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Remembered Today:

Surrender be Damned: History of the 1/1st Battalion the Monmouthshire Regiment, 1914-18


Doug504

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Trying to obtain a copy of this book without success. Does anyone know of a source?

 

Surrender be Damned: History of the 1/1st Battalion the Monmouthshire Regiment, 1914-18

 

Doug

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Haven't seen a copy for sale for quite a while , tends to be quite expensive when it does appear ( sold my copy a few years ago on Amazon for £150).

The last copy I remember seeing was on e-bay and went for around £60 .

 

 

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2nd and 3rd Mons history's easy to come by. The 1st...…….noting local tucked away I search Brecon/South Wales on a regular basis. 

 

If it is just a part you need have you tired the museum at Brecon? 

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On 07/09/2018 at 12:56, Scalyback said:

2nd and 3rd Mons history's easy to come by. The 1st...…….noting local tucked away I search Brecon/South Wales on a regular basis. 

 

If it is just a part you need have you tired the museum at Brecon? 

I’m particularly interested in the period of March -April 1915 when selected men were active in mining activities at Hill 60. Thanks for the tip I’ll try the museum and see if they can copy me relevant section given the price a copy of the appears to go for!

 

Doug

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8 hours ago, Doug504 said:

I’m particularly interested in the period of March -April 1915 when selected men were active in mining activities at Hill 60. Thanks for the tip I’ll try the museum and see if they can copy me relevant section given the price a copy of the appears to go for!

 

Doug

 

This is also available at the SLV, would you like me to have a look?

 

Mark

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I feel like I’m asking a lot, but if you don’t mind and it’s not putting you out too much it would be most appreciated.

 

Doug.

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I have a copy .. took me 4 years to source. !

 

My great, great uncle was 1st Mon out of Pontypool, died 1 month before the end of the war, hurried at Sequehart Cemetary

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  • 7 months later...
On 09/09/2018 at 15:20, Doug504 said:

I feel like I’m asking a lot, but if you don’t mind and it’s not putting you out too much it would be most appreciated.

 

Doug.

Hi Doug,

 

You can post on a site called ABE books and they will inform you when a copy comes up for sale. I got my copy that way.

 

In the mean time I hope the following is of some use to you......

 

In December 1914 the first underground attack of the war occurred.  The Indian Sirhind Brigade were holding a stretch of line near Festubert on the French/Belgian border. A heavy artillery barrage firstly battered the beleaguered Indians crouching in their trenches. Then at 10:25am a loud rumbling sound was heard and the ground beneath the soldier’s feet erupted upwards with tremendous force. The shocked and dazed survivors scrambled from the trenches and began to run rearwards as waves of German assault troops poured forwards to occupy the now empty trenches.

In January 1915 the weather in Flanders was atrocious with rain, snow and floods. This is enough on its own to affect morale on duty in the front line trenches but on January 25th the Germans detonated more mines in the area about 2 miles south from the attack on the Sirhind Brigade. Again the explosion was followed up by Germany infantry who took the trenches with little opposition. Luckily British losses were slight on this occasion but it did have a devastating effect on moral.

On February 3rd 1915 soldiers from the 3rd East Yorkshire Regiment on duty in the trenches near to the village of St Eloi were mined. Something needed to be done and needed to be done soon to help restore the morale of soldiers. Behind the scenes was Major John Norton Griffiths who was to become a prime driving force behind the British mining efforts. He was known as ‘Empire Jack’ because of his patriotism for the empire and he was also the Member of Parliament for Wednesbury

Demands for protection from mining were being received from all parts of the British lines where morale was being driven down by the thought that the Germans could be mining under their trenches. The troops in the trenches could handle all sorts of hardships but the thought of mining was too much to bear.

