On
Little wonder then, perhaps, that 30th
June has slipped past largely unnoticed for the last eighty-nine years. Yet
that day held great significance for the people of
“The day
Between the towns of
Bethune and
The Battle of the Boar’s Head, Richebourg l’Avoue, was planned
as a diversionary action to make the German Command believe that this area of
the Pas de Calais was the one chosen for the major offensive of 1916. The
intention was to prevent the Germans from moving troops to the
British troops had
been fighting in the area since 1914. The 2nd and 5th
Battalions of The Royal Sussex, had fought at Richebourg
during the Battle of Aubers Ridge, in May 1915, and
in June of 1916 came the turn of the three Southdowns
Battalions, which together formed the 116th (Southdowns)
Brigade of the 39th Division, which had arrived in France on March 5th,
1916, taking over trenches in the Fleurbaix sector on
March 20th.
On the 11th of June, the three
Battalions went to the Divisional Reserve, being billeted around Locon, and commenced training for an attack (though this
was still only a rumour). On June 16th they returned to the front
line trenches in the Ferme du
Bois area near Richebourg, holding the line until
June 23rd, when news was received that the 39th Division were
to make an attack on the Boar’s Head, a salient of the German lines, and that
the 116th Brigade, the Southdowners, had
been chosen to lead the attack. Further training followed. A replica of the
battlefield had been built behind the lines, but the battalions had only days,
not weeks, to consider it.
Initial plans had been that the 11th
Battalion should lead the attack, with the 12th on their right, and
the 13th in reserve. At the time that these orders were received,
Lieutenant Colonel Harman Grisewood, was the
Commanding Officer of the 11th (1st Southdowns).
Grisewood had lost his brother George, the Adjutant
of the 11th Battalion until March 1916, who died of illness, his
obituary says of pneumonia, though Neville Lytton
states meningitis, at Merville on March 27th
1916. His death had deeply affected Colonel Grisewood,
who, it is said, on seeing the plans, was concerned that if his untried troops
attacked over unfamiliar ground a disaster might result, and is said to have informed
his brigade commander
" I am not sacrificing
my men as cannon-fodder!" [1]
Needless to say the attack had to go in, but the
Divisional Commander, Major General R. Dawson, aware of Grisewood’s
comments, was concerned that this might be passed down to the men of the 11th
Battalion, and so the roles of the 11th and 13th Battalions
were reversed.
According
to a letter from Col. Grisewood to Captain Neville Lytton, Grisewood was told to “clear
off at once”.
Colonel Grisewood was succeeded by Major G H Harrison (the regular
soldier).
Grisewood’s second brother
Francis was to become a casualty of the Boar’s Head.
In
consequence it was the 12th and 13th Battalions, with
half the 11th supplying carrying parties, who made final
preparations on 29th June, then assembled in the trenches of the Richebourg sector in the early hours of 30th
June for the forthcoming attack, which was designed to “bite off the German
position known as the Boar’s Head”, making the Germans believe that the real
offensive was here, not the Somme.
At
In his
history of the regiment Martineau writes:
“The records of one battalion are liable
to be more eloquent than those of another. Yet, with the Southdown Brigade in
Thus, the 11th
Battalion, while supplying carrying-parties for the 12th and 13th
on the day of the Richebourg and Ferme
du Bois assault, sustained 116 casualties in this
service alone. The 12th
Battalion, assembling in the front line at Ferme du Bois, while the artillery bombarded the enemy trenches,
attacked at
Naturally it could
not last. The Germans were ready. There
is even a story that one man brought back a notice in English, announcing:
“Come on,
A heavy barrage on the front line and
communication trenches prevented reinforcements from being sent forward, the
supply of bombs and ammunition gave out, and the valiant survivors were
compelled to withdraw. The Battalion’s 429 casualties included 17 officers.”
The War Diary of the 13th Battalion gives a more
detailed account of the attack
“FERME DU BOIS. The battalion assembled at
The
preliminary bombardment on the morning of the attack opened at 2.50 am., and at 3.05 the leading wave of the battalion
scaled the parapet, the remainder following at 50 yards interval. At the same
time the flank attack under Lts. Whitley and Ellis
gained a footing in the enemy trench. The passage across NO MAN’S LAND was
accomplished with few casualties except in the left companies, which came under
very heavy machine gun fire.
The two
right companies succeeded in reaching their objective, but the two left
companies only succeeded in penetrating the enemy’s wire in one or two places.
Just at
this moment a smoke cloud, which was originally designed to mask our advance,
drifted right across the front and made it impossible to see more than a few
yards ahead. This resulted in all direction being lost and the attack devolving
into small bodies of men not knowing which way to go.
Some
groups succeeded in entering the support line, engaging the enemy with bombs and
bayonet, and organizing the initial stages of a defence.
Other
parties swung off to the right and entered the trench where the flank party was
operating, causing a great deal of congestion.
