The Draft

This is the story of a group of seventy men who fought as Infantry in France during the First World War. Their experience is not exceptional, rather their journey echoes one that most young men had with the Infantry from 1916 onwards. They arrived together in France in early October 1916 as draft replacements, as most men after 1915 did, into a battle proven and bruised Infantry Battalion.  My great uncle was amongst these 70 men. At War’s end some twenty-five months later less than a handful would remain. This is their story.   

Most of the men came from the towns North of Manchester: Radcliffe, Oldham, Blackpool, Accrington, Burnley and such.  A number came from further afield such as Durham, Birmingham, Stoke, Cardiff or the suburbs of Manchester itself. In the main they were Lancashire men. They were labourers, farmers, mill workers, printers, miners, clerks, butchers, a schoolteacher and a solitary glass polisher.

There is no comprehensive history for these men.  I have used their medal roll to identify and confirm them as a group.  Surviving service records, Unit war diaries, pension cards, newspaper archives, casualty reports and a variety of archive documents have been considered. There are still gaps. I have attempted to be factual and have tried to avoid any conjecture but in some cases I have made some reasonable assumptions.   

Their shared experience began with Infantry training at Press Health in Shropshire. This was initially with the 21^st Reserve Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. Their journeys to basic training were mixed.  In the main they appear to have been volunteers but a number comprised some of the first mobilised conscripts of the campaign.  Those conscripted were sent direct to the 21st from civilian life.   

Many others had volunteered in December 1915 under the Derby Scheme and were mobilised at Preston in May 1916 into the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). A handful of men from the Northeast of England were equally briefly in the RFA but found their Unit transferred to Preston alongside the others and into the 8^th Reserve Battery, 2a Reserve Brigade. Other men found themselves conscripted into the RFA equally briefly. After a month or so all the RFA men were sent en-masse on the 17^th of June to the Lancashire Fusiliers for Infantry training, at the time the Army needed more infantrymen than gunners so there was little choice or science involved.

For a few men, their journey was different.  One man was a territorial solider who had finished his period of engagement but then was rapidly returned to the Colours via conscription. Other men had volunteered, but following unknown but not unusual delays were conscripted straight into the 21^st.   

They were not necessarily all together or in the same training platoons at Press Heath but they would have been going through training at the same time.  When they arrived in Shropshire, the battles of 1914 and 1915 were long past.  The pre-war regular army was largely gone, the originals very few and the impact of the Battles of the Somme from July 1916 would be being realised whilst they sweated through their four months of Infantry training in Shropshire.

A further administrative change  occurred on the 1^st of September towards the end of their course when the Army re-organised all the Infantry training units. The bespoke regimental system was deemed too inefficient and more generic Training Reserve Battalions (TRBs) would now be formed.  Our men became part of  the 72^nd TRB.  It’s likely they didn’t notice any difference.

Pte Tom Cunliffe 27561 from Blackburn almost didn’t get accepted at all as he was just 5ft tall.  The Lancashire Fusiliers didn’t want him, but the Army insisted, and he stayed. Pte Robert Collier 27562 from Stockport kept going absent without leave with punishments of increasingly severity.  He was absent for 24 days over five occasions.  Why he kept receiving leave as he never seemed keen or able to return on time remains unknown. Both would be dead in less than a year. In fact, from surviving service records a theme of men being 24 or 48 hours back from leave was quite common.  They appear to have received pre deployment leave in the middle of September and many took advantage of an extra day or two with family before returning to face a minor punishment. No doubt it was deemed worth the small fine and confinement to barracks give what they knew was coming. 

On Friday 6^th October 1916, training complete, they left for France. On the Saturday they arrived at No 30 Infantry Base Depot (IBD) at Etaples.  This was the wrong Depot for men joining the Lancashire Fusiliers but the recent reorganisations in the Army meant the rules were changing.  At some point back in the UK it had been decided that these men were needed in the 1^st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment and as such they would go to 30 IBD for kitting and preparation and not 23 IBD, the Lancashire Fusilier Depot.  For the first time these 70 men all certainly came together. This arrangement lasted all of a week before it was again decided that another Lancashire Regiment was in need; the 8^th Battalion the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment (KORLR) it was to be. With new service numbers and cap badges they were sent to join their new Regiment on the 14^th of October.  Like so many, they were now just another replacement Draft.   

