5th Btn. Dorsetshire Regiment

[MedalHunter]

I am researching my village memorial and out of the 19 names listed on it, 3 died on this date with the 5th Btn. and one died of wounds at home about two months later, from wounds received at Gallipoli presumably on the same day.

My request is for anyone with a copy of the war diary to share with me the events before during and after this date. Where were they and what they were attacking etc? I have located the relatives of one of the men and they have his medals and a couple of photos of him. I am trying to put together an outline of what he was upto at the time and why so many died on that day. Looking at other memorials in all the villages around mine, they all have men from 5th Dorsets who died on this day. It must have been a bad day for the regiment, it certainly was for the village. I do hope that someone out there can help.

Regards Ian.

[steve fuller]

Hi Ian

Westlake says:

20 August 1915.

Arrival of turks bearing white flags and requesting truce so as wounded and dead could be collected. Temporary armistice arranged. Moved into trenches on right of Dead Mans House during evening.

21 August 1915.

Attacked 3pm. B & C Cos leading with A and D following 50 yards behind. Covered 500 yards of open ground under heavy fire, first enemy trench taken and enemy retired to support line. Second line attacked but heavy fire from left flank forced withdrawal to caprured first line.

22 August 1915.

In the morning those whohad not alreadt retired realised the hopleseness of hanging on any longer and began to fall back. Withdrawal was under heavy shrapnel fire and high casualties.

Also records loss of Maj Leslie & 2/Lt George killed. Cpts Vincent and Gregory, Lts Bowler & Higgins wnd, Cpt Moody & Lt Montgomery missing (both killed), Only 2 officers were found surviving. Remnaynts of Btn collected and strength that evening recorded as about 280. opening strength recorded as 650.

Another nasty one that.

More to follow ...

[steve fuller]

July

3rd. Btn sailed 1.30pm from Liverpool on the Aquitaine.

4th. Sub attacked & torpedo passed 100 yards astern

10th. Arrived Lemnos 7am

11th. Disembarked in afternoon & to biv's northof mudros Harbour. Fatigues, road making, well digging etc.

31st. Men suffering severely from diarrohoea

August

6th. Sailed for Suvla 5pm. A, B & C Cos on Beagle, D on Bulldog.

7th. Landed "A" Beach just before dawn - some casualties from shrapnel fire.Lt eason killed. landing suspended when beagle came nder heavy fire. Co taken to "B" Beach & rejoined Btn next day.

8th. Began advance on Hill 10 at 4am. A Co provided cover fire, remainder succesfully attacked enemy trenches west & north of hill. Continued advance. Lt Lloyd killed. Halted Hill 28 midday, having advanced some mile & half from Hill 10. Cpt Caruthers-Little killed by sniper fire. 300 men under Maj Leslie to form left flank guard fior attack on Chocolate Hill. moved forward in support of 31st Bgde under shrapnel & sniper fire. Reached sunken road at foot of hill before dusk. Btn concentrated on Hill 28.

9th. Casualties so far - 3 Off & 11 OR killed, 2 off & 58 OR wnd, 5 missing. moved forward against enemy positions on Karakol Dagh.

10th. Btn charged & took a crest overlooking their deployment position. continued advance after 730am - D Co leading over difficult, broken ground. Arrived point SE of Jephsons Post in Kiretch Tepe Sirt and halted. Cpt Le Marchant killed, 3 off wnd. Unsupported on L or R so withdrew during eve to trenches on Karakol Dagh. Men exhausted, some having had no water for 2 days. Casualties - ! off & 20 OR killed, 3 Off & over 60 OR wnd, 12 missing.

11th. Relieved by Iniskilling Fusiliers & retired to reserve positions on beach behind Lala Baba. Strength 16 Off & 700 OR.

13th. forward to trenches at dead Mans House, S of Salt Lake.

15th. Relieved 8th Northumberland Fusiliers in firing line.

17th. C & D Cos extended line forward in L flank some 300 yards in direction of Green Hill. Part of A Co under Lt george attacked house held by enemy - 14 prisoners taken. casualties 3 killed, 5 wnd & missing.

18th. returned to firing line

19th. In support of failed attack by Northumberland Fus' 4am. D Coy & half of C Co forced to retire with approx 30 casualties. MO fatally wnd by sniper whilst attending wnd in No Mans Land.

more to follow (puff, puff!!!) ...

