CHESTERFIELD WFA NEWSLETTER

May 2015 issue 13

Welcome to the thirteenth newsletter of Chesterfield WFA. We have pleasure in presenting the third issue for 2015 of the Branch Newsletter. It has been gratifying to your committee to see improved attendances at our last few meetings and we hope this trend continues. Certainly the quality of our guest speakers should make it worth the time to come along to our monthly meetings.

Our next Chesterfield Branch Meeting will be held on May 12th 2015 - note this is a week later than our normal `first Tuesday in the month` date – to avoid the clash with General Election which is a very busy time for our host venue. The speaker that night will be Edwin Astill who will present a paper on - "Lieutenant to Brigadier General: Alexander Johnston". Johnston rose from Signal Officer, through Brigade-Major to CO 10th Cheshire, and briefly GOC 126 Brigade before wounding. Edwin presents this interesting officer’s life through his diaries. On behalf of the committee we look forward to welcoming you to the meeting. The Branch meets at the Labour Club, Unity House, Saltergate, Chesterfield S40 1NF on the first Tuesday of each month. There is plenty of parking available on site and in the adjacent road. Access to the car park is in Tennyson Road, however, which is one way and cannot be accessed directly from Saltergate. Grant Cullen – Branch Secretary

Patron Colonel Terry Cave CBE

President Professor Peter Simkins MBE FRHistS

Vice-Presidents The Earl Kitchener TD DL Andre Colliot Dr John Bourne BA PhD FRHistS The Burgomaster of Ypres The Mayor of Albert Lt-Col Graham Parker OBE Professor Gary Sheffield BA MA PhD FRHistS Christopher Pugsley FRHistS Lord Richard Dannat GCB CBE MC DL

www.westernfrontassociation.com

Branch contacts

Tony Bolton (Chairman ) anthony.bolton3@btinternet.com Mark Macartney (Deputy Chairman) Markmacartney48@gmail.com Pam Ackroyd (Treasurer) Grant Cullen (Secretary) grantcullen@hotmail.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/157662657604082/ Website http://www.wfachesterfield.com/

A Personal Note from the Chair - Number Six

A couple of months ago I asked in this column for volunteers to act as family history advisors for the branch

and in doing so I mentioned that despite my interest in the Great War I had never researched my own family

history. Arthur Lacey one of those volunteers, offered to see if he could find anything about my paternal

grandfather Joseph Bolton. Some of you that sat through my mobilization talk, may remember that Joseph

was a reservist of Boer War vintage and had been invalided out of Flanders and the army early in the war. I

won’t trouble you with the details of Arthur’s findings but a couple of general points emerged. Firstly

despite being told by my father that his dad had served in the Boer War it seems that he did not. His

attestation papers are dated April 1900 and he almost certainly joined up because of it but there is no

record of him having served there. This brought home to me the limitations of family oral history and by

inference it is a warning for historians professional and amateur to treat memory; even first hand, with

care. The second interesting result of Arthur’s work was to discover that Joseph had joined the Lancashire

Fusiliers and had only later transferred to the Cheshire Regiment, exactly when later is the interesting point.

If oral history has to be treated with caution then the contemporaneous written record must be better

surely? Page three of Joseph’s attestation papers clearly record that he was transferred to the Cheshire

Regiment on 21 January 1902. This bothered me, since I knew from Census records that he was at the Depot

of the Cheshire’s at Chester Castle for the 1901 census. Sure enough another of Arthur’s discoveries,

Joseph’s Silver War Badge record shows his enlistment date as 21 January 1901. The contemporaneous

written record then is also subject to error. The warnings for the researcher whether family history or more

generally is one of caution, just because we were told it or even read it doesn’t mean it is correct. Much

careful cross referencing is called for.

The Committee is finalising the 2016 programme so any ideas of speakers or topics for next year need to be

advised as soon as possible.

Tony Bolton – Branch Chairman

As you will see, this is another `bumper` issue which I hope will be enjoyable and educational and will maybe encourage more members and friends to turn up at our next meeting.

Very newsworthy is the welcome availability again of WFA `Branded Goods` - a situation which is due entirely to the efforts of our Branch Vice Chairman, Mark Macartney who has driven this project, badgering the Trustees where necessary. Mark will have samples to view at the next meeting (Tuesday 12th) and will advise how to order. No doubt full details will also be in the forthcoming issues of `Stand To` and the `Bulletin` but here in our Branch Newsletter, and at Tuesday`s meeting, we are privileged to get a first look at the new items. Well done to Mark for all his hard work, not only assisting the WFA, but in no small measure putting Chesterfield Branch on the map.

As I have said previously our Branch Newsletter is only as good as the contributors and what they can supply for inclusion. We are happy to publish anything Great War related (as long as no copyright is infringed) so let`s get those stories flowing, personal researches, photographs, book reviews, things you have seen in press, visits to interesting places – even reports on other branches` meetings.

Please send anything for inclusion to grantcullen@hotmail.com. If you would rather speak with me before sending I am happy to do so – call 07917261260

Best regards,

Grant Cullen Branch Secretary

Western Front Association – Branded Goods

Many of you will have noted that for some time now it has not been possible to buy Western Front Association `branded goods` ie sweatshirts, T shirts, mugs etc. That is all about to change and it is all down to the hard work and perseverance of Mark Macartney, our Branch Vice Chairman.

