Died of wounds after being on front line against Turks
THROUGHOUT the centenary of the First World War, we have been remembering the soldiers from the Loughborough area who lost their lives while serving their country. Here, with the help of Marigold Cleeve and a small number of researchers from the Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum, we look back at more of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in May 1918.
Frederick Walter Moss
Frederick Walter Moss was born in 1894 in Loughborough and baptised, when he was aged sixteen, on 22nd March 1911 at St. Mary-in-theElms Church, Woodhouse, Leicestershire.
Frederick was the eldest surviving son of Walter Harley Moss and his wife Kate (née Cragg) who were married in Loughborough in 1891. Frederick’s father was a butcher and farmer.
In 1901 the Moss family lived at 4 Moor Lane, but by 1911 had moved to Parks Farm, Nanpantan.
Between 1911 and 1918 they moved again, this time to Moat Farm. Frederick had one brother Alec; another brother Harley died in infancy.
Frederick won a County Scholarship to Loughborough Grammar School and attended the school between 1908 and 1913.
His obituary in The Loughburian later noted that ‘He was too shy and retiring to take a prominent part in the life of the school but he was very thoughtful and always showed a strong sense of duty’.
In October 1913 Frederick went up to Jesus College, Cambridge, having won an open mathematical scholarship to the university, together with the Somerville Exhibition. In 1915 he gained a First Class in Part I of the Mathematical Tripos in 1915 and proceeded to his degree in Part II in 1916.
As soon as he graduated Frederick enlisted and joined the Suffolk Regiment as Private 34555. He received his commission in April 1917 and was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant with the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment on 27th April 1917.
In May 1917 he joined the 8th Leicesters in Berles-auBois where the battalion was receiving training in musketry and tactical schemes as well as taking part in brigade sports.
On 1st June the battalion marched to huts in Hamelincourt for additional training in bombing and rifle grenades and field exercises until 7th June.
On the night of 7th/8th the battalion went into the trenches in the Hindenburg Line. From there they attacked the enemy on 15th June but were compelled to withdraw.
They remained in the front line until 19th June when they returned to camp at Hamelincourt. A period of rest at Blairville then lasted until 1st July, after which the battalion returned to Hamelincourt.
On 9th July 1917 the battalion was in the trenches near Croisilles before going into Brigade Reserve. After one more front line trench tour at Croisilles the battalion moved to Camp A at Moyenville for eight days training.
Following this the battalion was in brigade support in the forward area until 17th August when it moved to a hutment camp in Ervillers for training.
On 25th August the battalion moved by motor bus to Barly and from there, on the following day, marched to Ambrines. Two further periods of training followed, firstly at Ambrines and then at Avesnes-le-Comte.
On 16th September the battalion marched to Savy, entrained for Caestre and went into camp for more training. On 23rd September the battalion began a series of moves, firstly to Meteren, then by bus to Hallebast before marching to Sint Hubertushoek and from there to Ridge Wood south-west of Ypres.
On 30th September they moved up to the front line at Polygon Wood.
On 1st October the enemy attacked the 9th Leicesters who were nearby and got possession of their front line.
The 8th Leicesters went to assist but the enemy made repeated attacks. Counterattacks were hit by a heavy enemy barrage in the neighbourhood of Joist Farm.
On the night of the 2nd/3rd October the battalion was relieved and marched to Scottish Wood Camp. On 4th October the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Leicesters were amalgamated because of their high casualty rate.
On 5th October the combined battalion moved to railway dugouts at Zillebeke and on 7th they went into the front line. The weather was very wet and the men suffered severely in the open trenches and shell holes.
Relieved on 11th October the battalion moved to Anzac Camp where the combined battalion was restored to two units.
On 12th October the 8th Battalion entrained at Ouderdom station for Ebblinghem and marched to Le Croquet. From here three days later the battalion moved by motor lorry to the Gheluvelt area on the Menin Road for six days of cable trench digging.
The men worked under heavy hostile barrages, moving to and from the area under shellfire. Between 17th and 22nd October 86 Ordinary Ranks were killed, wounded or went missing.
