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Remembered Today:

2nd Rifle Brigade, Aubers Ridge


stiletto_33853

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Good to finally see these men remembered. On Friday 9th May 2008 a commemoration service was held at the site of Captain Kennedy's Cross for the men of the 2nd Rifle Brigade who fell during the Battle of Auber's Ridge at Rouges Bancs, Fromelles on the 9th May 1915.

Several family members attended including the niece of Captain Kennnedy, from the forum members who lost family members in this action Mick Salter and friends, Murray Ritchie & Family, Victoria Burridge & Family, other forum members Marc Thompson and yours truly. The British Consul and the chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission also attended with plenty of local representation there including a party of school children.

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The meeting place was outside the Museum in Fromelles, which was the first venue visited, followed by the original cross, now in Fromelles church, placed on the battelfield by the Kennedy Family and then on to the commemoration service.

Victoria gave a very moving and poignant talk on some of the men and the action of 93 years ago to the day, which was translated by Martail at appropriate times. Victoria's research into this action spreads over many years and is very very good, the talk she gave made the men and the action come alive for those of us with a little knowledge of what happened there 93 years ago.

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The original Kennedy Cross in Fromelles church

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Murray (far right) and family.

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Kennedy's Cross after the commemoration

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Back to the village hall for refreshments, very hot day, a few speeches and boquets to be given out

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Lovely pictures Andy,

thank you very much for sharing with us.

Michel

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Thanks Michel, I am just glad that these men are remembered. You only seem to hear about another action at Fromelles in 1916, and it is high time that these men were fully and properly commemorated for what was quite an action with very high casualty figures for the day.

I think the German Priest who was serving in the German Army puts it very well

"After two hours fighting, the enemy was beaten back. You can scarcely have an idea of the work this represented. How these Englishmen had in twelve hours dug themselves in ! The hundred fellows who were in our trenches had brought with them an enormous quantity of ammunition, a machine gun and one that they had captured from us.......Almost every single man had to be put out of action with hand-grenades. They were heroes all and true to the end, until death.... men of the 'active English Rifles Brigade'....."

Andy

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Delighted to see the wonderful weather for the ceremony. These horribly costly actions around Aubers Ridge, Festubert etc deserve greater recognition. I must admit that I had never heard of these battles until I started serious WW1 research. They must have been truly terrible trials of combat for all involved.

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Hi Des,

Could not agree more, these actions were brutal, often ending in hand to hand combat on many occasions.

Michelle, I think, the other day was enquiring about Lambis, as can be seen here he is well. Victoria and Lambis.

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Captain Kennedy's niece.

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Thanks again - those ghastly, costly little battles of mid-1915 really should be better known of.

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Absolutely agree that the Battles of 1915 deserve more recognition than they currnetly get, although I think views are changing as peopel overdose on the Somme and Ypres......

Looked a wonderful ceremony and let's hope it continues in some shape or form.

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"You only seem to hear about another action at Fromelles in 1916, and it is high time that these men were fully and properly commemorated for what was quite an action with very high casualty figures for the day. "

Andy,

I am not specifically focused on the Battle of Fromelles (or Battle of Fleurbaix ?) in 1916, as I am very interested in events related to the Battle of Aubers Ridge and especially by the participation of the Irish men of 2nd Battalion of RMF who were deployed at the dawn of May 9, 1915 close to my home and which were cut to pieces in the "Ferme du Bois" sector (Boar's Head).

Having said that I am very pleased that all these heroes of the Riffle Brigade finally be honoured as it should be, thanks to the tremendous work of Victoria.

Michel

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Michel,

The very best with your research, living where the action actually took place, I would imagine, make it very fascintaing and peronal.

Finally, A very big thanks must go to Victoria for the tremendous amount of work she put into making this long overdue event happen, thank you Victoria and keep up the good work with your research.

An exhibition put together by Victoria.

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Thank you, Andy, but you’ve made me blush!

My granddad’s brother was killed at Rouges-Bancs, Fromelles on 9th May 1915. What began for me as a little bit of family history research (fuelled by a very keen interest in the First World War) has now become an overriding passion (something tells me that I could be preaching to the converted!).

