2nd Royal Fusiliers WD queries please

[Jim Hastings]

Good evening all

I am looking into a relative for a friend of mine who was with the Bn in Gallipoli and from the little I'm gleaned so far from their war (never looked at 29th Div before now I'm afraid) I can see they endured the first landings at Gallipoli and first day of the Somme. Could I please ask any 2RF experts out there or anyone with their WD or war records, what is stated for the following dates-

25th April 1915 - Landing date - I'm come across conflicting information, some saying the landing was a quieter one for the day but the CWGC site still lists 111 dead!

5th June 1915 - 3rd Battle of Krithia

30th November 1915 - looks like they're in Suvla area??

and just for my interest the 1 July 1916 entry

Awaiting the Gallipoli books I ordered so basing my little info on general GW and 1915 books. Any good reads on 2RFs war, as sure my friend will want to purchase?

Many thanks for any assistance, grateful for time and effort

JH

[spof]

and just for my interest the 1 July 1916 entry

JH

Jim

The war diary from Feb 1916 can be downloaded from here

Sorry I can't help with the earlier requests.

Glen

[widavies]

Hi Jim,

Here's some information from Crieghtons book covering some of your dates with information.

WITH THE TWENTYNINTH DIVISION IN GALLIPOLI

A CHAPLAIN'S EXPERIENCES BY THE

Rev. O. CREIGHTON, G.F. Church of England Chaplain to the 86th Brigade

Special Brigade Order

By Brigadier-General S. W. Hare

Commanding 86th Infantry Brigade Fusiliers,

Our Brigade is to have the honour to be the first to land and to cover the disembarkation of the rest of the Division. Our task will be no easy one. Let us carry it through in a way worthy of the traditions of the distinguished regiments of which the Fusilier Brigade is composed; in such a way that the men of Albuhera and Minden, of Delhi and Lucknow may hail us as their equals in valour and military achievement, and that future historians may say of us as Napier said of the Fusilier Brigade at Albuhera,"Nothing could stop this astonishing Infantry."

S. W. Hare, Brigadier-General,

Commanding 86th Infantry Brigade.

Monday April 26th first news after Landing day

Well, at last we got some news from those who went ashore, and also from a man of the Border Regiment, who had just had his fingers shot off, while the boats were there, by a sniper. However, he was quite cheery and I went and saw him in the evening. Well, of course this was only one beach and we could get no general survey or really authentic news. But what came out most clearly was that my own two special regiments had been terribly cut up, but otherwise the casualties had not been heavy. In fact it was very black about the R.F.'s and the L.F.'s. The Borderers had landed without mishap and supported the R.F.'s. The wounded man said he had heard the R.F.'s roll called that morning, and there were only about 240 that answered. The Colonel and two Majors were said to be wounded and only nine officers left. But it is impossible to know any facts for certain. On "W" beach it appears that the L.F.'s were terribly cut up on landing. It was the obvious landing-place, and the Turks had laid barbed wire in the water. This we had heard before. Well, as soon as our boats got back we weighed anchor and came back to our old position. I felt very blue. My two particular regiments cut up and I was not with them or even near them, and it is impossible to hear any details. It all sounds very horrible. I ought to have been there, at any rate on the beach, seeing the poor wounded fellows and burying the dead. There seems to have been no chaplains there.

Monday, May 3rd

—I awoke to find the wounded had mostly been stowed away under some sort of shelters, but there were crowds of them lying about. The rest of my Field Ambulance had not landed yet. So after hanging about a bit I went over to '*X " beach where the R.F.'s had landed, and found E the quartermaster. He greeted me with the sad news of Shafto's (the adjutant) and Anstice's deaths. Would I go up and bury them ? Of course. The regiments had just come into reserve, and he said he was going up himself, so off we went about one and a half miles inland, and found what was left of them—six officers and 435 men—in a vineyard. They had just come out of the firing line for the first time since landing. But they were wonderfully cheerful. It was quite a joy to be with them again. They had just lost four officers, Shafto and Anstice killed, M -----and B -------- wounded, and this left J-------- in command, and Mundy as adjutant, Hugget as machine-gun officer, and with Z -----------,T--------- , and G-------- they made a very happy little family. J --------------has made a simply capital CO., and was full of praise of Mundy. Of course all were overwhelmed by Shafto's death. He was a universal favourite and a particularly charming man. He had already been buried, and his grave was near the firing line, so I could not very well get there. (*) They were very delighted to see me.

Notes:-

It is always interesting hearing the men's opinions of their officers. I do not think I heard any one spoken more highly of by the men of the Royal Fusiliers than young Anstice. Over and over again during the subsequent weeks they would say to me: "You should have seen Mr. Anstice ! I reckon he deserves the V.C. if any one does. There was nothing he would not do for his men. Why, I saw him myself working like a ******, and much harder than any of the men, carrying ammunition, water and rations, going about all up and down the line without a sign of fear. And we none of us thought he had it in him. But they never stop talking about him now. We are all changing our opinions about many people out here."

