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Remembered Today:

The RWF 1st Btn at The Battle of Festubert 1915


widavies

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Hi

My great uncle was KIA during the morning attack by the RWF 1st btn on 16th May 1915 at The Battle of Festubert 1915. Does anybody have any more information about the attack by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers other than the general battle report which only focuses on the briefest action reports. see below:-

3.15am: although the 2nd Division has failed to reorganise ready for a supporting advance, the 850-yard frontal attack of the 7th Division goes in. 22nd Brigade on the right, attacking across Duke's Road towards the School House and the Northern Breastwork (a sandbag-parapet German communication trench), with 2/Queens and 1/Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the first wave, is hit by heavy machine-gun fire. The advance is halted for an extra 15 minutes shelling. On their left, 20th Brigade are slowed by a deep ditch, and crossfire from the Quadrilateral position on their left front, untouched by the bombardment as it lay in the area between the two Divisional attacks.

3.45am approx.: 22nd Brigade moves forward, now supported by 1/South Staffordshire on the right. Despite suffering more casualties, they reach the German front and work along the trench system using bombs (grenades). 5.40am: Haig redraws the boundary of the area to be attacked, and halts any fresh attacks by the Meerut Division, directing the Sirhind Brigade to move to the support of 2nd Division.

6.00am: the Queens and Staffords of 22nd Brigade reach the Northern Breastwork, and the bombers of the latter battalion continue to move through the system of communication and support trenches facing Festubert. They secure the position from Stafford Corner to the old German front, and also La Quinque Rue in the area: the objective of the attack had thus been achieved. By 6.30am, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers have advanced too - now joined by some 2/Royal Warwickshire and 2/Scots Guards of 20th Brigade - and meet up with the Queens near the Orchard. The Scots Guards are forced to withdraw a little, after being hit by British artillery (firing by the map and timetable, unaware of the precise position of their infantry) and by German fire from Adalbert Alley. They also repulse a German counter-attack. Further attempts proved fruitless and costly, and by 9.00am the attack has come to a halt. The men in the most advanced positions near the Orchard and along the Northern Breastwork were by now under intensive German shellfire. Monro.

10.00am General Monro (I Corps) directs attacks to close the gap between the Divisions, by converging advances towards Ferme Cour d'Avoué. The 1/Grenadier Guards of 20th Brigade, having moved across No Man's Land by a new trench being dug by the 1/6th Gordon Highlanders, bomb their way along 300 yards of enemy trench, but can not advance over open ground, being assailed by fire as they make the attempt. No units of the 2nd Division are yet in position to make an attack. Meanwhile the bombers of 1/South Staffordshire (joined now by some bombing specialists from Brigade) continue to take more of the German trench system, 800 yards as far as Willow Corner (facing the front of the 47th Division) being captured in yard by yard fighting: they capture more than 190 Germans in doing so. 7.30pm The 1/Royal Welsh Fusiliers near the Orchard end of the Northern Breastwork withdraw to La Quinque Rue, forced out by lack of support from 20th Brigade on their left, and heavy German shelling.

During the night, the remnants of the Queens, RWF and Border were withdrawn

Will Davies

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Will,

Not of much assistance but from the War Diary of the 8th Royal Scots(22nd Brigade)

16th May 1915-The 22nd Brigade attacked at 3.45 am. after three quarters of an hour bombardment the 2nd Queens and 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers assaulting the enemy's front line.On the attack becoming general the Battalion was moved up in the early afternoon to the front line and held a roughly constructed line of trench between the 1st S. Staffords on the right and the 4th Guards Brigade on the left.

George

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Will,

Not of much assistance but from the War Diary of the 8th Royal Scots(22nd Brigade)

16th May 1915-The 22nd Brigade attacked at 3.45 am. after three quarters of an hour bombardment the 2nd Queens and 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers assaulting the enemy's front line.On the attack becoming general the Battalion was moved up in the early afternoon to the front line and held a roughly constructed line of trench between the 1st S. Staffords on the right and the 4th Guards Brigade on the left.

George

Thanks George,

It seems to be a forgotten battle compared to the rest of the war. So frustrating to research.

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Will,

To paint a picture.

From the 8th Royal Scots History.

Festubert.

May 1915 was a month of trial.The 8th Division,supported by the 7th,was to attack the enemy positions near Fromelles.The Battalion took up their assembly position for the attack on the night of the 8th,but it was not until the 16th that the Battalion occupied the front line.While other troops had the incentive of going forward,the Battalion was ordered to hold their position.They were subjected to incessant and very heavy shell-fire,and suffered considerably.

