Sheikh Abbas Ridge

[abfield]

The Sheikh Abbas Ridge was attacked on the 17/4/1917, by the Bedfords, Northamptons, and 11th Londons, by the 19th, there was a withdrawl. The ridge was finally taken in November 1917; my enquiry is who actually took this ridge, and secondly,was this the area of Northampton Hill, or Ridge I have seen on some maps, although I have none marked such, in my miserable collection. Thanks

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

SH Abbas ridge was attacked on the 17th April 1917 and cleared by units of the 54th Div of which I understand you mean the 162nd Bde with those Regt's on that day and remained in our possion untill we withdrawal on or around the 23rd April.

The position was occupied by the 163rd Bde on the 18th April and by the Camel Bde on the 19th April which stayed there untill the 23rd April.

The place had no formal attack on it but a Tank was destoryed there on the 17th April due to shell fire.

The main Turkish line was on the Khirbet Sihan line in a number of Redoubts along the Gaza - Beersheba road. The Sh Abbas ridge was not part of that line and was only used as an outpost line

S.B

[steve fuller]

Hi Fab

I can help with the Bedfords and have a fair bit from the Northants for the entire war as it happens. Also have several maps rom Official Histories etc if they will help, albeit ohotos from the books.

All the 5th Btn Bedfords War Diaries etc etc are here - http://www.bedfordregiment.org.uk/5thbattalion.html as is my email address. If you want any maps I cannot send them from the forum so we will have to do it the other way!

Theres also a personal diary here - http://www.bedfordregiment.org.uk/llbrereton.html from the period. As it happens Lt Brereton was wounded on the 19th and died ten days later from head wounds. The Northants had an especially bad time of it, being reduced to a "line of dead men in the sand"

Let me know if I can help. Cheers

[abfield]

To Steve and Steve, Thank you both very much, the information was most helpful, in particular the 5th Batt Bedfords War Diary, as it has explained the Northampton Mound. I shall have to get the 4th Northants War Diary from Kew, next time I am down there, which hopefully should be next month. Best Wishes, Adrian.

[steve fuller]

A quick addition in case we did not answer part 2 of the post that I found today. A lovely book in the local library (privately produced) about the authors father who served in the 4th Northants says:

"Six months later, after the fall of Gaza, a few Officers & men went back to the battle area and found a whole platoon still lying there in extended order in front of the Turkish wire. This cleared up a mystery surrounding 6 Officers and many OR's who had been unnaccounted for. They were buried where they fell and this was, from then onwards, known as the "Northampton mound"".

So it appears the mound was right in front of the turkish defensive wire, in the area shown on the map below:

Hope this helps a little more ...

[abfield]

Hello Steve, the additional information and map have proved invaluable, very many thanks, I see we are neighbours, so as to speak, I am just down the road at Wellingborough. The reason for my interest is an ex Wellingborough School "old boy"; Lt Harold H Underwood kia 19/4/1917 1/4th Northants, originally posted as missing, his body was found later, and buried in plot xv, row e, grave 16, Gaza War Cemetery. The CWGC, lists him as Capt, so I am not sure what his rank at the time of his death was. The other famous pupil/master of the school was of course Lt Col B W Vann VC, and the schools other claim to fame was that "Mick" Mannock VC landed his plane on the sports field, en route to visit his former lodgings, owned by Jim Eyles, here in Mill Road Wellingborough. My humble thanks Adrian.

[steve fuller]

Youre most welcome Adrian

Yes, neighbours indeed. Was at Rushden until 3 months ago so were even closer then! Theres a few Welly bods on forum I believe ...

The Kettering Leader (held in the Kettering Library) will doubtless have something on him unless there was an even more local paper? They have huge numbers of 1/4th obits etc etc in it so it may be worth a day sitting in the library perhaps? I have spent many days there but only really looking for Bedfords Im sorry to say. Have accumulated a few bits on the 4th NH but only generalised things like Gallipoli casualty lists and the like.

If you email me I can reply and send something about the 4th NH at the 2nd Gaza (from the Leader) to you as I cant really attach it here as it is too large! Use steve@bedfordregiment.org.uk and I will send it over.

Good luck to you

[Stebie9173]

I have a bit on Harold Underwood:

Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment on 8th October 1914.

