VCs of the First World War: The Final Days 1918 E-Book

Gerald Gliddon

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

Seitenzahl: 432

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Towards the end of September 1918 the Allied armies were poised to seize the Hindenburg Line – the end of the war on the Western Front was at last in sight. These final days became a series of battles to capture a number of river lines: as each one was captured by the Allies, the German Army fell back to the next. Despite stiff resistance from the enemy, the Allies slowly advanced. The Germans became increasingly demoralised, and about a quarter of their army surrendered. By the beginning of November the Allies had closed in until they were flanking the Forest of Mormal, surrounding the enemy. On 11 November the Canadian Corps retook Mons and, following the signing of the armistice, the guns finally fell silent at 11 a.m. Covering the six-week period from the Battle of Canal du Nord to Armistice Day, this volume tells the story of the fifty-six VC winners from France, Canada and Britain who fought in the victorious Allied advance.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Title

Acknowledgements

Preface to the 2014 edition

Introduction

C.H. Frisby

Viscount Gort

S.L. Honey

T.N. Jackson

G.F. Kerr

G.T. Lyall

T. Neely

M.F. Gregg

L. McGuffie

H. Tandey

E. Seaman

B.W. Vann

B.A. Wark

J. MacGregor

J. Crichton

J. Ryan

R.V. Gorle

W. Merrifield

F.C. Riggs

W.H. Johnson

J. Maxwell

W.H. Coltman

G.M. Ingram

J. Towers

J.H. Williams

C.N. Mitchell

W.E. Holmes

W.L. Algie

F. Lester

H.B. Wood

J. Johnson

J. McPhie

M. Moffatt

J. O’Neill

T. Ricketts

R.E. Elcock

H.A. Curtis

J.B. Daykins

A.R. Wilkinson

D.S. McGregor

F.G. Miles

H. Greenwood

F.W. Hedges

W.D. Bissett

N. Harvey

T. Caldwell

H. Cairns

J. Clarke

W. Amey

A. Archibald

G. de C.E. Findlay

D.G. Johnson

J. Kirk

J.N. Marshall

A.H.S. Waters

B.M. Cloutman

Sources

Bibliography

Plates

Copyright

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would 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 Museums; the National Army Museum; and The National Archives. In addition, I would like to thank the archivists and curators of the many regimental museums and libraries who have replied to my requests for information.

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

As with my previous books in the VCs of the First World War series, Donald C. Jennings of Florida has been very kind in allowing me to reproduce many pictures of either graves or memorials which appear in this book.

Many of the maps used have been taken from regimental histories or from the British Official History of the War: Military Operations in France and Belgium, 1914–1918, edited by J.E. Edmonds, Macmillan/HMSO, 1922–49.

Maurice Johnson once again spent many hours in The National Archives on my behalf, searching out and reading the appropriate War Diaries. Other individuals who have been of great help in many ways include Peter Batchelor, John Bolton, John Cameron, Jack Cavanagh, Colonel Terry Cave CBE, Barry Conway, D.G. Gage, Ray Grover, Peter Harris, Chris Matson, Dick Rayner and Steve Snelling. Other people who provided additional material but whose names are not mentioned here have been acknowledged in the list of sources at the end of the book.

PREFACE TO THE 2014 EDITION

The History Press have decided to re-issue the VCs of the First World War series in new editions and I have taken advantage of this decision by revising and updating the text of the current volume.

Since the initial research for this book was carried out fifteen 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 reissuing of servicemen’s records by The National Archives and the accessibility of other records of family history, which are now available via the magazine Ancestry, and from other sources. The Internet has also played a major part, although information received using this method should always be verified by cross-checking. Finally, the founding of the Victoria Cross Society in 2002 by Bran Best has encouraged further research and publication of informative articles on the holders of the Victoria Cross.

While this book was being prepared, the British government announced plans to mark the First World War centenary from 2014 to 2018. One of the ideas is directly linked with the commemoration of men who had won a Victoria Cross during the Great War. For men born in the United Kingdom, a special paving stone will be installed in the town or district most associated with them. It is hoped that those men born overseas will also be commemorated in an appropriate manner. Finally it is hoped that all 628 VC recipients will be named at Heroes Square at the national memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Gerald Gliddon, 2014

INTRODUCTION

This book covers the final days of the war on the Western Front, from when the Allied Armies were poised to capture the Hindenburg Line to the Armistice on 11 November 1918. The last man to win the VC, covered in the previous volume Road to Victory, was Temporary Lieutenant (T/Lt) Donald Dean, 24–26 September, and the opening section of this book tells the stories of seven men who received their Vcs for the part they played in the Battle of the Canal du Nord. From then until 6 November, a period of just under six weeks, a further forty-nine VCs were won in the victorious Allied advance. The last period of the war became a sequence of battles to capture a series of river lines; as each one was captured by the Allied armies, the German Army fell back to the next one.

The Third Army, to the right of the First Army, began the Battle of the Canal du Nord on 27 September. At the beginning of the war the canal was still unfinished in places and the Canadian Army’s plan was to make use of these dry sections, thus avoiding the hardest parts of the line. Obtaining permission, the Canadian commander, Lieutenant General (Lt Gen.) Sir Arthur Currie, planned to make a crossing on a narrow front to the south, and, once across, to fan out. This turned out to be a great success and, despite the enemy putting up a stiff resistance, the British Third and First Armies advanced 6 miles. This success prepared the ground for the eventual capture of Cambrai.