George

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Have you seen the more detailled account of the battalion's actions in C.H.Dudley Ward's Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Vol. III (reprinted by Naval & Military Press)?

LST_164

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Hi

My great uncle was KIA during the morning attack by the RWF 1st btn on 16th May 1915 at The Battle of Festubert 1915. Does anybody have any more information about the attack by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers other than the general battle report which only focuses on the briefest action reports. see below:-

3.15am: although the 2nd Division has failed to reorganise ready for a supporting advance, the 850-yard frontal attack of the 7th Division goes in. 22nd Brigade on the right, attacking across Duke's Road towards the School House and the Northern Breastwork (a sandbag-parapet German communication trench), with 2/Queens and 1/Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the first wave, is hit by heavy machine-gun fire. The advance is halted for an extra 15 minutes shelling. On their left, 20th Brigade are slowed by a deep ditch, and crossfire from the Quadrilateral position on their left front, untouched by the bombardment as it lay in the area between the two Divisional attacks.

3.45am approx.: 22nd Brigade moves forward, now supported by 1/South Staffordshire on the right. Despite suffering more casualties, they reach the German front and work along the trench system using bombs (grenades). 5.40am: Haig redraws the boundary of the area to be attacked, and halts any fresh attacks by the Meerut Division, directing the Sirhind Brigade to move to the support of 2nd Division.

6.00am: the Queens and Staffords of 22nd Brigade reach the Northern Breastwork, and the bombers of the latter battalion continue to move through the system of communication and support trenches facing Festubert. They secure the position from Stafford Corner to the old German front, and also La Quinque Rue in the area: the objective of the attack had thus been achieved. By 6.30am, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers have advanced too - now joined by some 2/Royal Warwickshire and 2/Scots Guards of 20th Brigade - and meet up with the Queens near the Orchard. The Scots Guards are forced to withdraw a little, after being hit by British artillery (firing by the map and timetable, unaware of the precise position of their infantry) and by German fire from Adalbert Alley. They also repulse a German counter-attack. Further attempts proved fruitless and costly, and by 9.00am the attack has come to a halt. The men in the most advanced positions near the Orchard and along the Northern Breastwork were by now under intensive German shellfire. Monro.

10.00am General Monro (I Corps) directs attacks to close the gap between the Divisions, by converging advances towards Ferme Cour d'Avoué. The 1/Grenadier Guards of 20th Brigade, having moved across No Man's Land by a new trench being dug by the 1/6th Gordon Highlanders, bomb their way along 300 yards of enemy trench, but can not advance over open ground, being assailed by fire as they make the attempt. No units of the 2nd Division are yet in position to make an attack. Meanwhile the bombers of 1/South Staffordshire (joined now by some bombing specialists from Brigade) continue to take more of the German trench system, 800 yards as far as Willow Corner (facing the front of the 47th Division) being captured in yard by yard fighting: they capture more than 190 Germans in doing so. 7.30pm The 1/Royal Welsh Fusiliers near the Orchard end of the Northern Breastwork withdraw to La Quinque Rue, forced out by lack of support from 20th Brigade on their left, and heavy German shelling.

During the night, the remnants of the Queens, RWF and Border were withdrawn

Will Davies

Hi Will,

If I can refer you to the Regimental Records of the R.W.F., Vol 3, pages 122-131. This gives a full and detailed account of the action, including the winning of the V.C. by C.S.M. Barter of the 1st Bn.

Sorry, but it would take me a week to type it out!!

I hope this helps, Robert

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Hi Will,

If I can refer you to the Regimental Records of the R.W.F., Vol 3, pages 122-131. This gives a full and detailed account of the action, including the winning of the V.C. by C.S.M. Barter of the 1st Bn.

Sorry, but it would take me a week to type it out!!

I hope this helps, Robert

Cheers, I'll try and find a copy asap!!

Will Davies

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Will

Email me at

<contact made>

and I 'll send you a scan of the relevant pages and also the War Diary of te 1st Bn covering the battle. Put Joseph Davies in the Heading.

SDGW for Joseph shows born and reside Abergele, enlisted Rhyl. Killed in Action (as opposed to died of wounds or died)

Enlisted late 1912 early 1913 I should think (but would need verifying)

His records do not seem to have survived. Have you got his medal card?

That shows entered France 11/12/1914 and the Diary shows 3 officers and 40 Other Ranks joining for duty on 17/12/1914.

