The Queen’s Own

(Living History Group)

Gazette

Winter 2014

Chairman’s Column.

Dear All I would like to start by wishing you all a very Happy New Year and to say thank you to Sergeant Lee Hanmore for keeping you all busy during the winter months with his excellent training sessions which are not only practical but also very informative! So as we look to the New Year, a year will be our busiest ever, it seems we are in great demand as the whole nation goes Great War crazy! With some great new events on the calendar as well as a few old favourites, maximum effort will be required

whenever you possibly can please - Shipbourne looks to be a belter of a show, and the Tertre Memorial, not in fact an event but a Commemoration, to the 6,866 fallen from The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment who are forevermore remembered by its construction! Wishing you all a wonderful season!

NB.

“Past, Present & Future”.

Finding My Past – Maidstone Museum – 2nd November 2013 The Group hosted another ‘Finding my Past’ event at Maidstone Museum during which (having overcome Wi-Fi issues thanks to Ciaran’s mobile phone) we were able to assist visitors with their questions about their relatives past. Even though the majority of the service records were destroyed during the Blitz in World War Two, we were lucky in three particular cases to share details with relatives who had brought in artefacts and records relating to their ancestors who fought in the Great War. Thanks go to John and Isobel who manned the display boards,

Ashley who provided a World War Two Royal West Kent Regiment British Expeditionary Force portrayal, Pop Hanmore who wore his Dress Blues and to Harry and Ian Woolley, Adam and Connor all of who provided an impromptu rendition of songs from “Oh! What a Lovely War” during the lulls in visitor numbers! A very enjoyable day was had by one and all!

PZ

Issue No.14 Winter 2014

West Kent Health Needs Education Service – 8th November 2013

Pop Hanmore and I spent a very pleasant day with staff and students from the West Kent Health Needs Education Service at Leybourne, West Malling, who were keen to learn about Tommy’s experience of life in the trenches. Conducting a whistle-stop tour of the Great War staff and students alike were keen to have a go at “Dressing Tommy” and wear the jackets and carry the equipment! The greatest response came during an explanation of the development of gas protection with eager volunteers (from the staff!) willing to try on the various gas masks.

PZ Lord Mayor’s Show – City of London – 10th November 2013 We rose at half past four in the morning to get breakfast and a cup of tea, and make sure all of our glad rags were ready for the big day. Chris and Connor arrived at our house about 5.40 am. We put everybody’s clothes/gear in Richard’s car and promptly left for our grand day out in London.

We made very good time and arrived at the Medical Barracks at about a quarter to seven, where upon arrival we were introduced to Captain Cook. We were made very welcome and shown to their mens/ladies areas to change into our clothing. Some of our friends from the Rifles had already arrived and were changing into their uniforms. We all mucked in and helped each other with our relevant clothing/headgear, and I handed out extra Poppies to anybody who had not got one. By a quarter to eight two minibuses full left the barracks , on board were , 4 Queens own , and 6 from the Rifles

and everybody else from the Army Medical Corps. It was a fairly easy journey (about 20 minutes) to our drop off point where we were to form up for the parade. It was a fairly chilly morning but dry. We had about 2½ hours to kill. It wasn’t long before we decided it was time for a drink! Luckily just round the corner there was a MacDonalds and a few of us, marched in for some coffee and tea and a couple just for a pee!

Lawrence shared out the coffees between everybody (after all we didn’t want to drink too much, and keep running to the loo). Richard then topped up the coffees with the Rum Ration, which I must say went down extremely well with everybody. There were a few photographs taken here and there. And of course, we had a visit from Father Christmas. Jolly large soul who we had a chat and joke with. It must now be getting on for about 10.30 am – not long to go now. It was at this point still dry but the clouds had started building. Then to our surprise a familiar face was coming towards us, it was Ron Harper (our very own RWK). He knew we were attending the show and made his mind up to come and find us. (Ron watches the Lord Mayor’s Show regularly when possible). What a lovely surprise to see him. Whilst we were chatting to Ron it started to rain, luckily Ron had come prepared and had a brolly which he put up and myself and Muriel sheltered under it with him. We all grabbed our coats back from the First Aid Jeep (luckily Richard had packed an extra remount coat which he gave to me to wear (which turned out a godsend and stopped me from getting wet through to the skin). We got ready for the push at just after 11 o’clock, for a start it was a bit stop and start, stop and start, but when we did finally get going it was a fairly good pace. By this time it was hammering it down, so our day was off and running with two of the group carrying the stretcher with “Bubble wrap Annie” lying “peacefully.” The first person who recognised us from the other side of the road was Mr Rex Cadman (the organiser of the War & Peace Revival Show) who was on his own float, waiting to get going, so we all waved at each other.

The rain certainly hadn’t put the people off though. The streets were lined with cheerful onlookers of all ages. We couldn’t do anything else but smile and wave. It was an unforgettable atmosphere. Some of the West Kents/Rifles were wearing various dressings on heads and arms etc - “the walking wounded.” I was in a Great War nurse’s uniforms. (Big thanks to Belinda for letting me borrow her uniform, it went down well). After lots of more smiling and waving (and roughly 2 miles), it was time for the lunchtime break, at which time it had just about stopped

raining and the sun almost came out. Everybody was given their lunch (which I think this year had been provided by Tesco’s). Lunch was sandwiches, crisps, healthy nut bar and bottled water. This went down extremely well. All of the ladies of the Medical Corps, Muriel and I sat in the Medical Corps Ambulance and warmed up a little whilst we ate our lunch. Oh, the Rum ration went round again. After lunch we all took our places to complete the rest of the Show. There were still a lot of crowds but not quite as many as there had been in the morning. More smiling and waving to the crowds, and many of us slapping hands with the folks lining the roads. It was a real party atmosphere, everybody’s faces were beaming. The stretcher was still being carried, taken it in turn’s (even with Richard having his right arm in a sling).

