VCs of the First World War: Cambrai 1917 E-Book

Gerald Gliddon

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 499

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Featuring the careers of forty-three men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used en masse in battle. Its first day was so successful that church bells in Britain were rung in anticipation of a great victory. A tank crewman numbers among the recipients of the VC. Containing biographies of a broad cross-section of men from Britain and the Dominions including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the Ukraine. It includes a sapper, a former miner, who chose to stay with his seriously wounded colleague underground and die with him, rather than obey an order to leave him and save his own life; a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was relieved of his command and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three nights bringing at least twenty-five men to safety from No Man's Land, who otherwise would have been left to die.

Leseprobe

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I should like to thank the staff of the following institutions for their assistance during the research for this book: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum, and the National Archives. In addition, I should like to thank the archivists and curators of the many county archives, regimental museums and libraries who have replied to my requests for information.

Where recently taken photographs have been used, their owners have been acknowledged in the individual illustration.

As with my previous seven books in the VCs of the First World War series, Donald C. Jennings of Florida has been extremely kind in allowing me to reproduce many of his photographs of both graves and memorials. In addition David Harvey, author of Monuments to Courage, has very kindly given permission to use illustrations from his book.

Most of the maps reproduced in this book have been taken from the Official History of the Great War – Military Operation – France and Belgium, HMSO.

Other individuals who have been of great help in many ways include first and foremost Peter Batchelor and Dr Graham Keech; John Bolton, Steve Brown, Andrew England, David Fletcher, Winifred Gliddon, Philippe Gorczynski, Peter Harris, Mike Lawson, Dennis Pillinger, Steve Snelling, Anthony Staunton and Iain Stewart. Other people whose names are not mentioned here have been acknowledged in the list of sources at the end of the book.

CONTENTS

Title

Acknowledgements

Prefatory Note

Introduction

Preface to the 2012 edition

E.A. McNair

W.R. Cotter

E.N. Mellish

E.F. Baxter

R.B.B. Jones

G.W. Chafer

A.H. Procter

J. Erskine

W. Hackett

A.H.H. Batten-Pooll

W. Jackson

J. Hutchinson

N.V. Carter

W.B. Butler

F. Hobson, M.J. O’Rourke, H. Brown and O.M. Learmonth

R.H. Hanna and F. Konowal

H.F. Parsons

S.J. Day

A.E. Shepherd

R.W.L. Wain

R. McBeath

C.E. Spackman

J. Sherwood-Kelly

H. Strachan

J. McAulay

G.W.B. Clare

C.E. Gourley

S.T.D. Wallace

N.B. Elliott-Cooper

R. Gee

J. Thomas

W.N. Stone

A.M.C. McReady Diarmid

G.H.T. Paton

Gobind Singh

A.M. Lascelles

J.S. Emerson

H.J. Nicholas

W. Mills

Sources

Bibliography

Plates

Copyright

PREFATORY NOTE

The arrangement of this book in the VCs of the First World War series requires a note of explanation. The contents of the previous volumes, which followed either a particular year or main battles, meant that there were gaps, and there was always going to be the need for a volume dealing with the men who won the VC on the Western Front at other periods. These gaps were in 1916 prior to the Battle of the Somme, i.e. from February to June, and the period from August to December 1917, which dealt with fronts other than those of the Ypres Salient. These periods pertain to the men who gained their VCs during the Battle of Cambrai.

With this book’s publication, coverage of the Western Front theatre is concluded, leaving only the thirteenth and final volume in the series, which will cover the lives of the forty-six military men who won the VC in other theatres: this volume will be entitled The Sideshows.

INTRODUCTION

1915 had been a year of considerable disappointment for the Allies, culminating with the disastrous Battle of Loos in September and October and the subsequent replacement of Commander-in-Chief Sir John French by Sir Douglas Haig on 15 December.

The main action on the Western Front in early 1916 was to take place on the French-held sector at Verdun, where the great battle began with German successes on 21 February. It was the beginning of a battle of attrition that was to last for nearly six months and resulted in bleeding both the French and German Armies to a point of utter exhaustion. Neither side could possibly claim the battle as a victory.

At a conference of Allied commanders held at Chantilly in December 1915 it had been agreed that the Allied powers should act in harness and concentrate their energies in the main theatres, and the suggestion of an Anglo–French offensive north of the River Somme was first mooted by the French at this time. It was not an idea which found favour with Sir Douglas Haig, who was keener on the idea of an offensive to the north, in the Second Army sector. However, as noted, Anglo–French cooperation was the most important issue at the time, and the choice of a battlefield astride the River Somme was not of Haig’s choosing.

As the year of 1916 progressed it was obvious that the original contribution in any major offensive of the French Army was to be diminished by their continuing losses at Verdun. Now only six of their divisions were to take part in the planned operations, with two in reserve. The British involvement was to include nineteen divisions; and the date of the battle was fixed for the end of June, and then put back to 1 July.

Although it appeared that the British were doing little more than holding their ground in France and Belgium in the first six months of 1916, a considerable number of raids were carried out, often with the intention of keeping the Germans guessing about where the known Allied offensive was to take place. During the first months of the year, operations, which led to the awards of no fewer than thirteen Victoria Crosses, were carried out at Hooge and St Eloi in Belgium, and in France at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Blairville, Vimy Ridge, Méaulte, Givenchy, Calonne, Armentières, and Richebourg-l’Avoué.

After the Battle of the Somme, in which fifty-one men gained the Victoria Cross (see VCs of the Somme), came to an end in November 1916, with a total of about one million casualties involving British, French and German troops, the two sides became increasingly bogged down in a war of attrition. In order to try to break this deadlock the enemy planned to build a new line of defence in depth that would be divided up into a series of zones against which they would ‘invite’ their opponents to attack, thus ensnaring them into a trap that would be difficult to escape from. This line was to be called the ‘Siegfried Stellung’ and was to be known by the British as the Hindenburg Line. It stretched from the British front at Arras to Laffaux, 6 miles north-east of Soissons.