Posted to 2/4th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment as a Reserve officer to the 1/4th Battalion.

Joined 1/4th Northamptonshire Regiment at Gallipoli as a Reinforcement between August and December 1915.

Appointed as temporary Lieutenant on 19th October 1915.

Sick in hospital from 13th May to 17th August 1916.

Promoted to Lieutenant on 2nd January 1917.

Appointed temporary Captain effective from 22nd December 1916, gazetted after death.

Killed in action (Wounded and missing) at the 2nd Battle of Gaza on 19th April 1917.

Body later recovered and buried at Gaza War Cemetery.

Born in 1891 at Wellingborough.

Son of George Underwood, a boot factory manager (as of 1901) and Mrs Sarah A Underwood.

Educated at Wellingborough School.

Articled to T. Ottoway, Solicitors of St Albans.

Living with parents at 89, Charles Street, Kettering at time of war.

I have a copy of his National Archive file, WO 374/70207 UNDERWOOD, Capt H H 1917-1919. All 5 pages of it.

Two pics:

One from the Kettering Leader.

and the other from a line up of 2/4th Officers in 1914.

Steve.

[siabod]

The Sheikh Abbas Ridge was attacked on the 17/4/1917, by the Bedfords, Northamptons, and 11th Londons, by the 19th, there was a withdrawl. The ridge was finally taken in November 1917; my enquiry is who actually took this ridge, and secondly,was this the area of Northampton Hill, or Ridge I have seen on some maps, although I have none marked such, in my miserable collection. Thanks

I have today received some papers about my grandfather saying he was in this battle, he was in the Hampshire Regiment, (a mixture of Hampshire and Norfolks tackled a redoubt), it reads that Sergeant Pearson (grandfather)being greatly to the fore and capturing 20 prisoners single handed was awarded the DCM. The 2 pages received are numbered 267/8 and are headed "Egypt And Palestine 1916 - 1917.

A long shot I know but does anyone know if this is a book title or a chapter from another publication ?

It would appear that a Mr J R Bridge may have issued these papers, as this name has been typed on top of the copies.

There is also a copy of a citation re gallantry and devotion to duty re the same incident also seeming to have been issued by Mr Bridge.

Thanks for any info.

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

This is part of a chapter from my book which deals with the attack on the Tank Redoubt on the 19th April 1917 by the Camel Bde and the 8 Hants and 5 Norfolks.

Sgt Pearson (8 Hants) name is spelled differently but could be the same man?

"The 1st Anzac Camel Battalion’s attack

The main attack by the Camel Brigade would be made by the 1st Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel George Langley who deployed the 2nd Company under Captain Archie Campbell on the left with the 4th Company under Captain Herbert Denson on the right, the 3rd Company under Captain Fred Naylor was in support while Captain Walter Cashman’s 1st Company (less two sections guarding the field ambulance and Hong Kong and Singapore Battery) were held in reserve, in all the Battalion numbered not more then 360 men in the firing line.

The battle plan called for the 1st Battalion to “Move on to the ridge on the right of the 163rd Brigade, the left battalion in the Camel Brigade will advance and conform to the movement of that Brigade.” which meant the 1st battalion would advance with the 163rd Brigade which had placed its jump off tapes about 200 yards in front of the 2nd Company, their right flank Battalion was the 1/5th Norfolk which would act as the guide for our advance as Divisional orders called for the Camel companies to bypass the main redoubt as it would be secured by the British infantry, as our companies would push on to secure the defences to the rear of the redoubt.

On Thursday the 19th April the cold morning air was broken by the sound of heavy guns with Zero hour at 5.30 am this preparation bombardment was to last for two hours as they pounded the redoubts along the main Turkish line assisted by the navy and concentrating there fire on Gaza and the strong defences of Ali Muntar. At 7.20 am the Divisional 18 pdr Batteries took over laying down fire on the main points to be attacked, the display was quite impressive but was later found that most of the shells had missed there indented targets.

At Zero hour plus two (7.30 am) the word was given to advance and the tank allocated to the attack moved from behind Dumbell Hill into a position in between the 1/5th Norfolk’s and the 1st Battalion. This tank was a MK1 female called HMLS Nutty under command of 2/Lieutenant Frank Carr and his crew of seven men, it moved off to the rear of and between the 1st Battalion and 1/5th Norfolk’s but due to a small wadi it was forced to the right, crossing behind the 1st Battalion in front of Sheikh Abbas ridge as it then moved towards the objective to the north-west back across the front of the 1st Battalion as it advanced to catch up with the 1/5th Norfolk’s.