We arrived back at the place where we started and were all reunited with the minibuses to take us back to the Medical Corps Barracks. The journey back took rather long than the journey into town in the morning. Back at base we all changed back into our civvies. We had a well-earned cup of tea and biccies. It was also good to have a lovely chat with Captain Simon Cook, (he told us the brief history of how he came to become where he is now, and the history of the barracks. Some very admirable people in this Corps! Simon and his team had made us very welcome and we would like to thank him for making us so at home. The Queens Own crew arrived home at about 5.30pm, having another cup of well-earned cup of tea and a quick review of the show on the television. All in all, a truly remarkable day, one to be remembered and cherished.

JB

High Rocks Training Day – 7th December 2013

Sergeant Lee Hanmore organised three winter training sessions for us and the Rifles Living History Society. The first of these took place on Saturday the 7th December at a venue not far from The High Rocks near Tunbridge Wells. It was an early morning start but everyone turned up well in time to erect the Marquee and get stuck into the day’s well organised programme of events. Besides our own lads, we were ably joined by our friends from the Rifles. The training programme consisted of: a, A bayonet lesson and physical warm up conducted by Colour Sergeant Taylor from the Rifles. b, A practical bombing lesson, again conducted by Colour Sergeant Taylor from the Rifles. c, A demonstration of wiring techniques again conducted by Colour Sergeant Taylor from the Rifles and ably assisted by Private Bingham and a member of the Rifles. d, A demonstration on the Stokes Mortar this time conducted by “ Sharpie “ from the Rifles. e, Our very own Corporal Smyth took us through the history of Gas deployment and its effects during the Great War and the equipment used to combat it. f, Sergeant Lee Hanmore gave us all an ongoing appraisal and set of orders relating to the end of event night attack on a fixed enemy position. g, Sergeant Lee Hanmore undertook a practical teach on firing The SMLE rifle from various positions - prone, kneeling and standing, as well as safety information during the process.

A really good turn out all told. The wiring talk I found most interesting. The mortar and bombing demonstration were equally first rate and added greatly I am sure to everyone`s knowledge. Colour Sergeant Taylor got everyone fully involved first off and warmed up with a very good practical talk and demonstration on the use of the Bayonet in attack and defence. Corporal Smyth’s talk on gas and its effects and equipment evolution was first rate - well done Dave! Sergeant Hanmore planned the day so well and gave a superb run down, explanation and a set of orders working towards the finale for the night attack on the German Pill Box position. Although we did not require the kitchen sink, everyone certainly threw everything into the day. The only thing missing was a kettle but we improvised. The mince pies and biscuits also went down a treat to go with what most people brought with them in the shape of traditional front line fare of "Bully, Crackers and Cheese."

Pop H

Christmas Social – 8th December 2013

Hildenborough Village Hall hosted our Christmas social this year and a screening of “Oh, What a Lovely War!” (with accompanied singing by the Woolley male voice choir!) We were treated to a terrific spread of seasonal nibbles (with chocolate salami by Isobel that was absolutely delicious) washed down with mulled wine (the kitchen was certainly left with a festive spirit in the air!). After an intermission involving what seemed to be a never-ending raffle the festivities concluded and judged a great success by all in attendance!

PZ

Fort Amherst Training Week-end – 11th/12th January 2014 Saturday the 11th of January dawned bright and dry with a slight winter chill in the air. Lee had arrived on time at 07:00 hrs to load our kit into his car for the Winter Training Weekend at Fort Amherst overlooking the river Medway at Chatham. We arrived there at 08:30 hrs together with Ashley, Dave, Harry (Patch), Ian and Adam. Chris B joined us later direct from a night shift. Martin was due on the Sunday for that morning’s session. Having sorted out our billets and storing kit, Sergeant Hanmore set out his training plans for the weekend. As we were to all intense and purposes “In Barracks” this weekend would be about becoming better acquainted with army life. Improving our armed and unarmed skills would take into account once again honing our marching technique with and without rifles. Changing formation while on the move and acting as a single unit in harmony on the Drill Square. We all very soon realised that our environment was making a big impact on us when Lee told us that pretty much 100 hundred years to the day, British Troops had been doing exactly the same thing in the Fort, we were doing by way of training. We were occupying the old Victorian Gate House and Guard Room complex which added greatly to the atmosphere especially when darkness fell. You literally felt that you were walking in the footsteps of the soldiers who we try to honour and whose story we endeavour to tell. All through Saturday, Sergeant Hanmore was preparing our troops for the inspections that were planned for the Sunday. Chris B had arrived now and gave a very interesting talk on the most important piece of kit a soldier carries with him - in this case the Short Magazine Lee Enfield Rifle (SMLE), it`s history and specification including the ammunition. Later on, Sergeant Hanmore explained some of the theory behind firing the weapon and the physics involved. During the morning we stopped for a cuppa and at lunch time we broke for the rations everyone had brought with them. I had taken quite a selection of kit and personnel items to lay out what a Barracks “Kit Inspection” might have looked like. I did include many items that a soldier of the time may have gathered during his military service. I then gave a short talk explaining all the different items and the way it had been presented so that it could be replicated on a smaller scale the next morning when Sergeant Hanmore would carry out the formal Barrack Room Inspection of each soldier’s kit layout.