The enemy had been preparing this line for several months, when, on 4 February 1917, they retreated to their new defensive positions, leaving behind them a trail of total destruction involving roads, buildings, the cutting down of trees and the poisoning of water supplies.

Just over two months later, on Easter Monday (9 April), the British First and Third Armies made a surprise attack through showers of sleet and snow on positions around Arras, including the heights of Vimy Ridge. It was a great success, and the Canadians completed their capture of the ridge the following day. The last stages of the Battle of Arras were carried out on 24 May. The men who gained the VC during this period are covered in VCs ofArras & Messines 1917.

On 15 August the Canadians attacked to the north-west of Lens on a wide front with the intention of capturing the important Hill 70 by assault, together with several villages just outside Lens. Five German counter-attacks were repulsed, and, by the time the operations ceased a few days later, six VCs had been won by members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

As a new tactic, and possibly encouraged by the April success at Vimy Ridge, Sir Douglas Haig was considering an offensive that would avoid the usual necessity of very long artillery preparation and a concomitant lack of surprise. As a result of the first outing of tanks at Flers in September 1916, Haig had expressed his faith in the future of the tank as a battle-winning weapon by placing an order for a thousand more to be produced.

In June 1917 Lt Col J.F.C. Fuller, staff officer to Brig Gen H. Elles, commander of the Tank Corps, drew up a plan for a large tank raid to take place in the Cambrai area that would smash through the much vaunted German defensive positions of the Hindenburg Line. Apart from this considerable challenge the landscape was considered to be ideal as it did not have a low water-table or consist of ground which had been continually churned up and destroyed by artillery fire. Fuller’s battle plans were slightly modified in August, and in mid-September Haig discussed the proposal with Sir Julian Byng, commander of the Third Army, who was also keen on the idea and approved Fuller’s blueprint.

The town of Cambrai had fallen to the Germans in August 1914, and since then had become a very important centre of enemy communications. The two main obstacles for the British were the Canal du Nord (still not completed but a formidable obstacle in the west) and the St Quentin Canal in the east. It was considered that the wooded area around Havrincourt Wood would be particularly suitable for the concealment of tanks.

Haig informed Byng that he could allow him nineteen infantry divisions, together with the whole of the newly formed Tank Corps. However, there was a catch, as fourteen of the divisions were under strength, having already taken part in the exhausting Third Ypres Battle, which had begun on 31 July and was not going well for the Allies. Operating in the mud of the Passchendaele area was not the ideal place for men to fight, let alone tanks, which could barely make progress at all.

As indicated above, the Flanders battle was not going well and, coupled with the defeat of the Italian Army at Caporetto in late October, Haig was in need of some good news, and was determined not to get into yet another battle of attrition that would simply bleed away the lives of his troops. If a victory was not achieved within forty-eight hours, he reasoned, then the attack would be called off and a new line established. He must have known, too, that he just did not have enough men to exploit a real success even if one was achieved.

In conditions of great secrecy the tanks were ferried up by train from the Somme area near Bray between 15 and 18 November, with some of the carriages giving way under the weight. To maintain security they were brought up at night and then hidden in woods, under camouflage nets, farm buildings or in houses. When they were unloaded from the trains they were driven in bottom gear in order to keep noise levels to the minimum. On the eve of 20 November Brig Gen Hugh Elles issued a special order to his troops of the ‘England expects’ type message. He told them that the Tank Corps would ‘have the chance for which it has been waiting for many months – to operate on good going in the van of the battle’. Furthermore, he told them that he would be leading the attack himself, in the centre of the division, in a tank named Hilda of H Battalion. There was also a strong cavalry presence and both horses and men were squeezed into what space was left in billets and outbuildings. All evidence of tank tracks was brushed away before daylight and each of the tank battalions due to take part consisted of thirty-six machines, with six in support: their task was to break the Hindenburg Line together with its supports. The plan was for 378 tanks to play a leading part on a front of 4 miles. Thirty-two of them were to be used specifically for tearing large chunks in the German wire, to pave the way for the infantry to move forward and, in turn, for the cavalry to then exploit the gaps created. This would lead to the capture of the Bourlon Ridge and Cambrai, with the subsequent advantage of observation towards Valenciennes, together with the creation of bridgeheads over the Sensée River. Haig was particularly aware of the importance of the capturing of Bourlon Ridge, which would include the wood as well as the village of the same name that was to the east.

The much-vaunted Hindenburg Line comprised three sets of double trenches, the first having advanced posts, the second a wide fire trench, and, 200 yards back, a support trench. A mile further on was the Hindenburg Support Line, another double trench system, and, further on again, six belts of barbed wire.

On the right of the battlefield the 6th, 20th and 12th Divisions were to break the Hindenburg defences between Crèvecoeur and Bonavis securing the line of the St Quentin Canal. Moving up slightly after the initial advance, the 29th Division, after crossing the canal at Marcoing and Masnières, would form bridgeheads.

On the left the 62nd West Riding Division and 51st Highland Division were going to support the 36th Ulster Division towards the Cambrai–Bapaume road and the village of Moeuvres. Once Havrincourt Village, Flesquières, Graincourt and Cantaing were taken, the British would then be able to bring up their reserves, together with cavalry, and capture the village of Bourlon in the north-east.

Lt Col Fuller suggested a tank advance combined closely with infantry cooperation, a plan which had been practised in training. Fuller provided details of the plan to Brig Gen Hugh Elles and the divisional commanders. However, Maj Gen G.M. Harper, in command of the 51st Highland Division on the left of the battlefield, seemed to think that he knew better. The enemy had conducted raids in which they took prisoners, from whom they had gathered that the British were up to something. Even the use of tanks was hinted at; but probably not the numbers, as this figure would not have been common knowledge. As a result of this information the German 54th Division was put on full alert and reserves were brought into the area. By pure chance, troops from the German 107th Division detrained at Cambrai on 19 November and came under the wing of the German 54th Division: expecting an assault was one thing, but the scale of it was another.