The 2nd Company had moved off promptly at 7.30 to cover the 2000 yards they would need to traverse before reaching the enemy trenches but first they had to align themselves with the 1/5th Norfolk but carrying the weight of 300 rounds of ammunition (Camel brigade SOP) and stores of a pick and shovel per three men and over the soft sand quickly exhausted the men (this was exceeding the load authorized in Divisional orders by General Hare of 150 rounds per man or the 250 rounds in the Imperial Mounted Division orders). The infantry with a shorter distance to travel kept up a strong pace forcing the cameleers to continue moving and not to advance by section rushes. The leading companies were deployed on a section front with three extended lines in each section, Lewis guns were placed to the right of the second line as the companies moved from artillery formation into extended order after moving a few hundred yards.

The enemy had quickly spotted the advance of our troops and the Tank and laid a sporadic fire along the line of advancing men, a number were hit but the men pushed on under the steady fire of shell and machine gun. About 8 am the 1st Battalion was rejoined by HMLS Nutty which had moved across their front from the right and soon attracted the attention of a number of enemy Batteries which began to pound the area around the tank and the companies of the 1st Battalion and 5th Norfolk’s, this fire was both heavy and extremely accurate and it appeared to the men to be singling out individuals, the enemy had plenty of time to range the ground and its shooting showed its expertise and it was said by the soldiers of the Camel Brigade “to be the finest bit of shooting they had ever seen” with the enemy never wasting a shell moreover it was under this now continuous fire that the 2nd company were forced to shift to their left as they followed in the wake of the tank. The men had closed in behind the tank for protection from the fusillade but it only served as a focal point to the enemy gunners, as they struggled under the weight of there loads and the enemies salvos, the infantry was still in front of the cameleers and fell in behind the tank as it passed them while the 2nd company had to kept on the move till a small sand ridge was gained about 8.15 am.

This small ridge was between 350 to 500 yards from the enemy redoubt and there the shattered and exhausted remnants of the two Battalions took shelter as the tank was hit and lost direction in a small wadi between the ridge and the redoubt. Meanwhile Captain Campbell sent orders back to the 3rd Company to conform to him as the 4th company had disappeared to his right in the smoke and dust and his own company was severely hit. Meanwhile Captain Birbeck OC A Company 5th Norfolk’s gathered his survivers around him as the remainder of his battalion took cover.

The 163rd Brigade at this time committed the two companies (A and of the 1/8th Hants Battalion which had been in support to assist with the 5th Norfolk’s while the other two companies (C and D) were supporting the 4th Norfolk’s, only A and B companies were decimated in moving forward trying to reach the 5th Norfolk’s and barely a few gallant men of the right flanking companies struggled through the fire to reinforce the beleaguer force, these joined the remainder of the Norfolk’s and Camel companies around 08.30 am.

Meanwhile the advance by the 4th company and Battalion Headquarters had been drawn to the east to adhere to orders to bypass the redoubt and conform with the 11th company but the heavy cross fire had forced them to seek cover in a small wadi which ran to west off of the main Wadi Sihan just as the 2nd company had been drawn west towards the 163rd Brigade, a gap was now created between his forward companies and Lieutenant Colonel Langley was forced to committed his small reserve of two sections of the 1st Company under Captain Cashman to fill this gap. In the meanwhile the 3rd company had struggled forward to support Captain Campbell and under heavy shell fire had followed the line of bodies belonging to the 2nd company. They reached the small sand ridge shortly after 8.30 am which was occupied by the sheltering 2nd Company and the remains of the 5th Norfolk’s and 8th Hants and soon became embroiled in the fight with the Turkish defences in which both companies were heavily hit by the enemies fire and suffered many casualties with Captain Naylor wounded yet continued to lead.

Around 8.40 am the tank HMLS Nutty appeared again under a cloud of dust and exploding shells driving straight for the redoubt, seeing this Captain Campbell decided that he could no longer follow his orders and bypass the redoubt but now must make a dash and secure the fortification.

