14th
(Service)
Battalion,
the Royal Warwickshire Regiment (1st
Birmingham)
From the daily war diary 23 February 1918 to 14 April 1918 as the battalion is recalled to the Western Front, from Italy
February 1918 |
|
| 23 February 1918 | An
association football match was played against the 2nd Royal Warwickshire
Regiment.
Several officers,
W.O’s, N.C.O’s and men came to
watch. The 2nd led by one goal to nil at half time, but the 14th
managed to score twice in the second half. Cpl. Rudge and Private
Millard played with their usual skill. Sgt. Drummer Burgham arranged
a concert in the evening. |
| 24 February 1918 | A
draft of 65 other ranks joined the battalion of whom only one
had served with the battalion before. The majority are very
young, some only 19 and are out from England for the first
time. The present conditions ought to afford them ample training
in modern war, without undue strain on their nerves. |
| 26 February 1918 | The
Battalion relieve the 1st Royal West Kent
Regiment in L1 subsector.
15th Royal Warwickshire Regiment relieve the 2 K.O.S.B’s
in L2. The companies of the Battalion are disposed as follows: Right Front - D Company (Capt. A.W. Nichols) A draft of two other ranks join for duty, both are fresh from England. |
| 27 February 1918 | Lt. General R.C.B Haking commanding the XI Corps accompanied by Brigadier General Brind who is on the Corps staff visit the battalion in the trenches. |
| 28 February 1918 | 28477 Private T. H. Robbins and 33720 Private W. Whatley both killed by shell fire, and Private Southerwick wounded by shell fire. These three men belong to A Company and were in the support line. The fine weather shows signs of breaking some rain fell during the night. There is however no appreciable rise in the River Piave. |
| 26 year-old Thomas Robbins of Adminton near Shipston-on-Stour and 27 year-old Walter Whatley from Charlton King's are buried in Giavera British Cemetery. | |
April
1918 |
|
| 1 April 1918 | Part of the 13th Infantry Brigade entrain at Pojana for return to France. The Brigade remains at Veggiano & prepares for departure. |
| 2 April 1918 | The battalion entrains at at Pojana. A, B & 2/3 HQ at 3.00 am & C, D and 1/3 HQ at 8.00 am. Half transport goes on each train. |
| 2-6 April 1918 | These 4 or 5 days are spent on the train. Route takes train through Ferrara, Boulogna, Piacenza, Voghera, Savona, Ventimille along the south coast. Marseilles-Lyons. Paris-Doullens. The train journey is thoroughly enjoyed by all ranks. One sick man was left behind at Ventimille. The 2nd half battalion follow behind 1st half five hours later. |
| 7 April 1918 | Battalion arrives at Petit Hoovain, detrains in the early morning and proceeds to Bonnieres - a distance of nine miles. The weather is cold and damp and the billets are rather cramped. |
| 8 April 1918 | The battalion is still at Bonnieres and the day is spent cleaning up arms and equipment. |
| 9 April 1918 | The CO, Lt. Col. Murray delivers a splendid lecture to all the battalion on the recent operations and the importance of musketry. |
| 10 April 1918 | The Battalion moves from Bonnieres to Mondicourt preparatory to taking over the line south of Arras. On the way information is received to the effect that the Germans have broken through on the front north of Givenchy (the opening of the Battle of the Lys). Orders are issued cancelling the move to Mondicourt and the battalion is sent to Beaudricourt. The distance is 23 – 24 miles and many of the men were very much played out but the battalion marched into Beaudricourt in very good style. Billets here were excellent. |
| 11 April 1918 | The battalion, having spent the night at Beaudricourt leave that village about 11am and set out for Mondicourt station, arriving there at about 2pm. Dinners are served here and the battalion entrains here for Thiennes at about 5pm. Two Lewis guns are issued here for anti aircraft purposes. |
| 12 April 1918 | The
battalion arrives at Thiennes at about 2.30am and detrains & bivouacs
for the night in a field near the station. We learn here that
the
enemy are at Merville to the east of the Forest of Nieppe.
Battalion HQ is in a barn which is also filled with refugees from the villages near Merville. Breakfasts are served at 6am and soon after, after a consultation with the BGC the battalion goes to the western edge of the Forest of Nieppe to bivouac. At noon orders are received to advance upon and capture Merville. The battalion is the leading battalion. The advance is made through Tannay-Le Foret and eastwards towards Merville but when arriving at Le Corbie orders are received for the battalion to dig in on a line just south-east of the edge of the forest. The battalion at this time is advancing through the forest. While waiting for it to pass a certain point Col. Murray is wounded by shrapnel. Capt. & Adjt. R.C. Watts M.C. the next senior takes over the command and leads the battalion along the edge of the wood into position by 10pm where the companies dig in. The following casualties were sustained: |
| 13 April 1918 | The battalion having dug in awaits the enemy’s attack. An attack is delivered about 11am on Les Lauriers on the left of our line but is repulsed. 2 Lt J.F.T Byrne and 2 Lt. J. Poncia are wounded and 10 other ranks killed – 15 missing and 52 wounded. No further attacks are made. Major St J.S. Quarry takes over the command of the battalion at about 10pm the same night. |
| 14 April 1918 | An attack was made by B Company in a very gallant manner on a house occupied by the enemy and from which he was sniping. The attack was led by Major Quarry himself after the first platoon had gone across. Owing to the number of casualties sustained it was impossible to hold it though won in the first place. Major Quarry and Capt. N. Allen were both killed and 2nd Lts. C. W. Silcock and W. Ward both wounded. 16 other ranks killed, 14 missing and 57 wounded. In the evening the 1/RWR relieve the battalion which withdrew without casualties into support. During this time a battalion of the 95th Inf. Bde.were on our left and 15 RWR on our right, now relieved by 2/KOSB. |
| [Major St John Shandon Quarry, aged 30 and holding a commission in the Royal Berkshire Regiment, had previously been wounded at the First Battle of Ypres. A native of Fareham, he is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery Extension. 25 year old Norman Allen of Peterborough, commanding B Company,is commemorated in the same cemetery.] | |
The
above is an extract from the Battalion war diary which is held
at the National Archive, in documents WO95/4216 and WO95/1556.
|
|