The 8th

The 8^th Battalion was formed in Lancaster in October 1914 and after training landed in France on the 26^th and 27^th of September 1915 with 859 officers and men. They formed one of the four infantry battalions in 76 Brigade which was under the command of firstly the 25^th Division and a year later in October 1915, the 3^rd Division.  They were in the front lines from the start with regular low-level casualties between large offensive or defensive operations.  Their first significant battle occurred on the 2^nd and 3^rd of March 1916 at Loos with a successful counterattack against recently captured trenches. The Battalion had a strength of 814 on the 2^nd of March before the battle. Initial casualties after the battle were 57 killed, 66 missing  and 216 wounded - 41% casualties.  Most of the missing were killed with at least 113 in total being killed or having succumbed to wounds. They remained in regular action with replacements periodically posted-in.  A further action on the 4^th April resulting in 20 killed and 45 wounded. The Battalion remained busy until July. The next offensive at the Somme on 18^th July resulted in 37 killed, 263 wounded and 53 missing.  The 16^th to 18^th of August saw further heavy casualties of 35 killed, 82 missing and 154 wounded.  So set the scene for the arrival of our Draft.

The Battalion was recovering out of the line in billets at a place called Bertrancourt as part of the Divisional Reserve in October. From the 16^th they began providing working parties to the front line and the war for the 70 began.

On the 13^th of November they faced their first significant engagement - one of the last Somme battles at Serre.  The Battalion would go over the top, and after the 2nd Battalion the Suffolk Regiment had captured initial trenches, the 8th would advance past them and take the village of Serre itself.  This was a frontal assault involving all four Rifle Companies. The weather was cold with thick fog.  No man’s land was a quagmire of thick mud. The attack commenced at 0545. The Suffolks failed to take the initial trenches as the German positions were simply too strong.  Only D Company of the 8th got anywhere near the enemy positions and the attack was a complete failure with the Battalion left in the front line under heavy German artillery fire.  The Battalion remained in the front line until the evening of the 19th of November.  Casualties for the attack on the 13th were 23 killed and 88 wounded.  

Of the Draft Pte Percy Godson 27573 from Stockport and Pte Thomas Metcalfe 27600 from Sunderland were killed and 14 others wounded. The wounds received, that were recorded, were gunshot wounds to arms, legs, chests and heads.

Of those wounded both Pte Joseph Jeffers 27595 from Manchester and Pte George Robinson 27620 from Blackpool, would be discharged from the Army a few months later as too badly wounded to remain.  Pte John Horrocks 27577 from Bury, Pte Joseph Henderson 27584 from Middlesborough and Pte Gerald Miller 27601 from Fence Houses near Sunderland were sent to the UK for recovery before being medically downgrading and transferred to the Labour Corps. Pte Wilfred Davies 27565 from Ebbw Vale was sent to the UK to recover from his injured hand, which he did.  He returned to France in 1917 and was killed with the 1^st Battalion in November 1917.

Pte James Musk 27605 from Rawntenstall, with shrapnel wounds to his hand and knee also went back to the UK before later being sent to the 13^th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment in late 1918.  He would go on to serve in Northern Russia in 1919 and win the Military Medal.  The seven other men from the Draft listed as wounded it seems were able to return to the Battalion after recovering from their wounds. The Draft of 70 was down to 61.

Although they didn’t know it at the time they would not face another offensive battle until the Spring of 1917.  The Winter was spent between the front line, support trenches and periods of training. Casualties still occurred:   

Pte Frank Evans 27567 from Stoke was wounded in the neck on the 25^th of October 1916.  He returned to the Battalion in November but was eventually sent back to the UK sick in January.  He later joined the 1/4 Battalion, returned to France and was taken prisoner in July 1917 thus spending the rest of the war as a POW.  Pte Albert Cowin 27563 from Bigrigg Cumbria was wounded, likely by an artillery shell, on the 20^th of December, he died three days later.

Pte Thomas Pomfret 27613 was Court Martialled in February for at least one self-inflicted wound. He was sent to hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand.  The punishment for such an offence was death, but throughout the war this was never carried out. Many men who were found guilty of the same offence were sent to prison. This soldier was fortunate as he left the Battalion and later in 1917 was posted into the Labour Corps.

