9th Bn E Lancs War Diary

[Gardenerbill]

As promised in my blog, I am going to post transcriptions of my notes on the 9^th Bn war diaries during the time my Grandfather was with them, he arrived with a draft of recruits in late November 1916 and was transferred to the ASC in April 1917, so this will be the period covered. I will try to keep the entries in the format that they were originally written and I apologise if I inadvertantly make any mistakes. Inevitably there will be some questions along the way that hopefully some of the old sweats can answer for me.

[Gardenerbill]

1916

November CIDEMLI

23^rd 1100 Inspection of draft of 69 O.R.

by Brigadier General Bayley

1730 Enemy, 200 strong, reported on

track N.E. of PITON DES RONCES

moving W. probably relief.

24^th 1900 Sub division of right sector begins

2100 Sub division complete. 14^th KLR

relieve A. Coy on MAMELON VERT

and LITTLE BEKERLI.

25^th 1130 Six shells from mountain battery dropped in vicinity of HILL 5.

Day misty damp.

26^th 1530 Bde. orders received that 65^th Bde.

would be relieved by 77^th Bde.

Bn. orders (appendix D) issued.

Bn. stays at transport lines.

First question; I assume the Bn is on the front line somewhere between Doiran and the river Vardar, which are the best maps to help me find the places mentioned?

[Gardenerbill]

HIRSOVA

27^th 0515

Bn. marches to HIRSOVA to bivouac camp.

1700

Bn. Orders (Appendix E) issued March to SNEVCE begun.

NEAR MORAVCA AND SNEVCE NEAR BAISILI

28^TH

Night spent near MORAVCA

1030

Bn. arrives at SNEVCE. Several transport wagons etc. missing.

1500

Bn. orders (Appendix F) issued.

1700

Bn. begins march to relief of 35^th Italian Division.

2030

Column arrives at Italian Hqrs. and coy’s proceed to their positions in the line.

NEAR BAISILI

29^th

1500

11^th Regt, (Italian) leaves the line after relief of last night.

Very quiet day. Damp & misty.

2230

Patrol of 1 off. & 10 O.R. leave.

Right coy. proceeding to railway line.

No enemy heard or seen.

30^th

Damp and misty day very quiet nothing to report

Rendered by 2/Lt. E. Leslie. Jones

9^th East Lancs. Regt.

[Gardenerbill]

1916

DECEMBER NEAR BAISILI

1^ST

Orders from Bde. received that only protective patrols will be sent out.

Lieut. & Q.M.H McDonnell, 2/Lt. J.A.G. Innes & 2/Lieut. R.R. Stephens evacuated to ENGLAND. d/17-11-16.

Thick mist. Nothing to report.

2^nd

Day very misty. Nothing to report

3^rd

Orders from Bde. received that reconnoitring & observation patrols may be sent out.

Weather misty.

4^th

System of guides organised.

Capt. G.H.T. Chowne , 2/Lieuts. R.F. Lee & R. Gailey & 9 O.R. Rejoin from HP.

2/Lieut. R. Addison reports for duty & is taken on strength of the Battn.

Day very misty.

5^th

1100 Vickers gun under 2/Lieut Coates fired practice rounds and put up cover of 12 to 14 Bulgars at 3000x.

2100 Patrol 1 off & 18 O.R. leaves A. coy. ror ERDZELI and BULAMAC.

Returned 0100 and reported no enemy encountered.

Day Misty.

[Gardenerbill]

Some more questions, but first Capt, G.H.T. Chowne (not sure about this name seems odd but that is what it looks like in my notes, he and 2/Lieuts. R.F. Lee & R. Gailey and 9 O.R. rejoin from HP

Does anyone know what HP stands for?

Also I assume 3000x refers to 3000 yards, but why x?

[Rockdoc]

In terms of maps of the Macedonian Front, you can do a lot worse than by the DVD from the Salonika Campaign Society. There is good coverage of the Doiran (XII Corps) area. There are some free Austro-Hungarian maps on-line. They are not as detailed but they are useful for getting your bearings and the ones covering the area you want are 40-41 and 41-41.

You're right that a small x following a number means yards. It seems to have been a standard abbreviation in the Diaries.

