier of 8th Battalion recalled in old age:-

"Don't think that I'm saying we weren't scared. But we had a job to do - so we did it, and we depended on our officers - a better bunch of men never lived than what we had. No wonder they used to say:

'Halt the Bays and steady the Greys,
But let the Glosters pass!'

"That was a well known saying. The Glosters were known all along the front. If ever there was a raid to be done or a gap to be filled, they always said - 'Send the Glosters - the Glosters'll do it!'

"The Germans used to put up notices in front of their trenches when we went into the line. They knew we were coming! The signs said 'Come on the Glosters - we're waiting for you!' then we used to put up a notice saying 'We're coming!' And we did."

Two Victoria Crosses were awarded to officers of 8th Battalion during the Great War, one in 1916, to Lieutenant-Colonel Carton de Wiart (who had also served in The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars before the war); and one in 1918 to Captain Manley James. The second day of Third Ypres saw a special award made to 8th Battalion's "A" Company, in the form of a crimson silk butterfly, the emblem of 19th Division, to be worn as a badge of honour on the right arm.

A posthumous Victoria Cross was awarded to an officer of 14th Battalion, Second-Lieutenant Hardy Falconer Parsons, in recognition of his gallantry on 21st August. 14th Battalion was the "Bantam" battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, raised in Bristol in 1915 from the shorter men of the county, between five feet and five feet three inches tall. Parsons was in command of a forward bombing post on the Knoll near Lempire which came under a night attack. The Germans stormed the position with flamethrowers, and Parsons single-handedly held them off long enough with bombs, even though badly burned, for a successful counter-attack to be delivered. Falconer died of his wounds.

The summer and autumn rains of 1917 began early on in the battle, and the terrain over which the Allied soldiers had to advance later turned into a quagmire, made worse by shellfire. Major attacks became bogged down, and the casualty lists lengthened horrifically. Even between major attacks there was little let-up for those in the front lines, as both sides launched raid and counter-raid. One such raid carried out by 60 men of "C" Company, 2/5th Battalion of 23rd October was described by Captain M.F. Badcock of 2/5th Battalion in a letter to his wife:-

"I have not written for some time. I have done a raid show. It did not go badly: we collared some prisoners, one machine gun, and did in about 20. It was the most disgusting shambles I have ever seen. The wretched Germans were simply mad with fright and it seemed sheer butchery, all poor youths of eighteen and nineteen. We got 10 prisoners, but 6 were killed going across No Man's Land by their own shells; one fool surrendered to me and thrust at me with his bayonet; it went through my trousers, tore my pants, and never touched me. There was nothing to do but to shoot him. It's the first life I have ever taken in this war to my certain knowledge and it was beastly. We did not have a single fellow killed, only four slightly wounded and all got in safe, so it was a success. Our fellows absolutely saw red and we had a job to stop the killing. We blew up three of their dugouts, which they would not come out of, so I suppose they were buried and suffocated. The sight of us, black hats, black hands and faces, black bayonets and darkness, only white flaring Verey lights and the unceasing crash of our shells on their support lines, made it seem pretty awful."

The battle for Passchendaele ended on 10th November. The Allies had advanced four and a half thousand miles for a cost of 226,000 in killed and wounded.

Picture: Cover of the Fifth Glosters' Gazette, April 1917

1917 - Mesopotamia and Palestine

7th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment had landed at Basra in what is now southern Iraq on 4th March 1916, after leaving Gallipoli for Egypt in January. In April, 7th Battalion took part in the costly and doomed effort to relieve the city of Kut, where Major-General Townshend's Division was encircled by a Turkish besieging army. One officer of the 7th wrote home to his sister on 24th April 1916, describing the Battalion's attack at Kut on the 21st.

". . . On Wednesday 21st A. & D. Company commanded respectively by Captains Rathbone and Scammell, were ordered to take up outpost positions 400 yards in front of the main firing line. On that day I was ordered with my Coy. Commander and fellow company subalterns to proceed to the line held by the Worcesters; to reconnoitre, preparatory to reinforcing it with C. Company of the Glosters.

"All four of us ran the gauntlet down a gully full of water open to the fire of machine guns and snipers of the enemy, who could not quite hit us as the banks of the water gully were just too high, and we crouched and kept our heads down, and got safely to the Worcester line.

