War Diary 1st Dorsets

[SPotter]

Hi All,

I have the War Diary of the 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regiment for the entire Great War period - 5th August 1914 (1st Day of Mobilisation) until the Diary was signed off by the CO on 1st April 1919. I would be happy to do look ups on request.

Regards

Steve Potter

[BMoorhouse]

Hello Steve,

I have an interest in the 2nd Dorsets (Mesopotamia).

Do you have any info on this battalion - especially their actions of 1914?

Any help would be appreciated.

Brendon.

[SPotter]

Brendon,

My library is almost exclusively related to the 1st Bn. The only reference I have for the 2nd Bn is the Regimental History. A friend of mine is as passionate about the 2nd Bn as I am the 1st; send your question and I'll pass it on to him if I can't help.

Regards

Steve

[BMoorhouse]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply.

I have very kindly been sent copy of 2nd Bn's 1914 campaign account from the Regimental History.

My main 'puzzle' at the moment is trying to get to the truth of an account given in Blackledge's book "Legion of marching mad men" where he disagrees with the official account of the 2nd Bn's landing at Fao. He says it was opposed quite vigorously and that the battalion suffered quite a few casualties. He specifically says that Candler's account (The long road to Baghdad) and the Official History are wrong in their versions. I would like any comment on this, and would welcome any suggestions of where to look for the answer. If your friend has officers/soldiers accounts perhaps there would be something there?

Generally I am researching the 2nd Bn throughout their campaign (I am actually researching the 6th Poona Divn), and if your friend has any copies of records/letters/diaries from the campaign I would be very interested in seeing them.

Thanks again for your replies to date.

Brendon.

[Terry]

Hi Steve,

I know chances of a private soldier being named are slim, but I just acquired a 1914-15 trio to 3-8343 Pte.W.J.Courtney, 1/Dorsets. His MIC indicates he arrived in France on 4 Dec.,1914, and he apparently remained with the unit throughout the war, being discharged Class Z on 22 Feb.,1919.

Any chance of him being in the diary?

Cheers from Canada,

Terry

[Guest Tankman]

Steve,

I am interested in George Woolhead, Pte. 19651 1st Btn., Dorset Regt.

He was KIA on 02/04/1917.

Could you look up any info such as date of transfer from Bed's regt,

but mostly the action he was killed in.

Mant thanks

Tankman

[Ski]

Steve,

Thanks for the offer.

Don't suppose you have any mention of 16109 Pte B. J. Galpin 1/Dorsets, or his transfer to the Wilts August 1916.

Cheers,

Ski

[SPotter]

Hi Steve,

I know chances of a private soldier being named are slim, but I just acquired a 1914-15 trio to 3-8343 Pte.W.J.Courtney, 1/Dorsets. His MIC indicates he arrived in France on 4 Dec.,1914, and he apparently remained with the unit throughout the war, being discharged Class Z on 22 Feb.,1919.

Any chance of him being in the diary?

Cheers from Canada,

Terry

Terry,

Firstly, apologies for the delay in replying. I had rather expected requests to come via direct emails so hadn't made a point of checking this entry too frequently!

Secondly I haven't got the hang of this "quote" business yet!

Finally and regrettably there is no reference to you man in the Regimental History. It would not be feasible to search the War Diary for a name - I can only give details of what was recorded for a particular date(s). The War Diary, along with the vast majority is particularly poor at recording ORs names. I have checked this name against my nominal roll of Dorset soldiers and it is unique, so he either wasn't a pre-war regular, or was one but not with the Dorsets. The 3 Bn was of course the Special Reserve into which a large number of old Dorset soldiers did enlist. As a survivor it is unfortunately exceedingly unlikely you will find anything on him - you probably know as much as you ever will, unless, fingers crossed his papers have survived.

Regards

Steve

[Guest Geordie Lad]

Steve

What was 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regiment up to in Feb - March 1915

Any mention of La Chapelle Farm or Verbrandenmolen

Regards Geordie Lad

[SPotter]

Steve,

I am interested in George Woolhead, Pte. 19651 1st Btn., Dorset Regt.

He was KIA on 02/04/1917.

Could you look up any info such as date of transfer from Bed's regt,

but mostly the action he was killed in.

Mant thanks

Tankman

Tankman,

Unfortunately I have no information on his transfer date from the Bedfords, but the following is extracted from the Regimental History:

"At a Corps Conference at Nesle the following was decided on:-

"The IV Corps to move on to a line from Pt. 138 - Selency-Maissemy, with an advanced post on the high ground south-east of Pontruet. This line to be gained and fire opened on the Hindenburg Line by 8th April.