Here is Mark`s update in his own words,

Branded Goods

The last time “Branded Goods” (then known as WFA Commodities) were advertised of their availability was in Bulletin 93 dated July 2012, and since Fiona McGrath ceased to carry out the function in 2013 it has not been able to purchase clothing and other items. Since early 2014 I have been having contact with various WFA Trustees about this situation and offering suggestions. Whilst attending a WFA seminar at Milton Keynes in September 2014, I had a chat with Jane Backhouse (assistant WFA Honorary Secretary) about the situation, offering my involvement and assistance if required. Soon afterwards I had an Email from Jane stating that she had passed my comments and interest `up the line` to the new Chairman (Bob Patterson) and he was interested in my offer of participation and would get in contact which he duly did. He explainied that the intention was mot to hold stock but look at buying direct from the supplier on a as and when required basis, and that we should start off with a very limited number of items. I then as requested gave the Chairman a suggested list of items. This was passed to the Trustees, during which time a survey had gone out asking members what they felt were the items that they would be interested in purchasing. The top 5 in the `wish list` revealed the following items: Polo shirts, Mugs, Ties, T-shirts and Rugby shirtsand itt was decided that Colin Wagstaff (the WFA Vice Chairman) would be the Trustee in charge of this. Prior to all this, although I had shown an interest in assisting an official appeal had gone out in the Bulletin and various Newsletters asking for volunteers to assist in this, and as I was the only volunteer it was decided that I shouldd take the leading role in the re-launch of selling a small range of WFA Branded Merchandise. After talking to Colin it was decided to start with sweatshirts, polo shirts, and t-shirts, and possibly also look at ties, lapel badges and mugs. I was asked if we could go for French Navy Blue colour if possible. I contacted five suppliers, one firm did not respond, one could not do with the required logo, one would only do with a minimum order of 12, the fourth supplier could manufacture but their cost was unacceptable and anyway they could not do the required colour. That left me with West Coast Embroidering in Liverpool, who have fulfilled all our requirements and agreed on every question I put their way. The clothing will sell at £16 for a sweatshirt, Polo’s for £15 and £13 for t-shirts. This is inclusive of postage. I have gone for quality and type of material opposed to low cost. They will be on display at the next Chesterfield Branch meeting and also at the Presidents Conference on 27th June. I also looked at the opportunity of acquiring mugs, and it was agreed that here we would need to hold stock of these, my suggestion that I would hold this stock was agreed. I contacted six suppliers, and after the various responses the supplier I decided to go with is Transform Images in Retford, Nottinghamshire. Why did I chose them ?, - They are local so I can personally sort out any problems should any arise and their price is very reasonable & Inclusive of VAT. The producer will deliver to me free of charge. (I will be holding stock). The mugs will sell at £10 (including postage) or if bought at an event or meeting or venue £7 See photos of clothing and mugs I am now looking at getting ties produced, a proposal has been put forward to me that we should do away with the WFA Logo and have three stripes representing the ribbons colours from the `Pip, Squeak& Wilfred` medals

Polo Shirt Sweat Shirt T Shirt

The Official WFA Coffee Mug - Everything just tastes better in one of these - Put your feet up sit back and enjoy your favourite beverage in the Official WFA Coffee Mug, the lovely white full size Mug features the bold official WFA Logo design and sells at a very reasonable price of £7 or £10 (including postage)

The fourth WFA President's Conference - 1915: A Year of Trial and Error

Dr. Peter Simkins – WFA President

From 27 June 2015 10:00 until 27 June 2015 17:00 At Tally Ho Conference Centre.

Birmingham

Doors open at 9.15

Five key speakers:

“The Breakthrough that never was: German Plans for an Offensive on the Western Front in 1915″

Dr Robert Foley

“The Worst Year: The French Army in 1915″ Dr Jonathan Krause

“The Trench Warfare Department 1914 – 1915″ John Sneddon

“Harsh Realities: The BEF’s Spring Offensives 1915″ Dr Spencer Jones

“The Battle of Loos: Planning, Execution and impact on the BEF’s Learning Process” Dr Nick Lloyd

There is a booking form on the next page. This is always a good day out, excellent speakers – and fine lunch included in the ticket price. Definitely an event not to be missed.

THE WESTERN FRONT ASSOCIATION

THE PRESIDENT’S CONFERENCE 2015

1915 A Year of Trial and Error

Booking Form

Please reserve me ___ places for the President’s Conference on 27 June 2015 at £30 per ticket. I enclose a cheque (payable to The Western Front Association) for £___ Name(s)______________________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________Post Code___________________ Phone Number_______________________________________ Email Address________________________________________ Date______________

Places will be available on a first come first served basis and will be confirmed by email (or by post if specifically requested).

Lunch will be provided (vegetarian options will be available).

Full refunds will only be made if cancellation requests are received by the WFA office prior to 30 May. After this date, no refunds will be made.

Car Parking is available on site.

Tea/Coffee available from 9.15am.