It wasn’t until 2000 that we were finally able to discover where Uncle Charlie had been killed, nothing short of a miracle when you think that all we had to begin with was a photograph of him – no service record, no surviving casualty lists, no letters home; nothing but the belief within the family that he had been killed at Hill 60 on the Ypres Salient. We had even visited Hill 60!

We travelled out to France for the 90th anniversary on 9th May 2005, having been told that the communities of Aubers and Fromelles were intending to arrange a memorial service. It was something of a shock to discover, just the day before, that there would be no service. For me, 9th May this year was as it should have been three years ago.

This year’s service was the first ever to take place on 9th May and it was, for my family at least, a great success. I must offer my thanks to the Commune de Fromelles, the Mayor of Fromelles (Mon. Hubert Huchette) and the Association Fromelles-Weppes-Terre de Mémoire 14-18 and, in particular, Martial Delebarre, the President of the Association.

Andy has been able to supply me with, amongst other things, some lovely photographs and he also brought along some wonderful pieces from his own collection which we were able to display. Marc Thompson was an absolute star in printing off (from SDGW) the lists of those killed from other units involved in the action and a whole stack of photos. Thank you, boys. The men of the 7th and 8th Divisions are extremely grateful, as am I.

Finally, a big thank you to my Australian colleague Lambis Englezos who has worked tirelessly to locate the missing of the Battle of Fromelles 1916. Lambis was able to be there with us on 9th May and, by doing so, was able to help form the first “bridge” between the battles of 1915 and 1916.

V.

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I had prepared a leaflet, which had been translated into French, and this was handed out prior to the service commencing. The Address was also translated into French and as I finished reading each paragraph, Martial followed with the French version.

With a gathering of something in the region of one hundred people present (and having been told some time ago that the people of Fromelles had no idea of what had happened around their village in May 1915) it was important that whatever was said during the service emphasised what these men had gone through.

I’ve posted below the contents of my Address and you will see that it is about the men, not just lists of names or numbers of casualties. It isn’t particularly well-worded, but I think that it got the message across.

V.

“By May 1915, the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade had been in France for six months. They had already suffered heavy casualties in the March during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, but nothing would have prepared them for what they were about to experience here at Rouges Bancs.

Unlike the pre-war regular soldiers who formed the backbone of this battalion, many of these men had enlisted at the outbreak of war and had travelled out from England, joining the Battalion in mid-March as reinforcements for the losses suffered at Neuve Chapelle. For these men, such as Tom Ritchie, Murray’s uncle, this would be their first taste of action.

Whilst the officers knew their exact whereabouts, the majority of the men believed themselves to be elsewhere. When my great-grandparents received a letter from one of my uncle’s comrades telling them of the fighting and where it had taken place, they had no reason to question the facts. So, for eighty-five years my grandfather’s brother did not die here, at Rouges-Bancs; he died at Hill 60 on the Ypres Salient.

The Battalion’s casualties that day were the worst that it was to experience for any single action throughout the whole of the Great War.

Fifteen officers and two hundred and forty-eight were men killed. Of this number, only two officers and fourteen men have known graves, the rest being listed on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing. Of the hundreds of wounded men, many would die from their wounds over the days and weeks to come.

Most of these men will appear to you as names inscribed on a memorial. To me, they have become old friends and I would like to take this opportunity to describe to you what some of them experienced that day.

Captain Paul Kennedy, Clare’s uncle. Despite being attacked from all directions, he, and what was left of his company of men, succeeded in getting as far as the field across the road, but no further. They were being picked-off one-by-one until Paul himself was shot by a sniper. He was badly wounded and his men carried him back across the road, but when they reached this spot, he told them to put him down and make their way back to the captured trench. His name would join the long list of “missing” on the Ploegsteert Memorial.

Captain John Isaac, who was wounded in October 1914 whilst serving with another battalion of the Rifle Brigade. Given a desk job until fit enough to serve again, he did everything he could to return to active service, finally joining the 2nd Battalion on 7th May, just two days before it went into action. He was last seen on 9th May, wounded but leading his men on to their objective. His body was found in April 1921, just yards from what had been the British line.