Snevce is to the south-east of Lake Doiran at 183.0/140.5 (Kukus map, SCS disk), with Baisli about 4km further north and Moravca about 5km to the south. Cidemli is at 178.5/120.5 on the Smol map and Little Bekirli is at 178.9/119.7 on the same map. Mamelon Vert is more or less due north of these, on the Pobreg map at 179.3/119.9. Hirsova would have been a fair old march at 175.1/130.9 on the Kukus map. Each square on the map was 1km on each side so Cidemli is approximately 4km north and 10km west of Hirsova - as the crow flies. The ground is nothing like flat so they'd be constrained as to where they could go by the terrain and I'm sure it would have been considerably more than you'd think from the numbers.

Keith

[Old Owl]

Hi G/B,

Captain Gerard Henry Tilson Chowne served with the 9th Bn and died from wounds on 2/5/17, according to his MIC.

Robert

PS HP could be a shortening of Hospital or Holiday Pass(otherwise known as 'leave') possibly!!

[Rockdoc]

I think hospital is much the more likely if OR are involved. Leave for officers was rare enough - a few days at Salonika or Stavros at the very best - but for OR it was non-existent, to all intents and purposes, until 1918 and not a lot more common then. In the AA Diaries it's usual to record returns as coming via the appropriate Base depot so I've not come across HP before.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

Keith/Robert,

Thank you for your replies. I have looked a little further in my notes and there is an entry on the 20th of December:

'2/Liuet. Addison admitted to HP.'

This would suggest it is indeed an abbreviation for Hospital.

I plan another visit to Fulwood barracks to make further notes from the war diary and it will be interesting to see what happened on the 2nd of May '17 that led to the death of Capt Chowne.

I have decided to join the SCS and will follow your advice keith and buy their maps CD.

[Gardenerbill]

DECEMBER NEAR BAISILI (continued)

6^th

1400- R.A.M.C. vehicles attached to coys.

1700 Ground from A. coy. to AKINZALI station reconnoitred.

2000 Enemy searchlight on N.E. corner of L. DOIRAN observed.

2 Lieut. E. Leslie Jones appd. adjutant d/Nov. 2^nd and granted temp. rank of Lieut. while so employed.

BUKAREST invested.

7^th

Descauville Rly. to SNEVCE broken for several days.

Roads execrable. Rations and supplies short.

1615 “Stranger in dark clothes” observed on 14^th Lings (Lpl’s) wire.

8^th

Wet and misty. Nothing to report.

Bn Orders (Appendix A) issued.

9^th

1300 Reserve Coy. (less 1 platoon) moves off to relieve R Coy. 14^th Kings (Lpl’s) after move had been twice postponed.

1645 Releif complete. First fine day for over a week.

10^th

2000 Patrol of 2 off. & 10 O.R. D. coy. Attempt to proceed to point 300x N. of “A” in R. HODZA SUJI

(ref. DOVA TEPE 1:50,000)

Patrol returned 0005 hours and reported R. HODZA SUJI unfordable.

[Gardenerbill]

A couple of strange entries in the above

'BUKAREST invested.' anyone any ideas?

“Stranger in dark clothes” observed on 14^th Lings (Lpl’s) wire.

Very mysterious.

Also the DOVA TEPE reference I assume is a map

[Rockdoc]

Mark, I don't think you'll be disappointed by the SCS. We're a friendly bunch and I'd strongly urge you to come to the wreath laying and AGM on the first Saturday of October. It's a great day out. The New Mosquito is a nice resource and you can buy back-issues quite cheaply. There is also a programme of collecting every issue of The Mosquito, journal of the Salonika Reunion Association, for publication on a DVD in the next year or so. It's a big job but will be really useful once it's done.

Yes, ref DOVA TEPE 1:50,000 is a reference to a map of a particular scale. It covers the western part of the E-W valley that runs between Lake Doiran and the north end of the Struma Valley.

Bucharest is the capital of Romania and the record may be a reference to the country coming into the war on the Entente side.

The stranger may have been a member of a Bulgarian patrol. It would be interesting to know where the King's Liverpools were when this happened because the valley floor along the Dova Tepe map is very wide and flat and overlooked by both sides so I'm guessing they would have to have been much further west, to the south-west of Lake Doiran.

It's not Descauville, btw, but Decauville. It's the 600mm-gauge railway system that was used by both sides. The track was in panels and could be laid and taken up very quickly.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

DECEMBER NEAR BAISILI (Continued)

11^th

Our air-craft active.

Enemy anti air-craft battery “spotted” by D coy. Bearing taken by artillery.

7 O.R. proceed on leave to U.K.

Day fine.

12^th

1400- Patrol of 1 off. & 8 O.R.