Five days at Camp A, Kruistraat crossroads, for reorganisation and training followed, after which the battalion went into Brigade Reserve in railway dugouts south-west of Zillebeke Lake to work on cable trenches.
While moving into the front line on the night of 3rd/4th November the battalion suffered heavy casualties from a hostile gas shell bombardment and were withdrawn to Divisional Reserve at Camp A.
Between 9th and 16th November the battalion completed another front line trench tour as well as four days in the support trenches at Zillebeke Bund.
On 17th November they began a six-day march from Pioneer Camp near Scottish Wood to Coupigne for five days cleaning and reorganisation, and then marched to Monchy Breton.
On 30th November the battalion was suddenly ordered to entrain at Savy for Cambrai in order to reinforce the line there on account of a large scale German attack.
From Courcelles on 1st December the battalion moved into the support line and into the front line on the following day. Four more trench tours took up most of December and in between tours the battalion concentrated on improving the village defences of Epehy with barbed wire entanglements.
From Epehy, on 4th January 1918, the battalion moved back to Middlesex Camp, Heudecourt, in Brigade Reserve. Between 11th and 20th January the battalion was in training at Haut Allaines and working on wiring and tunnelling at Saulcourt.
Two more trench tours in bad weather when the sides of the trenches kept falling in completed the month.
February 1918 included trench tours at Epehy, ten days at Noislains for training, digging a fire trench near Gurlu Wood, work on new aerodromes at Cartigny and near Nurlu and digging the main line of defence near Pezière.
In early March it became clear that the enemy was preparing for a large-scale attack.
On 21st March the Germans opened their Spring Offensive, advancing in formation and accompanied by a bombardment of every description.
The battalion, still in the neighbourhood of Epehy, suffered heavy casualties on the front line between 21st and 23rd March. Despite renewed efforts to counter the enemy the battalion was forced into retreat via Peronne, Clery, Bresle and Vadencourt to Allonville.
At the beginning of April the battalion entrained at St. Roche, Amiens, for Hopoutre, bound once more for the Ypres Salient.
After six days in various rest camps the battalion was ordered into close reserve at Torr Top and Canada Tunnels, moving to the front line on 13th April.
On the 15th April, they were ordered to withdraw to Forrestor Camp, by the Ypres-Kruistraathoek road.
On the evening of 18th April the battalion took over a line of posts and in spite of enemy attacks, maintained a defensive flank until the end of the month.
Relieved on 1st May the battalion marched via Buysscheure to Wizernes, where on 5th May they entrained for Serzy-Savigny. Training then took place at Aougny until 12th May.
Between 13th and 15th May the battalion proceeded via Pevy to D Camp, Chalons-de-Vergeur, east of Bouvancourt. The battalion remained here in training until 19th May.
At some point around this time, in April or May 1918, Frederick was attached to the 98th Field Coy of the Royal Engineers which had similarly spent April on the Ypres Salient, and had now returned to the area of the Aisne/ Marne.
When the 3rd Battle of the Aisne began on 27th May part of the 98th Field Coy of the Royal Engineers was dismounted and attached to infantry manned battle positions northwest of Hermonville.
These positions came under a heavy gas and high explosive shell attack from the enemy. Relieved by the French in the evening the men moved to the line at Champignonnières.
Here, on 28th May, the Company was again heavily bombarded and forced to withdraw.
Frederick aged 24, was killed on 28th May 1918 and his body was never found.
Frederick is commemorated on the Soissons Memorial, Aisne. He is also remembered on the memorial at Loughborough Grammar School, the memorial at Jesus College, Cambridge, and on the Carillon.
Reginald Wells
Reginald Wells was born in Westbury, Somerset, in the spring of 1897 and baptised at St. Botolph’s Church, Shepshed, on 3rd October 1897.
He was the son of Fred Wells, a coachman, and his wife Alice (née Ash) who were married in Kensington, London, in 1891.
At the time Reginald was baptised his parents were living at Garendon Lodge, near Loughborough.
By 1901 his mother was living with Reginald, his brother Frederick and sister Edith at 33 Old King Street, Loughborough, and working as a charwoman.