During Saturday evening everyone withdrew to the messing hall and sat around while Sergeant Hanmore demonstrated just how to clean kit and brasses. At the same time everyone got stuck into cleaning their own and their rifles in readiness for the following day’s inspection after breakfast. It was a very full, instructional and enjoyable day that started at 08:30 hrs and concluded at 22:00 hrs. We then retired to our bunks to try and get the best night’s sleep we could. Reveille was at 07:00 hrs Sergeant Hanmore and Corporal Smyth had set out the early morning programme. Sergeant Hanmore cooked breakfast for everyone while Corporal Smyth looked after getting everyone organised for the Barrack kit inspection carried out precisely at 09:00 hrs. After breakfast Sergeant Hanmore gave target practice instruction which included the safe handling of the weapon which formed what was required to know when it came to the weapons handling test later in the morning. That done we broke for a cuppa etc and the guys then proceeded to the Drill Square for the final session of armed and unarmed drill and the Range firing with my rifle firing blank rounds. Each member was tested for their safe weapons handling as had been instructed on a pass/fail basis. I am very pleased to report that everyone passed. Sergeant Hanmore had the idea of using the A.B.64 Soldiers Pay Book to log each members attendance at such events along with any skills such as weapons handling that had successfully been passed. The way this was done was to have a formal Sunday morning Pay Parade which Sergeant Hanmore officiated at in the correct manner. During the course of Saturday, Ciaran brought along a friend who took several individual black and white photographs of everyone to be used on the Group’s website. Nigel came over during the morning bringing the mid-morning provisions of tea, coffee and milk etc and Richard also popped across to take a look at proceedings. On the Sunday, Johnny Harris and Linda also were in town and came over to see us. Sergeant Hanmore, when he got up to make breakfast on the Sunday morning, stepped outside to see a beautiful bright sunny morning with a wonderful sky - the sun glinting on the statue of Lord Kitchener across the road from us. Quite poetic and evocative of where we were and what we had savoured if only for a few brief hours.

Pop H

Football & Peace Project – 15th, 23rd & 31st January 2014 Pop Hanmore and I attended Maidstone Museum and presented to groups of students from across the County in support of The National Children’s Football Alliance’s ‘Football & Peace Project’. This project uses the 1914 Christmas Day truce as a vehicle to explore the relationship between sport and the Great War. We had about fifteen students at each of the morning and afternoon sessions and we looked at the events of the Christmas Truce as well as what day-to-day life was like for Tommy in the trenches. We were surprised to find ourselves being filmed on the second of the three days and the project will culminate in a final exhibition at Maidstone United Football Club’s Gallagher Stadium.

PZ

Collector’s Loft A new addition to The Gazette this month is ‘Collector’s Loft’ - a place to share stories about any piece of Great War equipment or artefact in your collection. I recently acquired this small silk print on card while browsing in an Antique & Collectables shop in Lewes. As can be seen below it was produced to be given away with copies of ‘My Weekly – The Girls Favourite Paper’ and I particularly like the little poem on the reverse:

PZ

If you have an item in your collection you would like to feature in the next edition then please send details to the Editor with any photographs you wish to illustrate your article with – All contributions gratefully received!

Gassed! I don't pretend to know much about art and I don't really understand how a tin can on a chair, covered with fur, representing the oppression of the lack of ice cream in the summer of 93, can reach millions of pounds but I've always admired from a young age people who can really draw and paint. When I was young I saw in a book once one of the most iconic images of the Great War called Gassed. A painting of a group of Tommies wounded during a mustard gas attack, being led in a dressing station by a medical orderly. The detail in the painting is the most outstanding I have ever seen. Each part of it has its own story to tell and every time I look at it I always see something else I haven’t seen before.

It was painted by John Singer Sergeant. Sargent was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee to document the Great War and visited the Western Front in July 1918 spending time with the Guards Division near Arras, and then with the Americans near Ypres. The painting was completed in March 1919 and voted picture of the year by the Royal Academy of Arts in 1919. It is now held by the Imperial War Museum. It stands over 7.5 ft. wide and 20 ft. LONG! The men depicted in it are nearly actual size. Many other dead or wounded soldiers lie around the central group, and a similar train of eight wounded, with two orderlies, advances in the background. Biplanes dogfight in the evening sky above, as a watery setting sun creates a pinkish yellow haze and burnishes the subjects with a golden light. In the background, the moon also rises, and uninjured men play football in blue and red shirts, seemingly unconcerned at the suffering all around them.

The painting was done in oils on canvas with brushes and pallet knives. Singer captured each man not just in detail of his equipment but his spirit. You can feel their exhaustion and pain and not knowing where they are. Look at the man being helped up the step overcompensating for how high it is something you would only think of once you'd noticed it. You can imagine the Medical Orderly depicted saying, “Step up mate”. That Orderly’s grandson was Andrew Downes, who I went to school with. He was asked to pose for the studies. Believe it or not he has the same curly fuzzy hair. The next time you go to the IWM, take five minutes and go to the gallery on the top floor and see it - it will make you think.

LH.

Here are some of Singer’s original sketches for the painting – I think that they are incredible in themselves …