You can get the whole Diary (+ others) for £3.50 from the NA if you want to track his time with the Battalion

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=9

Searching Festubert on this site should turn up quite a few previous threads.

Hywyn

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Will

Email me at

<contact made>

and I 'll send you a scan of the relevant pages and also the War Diary of te 1st Bn covering the battle. Put Joseph Davies in the Heading.

SDGW for Joseph shows born and reside Abergele, enlisted Rhyl. Killed in Action (as opposed to died of wounds or died)

Enlisted late 1912 early 1913 I should think (but would need verifying)

His records do not seem to have survived. Have you got his medal card?

That shows entered France 11/12/1914 and the Diary shows 3 officers and 40 Other Ranks joining for duty on 17/12/1914.

You can get the whole Diary (+ others) for £3.50 from the NA if you want to track his time with the Battalion

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=9

Searching Festubert on this site should turn up quite a few previous threads.

Hywyn

Hi Hywyn,

Thanks for the information and I have sent you an E-mail as requested.

I do not posses his medal card only the death medal and the accompanying memorial certificate which came into my possesion when my father died. All I know from older relatives is that he was a regular soldier before WW1 and that he was killed in 1915.

He also had five brothers that also served in the RWF ( and survived) and I seem to remember that of these two or possibly three were captured together by the Germans at some point during the war and that they subsequently managed to escape together. This I might research at a later date to see if this is true.

Regards

Will Davies

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Will

I have sent you two emails. Let me know if you don't get them.

Hywyn

Hi Hywyn,

I recieved two E-mails yesterday with scanned attachments including his records book and a text of the battle of Festubert. Was there any more?? Once again thanks for the information.

Will Davies

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Hi Hywyn,

I recieved two E-mails yesterday with scanned attachments including his records book and a text of the battle of Festubert. Was there any more?? Once again thanks for the information.

Will Davies

Hi Hywyn,

It seems incredible but there might be an amazing coincidence here with the search for another relative Richard Owen. See below:-

Will I,

success! Thanks to member hywyn who spotted Richard Owen's service papers in the series released just a few days ago (nice timing, Ancestry!).

The papers are part of the series WO 363 which were bombed in 1940, and in the case of Richard Owen's they look it: though nearly all the information was legible. This is a digest of the contents (plus a bit of background):

RICHARD OWEN, born Anglesey, enlisted at Pontypridd Glamorgan on 5 September 1914 aged 39 years 150 days. He was a miner by trade, and gave his next of kin as Mr Evan Owen of Nythclyd, Llanddyfnan nr. Llangefni, Anglesey. A single man, he gave his religious denomination as Church of England (not the Welsh Presbyterians, who claimed him at Talwrn Chapel!).

He had previously served with the 4th RWF, but I am uncertain whether he meant the old 4th (Militia) battalion or the new 4th (Denbighshire) Territorials. In either event he was mobilized at Shrewsbury on 8 August 1914, and referred to his previous service as "Completion of engagement". So he'd either completed his 3 year stint in the 4th (TF), or had signed on years earlier for the 4th (Militia) which was absorbed into 3rd (Special Reserve) RWF in ?1908. Opinions on this point welcomed; but whatever his previous service he was now signing on as a 1-year (or Duration of War) Special Reservist.

He was medically examined on enlistment, being 5 feet 4 and a quarter inches in height, with a 37-inch (max.) chest, blue eyes, brown hair, and tattoos on both forearms!

He was appointed Private 6026 in the 3rd (SR) RWF, and on 23 November 1914 posted as a reinforcement to the 1st RWF in France. The unit had been badly mauled at the 1st Battle of Ypres in October, and didn't recover its strength in men until maybe February 1915. it was in the 22nd Brigade, 7th Division. He took part in the usual routines of trench warfare that winter and spring.

Early in 1915 the battalion moved to the Richebourg-Givenchy-Neuve Chapelle sector. It was marginally involved in the actions at Neuve Chapelle 10-13 March, and Aubers Ridge on 9 May. On 15 May however the battle of Festubert began, and the 1st RWF were given a difficult position to attack from. On 16 May they attacked across only 120 yards of No Mans Land but were machine-gunned and suffered very heavy losses, though they took various enemy trenches. these they held until relieved on 18 May.

They had started with 25 Officers and 806 Other Ranks, and only 6 Officers and 247 ORs remained unwounded. Before they vacated the position it is recorded they recovered the bodies of 6 Officers and about 100 ORs from No Mans Land. The unit remained in the sector until June, but without any further notable fighting.

