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Remembered Today:

Translation of WW1 1915 War Diary


Shirley Reynolds

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Hi @Shirley Reynolds and welcome to the forum :)

12th Field Company, Royal Engineers, were attached to the 6th Division throughout the war. Also in the same division at this time were 16th Infantry Brigade, (16IB) and 17th Infantry Brigade, (17IB) - the latter containing the 1st Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment.

Suspect your "JB" is actually "IB".

For more on the make up of the Division and a brief history see our parent site http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/6th-division/

Sorry about brevity of reply - on cookhouse duties!

Cheers,
Peter

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  • Admin

 
March  8th Rue du Bois

March 9th Traverses at zigzag

March 11th, barbed wire entanglement 

Michelle, also on cookhouse duties! 

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So here's what I'm reading for the period 7th to 11th March 1915 inclusive. I've highlighted in red where I think it's slightly different to your transcription, but note some of the time it's just a letter more or a letter less or losing some of the apostrophes and other niceties. It's probably best to get to a version of these war diaries entries that make a literal sense and then start to work through the queries.

March 7. By day. Civilians in 2 line.  Lt Turner and 13 men No 1 Section to 16 IB lines for sapping and to live \ line?? there.
By night No 2 Section on 16 IB left communication trench.

March 8. By day. Civilians in 2 line. Sappers and civilians in shops and making up materials.
By night No 3 Section and 300 Infantry on COUNTEMBU communication trench and putting up parados to breastwork in orchard for 17 IB. ½ No 1 Section in 16 IB left communication trench. No 4 Section RUE DE BOIS.

March 9. By day. Civilians in 2 line, sappers and civilians making up materials – No.4 Section improving communications 17 IB.
By night No 2 Section putting in shelters and traverse at ZIGZAG 16 IB.
No.4 Section and 2 reliefs Infantry (300 each) on 17 IB communication trench.

March 10. By day. Civilians in 2 line. No 1 section sapping in 16 IB line, and No 4 section in 17 IB communication trench.  CRE orders all sections to remain in tonight and all men to be recalled.

March 11. Worked in morning as usual.
During night took part with N.STAFFS in attack on L’EPINETTE -  Paraded at 10 pm and reported at 11 pm to O.C. NORTH STAFFS at BARRIER on L’EPINETTE Road. Distributed company as follows:- Lt Turner and 10 men of No 1 section with right assaulting column;  the remainder of No 1 Section accompanied the working parties of right column. Lt. Jackson and 10 men No 2 Section with left assaulting column; the remainder of No 2  Section with working parties of left column.

No 3 Section followed Right Column to assist in consolidating new line.
No 4 Section assisted in consolidating left of new line.

Capt. Noble supervised working parties of 2 London Regt who worked on new line between BARRIER and L’EPINETTE. Both assaulting columns encountered barbed wire entanglement but this was not of a formidable nature and was successfully cut through. As soon as all buildings on new line had been occupied all sappers assisted in strengthening the houses and joining up between houses.
The Co had 2 men wounded and 1 missing during the operations.

However I am overdue a sight test so can't guarantee the accuracy of all that :)

Hope that helps,
Peter

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Thats fantastic Thank You Peter

My understanding was limited when I started discovering what happened to my grandfather, and it was never discussed in the family as they were ashamed on the Dietz,he even buried his medals. My mother his daughter has passed away, but his son my uncle asked me what I could find out, Im very grateful.

Shirley

 

 

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19 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

 
March  8th Rue du Bois

March 9th Traverses at zigzag

March 11th, barbed wire entanglement 

Michelle, also on cookhouse duties! 

 Thank You Michelle

My understanding was limited when I started discovering what happened to my grandfather, and it was never discussed in the family as they were ashamed on the Dietz,he even buried his medals. My mother his daughter has passed away, but his son my uncle asked me what I could find out, Im very grateful.

Shirley

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@Shirley Reynolds

I'm assuming you sourced the War Diary either via Ancestry or directly from the UK National Archive.

You may want to use the same sources to access the War Diary of the 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, in order to see their take on the events of the attack.  The relevant part can be found in the National Archive catalogue here :- https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352350

I'm afraid my interest in the 6th Division starts a bit later in 1915, when a Brigade swap brought in the 9th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment.  However there is a Divisional History published in the post war period that can be accessed via the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/hist6thdivision00marduoft  or via Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20115/20115-h/20115-h.htm

Brief is a very apposite word.

From pages 10-11 A Short History of the 6th Division, edited by Major General Thomas Owen Marden.

The next few months were uneventful ones, the only incidents worthy of remark being a visit from the King on the 2nd December; a minor operation by the North Staffordshire Regiment on the 12th March, resulting in the inclusion in our line of the unsavoury Epinette Salient; the sudden move of the 16th Infantry Brigade to Vlamertinghe at the time of the enemy's attack at St. Eloi in the middle of March, and a little mining and counter-mining on the Frelinghien and Le Touquet fronts in May. The minor operation at l'Epinette was a very well-planned night affair, whereby the 17th Infantry Brigade advanced their line 200-300 yards on a frontage of half a mile. It was carried out by the 1st Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment and 12th Field Company, and Sir H. Smith-Dorrien (Army Commander), in congratulating
the regiment, mentioned particularly Lieuts. Pope and Gordon for fine leading.

Cheers,
Peter

Edited by PRC
Typo
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Many Thanks Peter 

I have downloaded the War Diary of the 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment,from  National Archive catalogue and the Ebook A Short History of the 6th Division .I am going to enjoy piecing this information together to gather the bigger picture.

Shirley

 

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4 hours ago, Shirley Reynolds said:

I am going to enjoy piecing this information together to gather the bigger picture.

In which case you may want to consider downloading the 17th Infantry Brigade War Diary as well. The part running from August 1914 to October 1915 can be found in the National Archive catalogue here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352344

The action also gets a brief mention in the The Great War  - the British Campaign in France and Flanders, Volume 2 : 1915 written by Arthur Conan Doyle, (yes, that Arthur Conan Doyle) in his usual gung-ho style. It places it in the context of the Battle of Neuve Chappelle.

The morning of the 11th broke with thick mist, a condition which continued during the whole of the day. Both the use of the aircraft and the direction of the artillery were negatived by the state of the weather—a grievous piece of ill-fortune, as it put a stop to any serious advance during the day, since it would have been a desperate business to march infantry against a difficult front without any artillery preparation. In this way the Germans gained a precious respite during which they might reinforce their line and prepare for a further attack. They essayed a counter-attack from the Bois du Biez in the morning, but it was easily repulsed by the Indians. Their shell- fire, however, was very murderous. The British infantry still faced Moulin-du- Piètre in the north and the Bois du Biez in the south, but could make no progress without support, while they lost heavily from the German artillery. The Indians were still at the south of the line, the 24th Brigade in the middle and the 21st in the north. Farther north still, at a point just south of Armentières, a useful little advance was made, for late at night, or early in the morning of the 12th, the 17th Infantry Brigade (Harper's) had made a swift dash at the village of 1'Epinette, calculating, no doubt, that some of its defenders had been drafted south to strengthen the stricken line. The place was carried by storm at the small cost of five officers and thirty men, and the line carried forward at this point to a depth of three hundred yards over a front of half a mile. A counter-attack upon the 13th was driven off with loss. https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1202561h.html

Cheers,
Peter

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