hood battalion rnd

[willy]

Hi guys, i'm currently trying to find out as much info regarding the positions held by Hood battalion around April 1918.

My grandfather was KIA 13th April 1918, and is buried in Lonsdale cemetary, anyone know anything that may be of interest please.

[Kate Wills]

Welcome to the Forum Willy.

Get hold of a copy of Hood battalion by Leonard Sellers.

[Steven Broomfield]

Willy, as far as I can see from the RND Divisional History, the fighting on the old Somme battlefield had more or less died down by the time of your chap's death, so it may well have been in 'holding the Line'. The Div had been in action almost continuously since the start of the German offensive on 21st March, and had retired from near Cambrai to the old Somme battlefields. They had fought the Germans (and themselves) to a standstill.

I'm afraid that Sellers' book isn't much help in the context of your enquiry: he deals with the whole of 1918 in 8 pages(!), so there is no mention of the 13th April - or indeed, of April in any way shape or form. Good book, though.

Cheers

Steven

[willy]

Thanks Steven, I shall keep looking, and begging answers from those of you in the know, I live in hope of finding someone else who had a relative in the battalion, who may know some more, i'm going over for a week in september so will trawl what i can when i get there.

thanxs again. will

[michaeldr]

Quote: i'm currently trying to find out as much info regarding the positions held by Hood battalion around April 1918. My grandfather was KIA 13th April 1918, and is buried in Lonsdale cemetary,

Willy,

Like others I’m afraid that I don’t have anything specific on the Hoods for date which you are interested in, however you may find the following of general interest regarding the 63rd (RN) Div at that time. It is from an article by Capt. Christopher Page RN, former head of Defence Studies at the MoD, and it appeared in Len Sellers’ magazine ‘RND’ issue No.4, March 1998.

“By the middle of February [1918], the Division, back up to its new strength, found itself on the Flesquieres salient in V Corps with the 47th Division on its right, adjacent to the left hand Corps of Gough’s Fifth Army. In early March the enemy started bombardments in preparation for his major offensive on the 21st. The salient was drenched with nearly a quarter of a million gas shells from 12th to the 21st, mostly yellow cross (mustard), causing 2,000 casualties in the RND……………………………………………………..

After a hurricane bombardment on top of the preparatory shelling of the previous fortnight, the Germans attacked in enormous strength through a heavy mist. By the end of the day, V Corps had suffered some loss of its front, and the RND, less seriously attacked than some, was planning a counterattack. However, the situation on the flanks was precarious where the adjoining Corps had been driven back, and the Division was forced to retreat in steps, first through Bertincourt and Ytres, then to the Metz lines on 23rd, then north through the old Somme battlefields when touch was lost with the left of the Fifth Army. At every stage from day one, the RND made a determined stand, and its artillery and machine guns made the Germans pay a high price for their advance…………………

In a further series of defensive actions and counterattacks, some ground was given, but the impetus of the Germans was now much less: their successes were fewer and their casualties greater. Static warfare returned to this point of the Somme by the time that the RND handed over its part of the line on the Mesnil Ridge to the reorganised 17th Division on the 15th April and returned to civilisation after about 24 days of continuous action.

The cost was high: between the preliminary bombardment and the 27th March, the Division lost over 6,000 men, including 4 Battalion Commanders killed, who between them sported one VC, 3 DSOs, and an MC: while small reinforcements reached them after the 27th, during the retreat, most battalions were in action with only about 250 men, including those drafted from transport and headquarter duties, and those ‘invited’ to serve from other broken units. A great deal of the credit for the Division’s fine performance during the retreat was due to the leadership at all levels: The Divisional Commander had largely to operate without Corps orders, and a huge responsibility fell on the shoulders of the Brigade and Battalion Commanders, whose initiative saved the situation on many occasions when communications with superiors were lost. But, as always, it came down to the determination of the man with the gun, and here, as the historian observes, those many units which retained cohesion, and because of the esprit, refused to panic, fighting all the way, saved the British Army, and the RND was one of the chief among them.”

Have a good time over there in September

Regards

Michael D.R.

[willy]

Thankyou Michael for the info it has been of great help. The situation regarding the RND, is rarely mentioned in the more common books, and most info is only snippets, but it is slowly all forming a picture.

I hope to try and trace atleast some of their footsteps in september, again thankyou, sorry it has taken so long to reply but i've been on my hols. Will