Richard Owen's papers state that he was killed in action "date and place not stated...Buried in the Field": this was reported by the Brigade-Major of ?153rd Brigade on 28 May 1915. So that became the official "Assumed date of death". It may be that this formation recovered his body after the Festubert action, or that he was indeed killed elsewhere between 16 and 28 May (the 1st RWF War Diary might help here?). In fact, after the War his grave could not be located, so he is commemorated on Panels 13/14 of the Le Touret Memorial, France. I photographed this just a month ago, and will send you a picture of his name etc. via the email you provided.

In July 1920 his father received the 1914-15 Star, and at some point the British War and Victory Medals. A bronze Memorial Plaque and Scrolll would also have been received. His total service was 79 days in the UK, and 187 days in France (266 all told).

I'm pleased to have had him identified, as I can now not only put details to the otherwise almost anonymous Richard Owen of Nyth Clyd, but discover he is the same man on my Roll as 6026 Richard Owen RWF "born Anglesey" who enlisted in Glamorgan and had family somewhere in the Llangefni area. The Talwrn War Memorial is in error, however - he did die in 1915, not 1916. Hopefully hywyn or someone else can send you copies of his papers to read for yourself (technologically I'm not up to it).

I wonder if they knew each other???

Regards

Will Davies

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  • 6 months later...

Hi

My great uncle was KIA during the morning attack by the RWF 1st btn on 16th May 1915 at The Battle of Festubert 1915.

Further to my original posting on joining the GWF forum regarding my Great uncle Joseph Davies. I had a rather nice surprise in the post today. It was a package from my Aunt which contained a framed document detailing his death and place of remembrance. I'm not sure what this document is called, a memorial scroll maybe, but I'm touched that my Aunt who is now getting on in years has decided that I should be the recipient in view of the many relatives we have in the family. Attached is a couple of photos of the momento.

Regards

Will Davies

post-51029-1276512123.jpg

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Here is a blow up of the info on the scroll

Regards

Will Davies

post-51029-1276512268.jpg

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Hello Will,

The information in the centre was snipped from an original 1920s Imperial War Graves Commission printed register - in this case for the Le Touret Memorial - and attached to a general "In Memoriam" decorative background.

This was done commercially and the service was probably advertised. Relatives would pay for this and similar items, the document being framed and displayed appropriately. I have seen a number in my time. It's nice that someone cared enough both to get this done, and also to preserve it for all these years.

LST_164

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Hello Will,

The information in the centre was snipped from an original 1920s Imperial War Graves Commission printed register - in this case for the Le Touret Memorial - and attached to a general "In Memoriam" decorative background.

This was done commercially and the service was probably advertised. Relatives would pay for this and similar items, the document being framed and displayed appropriately. I have seen a number in my time. It's nice that someone cared enough both to get this done, and also to preserve it for all these years.

LST_164

Thanks for letting me know what it is and now that it's now in my care I intend to see that it's well looked after until it's my turn to pass it on. Incidently I've been informed by my Aunt that she also has a large brass memorial penny too, which is also earmarked for me whenever I go to visit her again. Would this also be a commercial memorial?

Regards

Will Davies

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Will

Sounds like the 'death penny' issued (with a scroll) with a casualty name on it. Possibly Joseph Davies in your case here. Not commercial.

I can't readily spot it in The Long Long Trail.

Put 'death penny' in google images to see examples etc

Hywyn

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Will

Sounds like the 'death penny' issued (with a scroll) with a casualty name on it. Possibly Joseph Davies in your case here. Not commercial.

I can't readily spot it in The Long Long Trail.

Put 'death penny' in google images to see examples etc

Hywyn

Hi Hywyn,

I now have a clear idea what a death penny looks like after doing a google search, so when I do collect the momento, if it's the same then I'll know what I actually have inherited. Thanks for the advice.

Regards

Will Davies

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Many of the "death pennies" were manufactured near me in Acton. It is interesting to look up the variations and maybe see what yours has!

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Many of the "death pennies" were manufactured near me in Acton. It is interesting to look up the variations and maybe see what yours has!

After a trip up the coast this last sunny weekend to see my Aunt (and other relatives) in Abergele, I managed to pick up the death penny for Joseph Davies my great Uncle (see attached). I will continue to look after this until it's my turn to pass them on in the family.

Regards

Will Davies

post-51029-1277276977.jpg

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