". . . I never saw such a bombardment, it looked as if no Turk could live in such a hail of shot and shell - they did though, and when the time came for our fellows (the Worcesters) to advance, they were met with a terrific machine gun fire, which not only prevented out men getting forward, but decimated C. Coy. of the Glosters who were coming up to reinforce the Worcester firing line.

"Hodgson (commanding C. Coy.) had received orders to extend his men right out, and to advance by rushes until he reached our position. The enemy's machine guns swept up and down their line, and only half C. Company reached the trenches I was in. I saw them coming, and the dear fellows walked and ran through the sweeping fire, as if on parade."

Townshend surrendered to the Turks on 29th April, and Kut and 13,000 soldiers fell into Turkish hands, where they endured terrible conditions for the rest of the war, and many died in captivity. For the rest of 1916, the situation in Mesopotamia was generally one of stalemate, neither side being strong enough to force the other aside. It was not until December that the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, led by Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude, launched a serious offensive against the Turkish lines surrounding Kut, which fell on 24th February 1917, leaving the way open to pursue the beaten enemy up the Tigris to Baghdad, which fell on 11th March. Maude's Baghdad Proclamation concluded:

"O people of Baghdad, remember that for 26 generations you have suffered under strange tyrants who have ever endeavoured to set one Arab house against another in order that they might profit by your dissensions. This policy is abhorrent to Great Britain and her Allies, for there can be neither peace nor prosperity where there is enmity and misgovernment. Therefore I am commanded to invite you, through your nobles and elders and representatives, to participate in the management of your civil affairs in collaboration with the political representatives of Great Britain who accompany the British Army, so that you may be united with your kinsmen in North, East, South, and West in realising the aspirations of your race."

The war against the Turks was matched by the war against disease. Smallpox, typhus and malaria were in constant attendance of the army, despite the efforts of the men and medical staff to keep them at bay. In 1917 Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant George Turle of 7th Battalion was vigilantly fighting his own war against boredom and the infestations of insects and other creepy-crawlies which plagued the camps, as the repeated entries in his diary concerning them attest to:-

"27th September. - Same old routine. Up at 4 am, clean up, inspect the ropes and pegs, clean rifle and ammunition. Had a walk around and then breakfast. Started looking for different insects among the kit and packed away and came across a centipede and scorpion and, our place, mice, white, and a few large ants, black. All this is my daily work and keeping things up to date. . . .

"28th September - Nothing much to relate. Same old routine. A plague of white ants has come into the camp and they are very destructive, eat anything. . . .

"29th September - . . . General Keary visited us this morning and was informed about the plague of white ants in the district. He was interested in some and found a nest they were working. They eat everything, even the ropes of our tents.

"2nd October - . . . Turned over overcoats and valises looking for white ants which have infested this place. I found scorpions, centipede and other insects, but no ants."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .


For Lieutenant Cripps, in Palestine with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, flies were a bigger bugbear than ants and scorpions:-

"May 17th, 1917 - . . .The flies are awful. They settle in thousands on your food and your bivvy; so beastly. I hate them worse than anything else. Every night I get a piece of paper, light it, and have a "flammenwasser" attack on the flies in my shack that go to sleep on the roof. The only drawback is that the floor is covered with wingless flies that buzz all night. . . . I must go now and see the water bottles filled with Condy to kill any bugs in them . . . one gets accustomed to the beastly taste; anyhow, it can't hurt you."

The Hussars had entered Palestine in January, still with 5th Yeomanry Brigade and the ANZAC Mounted Division, under the command of the Australian General, Sir Harry Chauvel. Their target was the border town of Rafa, held by the Turks. Edgerton Cripps described his part in the battle, fought on 9th January:-

". . . At two o'clock we took up a forward position and waited for the troops on our right and left. I think that was the worst time, as we could do nothing but wait, which lasted for an hour and a half. I had one man killed in the first five minutes. Every man in the firing line, and only four men left with the horses for the whole Squadron. B and D Squadrons were on our right and suffered badly. Townsend had only one man left in his troop (Charles Timbrell). I had wonderful luck, only my second servant and two others hit besides the man actually killed in my troop, though altogether we were pretty knocked about. At about four, other troops came up on our right and left for the general assault, and up we went through what can only be described as a hail of bullets. . . . . . the men were simply splendid. My troop were up the moment I gave the word, and rushed in a beautiful line and dropped down absolutely in line, keeping their extension. The Guards couldn't have done it better, as a certain General officer told us afterwards. . . ."