Zero hour on the 6-mile front was to be 6.20 a.m. on 20 November. The artillery began on time and as it accompanied the attack it also fired smoke shells over a 2-mile front in order to screen the British advance, in particular in the Flesquières sector.

The tank-led infantry advance began well, with many Germans taken by surprise. Readers may remember that it was still early, and there was also a thick mist as well as the early morning gloom. To see these great monsters appearing to bear down on you must have been a frightening experience. In many places the second line of German trenches, known as the Brown Line, were reached, and on the right the 12th Division had quickly reached the third line, or Blue Line.

The main problem in the otherwise successful attack was the village of Flesquières, which, although not on particularly high ground, was still high enough to look down towards the approaching attackers, and behind it one could see the spires of Cambrai itself. Unfortunately it was also a boundary line between the III and IV Corps, and a considerable toll was taken of British tanks by a concealed German battery.

We have seen that Maj Gen Harper considered that he knew better than Lt Col Fuller, and, rather than organising a close cooperation between tanks and infantry, his idea was to bunch tanks together or brigade the advance guard so that they could push ahead over the fire trenches, leaving the main body of tanks to support infantry-clearing operations. He also ordered that the infantry should follow at a distance of 100 yards. Not surprisingly, the infantry had trouble negotiating the narrow passages left in the wake of the tanks. They were in extended order rather than in file.

Further to the left of the battlefield the 62nd Division moved along the Canal du Nord and captured Havrincourt village and Graincourt. 86th Brigade reached as far as the Cambrai–Bapaume road, and the 36th Ulster Division also made progress. By noon the Hindenburg Support Line had been captured over a wide area. On the right, troops of 12th Division created a defensive flank on the Bonavis Ridge and seventy tanks moved forward to the St Quentin Canal. The 29th Division in particular was doing very well and had reached Marcoing by midday. Almost as a lone gesture, at about 3.30 p.m., B Squadron of the Fort Garry Horse managed to cross the canal at Masnières by a lock bridge and scatter a German battery before they were forced to dismount and return on foot in the dark.

Apart from the problem at Flesquières and the underuse of the cavalry, the British had a very successful opening day: numerous villages had been captured and over 8,000 prisoners taken. When the news of the British progress reached home, church bells rang out for the first time since the start of the war, although nobody knows who gave the instructions. Successful though many of the tanks were, 178 were either knocked out or failed to reach their objectives.

On 21 November the British continued their advance, but were already pretty exhausted. However, Fontaine-Notre-Dame, 2½ miles to the west of Cambrai, was captured. Flesquières, which had been manned by a 500-strong German garrison, was deserted as the enemy had left with their wounded during the night. Cantaing was taken, together with 300 prisoners, and the Germans made a counter-attack against the 36th Ulster Division, capturing Moeuvres in the process. Overall the momentum of the British advance slowed considerably.

On the 22nd, despite what had been said about victory after forty-eight hours, Haig decided to continue the battle after calling a halt for rest and reorganisation. Gains were consolidated. But to the west of Cambrai Fontaine was retaken by the enemy, who forced troops from the 51st and 62nd Divisions out of the village. The respite given to the British troops allowed time for the enemy to reinforce, which they were not slow to do.

On the 23rd Haig ordered Byng to bring IV Corps supported by V Corps to try to capture the all-important Bourlon positions; but this was to no avail, resulting in the familiar Western Front slogging match of heavy casualties to both sides in horrendous conditions, which they endured for five days. During this time the British lost another 4,000 men.

On 24 November the British made gains at Moeuvres and on the 27th the 62nd Division and the Guards were given what was a desperate chance to capture Bourlon, the village as well as Fontaine-Notre-Dame. The attempt was unsuccessful as it was rushed and ill conceived. Owing to a shortage of infantrymen dismounted cavalry were brought in, but it didn’t alter the situation. In addition, an enemy attack west of Moeuvres was repulsed.

Although on the 29th the British made a slight gain at Bourlon Wood, it was clear that the Germans were preparing for a major counter-attack. The British were desperately caught out by the speed of the onslaught, which almost led to the capture of complete divisions.

On the 30th the enemy, who had reacted so swiftly in arranging for reserves when threatened, launched a massive counter-attack both in the south of the battlefield and in the north. They attacked Vendhuille, Bourlon Wood and Moeuvres and penetrated British positions at La Vacquerie and Gouzeaucourt. It was on this day that Boy Bradford VC was killed. A British counter-attack later regained La Vacquerie.

On 1 December Gonnelieu was retaken, but the British withdrew from the Masnières Salient. By the 7th many of the British troops were back where they had started on 20 November, and some were even back beyond their former line. The enemy casualties in the Cambrai battle had been about 45,000 killed and taken prisoner, with the British suffering equal losses.

The result of the battle was a bitter disappointment to the Allies, and no fewer than four inquiries were conducted in order to find out just how the Germans were so successful in their counter-attack and why the plan had failed. The main reason seemed to be a lack of training of junior officers, NCOs and men. Although this might sound a bit of a whitewash, it may well have been the answer: the novelty of men and tanks working closely together in a landscape that was not only open but also not a mud bath was just too much to be taken on board at this stage of the war.

However, a vision of how to conduct a twentieth-century battle had been glimpsed, and both sides were to learn positively from the experience. For the British the tide began to turn nine months later, in August 1918.

Gerald Gliddon, Brooke, 2004

PREFACETOTHE 2012 EDITION

The History Presshas decided to re-issue the VCs of the First World War series in new editions and I have taken advantage of this decision to revise and update the texts of the current volume.