By 1911 his mother had moved to 2 Queen Street. What happened to Reginald’s father after 1897 is unknown.
Reginald was a member of the Emmanuel Church Lads Brigade and Bible Class and of the old Emmanuel Football Club.
Reginald enlisted in December 1914 and joined the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 40682. His service record has not survived but it seems likely that he was initially posted to the 2/4th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as it is known that he was sent to Ireland.
The 2/4th Battalion was formed at Leicester in September 1914 as a second line unit. It became part of 2nd Lincoln and Leicester Brigade, 2nd North Midland Division.
In January 1915 it moved to Luton and by July 1915 was at St Albans and in August 1915 became the 177th Brigade, 59th (2nd North Midland) Division.
In April 1916 it moved to Ireland to help deal with the Easter Uprising, returning to Fovant, Hampshire, in January 1917
On 24th February the battalion left Fovant Camp for Southampton and crossed the Channel to Le Havre. After a day’s rest the battalion proceeded to Pont du Metz and from there to Fouencamps, Somme.
On 1st March they moved to No. 59 Camp, Bayonvillers for four days rest before transferring via Foucacourt to the reserve trenches at Belloy and up to the front line on 11th March.
By 17th March the enemy had retreated and the battalion occupied former German trenches. Between 21st and 20th March the battalion moved via Foucacourt, Eterpigny, Mesnil and Cartigny to Hamelet to support the 5th Leicesters in an attack on Hesbecourt and Hervilly. On 2nd April the battalion attempted to attack Fervaque Farm but found it too heavily wired. Moving on to Roisel they took over the line from Margicourt to Fervaque Farm and down to Grand Priel Woods, gradually pushing the line forward.
Relieved on 19th April the battalion went to billets in Bernes until 28th April when they went to the support line from Le Verguier to north of Pieumel Woods. In May the battalion completed three trench tours, two in the front line near Ascension Farm and one in support north of Le Verguier, with nine days rest at Bias Wood camp.
A further five days rest at Desssart Wood camp were followed by a front line trench tour at Villers-Plouich and four days in support at Gouzeaucourt Wood in June, after which the battalion rested in tents at Equancourt until 1st July.
July began with the battalion in the front and support lines at Equancourt and then in support at Metz. On 10th July the battalion was
relieved and marched to Barastre, south-east of Arras, for Divisional training and sports until 22nd August. On 22nd August the battalion moved by route march and bus to Senlis where training continued until 31st August. After Senlis there were three more weeks training at Winnezeele before the battalion transferred to the Poperinghe area on 20th September.
On 24th September the battalion moved into the Ypres North sector of the front to support the Staffordshire Regiment. On 25th September two companies of the 2/4th Battalion were in the front line, one company was in support and one was providing carrying parties. On 26th September an attack was launched on the enemy in the Battle of Polygon Wood (a phase of the 3rd Battle of Ypres, or Passchendaele).
The enemy responded with a barrage of fire and all-day shelling. On the 27th September the battalion relieved the 4th and 5th Lincolns in the front line and extended the frontage by 300 yards.
Although the Germans counter-attacked they were held off, but persisted with another two-day heavy barrage.
When the battalion was relieved on 30th September casualties numbered 175. On 1st October the battalion began a twelve day move from Vlamertinghe to Thiennes by train, by bus and march to Beaumetz, then route march via Dieval, Houdain and Gouy Servins to Souchez. Reorganisation and some training took place on rest days during the move.
Trench tours in the Avion sector followed, with battalion headquarters at Lens Canal. Training took place at Gouy-Servins until 28th October when the battalion moved to Lievin by the Decauville railway. November included a front line trench tour, when the battalion was trench mortared by the enemy, and training at Chateau de la Haie and Bailleulval.
On 23rd November the battalion entrained at Achiet-le-Grand for Fins and camped in Dessart Wood before marching to Flesquières and La Justice.
At some point in November Reginald was wounded and did not return to the front until about April 1918.
When Reginald returned to the front he was posted to the 11th (Service) Battalion (Midland Pioneers) of the Leicestershire Regiment. Pioneer battalions were created to provide the Royal Engineers with skilled labour for building roads and trenches, but they were still fighting soldiers.