[steve fuller]

August

22nd (cont). Withdrew under command of 2/Lt CJ Richards 9pm to beach at Lala Baba. losses to date - 8 Off & 298 OR killed & missing, 11 Off & 246 OR wnd. Temp amalgamation with 11th Manchesters as no 2 Btn, 34th Bgde. Dorset strength 5 Off & 281 men.

25th. To firing line near Kazlar Chair

26th. Relieved & to reserve positions near Salt Lake

28th. Marched by night accross Salt Lake to Kangaroo Bay. From there guided to reserve at Karagol Dagh. Occupied dugouts overlooking the sea.

Map attached, for your reference.

No more "actions" recorded, but losses to sniping, frostbite etc occured. Would you like any more detail Ian?

Cheers

Steve

[steve fuller]

Ooops, wrong map - sorry!! Try this one ...

[MedalHunter]

Hi Steve,

Thanks very much for your reply. Makes for very grim reading. The guy that I am focusing on at the moment is the one who was wounded and died at home of wounds. (Netley I believe.)

Miller, Frederick Bernard, Private 10351, 'B' Coy.5th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment.He died on 28-Oct-15 aged 21.(Of wounds received at Gallipoli) He is buried in the church cemetery of Winterborne Kingston, which is where I live. As there were three others on the memorial in the same Btn. who all died on 21st Aug 1915. I assumed that his death might be connected in someway with theirs. I have met a relative of his who has his medals and plaque. He also has a couple of photos which I have copied for my research.

The gentleman knows nothing about the medals or what Fred Miller did so I am putting together a little information for him aswell.

Thanks for all the info so far, anything else you can share with me would be greatly appreciated. I really feel that I am putting together a picture now, of this man's last days.

The map is excellent and printed out well so I can include that, it's always helpful to be able to picture where it all took place.

Thanks very much, again, for all you've shared.

Regards Ian.

[steve fuller]

Hi Ian - youre welcome

They had a time of it didnt they? Did very well from the looks too.

Not a Dorsets man myself so cant speak with any authority Im afraid. Strikes me that he could have been wounded anytime from the initial landings on the 7th August, to around the end of Sept really. Not much help I know, but could have been anywhere in that time spam really.

I have some of the Canadian Stationary Hpsoital records on my PC, so will have a look & list the 5th Dorset men they recorded operating on at Abbrassia. Dont hold ur breath mate, but there may be a clue if we're unbelievably lucky!! I imagine he would have neded stabalising medicaly to get the journey home in the first place, and to have made the voyage alive. Otherwise, he'd have been buried at sea most likely?

Try & do it tonight, but been at this "research stuff" (!!) all day & the eyes are boggling a bit now!!

Back later...

[steve fuller]

Sorry Ian, no joy. Was a long shot but worth a look. Have listed the guys i saw anyway in case any of them help. If so, will send you the jpegs for ur records if u let me know what ones u would like?

No 5 Canadian Stationary Hospital entries from the 5th Dorsets:

15 Sept - Pte GALE 10856. X Ray cheek

9 Oct - Sgt Simmons 10548 (No. is unclear so may be wrong?) X Ray L Shoulder

26 Oct - Pte M. Williams 10014. Amputation of left leg below the knee

I have collected all kinds of things on Gallipoli, just in case you need some general stuff to help with the story ur putting together - give me a shout if u think it will be any good?

Cheers

Steve

[MedalHunter]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for that, this sort of thing is always a long shot so it's always a bonus when some information appears.

The three guys who died were; Pte. W K Besent 10429, Pte. P Honeybun 10311 and Pte. F C White 10350. All on 21st Aug 1915 and all 5th Btn. and KIA.

Well thanks for everything so far.

To everyone else out there, are there any Dorsets experts who can add anything to the info that Steve has given me?

Thanks again Steve, regards Ian.

P.S. My picture is of Fred Miller.

[steve fuller]

Thanks again Steve, regards Ian.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A pleasure Ian, sorry I cant add more, but thats the limit of my Dorsets info! Good luck

[SPotter]

Hi Ian,

I have an excel spreadsheet which contains my transcription of the SDGW volume for the 5th Bn Dorsetshire Regt. Hours of fun here with the filter buttons. There were 122 fatal casualties on 21st August, of which 99 were listed as "or since" and 1 "or about". I guess that the fighting was so confused that for the majority of cases it was impossible to be certain exactly when a man met his end.

There's not much more I can add to Steve Fuller's posts - I only have the Regimental History for the 5th Bn. I will have a read and see if it offers any more detail.

Have now discovered I cannot attach excel files, so I will email it to you - I think I still have your email address, but could you PM it to me just in case?

Regards

Steve