"Holnon Wood and Hill to be turned from the north and south. To enable this to be done the 61st Division will advance along the Omignon River, towards Maissemy, the 32nd Division [of which the Dorsets formed a part - in 14th Bde], by a series of bounds, will take Pt. 138, near Savy Halte. The villages of Savy and Vermand to be taken by the 1st April, the French taking Dallon on the same day. Simultaneously with the attack on Savy Wood and Pt. 138 the French will take Urvillers and Grugies. Attack on Pt. 138 to take place as soon as possible after the taking of Savy"

At the last moment the French decided not to attack l'Epine de Dallon, but to support us with their artillery.

Savy village was taken by the 96th Brigade on the 1st April, but all efforts to take Pt. 138 failed.

The 14th Brigade were then ordered to take Francilly, Selency and Holnon. The intention had been for the Brigade to form up with their right on Pt. 138; the failure to capture that spot now placed them under the necessity of attacking with their right flank and rear exposed during the advance on Francilly and Selency.

The attack was launched at 5 a.m. on the 2nd April, the 2nd Manchesters on the right and the 1st Dorsets on the left. By 6 a.m., the village of Holnon had been cleared by the Battalion and all troops were on the road to the north, the final objective.

Casualties were light, but 2/Lieut S. Wolferstan was killed by a stray shell the next day."

Pte Woolhead was one of only two men KIA on this day, the other being 8116 Cpl W.H. Selby. Both are buried in Chapelle British Cemetery Holnon, graves IV.B.11 and III.B.10 respectively. 2/Lieut S. Wolferstan is also buried here. 17393 Pte L.J. Battrick also DoW on this date, though as he is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery his wounds were not received in this action.

The following is extracted from the CWGC website:

"Holnon village and wood were the scene of heavy fighting between the 6th Division and the enemy on the 14th-19th September, 1918. Chapelle British Cemetery, named from a wayside shrine, was made after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves of 1917-18 from the battlefields West of St. Quentin and from HOLNON COMMUNAL and FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERIES. There are now over 600, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 250 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 17 soldiers, known or believed to be buried here. Other special memorials record the names of four United Kingdom soldiers, buried in Holnon Communal Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery covers an area of 2,063 square metres and is enclosed by a low rubble wall."

Hope this is of interest

Steve

[Guest Tankman]

Steve

Thanks for the extract, do you know if any maps that I may look at for this action exist.

Tankman

[SPotter]

Tankman,

Yes, there is a sketch of the village in the Regt History but do not have access to a scanner at the moment. I will email the relevant pages including drawing later if that is OK?

Regards

Steve

[Terry]

Steve,

Thanks for your efforts - greatly appreciated. You are probably right; unless his papers have survived I may never know his full story.

Cheers from Canada,

Terry

[Guest Tankman]

Steve,

Any maps, etc would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Tankman

[SPotter]

Steve,

Thanks for the offer.

Don't suppose you have any mention of 16109 Pte B. J. Galpin 1/Dorsets, or his transfer to the Wilts August 1916.

Cheers,

Ski

Ski,

Same story for you as well I'm afraid. No mention of Pte Galpin. After all the excitement of July 1916 the Regimental History covers August 1916 in a few lines so no reason is forthcoming as to why he transferred, though you presumably know that he was KIA F&F 21.03.18 serving with the 2/Wilts. I can however tell you that his BWM/VIC were offered for sale on Paul Boulden's medal list No. 31 (sorry, don't have the date) for GBP30. Perhaps you were the buyer?

Sorry can't be of any more help.

Steve

[Ski]

Steve,

Thanks very much for having a look for me, it's much appreciated.

You were right i was the purchaser, but from Philip Burman in Nov 02.

Here's a brief record of Pte Galpin's service:-

Benjamin James Galpin was the son of Fred (an agricultural labourer) and Ellen Galpin. He was brought up along with his brother and sister at 55 the Common, Stalbridge, Dorset.

Having enlisted at Sturminster Newton, Pte Galin served with the 1st Bn Dorsets, until transferred with 35 other men of the battalion to the 2nd Bn Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) on 10/08/16.

He was killed in action on 21/03/18, still serving with the 2nd Wilts in the the area of L'Epline de Dallon, South West of St Quentin. The Battalion itself had litterally ceased to exist.

Ben was 29 years old when he was killed and having no known grave he is commemorated on panel 64 of the Poziers Memorial, Somme, France.