The first speaker will commence at 10.00am. The conference finishes at 5pm

The Address of the venue is: Tally Ho Conference Centre, Birmingham, B5 7RN.

The WFA reserves the right to change the speakers should circumstances dictate.

Any queries, please telephone the WFA Office on 0207 118 1914.

Please return this form and cheque to The Western Front Association,

BM Box 1914, London, WC1N 3XX

April Meeting Branch Chairman, Tony Bolton, opened the meeting in the unaccustomed location of the bar at the Chesterfield Labour Club, our normal upstairs room at the venue being unavailable due to the pending General Election. Once again it was good to see an excellent attendance. There being little in the way of `parish notices` we quickly moved to the main business of the evening, the presentation by Rob Thompson entitled- "Everything Bar the Shouting". As became apparent during the next couple of hours, Rob is the expert on BEF logistics and engineering on the Western Front. Rob is a larger than life character roaring up all leather clad on his motor bike to our venue. But any thoughts that he was a `hairy biker` were soon dispelled with an excellent, well illustrated presentation. For Rob, `Logistics` is a `sexy` subject and he began by posing the question `What is logistics ? Logistics, in the military sense is defined is the ways to provide all things necessary for war, to maintain an army in the field. He explained that you cannot divorce logistics from engineering, using examples like motor vehicles , use of which increased dramatically during the Great War, need maintaining. Roads, railways and other infrastructure need to be constructed and repaired. He cited the bitter example of a failure of logistics in Napoleon`s retreat from Moscow in 1812. Size in the Great War – really did matter. Prior to 1914 the biggest force employed in the field had been a division of approximately 18000 men – by 1918 the BEF had 60 divisions in the field. The scale of warfare had grown beyond all expectations as had the complexity, as the new technologies began to enter the fray. These demanded specialist units and formations well trained in the new weapons and systems. Warfare today eg Iraq was not that different from how it had developed by the time the Battle of Arras was fought in 1917. Here Rob made a well merited statement – do not confuse WW1 with WW2. In WW2 Britain had a small military role – a colossal moral one (particularly in 1940) whilst in WW1 Britain`s military role was massive. For example during WW2, in a 1000 bomber raid on Cologne around 1450 tonnes of bombs were dropped, at around 16 tons per minute for the duration of the raid. Compare that with the Battle of Messines in 1917 and average of 20 tons of shells were fired EVERY MINUTE – and the bombardment lasted for 5 DAYS ! at its peak or crescendo shells were being fired along an 8 mile front at a rate of 1 ton PER SECOND ! To give an idea of the expansion of the BEF involved, logistically, Rob, illustrated this quite graphically by comparing the number of sappers and drivers in 1914, with those in 1918. 1914 1918 Army Service Corps 14491 326000 Royal Engineers 24035 357000 Another figure which well illustrates the growth is that of miles of railway track constructed, in 1914 – ONE MILE; in 1918 – 1298 MILES !! War has become truly modern – logistics takes mass industrial processes and products to the battle zone. Even so, despite limited (and growing) mechanisation there was still great dependency on the horse. Rob used a startling example – in 1917 the 4th Canadian division had 4500 horses. To service these – excluding feed and tack – there was a requirement for 12000 tons of hard core (to create hardstanding for the horses); 1.5 tons of nails, 35 miles of fascines, 18000 iron horse shoes, 4000 wooden poles.....and 60 TRAINS to move that lot !! The mass modern war – The Great War was the first to be described thus therefore uses the Products, Processes and Ideas of Industry. The systems developed by manufacturing since the industrial revolution, the management of these, became interdependent with military command ie managers as well as commanders. To many of us `recycling` now seems to be a modern phenomenon but not, as Rob went on, in WW1. Salvaging equipment was very important, not just weapons, but things like shell cases, boxes and packing cases, all had to be collected and returned for remanufacturing in the case of the former or prepared for further use. All this to mitigate the Cost of the War.

At 2005 prices, the war was costing Great Britain £1,898, 000,000 PER DAY equivalent to £693,000,000,000 PER YEAR ! Now that he had established the what `logistics` was the importance to the BEF and the cost of the war to the country, Rob now switched his focus to the Development of Logistics from 1914 through to 1917. In 1914 – 15, logistically, the BEF was `muddling through`. The campaigns of 1914 had been relatively short, sharp actions with the year ending in trenchline deadlock. Ammunition used was 10 TIMES that anticipated, indeed more of EVERYTHING had been required, used or expended. There was some acknowledgement and the Royal Engineers numbers had increased, but then came the Battle of Loos and the subsequent shell shortage scandal, when at times there was only enough shells available to allow 4 rounds per gun per day. Although Sir John French had been constant in his appeals to Kitchener and the government for more ammunition for the guns – particularly high explosive – shrapnel was useless against entrenched forces – it wasn`t until Charles a Court Repington, a former British army officer, who was the war correspondent for The Times newspaper, exposed the scandal, that the British public became aware of the crises, which indirectly led to the fall of Asquith`s Liberal government and the formation of a coalition in May 1915. One of the first actions of the new government was to create a Ministry of Munitions, headed by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George. Army logistics was by now growing, incrementally, but there was still no rationality, it was obvious that there was a shortage of labour , but the army continued to resist the use of civilians. The came the Somme campaign of 1916, the first `blooding` of Kitchener`s New Armies. This time there was no shortage of ammunition but , particularly when the weather deteriorated, the `ad hoc `system hitherto being applied was found wanting and the whole system of supply started to collapse. Rural roads, of sealed chalk were not designed to carry army transport and thousands of men and deteriorated to the extent that they became impassable. The overloaded standard gauge railways too started to fall apart through lack of ballast. Indeed by October 1916, as the Battle of the Somme was winding down, there was a crisis of supply. At this point Rob became a tad controversial by saying that perhaps there could have be more success during the Somme campaign had the BEF been able to follow up (particularly with artillery) more effectively. Why not ?

