1/4th Bn Leicestershire Regiment War Diary

[PRC]

Hi @AmyAus and welcome to the forum.

Soldiers Died in the Great War, an HMSO publication from the 1920's shows that he Died of Wounds. While those wounds could have been incurred on the day he died, it's just as likely it was over the preceding days considering where he was buried.

His webpage on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, (CWGC), website shows him as buried at Fouquieres Churchyard Extension. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/513513/richard-mccready/

In their history of the cemetery it is noted that "The long row which forms Plot I of the churchyard extension was used from May 1915 to April 1918 and between April and October 1918, three further plots were made between the churchyard and the road. Many of the burials took place from field ambulances stationed in the village. The great majority of the graves are those of Territorial soldiers, 249 of them from the 46th (North Midland) Division, which spent three years in the neighbourhood and based its transport at Fouquieres." https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/57502/fouquieres-churchyard-extension/

From early in the war it became common practice to leave a portion of the Battalion out of the frontlines, to provide a core around which a Battalion could be rebuilt in the case of catastrophic losses. The men and officers chosen would normally be held in the transport lines. Note these would still have been in the range of the German long range guns as well as air raids.

As far as the War Diary is concerned I'm reading this for the 22nd. "Left flank of Battn. pushed forward N.W. of LE TOURET where liason was established with Staffords. During the day and throughout the night left flank positions were improved N of RUE DE BOIS."

Hope that helps,
Peter

[Bob Davies]

4 hours ago, AmyAus said:

Hello, I am looking up my great great grandfather Richard McCready 202559. He was in the 1/4 and died on 22nd of August 1918. I'm not sure which company he was in. I have a copy of the War Diary for the month of August but I'm struggling to read the handwriting. I was wondering if it has been digitised anywhere, or if anyone can help me decipher what action was taking place at the time. Thank you 

Hello AmyAus, welcome to the Forum.  The 1/4th Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment were part of the138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade which was a part of the 46th North Midland Division. See the Long Long Trail; http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/46th-north-midland-division/ The 4 infantry Battalions in the brigade help each other, usually two battalions would be in the trenches while the other two would be in reserve away from the front line. Or in the event of an attack, possibly all would be brought up to make the attack or all brought up to help defend each other, depending on what the commanders decided at the time. From the diary; TRENCHES-18th-Aug    Night of 18th/19th Bn Relieved 1/5th Leicesters in GORRE RIGHT subsector.     So Bn means Battalion, almost 1000 men. From a book called Footprints of the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment by John Milne it says"and on August 20th the Boche was found to be retiring on the Battalion front. Companies moved forward and established liaison posts with the division on the right. A further advance was made the next day and a line of outposts established. Open warfare had recommenced." This book is available from amazon etc. There is a book online called the 5th Leicestershire  https://archive.org/details/leicestershire00hilluoft/page/n289/mode/2up  which describes what was happening at this time though through the eyes of the 1/5th Leicesters, though they were helping 1/4th. I do not know of a digitized war diary, I can translate a couple of pages for you but it takes a while to type it out. A good place for maps is here  http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A71567   The 138th Brigade war diary is available for free if you sigh in with the national archives and these dates are typed so easy to read, it gives an overall view. see below August 21 and 22.https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=WO+95+2689 Regards, Bob.

Edited 8 January , 2022 by Bob Davies

[PRC]

11 minutes ago, Bob Davies said:

The 4 infantry Battalions in the brigade help each other, usually two battalions would be in the trenches while the other two would be in reserve away from the front line.

Just for clarity - by the time we are talking about an Infantry Brigade had been reduced to 3 Infantry Battalions and the British Army was moving from a system of defence in depth with the forward area lightly held to one more suited to the return of warfare in more open countryside and fortified villages.

12 minutes ago, Bob Davies said:

So Bn means Battalion, almost 1000 men.

Generally significantly less than that by this stage of the war.

Suspect it won't add much about the other Battalion mentioned, the 5th Lincolns, but "The History of the Lincolnshire Regiment 1914-1918" by C.R. Simpson can also be downloaded from Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheLincolnshireRegiment1914-1918

Looking at the three units fatalities for the period 16-22nd August 1918

1/4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

16th August – 2
21st August – 1
22nd August – 5

1/5 Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

16th August – 1

1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment

21st August – 3

So looking more like the general attrition of frontline service rather than any specific action.