Friends Reunited Peter High (from Dignity Plc., one of the Tertre Memorial sponsors) shares this account from his Great Uncle’s War Diary … Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Walter Ernest Arnold (Born: 19th March 1896) – Royal West Kent Regiment, 54th Brigade, 18th Division. I enlisted in February 1915 together with my brother William at Whitehall Guards Depot. I was half an inch too short and was rejected by the Guards so we elected to join the Kings Royal Rifles. The weather was wintry with snow. We reported to the Winchester Barracks in Hampshire and were paraded with a number of recruits in civilian clothes. The barracks were overcrowded and we were all accommodated in the stone corridors of the barracks. Bill and I sat on the stone floor when the Sergeant Major beckoned us and we were allowed to spend the night in his room on wooden floors which was indeed fortunate. I had an accident to my finger which turned septic and this caused me to be separated from Bill who was drafted to the training Battalion at Sheerness and subsequently saw service in 1915 and 1916 in France; he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. I was transferred from Winchester Military Hospital to the Judges House by the Cathedral during February, March and April 1915. A most pleasant interlude in this VAD Hospital. I reported to the training Battalion at Sheerness in May 1915 and spent the next eighteen months in the Orderly Room on clerical duties. In October 1916 I was ordered to report to the NCO Training School at Hertford for six weeks training. I was now a Corporal. The intensive training was very strict and exacting (when one stepped outside a kettle drum rattled out 120 steps to the minute) there were cross country runs and much Company and Battalion square drill. I managed third in cross country running and was in a squad of six for an Instructor’s job but was not successful. I was drafted to France in mid-December 1916. We entrained at Sheerness about 6.00 a.m. on the 16th December 1916 and changed trains for Waterloo at Sittingbourne. My mother was at Sittingbourne Railway Station with a hot drink for me and a few friends. I am not sure how she knew we were travelling. I remember seeing her sadly walking away. We entrained at Waterloo for Southampton and embarked for Le Harve. We were herded into the bowels of the ship and en-route for Le Harve spent an hour or two wallowing with the ship stationary with engines shut off – during a submarine alert in mid-channel. Cold wintry conditions and encamped in bell tents on the heights outside L’Havre at Harfleur. The encampment was very extensive and housed many hundreds of military. On Christmas Day in 1916 the first service consumed all the Christmas Dinner and the rest of us had to be content with Bully Beef and hard biscuits – there was much resentment! The one hot bath I had was outside the cook house – an ordinary domestic bath was surrounded by corrugated sheets of iron set out two feet from the ground to provide what privacy was thought expedient – there was a strong arctic wind blowing and I took the opportunity to wash my clothes in the bath water! I was one of six chosen to be drafted to a G.N.Q Cadet School (at Blandeques outside St. Omer). The train journey from Le Harve to G.N.Q. Cadet School was an adventure and we entrained at Le Harve for Rouen and the platform at Rouen was short and the rear of the train in which we were was in the tunnel and the train pulled up to allow us to alight, but there was such a crush of military trying to get off the train, and so many trying to get on – we were stuck fast and eventually the train resumed its journey – next stop Paris! The French Military Police housed us for the night during which I managed to visit my sister Nance, who was employed by Commander Acton at the British Admiralty in Paris. Our destination G.N.Q Cadet School was on the Secret List and we spent the next week travelling from one destination to another. At last we arrived at G.N.Q Cadet School, Blandeques, St. Omer. The curriculum was very strict and included a visit to the Front-Line to draw up a defensive plan for the Sector. Three of us were attached to the Australians – conditions were very severe frost and snow – the Sector was Armentieres. The Australians provided us with a dug-out and we drew up our plan of defence for the Sector and placed it on a Tate & Lyle sugar box to dry. When we awoke I the morning all our maps had been eaten by rats and we were subjected to severe questioning when we arrived back at G.N.Q Cadet School!

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 7th Battalion, the Royal West Kent Regiment in April 1917 (54th Brigade, 18th Division) I reported to my Battalion at the end of March as it moved up to Arras. Mt brother Bill was fatally wounded in the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and I visited the Casualty Clearing Station and then his grave. The 18th Division moved up to the Arras Sector in April and deployed in front of Cherisy to join in the attack on the 3rd May 1917. Zero hour was 3.30 a.m. We were the second line in the attack. The German barrage opened up in our foreground and I could see a gap in the frequently exploding (black) shelling. I led my Platoon in ‘Indian-file’ through the gap without loss (I did this twice as we were recalled and immediately told to advance again). We advanced without much opposition or loss but as the day developed the extensive attack was repulsed on our flanks and during the afternoon we were ordered to retreat to our original Front-Line and this we did in ‘short-sharp-rushes’ which degenerated into everyone making a dash across open country with the enemy inflicting machine gun fire causing many casualties. There was much confusion. I found myself with my Platoon intact at the original Front-Line at the crest of the hill and it was an old German ‘Cable trench’ – no revetting – quite straight. I had my revolver in my hand and flourished to stop machine gun teams and ordered them to man the line and clean and make ready the guns – this they did – amidst great confusion with personnel of many regiments all mixed. A German aeroplane flew over observing our confusion. At this point I was joined by a young Divisional Officer in full uniform – he suggested we spread out the machine guns, when a sniper bullet killed him instantly; the bullet passed through his mouth and out of his neck. He was taken back to England for burial – I learned later. We spent a terrible evening and night and the next two days clearing the trench and environment of many fatal casualties. We were relieved after two days on the 5th May and I remember how exhausted we all were after a beastly and horrible experience. The Battalion was rested until the middle of May when we took over a nearby Sector of the Front. It was recently captured and contained a section of the ‘Hindenburg Line’ famed for its deep excavation containing passages and comfortable living quarters – the surrounding countryside had growing crops. There was a troublesome machine gun fire from the enemy reported to be coming from a newly cut small trench on the crest of rising ground in front of us. I was detailed to take my Platoon numbering twenty men and capture the enemy post. The No-Man’s-Land was cut up by shell fire and growing a crop a foot or so high. I took a bearing by daylight and noted prominent land marks (my water compass being very erratic and useless). My patrol set out in ‘Indian-file’ with me leading, followed by a guard on each side and the tape being laid as we proceeded. We had gone a hundred yards or so when up went the enemy Very lights. I stood stock still and could see enemy troops ‘Standing To’ to my left and right and could hear their voices talking. I dropped to the ground and crawled forward. I found the ground cleared of growth some ten yards in front of a trench running to my left and right and the Bosche were standing to – and I could hear their voices. This was no small matter but obviously the enemy had extended the initial post to a trench along the crest of the hill. I confirmed this by crawling along to my left and right. I took my Patrol safely back bringing in our guiding tape. I made my report, which was not received without adverse comment and the Brigadier was reported to say he had enough of cock and bull reports and ordered an aeroplane to reconnoitre the next morning and photograph the positions. This was done and it clearly showed the position was as we reported and the German line considerably developed. The result – an attack a few days later by the Brigade. I was given two weeks leave at a Rest Camp outside Boulogne in June 1916. Here I witnessed the advance contingent of Americans (June 1916) in France. I re-joined my Battalion and we were moved up to the Ypres area near Zillebecke. From here we supplied working parties nightly, carrying up supplies to the forward positions – the usual rendezvous was meeting lorries in Zillebecke village and carrying timbers and supplies to forward positions. Every track and footpath was under regular enemy fire and great confusion reigned nightly. The approach to Zillebecke was across a field to a tunnel under the railway embankment, which the Boche regularly shelled throughout the night, thence to Zillebecke Lake with trench cut in the embankment – this was inevitably blocked by troops of working parties who would or could not proceed because of enemy shelling where the trench emerged into the village. Faced with being unable to carry out our task and being stranded without cover I inevitably elected to take my working party into the open without cover to our rendezvous in Zillebecke village. We got away with this several times and it was less dangerous than being static. On our way back to our lines we passed through artillery positions – these were heavily camouflaged with netting screens up to twenty feet high, supplies of ammunition came up by mule convoys – the scene in the half light and smoke and fumes from the guns was horrific. The mule trains were scattered and confusion reigned and we would catch as many mules as we could and take them back with us.