Collapse of transport system

Roads overloaded and crumbling becoming gridlocked

Railways breaking down

Locomotives and rolling stock collapsing

All theses combinations resulting in shortages at the front. Then came Eric Campbell-Geddes, Deputy General Manager of the North Eastern Railway company. Originally brought into the Ministry of Munitions by David Lloyd George, he had been made responsible for small arms production, he established rational goals for rifles, light and heavy machine guns; production soared. They made many more automatic weapons than the army had requested. Shell production was also booming but they were not getting filled with explosive, Geddes was made responsible in December 1916; in six months the number of filled shells increased tenfold to two million per week. The filled shells piled up on French docks. Lloyd George, now Minister of War, persuaded Sir Douglas Haig, Commander of the BEF, to invite Geddes and his three-man team over for two days in August 1916 to advise on transportation. Haig was so impressed that the visit was extended to a month and then Geddes was appointed Director General of Military Railways and Inspector-General of Transportation with the rank of Major General. He and his team got the ports, roads and railways working efficiently and built light railways to bring materials to the front. Although some of the army did not like what they saw as civilians being directly in the war. There are those who argue that Geddes was the `man who won the war` What were the results ? – total transformation of the BEF system of supply. In 1916 that system was broken and could not maintain the resources required for any successful follow up during the Somme campaign. By 1917 the systems had been revolutionised and were able to support four major campaigns

Arras

Messines

Third Ypres

Cambrai

All of these changes and their effects raise two important questions.

1. What do soldiers do ?

2. What were `The Trenches`

Analysis shows that soldiers spent an average of 10-15 days per annum in the front line, but when not in the line were working – but not as soldiers.

Members of work parties, digging, wiring, loading, unloading – often just like their jobs back home

– with their officers as foremen or managers. A civilian war

All of this had a serious effect on the vital aspect of soldiering – TRAINING. If troops were digging, loading, on work party details to repair roads, lay railways etc – they were not TRAINING...and...by the time they had to go back into the line they were exhausted. The Trenches – these had the same function as a `City` - but of battlefield construction with a constant state of construction, repair, clearing debris, latrines etc. A civilian war. Rob then went on to describe the supply chain in detail Base depot – Regulating station – Railhead – Refilling Point – Advanced or Field Supply Depot – Battle zone Movement of Supplies and ammunition

Railway Operating Department (ROD)

Supplies moved from railheads by light railways

Divisional Supply Chain – horses & general service wagons

A Base Depot was capable of supplying the needs of 500,000 men and 150,000 horses A Regulating station was capable of clearing 50 trains per day The Railheads were as far forward as possible, but just of range of enemy artillery Advanced or Field Supply Depots – able to make up deficiencies in stocks and supplies to front line very quickly. Battle Zone – refilling points with final distribution controlled by a QMS. Rob then addressed some of the severe logistical issues encountered during 1917.

Devastation of battle zone – but supplies had still to get to the front

New battlefield tactics - `Bite and Hold` - Breakthrough not working

Consolidation of ground won – need to move artillery forward

Repeating the `bite and hold ` process – gains will `crack ` the enemy

Critical to keep moving the artillery forward to consolidate the gains

`Bite and Hold` depending on massive firepower but required massive supply capabilities

This massive firepower destroyed all roads – which had to be rebuilt if advances / consolidation had to be

maintained

Great demands on logistics and engineering.

By 1918 two thirds of the troops were spending most of their time on labour` duties, exacerbated by the German Spring Offensives which required construction of new defences. Again there was a manpower crisis which led to (as discussed previously) a reduction in training for the infantry. The demand on engineering and logistics was running out of control.