1700 reconnoitre ground in front of A. coy. as far as railway.

13^th

0800- Patrol of 1 off. & 15 O.R.

1340 leaves B coy. For CAKLI and ERDZELI.

Patrol returned.

Lieut. Buckley reported that his left flank guard ran into Bulgar post.

Casualties 2 O.R. killed by bomb 1 O.R. missing.

Patrol of 2 off. & 25 O.R. left B. coy. for CAKLI & returned at 0200 hours.

No enemy encountered.

14^th Nothing to report.

15^th

1615 Smoke again issuing from L. house in CAKLI.

[Gardenerbill]

Keith,

Thanks for the link on the Decauville Railway, I knew from reading Mike Youngs Army Service Corps book that temporary narrow guage railways were built for supply, it's always better to see actual pictures of what were presumably common features of areas behind the lines.

On the above post, a couple of points '7 O.R. proceed on leave to UK' I was under the impression that other ranks going on leave was almost unheard of, there must have been special circumstances.

It would be interesting to find out who the 2 men were who sadly died on Lieut. Buckley's patrol.

[apwright]

Casualties 2 O.R. killed by bomb 1 O.R. missing.

These are the 3 casualties of 9th East Lancs on 13 Dec 1916:

14898 Pte Albert James Norton, aged 33, husband of Harriet of 9 Carrfield, Portsmouth, Todmorden. Commemorated on the Doiran Memorial.

14908 Pte Herbert Walton, aged 28, husband of Edith of 3 Barracks Rd, Burnley. Commemorated on the Doiran Memorial.

35033 Pte Edward Weaver, aged 24, son of Edward & Annie of 27 Russell St, Clitheroe. Buried in Doiran Military Cemetery.

Adrian

[Gardenerbill]

Adrian,

Thank you, when I read your post this morning the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, when you read the personal details of these men it turns the cold impersonal entries in the battalion war diary into real people, and reminds you of why we are so fascinated by their exploits.

Mark.

[Rockdoc]

Mark, I was surprised to see the reference to men going on leave to the UK, too. I don't think the route going across Greece, ferry to Taranto in Italy and then by railway to the French coast had opened by December 1916 so they would have had to go by sea right through the Med, which was no walk in the park. They would have been away from the unit for around a month because it was a week to ten days voyage by troop carrier and could be up to a month on a cargo boat. It'll be interesting to see when they actually returned.

The standard- and narrow-gauge military railways built by the British were quite extensive and haven't been studied much, as far as I know. A standard-gauge line would have almost always have been preferable because it could take more and heavier materials but it needed a lot more engineering effort to lay track, which couldn't always be justified. In some cases it was Hobson's choice. A Decauville track was laid from Stavros to a supply dump at Tasli and to another on Lake Tahinos through the Rendina Pass. It was planned to be standard-gauge but there was a shortage of suitable equipment while the Decauville kit was to hand. You can see the tracks on the Austrian 41-41 map.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

DECEMBER NEAR BAISILI (continued)

16^th

Nothing to report.

17^th

1015 Enemy observation balloon again observed N.W. of L. DOIRAN.

Patrols to be of not less than 20 O.R. (Bde. order).

18^th

Nothing to report.

19^th

2 D. coy. officers reconnoitre as far as “A” of HODZA SUJI.

Bell tent & bivouac seen 1 mile N.W. of AKINZALI.

Major L.H. Trist temp. attd, for duty to 65^th Ind. Bde.

20^th

2/Lieut. Addison admitted to HP.

[Gardenerbill]

Keith,

I have managed to copy Austrian maps 41-40 and 41-41 to my laptop at home and printed sections of the maps which I then studied, they are great for the village and town names and I was able to find nearly all the places mentioned in the Battalion War Diary.

On the post above '"A" of HODZA SUJI' Hodza Suji is a river on the map flowing out (I assume) of the east side of lake Doiran not sure what "A" means though. Akinzali is also on the maps along with its station near to the river.

P.S. I have sent off my application for the SCS.

[Rockdoc]

It's simple when you know! Quite literally, it means where the letter A appears in the name. It almost certainly won't be the same place as on the Austrian map, although it just might be. When the troops arrived the Austrian maps were all that was available so they did use them but they soon realised they weren't very accurate (read Under The Devil's Eye by Alan Wakefield & Simon Moody to see why) so the French and, later, the British began to do their own. I don't know when the Austrian maps were superseded so I can't make a definitive statement for this but, given they're referencing the Dova Tepe map I'd say it's more likely to be an Entente map they're using.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

DECEMBER NEAR BAISILI (continued)

21^st

Nothing to report.