I think nothing throughout my time on the peninsula struck me as so remarkable as the way in which this handful of officers, with a junior captain as CO., and little more than a boy as adjutant, handled their regiment after the harrowing experiences they had been through. They entered into it with such zest and worked tremendously hardv overlooking nothing. Mundy, who acted as adjutant, seemed to think of everything. The smallest detail did not escape him. His map-drawing was remarkable, and the quick way in which he grasped a situation and saw what was the best thing to do showed that he had real military genius. And perhaps the most remarkable part was that previously none of his brother officers realized he had it in him. War seems to bring out so many latent qualities. And the way in which J------- handled the regiment, the wisdom and tactfulness he showed, his power of winning immediately the confidence of officers and men alike, the sane, calm judgment he displayed throughout, are beyond all praise. I can only say that under them the regiment, though so terribly depleted in numbers, made not only an exceedingly happy and enthusiastic family, but a really valuable fighting unit.

(*) It was a deep regret to me that I was unable to bury him. However, I had decided to go at the first opportunity with some of the other officers and hold a provoked or put out. He was always at every one's disposal. service at the grave. But he was buried in a very exposed spot and this was impossible. It was not tillJuly l0, practically my last day on the peninsula, that this was possible, as is recorded later. I do not think I met any officer who won every one's affections so quickly as Captain Shafto, the adjutant of the Royal Fusiliers. Officers of many regiments in the Division would ask: Who is that delightful adjutant with a smile always on his face, who is always ready to do anything for anyone ? Many is the time I worried him myself, but I never saw him provoked or put out. He was always at every one's disposal.

Tuesday, June 8.

I went to Gully Beach, where I found what was left of the R.F.'s, and stayed with them till Friday. It was so tragic. I came out with such a magnificent regiment, with such regimental pride, and such a united and delightful band of officers. Only one left, G , the former Sergeant- Major, besides the Quartermaster. He was asleep when I arrived. There were Corporal M , and the other officers' mess orderlies—but no mess. The regiment had dug incessantly for five days, and then fought incessantly for three days. They had lost five out of the six remaining officers, all the ten officers who had recently joined them, and somewhere about 200 of the remaining men. Of the original regiment, including transport, stretcher-bearers, etc., 140 were left. The Sergeant-Major was still there, and seemed all right, but had to knock off work for three days. G was quite played out. I made every possible inquiry during the following days after Brandreth and Mundy. Two men said they saw Brandreth hit in the neck ; one said he saw his orderly—since missing —bandage him up. But no one had seen his body.

Mundy was quite lost sight of. Were they wounded prisoners? Not likely, but just possible. The men were wonderfully cheery. They take things very calmly, and were glad to be on the beach, where they could get plenty to eat, and plenty of sleep in perfect peace and bathe as often as they liked. Corporal M gave me some supper, and we tried to pretend it was the same mess. A scout party went out that night to try and discover the bodies of the dead, but could do nothing owing to the heavy fire. Dear old Brandreth, it is too terribly tragic. I would give anything to know where he is. And Mundy, too. I am only glad that J------- has got a sufficiently serious wound to keep him away from it all for a good while. I collected the regiment in the evening, and spoke to them and tried to cheer them up. I slept with G in his dug-out, and tried to cheer him up. E , the Quartermaster, appeared, and was very cheery.

Regards

Will

[Jim Hastings]

Thank you Will,

Appreciate the time and effort you put in posting those excerpts, they certainly emotionally conjure up what Gallipoli was like for 2RF. I will defintely recommend Crieghton's book to my friend and pass these excerpts onto him as a flavour. Makes me think how many of those from the initial Gallipoli landings were left to make the first day of the Somme!? Must have been in single figures ...

My friend and I visited Gallipoli on an impromptu day tour arranged when our unit was on exercise in Turkey, but sadly that meant we only got a 'back of a fag packet' brief on the campiagn. We found his relative's grave, but it was not until now, years later, that he sought to find more out about his war. Wished we'd known more before our tour.

Thank you so much

Best wishes

Jim

[widavies]

Thank you Will,

Appreciate the time and effort you put in posting those excerpts, they certainly emotionally conjure up what Gallipoli was like for 2RF. I will defintely recommend Crieghton's book to my friend and pass these excerpts onto him as a flavour. Makes me think how many of those from the initial Gallipoli landings were left to make the first day of the Somme!? Must have been in single figures ...

My friend and I visited Gallipoli on an impromptu day tour arranged when our unit was on exercise in Turkey, but sadly that meant we only got a 'back of a fag packet' brief on the campiagn. We found his relative's grave, but it was not until now, years later, that he sought to find more out about his war. Wished we'd known more before our tour.

Thank you so much

Best wishes

Jim

Hi Jim,

Check out the link for some free online books conerning Gallipoli from the Gallipoli Association website. Creightons book is also on the list. They may be old with some errors but some of the earlier books are written with passion of people that experienced at first hand the campaign.

http://www.gallipoli-association.org/content/books-free-online

Regards

Will

[Jim Hastings]

Excellent, thank you Will, quite a list, be good to have a dig around these first hand sources - that's my afternoon planned!

[LarsA]

Might have the 3rd Krithia diary for the 2nd RF. Will check later. The initial landing was unopposed, but threy lost heavily linking up with the battalion on their flank later on the 25th.

ATB

Lars

[Jim Hastings]

Ah cheers Lars that may explain things - I read they were unopposed on the landings so was wondering at what point they lost the 111KIA

Appreciate your help

Jim