While nearly a quarter of the men named on the Ibstock war memorial served in various battalions of the Territorial Force, another sizeable proportion responded to Kitchener's call to arms and joined the County's “New Army” Battalions. The 6th (service ) Battalion of the Leicestershire regiment had been the first to be formed at Leicester in August 1914 as part of K1. The 7th was formed in September 1914 as part of K2, and the 8th and 9th followed in the same month as part of K3.

Whatever the original intention was, in March 1915 before any of them had left England, they were formed into 110th Brigade, which became known as the ‘Leicester’ or ‘Leicestershire’ Brigade, or ‘The Tigers’ in recognition of their cap badge, part of the 37th Division. On the 28th and 29th July 1915, the Leicestershire Brigade left Perham Down in Hampshire where they had been training for several months, for front line service on the western front initially in Flanders.

Richard Philip Foster, a married man with with two children, who had been employed in the Ibstock brick works before the war, served in the 6th Battalion as private 235022, he had previously been private 33395 which places him as a conscript in late 1916. (Private Joseph Hodgkinson 7th Bn. Leicestershire Regiment 32989/235028, enlisted 6 November 1916 and served in BEF from Jan 1917). It is likely that Richard Foster first served with the 6th Leicesters in Flanders in early 1917, before the 110th Brigade, by now part of the 21st Division, were moved to follow the German withdrawal to the heavily fortified Hindenburg Line, taking position in the front line near Henin sur Cojeul. On 3rd May 1917 the Leicestershire Brigade took part in an assault on the Hindenburg Line as part of the Battle of Bullecourt where the 6th were in reserve. This attack was unsuccessful, as was another assault on the night of the 15th June 1917. In September 1917, the 21st Division including the Leicestershire Brigade had returned to Flanders and took part in the action at Polygon Wood on 1st-3rd October 1917.

The Leicestershire Brigade spent the winter of 1917/18 in the Epehy area improving the defences, digging new trenches and emplacements and with concrete defences being built by the Royal Engineers. The German spring offensive is launched, on the 21st March 1918 at 2.30am with German shock troops following an intense artillery barrage. The men of the Leicestershire Regiment retired as planned. Despite support from two hidden tanks, the Brigade was forced back and ordered to abandon Epehy and Pezieres. The Brigade ended up in position on a ridge near the village of Hem, with the fighting almost over by 30th March. In this period the 110th Leicester Brigade had lost around 1200 men killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Amongst them was private 235022 Richard Philip Foster, killed in action on the third day of the onslaught on 23/3/1918, with no known grave his name appears on panel 29 and 30 of the Pozieres Memorial.

Four men on the Ibstock war memorial served in the 7th Leicesters: Private 15990 Leonard Lovatt, Private 17879 Arthur Price, Private 21187 Joseph miller Benn and Private 25635 Frank Gray.

Leonard at 35 years old was mature family man who originated from Burton, as did his wife Lydia, and Burton was the place of birth of his first four children, with baby Lydia born in Ibstock in the summer of 1914. Perhaps Leonard Lovatt regarded it is as his patriotic duty to volunteer, and he was no stranger to the military as he had served 3 years in the North Staffordshire Volunteers. Miner Leonard Lovatt signed his papers at Coalville on 13th November 1914, just one day before my own Grandfather Albert had done the same at the other end of the country at Wimbledon. There would have been little time to make his goodbyes as Leonard was posted to Aldershot on 22nd November 1914.

The tented Bourley camp may have seemed almost idyllic to those who had arrived in the summer of 1914, but as the weather deteriorated parts of the camp turned into a muddy quagmire not so different to some of the conditions they were yet to experience at the front. Christmas at the camp was a dull, cold and wet affair.

Kitchener's inspection on January 21st of his “New Army” at the Queen's Parade Aldershot included the 6th 7th 8th and 9th Leicesters. Heavy snow turned to rain, and the sodden troops were left waiting for three hours and then only to see Lord Kitchener's motorcar flash past. After the anticlimax, there was nothing left to do but trudge back to barracks and try to dry out.