22^nd

Capt. G.C. de Mattos rejoins.

23^rd

Capt. G.C. de Mattos of ‘D’ coy. reconnoitred ground as far as 300x N. of “A” of HODZA SUJI

Enemy searchlight again seen N.W. of L. DOIRAN.

Major L.H. Trist assume temp. command of 12 Lancs. Fus. Vice Lt Col. Tweedie.

Capt G.C. de Mattos assumes command of C. coy. Vice Capt. W.A. Heurtley to 2^nd.-in-c (on leave) D. coy.

Lieut L.W. Croft attd. Ind Bde.

2/lieut G.R. Walters rejoins from 12^th Corps Signal course.

24^th

Nothing to report.

25^th

Protective patrols out all night

25^th/26^th Inst.

[Gardenerbill]

According to 'The Gardeners of Salonika' the Germans entered Bucharest on the 5th of December, the day before the 'Bukarest Invested' entry in the diary. Invested seems an odd choice of word to mark this event though.

'the "A" in HODZA SUJI' appears again, I assume it is the name of the river, so to find out where this is, it would depend on where it is written on the map they were using, I shall have to get the SCS map CD.

'Major L.H. Trist assume temp. command of 12 Lancs. Fus. Vice Lt Col. Tweedie'

I assume this means standing in for Lt Col Tweedie commander of the 12 Lancs Battalion.

'Capt G.C. de Mattos assumes command of C. coy. Vice Capt. W.A. Heurtley to 2^nd.-in-c (on leave) D. coy.

And similarly here Capt de Mattos is standing in as 2nd in command while Capt Heurtley is on leave.

[Rockdoc]

The fifth definition of invest in my Collins Concise Dictionary is, quite surprisingly, to lay siege to. That makes perfect sense in this context, even if it is an obsolete use in modern speech. I wonder whether the Army still use it in that sense? Words can remain in use in specific circumstances when they've long since gone to a better place elsewhere. For example, thirl was used in British Coal into the nineties (when I left) for when one roadway was broken into another, a particularly dangerous point in the roadway-driving process. It means to penetrate.

Vice does mean 'instead of' in Latin. It seems to be another standard for in the Diaries.

On the Dova Tepe map, Hodza Suju is a river flowing into Lake Doiran. The a in Hodza is about 2.5 km east of where the river reaches the lake and is adjacent to a road running very roughly north-south. 300 yards north of the a would be Hodza Redoubt so the reconnaissance of the ground presumably would be in preparation for an attack on it.

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

DECEMBER NEAR BAISILI (continued)

26^th

Lieut. L.W. Croft returns to unit & acts as deputy P.R.I. (midday 25^th)

27^th

0300 Capt A.D. Rollo, 2/Lieuts. Robinson & Gibson & 50 O.R. (Assaulting points) proceed to HODZA REDOUBT.

Object to capture work & hold until 9 K.O. have cleared BREST of the enemy.

2/Lieut. xx- K.G. Wilson & R.E. party proceed to bridge 300x S.W. of HODZA REDOUBT.

0630 Attack begins.

Enemy open (rifle) fire only 250x.

Heavy wire entanglements blown up with gun cotton & cut with wire cutters.

0700 Redoubt captured.

0715 2/Lieut Wilsons party disposes of enemy post & blows up bridge.

0750 25 of redoubt garrison ordered to retire. (barraged by enemy)

0810 Remainder of redoubt garrison ordered to retire.

Casualties 1 O.R. killed.

2/Lieut. J.S. Robinson & 4 O.R. severely wounded.

15 O.R. slightly wounded.

1200- Enemy high velocity gun shells

1500 B & D coy areas.

28^th

Nothing to report

29^th

Enemy blasting N.W. of L. Dorain

30^th

Enemy blasting N.W. of L. Dorain

[Gardenerbill]

Keith,

How right you are, presumably the HODZA REDOUBT would have caused problems for the 9th K.O. whose job was to clear Brest a village at the mouth of the river Hodza Suju on the eastern shore of Lake Doiran.

Capt Rollo was awarded the M.C. just a few weeks later, it would be interesting to find out if it was for this action.

Again I would like to find out who the O.R. was who died here.

Any ideas what a deputy P.R.I. is?

The reference to blasting north west of Doiran sounds like the bulgarians working on the defences there that would prove so difficult to assault the following year.