He lined a number of Lewis gunners along the top of the small ridge and using there fire ordered the men to advance, both the 2nd and 3rd companies fixed bayonets and rose to the attack. These companies had started the day with a little over one hundred men in both, now barely half that number had survived and as the Turkish fire hit these heroes that number was again sadly reduced but they surged on and made the Turkish line under a volley of rifle fire and with the help of soldiers from the 5th Norfolk and 8th Hants set about clearing the trenches “with the bayonet”. The wounded Captain Naylor had insisted in leading his men forward only to be shot in the head on reaching the enemies trenches in a life or death struggle to capture it, the death of Captain Naylor, who had never been well esteemed by his men after an incident at Sollum in 1916, but after this day that view changed.

The Turks which occupied this part of the redoubt put up a stout defence but the shock of the tank and the aggressive attitude of our troops proved to much for them as they broke and ran back to their rear defences some throwing away their weapons but between 20 and 50 Turks were captured, 20 prisoners by Sergeant JW Parson B Company 8th Hants, these prisoners were promptly gathered and sent to the rear under guard of several wounded men from the British and Camel companies but few survived the bullet swept ground of no man’s land.

Meanwhile the redoubt at this time was a scene of chaos as the tank was under close fire by two four gun batteries, this intensity continued as the tank belching fire and smoke had entered the redoubt dealing with enemy machine guns but bellied in the first trench were it was then seen to be hit by three HE shells which broke its track and bust into flames forcing its abandonment by the brave crew and so it was left as a target for the enemy gunners, but thanks to the tank the damage had been done and our small forces had secured a vital tenure in the redoubt by 9 am.

Captain Campbell now took control of the survivors and with only about thirty men remaining of the two Camel companies he placed the remnants of the 2nd company in the centre and the stronger 3rd company on the right flank, still most of the men were mixed together and fought with who ever took command. On one flank Sergeant Charlie Greenway who had taken command of his section after the officer was wounded continued to fire on the panicked Turks as they raced to the rear.

Meanwhile on the left flank the remainder of the British Battalions in all about twenty men under Captain Blyth B Company 5th Norfolk’s occupied and extended their hold in the trench and formed a defence following the death of Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Grissell DSO. These measures were necessary as there were not enough men to control the whole redoubt so it had to be held by a number of strong points. In the centre Campbell placed six Lewis guns along the exposed top of the trench to keep any Turkish counterattack to the flanks. The enemy had now retired to their secondary defences which were still on a higher elevation to our men and there poured a strong fire into our positions.

During the morning the endurance of Captain Campbell and his men was tested under the increasing pressure of the enemy, six runners were dispatched back to Lieutenant Colonel Langley all requesting reinforcement and ammunition but none arrived in time all disappeared in the exposed ground between the redoubt and our lines. One man Private Edward Richardson carried a message out and after going 50 yards was shot three times and despite these serious wounds crawled back with his message arriving to late and Corporal Bill Hope the Battalion Signal Corporal was killed carry such a massage. While Private Bert Galli had tried to get through with three camels loaded with small arms ammunition but the animals were killed by heavy fire, Galli tried again during the day but was forced to stop but never the less did succeed in bringing some much needed ammunition to the 4th Company.

The breach of this redoubt caused considerable concern in the enemies’ camp and Battalions of the 161st Regiment were rushed to this threatened sector, meanwhile the reserve company of the 165th Regiment was committed to the Tank redoubt from the area of Khirbet Sihan and began to infiltrate towards our troops in the redoubt.

Around 10 am groups of the enemy were observed gathering to the flanks and they began to move slowly forward in one case they appeared being driven by a German officer who recklessly exposed himself to our fire yet bore a charmed life without being hit. These new troops now found the redoubt was not held in any strength and small parties of the enemy soon established pockets amongst our posts which soon became untenable with the strong cross fire and with the shortage of ammunition we were forced to retire further along the trench onto the rear posts thus our men retired fighting step by step to the rearmost trenches where they had broken in hours before. Among the heroes of this contest was Sergeant Wally Finley of the 2nd company who was killed resisting the enemy allowing our men to escape and form a new bomb block and Sergeant Albert Cook, Privates Soles Nassau and Richard Biggs of the 3rd company who fought until overrun and were never seen again?

The Cameleers were now using a lot of Turkish ammunition and bombs as our own ammunition was exhausted never the less with this increasing pressure they could not hold out for much longer.