Major Henry Clifford was among those killed. Clifford had gone to South Africa with the Yeomanry during the Boer War as a "Gentleman Ranker", and had been wounded there. Lieutenant Algar Howard noted in his diary after the battle of Rafa:-

". . . Poor Henry Clifford's body was taken back in an armoured car. He was hit close to the mouth right through the head and killed instantaneously. He was with B Squadron at the time but was acting second in command. He is a great loss to us all and especially to me. There never was a better example of an English gentleman than he in every possible way."

Only five months earlier, after the battle of Romani, Lieutenant Cripps had marvelled at his own fortune in have seen so much action, and lamented Major Clifford's bad luck in having missed so much:-

"August 15th 1916 - . . . Henry Clifford has turned up. He has been home on leave. His luck at missing everything follows him. Isn't mine extraordinary? Another day and I should have missed the whole show."

The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars saw but little action in the attempts to take Gaza in March and April, and were in Corps Reserve at Beersheba in October. On November 7th Allenby's army finally broke through the Turkish position on the Gaza-Beersheba line, and the way was open to Jerusalem, with the RGH, to their chagrin, mostly acting in a support role during the pursuit. Allenby entered Jerusalem on 11th November.

Picture: The Theatre of Operations

1918 - Salonika, Macedonia and Italy

At the beginning of 1918, 2nd and 9th Battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment had already been in Salonika and Macedonia for two years. The Front had been largely static, with the Allied presence serving to support Serbia and threaten Bulgaria. Resources had never been enough for a major offensive to be mounted during this period, and disease was a greater enemy than the Bulgarians. Private Frank Peck of 9th Battalion was at one time posted as a signaller to Army Headquarters in Salonika and got a good view of his Serbian allies.

"Sleeping on the quarried floor in H.Q. was the hardest part, mosquitoes being particularly attentive after dusk; my arms were bitten into "hills and valleys". While at this post the reformed Serbian Army marched past; poor beggars, they [were] fagged. They had been fitted out in miscellaneous uniforms, partly British & French, on each man. However nondescript they looked, they shifted the Bulgars from their "nesting" places later - to some purpose!"

Later in the summer of 1916 Peck found himself back with 9th Battalion on the front line.

"The heat seemed to be taking toll of my strength, the rations served were of no use to me, sickness took hold of me - the Doctor's bismuth tabs didn't seem any help. Owing to this sickness I was kept off some fatigues by the N.C.Os - who showed some fellow feeling - here's thanking them. I felt as if I could have fallen over my own shadow."

Frank Peck was well enough to be selected for a night patrol a little later, during which he was shot and wounded in the foot. He was eventually sent back to England where he recovered. 9th Battalion left the Salonika Front for France in the summer of 1918.

2nd Battalion, too, had spent most of the previous two years in a state of relative inactivity on the Macedonian Front, punctuated occasionally by fierce bursts of fighting, such as at the River Struma in the summer of 1916. A year later, Captain George Power was still writing home to his Aunt Marion letters of a wry humour, concerning the trials and tribulations of life behind the front line:-

"14th July 1917. - French having a 'beano' today. Something to do with the Bastille. Awfully warm. . . . there is no news at all except that Colonel Burges turned up today. I was awfully glad to see him. I think he was looking a good deal thinner than when I saw him last. We are still doing a very nice course of rabbits. We liked them awfully for the first 3 days and then rabbits twice a day for a week began to be just a bit wearisome. They have begun again now. The small cats love them. That is an advantage. Their chief diet seems to be grasshoppers.