Hope that helps,
Peter

[Bob Davies]

1 hour ago, PRC said:

Just for clarity - by the time we are talking about an Infantry Brigade had been reduced to 3 Infantry Battalions

Thank you Peter for pointing out these two notes.  A few more days from the WD; TRENCHES-16th-Aug  Bn in Brigade support.  17th-Aug  Usual working and carrying parties provided. Salvage work carried on. 18th-Aug  Night of 18th/19th Bn Relieved 1/5th Leicesters in GORRE RIGHT subsector.  19th-Aug Active patrolling throughout day and night.Touch maintained with enemy.  20th-Aug  Enemy continue to retire on left + Bn front. Companies on front moved forward and established liaison posts with the Division on our Right.  21st-Aug  By 4am Bn occupy line running from Route B along Western side Rue de l'Epinette  were we were in touch with Division on Right. Bn took over Brigade outpost line and two companies relieved 1/5 Lincs in the front line outposts. BHQ were moved forward to Loisne Chateaux. 

[Guest]

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your speedy and helpful responses! I am starting to build up a much clearer picture of what was going on at the time. Thank you so much for your help and I will check out all the links recommended. Thank you.

[Bob Davies]

1 hour ago, AmyAus said:

I am starting to build up a much clearer picture of what was going on at the time.

From the 5th Leicesters WD (war diary);   GORRE  22nd AUG  Weather very hot. Enemy confined his attention to forward areas and a few shells on GORRE village. Outpost Btn (another abbreviation of Battalion) pushed forward slightly N of Rue De Bois  towards SLOANE Sq.    I suppose a good thing to point out here is the use of names for trenches and other locations on the battlefield so that they are easily recognized by the soldiers, on maps and by sign posts on the ground. SLOANE Sq is mentioned and means Sloane Square, it is a point or trench somewhere near to where they are. I did not find it on a map yet but some one else on here may point you straight to it, unless of course you already found it. Rue De Bois is another, though whether or not that is from peace time or not I do not know. Regards, Bob.

[Bob Davies]

Rue de Bois is a peace time name and on all maps. Found it! Sloane Square. This map, grid square X 11b Towards the bottom right of the map https://maps.nls.uk/view/101723830https://maps.nls.uk/view/101723830

Edited 9 January , 2022 by Bob Davies

[Bob Davies]

On 08/01/2022 at 15:13, PRC said:

Just for clarity - by the time we are talking about an Infantry Brigade had been reduced to 3 Infantry Battalions and the British Army was moving from a system of defence in depth with the forward area lightly held to one more suited to the return of warfare in more open countryside and fortified villages.

I just been reading through the 138th  Brigade WD. As Peter rightly says they are reduced to 3 infantry battalions. Jan 24th 1918 the 1/4th Lincs are split up.

 

On 08/01/2022 at 15:13, PRC said:

Generally significantly less than that by this stage of the war.

In the 1/4th Leicesters WD , Jan 26th 1918 it gives the numbers for effective strength of the unit at 41 Officers and 827 Other Ranks.

[Milan Madge]

On 01/06/2014 at 23:07, Julianw said:

My Grandfather was Captain F J Nugee MC who commanded C Company of the 1/4th Bn The Leicestershire Regiment. I am currently researching his war service. You will see a bit about him on the IWM
lives of the FWW Site.

He kept a diary which included the names and addresses of all the men that served under him. See attachments. I am not sure I am able to load all the pages onto this site.

Hi Julian, 

I'm wondering if you have an Edwin James Madge (28362) in your Grandfather's diary? I have a record of him serving in 1//4th Bn, but a Leics address would be incredibly helpful to my family research, if he appears in the notes!

Many Thanks,

Milan

[Michelle Young]

Welcome to the forum. @Julianw is still visiting the forum, so hopefully, they will see your post. 

[Julianw]

Hi Madge,

Thank you for your message. I am afraid he does not appear in my Grandfather's list.

I have transcribed it and attach a copy for your information.

Julian

F J Nugee List of Men - Clear.pdf