 

A single track railway ran out from Ypres in a south-east direction to the small red brick town of Comines on the French/Belgian border.  Where it crossed the Messines Ridge all the spoil was dumped in three heaps. Besides one of the dumps was the number 60 to signify 60 metres high. It was the highest point of the whole Messines ridge. The other two heaps were known as the Dump and Caterpillar. From the summit of Hill 60 the spires of Ypres could be seen in the distance. French troops had fought for hill 60 as early as 1914, when the British took over that part of the line is was immediately decided that the hill must be retaken. Hill 60 was selected as the place to begin British mining operations in March 1915 and the digging of tunnels M1; M2 & M3 began in earnest on March 8th. Hill 60 in 1914 was nothing more than a low ridge which is not a natural geological formation and was formed from the waste when the railway cutting on the adjacent Ypres-Comines railway was constructed. It acquired the name Hill 60 because on a contour map that is its height in metres above ground level. Its position made it the highest point in the area and one that needed to be denied to the German observers. The hill was taken by the Germans on 10th December 1914 and the British as soon they had arrived started tunnelling under it. But in the beginning this was only done on a small scale.

 

The General Staff decided that mining on a much larger scale was needed and accordingly the 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment whilst based at Steenwoorde, received orders to provide 1 Officer and party of 40 other ranks. A more suitable task could not have been chosen as the majority of men in the battalion were peace time miners. Lt G.W. Lancaster who was a peace time Mining Engineer and the other ranks made their way by motor bus from Steenwoorde to Ypres on 27th February 1915. They were joined by a similar party from the 1st Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment under the command of Lt Burnyeat also a Mining Engineer. The Monmouthshire’s were attached to the Northumbrian Field Company Royal Engineers under the command of Major Pollard D.S.O. They were billeted in the Convent School in the Rue de Lille in the shadow of the famous Cloth Hall in Ypres. On the 1st March, St David’s Day, Lt Burnyeat attempted to take a party up to the front at St Eloi, to commence mining operations but due to heavy shelling by the enemy this proved impossible. On the 3rd March Lt Lancaster led a party to the front unfortunately whilst moving up the line Pte Pat Lewis was injured. The enemy shelling continued and Lt Lancaster had no choice but to lead the men back. During the move he was seriously wounded and had to be carried to the Field Ambulance station to receive treatment. He was eventually returned to England. The men were given a few days rest after the idea of mining at St Eloi was abandoned.

A party of men who had been engaged on the construction of the railways, sewers and cable tunnels known as, ‘Clay Kickers’ joined the Monmouthshire men. In January 1915 Kitchener had approved the formation of the Mining Corps and with the amalgamation of the Monmouthshire’s and the Clay Kickers they formed the 171st Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers. This was the first Company of its kind in France. The soil under Ypres was similar to that they had worked on before and the kickers could dig out about 10ft per day. It was decided to start mining operations at Hill 60, so named because its summit was 60 metres above sea level. Owing to the flatness of the surrounding countryside the importance of this hill cannot be understated. Its occupation by the enemy gave them a fine view of the trenches at the foot of the hill. Work commenced on the 8th March under the command of Col Jerome.

It was estimated that saps driven from a point some few feet below our own front line with a rising gradient of about ¼ inch to the yard to allow free drainage, would be about 30 feet below the summit of the hill, a suitable depth for the charges. The French had already started a sap from Trench 38, an advance trench on the southern side of the hill; they had driven in about 20 yards before abandoning it. The sap was renamed M3 it was very small in size, about 3 feet to 2 feet giving the men very little room to work. All the debris had to be placed in sandbags and removed by dragging it away by rope. Two more saps were driven from Trench 40 a little to the north of M3 and were named M1 and M2. Excavating work was carried out by two men at the face of each sap; this was done in complete silence so as not to alert the enemy to the work being carried out. All the debris was stored in sandbags in the trenches until night time when they were used by the infantry for trench repairs. Anything left over was dumped behind the lines so as not to alert the enemy.