At the beginning of July the Battalion was moved up with the 18th Division to man the Front-Line in front of Zillebecke and Sanctuary Wood – with Dormy House Brigade H.Q., until the coming Passendale offensive – our original stint of duty of ten to fourteen days extended until the full month before the offensive opened up. We were under observation by the enemy and any movement was immediately greeted by shell fire. Mercifully the weather was dry but conditions horrible in other respects – human bones from earlier battles, rates and lice! Our number diminished from 120 strong to 23 when in the last Saturday of July 1917 I received orders to take a patrol of twenty strong and report upon the German Front-Line as to whether it was manned – the patrol was to cover a three Brigade Front – the password to be “Arnold”. My position was hopeless and my Platoon some twenty men were all in a “shell-shocked” condition with shaking hands and bodies with little or no control of their movements and I decided to go taking only my batman (the faithful Jefferies) with me. I took my bearings by covering my tin hat with a sand bag and raising my head over the parapet of our trench and noted tree stumps and other land marks (I still have my wobbly water compass). Jefferies and I started out that night amid much clanging of wire and metal and so I said follow me, and I hopped from one obstacle to the next making much noise. I arrived at the German line which was protected by huge coils of barbed wire. Jefferies quickly joined me. I proceeded a few yards when there was a gap caused by shelling. I crawled through the gap and nothing happened. After a pause I summoned up courage, and crawled some yards up to the German trench – this I found vacated p it was in first rate condition and dry and lined with brushwood complete with fire step. After this I inspected the German line some three hundred yards with the same result until we arrived at a communication trench. Here the enemy was alerted and sent up Very light flares. I returned by taking a line across No-Man’s Land to bring me back to the point of starting out and we met two patrols when our password sufficed I read a report on Passendale later that the “German Front-Line was vacated which allowed our barrage to open up on deeper defences.” Heavy German shelling continued on that Sunday and the remnants of my Company were assembled in a huge shell crater, when a brightly shining nose cap of a shell protruded from the side of the shell hole. Whether it was that shell or another I know not, but the explosion buried me and I “came to” with a timber across my face with soil falling with Jefferies beside me. That finished, my term of useful service. I was taken down the lines to the Casualty Clearing Station – I remember seeing infantry battalions marching up to take part in the opening offensive of Passendale. I was taken back to England and so remember the White Cliffs of Dover (from the porthole of the Hospital Ship). I had a note dropped from the hospital train as it travelled from Dover to Victoria, as it passed through Sittingbourne, to my parents which was picked up and safely delivered to them. I remember arriving at Victoria Station and seeing the shining (they were wood block streets then) wood block streets from the back of the ambulance as we travelled to Palace Green, Kensington where a special hospital had been set up. I had lost much weight and lost my voice and was in poor shape for months. In the summer of 1918 I was sent to Birmingham University to resume my accountancy studies. The Authorities were aware of the lack of new entrants to the Professions and industrial management and the Ministry of Labour “Appointments Department” was set up to ensure recruitment. Suitable entrants were examined by an interviewing board made up of Local Business and Professional men. Instead of being one of the entrants I was asked to take over one of the Administration Sections which I did at the then princely salary (D.A.D. West Midlands) and this in the long term was unfortunate as I missed the chance of qualifying in accountancy. This lasted three years when the Department was closed down having served its term of usefulness. I was “Disabled and Invalided from the Service on the 2nd April 1919”. I was not awarded any pension. In reading through this account it reads as though I was tough and brave. This I must refute for in off duty hours and at night I was filled with trepidation and apprehension and thank God I was never in a position to use my bayonet or revolver face-to-face with the enemy. [Editor’s Note – 2nd Lieutenant Arnold’s Medal Index Card shows he began his service with The King’s Royal Rifle Corps as an Acting Corporal R/10752 and was commissioned on the 5th April 1917 into the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment. He was issued with a Silver War Badge – Number 451973 – His address was shown as 119 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham. The 1901 Census records him as aged 7 years and living at 29 Acacias Road, Stone, Greenhithe, Kent with his father William John Arnold (aged 40) a General Blacksmith, his mother Alice (aged 38), and brothers Alfred John (aged 14), William Edwin (aged 13) and sister May Charlotte (aged 8)]

Women’s Roles in the Great War. In addition to the tremendous contribution that women played on the Home Front in munitions, agriculture, industry and transport etc they also served in the military …

The Women’s Royal Naval Service – established in 1918 the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) were employed in a number of ancillary naval roles. Colloquially they were referred to as ‘Wrens’ this was translated by some mischievously as ‘Wear Royal Navy Serge!’

The Women’s Royal Air Force – established in 1918 from women serving in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and like the Wrens served in a number of ancillary roles.

The Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps – established in 1917 the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) saw service in a number of ancillary roles both overseas and at home. In 1918 it was renamed the Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps (QMAAC) after Queen Mary who was its Commandant-in-Chief. The term WAAC was translated by some mischievously as ‘Women Always After Charlie’s Socks!’

The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry - established in 1907. The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) was a link between the front-line fighting and field hospitals. Its early recruits were drawn from women mainly from the upper middle classes of society. FANYs drove ambulances, helped run field hospitals, set up soup kitchens and canteens often under very dangerous conditions, subjected to artillery bombardment and/or air raids. Their bravery is reflected by the fact that many were awarded decorations including 17 Military Medals, 27 Croix-de-Guerre and a Legion d’Honneur.