Shortly after 11 pm as Captain Campbell sorted out the last of the Camel company survivors in the remaining section of trench, the Lewis gunners were still in action and broke up a number of enemy concentrations as the Turks prepared to drive the last of our men out of the redoubt, Lieutenant Bill Ellis was sent to the left as some soldiers were seen retiring but he was wounded and as the ammunition now gave out and with no hope of reinforcements or ammunition to continue the battle Captain Campbell had no option but to order the survivors to withdraw, the word was quickly passed to Captain Blyth who at first wanted to fight it out to the finish but faced with the inedible they agreed to retire. Before he left Captain Campbell went to check on his Lewis gun teams, to ask for volunteers to cover the withdrawal but found only one wounded survivor Private William Barry who was ordered to retire and despite a broken arm carried his Lewis gun out.

There was much confusion in the trenches at this time as not all the men received the word to go while others found themselves cut off by the Turks who appeared all over, while others seeing the retreat ordered the men to stay and fight and cover the retirement. A similar scene occurred with the British as those who couldn’t make the trip back were left to be captured.

Captain Campbell had set off with Lieutenant Ernest Aylwin and CQMS Harry Malcolm (who should have remained in the rear but had joined the attack for the fun of it) they became separated in the smoke and rifle fire and only Campbell made it back without a scratch the sole officer of nine from the two Australian Camel companies who took part in the assault to do so. The survivors had retreated out of the redoubt to the right rear in the direction of the 4th company as the ground to the rear was strongly covered by the enemy’s fire. Meanwhile the 1st company had moved into a conspicuous position between the redoubt and the 4th company to provide the link but they were soon forced to cover the retirement of the 2nd and 3rd companies from the protection of a small wadi but with only two small sections Captain Cashman was limited in what he could do and he held his ground as a counterattack was expected from the enemy, while in this position the company lost Private John Mitchell killed and two officers (Bill Ellis and Les Stock), and a number of men wounded. He did establish contact after 1 pm with the remainder of the British Battalion’s who had dug in around the small sand ridge.

During the long afternoon the wounded lay exposed to the sun lying in agony waiting for someone to get them but with nearly all of their mates now dead or wounded most waited in vain. Despite this a large number of our wounded were brought in by men such as Sergeant Bob Love of the 4th company who went out into no man’s land to help recover the many victims, yet they where to numerous for all to be recovered and some had to be left to the clemency of the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Langley had set up a casualty dressing station to the rear of his HQ in a small wadi and all the wounded who could be reached were brought there for dressing before moving them to the rear. One of those brought in wounded was Lance Sergeant James Anderson an original from the 8th Battalion AIF who was suffering from a gun shot wound to the buttocks while others were not so lucky Private Sid Cherry a Canadian who had enlisted in the 3rd Battalion AIF in 1915 before transferring to the Camel Corps and Private Wilhelm Konsten one of a number of Finnish born seaman were both killed.

As the action continued in the redoubt the 4th company had become pinned down behind a small sand ridge about 400 yards to the east of the redoubt and Captain Denson was ordered to dig in by Lieutenant Colonel Langley and await developments and to minimize casualties. This had happened because true to their orders the company had continued to advance for the rear defences of the enemy redoubt and despite the Turkish fire they soon found that the company was isolated in between the tank redoubt and the Wadi Sihan with no support available but for the 11th company on its right. The men were forced to hide behind a small Wadi and engage the enemy, also to cover the withdrawal of the 2nd and 3rd companies but the enemy had them in a deadly cross fire from the redoubt and the Wadi Sihan and sustained many casualties in this exposed position these included Sergeant Herbert Perkins, Privates Arthur Emery, Neil Munro, John White and Richard Winslett killed and three officers and 27 men wounded.

When Captain Campbell and his men had retired from the tank redoubt there still remained a small garrison who were left to fight it out alone but with little ammunition remaining it was only a matter of time before they were overrun. This isolated party numbering over thirty men of all nationalities, these continued to challenge the enemy till around 2 pm when the Turks broke into the last section of trench. There the wounded Lieutenant Bill Fender of the 2nd company found himself in a trench with a number of men and after being hit in the neck was abandoned as dead and captured along with a collection of men most of whom were wounded, about 11 Australians and eight British soldiers were captured when Lieutenant W. Strachan-Roberts of the 8th Hants tried to fight it out in the last trench but were compelled to surrender. Two men Privates Roy Kelly and Bert Story from the 3rd company escaped the Turks during capture and set off with bullets chasing them as they ran back to our lines Kelly was wounded and Story had five bullets through his hat but both survived to tell the tail.