Since the initial research for this book was carried out nearly ten years ago there has been an increasing interest in, and awareness of, the stories and lives of the men who were awarded the nation’s and the Commonwealth’s highest military honour. Evidence of this can be found in the amount of new books being published on the subject; the re-issuing of servicemen’s records by the National Archives and the accessibility of other records of family history, which are now available via Ancestry, the family history magazine. The Internet has also played a major part, although information received using this method should always be verified. Finally, the founding of the Victoria Cross Society in 2002 by Brian Best has encouraged further research and publication of informative articles on the holders of the Victoria Cross.

One of the heartening consequences of this new interest in the subject is in the erection of new or replacement headstones on some of the graves of these brave men, and it is hoped that in time every man who has a grave will have it properly marked.

Gerald Gliddon, Brooke, 2012

E.A. MCNAIR

Near Hooge, Belgium, 14 February 1916

It is often overlooked that things were pretty quiet on the Western Front in 1916 before the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July; but, nevertheless, no fewer than thirteen Victoria Crosses were won in Belgium and France in the first six months of that fateful year.

On 14 February Eric Archibald McNair was the first Allied soldier to win a VC on the Western Front since William Young had won his to the east of Foncquevillers just before Christmas in 1915. McNair was a temporary lieutenant with the 9th (Service) Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (73rd Brigade) 24th Division and won the award close to the Menin Road at Hooge in Belgium.

Prior to the commencement of the German offensive against Verdun the enemy carried out a series of operations against different sections of the Ypres Salient. On the night of 13 February trenches at Hooge and Sanctuary Wood were bombarded, and, according to the 73rd Brigade Diary, on the 14th activity began with British Artillery firing on a section of the German line of trenches that was later reported as being ‘knocked in’. The enemy duly retaliated during the early afternoon and heavily shelled Hooge. Later they carried out a bombardment against an important observation post called the ‘The Bluff’, close to the Ypres–Comines Canal, 2 miles south of Ypres. At 5.30 p.m. an order to stand-to was given, and an SOS signal was sent up at Hooge when it was being shelled. An hour later the enemy blew a mine near a map position called H.16, and the inner edge of the crater was soon occupied by members of the 9th Royal Sussex Battalion.

The brigade diary seemed to have played down the story of what really happened that day, failing to tell the full story or even mention that the enemy mine caused a very great deal of damage as well as many casualties. The account even described the enemy as making a ‘very feeble effort’ after they had blown the mine. However, a later issue of the Sussex Daily News described what had really happened to the battalion as a ‘terrible ordeal’.

The 24th Divisional War Diary stated that the ‘enemy blew 2 mines in front of our trench H.16-H.18’, and in an Intelligence Summary it stated that the enemy had been prevented from an attack at Hooge on the 14th ‘by one of our Lewis guns’ that opened fire on a German machine-gun when it was being brought forward. A company of the 9th Royal Sussex repulsed the enemy at position H.18.

Later, a member of the machine-gun section of the battalion who came from Brighton wrote an account of the events to a friend at the end of February:

… We took over trenches last Thursday week, and on the following two days we suffered one of the worst bombardments of the war. Day and night, continually, our front line trenches and support trenches were shelled with high explosives. On the Monday the bombardment reached its height. The gun team I was in went on duty at 2 o’clock and by 3 o’clock the full fury of the German bombardment commenced.

I cannot describe what it was like in words. At 4 o’clock only myself and another fellow were left with the gun … We were thrown to the bottom of the trench five times … about 6 o’clock, when the whole trench rocked like a boat. It first seemed to go up at one end, throwing me on my chum, and then throwing us back again. It took me a few minutes to realise that the Germans had exploded a mine …

The two men were probably saved from being buried alive by a section of corrugated iron, but they had great trouble with clearing a large quantity of earth that had poured down over their shelter. After they had got over their initial shock they found that what had a few minutes ago been trenches was now ‘simply flat ground’. Supports then arrived and they were able to lay their gun, aiming at a gap in the British line 300 yards away, while their colleagues charged for first occupation of the crater.

The above letter gives the background of the winning of three DCMs, together with T/Lt McNair’s VC. The official citation of his deed was published in the London Gazette of 30 March as follows:

… Eric Archibald McNair, Lieutenant, Royal Sussex Regiment. When the enemy exploded a mine, Lieutenant McNair and many men of two platoons were hoisted into the air, and many were buried. But, though much shaken, he at once organised a party with a machine-gun to man the near edge of the crater, and opened rapid fire on a large party of the enemy who were advancing. The enemy were driven back, leaving many dead. Lieutenant McNair then ran back for reinforcements, and sent to another unit for bombs, ammunition and tools to replace those buried. The communication trench being blocked, he went across the open under heavy fire, and led up the reinforcements the same way. His prompt and plucky action undoubtedly saved the situation.

McNair received his VC at Buckingham Palace from the King at an investiture on 20 May 1916, and soon returned to the front, only to be severely wounded by gunshot wounds to his shoulder and back at Guillemont on 18 August 1916 when the 9th Royal Sussex were in support to the 7th (S) Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment. He was subsequently invalided home and not passed fit for service until the end of January 1917. He was never to be fit enough for front-line duty again and could therefore only work as a member of the staff.

At some point he had managed to get home to India for a short leave, but while there he became ill. He was passed fit for service again and put on probation for staff work, attending a special staff course. After being in service at home for several months he was attached to the staff and in 1918 left for the Italian Front, where he was attached to the General Staff, GHQ, Italian Expeditionary Force. It was possible that the Prince of Wales, a friend from college days, assisted in getting him the position.

However, it appears that he was not in fact at all fit for active service at this time: on 27 June his family were alerted that he was seriously ill, and six days later ‘dangerously ill’. He was invalided back to 11 General Hospital in Genoa in Northern Italy, where he died of amoebic dysentery on 12 August. He was twenty-four years old.

At this time Genoa was a base for Dominion Forces, and McNair was buried as late as 8 November at Campo Santo Cemetery in the British Portion. The name of the cemetery was later changed to Staglieno Cemetery, and his grave reference, Plot I, B, 32, carried the inscription ‘And I Know That His Commandment Is Life Eternal’. The CWGC Register describes the cemetery as ‘steeply terraced with numerous steps’.