The exact date when Reginald joined the 11th Battalion is unknown but the battalion received drafts of reinforcements during April and May 1918 and Reginald could have been in any one of these drafts.
On 1st April 1918 the 11th Battalion was at Ryveld, west of Steenvoorde, training. On 3rd April the battalion marched to Remu Siding, proceeded by light railway to Hellfire Corner and were billeted at White Chateau.
From 5th-14th April most of the battalion was working on the forward roads while two platoons garrisoned Anzac and Frezenburg posts. On 15th April the battalion was ordered to withdraw to a line east of Ypres, with billets at Carbine Camp.
From 16th April to the end of May the men worked on trench construction and wiring and construction of posts. Several times the battalion was ordered to ‘stand to’ on the Vlamertinghe-Hallebast line.
After Carbine Camp was shelled on 29th April the men moved to Hollis Camp, Brandhoek.
In May the battalion was constructing more trenches and posts and laying duckboards in the Zillebeke area as well as demolishing and clearing Carbine Camp.
On 16th and 20th May some men were affected by enemy gas shelling. On 21st May the battalion was hit by shellfire. It is likely that Reginald was wounded on one of these days.
Reginald, aged 21, died from wounds on 22nd May 1918.
He was buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Grave XXVIII. H. 9. He is remembered on the memorial in Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, and on the Carillon.
Frederick Hall
Frederick Hall was born in Loughborough in late 1888. He was one of fourteen children born to John Hall (known as ‘Jack’) and his wife Mary Ann (née Bowley) who were married in Loughborough in 1874.
Only nine of the Hall children survived infancy; Frederick’s brothers were Charles, Edwin, George and Arthur, and his sisters were Sarah, Ellen, Gertrude and Edith.
Their father Jack Hall was a coal cart labourer who subsequently became a labourer in night soil for Loughborough Council.
In 1891 the family lived at 8 Steeple Row, Loughborough. By 1901 they had moved to 6 Court C, Bridge Street.
In 1908 they lived in Moor Lane and by 1911 had moved again to 27 Moira Street.
From his teenage years onwards Frederick, who became a labourer, was often in trouble.
Between 1900 and 1913 he appeared in court nine times for offences including assault, stealing, gaming in Packe Street on a Sunday, and poaching.
In his earlier court appearances he was fined various amounts but as he grew older the sentences included fourteen days hard labour and three weeks in prison.
On 5th June 1911 Frederick married Daisy Yeomans at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, and their only son Frederick was born on 20th November that same year.
Frederick, Daisy and baby Frederick went to live at 78 Wellington Street, Loughborough.
Frederick enlisted at Loughborough on 22nd June 1915 and joined the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 21735.
On 24th July 1915 he was posted to the 6th (Service) Battalion. After some initial training he was re-posted on 24th December 1915 to the 10th (Reserve) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment at Rugeley Camp, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire.
In early 1916 he was disciplined twice for being absent without leave and shortly after the second occasion, he was posted to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.
Frederick embarked on H.T. Persic at Devonport on 17th February 1916 and arrived at Basra in the Persian Gulf on 21st March.
He then travelled up the Tigris to join the 2nd Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, reaching them on 3rd April.
The 2nd Battalion was in the area of Hanna and the Dujaila Redoubt and still making attempts to relieve the Siege of Kut.
On 5th April, there was a heavy bombardment on the enemy’s position on both banks of the Tigris and the enemy retired to Fallahiya and then Sannaiyat.
Frederick, who had been with the 2nd Leicesters for only two days, was part of a night march in massed formation on the enemy’s new position.
As dawn broke on 6th April the troops came under withering fire from the enemy. This continued throughout the whole day and Frederick was wounded in action.
Frederick was transported back to Basra and on 10th April put on board the H. T. Elephanta to be taken to hospital in or near Bombay. He recovered but did not immediately return to Mesopotamia. On 4th June 1916 he was sent to Belgaum, where at the time there was an internment camp housing Ottoman prisoners of war as well as well as German and Austrian internees, and Frederick was probably employed there.