During this time Major John Marsh OC 8th Hants gathered approximately one hundred and forthy survivors around him to form a line in the sand outside the redoubt. Among this group was Lieutenant Wharton 1/4th Norfolk’s along with Lieutenant Buxton from the 163rd Bde HQ. They remained in this exposed position bringing in the many wounded including Corporal Burtenshaw and Private Toogood, but also waited for any expected Turkish counterattack until the 5th Suffolk’s arrived.

At 1 pm General Hare had ordered the 161st Brigade forward to reinforce the line held by the 163rd Brigade which had suffered over 1500 casualties including two Battalion and twelve Company commanders, when they arrived the 1/5th Suffolk (163rd Bde) and the 1/6th Essex Battalions (161st Bde) were ordered to make a fresh attack on the redoubt. At 2.20 pm the Battalions commenced their advance but had not gone far when the attack was stopped by General Hare, this was due to the withdrawal from the redoubt by the last of our forces and declining situation on his right flank by the retirement of the 4th Light Horse Brigade and the problems with the Imperial Mounted Division.

At 5.55 pm orders were received that “the battalion was to withdraw back to the ridge” and Lieutenant Colonel Langley arranged for the clearing station to be removed before moving the 1st and 4th companies. At 7.45 after having gathering all the wounded that could be recovered the remnants of the battalion quietly moved back to Sheikh Abbas ridge in the safety of darkness undisturbed by the enemy and found the 7th Essex Battalion in position to cover their retirement, the 1st Battalion then moved to the rear of the ridge to take up a reserve position."

Cheers

S.B

[T8HANTS]

I have today received some papers about my grandfather saying he was in this battle, he was in the Hampshire Regiment, (a mixture of Hampshire and Norfolks tackled a redoubt), it reads that Sergeant Pearson (grandfather)being greatly to the fore and capturing 20 prisoners single handed was awarded the DCM. The 2 pages received are numbered 267/8 and are headed "Egypt And Palestine 1916 - 1917.

A long shot I know but does anyone know if this is a book title or a chapter from another publication ?

It would appear that a Mr J R Bridge may have issued these papers, as this name has been typed on top of the copies.

There is also a copy of a citation re gallantry and devotion to duty re the same incident also seeming to have been issued by Mr Bridge.

Thanks for any info.

My records have Sgt Joseph W. Pearson, No 1692, in A Coy', of Binstead, Ryde. Employed by Radden & Co, house decoraters of Ryde. Has 10 Children. He came home on leave in Feb 1918, which was VERY unusual for the men of 163 Brigade

The pages you have come from the publication "The Royal Hampshire Regiment 1914 - 1918 by C.T. Atkinson. Navy & Military Press.

I would be very interested in seeing a copy of his citation, are you able to scan it. I cannot find picture of him do you have one?

Gareth

[stevenbecker]

Gareth,

Thanks mate I'll make the corrections to the man.

Cheers

S.B

[siabod]

My records have Sgt Joseph W. Pearson, No 1692, in A Coy', of Binstead, Ryde. Employed by Radden & Co, house decoraters of Ryde. Has 10 Children. He came home on leave in Feb 1918, which was VERY unusual for the men of 163 Brigade

The pages you have come from the publication "The Royal Hampshire Regiment 1914 - 1918 by C.T. Atkinson. Navy & Military Press.

I would be very interested in seeing a copy of his citation, are you able to scan it. I cannot find picture of him do you have one?

Gareth

Firstly many thanks for the comprehensive reply from Steve before your message Gareth and also to yourself for information on the book, I suspected this may be the publication and have ordered it. My grandfather lived at 5 Binstead Hill and in fact this property remained in he family until approx 5 years ago and members of the family still live on the IOW. One of my memories of him is in his painters overalls so I am sure this is the same man.I mentioned the citation and will indeed send a copy of what I received although it is only an extract probably taken from another publication. I will contact my aunt to see if she has any more info as this is where I got the sheets now in my possession. You mention 10 children, I thought there were 11 again sounds "about right". I do indeed have a photograph of him and will be pleased to let you have a copy, this may take a short while as at present much of my house is under dust sheets due to building work. Once again many thanks and if the photo does not arrive in a reasonable time please feel free to remind me. I wonder how he got leave in 1918 if it was so unusual.

regards

Ian C (siabod)

PS. How would you like me to send the photo ?