On 29 September the Fourth Army began the Battle of St Quentin, which ended three days later after the Canal du Nord and St Quentin Canal had been taken. The key part of the operation at the St Quentin Canal was the capture of a section between Bellicourt and Vendhuille, where it went underground through a tunnel. A preliminary attempt failed, but was followed by a successful assault by the 46th (North Midland) Division. After storming the enemy defences at Bellenglise, the division’s Staffordshire Brigade, protected by fog, crossed the canal by footbridges which the enemy had neglected to destroy. Having reached the far bank, the division, together with the 32nd Division, moved to the right and began to outflank the enemy and to take the rear German defences.

On 3 October the Fourth and Third Armies began the Battle of the Beaurevoir Line, a substantial enemy support system which was part of the Siegfriedstellung (Siegfried Line). The battle lasted for two days. On 8 October these two armies, together with the French First Army, began an attack south of Cambrai on a 17-mile front. On the following day Canadian patrols entered Cambrai to link up with troops from the Third Army. However, the enemy then made a stand on a line along the River Selle, close to Le Cateau, which lasted two days. On 10 October the Battle of Flanders began, and on 14 October the Battle of Courtrai, lasting for four days. The important town of Lille fell on 17 October, and on the same day the Belgian Army retook the port of Ostend.

To the south, on 17 October, the Fourth Army began the Battle of the Selle, with the target of the Sambre–Oise Canal as far as the prized town of Valenciennes. The battle began on a front of 10 miles to the south of Le Cateau, and the right of the Fourth Army reached the Sambre–Oise Canal after three days. To the north, the Third Army crossed the Selle on 20 October. On 23 October the British Fourth, Third and First Armies combined and advanced a further 6 miles. Overall, the battle lasted eight days. To the north, the Fifth and Second Armies were progressing towards the Scheldt line.

This Allied progress was not achieved without considerable cost; in October, after the fall of the Hindenburg Line, the British suffered 120,000 casualties. The German casualties were also considerable and, in addition, about a quarter of their army surrendered. On 1/2 November the First and Third Armies fought the Battle of Valenciennes, and on 4 November the Battle of the Sambre began. With the support of thirty-seven tanks, the British First, Third and Fourth Armies advanced on a 30-mile front from Valenciennes to the Sambre–Oise Canal, either side of the Forest of Mormal. Early on 11 November the Canadian Corps retook Mons, and after the signing of the Armistice at 11 a.m. the guns finally fell silent.

C.H. FRISBY

Canal du Nord, Near Graincourt, France 27 September

No fewer than seven VCs were won on 27 September 1918 at the beginning of a four-day campaign to capture the Hindenburg Line with the crossing of the Canal du Nord. The success of the whole operation proved to be of great significance, enabling the Allied armies to make further rapid advances and directly leading to the Armistice six weeks later.

The Guards Division was to seize the high ground between Flesquières and Premy Chapel, half a mile to the west of the town of Marcoing. It was during this fighting that A/Capt. Cyril Frisby of the 1st Coldstream Guards won his VC near Graincourt, together with L. Cpl T.N. Jackson of the same battalion. The Coldstream Guards had No. 3 Company under 2nd Lt Lord Bingham on the right and No. 4 Company under Lt W.H. Gladstone on the left. No. 1 under Lt M.V. Buxton was in reserve and No. 2 under Capt. Frisby himself was in support. Once on the other side of the canal, Frisby’s company was to form a defensive flank which would face northwards and also make contact with the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards and the 52nd (Lowland) Division.

Frisby’s company was ready to move forward at 5 a.m. and, initially, the right column was successful, but in front of the left column an enemy position known as Mouse Post, armed with machine guns and sited in the bed of the dry canal, proved to be much stronger than anticipated. Mouse Post was well protected by iron girders, broken concrete and the debris left from the demolished bridge which carried the Demicourt–Graincourt road. It was earlier thought that these two posts had been deserted, but this proved to be false. In addition, the area was strewn with uncut barbed wire. Attempts by artillery to knock out Mouse Post had been unsuccessful. The story of what happened next was well described in Frisby’s citation, gazetted on 27 November 1918:

For conspicuous bravery, leadership and devotion to duty in action on 27 Sept. 1918, across the Canal Du Nord, near Graincourt, when in command of a company detailed to capture the canal crossing on the Demicourt–Graincourt road. On reaching the canal, the leading platoon came under annihilating machine-gun fire from a strong machine-gun post under the old iron bridge on the far side of the canal, and was unable to advance, despite reinforcing waves. Capt. Frisby realised at once that unless this post was captured the whole advance in this area would fail. Calling for volunteers to follow him, he dashed forward, and with three other ranks, he climbed down into the canal under an intense point-blank machine-gun fire, and succeeded in capturing the post with two machine-guns and twelve men. By his personal valour and initiative he restored the situation and enabled the attacking companies to continue the advance. Having reached and consolidated his objective, he gave timely support to the company on his right, which had lost all its officers and sergeants, organised its defences, and beat off a heavy hostile counter-attack. He was wounded in the leg by a bayonet in the attack on the machine-gun post, but remained at duty throughout, thereby setting a splendid example to all ranks.