Sgt. Kenneth Bastiani, whose body, along with twenty-one others, was recovered in March 1924 from the field across the road. His brother Norman also fought with the Battalion that day. He survived, but suffered severe shrapnel wounds to the legs and one arm, the arm eventually being amputated.

There were many pairs of brothers fighting with the Battalion. Wilfred and Noel Davey - both brothers wounded. Neville and Frederick Matthews - Frederick survived, wounded, but Neville was killed. Alexander and Walter Fuller - both killed. Christopher and James Phillips – both killed. Herbert and George Wimble – both killed. Pity their parents who received not one dreaded telegram, but two.

But many of the men who were lost here were only children – no brothers, no sisters. When their parents lost them, they lost everything. And when those parents died, there was no one left to remember their child.

Some wonderful acts of bravery were also seen that day, including that of 2nd Lt. Gray, the machine-gun officer. He led approximately fifty reinforcements towards the captured trench through heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, but only the officer and about fifteen men reached their destination, the remainder being killed or wounded.

He used the captured machine-gun to great effect and was the last to retire from the trench, keeping up a continuous machine-gun fire until the enemy was within a few yards of the position. 2nd Lt. Gray had been promoted from the ranks and was not what would normally be considered “officer material”, but he proved his mettle that day and, by doing so, was awarded the Military Cross.

Captain Maclean, the battalion’s medical officer, saved the lives of a very large number of men that day. He repeatedly risked his own life to locate and bring in the wounded and for this he was awarded the Military Cross.

Sergeant Starr and Riflemen Denton, Jones, Watkinson and Windebank were all awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Their supply of bombs almost exhausted, Rifleman Denton supplemented the supply by collecting bombs in the open from the wounded, dead and dying.

Rifleman Windebank took the first message back from the captured trench under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire. He returned later and was of great assistance with the captured machine-gun and in collecting German bombs in the trench for use against the enemy.

Rifleman Jones carried a message from the enemy trench back to the British lines, crossing bullet-swept ground. He succeeded in delivering his message, despite being wounded not once, but three times.

Sergeant Starr manned his machine-gun gallantly for several hours until the rest of his detachment were either wounded or dead. He was finally captured by the enemy, but managed to escape, being wounded in his desperate dash for the British lines.

Rifleman Watkinson caught three German bombs in the air and threw them back at the enemy; the fourth exploded, taking with it his hand.

I thank you for coming here today and for allowing me to tell you a little something of these wonderful men and of the horrors they experienced here ninety-three years ago.

I would ask you now to join me in prayer for these men, for those who went before and those who came after.”

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Well done Victoria for getting this organised. I was in the area on Monday afternoon doing a battlefield walk and we stopped by the memorial on our way from Rue Petillon to Fromelles. Perhaps luckily the weather was nothing like as hot as it looked on 9th May.

Neil

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Neil,

Lovely to hear from you. What a pity you couldn’t have been there for the 9th, although we had a pretty good turnout of Brits (and one Aussie!). Can you PM your e-mail address through to me? I had a slight mishap with my Inbox whilst in a severe state of jet-lag ……………………… :wacko:

V.

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I am very interested in events related to the Battle of Aubers Ridge and especially by the participation of the Irish men of 2nd Battalion of RMF who were deployed at the dawn of May 9, 1915

Michel

Michel,

I was sorry that you were unable to be there on the 9th as you had originally intended, but I understand that sometimes one really needs a holiday. I said a quiet prayer for your Irishmen in your absence.

V.

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  • 4 weeks later...
But many of the men who were lost here were only children – no brothers, no sisters. When their parents lost them, they lost everything. And when those parents died, there was no one left to remember their child.

Some wonderful acts of bravery were also seen that day, including that of 2nd Lt. Gray, the machine-gun officer. He led approximately fifty reinforcements towards the captured trench through heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, but only the officer and about fifteen men reached their destination, the remainder being killed or wounded.

He used the captured machine-gun to great effect and was the last to retire from the trench, keeping up a continuous machine-gun fire until the enemy was within a few yards of the position. 2nd Lt. Gray had been promoted from the ranks and was not what would normally be considered “officer material”, but he proved his mettle that day and, by doing so, was awarded the Military Cross.