"17th July 1917. - . . . The government has evidently discovered, like the Jew of old his corn in Egypt, that there are rabbits in Australia. They seem to turn up in shiploads. Perfectly good rabbits. I have nothing to say against them as rabbits. My small cats are a joy forever. They really are the most charming little beasts. They follow me all over the place. . . . "

Dan Burges of 2nd Battalion was to be awarded a Victoria Cross in Salonika for an act of gallantry on 18th September 1918 while temporary Lieutenant-Colonel of 7th South Wales Borderers. Burges won his V.C. at the height of the climactic Allied offensive which brought about the surrender of Bulgaria. The offensive had opened on 1st September with an attack on the Roche Noire salient by 2nd Gloucesters and 10th Hampshires. The planning had been meticulous, and the two understrength battalions took the enemy by complete surprise and gained his positions on the heights. The biggest test for both was the enemy's subsequent heavy artillery bombardment over the next few days which, although causing heavy casualties failed to drive the British from their newly captured position. Lieutenant-Colonel Alec Vicary recalled:-

"Up to now the Battalion had received comparatively few casualties, but at this point the enemy concentrated his artillery fire on his lost position, the chief cause of discomfort being the enemy's trench mortars. The ground was hard sandstone, rendering consolidation difficult and causing splinters of rock to fly from H.E. shells and dense clouds of dust.

"Under these conditions the difficulties of maintaining communications were almost insuperable and added to this the whole of battalion headquarters personnel, with the exception of the C.O. and Adjutant, had been killed or wounded during the early stages of the attack.

". . . in the early hours of 2nd September, the enemy suddenly increased his artillery fire and a few minutes afterwards followed it up with an infantry attack. On reaching the forward slopes of the Buissons the enemy came under fire from the Regiment's L.A. and the attack failed hopelessly."

The bombardment of Roche Noire continued over the next two days, and another serious but unsuccessful attempt to retake Roche Noire was made by the Bulgarians, but the Gloucesters held on.

Hostilities with Bulgaria came to an end on 30th September.

In December 1917 1/4th, 1/5th and 1/6th battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment were sent to the Italian front with the rest of 48th Division. 12th Battalion was sent at the same with 5th Division. While the train journey through France to Italy was an interesting diversion for the troops leaving the mud of Passchendaele and the Somme, the scenery at the North Italian Front seemed like a world away. Lance-Corporal John Harker of 1/6th Battalion wrote home to his grandfather on 31st May:-

". . . We are still in the mountains. The weather has been alternately hot and cold for the past 10 days or so. Down on the plains we had it very hot up here - it must have been boiling. The British troops out here are gradually getting issued with khaki drill and pith helmets. Our battalion will be getting them shortly I expect. We shall then have three different kinds of headgear, pith helmets, shrapnel helmets and soft service caps.

"There are some splendid views to be had out here. As it is we are up a considerable height but we can see the tops of the mountains, all covered with snow, which are several thousands of feet higher than we are. The scenery around us is very pretty. Naturally this is a very rocky district, practically all the trenches and dug-outs have to be made by blasting. But there are some fine pine forests up here and plenty of green grass. In fact we are on a plateau. I first heard the cuckoo up here about six weeks ago and that was when there was snow on the ground. I hope you are well at home. Excuse this wrotten [sic] letter."

On 15th June, Sergeant Thomas Boddington from Gloucester of 1/5th Battalion was in the front line on the Asiago Plateau when the Austrians launched a major attack. There was a preliminary bombardment, which fell mostly on the second line, and Sergeant Boddington recalled what happened to him:-

". . . I waited till the first wave was about 50 yards when I gave the order to fire. On our left, a gap was blown in the wire, where many men fell from our fire. We continued firing on oncoming Austrians until they got into dead ground in front of our post, when we made use of our bombs. On our right shallow valley, where we saw Austrian runners returning, the fighting seemed to be raging in our rear. These runners were dealt with successfully. At this point an Austrian had gained a little footing on our plateau; this man I shot as I felt we were being closed in on three sides. I sent Lyons back to get some assistance - he returned with the news that Company Headquarters was surrounded. Evidently Lyons returning had inadvertently given our position away. From the rear he arrived in our post safely under a fusillade of bullets. At this point everything happened so quickly and we were immediately surrounded. Richards was killed for one, and several wounded. I received a bullet wound in my right upper arm, which severed the artery and I was bleeding profusely. White, one of my men, was trying to stem it when an Austrian officer, standing on the parapet, saw the position, covered me with a revolver and shouted something which immediately brought an Austrian Red Cross man to my aid. He quickly put on a tourniquet. The last thing I did before losing consciousness was to ask for a drink of water, which he could not give me, as they were to get their water bottles filled on getting down to the Plains. I offered him a 100 lira note which he refused."

