2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
By mid-November, 1916, the Battle of the Somme had run its course, ending in a manner very much in keeping with the opening day of this awful struggle in that it rained heavily. Truly, and I cannot over emphasise this point during the preparation of these tributes to our village servicemen who lost their lives on the Western Front, the conditions in which they had to fight and exist were almost beyond human imagination for, in the main, the trench systems, particularly those in the forward areas, were hellholes of mud and slime with an ever pervaded stench of damp and decay. And, due to the proximity of the enemy lines, casualties from the frequent raiding parties (an exercise in which both sides participated with vigour in near equal measure) often had to be left where they fell thus, consequently, several weeks might elapse before bodies could be brought in for possible identification and burial. Sadly, many tens of thousands were never recovered and to this day remains of soldiers are found in just about every area of where the fighting took place.
So, it was in such conditions that Private William Rose spent the last few months of his life. Initially, William, who had been born in nearby Fordingbridge, had joined the army at Blandford where he enlisted with the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment and was given the service number ‘18755’ but at a date not specified he had transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment. Neither can I say with certainty when he arrived with the 2nd Battalion but by late March, 1917, and with the Battle of Arras pending he found himself ensconced with his fellow soldiers in some quarries just to the west of Blairville, a small village south-southwest of Arras, and waiting to move into trenches in the Mercatel sector of the front.
As was common practice, a reserve of officers and men were left behind when the battalion filed into the trenches during the evening of Wednesday the 28th of March, 1917, relieving the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in the process. The battalion’s War Diary shows that D company took up positions on the right with C company to their left, leaving A company in support and B company in reserve. It is further noted that 2nd Lieutenant L P F Mackintosh reported for duty from the depot at Rouen.
The following night, after a quiet day spent resting, working parties were assembled for the task of preparing a new trench line 400 yards ahead of the positions vacated by the fusiliers. A good start was made and the men of A company set to work to dig out a communication trench linking the old to the new, this task being completed 24 hours later. Saturday was peaceable until the evening when shells began to fall along the line, and though described as being of brief duration 2nd Lieutenant A. Wilson and four soldiers were wounded, though it is not indicated as to how severe their injuries were. Spasmodic artillery fire continued for what remained of the weekend but as the battalion neared the end of their tour of trench duty, 21st Brigade went into action with the 2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment aided by two companies drawn from the 19th Manchester Regiment attacking the village of Henin-sur-Cojeul.
This action was met with fierce opposition and despite getting into the village the assault was held up and at 9 a.m. the battalion’s B company was called upon to move up in support coming under the direct command of Colonel Edwards, commanding the 2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment.
Throughout the remainder of the day the fighting raged and it was not until dusk that the last remnants of the enemy were ousted. Amazingly, considering the stiff resistance put up by the German infantry, B company came out of the line (all units having been relieved by the 90th Brigade) having suffered just one fatality, that being Private William Rose.
Today, his grave is just one of over 1,800 Allied servicemen buried in Bucquoy Road Cemetery near the village of Ficheux. Looking at my map of the area, I would hazard a guess and say that Ficheux might be the same size of Sixpenny Handley and it almost beggars belief that a cemetery of the magnitude just described can be found in what remains very open countryside. And yet, in France, numerous cemeteries of this kind can be found; silent sentinels to a time of great sacrifice that brought so much anguish to families living in the towns and cities and to practically every village across the breadth of the United Kingdom.
For anyone wishing to visit William Rose’s grave, located in plot VI, row H, grave 22, and tended with great care by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, will need to drive south from Arras along the D.919 in the direction of Ayette and after about 9 kilometres look to the right hand side as you approach the crossroads with the D.36 twixt Ficheux and Boisleux-au-Mont.
From the maelstrom of war to the relative quiet of our own village in 1917 (though for the families with sons or husbands serving with our armed forces a time of great anxiety as well), I will close by reflecting upon some of the advertising carried on the front page of the Salisbury and Winchester Journal for Saturday, the 7th of April, 1917. A whole host of services was on offer from jobs to the procurement of goods while two major shipping companies placed adverts for passages to Australia and onward sailing to New Zealand and Tasmania (Orient Line), while the Union Castle Line was touting for business heading for the Cape, all major East Africa ports and Mauritius. Any mention of the possible risk from submarine attack was wisely omitted! Another that caught my eye had been placed by The Amesbury Building Estate which was offering for sale freehold building plots with frontages of 25-feet and upwards and running to a depth of 200-feet and, as the compiler put it, good openings for any class of Business in connection with the large Military Camps in the District.
More adverts appear throughout the eight pages of the paper, one being aimed by the National Service for female recruitment of 10,000 women wanted at once to grow and harvest the victory crops. In addition, 5,000 women were needed to fill milking vacancies, 4,000 field workers and 1,000 carters, the advert ending with the words ‘DON’T DELAY! Enrol at once in the Women’s Land Army.’