1917 Arras

In March the Battalion began its move from Wanquetin to the Leincourt and Arras areas. This was to prepare for the upcoming series of Allied Spring offensives. From the 6^th of April they spent the nights in the cellars of Arras as the British bombardment and German counter fire crossed overhead.  By the 8^th they were starting to take casualties as they moved into the forward trenches.  The Battalion went into action on the 9^th moving forward from their positions and remaining in heavy action until the 12^th.  Over the four days the Battalion suffered 43 killed, 28 missing and 172 wounded.  Amongst those killed were Pte Aloysius Laithwaite 27598 from Wigan, Pte Arthur Ashbridge 27553 from Blackpool and Pte Frank Nicholson 27609 from Aston. Pte James Hudson 27579 from Tottington was shot in the leg and sent back to the UK.  He recovered and came back to France with the 1/4 Battalion; he would be killed in action with them on 20^th September 1917.

Pte John Green 27574 from Oldham was wounded in the thigh on 11^th of April, he was sent back to the UK before serving with the RAMC for a period, he was later latterly medically discharged from the Army.  He was the odd soldier out in the Draft of 70 in that he had previous military experience as he was a Territorial Force (TF) soldier who served in the 1/10th Manchester Regiment before discharge and rapid conscription back into service. 

On the night of the 24th the Battalion began to take up positions in the front line East of Monchy.  It was a difficult handover as they were under regular enemy fire.  Communication between the Companies and with Brigade HQ was extremely difficult due to shell and machine gun fire.  By the morning all four Rifle Companies were in the front line.  On the evening of the 26th the enemy attacked.  It was C Company that bore the brunt of the infantry assault, although all the trenches were well shelled. The attack was repulsed with close quarters fighting.  Pte James Felstead 27572 from Melton Mowberry, Pte John Henry Royle 27615 from Manchester and Pte Robert Collier 27562 from Stockport were killed, and Pte Frank Pulbrook 27614 from Manchester was wounded, dying the next day. Pte Percy Broderick 27556 from Accrington was also wounded in both legs being sent back to the UK.  He was discharged due to wounds in the September.  The attacks resulted in at least 70 men being killed. And no doubt a much greater number wounded. 

Enemy activity remained high with the men spending their time either in the front line or occasionally in support trenches. Pte Norman Armstrong 27552 from Durham was killed on the 30^th of April and Pte Nolan Ratcliffe 27619 from Middleton was badly wounded in the leg, possibly the same day. He was evacuated to the UK and soon after medically discharged from the Army.  

Pte Lincoln Moore 27603 from Birmingham  left on the 6^th of May with bad trench foot. He lost two toes, was sent back to the UK and eventually served in the Labour Corps after being medically downgraded. On the 7th James Hunter 27578 from Accrington was wounded. He he was blown out of one trench and latterly buried in a dugout, whilst also receiving a bullet wound to the leg.  He was sent back to the UK and compassionately discharged in September suffering from shell shock. Enemy activity was high during this period in the front line and Pte Fred Armytage 27554 from Manchester was killed on the 10^th of May.

On the 12^th three of the four Rifle Companies attacked Devils Trench. There were heavy casualties and the attack was not successful. The survivors were pinned down in no-mans land and had to wait until dark to return to their own lines.  Pte Tom Hadfield 27576 from Shaw and Pte Tom Cunliffe 27561 from Blackburn were killed. Pte Nathan Heaton 27583 from Middletown was wounded in the arm, he returned to the UK where his arm was amputated, he was then discharged from the Army. The attack resulted in 40 men being killed and a further 60 wounded.  The remains of the Battalion were relieved from the front lines on the 15^th of May. 

The Battalion recovered, trained and re-equipped in Arras until the 12^th of June before again moving up to the front lines.