[SPotter]

Ski,

Thanks for your update - sounds like you were lucky enough to find his service record at Kew - excellent result. Always nice to have the 'extras' too. My record did not show that there was any ephemera attached to the pair (or I may have bought it!). As you may know there were another three Galpins with the Dorsets, one of whom (10426 Pte W.H.) won the French Croix de Guerre with the 5/Dorsets and was ultimately KIA. CWGC confirms different parents but I wonder if they were in any way related. Might be a common surname in their native area? Another lead to follow though?

Regards

Steve

[Ski]

Steve,

I'm afraid his service papers weren't available at the PRO. my sources were:-

SDGW,

CWGC,

2/Wilts War Diary,

and Census online.

Also, would i be correct in guessing that from his Dorset's Regtl Number(16109), Pte Galpin would have enlisted in late 1915 and probably arrived in France in the first half of 1916?

There could certainly be a connection with the other Galpins as well (i wasn't actually aware of their existance until you said!)

My next step is to travel down to the Local library in that area and have a look through the local rag for the time, to see if i can locate an obituary.

2 years since the purchase and i still haven't finished the research! I'm sure that is the same with your research, but that's what makes it interesting, aye?

Thanks again,

Ski

[SPotter]

Ski,

His number would give an enlistment date of 13/12/1915 as 16105 and 16110 both enlisted on this date (taken from the War Badge Roll.) This would appear to confirm that he was not entitled to a star.

The other Dorset Galpins were;

8740 George, KIA Mesopotamia 17/11/14 with the 2 Bn.

Born Toller, Bridport, Dorset.

Enlisted Dorchester, Dorset.

Resident Powerstock, Dorset.

10426 William Henry, KIA F & F 16/09/1918 with the 5 Bn.

Born and Resident Cowgrove, Pamphill, Dorset.

Enlisted Wimborne, Dorset.

13734 H J who survived the war and was transferred to the Class Z Reserve on 01/05/1919.

The spread of places would perhaps lead one to suspect that these men were not related, closely in any case.

How long it would have been before your man went to France I can't say, but take H J above - he would have enlisted around 02/09/1914 and he didn't enter a war zone until 11/10/1915, which seems about usual for that period. However, after the losses on the Somme I expect there would have been a push to get numbers over to the Western Front to cover the shortfall. Reference to the BWM/VIC roll (which is the only one I don't have yet) should give a date of entry.

As you say - research is never over. There is always something else to be discovered - it is just a question of how deep you want to dig.

Happy hunting!

Steve

[Ski]

Thanks again Steve,

The enlistment date was really appreciated.

Also, i think i took my guess as to when he arrived in France from comparing numbers on SDGW.(I think).

Anyway thanks once more, and i'll leave you alone now!

Cheers

Ski

[SPotter]

Geordie Lad,

Guess you thought I'd forgotten you by now - well, apologies for the wait - hope you will think it worth it. The following is paraphrased from the Regimental History which paints a very graphic picture of this period.

On 3rd Jan 1915 there was a Commanding Officers and Adjutants conference (for the Brigade), at which a system of reliefs and work was laid down: each battalion was to be 3 days in the front line and 3 days in reserve. The Battalion remained in the same sector until March, when they were sent to the 28th Division (see below). The record of movements to and from the line is:

1st Jan - in billets at Bailleul

4th Jan - marched to Wulverghem, relieved East Surreys

6th Jan - billets at Dranoutre

10th Jan - in line

13th Jan - Dranoutre

16th Jan - Bailleul

24th Jan - Wulverghum

28th Jan - billets on Lindenhoek-Neuve Eglise road

30th Jan - Dranoutre

1st Feb - billets in Bailleul

9th Feb - relieved KOSB in line

13th Feb - Dranoutre

18th Feb - relieved Norfolks in line

23rd Feb - into farms

27th Feb - to Bailleul

During the third week in February an enemy attack took place at St. Eloi and several trenches were lost. This front had only recently been taken over from the French by unacclimatised men (from India) of the 27th and 28th Divisions. The situation SE of Ypres was therefore critical, and it was decided to replace three Brigades of the 27th and 28th Divisions with 'hardened' troops, which included the Dorsets' 15th Brigade. Consequently the Bn, with the rest of the 15th Bde, left Bailleul on the 2nd March, and marched to an uncomfortable hutment camp on the roadside between Ouderdom and Vlamertinghe. On the 4th the Bn marched through Ypres to relieve the 1st Lincolns north of the Ypres-Comines canal, with their right resting on the Bluff. It was an unpleasant relief. The road was shelled; the area leading from the road to the trenches was swept by bullets.

At that time both sides used their rifles at night with great persistence, and the fact that the fire was in a great measure unaimed led to the arrival of bullets in all sorts of unexpected places.