Boddington was made a prisoner of war, and had to have his arm amputated. 1/5th Battalion returned to France and the Western Front in September, and 12th Battalion had already returned in March, their stay in Italy being but a brief one. 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions remained on the Italian Front until the end of hostilities On 12th November 1918, Lance Corporal Harker of 1/6th wrote home to his mother:-

". . . One thing - three cheers the war's practically over - bar shouting. There won't half be a celebration when I come home. I hope Dad won't get alarmed to hear this.

". . . our boys have been chasing the Austrians into Austria and have marched scores of miles. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. We captured thousands of prisoners and hundreds of guns. No doubt you have read about it in the papers. Our division has received special mention and the Italian army commander has lavished praises on us. You should have seen me drinking whiskey with our company officer in "no-man's land" before we got Jerry on the land. It was a scream seeing the officer’s servant carrying a bottle of Johnnie Walker over the "top" with bullets and shell whizzing around."

1/6th Battalion arrived home in Bristol on 25th March 1920.

Picture: Transport of 2nd Battalion crossing the Varda River, Macedonia 1918.

1918 - Kaiserschlacht and Victory

The Bantams of 14th Battalion were disbanded on 11th February 1918, and the survivors, some 250 strong, were transferred to 13th Battalion. On 20th February, 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions were also disbanded, their surviving personnel transferring to 2/5th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment and 24th Entrenching Battalion. 10th Battalion had already been disbanded in February 1917, its survivors transferring to 1st and 8th Battalions, and 13th Entrenching Battalion.

On 21st March 1918 the German Spring Offensive, or 'Kaiserschlacht', began with Operation Michael on the Western Front. British Third and Fifth Armies' fronts were penetrated at several points. The following day 39th Division, including 13th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, was in action and taking heavy punishment over the next week, with the battalion losing over 300 men in killed, wounded and missing. Despite being reorganized and committed to action again in April, as one half of 39th Division's No. 2 Composite Battalion, the losses proved to be so great that 13th Battalion was disbanded in May. Nevertheless, 13th Battalion, whose origins lay as a pioneer battalion and was largely recruited from Forest of Dean miners, had fought hard to the last. On 30th April Lieutenant-Colonel Gossett of 39th Division's staff congratulated Lieutenant-Colonel Boulton of 13th Battalion:-

"Dear Boulton,

"I thought you and the regiment would like to know the following, which occurs in a private letter I have received from Marr, and shown to the G.O.C:-

'A Gloucester officer, named HALL, with No. 2. Bn. put up a remarkably fine show on the 26th. He was surrounded by the Bosche (and his platoon) near the BLUFF about 7.30 a.m., and maintained his position until 8 p.m., when he fought his way though, and rejoined the remnants of No. 2 Bn. with 17 men. The Gloucesters have fought magnificently throughout.'

"May I offer you and the Regiment my heartiest congratulation?"

The single remaining battalion of the Gloucesters with 61st Division was 2/5th. On the first day of the German Spring Offensive they were in the front line at Holnon Wood. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described their performance in "The British Campaign in France and Flanders: January to July 1918":-

"The defence of the line in front of Beauvais was kept up with remarkable tenacity and ended by 150 men of the 2/5th Gloucester battalion performing what was an extraordinary feat, even in this war of miracles, for they held on to a line 2000 yards in length until 3.30 in the morning of March 23, holding up the whole German advance. All night the enemy tried to rush or to bomb this thin line of determined men, but it was not until the cartridges ran low that the British made their retreat, sneaking round the outskirts of the village which blazed behind them, and making their way to Longuevoisin where they joined their comrades who had already given them up as lost, for they had been five miles behind the army. Colonel Lawson was in command during this heroic episode, and was ably supported by two lieutenants, Rickerby and Dudridge. Of the latter, it is recorded that in a later stage of the retreat he was in such a condition of absolute exhaustion that he was wounded three times in the course of a single day without ever observing it until evening. Utter nerve fatigue has its compensations as well as its terrors."