After four days in the front line the enemy attacked after a heavy bombardment.  These attacks continued for two days up until the 18^th. Pte Henry Cowell 27564 from Blackburn was killed on the 16^th.  He had recently returned to duty after being wounded on 30^th April. Pte Henry Hampson 27587 from Birmingham was wounded and sent to the UK, he later served with the 1/5 KORL Battalion.  L/Cpl Rupert Bevington 27560 from Leigh was also likely wounded as he was sent back to the UK on the 16th.  He later joined the 1^st Battalion in Salonica.  He died of phenomena when he returned finally to the UK.   Pte Henry Ingleson 27589 from Clethorpes was sent home on the 26^th suffering from gas poisoning.  This probably occurred a few weeks previously during a short enemy gas attack. He was discharged as medically unfit from the Army after returning to his shipbuilding civilian role.   

The Battalion came out of the line on the 20^th of June and recovered until the 10^th of July. The rest of July and August was spent in rotation between front line and support areas, there was very little action.  The only soldier to win the Military Medal whilst serving with this group of men left the Battalion on the 20th of August, Pte Christopher Kenyon 27597,  a schoolteacher from Accrington.  He won the award in the May 1917 fighting at Arras.  He left the Battalion for officer training and subsequent Commissioning, joining the 3^rd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant. He survived the war. 

September started with a period of training; range work, fighting and attack skills and physical training.  This included practising attacks at Company and Battalion level. On the 26^th of September the attack for which they had been training took place.  The Battalion attacked Polygon Wood.  With the Gordan Highlanders on the left and the Australians on the right they attacked at 0550. The attacks were successful after over a day of heavy fighting and shelling, including gas.  They came out of the line on the 29^th. Casualties in the Draft were L/Cpl George Moss 27604 from Formby and Pte William Mathison 27599 from Hull killed, Pte Fred Watson 27621 from Levin was shot in the head and died on the 29th. Pte Joseph Railton 27618 from Liverpool was wounded in the arm and sent back to the UK.  He would later return to France with the 1st Battalion being wounded again in November 1918.

Over the period its known other men were wounded and left the Battalion. Formal casualty lists were temporarily not published for the early summer of 1917 so a full picture of casualties cannot easily be reconstructed.  However, it is known the following men left the Battalion, in the main because they were wounded in the Arras fighting:    

Pte Herbert Moyers 27608 from St.Helens was wounded early in April he returned to the UK and eventually joined the Machine Gun Corps and returned to France.   

Pte Albert Maden 27606 from Rochdale was wounded in the neck and medically discharged from the Army in September.

Pte Herbert Harrison 27585 from Burnley was badly wounded in the leg he was medically discharged from the Army in November.   

Pte Albert Evans 27568 from Middletown was medically discharged from the Army in November.   

Pte Thomas Fisher 27569 was medically downgraded and joining the Labour Corps in December.

Pte Evan John Rowlands 27616 from Penygraig was evacuated sick with a kidney condition. He was also medically discharged from the Army in September.   

Finally, Pte Ernest Ratcliff 27617 from Sudley was medically discharged from the Army in December.

So ended an intense period of fighting for the 8^th Battalion. Whilst they remained in or near the front lines until the end of 1917 and continued to take casualties, these were much less than those suffered during the spring/summer period.

The Draft of 70 men had had a brutal 11 months. There was at best 24 of them left, almost certainly less, my great uncle was still among them. The others had either been killed, wounded or categorised sick enough to be evacuated.

Christmas and on into 1918

The Battalion spent Christmas Day 1917 in the trenches, they were shelled throughout.  On 30^th December another member of our draft left,  Pte Frank Hargreaves 27582 from Middletown. He had been wounded in the head and arm in December 1916 and again in the legs during the Arras fighting.  A bad case of Tonsilitis saw him evacuated to the UK. He later joined the 1^st Battalion and returned to France being captured during the German Spring Offensive in April 1918. He died as a POW in October 1918.        

The Winter remained quiet, both because of the weather and the need for both sides to reconstitute and recover from the fighting of 1917.  Pte Ernest Jay 27592 from Littleborough was found unfit for further Infantry service and transferred to the Labour Corps in early January 1918.

By February the Army had been forced to re-organise its Infantry units to bolster unit manpower. The result being Brigades would now contain three and not four Infantry Battalions.  For 76 Brigade this meant the 10^th Royal Welsh Fusiliers were disbanded and the men sent elsewhere from the 2^nd of February.  Alongside the 8^th KORL the 2^nd Battalion the Suffolk’s and 1^st Gordon Highlanders remained.  In return the Battalion received 227 experienced reinforcements from the disbanding 11^th Battalion of the KORL.  England was running out of men. 