A few years ago, we the people of Woodcutts were preparing for the anticipated arrival of Mr. What’shisname? You know, the man who became the president of the U.S.A. after nearly winning the election. We were sure he was going to lose, so we offered him a house here, thinking he would bring some cheap oil wells with him. Unfortunately he became president anyway and therefore did not need us or the house. Sadly there was to be no cheap oil.
Instead it looks as if Mr. Blair is going to be looking for accommodation soon. We are as yet, very undecided about offering him a house as we are not sure that we want an atomic power station built here. (Please see reference to NIMBYISM in the last edition of the Downsman.)
Do we have much choice, we ask? We don’t get the wind much here, we certainly don’t have tidal systems and the sun is no stronger than it is anywhere else. With oil and natural gas running out possibly in thirty years, do we have any option, even if Mr. Blair finds accommodation elsewhere? The answer at the moment would appear to be no, we have got to rely on nuclear power. Does the area below the pub and in front of the telephone exchange appeal, or if that doesn’t what about at New Buildings, or even behind the Vicarage where the recycling skips are? A nuclear power station will probably be a lot less noisy than the bottle bank, for the new vicar. The bottle bank is of course environmentally friendly, there seems to be doubts about nuclear energy. If you disagree with nuclear power because you are ‘green’, a trip to the surgery might help.
While thinking green, the subject of gardening comes to mind. What a peculiar year? To ensure the picking of early tomatoes I planted seed in trays, in the last week of February, which I then put into a propagator. The seed germinated and the plants grew well, I thought that I was going to have fruit by early June at the absolute latest. Now on the 12th July I will pick my first tomatoes tomorrow. No, I was not waiting for Mr. Blair to come, so that he could pick the first ones, they simply have not grown. On the other hand, cucumbers are cropping extremely well and everyone in the family whether they like them or not, are eating them.
Out in the vegetable garden, the carrots, first sown at the end of March, to supposedly supply us with nice young bunching carrots in early June, are after being resown are just coming through now. Parsnips sown at the same time are few and far between. Cabbage plants of all varieties where sown in the greenhouse and planted out in one mammoth session. This was to the delight of all the rabbits and pigeons for miles. The second planting was all put under fleece. To stop the slugs I put numerous beer traps under the fleece with the plants, as yet I am undecided whether it would have been better to have drank the beer and not bothered about planting Brassicas. Wire netting now surrounds the area, and I still don’t understand what is grazing the carrot tops and the fennel. Perhaps since this is Woodcutts there are flying rabbits or hares. All I can say is “O deer”.
There is one crop that is doing well, the early potatoes. They were planted at the beginning of March, and were ready to be lifted the fist week of June. The variety, Rocket, crops well but is not the best for that ‘new flavour’. The main crop has suddenly taken off as well, now the haulm is almost four feet high. This is a new pink variety, Sarpo Mira, released for the first time last year by Thompson and Morgan. I grew them last year and was delighted with the resistance to blight, and apparent rejection by slugs. They yielded well and ate extremely well, in all a variety to be watched in the future. I will certainly continue with it.
Now let’s go to a more interesting topic, butterflies. Today, Weds. 12th July we have had the best butterfly day of the year, particularly with browns. I have not seen so many meadow browns together for years. In the paddock opposite the house there were so many I didn’t try to count them.
I must apologies but it is getting dark now, and according to my clock here in the summerhouse where I am working, it is fourteen minutes past eight. That of course is GMT, as I haven’t changed it from last winter. This is not a problem when I remember, but it can create problems when I forget and am an hour late for something important, like mealtimes. Anyway it is getting difficult to see well now unless I turn the light on, then I will be pestered by every nocturnal flying insect in the area. A sudden thought, are flying rabbits night flying creatures? What worries me more, is that I am reading Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, for the first time and although it’s not Christmas I don’t want to meet any of Ebeneezer Scrooge’s friends either.
Sorry for the delay, I am back to normal or as normal as it is possible for me to be. My apologies if you got up early on 13th expecting me to finish this article then. I am going to complete it now so if you wait for a few moments you can read it to the end. Let us return to the last sensible thing I wrote was on Weds. 12th July 1954, no I am only joking it was 2006, and the topic was butterflies. What a change in the last few days, still plenty of meadow browns along with gatekeepers, speckled wood and fritillaries, plus the more colourful red admirals, painted ladies and a single lesser tortoiseshell. So instead of where have all the butterflies gone? It is where have all the tortoiseshells gone? In fact we can also ask where have all the whites gone? Also where have all the brimstones gone? Apart from a good sighting of marbled whites in woodland, or more exactly at the wood side, whites have been conspicuous by their absence. The same applies to brimstones, which normally start the butterfly year for us. This year the normal early flight was almost non existent, with the second June flight a non event as well.
It is quite amazing how the year’s natural weather variations effect the fecundity of so many species. This year we have mentioned the butterflies, we could also include the elder flowers, as any cordial maker can tell you. There was a marvellous late show of flowers, but the flowering period was late and very short, if cordial makers weren’t up to scratch they didn’t get any of the bumper crop. Both the oak and the ash were late producing leaves this year, but there seemed to be no pattern to it. Some gardeners have also had very indifferent years so far, even in their greenhouses, with good cucumber crops but very poor tomatoes, that simply didn’t get going, rather like me.