On the Allied side of the canal, when about to try and cross the barbed wire and facing heavy machine-gun fire, Frisby called for volunteers, and initially three men put themselves forward to assist him to get through the wire and up the other side of the dry canal. One of these men was Thomas Jackson, whose VC was awarded posthumously. Later, and with the help of twelve more colleagues, they captured the two crucial machine-gun posts.

The 1st Battalion suffered a total of 151 casualties, including nine officers; after the action the survivors marched to billets in the Boursies area.

Captain Frisby was presented with his VC in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace on 29 March 1919, at the same investiture that L. Cpl Thomas Norman Jackson’s family were presented with their son’s award. Also present were Jackson’s sister, his aunt, and fiancée Daisy Flatt from Kenley, Surrey. Mr Jackson asked an officer whether they might see Capt. Frisby, who he thought was the last person to see his son alive. The officer said that he would mention this request to the King. When the King was presenting Frisby with his VC, he mentioned to him that Jackson’s family were present and that they would very much like to talk to him about their son.

Captain Frisby then conveyed the details of how their son had won his VC and had his photograph taken with the family, agreeing to travel later to Yorkshire in order to unveil a specially commissioned portrait of Jackson.

Cyril Hubert Frisby was the second son of Henry and Zoë Pauline Frisby of Icklesham, Sussex, and was born on 17 September 1885 in New Barnet, Hertfordshire. He was educated at Haileybury College and joined the Army on 26 October 1916 as a private in the Hampshire Regiment. In the following December he attended No. 5 Officer Cadet Battalion in Cambridge and was later given a commission in the Coldstream Guards on 28 March 1917. Eight months later he was posted to the 1st Battalion in France on 27 November; he was promoted to acting captain on 20 February the following year, and substantive lieutenant on 28 September after winning his VC.

After the war, Frisby relinquished the rank of acting captain on 7 March 1919, and, on 20 April, he resigned his commission and was given the honorary rank of captain.

In 1911 Frisby had married Audrey, daughter of John and Lucy Ogilvie-Grant, at St Andrew’s Church, Wells Street, London, W2. The couple had one son, Henry Julian Fellowes, who was born on 20 May 1913. Frisby attended the Royal Garden Party for holders of the VC on 26 June 1920, and in the same year attended the Armistice Day Ceremony at the Cenotaph. In November 1929 he attended the House of Lords Dinner given by the Prince of Wales.

Frisby was one of six winners of the VC in the First World War who are commemorated on a special memorial on the terrace at Haileybury College, and their citations are displayed in the college library. Between the wars he was a prominent member of the British Legion and was made vice-president of the Stoughton and Westborough Branch, before being elected president in March 1940. In 1946 he attended the Victory Parade in London on 8 June.

In 1949 Frisby’s father died and left his younger son nothing but six Jubilee Silver cups in his will, as he was already considered to be well provided for. Frisby was certainly comfortably off and was a member of the Stock Exchange. He was keen on sports and, at one time, played rugby for Surrey. He was also a member of the Guards’ Club and was a keen golfer, being a member of the Rye and Worplesdon Clubs. In addition, he was a leading British tunny fisherman and, in 1938, off the coast of Scarborough, he made a record-breaking catch, weighing 1¼ tons, using only a rod. He was also a member of the Commonwealth team in international tunny cup matches.

In the 1950s Frisby lived in a house called Glenwoods in Guildford, considered to be one of the best residential properties in the town. It has since been converted into two houses and is set well back from the road, sheltered by trees. In 1956 Frisby took part in the Hyde Park VC Centenary Review and, in 1960, he attended a dinner held by the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association at the Café Royal.

Frisby’s wife, Audrey, died on 30 September 1960, and nearly a year later he died at home in Guildford, a week before his seventy-sixth birthday on 10 September 1961. He was buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Reference 220173, St Chad’s Avenue, Plot 28, Grave 219662. Audrey was later buried with him. On 27 September a memorial service was held at St Michael-upon- Cornhill, a church which emphasised his links with the City of London. Apart from members of his own family, those who attended included fellow members of the Stock Exchange and representatives of City business houses, as well as members of staff from the Frisby Brothers family firm.

Frisby’s brother, Captain (Acting Lieutenant Colonel) Lionel Frisby, who served in the war with the 6th Welsh Regiment and won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), also worked in the Stock Exchange as a jobber and the two were nicknamed ‘The Cowards’.

In addition to his VC, Frisby’s decorations included the BWM (British War medal), VM (Victory Medal) with Oak leaf, Defence Medal 1939–45, and Coronation medals for 1937 and 1953. These medals were presented to the Coldsteam Guard’s Museum by his son, Julian Frisby, on 4 June 1986. Together with Thomas Jackson’s the medals are part of the Regimental Collection at the Coldstream Guards HQ in Wellington Barracks.

VISCOUNT GORT

Canal du Nord, Near Flesquières, France, 27 September

Acting Lieutenant Colonel Viscount Gort was commanding the 1st Grenadier Guards, the leading battalion of the 3rd Guards Brigade, when he won his VC on 27 September 1918. He was to be one of seven soldiers, three of whom were Guardsmen, to win this honour during the assault on the Hindenburg Line. This part of the action took place during the attack on the section of the heavily fortified line in the advance across the Canal du Nord, near Flesquières. It was dark when the battalion began its march in the small hours of 27 September, led by Gort, accompanied by his adjutant. On reaching the Cambrai–Bapaume road, the Guardsmen paused and waited for zero hour, which was 5.20 a.m., at which time the battalion set off across open country towards the village of Flesquières. The first village they passed through was Demicourt and, until they turned towards the Canal du Nord, they were not troubled by German guns. However, as they drew nearer to the canal, shells rapidly began to fall.