The Battalion remained in and out of the front lines and Pte Frederick Butterworth 27557 from Shaw was wounded and evacuated in February, being medically discharged from the Army in September. There were now 21 men of the Draft left at best.

German Spring Offensive

From the 12^th of March there was a growing awareness of an impending German attack - extra rations and great vigilance exercised. Artillery was fired on enemy rear positions to disrupt any German build ups.  Nervousness continued and the Battalion was in Brigade support from the 18^th.  On the 21^st of March at 0500 the Germans opened a heavy barrage on Wincourt and the British support areas.  Shells of all calibres including gas. From 10am the enemy attacked on a Divisional wide front. The Battalion was in close support throughout the 22^nd and a withdrawal took place on the 23^rd to straighten the line after retreats elsewhere. By now the Battalion was in the front line and the Germans advanced on their positions at 0800 following a barrage.  Fighting was severe with the Germans taking heavy casualties. The fighting and casualties remained heavy with the Germans continuing their assault,  the Battalion eventually moving back to Neuville Vitasse as best they could, at one point withdrawing in sixes over open ground and creating numerous blocks whilst under substantial German infantry attacks.  The Battalion were eventually relieved overnight on the 29^th by the Canadians.

The Battalion reported 490 casualties. likely well over half their strength.  At least 80 of those were killed and a large number taken prisoner. The dead also included their Commanding Officer. Pte James Hutton 27586 from Tottington and Pte Thomas Jennings 27593 from Manchester were among those taken prisoner. Sgt Arthur Jones 27594 from Manchester was wounded. As was Pte Tom Allen 27555 from Ramsbottom, he had been shot in the arm in Nov 1916 and this time was wounded in the leg and shoulder.     

L/Cpl John Houghton 27581 from St.Anne’s was also captured in April although not with the 8^th.  At some point, probably following wounding in 1917 he moved to the 1^st Battalion and was captured with them.

Early April saw the Battalion attempting to recover. Fifty six new men arrived on the 3rd, another 193 on the 6^th, 40 more on the 7^th. The chaos meant the Battalion would for a short time come under the command of the 8^th Brigade.  On the 12^th they deployed to ad-hoc defences as part of the Avelette bridgehead.  Again, fighting was desperate and a further 155 men were reported killed, wounded or missing.  The rest of the month was mostly in the support trenches.  On the 27^th they again went into the front line and on the 30^th of April Pte Walter Perry 27612 from Preston was killed.

May continued in the front lines or support trenches. Casualties continued to occur at low levels with draft replacements arriving; 125 on the 18^th for example.  The Division suffered 1000 casualties from mustard gas on the 21^st, the 8^th Battalion was lucky and got away without any gas casualties.

June and July followed a similar pattern to May.  A mix of trenches and Brigade support.  A large trench raid on enemy positions on the 2^nd of June brought back prisoners but cost one dead and eight wounded. A similar raid on the 10^th of July saw Sgt White who led the attack later die of wounds.  Later in July the Battalion was put in Divisional reserve which allowed for proper rest, training, showers, rifle ranges and attack practice.  Enemy artillery hit their bivouacs on the night of the 16^th of July killing 2 and injuring 9, even in the rear areas there was danger.  They returned to the line on the 24^th of July for a four-day spell before more time in reserve into August. On the 21^st of August the Battalion was in the front lines and carried out an attack with a follow up attack on the 23^rd.  34 men killed and 109 wounded. The wounded included Pte Robert Patterson 27611 from Cardiff. Both these attacks proved successful.   

The full story of some men in the Draft is unclear especially as to when they left the Battalion as they now appear elsewhere:

Pte George Molyneux 27602  from Bolton was wounded on the 25th July 1918 with the 9th Battalion in Salonica.  At some point he left the 8^th Battalion for sickness or wounding and was posted to fight in Greece.

Pte John Devane 27566 now appears with him being with the 1^st Battalion the Cheshire Regiment.  We know he was at some point wounded with the 8th Battalion and after recovery joined this unit.  When he left the 8^th is unknown but he was fighting with the Cheshire’s from 26 August.   