What we can say is no two years are alike, and that has been and certainly will be for the future. With man manipulating the environment as he does and with a 50% increase in population by the year 2005, what are we to expect in the coming years?
There is an old saying :- “You have made your bed, now you must lie on it.”
Unfortunately for all those who come after us, they are the ones who will notice the biggest changes, that is those living after 2040 or perhaps 2050. Land going in to set aside today will be a thing of the past then. Every acre that can grow food then will be needed. The thought of growing fuel crops will be a thing of the past, there simply won’t be enough acres for food, with all marginal land being used for leisure, which will be considered far more important than it is today.
So we arrive back where we started, nuclear power, perhaps we should consider asking Mr. Blair to retire here and bring us an atomic reactor with him after all.
Today the hottest day of the summer so far and butterflies are appearing from everywhere.
I am not sure whether the ‘STOP PRESS’ is used today in our papers, but it did bring backs memories of the distant pass when I typed it. With computers I don’t suppose it is necessary any more. That’s progress I suppose.
Just a quick note again to let you know what we have been getting up to at Scouts……
Yeovilton Air Day 10 of us went to the Air Show at RNAS Yeovilton. We arrived early and grabbed a great spot right at the front. The day was spent looking around the static displays, jumping into helicopters and watching the air show. Undoubtedly the favourite of the day was the display by the Red Arrows, closely followed by the full Commando Assault at the end. This involved 15 helicopters, Tornado jets, Chinooks carrying Landrovers and pyrotechnics.
Off -Roading As a surprise activity the Scouts spent an evening off-roading. They had not been told before what was happening and arrived at the Scout Hut to find 5 off-road vehicles waiting to take them on a 2 hour drive cross country.
After an hour of driving (and 2 break downs!) the group stopped for hot dogs, drinks and a bit of a stretch. It was noted that the older Land Rovers were not quite as comfortable as first thought! We continued our journey on the Ridgeway and then back into Handley. Thank you to Nick for organising the evening and to Steve and Tracey for lending, and driving, their vehicles. It was a great night and the Scouts are now thinking how they could off-road for a whole weekend and include a nights camping.
Larmer Tree Festival This year the Scouts and friends of the Scout Group picked litter at the Larmer Tree Festival. Thank you to James and Julia for asking the Scouts to be involved in the event. Big thanks also to Simon, Andy, Hutch, and Mark for getting there at 6am every day to clear the site before it opened to the public. This was a great fundraiser for the Scouts but could only happen with volunteers giving their time.
What do you give a woman who has everything? Penicillin
What’s got one wheel, two legs and flies? A barrow loads of manure
Success is just a matter of luck. Just ask any failure.
Got up this morning and there was a tap on the window… I won’t be using that plumber again!
Dr. Mr Johnson, I’m afraid your wife has lost her mind.
Patient. That doesn’t surprise me doctor. She’s been giving me a piece of her mind every day since we got married.
continued from Apr06 issue After 2 or 3 months of running our troop I decided after discussions with Skip Raison that it was time to start up a second patrol of six lads. As it happened all of these lads were to come from the Farnham area: Jeff White, Anthony Frampton, Micky Moores, John Durbridge, Jimmy Joyce and Chris Abrams. Having named our first patrol ‘Wolf’ we decided to call our second one ‘Stag’. By now the first six had passed their tenderfoot badge, had been invested and were all on their second class badge. Within a few weeks it was time to invest the second patrol of six, all of them having passed their tenderfoot badge. Skip Raison said that a man in Alderholt who had been at the first scout camp held by Badon Powell on Brownsea Island (I believe his name was Mr Maitland) wanted to come to our investiture and present the troop with a union flag and a prayer book - what an honour to meet one of the first scouts to come into being. We all met around the flag pole on Woodcutts Common, had our investiture, had our presentation and having been invited, Mr Maitland said prayers. At our next meeting Skip Raison informed us all that Alderholt Troop were going to camp at Tiptoe in the New Forest would any of us like to join them, I cannot remember how many of us took advantage but we all had a good time.
By this time the head of the Wimborne District Scouts had heard of our exploits and had decided to call a public meeting at Sixpenny Handley School. I think in the Nov. of 1956. Local people and scout parents were invited. The idea was to form a Group Committee so as to Launch an official 1st Woodcutts Scout Group. George Tozer was elected as Chairman, Miss Blythe as Secretary (a distant relative of Blythe of the Bounty) and also elected was her companion Miss Hooper. Others elected were Mrs Churchill, Mrs Maidment and Jean Woods. Mr Les Bagg volunteered to be Treasurer.
George remained with the Group until his untimely death last year, 47 years as Chairman and 2 years as President. The National Scout Association recognised his devotion to duty by awarding him the Medal of Merit. How I miss him, he helped me such a lot. I owe him a debt I can never repay. Continued in Dec06 issue