In the attempts to cross the dry canal bed, short ladders were set up against the banks and a crossing effected 100yd to the north of Lock Seven. By this stage casualties had been quite light. Gort left the lock in order to confer with the commander in charge of the supporting tanks, but could find no trace of him. As the battalion was to be in Flesquières by 9.20 a.m., Gort decided to push on with the advance without the promised tank support. Although the ground was very open, Gort, by skillful leadership, managed to make progress without his men suffering too many casualties. However, as they drew close to Flesquières, they quickly realised that the village of Graincourt, to their left rear, was still in German hands. Orival Wood to the north-east of Flesquières should also have been taken, but it hadn’t. In addition, two German batteries were still in action in the areas of Beet Trench and at Beetroot Factory, to the north-east of Flesquières. These positions were strongly held and defended by infantry and machine guns.

In order to keep casualties to a minimum, Gort took his men through the northern part of the village, which gave them some protection from the enemy machine guns to the north. At this point, when Gort was trying to establish the exact positions of the enemy, he was slightly wounded above the left eye. The Beetroot Factory was soon captured and its garrison surrendered. Gort’s objective was now Premy Chapel Hill to the north of the village of Marcoing. The way towards it was getting easier, although it seemed that neither of Gort’s flanks was in British hands. At this point he suddenly saw a tank, which appeared to be some distance from its command. He ran across the open ground to the tank, seemingly oblivious of the enemy. Somehow he escaped being hit and, clambering on to the tank, he shouted instructions to the crew. Seeing the tank rumbling in their direction, the enemy took fright and many of them flung away their weapons before running off. Gort was then hit a second time, being wounded severely in the arm. After losing a lot of blood he had to take to a stretcher, but that did not stop him from issuing instructions. His orderly, Ransom, bound his wounds and, once more, Gort was up and directing the battle. However, he was forced to hand over command after collapsing on reaching Beet Trench and was ordered to leave the field. Some 200 Germans were driven into the sunken road and forced to surrender. Two batteries of field howitzers and six machine guns were also captured. Then enemy artillery began to shell the area of Beet Trench, though the Guardsmen still managed to reach the outskirts of Premy. The success of the Guards’ advance was put down to the extraordinary courage and determination of Gort, and his VC was gazetted on 27 November 1918 as follows:

For most conspicuous bravery, skillful leading and devotion to duty during the attack of the Guards Division on 27 Sept. 1918, across the Canal Du Nord, near Flesquières, when in command of the 1st Bn. Grenadier Guards, the leading battalion of the 3rd Guards Brigade. Under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire he led his battalion with great skill and determination to the ‘forming-up’ ground, where very severe fire from artillery and machine-guns was again encountered. Although wounded, he quickly grasped the situation, directed a platoon to proceed down a sunken road to make a flanking attack, and, under terrific fire, went across open ground to obtain the assistance of a Tank, which he personally led and directed to the best possible advantage. While thus fearlessly exposing himself, he was again severely wounded by a shell. Not withstanding considerable loss of blood, after lying on a stretcher for a while, he insisted on getting up and personally directing the further attack. By his magnificent example of devotion to duty and utter disregard of personal safety, all ranks were inspired to exert themselves to the utmost, and the attack resulted in the capture of over 200 prisoners, two batteries of field guns and numerous machine-guns. Lieut.-Colonel Viscount Gort then proceeded to organise the defence of the captured position until he collapsed; even then he refused to leave the field until he had seen ‘the success signal’ go up on the final objective. The successful advance of the battalion was mainly due to the valour, devotion and leadership of this very gallant officer.

He received his decoration from the King at an investiture in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace on 13 December 1918.

John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker (known as Jack), who later became the 6th Viscount Gort and Baron Kiltarton, was born on 10 July 1886 at 1 Portman Square, London. He was the eldest son of the Anglo-Irish 5th Viscount Gort and his wife, Eleanor, who was the daughter of the writer R.S. Surtees. He grew up in County Durham in the main family home at East Cowes Castle and its beautifully wooded grounds. Queen Victoria used to be a regular visitor to the family when calling on his mother. Gort attended Malvern Link Preparatory School before moving to Harrow School. It was while a student there in 1902 that his father died and he succeeded to the Irish title; the family motto was ‘Truth conquers’. In 1908 his mother, the Dowager Lady Gort, married Colonel S.M. Benson. Gort is a county town in western Ireland.

From Harrow, Gort passed into Sandhurst, beginning his Army career by entering the Royal Military Academy (RMA), Woolwich in January 1904. After leaving as an ensign, he became a second lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards on 16 August 1905, then a full lieutenant on 1 April 1907. He spent much recreation time in horse riding. In 1911 he took an active role in the funeral arrangements for King Edward VII. On 23 February of the same year, he married a third cousin, Corinna Katherine Vereker, daughter of Capt. George Medlicott Vereker. The ceremony took place in the Guards’ Chapel. Later the couple had two sons: Charles, born on 23 February 1912, and Jocelyn, born on 27 July 1913. Sadly, the latter only lived twenty months. A daughter, Jacqueline, was born on 20 October 1914. Gort was created a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1910. He was made Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the General Officer Commanding (GOC), London District, from 3 September 1913 to 4 August 1914, and immediately afterwards was promoted to captain.