After his death McNair’s VC remained in his family and at one point was the property of Sir George Douglas McNair, one of Eric’s brothers, who died in Torquay in 1967. The decoration was bequeathed to the Royal Sussex Regimental Museum. Eric McNair’s name is commemorated in the Regimental Memorial in Chichester Cathedral and his VC is on display at the Royal Sussex Regimental Museum at the Redoubt Fortress, Eastbourne, Sussex. His deeds of February 1916 were written up twice in comic form in The Victor on 1 May 1965 and 25 June 1977.

Eric Archibald McNair was born in Calcutta on 16 June 1894, second son of George McNair, a senior partner in Morgan & Co., solicitors, and his wife Isabella Frederica, née Gow. The family lived at 5 Harrington Street, Calcutta.

Eric left for England to attend Branksome College in Godalming, Surrey, where he was a pupil in Mr Sylvester’s House. In 1907 he moved onto Charterhouse in Horsham, where he remained for nearly six years until 1913. He became a successful sportsman and member of Lockites House. Known as ‘Fuzzy’, he was appointed Head Monitor during his final year and joined the OTC. His older brother, George had been a member of the same house from 1901–1904. McNair was a classical scholar; a good athlete and an excellent disciplinarian. In midsummer 1913 he went up to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he had a Demyship (scholarship). It is possible that at this time he met the Prince of Wales, who was at the same college for a brief time, just before the outbreak of war. Their friendship was to be renewed five years later in 1918 on the Italian Front.

As a student in residence McNair was working for the Indian Civil Service examinations and was considered to be ‘very clever’, but the outbreak of the war in August 1914 put paid to his ambitions. He decided to join the Army and enlisted on 14 October as a second lieutenant in the 10th Royal Sussex Regiment. He was made a full lieutenant on 22 December and in August 1915 was transferred to the 9th Battalion and left for the front the following month. In October he was promoted to captain and company commander, taking part in the Loos battle when the 9th Royal Sussex were involved in the 73rd Brigade’s failed attempt to hold onto Fosse 8. McNair became one of eighteen officer casualties.

W.R. COTTER

Near Hohenzollern Redoubt, France, 6 March 1916

The 6th (Service) Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) was formed at Canterbury in August 1914 and became part of the 37th Brigade of the 12th Division. The division arrived in the area of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, near Bethune, in mid-February 1916, where it had been three months before. The Division took over from the Cavalry Corps, who, according to the official history, ‘… were holding the Quarries and Hohenzollern sectors from opposite Cité St Elie to opposite the dump of Fosse 8’.

Near the end of February, the 170th Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers had completed three mines under the enemy’s shallow system. It was decided that these mines should be blown as soon as possible, which would allow the British to recover a position close to the Triangle Crater called the Chord, which had once been the front line but was now in enemy hands.

The Chord ran along the front of the German line between the sites of the first two mines, A and B, and at mine C it changed its name to Little Willie. The three mines were duly fired on 2 March and most of the objectives were captured, except for a northern section of the Chord. Over the next few days the enemy made strenuous efforts to retake the lost ground and in particular Mine A, which allowed the British to have good observation over their lines.

On 5 March the 36th Brigade was relieved by the 37th, whose HQ was based at Vermelles, and the 6th Buffs became the right battalion. According to the 37th Brigade Diary, their orders were to capture Triangle Trench and consolidate on the Chord–Big Willie line, 50 yards south-east of its junction with the German trench running to the south of Triangle Crater:

… We exploded a mine at midnight just south of Sap 6, close to the German front line to blow in hostile gallery; no attempt made to occupy crater by either side. Hostile Trench Mortars and artillery fire did some damage to Sticky Trench, Northampton Trench & Vigo Street. 5.10 a.m. enemy blew a small mine near Sap 2. No damage done. Neither side occupied crater…

At 9 a.m. the enemy blew a mine of their own, this time near Sap 6, only 20 yards from the parapet. No damage was done but Saps 5 and 6 were partly filled. Seven hours later, and preceded by heavy bombardment, another German mine was exploded, this time in front of Alexander Trench close to Sap 6. Sixteen men suffered badly from shock and there was slight damage to the trenches. An hour later, at 6.00 p.m., C Coy of the 6th Buffs attacked the Triangle Crater and the Chord in three parties. Two of the parties were held up within ten minutes by accurate bombing, and the third by the nature of the heavy ground conditions, with water and mud being knee-deep. Only one party made any real progress and reached their objective, but without the assistance of the other two parties the situation was hopeless. Reinforcements were requested and a company from the 6th Royal West Kents was ordered up to try to assist.

The attack turned out to be entirely unsuccessful, and the battalion diary recorded casualties of twenty-nine killed and 233 missing or wounded, including those men who had suffered from shock. The battalion diary considered that the attack failed because of a preponderance of the enemy (it was later discovered that 100 German bombers with unlimited supplies of grenades were on the point of making an attack of their own launched from deep trenches intersecting the Triangle), muddy conditions and the short notice given for the attack. In addition, no allowance was made for the ground to be reconnoitred. Finally, the process of bomb supply was severely interrupted by a very active enemy.

On 7 March mining and counter-mining continued and the 6th Buffs were relieved by the 6th Royal West Kents.

The fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, which had begun on the 2nd with the British firing five mines and occupying forward lips of the craters, continued with fluctuating intensity through deteriorating weather conditions of cold and heavy snowstorms. However, these conditions did not deter the enemy from making active preparations for regaining their former positions, which they eventually achieved on the 18th, when the 37th Brigade had been in the line for fourteen days.

There were many acts of heroism during the crater fighting, but one that stands out is that of Cpl William Cotter, who despite his shattered legs continued to direct a bombing attack and even managed to continue to throw a number of bombs himself. There is no shortage of information in the records about his gallant deed, and it would seem sensible to quote in full from Appendix L from the 37th War Diary signed by Capt R.O.C. Ward under recommendation of Cpl W. Cotter for the Victoria Cross.