The Voluntary Aid Detachment - established in 1909. The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was formed following request in 1909 from the War Office who asked the British Red Cross Society (BRCS) to provide supplementary medical aid in the event of war. These were branches of the BRCS and called Voluntary Aid Detachments. All members were known simply as VADs and were trained in first aid and nursing. Women members of the VADs (including in their ranks at one time the novelist Agatha Christie) became fundraisers, cooks, kitchen maids, clerks, ward-maids, and ambulance drivers. During the Great War over 126,000 VADs took an active part in the war effort, assisting in hospitals at home and in all the major theatres of war.

The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service – established in 1902. The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was part of the Army before the Great War, adopting its name in 1902 from the Army Nursing Service of 1881. In the first weeks of the Great War the QAIMNS mobilised for duty with the British Expeditionary Force. There were about 10,000 regular and reserve QAIMNSs serving in countries such as France, India, East Africa, Italy, Palestine, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Salonika and Russia.

The Territorial Force Nursing Service – established in 1908. The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was the Territorial equivalent to The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. In 1913 the TFNS was given permission for its members to volunteer for overseas service if not required for duty at home and at the outbreak of the Great War there were just over 2,000 members of the service available for deployment, and of the twenty three territorial force hospitals, nineteen were open and receiving casualties by the last day of August 1914, with the other four following by the end of September. The number of nurses in every field increased rapidly during the first six months of the Great War, and continued to rise throughout the next four years in order to staff the ever growing number of military, auxiliary, Red Cross and private hospitals. Although traditionally, military nurses were required to be either single or widowed with no dependents, during wartime the extreme shortage of trained nurses meant that married women were welcomed into the TFNS, and if a serving nurse wished to marry,

permission was normally granted for her to remain in the service.

The Women’s Forage Corps – established in 1915 the Women’s Forage Corps (WFC) served alongside the Army Service Corps (ASC) in collecting forage for the substantial numbers of horses and mules in military service.

The Women's Volunteer Reserve – established in 1914. The genesis of the Women's Volunteer Reserve (WVR) lay in the Women’s Emergency Corps and provided (until 1918) a uniformed group called the Lady Instructors Signals Company, who trained Army recruits in signalling. However the work was largely of a domestic, fund-raising nature. The WVR was expensive to join - women had to pay for their own uniform which at more than £2 could not be afforded by the lower classes! This was an influence in the establishment of the Women's Legion, which had a more widespread appeal.

The Women's Legion – established in 1915. The Women's Legion (WL) became the largest entirely voluntary body. Although it was not formally under Government control or part of the Army, in the spirit of the times its women adopted a military-style organisation and uniform. The WL volunteers became involved in many forms of work, including cooking and catering for the army in England. The success of the WL was a definite factor in influencing the Government to organise female labour in the latter half of the war.

The Women's Auxiliary Force – established 1915. The Women's Auxiliary Force (WAF) was an entirely voluntary organisation for part-time workers. Uniformed, they worked in canteens and provided social clubs; they also worked on the land and in hospitals.

The Women's Forestry Corps – established in 1917. The Women's Forestry Corps was under the control of the Timber Supply Department of the Board of Trade and was responsible for maintaining the supply of wood for industrial and paper production at home, but also for construction purposes in the theatres of war. The women were trained as either ‘Measurers’ or ‘Cutters’. The training of Measurers included techniques of felling, marking, and so on, which led to a skilled trade, and the women who took it up were drawn from the ranks of school teachers, bank employees and so forth. After their training was completed they were frequently sent out as forewomen in charge of timber gangs consisting of twenty to thirty Cutters. Measurers were also put, for all practical purposes, in charge of saw mills, work which involved the keeping of accounts. The work of the Cutters by contrast called for physical strength above the average. This requirement accounted for the rejection on medical grounds of 18% of trainee Cutters (out of a total of 1,800). Eventually their uniform became the same as that of the Land Army, boots, breeches, white overalls and slouch hat, but the Foresters had on their armlets and hat a distinctive and highly artistic badge. This was designed by one of the Corps, and consisted, for the Measurers, of a tree embroidered in green silk on a khaki background, surrounded by the letters W. F. S. while the Cutters had, instead, two crossed woodman’s axes, and cross saw, with the letters L. A. T. S. added.

The Women's Land Army – established in 1916. The Women's Land Army (WLA) was not part of the Army or under the control of the War Office. The WLA was funded and controlled by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. At its height it employed 113,000 women who made up some one-third of all labour on the land, the remainder being a mix of enemy prisoners, Army Service Corps, Labour Corps and agricultural workers too old for military service. Similar to the WLA was the Women’s Defence Relief Corps (WDRC) and the Women’s National Land Service Corps (WNLSC).

The Secret Life of Private Denis Smith

Dorothy Lawrence (4 October 1896–1964) was an English reporter who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier during the Great War. She was born in Warwickshire, the second daughter of Thomas Hartshorn Lawrence, a drainage contractor, and his wife, Mary Jane Beddall. In 1914, at the start of the Great War and aged 19, Dorothy was living in Paris and had a desire to be a war reporter on the front lines, but was unable to get employment because she was a woman, and it was nearly impossible for even male reporters to get to the front line at that time.

She recorded in a later autobiography "I'll see what an ordinary English girl, without credentials or money can accomplish." She befriended two English soldiers in a café, and they agreed to give her a uniform which they smuggled into her apartment. She bound her chest, padded her back with sacking and cotton, and her friends taught her to drill and march. She persuaded two Scottish Military Policemen to cut her hair military style and then dyed her skin using diluted furniture polish to give it a bronzed colour!. With forged identity papers as Private Denis Smith of the 1st Bn, Leicestershire Regiment she headed for the front lines, eventually arriving at the Somme by bicycle.