The trenches in the sector were poor. The parapets were in a few places bullet-proof, and this may be realised more fully when it is remembered that the Bn suffered more than 90 casualties from small-arms fire alone during their first tour of duty of 6 days.

The front contained two tender spots - the Bluff, and the International trench. The Bluff was a big spoil bank on the northern edge of the Ypres-Comines canal, giving a good view to the German positions, but open to enfilade fire from hostile guns behind the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge. The International trench numbered 32A., had originally been British, but during the confused fighting towards the end of February, the southern half had been lost.

The trenches on this front were not continuous, nor sited in accordance with the shape of the ground. Only one support trench existed, and Battalion Headquarters and one company occupied a large red-roofed farm marked la Chapelle on the maps and in full view of Wytschaete village.

Early on the 9th March a party of 30-40 Germans attempted to surprise the garrison of the International, consisting of three platoons of 'D' Company. They were seen by the sentries and driven back by rifle fire. The Germans continued to show a desire to gain possession of the whole of International trench and during the 10th March, which was wet, they began to pump water in to the British part of the trench and to breach the parapet with shells and trench mortar bombs. (2/Lieut G. Wheeler was wounded on the 9th).

But the most important event in this period occurred about sunset on the 14th March. A relief of the Dorsets by the Bedfords had just commenced when a big explosion occurred south of the canal, on the front of the 27th Division. Nothing unusual took place north of the canal and the relief proceeded. But as soon as the Bn reached Bedford House, 'D' Company with two machine guns, under 2/Lieut Stanley-Clarke, was despatched to hold the canal bridge close to Lankhof Chateau. Early on the 15th, 'A' Company was ordered forward to support 'D'. For a long while the situation remained obscure, but counter-attacks by the 27th Division practically restored the situation and 'A' and 'D' Companies were withdrawn about 5.30 a.m.

This was a surprise attack on a big scale, opening with the firing of two mines. The Mound was captured and held by the enemy.

I have found no reference to either la Chapelle or Verbrandemolen in the War Diary, but I do have these entries, and those from the published diary of Sgt Shepherd as text files which I will email separately if you wish.

Regards

Steve

[SFayers]

Hi Steve,

I know this is quite an old thread now, and I don't know if you're still active on the GWF - but on the off-chance that you are I wonder if you'd be able to do a look-up for me in the 1st Dorset's war diary please?

In his book 'The Weary Road' Lt Charles Douie refers to an incident before the 1st July 1916 where he performs a recce of the route of the battalion's march from the dugouts at Blackhorse Bridge on the Ancre to the frontline east of Authuille Wood in readiness for the attack on the 1st. In the book there's no mention of a day or date, but there's inference for it being a few days before the attack. I wonder if there's any indication in the war diary for the last (or potentially penultimate) week in June as to which date he may have performed this recce?

Many thanks and kind regards

Steve

[milky]

Hi All,

I have the War Diary of the 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regiment for the entire Great War period - 5th August 1914 (1st Day of Mobilisation) until the Diary was signed off by the CO on 1st April 1919. I would be happy to do look ups on request.

Regards

Steve Potter

Hi Steve,

I am looking for movements and whereabouts of the 1st Dorsets from 1-2-1917 to 19-4-1917. My grandfather was in France with them between these dates. If you could find time to look these events up in the War Diary and perhaps pass on the info to me I would be most grateful.

My e-mail is kemol@tiscali.co.uk

Cheers

Milky

[GraemeClarke]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the offer.

Could you please post the WD entries for the following dates. Many thanks.

26 November 1914

20 August 1918

Regards,

Graeme

[Malcolm Linham]

Graeme / Milky

I have the History of the Dorset Regiment 1914 -1919.

I am not sure how much difference thier is between this and the War Diary, for example on post 10 it is exactly word for word as the History.

Milky - when I replied to you for the sake of brevity I cut some minor bits out where as Steve has printed every thing.

Graeme

24 November 1914 The Dorsets were behind the lines at Dranoutre, when they relieved the 1st East Surreys in the sector to the west of Hill 75. Snow fell and hard frosts set in.

Hill 75 was distinctly lively. Enemy snipers were very active being on the higher ground, the rifle fire at night was incessant and sometimes rose to a roar on both sides.

As a result ration parties, reliefs and runners suffered greatlyfrom unaimed bullets through the hours of darkness.

Dorest remained in the trenches until the 30th Novemeber when they were relieved and returned to Dranoutre.

Can you confirm that the 20th August 1918 is also the 1st Battalion.

And if Steve Potter sees this prehaps he could comment on the diffrence between the War Diary and the History of the Dorset Regt 1914-1919

Hope this helps

Malcolm