In the attack made by the 6th Battalion, The Buffs, along the Northern Trench of TRIANGLE CRATER, on the night of the 6th March, the party led by Corpl. Cotter was cut off owing to casualties in the centre. He returned under heavy bomb fire, reported the matter and then took back bombs to his party, so enabling them to fight their way back to No 2 CRATER.

While directing this latter operation his right leg was blown off close to the knee and he was also wounded in both arms.

He made his way unaided along 50 yds of trench in order to reach No 2 CRATER.

While doing so he came upon a junior N.C.O. (Lance/Corporal Newman) who with his section was bombing towards the right. Corpl. Cotter appreciating where help was most needed directed him to bomb towards the left.

He reached No 2 CRATER and by this time the Germans had developed a violent and rapid counter-attack.

Matters became somewhat disorganised as the garrison of the Crater was throwing bombs and firing wildly, whilst they were suffering heavy casualties from the enemy’s bombs.

Corpl. Cotter then from a position on the side of the Crater although suffering great pain, steadied the men, issued orders, controlled their fire and then altered their dispositions to meet the attack on his side of the Crater. He also directed and controlled the supply of bombs and S.A.A.

He remained in this position for about two hours and only after the attack had been repelled and matters had quietened down a little would he permit his wounds to be roughly dressed.

It was not possible to evacuate him until 14 hours later and during this time he had a cheery word for all who passed by the entrance of the ‘dug-out’ where he was placed.

Undoubtedly the fine example he showed to all by his endurance under suffering, coolness under fire, and keen sense of duty, helped greatly to save what might have become a very critical situation.

During the time he has been with the 6th Battalion, The Buffs he has always proved himself a fine soldier. In the trenches his activities lay chiefly in Sniping and Scouting, and in this connection he has rendered very valuable service.

He was always ready to volunteer for such work as patrols, wiring etc, and never considered a task too dangerous or disagreeable for him.

Cotter was taken to a casualty clearing station (CCS) at Lillers, where his right leg was amputated below the knee. Both of his arms were also wounded. In Unknown Warriors, a book of extracts from the letters of Nursing Sister K.E. Luard, RRC, who was a sister-in-charge of a CCS, is a letter written from Lillers on 15 March 1916:

There is a story to tell you about the quiet, determined-looking little man in the ‘Surgical’ with the glass eye – Corporal Cotter of The Buffs – who came in with his leg bombed off.

Yesterday morning he was so much better he was able to talk a little more.

He told me (only when asked how he got it) that he was leading a bombing attack at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, and took his men up a wrong turning and came on ‘thousands of Germans’.

He somehow got his men away again, minus his leg. ‘It was dark, and I didn’t know me leg was gone – so I kep’ on throwing the bombs, and Little Wood he kep’ by me and took the pins out for me.’ (His hand was badly wounded as well.)

At last ‘Little Wood’ got him into a dugout in a crater and stayed with him all night.

Yesterday morning, General Gough, Corps Commander, and two other Generals turned up and asked to see Corporal Cotter of The Buffs, to tell him that he was recommended for the V.C.

General Gough told me he was a marvellous man, known throughout the Division as the ‘Corporal of The Buffs with One Eye,’ famed for bravery and scouting at night for snipers by himself.

They were awfully nice to him, and Capt. R. told them all about the leg and the drip treatment, etc.

Later that day the Corporal had a severe haemorrhage and so nearly died that they daren’t give him an anaesthetic, but Capt. R. took his gangrenous leg off through the knee as he was, without his feeling it as he was unconscious.

We slaved at him all the evening, but he died at 8 p.m.

Wasn’t it horribly tragic? But he did know about his V.C.

Cotter died on 14 March. A priest who attended him wrote the following to his mother soon after:

Dear Mrs. Cotter, – Your son William, I regret to say, has just collapsed after a serious operation for amputation. He seemed so strong and in such good spirits when he came in that I felt assured and full of hopes of his recovery. However, Almighty God has disposed otherwise. He will be missed from the Army, he was a great favourite, and so full of bravery. The General came to tell him that he was going to be recommended for the Victoria Cross. This no doubt will console you somewhat, but I am sure you will be more pleased to know that he received devoutedly Holy Communion, and shortly before he expired extreme unction and the last blessing.

His last words were ‘Good-bye, God bless you all’. RIP. I am now going to lay him to rest.

Cotter’s body was taken to Lillers Communal Cemetery, north-west of Bethune, and buried in Plot IV, E, 45.

The general who visited Cotter in hospital, pinning a VC ribbon on his breast, was General Hubert Gough. There was to be no delay with approving Cotter’s deeds as being worthy of the VC, and the citation was published in the London Gazette on 30 March, only sixteen days after his death.

William Richard (sic, Reginald) Cotter, No. 6707. Lance/Corporal. (Acting Corporal.) 6th Battalion. East Kent Regiment. For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. When his right leg had been blown off at the knee, and he had also been wounded in both arms, he made his way unaided for 50 yards to a crater, steadied the men who were holding it, controlled their fire, issued orders, and altered the dispositions of his men to meet a fresh counter-attack by the enemy. For two hours he held his position, and only allowed his wounds to be roughly dressed when the attack had quieted down. He could not be moved back for 14 hours, and during all this time had a cheery word for all who passed him. There is no doubt that his magnificent courage helped greatly to save a critical situation.

The regimental history says of Cotter:

His letters home were always of a cheery type, and in the trenches he was one of the happiest and best of men. He kept his comrades in good spirits, and he was always ready to help the wounded or dying. Corporal distinguished himself on several occasions in bayonet fighting, and in December last (1915) he was recommended by his officers for conspicuous bravery. He was then, it appeared, recommended for the D.C.M.