When the tide turned and the war moved into the last 100 days, commencing Amiens in August 1918, the BEF went on to the offensive. As they moved forward the Allies – by now including the United States Army – which had little or no logistical services of their own – they had to make good the devastation caused by their own assaults – otherwise they could not supply the troops at the front. Supplies in massive amounts – for example in the 24 hours prior to storming the Hindenburg Line 1 million shells were fired at the enemy. By now the BEF was unstoppable.......BUT....as the lines of communication became extended, the railways could not keep up, resulting in motor transport failing and roads crumbling. Horse team numbers and horse rations were reduced, the railheads were working at their ultimate limits. Here Rob made quite a profound statement. The armistice came as a logistical necessity for the Allies – they had reached their limit and supply shortages were becoming a critical factor – but this was something unknown to the Germans. What if........?? Rob wound up his excellent presentation by saying what phenomenal achievement was achieved by Logistics and Engineering, vital factors in prosecuting a successful industrial war – perhaps leading to a conclusion that these two elements were the most important `weapons` in the BEF`s armoury. The meeting concluded with a brisk Question and Answer session which Rob fielded with aplomb and a longer than normal evening ended with Branch Chairman Tony Bolton offering Rob a warm vote of thanks, responded to with enthusiasm by the members and friends present. In his presentation, Rob made extensive reference to the impact on the logistics and supply chain, the use of light railways had during the First World War on the Western Front. A few years ago my wife and I visited the Froissy Dompierre Light Railway (CFCD) a 600mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) light railway running from Frossy to Dompierre-Becquincpourt, through Cappy, in the Somme department. It is run as a heritage railway by APPEVA (Association Picarde pour la Préservation et l'Entretien des Véhicules Anciens) and is also known as P'tit Train de la Haute Somme. It is the last survivor of the 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) narrow gauge trench railways of the World War 1 battlefields. There is a small museum and in the visitor season you can ride on the little train out to Dompierre and back

In 1915, the French Army built a railway along the Somme canal between Peronne and Froissy. Between 1916 and 1918 the railway was at the Allied front line, and transporting 1,500 tonnes of materials daily. After the war, the railway was used in assisting with the reconstruction and also to bring food into the villages it served. New lines were laid including a zig-zag to reach the Santerre Plateau. The line was by this time being used for the transportation of sugar beet to the sugar refinery in Dompierre. The steam locomotives were retired from regular service in 1946 and replaced by three Plymouth loco-tracteurs. Some of the steam engines are on display in the fascinating museum and are occasional steamed on special enthusiasts days

Following the map is several pictures taken at the museum and on the railway

The Museum at Froissy

The `zig – zag` near Cappy

From the train – near Dompierre

The carriages which carry visitors today on the railway were constructed on the chassis of freight cars dating back to the conflict. An exhibition hall where many of the historical artifacts can be seen was opened at Froissy station in 1996. The railway rises 7 metres during the journey from Froissy to Dompierre, including the `zig zag` at Cappy which replaced a notorious tunnel. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Western Front Association - 34th Annual General Meeting and Conference

Tony Bolton (Chair) &Mark Macartney (Vice Chair) attended the WFA AGM and Conference 2015 at Salford University on Saturday 18th April 2015. This well organised event was opened by our President Peter Simkins MBE. It was great to meet up with the Trustees again and see other members whom we are getting to know well once again. Three speakers preceded the AGM, Bill Mitchinson on "Territorials in 1915", Mike Stedman on "The Salford Pals" and Rob Thomson on "Railways in the Great War" . Bill Mitchinson “Territorials in 1915” Bill opened his talk by stating that Peter Simkins had asked him to talk for 40 minutes on this subject, Bill`s response was “that`s impossible” but he did manage to stick roughly to the time schedule ! He covered the following points, different Territorial Divisions’, talked about how the West Lancs were 20% behind others, how the London Scottish were kept for burying corpse, 51st Highland used to divert Germans, (The Highland Division was a formation of the Territorial Force.) ... All available reserves were deployed to stop the Germans taking advantage of the initial surprise). 50th Northumberland were moved into an impossible task with devastating results.47th Div used, 46th Div never allowed to use the plan they wanted to use. Haig commented about some Territorial Units. Territorials available must be used as they were an “Army in existence”, Bill explained how men could joint up at the age of 17 but, they had to be 19 to serve on the front line, but OCs ignored this rule. A lively half hour question and answer session followed. Mike Stedman “The Salford Pals” Michael Stedman was born in Salford in 1949 some 240 yards from the building the AGM was being held in; he graduated from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne after which he became a school teacher in Manchester for 24 years. During the 1980's his first book, The Salford Pals, was published, followed in the early 1990's by The Manchester Pals. He moved to Worcester in 1994, subsequently devoting his time to many projects most of which centre on the Great War's history. Since 1995 he has written numerous books on the history of the Great War including,Thiepval, La Boisselle, Forecourt, Guillemont and Advance to Victory in the Battleground Europe Series as well as Great Battles of the Great War which accompanied a Tyne Tees / ITV series of the same name. He is married to a doctor, Yvonne, and has two sons. Mike explained that he is always aware of his Salford “roots”, saying Salford was known to many as the “slums”, which for young people made life difficult, (the non-desirables) Mike showed some photos of where the Salford Pals worked (including old slum lands) there were substantial coal mines in Salford, subsequently

