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Remembered Today:

19 Londons sometime in 1915


Simon_Fielding

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The follwing is from the Kidderminster Shuttle of 7/8/1915 and concerns an officer of the 19th Londons, Capt GW Baker, who later died of wounds during the battle of Cambrai.

Does anyone know the event to which it refers? Hooge by any chance? And who was Sir Ernest Cassel?

Cheers

Simon

The Daily Express of Friday last has a thrilling account of the doings of the 19th Londons. The following extracts, dealing with the part taken by Lieut. Baker, who was associated with Lieutenant Felix Cassel, K. C., M. P., nephew of Sir Ernest Cassel, will be of general interest:-

“One day the 19th Londons were to have taken part in a charge on the German trenches. The charge was timed for 8.30 o’clock, but by some means best known to themselves, the Germans anticipated the attack. At all events five minutes before the time fixed for the British attack they exploded a mine under the trenches occupied by the St. Pancras Rifles.

It was now that Lieutenant Cassel and Lieut. Baker, and the platoons under them, showed their sterling worth.

The explosion of a mine directly under a trench occupied by a unit – killing some, and burying others – is calculated to try the strongest nerves.

Lieutenant Baker, with whom was Lieutenant Cassel, promptly gave the order for rapid fire, and the situation was undoubtedly saved by the promptness of the order and the manner in which it was obeyed. The Germans were subjected to such a withering fire that they were only too glad to scramble back into the trenches from which they had just emerged, leaving their dead behind them, and the attack failed signally.

Again, Lieutenant Cassel, instead of going to his dug-out, elected to remain with his men in the fire trenches, and with them was shelled and shot at for at least 100 hours. These two men are characteristic of the officers of the 19th Londons.

As for the non-commissioned officers and men of this battalion, those at the front who have come into contact with them cannot say enough in their praise. They have been thanked on several occasions by the divisional general.”

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Simon

For Sir Ernest Cassel go to URL=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~thegrove/cassel.html]Sir Ernest Cassel[/url].

Felix Cassel was also an interesting person. He was 46 when the action your piece described took place. A lawyer, he was called to the bar in 1894 and was Conservative MP for West St Pancras 1910-1916 and Judge Advocate General from 1916 onwards.

Hope this helps.

Terry Reeves

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The 19th Londons (St Pancras Rifles) were in 141 Bde of 47th Div and from August 1st 1915 for two weeks were out of line at Noeux--les-Mines training and preparing for the battle of Loos. Before that they were in line at Fosse 7, south of Marzingarbe, so perhaps the incident happened there. It was a very wet period.

Ron

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Simon,

I'm not sure how much it's worth in this context, however here's something on Sir Ernest Cassel and his family

His granddaughter was Edwina Cynthia Ashley (Edwina, after her God-father King Edward VII) Her parents were Colonel Wilfred and Mrs. Maud Ashley. Maud was the daughter of Sir Ernest Cassel. Maud Ashley died when Edwina was 10 years old and her father remarried when she was 14.

After school at the age of 18, Edwina lived with her grandfather Sir Ernest Cassel and acted as his hostess at his London mansion, Brook House. "He was an exacting person and expected her to devote a considerable part of her time to entertaining his elderly friends, who ranged from Kings and their entourages to city magnates and bankers from all over the world."

Edwina escaped this life of toil to become the wife of Lord Louis Mountbatten (later the Earl Mountbatten of Burma and the last Vice-roy of India)

You never know whom you might run into on these pages do you?

Regards

Michael D. R.

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  • 4 months later...

Simon

This incident was almost certainly on 17 May 1915 in trenches near Givenchy. I know this bit of ground at the north end of the village. The 1/19th London War Diary (WO 95/2738) for that day simply records:

"Orders received for Bn to attack over Scottish Trench. All companies taken to front and second line and 20th Bn brought up into reserve. Orders not to attack received in evening. Enemy exploded a mine in front of us but no material damage done. Several men dazed and few casualties."

There is no other incident in May or June (much of mid-June was in reserve). The July WD for the Bn is missing, but the WD for 141 Bde does not refer to any incidents which could be this one. All of early August was spent in reserve.

The following rather more complete account is taken from the excellent Diary of Capt Waterlow held in the IWM (ref 76/189/1). Although there is no direct reference to Baker, many of the facts given in the Kiddermister Shuttle appear to be consistent with it. Obviously we dont know how much the story may have been altered as it got transmitted from the front to Kidderminster during a time lag of nearly three months.

"Monday 17 May 1915

Givenchy

We “stood to” in the early morning at the same time and for the same period as in the trenches. It started raining and continued to do so steadily. We stayed in our billets moat of the morning. By a lucky chance the previous occupier of our billet had left behind the current number of Royal Academy pictures, which I had been particularly wanting to see. Captain Metson was taken back to hospital during the morning and Westendarp, who was suffering from neurasthenia, also went back. Our company thus lost two officers; Capt. Riley, Street, Parlow and myself being left.

