South Lancs Regiment

Discussion in 'World War 1' started by liverpool annie, Jun 20, 2009.

  1. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

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  2. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

    Thought you might also like a bit of history !! :) ......... the St Helens Pals were also called the St Helen's Pioneers ! ........

    The 11th (Service) Battalion (St Helen's Pioneers) was raised in September 1914 and served in France and Belgium with the 30th and 25th Divisions. Initial training was on Salisbury Plain after which the 11th became a Pioneer unit joining the 30th Division.

    The 11th Battalion were photographed marching down Corporation St., St Helens on 21st February 1915. They embarked for France in 1915, leaving camp at Larkhill near Stonehenge on the 6th November, and disembarking early next morning at Le Havre. The Battalion consisted of the the commanding officer, 29 officers and 1007 other ranks. They left Le Havre on 7th November and entrained for Pont Remy, followed by a march to Fleselles in the Albert-Somme area, arriving on the 17th. November and December was spent carrying out work in the trenches.

    In 1916 the Battalion was split up in various villages improving billets. The role of the 30th Division in the Battle of the Somme was to capture Montauban. On the evening of 30th June the Battalion was in position in Mariscourt sector with their headquarters in Copse Ravine. At 7:30am on 1st July the battle opened. On 12th July the Battalion was moved to Grovetown Camp for a week of rest from where it moved later to Happy Valley. Casualties in Somme fighting had amounted to 190 other ranks killed or wounded. On 30th August the Division moved to a new sector near Festubert area. During November and December the Battalion spent most of its time based at Berles-au-Bois with daily tasks of road-making and improvement of defences.

    The Battalion remained at Berles-au-Bois, south of Arras, for the first few months of 1917. On 22nd March they marched to a new billeting area in Blairville and remained there until after the start of the Battle of Arras which commenced 9th April. At the beginning of May, the Battalion was stationed at Beauvois near St. Pol. During the third week of May they moved to Palace Camp near Dickebusch in Flanders working on corduroy roads and light railways. At the end of the month they moved to a school east of Ypres. The Battalion was now in the 'Salient'. Their first task was to dig a fire trench in Zouave Wood south east of Menin Road. In July the Battalion was engaged in tasks connected with the offensive due to commence on 1st July and now known as Passchendaele. They left the Salient on 6th August and took over Spy Farm Camp near Lindenhoek where they remained until the first weeks of November working on the defences of Messines Ridge. On 8th November the Battalion moved back to the familiar Zillebeke sector.

    In 1918 the Battalion travelled south to take over part of the line from the French. The sector was astride the River Oise and in front of the St. Gobain Massif. Battalion HQ was located at Nesle. At the beginning of March the Battalion moved to the Savy-Roupy area opposite St. Quentin where later in the month it was destined to meet the full force of the German attack which commenced on the 21st. On the morning of the 21st the battalion was disposed as follows: one company in Savy Wood dug-outs, one company in Roupy, one company split up between L'Epine de Dallon and the back area. Just after daybreak there was furious bombardment all along the front and in accordance with a pre-arranged plan, the Battalion was concentrated in the village of Fluquieres. The company in Savy Wood lost heavily from high-explosive and gas shell. At 3:00pm the Battalion was ordered to withdraw to Aviation Wood. On the 22nd the Battalion remained in position with orders to hold on and cover the reorganisation of any troops who passed through. At 6:00pm orders were received to retire to Ham. On arrival the Battalion was ordered to bivouac in Eppeville, a suburb of Ham. At 4:30am the next morning enemy machine-guns were heard as the Germans were in Ham. The Battalion occupied the embankments of the Amiens railway. At 8:30am on the 24th, the Battalion withdrew and crossed the Nesle Canal at Moyencourt. That anyone escaped was due to the magnificent fight put up by the Lewis gunners who continued to serve their weapons until all were killed or wounded. By the evening of the 24th most troops were across Nesle Canal. By 10:00pm the Battalion was on its way to Roiglise which was reached by 5:00am on the 25th. The Battalion was sadly reduced in numbers as a result of the St. Quentin fighting. Casualties amounted to 3 officers and 28 other ranks killed, 8 officers and 169 other ranks wounded, and 210 other ranks missing, making a total loss of 418. In other words a week's fighting had reduced the Battalion to fifty percent of its original effectivenesss.

    The battalion was reduced to a training cadre before being disbanded. The last entry in the War Diary reads 'June 1919. The Battalion cadre located at Escaudoeuvres. June 8th, the Cadre entrained for the U.K. at Cambrai. Strength 6 officers and 38 other ranks.'
     
  3. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

    Heres a poster ...... !
     

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  4. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

    And a VC ! ...... I feel very sad about his grave though ...... :(

    John Thomas Davies - Sep. 29 1895 - Oct. 28 1955

    World War I Victoria Cross

    Born in Rockferry, Cheshire, he moved with his family to St. Helens, Lancashire when he was very young. He was working in a brick factory when the war broke out and he enlisted in the 11th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, a so-called "Pals Battalion," made up of friends and fellow workers from the same area.

    He was awarded the VC for action near Eppeville, southwest of St. Quentin, during the "Kaiserschlact," the last-ditch German Spring Offensive of 1918.

    From his citation - "On 24th March, 1918 near Eppeville, France, when his company was ordered to withdraw, Corporal Davies knew that the only line of withdrawal lay through a deep stream lined with a belt of barbed wire and that it was imperative to hold up the enemy as long as possible. He mounted the parapet in full view of the enemy in order to get a more effective field of fire and kept his Lewis gun in action to the last, causing many enemy casualties and enabling part of his company to get across the river, which they would otherwise have been unable to do."

    He was taken prisoner, though his parents were initially led to believe he had been killed - a letter from him in a POW camp in Silesia told them otherwise. After the Armistice he was repatriated and received his VC medal from the King in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. He returned to St. Helens and a job in a glass and bottle works, and during World War II served with the Home Guard, rising to the rank of Captain.

    He passed away suddenly at the age of sixty at his home in St Helens and is buried at Saint Helens Cemetery in Lancashire

    His medals are in the collection of the Imperial War Museum, London
     

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