Captain J.H.E. Rickerby died of the wounds he had received that evening during the German bombardment. Lieutenant-Colonel A.B. Lawson was killed on June 24th while reconnoitering enemy positions. Brigadier-General A.W. Pagan, late of 1st Battalion and now Lawson's immediate superior and commanding 184th Brigade, wrote of him:-

"This officer was only approached by one other as a battalion commander among the many I met in France. He was absolutely fearless, very able and was devoted to the welfare of his men. He was always unruffled, whatever the circumstances, and was a very fine leader of men."

8th Battalion with 19th Division was in action at the same time, and on 21st March Captain Manley Angell James' gallantry was to win the battalion's second Victoria Cross of the war. The citation read:-

"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack at Velu Wood, Capt. James led his Company forward with magnificent determination and courage, inflicting severe losses on the enemy and capturing twenty-seven prisoners and two machine guns. He was wounded, but refused to leave his company, and repulsed three hostile onslaughts the next day. Two days later, although the enemy had broken through on his right flank, he refused to withdraw, and made a most determined stand, inflicting very heavy losses on the enemy and gaining valuable time for the withdrawal of guns. He was ordered by the senior officer on the spot to hold on "to the last", in order to enable the brigade to be extricated. He then led his company forward in a local counter-attack on his own initiative, and again was wounded. He was last seen working a machine-gun single-handed, after having been wounded a third time. No praise can be too high for the gallant stand made by this company, and Capt. James, by his dauntless courage and magnificent example, which undoubtedly enabled the battalion to be withdrawn before being completely cut off."

On April 9th 1918 the second phase of the German offensive began, Operation Georgette, directed at Lys. On 18th April 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment were in the front line just west of the village of Festubert, where they had fought so well in 1914. The battalion was in a high state of efficiency, having been led since 1915 by the popular Lieutenant-Colonel A.W. Pagan. Pagan had been promoted in March 1918 and, as Brigadier, had 2/5th Battalion as part of his command at the beginning of the Kaiserschlacht. The company officers and men of 1st Battalion, now under the command of the mercurial Lieutenant-Colonel J.L.F. Tweedie, were not about to let their old colonel down in the face of the renewed German onslaught. One newspaper report of the time reminded its readers of the Regiment's traditions:-

". . . At another point the Germans thought they had surrounded a platoon of ours and called on them to surrender, but instead our men counter-attacked, cut off a section of the Germans, and took them prisoners in turn. Not far from a Festubert a party of Gloucesters were entirely surrounded, and once more asserted their right to be the regiment which fights both ways and wears its badges aft as well as forward.

"All along this extreme southern sector, indeed, the combat was of the most sanguinary character. The Germans everywhere came on in wave after wave, and before the remnants finally ebbed and flowed back their losses must have been very heavy.

"Officers speak in glowing terms of the behaviour of our machine-gunners, who, after the five-hour bombardment had pounded almost all their defences to bits, crept out from their holes and amid the wreckage as cool as if nothing had happened and got to work on the advancing infantry."

Second Lieutenant Charles Wilson had enlisted in the Regiment as a drummer boy in 1901, began training as an army schoolmaster in 1911, gained his commission in 1916, and eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier-General in the Royal Army Education Corps. On 18th April 1918, Wilson led a platoon of "D" Company, 1st Battalion, and managed to jot down notes in his diary during the course of the action. Thus, at 08:00 hrs at the end of a very heavy and sustained bombardment of four hours:-

" . . . saw Bosches dribbling up hedge on left: the fun begins. A swarm (of enemy) appears on right coming through gap in hedge. Spare Lewis-gun lets rip. No. 1 (Cotham) gets severe wound in face - Holbrook carries on.

"The Vickers gun now picks up Bosche machine gun and knocks its out. Plenty of work with glasses for me - dozens of Bosche light-machine gunners picked up by glasses and crews knocked out. Frontal and right flank attack fails by 9 a.m.

"9 a.m. Corbett asks for assistance as Bosches have swerved to his left and are now in great numbers in front of him. Give him spare Lewis-gun and crew, and L/Cpl. Brimble's section. We are holding them well now. Return to 16 Platoon and find L/Cpl. Barnett and section firing at Germans who have got about 500 yds. away. Spare Lewis-gunners and Platoon H.Q. open fire on Bosche getting through behind us.