Victoria,

2nd Lt William Edmund Gray MC was my Great Grand Uncle (My Grandmother's Father's Brother). I have only just managed to scratch the surface of this strongly military side of the family (the majority of them being Grenadiers).

It may be of interest for you to know that little more than a year later, his younger brother, Lance Corporal Victory Gray (of 4th Battalion Middlesex Regiment) was awarded the DCM for his action at Kemmel.

If anyone can furnish me with any more details about 2nd Lt Gray I would love to know.

I would have loved to attend the memorial day and represent my Great Grand Uncle.

Kindest Regards

Mark.

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Mark,

Welcome to the forum. As you can read above your relative was mentioned in Victoria's address at the commemoration and I know 'V' would like to have a chat with you regarding 2nd Lt Gray.

Andy

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Mark,

You have no idea how delighted I am to make your acquaintance! I also wish you could have been at the Service on 9th May, but perhaps next year.

I have the most incredible respect for William Gray, as you may have gathered. I was aware of his brother having won the D.C.M. and have a wonderful account of it, if you’re interested. I also have a fair bit of information relating to William which I’ll put together for you. Can I just ask - is there any chance that you might have a photo of him which you’d be willing to share? I have both my fingers and toes crossed ………..

V.

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Mark,

You have no idea how delighted I am to make your acquaintance! I also wish you could have been at the Service on 9th May, but perhaps next year.

I have the most incredible respect for William Gray, as you may have gathered. I was aware of his brother having won the D.C.M. and have a wonderful account of it, if you’re interested. I also have a fair bit of information relating to William which I’ll put together for you. Can I just ask - is there any chance that you might have a photo of him which you’d be willing to share? I have both my fingers and toes crossed ………..

V.

Thank you stiletto_33853 and Victoria for your warm welcome,

I did manage to dig up an account of Victor's DCM action, but would always welcome more information (one never can get enough information when exploring the family tree). I am planning a trip to Kew to research the family's military side a bit more, it starts with James (Williams father), his six sons, and as far as I can ascertain eight grandsons. I have recently retrieved my great grandfathers service record from the Grenadiers Regimental Archivist and will be embarking on asking for the same information on his brothers from their respective regiments.

I am sad to say that I don't have any photographs of my great grandfather or his brothers, as I understand it a great deal of family photos were lost in the second world war.

I will keep researching and if anything comes to light I will of course let you know :)

Kindest Regards

Mark.

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Mark,

Shame about the photo, but not surprising. I’ll start putting together the information which I have on William Gray. In the meantime this is the piece to which I referred regarding Victor Gray’s actions on 28th April 1915 at Kemmel which won him the DCM. I suspect that you already have this information, but if not ……

Between two and three o’clock in the afternoon of that day it was found necessary to put a charge of dynamite into a German sap, which was working its way into a British sap head. About two hours after the explosion the sergeant in charge of the working party and three officers went down the mine gallery to ascertain the result, leaving Lance Corporal Gray in charge of the men at the top of the shaft. They had been gassed! Gray immediately called the working party to the mouth of the shaft, and ordering four of them to go down into the mine and get the men up, hurried off to summon medical aid, and in default of finding a surgeon, returned in about three minutes with two R.A.M.C. orderlies. When he got back, he found that one of the three officers had already been rescued, and that another was just being brought up the shaft. Having helped to raise him to the surface and seen the orderlies set to work to revive him, he himself went down, to assist in recovering the third officer and the sergeant. When however, he reached the bottom of the shaft, he found that the two men who had saved the officers were already so overcome themselves by the gas that the must be got out without delay. He therefore ordered their two comrades, who had remained at the bottom of the shaft, to send them up; while he himself went down the gallery to where the third officer lay and partly carried and partly dragged him to the bottom of the shaft, and, with the assistance of the others, sent him up also. By this time however Gray and his brave comrades were so overcome by the poisonous fumes that they recognized that it would be impossible for them to get the sergeant out. Gray therefore ascended to the surface, and sent down four men to the assistance of the sergeant, he himself, though feeling desperately ill, pluckily descending again and rendering them what little assistance he could at the bottom of the shaft. Unhappily, when the sergeant was brought up he was beyond the reach of human aid, and all efforts to revive him proved fruitless.

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