On the left, the smoke and darkness made the job of
penetrating the enemy wire so difficult that few, if any, succeeded in reaching
the enemy support line, where they were subjected to an intense bombardment of HE. and whizz-bangs.
Capt. Hughes, who was wounded, seeing that his company was in
danger of being cut off, gave the order for the evacuation of the enemy
trenches, and the remainder of the attacking force returned to our trenches.
The enemy, who was evidently thoroughly prepared, now concentrated
his energies on the front line, and, for the space of about 2½ hours, our front
and support lines were subjected to an intense bombardment with heavy and light
shells, causing a large number of casualties . . . The enemy casualties are
also considered to have been considerable, large numbers of dead being seen in the
enemy trenches.”
During the attack, the majority of Officers were killed or
wounded, platoons, if not companies being led by NCOs.
Probably the best remembered of these was Company Sergeant Major
Nelson Victor Carter, age 29, of
CSM Carter attacked a machine gun post which was causing
particular trouble, shot one, or more, of the crew with his pistol before,
apparently, turning the machine gun on the Germans. This bought much needed
time to withdraw safely, and with this having been done Carter finally left the
position.
The action in the support line had lasted only thirty minutes. CSM
Carter continued to aid in the withdrawal to the first line, and later in the
day, whilst bringing in the wounded, was shot in the chest, dying almost immediately
. For his actions that day CSM Carter was awarded the Victoria Cross. The
Citation read as follows:
Boar's Head, Richebourg l'Avoué, France, 30
June 1916, Company Sergeant-Major Nelson Victor Carter, 4th Company, 12th Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment.
"For most conspicuous bravery. During an Attack he was in command of the fourth wave of the
assault. Under intense shell and machine gun fire he penetrated, with a few
men, into the enemy's second line and inflicted heavy casualties with bombs.
When forced to retire to the enemy's first line, he captured a machine gun and
shot the gunner with his revolver. Finally, after carrying several wounded men
into safety, he was himself mortally wounded and died in a few minutes. His conduct
throughout the day was magnificent."
The
following is a part of a letter written by Lieutenant (later Lt. Col.) Howard
Robinson, Carter's Company Commander to Kathleen Carter, Nelson's wife.
"When I
last saw him he was close to the German line, acting as leader to a small party
of four or five men. I was afterwards told that he had entered the German
second line, and had brought back an enemy machine gun, having put the gun team
out of action. I heard that he shot one them with his revolver. I next saw him
about an hour later (I had been wounded in the meanwhile and was lying in our
trench). Your husband repeatedly went over the parapet. I saw him going over
alone and carrying in our wounded men from 'No Man's Land'. He brought them in
on his back, and he could not have done this had he not possessed exceptional
physical strength as well as courage. It was in going over for the sixth or
seventh time that the was shot through the chest. I
saw him fall just inside our trench.
Somebody
told me that about a month previously your husband carried a man about 400
yards across the open under machine gun fire and brought him safely into our
trench. For this act I recommended him for the Military Cross. On every
occasion, no matter how tight the hole we were in, he was always cheerful and
hopeful, and never spared any pains to make the men comfortable and keep them
cheery."
Company
Sergeant Nelson Carter is buried in the
Also in
action that day, with “B” Company, 12th Bn, was Private SD/2389 John
Searle of
Private
Searle is remembered on the Loos Memorial to the missing. He was amongst those
whose bodies were never recovered after the battle.
Among the rare poetic spirits to be found
among those who officered these battalions was Edmund Blunden. His Undertones of War contains impressions of the life lived by
the men, and of the men themselves, which are intensely revealing. Concerning
the Richebourg diversion, he wrote
“What the Brigade felt was summed up by some sentry who, asked by
the General next morning what he thought of the attack, answered in the
roundest fashion, ‘Like a butcher’s shop.’
Our own trenches had been knocked silly, and all the area of the attack
had been turned into an Aceldama.” [2]
The Battle of the Boar’s Head lasted less than five hours.
The Southdowns Brigade
lost 17
officers and 349 men killed.
Over 1000 were wounded or taken prisoner.
The 13th Battalion was all but wiped
out.
Thanks to
the Mayors of Richebourg and Aubers
a
commemoration of the sacrifice made by those men was held at
Richebourg St. Vaast Cemetery on 30th June 2006.
Also on
Group
members laid wreaths at the Loos Memorial,
and CSM Carter’s
grave in the
since the ninetieth anniversary
WE have REMEMBERED THEM.
We will endeavour to continue to do so
at
Richebourg St. Vaast
Post Military Cemetery
At 17.00hrs on the last Saturday in
June
each year until the 100th
anniversary
The 100th Aniversary Commemoration will be held at 17.00hrs on
God willing we will
be there.
The major
Boar’s Head Cemeteries are:
This piece draws on information from the Regimental
Archive of The
Royal Sussex Regiment held at the West Sussex County Council Records Office at
© 2006-2010 John A Baines