A Lancashire coalminer named Tom Dunn befriended Dorothy and found her work as a Sapper with the British Expeditionary Force tunnelling company, a mine-laying company within 400 yards of the Front-Line, where she was constantly under fire. He found her an abandoned cottage in Senlis Forest to sleep in, and she returned to it each night after laying mines by day. The toll of the job, and of hiding her true identity, soon gave her a case of constant chills and rheumatism. She was concerned that if she was killed her true gender would be discovered and the men who had befriended her would be in danger. After ten days of service she presented herself to the Company Sergeant Major, who promptly placed her under military arrest.

She was taken to the British Expeditionary Force Headquarters and interrogated as a spy and declared a prisoner of war. From there she was taken cross country by horse to Calais where her interrogation occupied the time of six Generals and approximately twenty other officers. She was ignorant of the term camp follower (prostitute) and she later recalled "We talked steadily at cross purposes. On my side I had not been informed what the term meant, and on their side they continued unaware that I remained ignorant! So I often appeared to be telling lies."

From Calais she was taken to Saint-Omer and further interrogated. The Army was embarrassed that a woman had breached security and was fearful of more women taking on male roles during the war if her story got out. She was then taken to the Convent de Bon Pasteur where she swore not to write about her experiences and signed an affidavit to that effect, or she would be sent to jail. She was then sent back to London.

Back in London she was unable to write of her experiences, which had been her original intent. She later said, "In making that promise I sacrificed the chance of earning by newspaper articles written on this escapade, as a woman compelled to earn her livelihood." After the Great War ended she wrote of her experiences, but it was censored by the War Office and not fully published until many years later when discovered by a historian in the archives. Her story became part of an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum on women at war.

Wikipedia on Answers.com This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler

Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and she joined The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve in 1916 but her time in the military nursing service was to be short lived. Just under one year after joining she was posted to the 44th Casualty Clearing Station in Belgium, which on the 21st August 1917 was heavily shelled during battle, resulting in the young nurse tragically losing her life. She was 26 years old. Her records at the National Archives contain an incredible amount of detail and her file records her death down to the minute it occurred, stating she was killed-in-action at 11.15am. It also contains the letter of notification sent to her mother informing her of her daughter’s death and details of her will. She was buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Poperinge, Belgium, one of only two female casualties buried alongside 10,000 men who also lost their lives.

British Infantry Battalion - 1915 - War Establishment Our Group has some way to go with its recruitment to bring us up comparable 1915 establishment numbers but as everyone knows we love a challenge …! Headquarters 4 Officers 1 Warrant Officer 8 Staff Sergeants & Sergeants 62 Other Ranks 7 Riding horses 22 Draught horses 1 Heavy draft horse 1 Pack cob (horse) 9 Bicycles Attached 1 Officer 1 Staff Sergeants & Sergeants 1 Other Rank 2 Riding horses Machine Gun Section 1 Officer 2 Staff Sergeants & Sergeants 32 Other Ranks 1 Riding horse 12 Draught horses Company (x4) 24 Officers 40 Staff Sergeants & Sergeants 844 Other Ranks 4 Riding horses 8 Heavy draft horses 8 Pack cobs (horses) Battalion Totals: 30 Officers 1 Warrant Officer 51 Staff Sergeants & Sergeants 939 Other Ranks 1021 Total 14 Riding horses 34 Draught horses 9 Heavy draft horses 660 Pack cobs (horses) 9 Bicycles Headquarters 1 Lt. Colonel 1 Major 1 Adjutant 1 Quartermaster 1 Transport (Warrant) Officer 1 Sergeant Major 1 Quartermaster-Sergeant 1 Orderly Room Clerk 1 Sergeant

1 Sergeant-Cook 1 Transport Sergeant 1 Sergeant Shoemaker 10 Drivers (1st line transport) 6 Drivers (spare animals) 2 Batmen 1 Pioneer Sergeant 10 Pioneers 1 Sergeant Signaller 1 Corporal Signaller 15 Privates Signallers 16 Stretcher Bearers 2 Orderlies for Medical Officer Attached 1 Medical Officer 1 Armorer 1 Interpreter 4 Drivers ASC Machine Gun Section: 1 Subaltern 2 Sergeants 1 Corporal 24 Privates 6 Drivers (1st line transport) 1 Batman Company 1 Major 1 Captain 4 Subalterns 1 Company Sergeant Major 1 Company Quartermaster 8 Sergeants 10 Corporals 192 Privates 3 1st Line Drivers 6 Batmen With acknowledgement to The Great War Forum – taken from War Establishments of New Armies, London, His Majesty's Stationary Office, 1915 - Copyright GFN 2003.

QO RWKR LHG Educational Support Services Programme

(Photograph used with permission)

The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment Living History Group’s Educational Support Services Programme is able to offer a range of bespoke in-school and off-site activities to support learning and activities in pursuit of National Curriculum studies and objectives. Our interactive living history workshops are specifically tailored to the needs of students and are an ideal introduction prior to any Great War project or battlefield tour. We bring history to life by enabling students (and staff) to have ‘hands-on’ experience of Great War artefacts and equipment together with the opportunity to try on the uniforms just like those that ‘Tommy’ wore in the trenches. Handling and exploring period artefacts enhances the students learning and every presentation generates questions and ideas that demonstrate and increase student knowledge. We work with students to provide them with a better understanding of what day-to-day life was like for soldiers on the Western Front and to appreciate the historical significance of the Great

War in a context that all ages can relate to.

We are also able to arrange presentations on all aspects of the Great War to adult groups and societies. Funding generated from our Educational Support Services Programme helps us support our chosen charity – The Forces Children’s Trust.

For further details please email us today at: orderlyroom@thequeensown.com

Notes from the Orderly Room Diary.