At the outbreak of war, Gort was ADC to the GOC, 2nd Division, Major General (Maj. Gen.) C.C. Monro, and was in France as early as mid-August, in time for the retreat from Mons and the advance to the Aisne. On 30 August he had been badly wounded in the groin. When Monro was promoted to GOC 1 Corps on 26 December 1914, Gort went with him as ADC. On 22 February 1915 he was on the staff as General Staff Officer (Grade 3) (GSO 3) at 1 Corps and, at the end of March, was appointed brigade major, 4th (Guards) Brigade, 2nd Division. On 18 May the brigade took part in the attacks against Festubert, but the action was later called off.

Gort still had his post as brigade major when the Guards Division was formed in August 1915 and the 4th Guards Brigade was renumbered as the 1st. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC), which was gazetted on 23 June 1915. In August, when the Guards Division was set up, he went with the 1st Guards Brigade to prepare for the Battle of Loos under Maj. Gen. the Earl of Cavan. Gort was made brevet major in June 1916 and, on 30 June was appointed GSO 2 (Ops) General Headquarters (GHQ). In early 1917 he was involved in planning a landing on the Belgian coast, but this was subsequently cancelled. In April 1917, probably to his relief, he returned to regimental duty as acting lieutenant colonel in command of the 4th Grenadier Guards. The unit’s first task was to assist in building a railway line over ground destroyed by the enemy in their retreat to the Hindenburg Line in the spring.

In the June 1917 Birthday Honours he was awarded the DSO for earlier staff work and, on 26 September, was awarded a bar to his DSO for gallantry at the Battle of Pilkem Ridge on 31 July, during which he was wounded in the arm. The details were published in the London Gazette on 9 January 1918 as follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Although hit in two places in the shoulder by the bursting of a shell early in the day, and in great pain, he refused to leave his battalion, and personally superintended the consolidation subsequent to a successful attack. He remained with them until 5 p.m. on the following day, when he was ordered to come out and have his wounds dressed. His conduct set a very fine example of self-sacrifice, and was of great value in maintaining the high morale and offensive spirit of his battalion.

By October 1917 Gort was back with his battalion during the Battle of Passchendaele, until again being wounded during the attack on Gonnelieu (Battle of Cambrai) on 1 December 1917. He later returned to duty and remained until the action that won him the VC. On 8 March 1918 Gort was given a great honour when appointed to be commanding officer of the 1st Grenadier Guards, the oldest Regular infantry battalion. In the German Spring Offensive, his regiment became part of the British Third Army and helped to repel enemy attacks in the Arras sector. In August the Grenadiers were sent southwards to join General Rawlinson’s Fourth Army in the battle for Amiens and helped it to push the enemy back to the Hindenburg Line. It is for his role on this occasion that he was awarded a second bar to his DSO and the citation was published in the London Gazette on 11 January 1919 as follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in command of his battalion he led his men up by night to relieve a battalion which had attacked and failed to reach its objective. Regardless of danger he personally reconnoitered the line ahead of his troops, and got them onto the objective before dawn. During the three following days he again made forward reconnaissances, and leading his battalion gradually on, advanced the line 800 yards and gained a canal bank. It is impossible to speak too highly of this officer’s initiative.

After the war, during which Gort was Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) no fewer than eight times, as well as being wounded several times, Gort spoke warmly of his former orderly, Private (Pte) Ransom. Speaking during a smoking concert that took place near his home at East Cowes in May 1919, he paid a glowing tribute to Ransom, who was with him during the Canal du Nord crossing and was subsequently killed. Soon after the war, Gort attended the first post-war Staff Course at Camberley, and was chief instructor at the Senior Officers’ School in Sheerness.

In 1925 a whiff of scandal attached itself to Gort after he divorced his wife; the judge granted a decree nisi with custody of the children, who were then aged 13 and 11. The grounds for the divorce proceedings were his wife’s relationship with a member of the Spanish Embassy staff in London, Luis de Silva. The pair had met during a visit to Spain and, on her return, the official had made many visits to the Gort family home, details of which were later found in a diary kept by Lady Gort. During the proceedings the Gort marriage was described as being fairly happy. They had various homes, the most recent being in Belgrave Square. During the war Lady Gort had run a millinery business in Grosvenor Street, and any profit had been given to the Red Cross.

On 16 October 1926 Gort took an active part in the unveiling of the Guards Memorial by the Duke of Connaught in Horse Guards, London. Gort led the Grenadier Guards section during the parade, and six other winners of the VC took part. During the proceedings the Duke of Connaught was assisted by General (Gen.) Sir George Higginson, who was then 100 years old. In the late 1920s Gort was GSO 1 at Colchester and lived at 1 Ypres Road, Reed Hall. On occasions he took part in public functions that were held in the town. At the end of 1929 he left the garrison town to take over command of the Grenadier Guards. He served in China and, later, India as Director of Military Training between 1932 and 1936.