Toward the end of his training, Leonard hears of the sad news of the death of his baby daughter Lydia on 11th June 1915. No pause from Army life is recorded. On 25 June the entire 37th division assembles for an inspection by the King at Sidbury Hill. On 22 July 1915 the Division began to cross the English Channel and by 2 August all units were concentrated near Tilques, with Leonard Lovatt amongst the ranks of the 7th Leicesters.

Miner Arthur Price of Ibstock, a single man in his thirties, had waited to spring of 1915 before volunteering at Coalville. Although born in Nailstone, Arthur's family had lived in Ibstock for at least 15 years before the outbreak of war. His training could have been as short as four months, as he was sent to France a little over four weeks after Private Lovatt, on 25.8.1915.

The 7th Leicesters were based in the Beinvillers sub-sector from mid September 1915 until early February 1916. As the weather deteriorates, trench conditions worsen with one man killed as a dug falls in on 2nd November 1915. There is a steady toll of casualties as working parties out digging and wiring are sniped at or hit by rifle grenades. A small patrol looking for a missing man on 30/1916 clashes with a larger German patrol in no man's land, another casualty is sustained. Enemy snipers continue to be active and others are wounded or killed. In early March 1916 the 7th Leicesters are in the Berles sector and mount a small raid in the hope of securing prisoners. But the raiders were blocked by two thick rows of new barbed concertina wire and “gooseberries” which was undetected from the reconnaissance. In later May and early June 1916 still at Beinvillers more men are lost during digging and wiring and when hit by trench mortars. In 29th June a strong raid is made on enemy trenches at Bailleul Mont. After a short preliminary bombardment, the attack starts at 2.30am. Many enemy were accounted for as dug outs and trenches were bombed or torpedoed. After two hours of fighting the raiders were withdrawn as the enemy's retaliatory bombardment increases. The raid is not without cost: one officer dies of wounds, 2 men are killed and 28 wounded.

Leonard Lovatt and Arthur Price were somewhere amongst all this. The raid may given the battalion a chance to exercise tactics and engage the enemy at close quarters, but a far stiffer challenge was to face them as they moved to the Somme in preparation for an assault on Bazentin Le Petit Wood. The war diary entries for the preceding days are:

It's hard to know just how men like Leonard Lovatt and Arthur Price prepared themselves for going over. Some would have scribbled a last letter home making light of their situation, thinking first of their loved ones and family. No doubt there was black humour amongst those trying to keep their spirits up, but nerves must have jangled as the final hours passed.

The attack's objective was to clear the Germans from their positions in front of Bazentin le Petit Wood, and to capture the village behind it. The entire 110th Brigade was used, with the 9th Battalion initially in reserve. The 7th Battalion is drawn up in four lines. The first three to capture and hold the German's first line with the fourth to push on to capture the enemy's support line. By 2.55am the troops had assembled, already taking casualties. Zero hour is 3.25am, the short bombardment of the enemy's first line lifts and it is a race to cover around 500 yards of no man's land before the enemy man their front line again. There are many references to this action on the web, but I make no apology for quoting the 7th Leicesters war dairy for this day and those that followed:

The assault on Bazentin was considered a success, but the cost to the 110th Brigade was immense. Casualties for the 6th Battalion were 527, for the 7th battalion 553, for the 8th Battalion 426, and for the 9th Battalion were 412. The pride of Kitchener's New Army and the flower of the young men of Leicestershire had been decimated in one day. The news was to hit the county of Leicester hard.

Both Leonard Lovat and Arthur Price were killed in action on the 14/7/1916. Initially, Leonard Lovatt was posted as missing and his wife Lydia and her children would have a long and agonising wait before the Army finally confirms Leonard's death. Lydia receives Leonard's personal effects on 10.10.1917: disc, wallet, cap badge and 2 pipes. Leonard's medals are issued in December 1920, by which time time Lydia, with four dependent children, has married Solomon Overton, himeslf a widower.