Ahead of a packed 2014 events calendar the Group has been able to engage in training arranged by Sergeant Lee Hanmore as well as launching its own Educational Support Services Programme following a number of presentations at Maidstone Museum in support of The National Children’s Football Alliance’s ‘Football & Peace Project’. This project uses the iconic 1914 Christmas Day truce as a vehicle to explore the relationship between sport and the Great War. Local people across Kent, young and old, will research the impact of the Great War on local communities and will in particular look at the importance of recreation to soldiers during the conflict. A

documentary film of the project will be produced together with a website including the research and oral histories collected. The project will culminate in a final exhibition at Maidstone United Football Club’s Gallagher Stadium. We hope that the Educational Support Services Programme will enable us to raise even more funds for our chosen charity – The Forces Children’s Trust.

PZ.

Poets Corner The Spirit When there ain't no gal to kiss you, And the postman seems to miss you, And the fags have skipped an issue, Carry on. When ye've got an empty belly, And the bulley's rotten smelly, And you're shivering like a jelly, Carry on. When the Boche has done your chum in, And the Sergeant's done the rum in, And there ain't no rations comin', Carry on. When the world is red and reeking, And the shrapnel shells are shrieking, And your blood is slowly leaking, Carry on. When the broken battered trenches, Are like the bloody butchers' benches, And the air is thick with stenches, Carry on. Though your pals are pale and wan, And the hope of life is gone, Carry on. For to do more than you can, Is to be a British man, Not a rotten 'also ran,' Carry on.. Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, M.C.

At the outbreak of the Great War, Geoffrey Kennedy volunteered as a Chaplain to the British Army on the Western Front where gained the nickname ‘Woodbine Willie'. In 1917, Kennedy was awarded the Military Cross at Messines Ridge after repeatedly entering No-Man’s Land to help the wounded during an attack on the German frontline. During the war he supported the British military effort with enthusiasm. Attached to a bayonet-training service he toured with boxers and wrestlers to give morale-boosting speeches about the usefulness of the bayonet! He wrote a number of poems about his experiences, and these appeared in the books Rough Rhymes of a Padre (1918), and More Rough Rhymes (1919).

Caption Competition

Submit your caption to the Orderly Room before the 31st March 2014 to win. All entries will be judged by the Chairman whose decision is binding!

Autumn Gazette

Competition Winner The winning entry was by Pop Hanmore … Officer in the car says to the soldier and his mates close at hand: “I say chaps, not far to go now, only another 5 miles. I will make sure there is something hot for you when you arrive.” Private with rifle thinks: “Yes Sir – I am sure Fritz will certainly have something HOT waiting for us!” Pop wins a copy of the DVD - “Tracing Great War Ancestors – Finding Uncle Bill.”

Dates for the Diary.

February 2014 TBC March 2014 22nd – Centenary Commemoration Day - Datchet Village, Windsor. April 2014 26th & 27th – ‘Touch Wud’ – Step Short Project, Folkestone, Kent. May 2014 10th – Edenbridge Village Commemoration Day – Edenbridge, Kent. June 2014 7th & 8th – Horses at War – Weald & Downland Open Air Museum – Singleton, West Sussex. 23rd – Great War Commemoration – Civic Centre – Bromley, Kent. 28th & 29th – Pack Up Your Troubles – Kent & East Sussex Railway, Tenterden, Kent. July 2014 5th & 6th – Military History Tournament – Colchester, Essex. 16th to the 20th – War & Peace Revival Show, Westenhanger, Folkestone, Kent August 2014 17th & 18th – Combined Operations Show – Headcorn Aerodrome, Kent. 2nd & 3rd – Great War Commemoration – Shipbourne Village, Kent. 4th – Step-Short Commemorative March – Folkestone, Kent. 9th – Royal British Legion Great War Commemoration – Tunbridge Wells, Kent. 14th to 17th – Eastbourne Airshow, Eastbourne, East Sussex. 22nd to 25th – Tertre Memorial Commemoration – Tertre, Belgium. September 2014 14th – Queen’s Own Buffs Regimental Association Reunion – Maidstone, Kent 20th – Bromley Museum, Orpington, Kent. October 2014 TBC November 2014 1st – ‘Finding My Great War Past’ – Regimental Museum, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent December 2014 TBC

Regimental Gazette.

New Members. The Chairman and all ranks wish to welcome the following as new Members and Friends of The “Queen’s Own” Royal West Kent Regiment Living History Group who have joined our ranks since the publication of the last edition of the Gazette: Elliot Robinson (Full)

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SPECIALIST BATTLEFIELD TOURS 2014

13/17 April – Somme Strolls with Clive Harris

4/9 May – Walking Gallipoli

23/26 May – Walking The Messines Ridge with Ian Passingham

15/19 June – Walking Arras with Jon Nicholls

13/17 July – In the footsteps of the German Army with Jack Sheldon

7/12 August – The Aisne/Marne 100 years on

21/25 August – Mons to St Quentin 100 years on

21/26 September – Gallipoli

3/6 October – Somme Strolls with Clive Harris Battle Honours Ltd F26, Business

Technology Centre, Bessemer Drive, Stevenage, Hertfordshire

SG1 2DX 01438 791020

www.battle-honours.co.uk

enquries@battle-honours.co.uk

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“A COUNTY REGIMENT”

A County Regiment - 1st Battalion the Queen's Own Royal West Kent

Regiment - Malaya 1951-1954

by

Ron Harper, Paul Riches and Adrian Walker Brockley Press

Ron Harper and his colleagues have arranged, in conjunction with the Regimental Museum in Maidstone, a reprint of the above book. It is now on sale at the Museum priced at £19.95 (plus £3.50 postage).

To place an order, please email with your name and address to museuminfo@maidstone.gov.uk upon receipt of your payment, goods will be dispatched. Cheques should be made payable to 'Maidstone Borough Council'. Alternatively the Museum can accept payment by debit or credit card. If you require any further information then please contact: Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery St Faith’s Street Maidstone Kent. ME14 1LH Telephone: 01622 602838 Email: museuminfo@maidstone.gov.uk or Ron Harper 105b St Asaph Road, Brockley, London SE4 2DZ

Tel: 0207 639 1581