Later on we were called to Battalion Headquarters, where we were told that the Battalion would make an attack from Scottish trench on the German front line opposite, during the night. A and B Companies were to be in the front line on the frontage usually held by one company, while our company, D, was to be in support, in the right half of New Cut trench, and was to advance over the open to our front line and to occupy it as soon as the two leading companies had gone forward. C Company was to be in Battalion reserve, at the disposal of the colonel, in the left half of New Cut trench.

After a hurried lunch we paraded to go up to the trenches. We had to leave most of our mess crockery, cutlery, etc., and also some provisions behind in the billet owing to the short notice, and lost some of them in so doing. Every man was given two empty sandbags to take with him, to be used in the consolidation of any trenches that might be captured. We went up and took up our position in the right hand half of New Cut (the whole of which had been previously held by the company) with 16 Platoon on the right, then 15, then 13, and 14 Platoon on the left. Being on a short frontage, the men were very crowded. Major Phillips, having Hitchy Koo on the left as C Company headquarters dugout, Capt. Riley made my old dugout on the right his Company Headquarters, but had no telephone at our end of New Cut. The trench was thick with mud owing to the rain, which still continued. Battalion H.Q. was advanced to “French Farm,” a ruined house just behind the line, and the 20th Battn. London Regt. took over the reserve billets round Windy Corner. Our artillery brought up a field gun close to the line just behind Givenchy village. During the early evening I reconnoitred the ground in front (between us and the front line), across which we should have to go when the attack started. The boches were sending over shells intermittently, and when it got dark, continually. They had a battery in the “Railway Triangle, just south of the canal, which completely enfiladed our trenches from the right flank, thus making the bursting effect of the shells much more dangerous. Our line was much shallower and less well protected than the front line trench and there were no deep dugouts in any part of the line. I spent my time during the night walking up and down my platoon frontage or sitting on the firestep, while the rain continued to come down steadily. The Boches continued to send over shell after shell, but sent none actually into our trench, most of them bursting between us and the front line very fortunately for us; if they had got the correct angle, they would have got a direct hit almost every time on some part of our trench, for as they were enfilading us, the exact accuracy of the range did not matter so much. They sent one or two just behind our trench, but one never knew where the next one was going to burst. This was our first experience of heavy shelling. Some time later the colonel, adjutant and signalling officer came down the trench on their way to the old Battalion H.Q. at Windy Corner, the attack having for some reason been postponed. Shortly after they had left French Farm (so I heard), the Boches obtained a direct hit on it with a shell and blew the dugout to bits.

Suddenly there was a loud roar of a terrific explosion and I saw on the right of the front line a huge column of earth and debris blown high up into the air, here it seemed to hang for a moment before coming down again. The ground shook and we realised that the Germans had exploded a mine underneath (as we thought) our front line. Rapid fire broke out all along the line and from our position we thought that the Germans were launching an attack. Then, owing apparently to the pungent smell of the mine explosion and of bursting shells, and also to some alarmist, the word came down that the Boches were sending over gas, whereat we all donned our apologies for respirators (mine being made out of an old khaki shirt of Capt. Riley’s, with an elastic loop), having previously damped them with the solution which was placed in pots all along the trench. Soon afterwards some of 16 Platoon came down from the right, saying that they had been ordered to evacuate the upper part of New Cut, as the Boches were attacking. I stopped them going any further (until an order, purporting to come from Capt. Riley, was twice passed down confirming the fact) and prevented some of 15 Platoon, who started to follow on behind. I afterwards found out that they had come along owing to a misunderstanding of orders. After the mine had been exploded, Parlow, who was on the right of our company, went along the Upper Cut trench (which led to the front line) to see what was happening. Capt. Riley, thinking that the Germans had attacked, built up a barricade of sandbags across the trench at the junction of New Cut and Upper Cut and nearly shot Parlow with his revolver when the latter came back. We afterwards heard that the mine had not been exploded under our front line trench (as we thought), but a short way in front of it, just to the left of the sunken road) and that it bad caused no casualties to our men, except that a few had been hit by pieces of debris. After the explosion of the mine, the Germans opposite were seen starting to get over their parapet, but the prompt reply of rapid fire by our men very soon drove them back into their trenches. The Germans continued to shell us from the right flank during the remainder of the night."

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This is fantastic Charles! Thank you.

Simon

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And I've just noticed I never thanked any of the other contributors to this thread....terrible!! Sorry gents, and thanks for your time efforts.

Simon

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Here is a photo from the family archive entitled "Officers of the 2/19th London Regiment January 1915 at the White City, Shepards Bush". I believe that it was taken on 1 Jan 1915 since the battalion deployed to Reigate the following day.

2/Lt GW Baker is the left hand man of the front row. My Grandfather is the man in the centre of the back row with the prominent style of moustache known as a 'General Melchett'.

I know the identities of 28 of the 29 officers in this photo. Of these five were killed in the war.

post-2-1057341096.jpg

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Here is a close up of 2/Lt GW Baker scanned at a higher resolution and after fiddling with brightness/contrast etc to make him clearer.

post-2-1057341283.jpg

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Marvellous! Thank you very much Charles. I promise to get onto the Shuttle as soon as my teaching term ends!!

Simon

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