In 1934, 75 acres of the East Cowes Estate were put up for sale, including the castellated mansion and lodges, the park and farm, together with five detached houses. As war clouds gathered once again in Europe during the late 1930s, Gort was made a major general in 1935 and, in the following year, he returned to Camberley as commandant. In September 1937 he went to the War Office as Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War for three months. At the end of the year he was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) by Hore-Belisha, Secretary for War: a decision which was greeted with considerable surprise, as Gort had leapfrogged ninety more senior officers in his promotion. A few days after this he was made a full general.

War broke out on 3 September 1939, and Gen. Sir W.E. Ironside took over as CIGS when Gort was appointed commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on 4 September. During what turned out to be a short period in northern France, he received several important visitors, including the King and Winston Churchill in his role of First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1940, at a special ceremony close to Gort’s HQ in a French château, Gort, together with Gen. Ironside (CIGS), was presented with the Légion d’Honneur by Gen. Gamelin, C-in-C of the Allied Forces in the field. In the German invasion of France during May 1940, Gort had to make the momentous decision whether the British should stay and fight with the French or fall back on Dunkirk. Eventually, when Germany had let the British Army ‘off the hook’, the great evacuation of Dunkirk was organised with considerable help from the Royal and Merchant navies, along with a fleet of ‘little ships’. Aerial protection from the Royal Air Force (RAF) was not too much in evidence. Gort returned home with his defeated troops and the Sunday Times on 2 June 1940 described the situation in France in the following words:

From the beginning of the German offensive in the West until now the British Army in France has had an incredibly difficult and thankless part to play, and has played it to perfection. It has had to execute first a rapid advance, accompanied with a precision and a degree of immunity to loss that testified abundantly to the organisation of the force, and then a series of strategic withdrawals imposed upon it, not by any reverses on its own front, but by events elsewhere … In spite of all a succession of rearward and wheeling movements, some of them, as after King Leopold’s surrender, exacted at the shortest notice and demanding an equally sudden switch of communications, was so conducted as to maintain the B.E.F. to the last almost intact in power and cohesion as a fighting body. No commander could have brought off such an achievement without troops of the highest training and discipline and, above all, of superb fighting spirit…

On reaching London, Gort went straight to the War Office on 3 July, where he spoke to Gen. Sir John Dill, who had taken over from Ironside as CIGS, a position which at that time in the war could be compared with a game of musical chairs. After that, Gort met Anthony Eden, now the Secretary for War.

To what extent Gort was responsible for the defeat of the BEF cannot be discussed in great detail here, but it is obviously clear that he was blamed and his Army career never recovered from what was considered at the time to be a major military defeat. From that point until his premature death in the early months of peace, Gort was finished. With no wife to turn to in his time of trouble, he must have become an exceedingly lonely and disillusioned man.

However, ‘the show must go on’ and he was given various positions, none of which was any more than a diversion for an active and very much ‘hands on’ general. His first post after Dunkirk was Inspector-General to the Forces for Training and Inspector-General Home Guard, 1940–1. Despite his disappointment at being given this non-active job, Gort still had some important work to do, but one feels that the jobs could have been carried out easily by less qualified men. In October 1942 Gort’s Despatches were released, in which he summarised the main causes of the defeat: ‘Failure of Allied support on either flank. A “Weygand Plan” based on thin air; insufficient equipment; and inadequate reserves … ’.

Between 1940 and 1944 Gort was ADC General to the King. Between 1941 and 1942 he was made C-in-C, Gibraltar, and was Governor and C-in-C, Malta, from 1942 to 1944. While in Malta he suffered burns during an air raid in January 1943 when a drum of petrol burst at his feet. In the 1943 New Year Honours list Gort was made a field marshal, together with Sir Archibald Wavell. After Malta Gort was appointed High Commissioner and C-in-C, Palestine, and later High Commissioner for Trans-Jordan from 1944 until 1945. He left his position as High Commissioner in Palestine at the end of 1945 when he became unwell. He was seriously ill for five months before dying of inoperable cancer on 31 March 1946 in Guy’s Hospital, London. During his stay in hospital the King conferred on him a British viscountancy and he became Viscount Gort of Hamsterly in the County of Durham. He was buried in the family vault of St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst, Kent. Penshurst Place became the home of his son-in-law, Maj. W.P. Sidney, Lord De L’Isle, who also won a VC, at Anzio in 1944.

Gort’s recreational interests included hunting and sailing, as well as flying his own aeroplane. Tragically, his son and heir, the Hon. Charles Standish Vereker, a second lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, died in 1941 after suffering concussion in an accident. Therefore, on Gort’s death the title was inherited by his brother.

Gort was a very highly decorated soldier and his decorations and honours are in private hands. In addition to the VC, DSO and two bars, and MC, he was made a Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath (GCB), Commander, Order of the British Empire (CBE), Knight of Justice, Order of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ), and Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO).

For service in the First World War he was also presented with a 1914 Star & Clasp ‘5 Aug–22 Nov 1914’, BWM (1914–20) and VM (1914–19, plus Mentioned in Despatches. His other decorations included the 1939–45 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal (1939–45), War Medal (1939–45), General Service Medal (1918–62) with one clasp, ‘Palestine 1945–48’, King George V Coronation Medal (1911), King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935), King George VI Coronation Medal (1937), and French Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur.