Cotter’s parents were invited to an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 29 November. They were given railway warrants from Folkestone to Charing Cross and took with them a nephew who had also served in the trenches. From Charing Cross they left for Buckingham Palace, where they were to spend about three and a half hours. It was Mr Cotter’s first visit to the capital for thirty years, and the King expressed interest in the elderly man’s campaign medals before presenting the VC to Mrs Cotter.

In July 1916 Cotter’s effects were returned to his family, and, in May 1917, a memorial plaque was erected at Sandgate, fixed to a wall at the entrance to the Chichester Memorial Hall in the High Street, at a time when the building housed the offices of the Sandgate Urban District Council. The marble tablet was surmounted by a dragon scroll and paid for by public subscription. It was unveiled on 5 May 1917 by Col F.G.A. Wiehe at a ceremony in the presence of the mayor of Folkestone, a group of local dignitaries and a large crowd. A detachment of the Buffs took part, together with a bugler who sounded the general salute after the sheet covering the memorial was pulled away. In addition many of Cotter’s former Army colleagues attended, as did a group of local Boy Scouts. The Sandgate War Memorial was unveiled at the foot of Military Road on 11 May 1921 by the Countess of Rocksavage, and among the forty-five names on the memorial were those of Bernard and William Cotter.

In 1956 a brief service of commemoration was held at the Chichester Hall Memorial and in the same year another memorial to William Cotter was created on the seafront at Folkestone, which took the form of a floral tribute in the Leas, the mile-and-a-half promenade adjacent to the sea. It was in commemoration of Cotter and other holders of the VC who had local connections.

However, by the early 1960s usage of the hall in Sandgate had changed it into a social centre, and the memorial now found itself adjacent to a ladies’ public lavatory, with direction notices outside. This was felt by some to be unseemly and there was a considerable local controversy about the suitability of the site for the local VC hero. Some people wanted the memorial to be moved to the local parish church; one of his brothers argued that, as William had been a Roman Catholic, this decision would be quite wrong.

In July 2000 eleven members of the Cotter family, together with more than thirty members of the Sandgate Society, decided to make a pilgrimage to France in order to visit the places associated with William Cotter. Led by the Revd John Botting, the group visited the spot near Bethune on the site of the former Hohenzollern Redoubt where Cotter won his VC. They also commemorated his memory at his grave at Lillers Communal Cemetery, where a short service was held and a wreath of poppies was laid on the grave. At one point a framed commemorative scroll together with a badge of the Buffs and a replica VC was presented to the Sandgate Society as a memento of the visit. Cotter’s VC and medals were acquired by the Buffs Regimental Museum which closed in 2003 and they were bequeathed to the National Army Museum.

Of William’s brothers, three served in the Army and two in the Navy. William and Bernard (died 19 October 1914) both of the Buffs, were listed on the Sandgate War Memorial. A roll of honour in St Paul’s, the parish church, was later erected; carved in stone or slate panels it forms part of the entrance porch. Another Cotter brother, Fred, had died in South Africa, when also serving with the Buffs.

William Reginald Cotter was the eldest of six sons of Richard and Amy Cotter of 2 Barton Cottages, Wilberforce Road, Sandgate. These cottages are now no more. William was born in Young’s Road, Folkestone, in March 1883, although there is conflicting evidence of his date of birth, and even his family seemed unsure as to which year he was born in. Richard, his father, was a former soldier who had served with the South Wales Borderers and taken part in the South African Wars in the late 1870s. He later worked in the building trade for various firms and was recognised as a hard worker. He was well known in Folkestone and, being an Irishman, was inevitably known as ‘Mickey’. Owing to rheumatism he had to give up building work and later took up selling papers instead.

From about the age of five William attended a Roman Catholic school behind the church in Guildhall Street, Folkestone, and after leaving he worked at various labouring jobs in the building trade. He then decided he was in need of some adventure and ran away to sea, working with the crew of a liner for a short time before returning home because he knew that his mother would be anxious about him. He then decided to try to get into the Army and enlisted in the East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) on 8 October 1901. He was slightly under 5ft 8in tall. A year later he joined the 1st Battalion, and during his early years in the Army he served in Dublin, India and Aden. Only six weeks after joining he was involved in a fight in the Lion public house in Folkestone. During the fracas he was badly injured in the face by a glass that was thrown at him by a rowdy customer, possibly the assailant, who was ‘taking the micky’ out of Cotter and his friends. Tragically, Cotter’s injuries led to the loss of sight in one of his eyes. Inevitably, a court of enquiry was set up, which was convened on 13 December. Cotter’s injuries were still too bad to allow him to sign an account of what had happened in the pub. His left eye (according to the records) was subsequently replaced by a glass one, which had obvious repercussions on his good eye, which then had to compensate for the extra work it had to do.

It is tempting to write off this incident as a fight or scuffle which for Cotter went disastrously wrong. However, it was not to be the only ‘black mark’ against him on his Army record in the thirteen years of service prior to March 1914: his service record shows six misdemeanours of drunkenness, being absent from duty and irregular with the hours that he kept! He was sometimes warned or admonished but on two occasions was confined to barracks for five days. His misdeeds were spread over his Army career from 1901 to 1913; not surprisingly he remained a private.

After thirteen years in the Army, where he had become one of the best bayonet fighters in the regiment, he was discharged in mid-March 1914 to join the Reserves. He then took a job with Sandgate Council. When war broke out he promptly rejoined the Army from Reserve on 5 August 1914, returning to the 1st Battalion of the Buffs, and proceeded to Canterbury before going on active service in France for six months from 7 September until 29 May 1915. He was then invalided home sick, as with only one eye the strain on his sight had become too much, and he took up garrison duties at Dover instead. An operation was carried out on his good eye and his sight slowly improved. On 20 October he joined the 6th Battalion (37th Brigade) 12th Division and left again for France. He was promoted for the first time to paid lance-corporal on 14 November and paid corporal on 12 February 1916. He won his VC on 6 March and died of wounds eight days later.