[T8HANTS]

I have just come across an account and letter published in our local paper 22/6/1917 further to the enquirey about Sgt Pearson in which he writes;

"The announcement in last week's issue that the D.C.M. has been awarded to Sgt Joseph Pearson has delighted his many friends in Binstead and Ryde. Sgt Pearson, who is the proud father of 10 children and has lived in Binstead for a considerable number of years was among the first in the village to enlist at the outbreak of war. He joined Princess Beatrice's I.W. Rifles, went to Gallipoli and took part in all the fighting in which the battalion was engaged. He was fortunate to escape without being wounded and went to Egypt on the evacuation of the Peninsula. The gallant act for which he had been awarded the D.C.M. was performed before Gaza, during the engagement in which Island men took part on April 19. Being among the first over the parapet he was foremost in the attack and on reaching the Turkish trenches was confronted with a number of Turks, 20 of whom he captured single handed. Writing home, he says

"I have been awarded the D.C.M., so you see I have got the honour at last, but I can tell you that I hope that I shall not be in such a tight corner as I was that day. I don't think I should get away from it with my life as I did then. Little did I think when we jumped over the ridge that so few of us would come back. I assure you I thought my number was up when I got into that trench to find it filled with Turks. Luckily they could only get at me one at a time, but when they found I meant to use my piece of steel, I was top dog. I had the satisfaction of capturing 20 of them, but the hardest job was to get them back, as the distance was quite a mile and a half; still, I landed them all right. We are still in the firing line, but it is rather quiet where we are now and we are not sorry, as we had our share for a time. We are just sending over the Turks their tea, that is a few iron rations." Sgt Pearson, who is well known in sporting circles, was for a considerable number of years associated with the local Football and Cricket Clubs and has acted in the capacity of Hon. Secretary for both."

An interesting account of a very desperate fight

Gareth

[siabod]

I have just come across an account and letter published in our local paper 22/6/1917 further to the enquirey about Sgt Pearson in which he writes;

"The announcement in last week's issue that the D.C.M. has been awarded to Sgt Joseph Pearson has delighted his many friends in Binstead and Ryde. Sgt Pearson, who is the proud father of 10 children and has lived in Binstead for a considerable number of years was among the first in the village to enlist at the outbreak of war. He joined Princess Beatrice's I.W. Rifles, went to Gallipoli and took part in all the fighting in which the battalion was engaged. He was fortunate to escape without being wounded and went to Egypt on the evacuation of the Peninsula. The gallant act for which he had been awarded the D.C.M. was performed before Gaza, during the engagement in which Island men took part on April 19. Being among the first over the parapet he was foremost in the attack and on reaching the Turkish trenches was confronted with a number of Turks, 20 of whom he captured single handed. Writing home, he says

"I have been awarded the D.C.M., so you see I have got the honour at last, but I can tell you that I hope that I shall not be in such a tight corner as I was that day. I don't think I should get away from it with my life as I did then. Little did I think when we jumped over the ridge that so few of us would come back. I assure you I thought my number was up when I got into that trench to find it filled with Turks. Luckily they could only get at me one at a time, but when they found I meant to use my piece of steel, I was top dog. I had the satisfaction of capturing 20 of them, but the hardest job was to get them back, as the distance was quite a mile and a half; still, I landed them all right. We are still in the firing line, but it is rather quiet where we are now and we are not sorry, as we had our share for a time. We are just sending over the Turks their tea, that is a few iron rations." Sgt Pearson, who is well known in sporting circles, was for a considerable number of years associated with the local Football and Cricket Clubs and has acted in the capacity of Hon. Secretary for both."

An interesting account of a very desperate fight

Gareth

Many thanks for this info, much appreciated as it will be by the family still on the IOW. I have not forgotten the photograph, at the moment my scanner and the photo is under dust sheets due to work being undertaken but I will try to unearth them shortly.

Ian C (Siabod)