He was later commemorated with a plaque in St Paul’s Cathedral and in the King’s Chapel, Gibraltar, where a new north chancel window was installed in 1952, which showed the arms of many of the Rock’s governors, including Monro and Gort. He is also remembered in the Garrison Church, Portsea.

In 1954, when the British Official History of the War in France and Flanders, 1939–1940 was published, Gort was described as not ‘an intellectual man nor had he the mind of an administrator; by temperament and training he was a fighting soldier’. It was hardly fair to blame him for the defeat of the BEF in May 1940, as a result of facing superior German forces, but for Gort it was his last fighting command in the field. The stigma of being associated with this ‘defeat’ altered the shape of the rest of his career, and probably shortened his life by several years.

S.L. HONEY

Bourlon Wood, France, 27 September

Three members of the Canadian Army won VCs during the capture of Bourlon Wood on 27 September 1918. The wood was a vital part of the strongly defended German Hindenburg Line and, in the past, had proved a major stumbling block for the Allies. General Currie, the Canadian Army Corps Commander, planned to carry out the tasks allotted to him in two parts. First would come the crossing of the Canal du Nord and the capture of Bourlon Wood, together with the high ground close to the Arras–Cambrai road; then, in the second part of the action, the Canadian Corps would capture the bridges over the Canal de l’Escaut, to the north-east of the German-held town of Cambrai. This would lead to a firm line being established as far as the Canal de la Sensée.

Zero hour on 27 September was 5.20 a.m., and the Allied armies opened a heavy barrage against the enemy positions. To the right of the line, the 10th Canadian Brigade quickly crossed the canal, meeting little opposition; but the 11th and 12th Brigades, who were leading the 4th Division on the right and left respectively, soon met trouble from the south of their position. In tough fighting the 87th Canadian Battalion reached the southern part of Bourlon village by 9.45 a.m., and the 54th Battalion, passing through, then went around the north of the wood in order to reach the far side. The relative slowness of the British attack to the south led to the plan for encircling the wood being abandoned. The 54th Battalion then found itself in a salient, but did manage to reach the village of Fontaine-Notre-Dame to the east of Bourlon Wood. The 75th and 87th Battalions came up on their left. To the north, the 12th Brigade fought all day, and their 85th and 38th Battalions were severely hit in their attempts to capture part of the Marquion trench system. However, their work allowed the 78th and 72nd Battalions to reach most of their objectives, with the final resistance in the wood overcome by 8.00 p.m. The day had turned out to be a complete triumph for the Canadian Corps and a disaster for the German 188th Infantry Regiment, who lost very heavily. Lieutenant Samuel Honey, of the 78th Battalion, performed outstandingly. He was heavily involved in clearing German strongpoints, leading to the eventual capture of Bourlon Wood, and was awarded the VC, gazetted in the London Gazette on 6 January 1919 as follows:

On 27 Sept., when his company commander and all other officers of his company became casualties, Lieut. Honey took command and skillfully reorganised under most severe enemy shelling and machine-gun fire. He continued the advance with great dash and gained the objective, but finding his company was suffering casualties from enfilade machine-gun fire, he made a personal reconnaissance and, locating the machine-gun nest, he rushed it single-handed, capturing the guns and ten prisoners. Having organised his position, he repelled four enemy counter-attacks, and when darkness fell he again went out himself alone, and having located an enemy post, he led out a party and captured the post of three guns by stealth. He immediately advanced his line, and his new position proved of great value in the jump off the following morning. On 29 Sept., he led his company against a strong enemy position with great initiative and daring, and continued on the succeeding days of the battle to display the same wonderful example of leadership and bravery.

Sadly, Honey died on 30 September of wounds received during the last stages of the attack by his battalion, and was buried at Quéant Communal Cemetery, British Extension, Row C, Grave 36. The cemetery is quite some distance from where he fell and is 12 miles south-east of Arras, roughly midway between the Arras–Cambrai and Bapaume–Cambrai main roads. His posthumous VC was sent by the War Office to Canada, then by post from the Governor General on 27 March 1919 to his father. No presentation ceremony took place.

Samuel Lewis Honey was the son of the Reverend George H. and Metta Honey (née Blaisdell), who came from Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Samuel was born on 9 February 1894 at Conn, near Mount Forest, Wellington County, Ontario. His father was a Methodist Minister of the Hamilton Conference, a calling which involved the family in continuous moves, reflected by the number of schools and colleges the boy attended. He went to the Continuation Schools of Drayton and Princeton, then he attended Normal School in London, Ontario, and when only 17 years of age he obtained a teaching permit and taught at the Six Nations Indian Reserve, near Brantford, Ontario, after which he taught in Huron County. He then continued his education at Walkerton High School, where he won a scholarship and passed the Honour Matriculation examinations with first-class honours in English and French, and second-class honours in Latin and German. After his graduation in June 1914 he resumed teaching in York County.

Honey planned to enrol at Victoria College, but the outbreak of war intervened and, a few months later, he joined the Army on 22 January 1915 as a private in the 34th (Ontario) Battalion. He left Canada for Britain as a sergeant in October and, in the same year, he was appointed an instructor in physical training and bayonet fighting, having taken a course at Aldershot. In August 1916 he left for France with the 78th Battalion of the 4th Division, and won a Military Medal (MM) in a trench raid on 10 January 1917 (London Gazette, 26 April 1917).