they became hard good soldiers, Salford was a mining and engineering community, but as Mike explained Salford has been transformed over the last few decades, Going back to 1915 there were zero hour contracts, with men going went to the mine head looking for a day’s work. If nothing they were registered as unemployed for that day. The Salford Pals were officially the 15th and 16th, 19th and 20th (Service Battalions) of The Lancashire Fusiliers. The Pals Battalions were the brainchild of Lord Derby, allowing young men to serve with their friends, neighbours, work colleagues or even team mates. Mike showed photos and postcards of the “Salford Pals” In finalising Mike stated that many streets in Salford were named after men who served, and after a lively question and answer session a fantastic lunch was served in the Salford Museum Gallery. After lunch and with everybody “fed and watered” President Peter Simkins gave the “Presidents Address”, as the next speaker had not yet arrived. Rob Thompson “Railways of the First World War” A bit later than planned Rob started by saying WW1 was a “Mass Industrial War” (a War of Management and Administration) saying that the Railways were the “Premium Mobile” of Western Civilisation. (The Prime Mover). Pre war the Germans and French invested heavily in railways. Rob also commented on the BEF, covering France Railway planning and the BEF Supply chain. Railways had not totally broken down, but had not developed at the end of 1914, Britain and the BEF did have a long way to go. The British military generally being anti-civilians, whilst the Canadians were Railways Supremo’s on the Western Front. 1916 was the era of French Railways and motor transport. so Sir Eric Campbell Geddes was brought in, (Haig backed Geddes) and subsequently Geddes became one of the "men of push and go" brought into government service by Minister of Munitions David Lloyd George. Made responsible for small arms production, he established rational goals for rifles, light and heavy machine guns; production soared. They made many more automatic weapons than the army had requested. Shell production was also booming but they were not getting filled with explosive, Geddes was made responsible in December 1916; in six months the number of filled shells increased tenfold to two million per week. The filled shells piled up on French docks. Lloyd George, now Minister of War, persuaded Sir Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, to invite Geddes and his three-man team over for two days in August 1916 to advise on transport, Haig was so impressed that the visit was extended to a month and then Geddes was appointed Director General of Military Railways and Inspector-General of Transportation with the rank of Major General. Result: “a truly Integrated Transport System”. Concluding, the BEF on the Western Front had remarkable benefits because of Integration, use of civilian expertise and understanding all aspects of Transportation so essential to modern warfare. Although Rob ran over time a massive question and answer session followed. A productive AGM followed, quite a few points were covered and these will be published later. However, the main points were, recruitment of a Digital Editor, recruitment of a “paid” Administrator in Head office (was it properly advertised? Can we justify the Salary etc,) Guidance on starting up new branches and not encroaching onto other branches “catchment areas”. and finally a few presentations (including one to past Chairman Bruce Simpson), It was nice to see the presentation of awards to those who have worked so hard for the WFA in recent years, their support and hard work is very much valued and makes the association what it is today. Also during the course of the day Mark Macartney manned a table showing a display of some Branded Goods samples plus sold some WFA Publications. At about 1630 hrs with all formalities over everyone dispersed and went their separate ways. Mark Macartney

The Munitions Crisis - part 3

After the first rapid fluctuations of the war in the retreat from Mons and the advance from the Marne to the Aisne, the battlefront began to settle down, in September and October 1914, into that long line of entrenchments which came to characterise the Western Front . The utilisation of the 5.9 howitzer by the Germans as a field gun came as a surprise to the French and British alike. Its effect on the nerve of the troops could be shattering and made a large contribution to the break up of Allied resistance – particularly the French in the `War of the Frontiers` in the opening weeks of the conflict. Already the Allied forces had experienced the immense weight of the German artillery. The ability of the Germans to use, even when there was a war of movement heavy guns of a calibre far greater than employed by the British or French, or even thought about had been a revelation to the Allied military chiefs. The shallow trenches, scraped in the earth by retreating forces afforded little or no protection. On the other hand, when it came the turn of the Germans to retreat, they have greater numbers of engineers allocated to each division of battalion, dug deeper into the earth which made any bombardment by the light `field` guns – even the legendary `soixant quinze` of the French – quite ineffective. As the war thus passed to the stage of trench warfare the BEF quickly found that shrapnel shells were useless in trying to level parapets, destroy trenches and were ineffective in in destroying barbed wire entanglements. At that time the War office was supplying only shrapnel for the field guns and even for the field howitzers and 60 pounders, 70% was shrapnel. The few six inch howitzers, and the solitary 9.2 inch howitzer, which was sent out in October, fired high explosive but only a very limited supply of ammunition. By the first week in September 1914, GHQ in France was writing to von Donop, asking for supplies of High Explosive (H.E.) shells. This request was repeated almost on a weekly basis, indeed by the end of December GHQ was seeking the proportion of H.E. shells to be 50%. Amazingly, the War Office refused to supply this proportion, pleading that ”the nature of operations may again alter as they have done in the past”. This was in strak contrast to the French who announced at the end of October that they were giving up shrapnel to concentrate solely on H.E. But even more serious than the failure of a supply of H.E. was the general shortage of shells of any kind whatever. By mid September, Sir John French was messaging the War Office begging for increased supplies of shells but the only response he was getting was that they were sending what they could. French`s telegrams became increasingly desperate in tone of the next months but seemed to have little effect, indeed one reply (October 17th) said `With reference to your recent message, I am commanded by your Army Council to point out that have provided replenishments in almost every case fully up to the quantities of gun ammunition which were laid down before the war”. A further correspondence from Sir John French to Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War warning of the shortage of gun ammunition and the grave impact it was happening on operations solicited a response which ended “.......You will of course see to it that economy is practised....”. Throughout the last two months of the year Sir John French continued to bombard the War Office and Lord Kitchener with his anxious demands for shells of every calibre. Unfortunately, at this time, members of the Cabinet saw none of this correspondence and knew nothing of their existence. It was perhaps not obvious at first as to how vital this question of munitions had become, or how grave a situation was developing. The eyes of the nation during those early months were set more on the spectacular massing of manpower and the enrolment for the first million for the New Army. Indeed this public attitude caused an accentuation of the difficulty, for vast numbers of highly skilled workers whose technical ability was of the first importance for increasing the output of munitions, were swept by the torrent of public enthusiasm or driven by the indiscriminate taunts of their neighbours into the ranks of the recruits. In September, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, had urged the appointment of a special Committee of Cabinet to look at the question of guns, shells and rifles. At first Lord Kitchener resisted so strongly that the Cabinet turned down this suggestion, such was the awe in which he was held