Pte Arthur Broadbent 27559 was also transferred to the Cheshire Regiment in August after recovering from a gunshot wound with the 8^th.  He was back in France with the Cheshire’s in October.

100 Day Offensive - end game

There were now 11 men of the Draft left at best – my great uncle being one of them.  The 100 Day Allied Offensive had begun on the 8^th of August and some of the heaviest offensive fighting now lay ahead.

Pte Bernard Fahy 27571 from Heywood was wounded on the 30th of August during an attack.  He was wounded in the foot.  This was the third and final time he would be wounded and he was sent back to the UK for good.  He had previously been wounded  in the arm in Nov 1916 and then in the thigh in April 1917.  Each time he had returned to the 8th after recovering from his wounds.

Pte Thomas Grime 27575 from Accrington is now found to be with the Labour Corps. He was wounded by a grenade in January 1917 but he was also the oldest man being aged 40. Pte Ernest Howarth 27580 from Bury is also now with the Labour Corps, he was shot in the arm in November 1916.  They both likely left the Battalion some time ago but dates cannot be established.  

From September the Battalion was increasingly active with offensive patrols mixed with intense training whilst in reserve. On the 27^th an attack near Flesquieres took place.  The Battalion went in at 0500 with all Rifle Companies attacking. The Battalion took over 800 prisoners in a successful advance, partially due to the bravery of L/Sergeant Tom Neely MM, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.  64 other men were casualties, one of these was Pte Thomas Jennings 27591 from Manchester.  He had been wounded on the 9th of April 1917 during the Arras fighting but had returned to the Battalion after recovery. Seven left. 

The next attack was planned for the 1^st of October at Rumilly. The Battalion moved into position overnight from the 30^th September. It was a cold very wet and dark night. After a 45-minute barrage the Battalion attacked at 0645.  All objectives had been taken by 0915. That evening the Battalion were relieved and they returned to their lines. The Battalion suffered 134 casualties at least 28 being killed.  L/Sergeant Tom Neely VC MM was one of those who lost his life.  From the Draft, Cpl Harry Burgess 27558 from Radcliffe was wounded, probably by a german artillery round, he died of wounds 10 days later. He had previously been wounded when the bivouacs were shelled on the 16th of July. 

With the weather remaining wet and cold a further successful attack occurred on the 9^th near Masnieres.  On the 11th, 240 replacements arrived.  These were almost entirely men from non combat units such as the Army Service Corps, Labour Corps and even the Veterinary Corps.  With a month of the war left to run, they found themselves transferred and in the front lines in less than a week. On the afternoon of the 23rd the entire Battalion attacked near Romiers.  The attack was successful but resulted in 23 killed and over 100 wounded. Amongst the dead was Pte Fred Oldham 27610 from Ardwick.  He had previously been wounded in the arm during the Battle of the Serre on 13 Nov 1916.

This was the final large engagement for the 8^th Battalion the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. They spent a further 48 hours manning the front lines from the 27th to the 29th and suffered a few casualties from shelling.  Of the Draft, evidence now suggests five men remained.

Of these, L/Cpl Edward Farrelly 27570 was wounded at the Somme Battle of the Serre, 13 Nov 1916 and again during attack on Polygon Wood on 26 Sept 1917.  L/Cpl Charles Johnston 27590 was also wounded following the attack on Polygon Wood.  It’s not known if these men returned to the Battalion following their wounding.

That leaves three men.  Pte Edgar Mason 27607 who was wounded in 1916, Pte Frank Kelly 27596 and Pte Edward Hitchen 27588.  These three men were there at the end when at 1100 on morning of the 11^th November the Battalion band played in the town square at La Longueville.   

Of the 70 men, 25 died. All the rest bar three are confirmed as being wounded at least once or removed from the Battalion as being too sick to continue.

Cpl Harry Burgess 

Footnote: The three men reported as being present at the end  are accounted as such because of an absence of information rather than an abundance. They were not killed, didn’t receive a pension, did not change units after their transfer into the  8th KORL Battalion at the Depot and were not listed as wounded, or at least I could find no records of such. There is very little on them apart from medal roll and medal index card.  I know Pte Hitchen survived and came from Burnley but that is it. I have named the home town of all the men where I have been able to discover it.  I have also used their KORL service number for each man.  They all had at least four service numbers and many had more than that.