"Bosche in front now have 'wind up' - afraid to show a finger - the boys snipe continuously. Can give more attention to rear now.

"Noon. Bosche attack has become hopelessly disorganised - attack at a stand still. Planes came over and they put up white lights.

"2 p.m. Enemy retire in confusion, throwing rifles and equipment as they run, helped along by our artillery and my boys.

"4 p.m. Their Dressing Stations appear: enormous number of Bosche wounded and killed.

"6 p.m. They go back to their original line in a panicky state. Had a bit of fun on my own sniping. Barnett has a duel with a German machine gun and knocks it out of action in about ten rounds. At dusk plenty of good targets - Bosche collect wounded."

The German offensive ground to a halt on 18th July, and the time was right for the final Allied offensive to begin. 1st Battalion saw action at Fresnoy in September, the St Quentin sector in October, and fought their last action of the war at Catillon on 4th November. 8th Battalion fought their last battle near Les Fourrieres after crossing the River Selle in late October. 12th Battalion with 5th Division had returned from Italy in time to take part in the battle of Lys in April, and fought their last action during the battle of Albert in late August, before being disbanded on 6th October. The last battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment to be mobilized was the 18th which did not arrive in France until August 1918. 18th Battalion saw some action towards the end of that month and again in September, but spent the rest of the war in Reserve.

1/5th Battalion left its two Territorial partners, 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions, with 48th Division in Italy and arrived back in France in the middle of September 1918 as part of 25th Division. On 23rd October the battalion was in action at Bois l'Eveque, its progress being held up by a line of machine guns. Private Francis Miles single-handedly overcame two of the enemy machine guns, killing or capturing their crews, and signalled for the rest of his company to advance. "C" Company then worked their way behind the enemy line, taking sixteen machine guns and over fifty prisoners. Miles was to be awarded the Gloucestershire Regiment's last Victoria Cross of the war, and the only one to be awarded to a non-commissioned soldier of the Regiment. Before the war he had been a miner from the village of Clearwell in the Forest of Dean and, although he had served in several battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment during the Great War, he had not served in the 13th Battalion, which itself was largely recruited from Forest of Dean miners and used as a pioneer battalion. A newspaper report of the time recorded:-

". . . Clearwell is one of the most patriotic villages in the country, having contributed one or more soldiers from every house. It boasts the record of having sent more soldiers in proportion to its population than any village in England. The whole village is overjoyed with Miles's meritorious performance."

In Palestine the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars ended the war, 156 strong, on outpost duty outside the recently captured city of Aleppo. An armistice had been concluded with Turkey on 31st October. 7th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment were at Kazvin in Persia on 31st October, and the following month would go on to Baku on the Caspian Sea before finally leaving for home via Constantinople in August 1919.

Private Arthur King of 1/6th Battalion had been badly wounded in the arm on 9th October 1917 during an attack on the German positions at Poelcappelle. The arm had to be amputated a week later, and after the war Arthur recalled his last year of recovery:-

"On January 29th 1918, I was discharged and went home to await my turn to go to Roehampton for an artificial arm. On my way home I had to wait a couple of hours in Bristol and was surprised to see Else and George as well as Monty waiting for me. When I got home I found Mother not very well, but Ada was fairly well. Mother did not get up much after I got home. Her cough got worse and she died on Sunday April 14th 1918.

"I went to Roehampton in August and had to go to Brighton to have a bulbous nerve taken out. I was there about three weeks and then came back to Roehampton. I got fitted with the limb and was discharged on October 18th 1918. I went back to Tormaton and Ada and I continued to live in the old home. It was a great relief when the armistice was signed on November 11th 1918. About this time Fred Hickman came home. Ada was getting married so we sold the furniture and on January 29th 1919 I gave up the house. George offered me a home, so on January 30th; I came here to live at 28 Sandholme Road, Brislington, Bristol. It is now November 1922."

The world would never be the same again.

Picture: Private Miles capturing the machine guns single-handed.