by the politicians. Eventually, however, pressure prevailed and the committee whose remit was to examine the question of supplies of munitions was formed. This committee consisted of, Secretary of State for War – Lord Kitchener The Lord Chancellor – Lord Haldane Chancellor of the Exchequer – David Lloyd George First Lord of The Admiralty - Winston Churchill The Home Secretary – Reginald McKenna President of the Board of Trade – Walter Runciman President of the Board of Agriculture – Lord Lucas *

Lord Lucas served as a captain in the Royal Flying Corps and was killed in action over the German lines 3rd November 1916, aged 40. He had previously lost a leg whilst a war correspondent in the Boer War.

This committee met six times between October 1914 and January 1915 and did take the initiative in some of the more important questions of policy and procedure. It had become apparent that with respect to the manufacturing of munitions, the French had been, from the onset of the war more assertive and sensible in planning for the supply of guns, shells etc. The French, as soon as war broke out, called engineers and manufacturers together in order to make the best available use of all factories and workshops capable of assisting in government work. The great difficulty was shortage of skilled workmen, because at the time of mobilisation no thought had been given to this necessity and all of military service age, not then actually engaged in munition work, had gone to the front. The French government was now doing its utmost to get them back and, whilst substantial numbers had been recalled, there had been the inevitable losses, death, wounding, POWs etc. In Britain the return of essential and pivotal skilled men who had been drafted either into the Territorials or Kitchener`s Armies was not seriously taken in hand until after the formation of the Ministry of Munitions in May 1915. Again, like France many of these workers were already casualties of the conflict. In spite of the subsequent recommendations of this Cabinet Committee that it was advisable to mobilise the engineering resources of the country more fully for the production of munitions, the War Office continued to adhere to its dependence upon the established armament firms. Of course , by this time any thought that the war would be `over by Christmas` was long gone, indeed on 4th December 1914, Lord Kitchener, in a rare press interview suggested that the war would last for a further three years. The failure to realise the scale of warfare to which Britain was now committed and the corresponding scale of armament and munition output that would be required was characteristic of the War Office during those early months. In December it became apparent that the deliveries of gun ammunition promised by the main contractors were not coming forward, it was inferred that the scheme of production was at fault. The contractors estimates had been too optimistic and their sub contractors had broken down over unforeseen difficulties. These failures, were taken by the War Office to be proof of the soundness of their contention that the technical difficulties of armament work were likely to defeat the inexpert manufacturer and could only be tackled by the established firms. Accordingly the War Office enlisted the aid of the Board of Trade for a scheme to transfer skilled workers from other engineering companies in the country to established munitions works. In regards to its intended object, this scheme was fiasco, it had the effect, not foreseen by its originators, of helping to break down the War Office policy of dealing exclusively with their traditional sources of supply. Another useful action of the board of Trade was that the Master-General of Ordnance (von Donop) was persuaded to sanction a proposal that firms should be