He later earned a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his deeds in the 1917 Arras battles at Vimy Ridge (London Gazette, 16 August 1917):

… when his platoon commander was wounded he assumed command, leading his men forward in the face of terrific fire, until compelled by casualties to dig in. He held the position for three days, encouraging his men by splendid example.

Honey was subsequently recommended for a commission in the 78th Battalion, Manitoba Regiment at about the same time (9 April) he returned to England for officer training. Afterwrads he rejoined his battalion in France in October, where he was soon promoted to lieutenant.

Nearly fifty years after the war began, on 26 July 1964, a plaque commemorating Honey’s life was unveiled by his sister beside the Westcott United Church, Conn. The plaque was one of several to be erected in the province by the Department of Tourism and Information. The ceremony, attended by several local dignitaries, was sponsored by the Mount Forest Branch (134) of the Royal Canadian Legion, and the township of West Luther. The inscription on the plaque is virtually a retelling of the original VC citation. A similar plaque is to be found in Valour Place, Cambridge, Ontario, and in the Galt Armoury. Honey was survived by two brothers, George B. Honey and C.S. Honey, who lived in Fort Erie. His decorations which, apart from the VC and DCM, included the MM, BWM and VM are in the collection of the Canadian War Museum.

If one visits Bourlon Wood today, it becomes very clear how important it would have been to hold on to, as it is on high ground and offers a spectacular view over a wide area. A section of the wood, which still contains many trench lines, was later presented to the Canadian people as a memorial to their fighting troops for their efforts in September 1918. A Canadian memorial, similar to the one at Maple Copse, is in the centre and the local villagers use the wood as a recreational park. A more recent commemorative gesture is to be found close by, in the form of a memorial to local members of the Free French who were killed by the Gestapo in June 1944.

T.N. JACKSON

Near Graincourt, France, 27 September

On 27 September, No. 31034 Pte (L. Cpl) Thomas Jackson of the 1st Coldstream Guards worked closely with Captain Frisby of the same battalion in the attack against the German defences close to the Canal du Nord on the Demicourt–Graincourt bridge between Locks Six and Seven. The two men each won a Victoria Cross, but sadly Jackson’s was to be a posthumous award. Gazetted on 27 November 1918, the same day as Frisby’s, it read as follows:

For most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice in the attack across the Canal Du Nord, near Graincourt. On the morning of the 27th Sept. 1918 L.-Corpl. Jackson was the first to volunteer to follow Capt. C.H. Frisby, Coldstream Guards, across the Canal Du Nord in his rush against an enemy machine-gun post. With two comrades he followed his officer across the canal, rushed the post, captured the two machine-guns, and so enabled the companies to advance. Later in the morning, L.-Corpl. Jackson was the first to jump into a German trench which his platoon had to clear, and after doing further excellent work he was unfortunately killed. Throughout the whole day until he was killed this young N.C.O. showed the greatest valour and devotion to duty, and set an inspiring example to all.

Jackson was buried 7 miles west of Cambrai in Plot II, Row D, in the Sanders Keep Military Cemetery, named after a German fortification which stood between the Hermies and Havrincourt roads. The grave inscription has a quotation from St Luke’s gospel: ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do’. Sanders Keep had been captured by the Scots Guards on the same day that Jackson earned his decoration; he was one of many Guardsmen buried there and it is fitting that the site overlooks the place where he won his VC.

The award was presented by the King to Jackson’s parents in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace on 29 March 1919, when they were able to meet and talk to Capt. Frisby, who was presented with his VC on the same day. Frisby was probably the last man to see Jackson alive.

Thomas Norman Jackson was born at 3 Market Street, Swinton, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on 11 February 1897. He was the son of Thomas Edwin and Emma Jackson. Before enlisting, Thomas was employed for a short period by Messrs Ward and Sons, mineral water manufacturers. His father also worked for the same firm. Later, Thomas Jackson worked as an engine cleaner at the Great Central Railway Locomotive Depot at Mexborough.

On 22 November 1915 he enlisted at Mexborough, joining the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in France in October 1917. He took part in the Battle of Cambrai in the following month. A local Sheffield newspaper, published in November 1918, stated that Jackson was a member of the Primitive Methodist Church and Bible class in Swinton. He was said to be robust and athletic in physique, and particularly fond of swimming, boxing and wrestling.

On 28 November 1918, two months after Jackson’s death, the same newspaper published an article about their local hero under the heading ‘Stories of Heroes Crossing the Canal Du Nord’:

The Crossing of the Canal du Nord by the Territorials of Notts and Derbyshire and the Guards Division, and their subsequent smash through the Hindenburg Line, was one of the most glorious exploits of the war, and had a great deal to do with bringing about the armistice. The list of V.C. heroes published last night includes an account of individual deeds of daring during the crossing, and the posthumous award to a former Swinton G.C.R. engine cleaner, Lance Corporal Thomas Norman Jackson, aged 21 years, of the Coldstream Guards.

When the troops of a whole area were being held up, and the operation was in danger of being a failure, it was young Jackson, his officer (Capt. Frisby) and two other brave men that dashed into the canal, crossed it under heavy point-blank fire, and swept away the machine-guns barring the passage. Soon after Jackson had the distinction of being the first man to reach a trench of the Hindenburg Line, where he was killed.