The men worked 24 hours at a time, 2 hours at the sap and 4 hours out. During the 4 hours out the men worked to bring up timber and material needed and to dispose of the debris. Ventilation to the shafts was provided through the use of blacksmiths’ bellows which were attached to hose pipes. Lighting was provided by the use of candles but only until the mines were charged with explosives and then electric hand torches was used. These were not totally satisfactory as the batteries ran down too quickly. In the best conditions progress in the digging was from 12 to 14 feet per day, although on one occasion a sap manned entirely of Monmouthshire men actually drove a distance of 16 ½ feet. Over the whole task an average depth of 10 feet a day was achieved. During the early period of the war, trench maps were almost non- existent and also not too accurate and the best method of fixing trench positions was by using the Royal Flying Corps to take photographs. This is not as simple as it might appear owing to what was known as lens distortion. The proof that it was successful was in the destroying of the enemy trenches. The length of the saps M1 & M2 was about 110 yards which was then formed into branch saps.

Once the trenches had been dug to the required depth the chambers were then used to make the powder chambers. The chambers were lined with waterproof sheets and the explosive powder was placed in the chamber in 100lb bags. The charges at Hill 60 were as follows: M1 2000lb gunpowder in each of the two chambers, M2 2700lb gunpowder in each of the two chambers M3 500lb guncotton laid direct in the sap. The formula for the required amount of explosive was worked out by the Engineers. This was about 2.5 tons; about 100 percent extra was added to be sure. The success of the resulting explosion showed that the extra amount was not wasted. Once the mines were ready to blow four separate means of firing them were arranged to ensure that they were detonated without complications. The detonation was achieved at the first attempt using the electric exploders. As a backup duplicate electric firing cables were connected to each mine as well as instantaneous and ordinary safety fuses. Each of the saps was plugged with three barriers each of 10ft thickness and tightly packed sandbags at 10ft gaps. The mining of the hill did not always go without some degree of concern. On at least two occasions the enemy were heard digging in the proximity of the British saps but luckily they were not discovered. Everything was now ready and the hill was blown at 19.00 hours on 17th April 1915, the 3rd Monmouthshire’s were marching from Ypres to the line at Polygon Wood.

The resulting explosion was successful and the enemy trenches completely destroyed and the position quickly occupied by British troops. The official account read: - “The mines undoubtedly produced a great moral effect. Debris flew 200 to 300 feet in the air and up to 200 to 300 yards away, but all men had been warned and only one accident occurred to a man who, against orders, watched the effect over the parapet. The infantry were warning not to go down into the crater for at least half an hour after capture, owing to the danger of poisonous fumes remaining there. Simultaneously the artillery opened on the spot and poured in shells at the rate of five a minute. At a quarter past seven the infantry attack was launched and the British soldiers were soon in possession of the ruins. The regiments employed were the 1st Battalion, Royal West Kents, and the 2nd Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers.

Then came the second phase of the assault, the holding of Hill 60, which was the hardest task of all. The Germans came in their thousands, but as fast as they came the rifle and gun-fire mowed them down.

At dawn next day they renewed their counter-attack, thousands of them surging against the British defences, throwing bombs and hand-grenades. It was bitter fighting and the Germans succeeded in regaining part of the lost ground, only to be turned out of their trenches by the Highlanders with the bayonet

During the next few days the Germans continued to attack fiercely, as they attached so much importance to the tactical necessity of holding Hill 60.

The two craters at M2 were each about 90 feet across and together formed an enormous pit, the inside of the hill being literally blown out, the depth of the craters being about 30 feet. The success of the mines was unquestionable and at the end of May the Monmouthshire men were transferred to the Royal Engineers as prior to this they had only been attached for duty. Some of these men later took part in other mining operations including the blowing up of Wytschaete Ridge and when not engaged in offensive mining

Regards

 

Martyn

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Martin,

 

thanks very much much for the information and taking the time to post it, much appreciated.

 

Doug

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Newport Library have a copy also. Cracking read, took a lot of notes at the library. Keep hunting for a copy you will not regret owning a copy.

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Author Les Hughes, published 1995 by Cwm Press.  BookFinder.com presently lists a number of copies, starting at about £78 and going up to £161 from some overseas sellers.

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