informed through the Labour Exchanges that they might make requests for contracts for army supplies, subject to having been inspected and found to be capable of the task in hand. However, despite these `efforts` no substantive progress was made with the harnessing of the full engineering resources of the nation. On 9th January 1915 a memorandum was issued to the GHQ of the BEF by Lord Kitchener, stating the ammunition position at that date, with a frankness which must have had a discouraging effect upon the Commander in Chief and his army in France. “It is impossible at the present time to maintain a sufficient supply of gun ammunition on the scale which you consider necessary for offensive operations......the result is still far from being sufficient to maintain the large number of guns which you now have under your command adequately supplied with ammunition for offensive operations.....” Neither this memorandum nor its purpose was communicated to the cabinet. It was not merely a question at that time of supplying a sufficiency of shells for an offensive, but enough to rply to the German bombardment of the BEF`s trenches. Throughout January and February the burden of telegrams from GHQ to the Master-General of Ordnance is continually , “Stock of shells is very low”; “Amount received much below expectation” ; On January 15th the Cabinet Committee held its last meeting and subsequently ceased to exist, with the Board of Trade now supposed to be functioning entirely in the direction of organising the country`s engineering skill. What is fact was happening was the Board of Trade now carrying out the flawed War Office policy of transferring skilled workers from factories not engaged in war work to the already overloaded traditional armaments firms. On Friday March 5th, at 10 Downing Street, aconference was held, chaired by Mr Asquith, the Prime Minister and attended by Lord Kitchener, David Lloyd George, General von Donop, Reginald McKenna, Lord Crewe, Sir George Gibb and Sir George Askwith. The inadequate supply of rifles was raised – many of the new army recruits were being trained without weapons. Kitchener and Von Donop seemed satisfied that by the beginning of 1916 two million rifles would be available – but that still left a massive shortfall given that Parliament had voted to raise armies of three million men . The conference decided that an investigation should be set in motion to find out what machinery was lying idle which could produce war materials. Four days after this conference, 9th March 1915, a Bill was laid before the House of Commons to amend and extend the Defence of the Realm Act (D.O.R.A.). This the third D.O.R.A Act extended the power of control so as to enable the Government to take and use any factory or workshop to control its processes and output, to remove its plant elsewhere if necessary, to commander empty premises for the housing of workmen engaged on war work and to annul any contracts which could impede firms carrying out the production of war material. The Bill passed without any division or challenge. The Ordnance Department could not complain that they were not equipped with the fullest powers to make the best use of the manufacturing capacity of the country. Again, however, there appeared no eagerness on their part to exploit these new powers by setting works outside of the established ring of armaments manufacturers. Again the Prime Minister intervened, calling a meeting of the War Council and setting up another Committee to deal with these questions. This committee did not meet with the satisfgaction of Lord Kitchener and he wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting that the Committee should be subjected to a variety of strict limitations – in short Kitchener wanted it to be a quite powerless body. Despite discussions Kitchener could not agree to the Committee having executive powers. To be continued

Salient Snippet – Royal Engineers Grave – Railway Wood

Location Information

R.E. Grave, Railway Wood is located on the Oude Kortrijkstraat 4 Kms east of Ypres town centre, on a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ypres to Menen. FromYpres town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg. 3 Kms along the Meenseweg lies the left hand turning onto the Begijnenbosstraat. 1 Km along the Begijnenbosstraat is the right hand turning onto Oude Kortrijkstraat. The cemetery itself is located 500 metres along the Oude Kortrijkstraat on the right hand side of the road.

Visiting Information

Visitors should note there is a small grassed access path to this site which is unsuitable for vehicles. A little further along the track towards Bellewaarde Farm is situated the Liverpool Scottish Memorial. This memorial was erected in July 2000 and it is clearly visible just inside the woodland when viewing Bellewaarde Ridge from R.E. Grave. This memorial is not a CWGC responsibility.

Historical Information

The R.E. Grave marks the spot where eight Royal Engineers of the 177th Tunnelling Company and four attached infantrymen were killed in action underground during the defence of Ypres between November 1915 and August 1917. The grave takes the form of a small enclosure with a Cross of Sacrifice bearing a dedicatory inscription and the names of those buried there. The grave was designed by A J H Holden

From a Great War Nurse`s Scrapbook

Western Front Association Chesterfield Branch – Meetings 2015

Meetings start at 7.30pm and take place at the Labour Club, Unity House, Saltergate, Chesterfield S40 1NF

January 6th AGM Charles Beresford - "Great War Clergymen with Crown and Star". Charles presents his research into ordained men who rose to battalion command.

February 3rd Dr Simon Peaple - "Hohenzollern Redoubt - 1915". Simon presents a view of the struggle for the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Loos, in which 46th Division suffered so badly.

March 3rd Peter Hart - "The French at Gallipoli". Peter looks at that little known aspect of the Gallipoli campaign – our allies.

April 14th Rob Thompson - "Everything Bar the Shouting". Rob is the expert on BEF logistics and engineering on the Western Front, and gives an overview on these essential tasks.

May 12th Edwin Astill - "Lieutenant to Brigadier General: Alexander Johnston". Johnston rose from Signal Officer, through Brigade-Major to CO 10th Cheshire, and briefly GOC 126 Brigade before wounding. Edwin presents this interesting officer’s life through his diaries.

June 2nd Professor Stephen Badsey - "British Cavalry on the Western Front". An account of the cavalry's organisation, development and value.

July

7th

Dr John Sneddon - "Bombay Sappers and Miners at Neuve Chapelle 1914". An overview of the Battle of La Bassee and the Indian attempt to recapture Neuve Chapelle.

August 4th Aimée Fox-Godden - "'Hopeless inefficiency?' - Brigade staff in operations, 1916-1918". Aimee examines how brigade staff training and performance evolved, using battle studies to explode the myth that staff sat behind the lines.

September 8th Bill Fulton - "The Machine Gun Corps 1915-1922". Bill gives an account of the formation and function of the MGC.

October 6th David Thompson - "Gas, Gas, Gas! - The Legacy of 22 April 1915". Davis considers the consequences for the war of the first use of gas.

November 3rd Dr Scott Lindgren - "A Series of Unfortunate Events - Coronel 1914". 101 years ago the German East Asia Squadron met a small squadron of RN cruisers. The British lost heavily. Scott looks at why.

December 1st Sean Godfrey - "Disaster at Hooge - July 1915". Sean examines the life and death of a group of British soldiers in the flamethrower attack at Hooge and the British counter-attack.