E.N. MELLISH

St Eloi, Belgium, 27/29 March 1916

During an attack in March 1915 at St Eloi in an area south of Wytschaete, the enemy had created a salient some 600 yards wide with a depth of about 100 yards, which intruded into the British line. For a year this area was to witness much mining and counter-mining. In March 1916 General Plumer decided to ‘straighten out the line at St Eloi’ and thus cut off the small German salient. This sector included a position named ‘The Mound’, an artificial bank of earth which, although reduced in size, still provided the enemy with a valuable observation post.

The two battalions chosen to carry out this dangerous task were from the 9th Brigade (3rd Division), the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers and the 4th Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment).

The operation commenced on 27 March with the blowing of five mines at 4.15 a.m. Artillery put down an accompanying barrage, and when debris from the explosions had settled, four companies of the Royal Fusiliers rapidly moved forward. However, the enemy were more than prepared for this assault and retaliated with machine-gun and intense rifle fire, accompanied by artillery fire. Four mines had gone off under the enemy front line and a fifth destroyed a bombers’ post, and although the Fusiliers entered the German front line, despite the wire being uncut, they became so weakened that they were unable to make further progress and had to make do with consolidating the ground they had covered.

The 1st Northumberland Fusiliers on the right, on the other hand, had a very different experience, encountering very little opposition in their section as they found that the enemy had been caught by surprise. They also managed to capture several German prisoners.

Since the Royal Fusiliers had not reached their objectives, a gap opened up between the two assaulting battalions. Later, when other battalions proceeded to consolidate the ground, they found the mining had disturbed the deep drainage system, resulting in trenches filling with water. It was also freezing cold, with showers of sleet and snow.

For the rest of the day an artillery duel was fought and it was impossible for any of the by now very heavy casualties to be brought in, certainly not until dusk at the earliest. At midnight small groups of men from the 2nd Royal Scots did manage to carry out a relief of the Royal Fusiliers, but it took six hours to complete.

On the following night other battalions took over the captured trenches, including the 2nd Suffolks and 10th (S) Royal Welsh Fusiliers. On the third night it was reported that the enemy were in occupation of two of the craters and had wire and machine-guns in front of them.

Having been informed of the heavy casualties of the Royal Fusiliers, many of whom he would have known personally, Capt the Revd Edward Mellish, who was attached to the 4th Royal Fusiliers as their chaplain, came up from transport lines. He even ventured out into No Man’s Land on the first night when the ground was already thick with casualties. Accompanied by his servant and groom, Pte Robins (Worcestershire Regiment), he attended to his colleagues in the most dangerous of conditions and managed to bring some back to safety. In his unpublished memoirs he described the scene:

Along the edge of the mine craters and that which had once been a trench, but was now a sea of churned up mud, our men were subjected to a continuous volume of fire. In the dark it was a hell of white flares, red flashes and screaming shells, while dead and dying men lay with those who still kept their sanity… 

At one point Mellish’s own life was probably saved by Pte Robins: ‘… I think that on one occasion I should never have extricated myself from the unthinkably clinging mud of a crater’s edge, if he had not come back and hauled me out by his great strength…’

On the first day Mellish, single-handed, brought in ten men, followed by twelve the following day. To indicate how close he was to being killed, at least three casualties were killed while he was attending to their wounds. On the third night a call went out to the 2nd Suffolks for stretcher-bearers to work with Mellish in No Man’s Land and six stretcher-bearers promptly volunteered. The last man to be brought in was a very tall man ‘… who was lying with a broken leg in an exposed position. As daylight dawned they got him out and then the German gunners saw and opened fire, but just as they had ‘bracketed’ them a fall of snow came and hid them from their views and they were protected…’. Later, when the totally exhausted padre got back to Capt Carpenter’s dugout (named after Capt G.G. Carpenter, Mellish’s company commander) he was given a well-earned mug of cocoa! The casualties of the Royal Fusiliers were 265, including ten officers.

Mellish was the first padre to win a VC in the First World War. All six members of the Suffolk Regiment who assisted him on the third night received the MM. Mellish’s VC citation was published in the London Gazette of 20 April, and four days later a 3rd Divisional parade was held at Flêtre, close to Hazebrouck, by Maj Gen J.A.L. Haldane, GOC 3rd Division, in ‘a soggy meadow beneath the red-brick church with thatched and limewashed cottages about it’. While other men received their decorations Mellish was obliged to stand embarrassingly to attention for the duration of the parade in the dank conditions of the low-lying marshy field. He was the last man to be decorated and was presented with a VC ribbon and then given three cheers. (The low-lying field still exists, and the red-brick church, which has the date of 1901 on its tower, also survives. As for some of the mine craters at St Eloi, they have become large innocent-looking ponds within a farm complex.)

Mellish’s citation read as follows:

Edward Noel Mellish, Capt. The Reverend, Temporary Chaplain to the Forces. During heavy fighting on three consecutive days he repeatedly went backwards and forwards under continuous heavy shell and machine-gun fire, between our trenches and those captured from the enemy, in order to tend and rescue wounded men. He brought in ten badly-wounded men on the first day from ground swept by machine-gun fire. The battalion to which he was attached was relieved on the second day, but he went back and brought in twelve more wounded men. On the night of the third day he took charge of a party of volunteers, and once more returned to the trenches to rescue the remaining wounded. This splendid work was quite voluntary, and outside the scope of his ordinary duties.

As a registered reader of the Daily Mail, Mellish was fortunate in becoming the first recipient of its £100 award set up to encourage men to win a VC. On 10 June he was given a civic reception at Deptford Town Hall, South London. He was a curate at St Paul’s, Deptford, and his parents lived nearby in Lewisham. In the municipal reception room in the Town Hall, where the ceremony took place, Mellish was invited to sign his name in the Borough roll of honour. He was presented with an illuminated address together with a sum of money. Two days later he was presented with his VC by the King at Buckingham Palace.