Frederick eventually left Belgaum, sailing from Bombay on 20th January 1917, reaching Basra on 28th January, and travelling up the Tigris again to join the 2nd Leicesters.
In December 1916 the Tigris Corps had begun a long offensive operation with the purpose of dislodging the enemy from the right bank of the Tigris and severing the enemy’s communication channels.
By 18th December the Tigris Corps had extended their grip on the Turkish defences and had cut in opposite Kut between the outer Turkish defences and the west of the Hai, while simultaneously bombarding Sannaiyat.
Frederick rejoined the 2nd Leicesters in early February 1917, just in time to take part in the capture of Sannaiyat, south of Kut, on 17th February. By the end of February 1917 Kut was reoccupied by the Tigris Corps and the final push towards Baghdad began.
On 4th March Frederick’s battalion marched to Shargy and on the following day to Azizieh. Bawi was reached on the morning of the 8th March and the battalion was ordered to proceed towards Baghdad on the night of the 8th March.
A halt was made at 6.00am on 9th at the Shawa ruins and one hour later the enemy began to shell the advancing troops.
Baghdad was entered on 11th March. On 8th April Balad Station was successfully taken, thus securing the line from Balad to Sidigharib. After Harba was taken on 9th April the Turks fell back to Istabulat.
On 21st April the Tigris Corps was ordered to attack Istabulat. General Maude wrote in his despatch of 15th October 1917 ‘ The assault was delivered in dashing style by the Leicesters supported by the 51st Sikhs and the 56th Rifles’ and the Ottomans withdrew on 22nd, being forced also to surrender the Summarrah rail yard the following day.
On 30th April 1917 Frederick was admitted to the British Base hospital in Basra, suffering from nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
On 8th May he was discharged to No. 1 Base Depot, Magil. He rejoined the 2nd Leicesters in the field on 30th May.
There were now five months of hot weather during which active campaigning was impractical and the battalion spent the greater part of the summer camping in and around Samarah by the Tigris.
Here there was a liberal supply of water for drinking, bathing and washing and training and sports were organised during the cooler parts of the day.
In the early morning of November 1st the Leicesters were back in action driving the Turkish force out of Daur. On 5th November Tekrit was captured and the Ottoman forces went into further retreat.
After this the battalion was withdrawn to Samarah, remaining here for the rest of its time in Mesopotamia. The British Government now decided to send the battalion to Egypt.
On 8th December the battalion marched via Istabulat, Balad, Sumaikcha, Kermeah, Husaiwa and Baghdad to Hinaidi, where they remained until 18th December. They then embarked on river steamers and sailed for Magil where they remained until New Year’s Day 1918.
From Magil they embarked on the hired transport ships Bandra, Rossetti and Hyperia and set sail. On 3rd January, however, the three ships came to anchor somewhere off the mouth of the Tigris and the men were transferred to the Minnetonka and the Mutlah and on 8th January the voyage was resumed.
The ships reached Suez on 22nd January and the battalion travelled by train to a camp at Ismailia on the Suez Canal. The 2nd Leicesters remained at Ismailia until nearly the end of March engaged in training of all kinds. They left Ismailia on 28th March and reached Kantara a day later and then entrained for Ludd.
On April 2nd they moved forward to a coastal sector of the line from near Tel-elMukhmar to Arsuf. On 16th April they moved to the front line and came in contact with the enemy.
During the ten days or more the battalion was in the front line the Turks were unusually aggressive.
Following a period in Brigade reserve the battalion went into the attack on 29th May.
The precise point at which Frederick was wounded is not recorded on his service papers but he died of his wounds, aged 30, in Jaffa on 29th May 1918.
He was buried in Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel, Grave K. 46.
Frederick’s wife was remarried to William Burns at the end of 1918.
Her ‘Separation allowance’ while her first husband was serving in the Army had been stopped on 8th January 1918 ‘on account of her infidelity to her husband’.
An allowance for Frederick and Daisy’s son continued to be paid, but to Daisy’s mother, Mrs. Yeomans, of 17 Cross Street, Loughborough.