1921 - The Irish War of Independence

In December 1920 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment was sent from England to County Cork in Ireland. Ireland was in the middle of its War of Independence and the Gloucesters' operations focused upon raids on houses and farmsteads, patrols and convoy protection around Kilworth and Kanturk looking for I.R.A. members and arms caches. The battalion suffered no fatal casualties from rebel activity during their tour of duty, and did score one notable success. Bicycles were found more useful for patrol work than motor vehicles (especially as the bridges on the rural roads were frequently blown up), and the battalion had 500 of them. The presence of a patrol was almost invariably signalled to the local populace and rebels by Republican sympathizers blowing horns ("conchies"), which were sometimes made from broken bottles.

Fifty years later, retired Captain A.H. Richards recalled his time as a private soldier with the Gloucesters in Ireland in 1921:-

"The locals were quite affable and we did drink with them knowing full well that they were at least IRA sympathizers but in the main appearing friendly. They were nearly always able to tell us where we had been on our latest operation and what we had been doing whether it had been by day or night. On occasions we would search a creamery and enjoy the offer of lovely, rich, fresh milk.

"The main operations consisted of patrolling the railway lines or guarding the bridges or searching farmhouses. The IRA often blew holes in the roads to prevent our movements but this was overcome by carrying long steel girders on the Crossley tenders and which were placed across the holes. In retaliation we would sometimes take the wheels off their carts, the farmers' carts, so that in any event they could not get to market until the holes had been filled. At any time of the night or day we might be suddenly alerted and the order of the day was Bondook, [rifle] Bandolier and Bike and away we went. The bicycles were the great heavy things of World War I and extremely tiring. Whatever the time of day or night we sallied forth the "Conchies" would start up and the element of surprise was lost."

The most notable operation was carried out at Kishkeam on 15th/16th May and led by the Battalion's Intelligence Officer, Lieutenant R.M. "Nap" Grazebrook. Grazebrook had found out that Sean Moylan, commander of the I.R.A.'s 2nd North Cork Brigade, was hiding in the area. Grazebrook's troops closed in on a local farm. Lieutenant Ladds takes up the story:-

". . . As we were climbing a bank near the farm we were greeted by rifle fire, extremely heavy by Irish standards, (I now think that it was probably from our own cyclists). I for one was quite glad to get off the bank and the farmers did not like it at all.

"We then heard firing from quite near and moved on to another farm, where we found Armine Morris, and what appeared to be two parties acting defensively, awaiting prisoners. Armine told us that the I.R.A. were about and that Bertie Temple had been fired at with a revolver at almost point-blank range; luckily, he was not hit. We moved off to the right of the farm and soon found a track - by this time it was getting light. We found 'Nap' Grazebrook, Bertie Temple and his party, who were searching gorse bushes and cover. I heard a shout and one of the men brought in a prisoner, armed with a loaded revolver and two Mills bombs - this person turned out to be Sean Moylan; later we rounded up 14 of the active service gang. On searching the area a R.I.C. sergeant, walking with Manley James, found a cache of arms, a box slid into a hole in a bank and cunningly concealed - this contained the Hotchkiss gun which had been captured from the 17th Lancers at Mallow some months previously, another revolver, ammunition, telephone apparatus, - also a cheque for 115 Pounds IRA pay, which later with a little persuasion we forced the bank to cash; the Battalion's Summary Court A/C had a lucky day."

Moylan was tried and sentenced to a prison term but released in August 1921 following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Following the Treaty's ratification in both Ireland and Great Britain, the British Army quit the Irish Free State and the Gloucestershire Regiment left for England, then Germany, in January 1922.

In 1947 Grazebrook, now a former Lieutenant-Colonel of 1st Battalion, wrote to Sean Moylan, who was himself now in the Irish Cabinet and Minister for Lands, asking him if he would like to write an account of his arrest in May 1921. Moylan replied:-

"Dear Sir,
I have very clear memories of May 16th, 1921, some of them, strangely enough, very pleasant ones. I don't know if it would be possible for me to write a story such as you desire for your regimental Journal. Any such essay would naturally be coloured by my own viewpoint and the result might be either unacceptable to you as editor or lack interest for your readers. I shall think over the matter and may be able to produce something for you. Can you tell me when the Gloucesters came to Kanturk?

Yours truly,
Sean Moylan [sig]"

No such article appears to have been written.


Picture: The Battle of Riordan's Farm