The news of the “Leicester Tigers” must have reached the recruits to the various battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment yet to be sent to France. Private 21187 Joseph Miller Benn, a twenty six year old single miner of “Grange Cottages, Ibstock”, volunteered on 20th September 1915 at Coalville. He is first posted to, and trains with, the 10th Leicesters. He is posted to the 6th Battalion when sent to France on 16th May 1916. In late May and June the 6th were in trenches near Saulty wjere they are subjected to heavy minnenwerfer and other trench mortar bombs. Similar to the 7th Battalion, the 6th Leicesters mount a small raid on enemy trenches on the 29th June 1916, suffering 7 wounded and one missing while bombing many enemy dugouts. Early in July they moved by train to Méricourt by the 10th and from there marched to Fricourt on the 11th preparing for the attck on Bazentin. Joseph is wounded in the hand around the time of the attack on Bazentin and spends several months recovering in the UK. Returning to France some time after October 1916, he then joins the 7th Battalion.

Private 25635 Frank Gray, is single and 21 years old when he volunteers on 10/12/1915 at Coalville. He gives an address of “3 Reform Road, Ibstock”, his stated trade is “scavenger” and his mother Jane as his next of kin. Frank Gray remains on reserve until 29 Feb 1916. He is posted to the 3rd Leicesters on 2nd March 1916 where he remains until sent to France, embarking Folkestone on 17/8/1916. It's just over two years since war was declared and the battle of the Somme has entered it's sixth week. He is initially posted to the 6th Leicesters on arrival in Calais, but after spendng some time at the 12th Infantry Battalion Depot, he is posted to the 9th Leicesters on the 7th September and joins them in the field two days later. While Joseph Benn is recovering from wounds back home, Frank Gray is with the 9th Leicesters who have moved from the Somme to the now quiet Arras sector, where they stay until the end of the month as the battalion is brought up to strength with new drafts after its losses at Bazentin. Between 24th and 30th of September the whole 110th Brigade is involved on the attack on Guedecourt. Casaulties are heavy, and it is where John W gray of Ibstock is shot through both thighs. In early October the 9th Battalion leaves the Somme and by end of the month is at Vermelles.

Around this time Joseph Benn is back in France and now with the 7th Battalion who are in the Hohenzollern sector where they remain until March 1917. By April they are at Croisilles were the retiring enemy begin to be pressed. On 3rd May the 110th Infantry Brigade attacked Fontaine les Croisilles. The 7th Battalion are at Moyeneville.in June and Adinfer wood in July. The spend time out of the line before being moved to the Ypres Salient where the action at Polygon Wood takes palce on 1st October 1917. It not a full year since Joseph Benn returned to the Front, and some time during this desperate day of fighting he was killed in action. It's the day after that John W Gray of Ibstock is exposed to mustard gas, never to recover. In order to receive Joseph's plaque and scroll, his parents Frederick and Emma Benn complete Army Form W.5080 on 27th August 1919.

Frank Gray was also at Polygon Wood, and is now the one survivor of the four. The 9th Leicesters remain in trenches at Polygon Wood until the 10th and then move to Scottish Wood. The battalion remains either in trenches, support or reserve in this sector until early 1918. News comes that the 9th is to be disbanded as Brigades are reduced from four to three battalions. Frank Gray is transferred to the 7th Leicester on 13th Feb 1918.

On March 21st the Germans launch their Spring Offensive. The 9th Leicester were in trenches and outposts at Peiziere. Their war dairy vividly describes the events of the next days:

Frank Gray was killed in action on 22nd March 1918 as the Battalion withdrew under heavy machine gun fire. He was initially posted as missing. It was Frank's mother Jane who, eighteen months later, took the Army Form W.5080 to the Ibstock Vicarage on the 4th September 1919 to be countersigned so she could receive Frank's plaque and scroll. Frank was Jane's only son.