Battle of Loos and the 46th (North Midland) Division

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

At 1400 hours on the 13th October 1915 a whistle blew. The men of the 46th (North Midland) Division began their attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt. 137th Brigade went first and were immediately hit by heavy machine gun fire. The attacking battalions were annihilated without achieving anything.

Of the two companies of the 1/5 South Staffords, every single officer and man was hit as they tried to advance.

138th Brigade attacked at 2.05 p.m.. They managed to reach their first objective with fewer losses. Then, as they carried on, heavy fire cut across them resulting in very high casualties. The attack came to a standstill within ten minutes. Trench fighting continued, but once again the shortage of bombs proved decisive. The Division lost 180 officers and 3,583 men within ten minutes, and achieved absolutely nothing.

The ceremony of remembrance, attended by the Mayor, was held at the 46th (North Midland) Division Memorial close to the Redoubt at 2,00 p.m. on the 13th October 2015. 

Wreath of the Leicestershire Regiment

After the laying of wreaths

Leicestershire Regimental Wreath

To read more about the 46th (North Midland) Division, please click here and for further information about the memorial, click here

To read For the Fallen  by Robert Binyon, follow this link

Their Name Liveth for Evermore

Family at War - Smith family of Thurmaston

Dud Corner Cemetery where many casualties of the Leicestershire Regiment are commemorated on the panels surrounding the final resting place of those who do have a grave.

Family history can be exciting and rewarding, or it can be frustrating, especially if your name is Smith.  You can of course find a researcher to do the work for you and the one I would recommend is English Ancestry

Thurmaston War Memorial in Leicestershire has thee Smiths commemorated thereon, two of them brothers, Albert and Charlie. There is also another name, George Partridge and he is their brother-in-law; married to their sister, Annie.

There were ten Smith children in the Main Street (now Melton Road) household altogether: Charlie, Ben, James, Timothy, Frank, Fred, Ernie, Annie and Nelly plus Walter Warwick who Tim and Ellen Smith adopted as one of their own.

Charlie (Private 242316) was nearly 23 when he died on 9 April 1917 and is buried at Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension near Peronne, France. Private Albert Smith  was killed in Action on 29 July 1917 an is commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium.

Nelly's Grand Daughter, Janet Lucas discovered that her Great Aunt, Annie Smith married George Partridge from the nearby village of Syston and he is the third member of the family to be remembered on the Thurmaston Memorial.  He is also remembered on the Syston Memorial. 

Lance Corporal 3529 George E Partridge enlisted in Leicester and joined the 1/4 Leicestershire Regiment.  He was killed in action aged just 26 on 13 October 1915 at the Hohenzollern Redoubt; a dreadful day for the 46th Division. His name is on panel 42-44 of the Loos Memorial, Dud corner (see above and below).

On 13 November 1916 George's parents put the following into the Parish Magazine:

In loving memory of our dear son, Pte. George Partridge of the 1st 4th Leicester Regiment, killed in action, Hohenzollern Redoubt, Oct 13 1915.

Just one year ago you left us,

And we miss your smiling face,

But you left us to remember,

None on earth can take your place.

From Mother, Father, sisters and brothers.

Janet Lucas wrote the following poem and has kindly given her permission for it to appear here:

Unfamiliar History

My Father never knew

his three uncles killed in World War 1,

just names on Thurmaston Memorial -

Charlie and Albert Smith.

My Grandma hardly knew

her brothers, she was youngest of ten

when they died in 1917,

she never spoke of them.

So I never knew,

vainly researching the third Smith,

until the phone call after Dad died

from George Partridge's daughter.

Lily never knew

her father, killed in 1915,

nor mother Annie,

sister of Charlie and Albert,

who died in 1918

of a broken heart.

They never knew

their Mother's face;

too young to remember.

No photograph for Lily an sister Nelly,

brought up by George's parents.

You never knew

of me

nor I of you

Grand-daughter of Annie.

And her only sister

seeing each other for the first time

91 years on.

But now we do.

(Janet Lucas)



  

© Karen Ette 2013

46 (North Midland) Division Memorial - Angles - Degrees - Loss

On 13^th October 1915, at 2.00 p.m. (1400 hrs) the men of the 46^th Division went ‘over the top’ in an attempt to capture the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

137th Brigade went first and were immediately hit by heavy machine gun fire. The attacking battalions were annihilated without achieving anything.

Of the two companies of the 1/5 South Staffords, every single officer and man was hit as they tried to advance.

138th Brigade attacked at 2.05 p.m.. They managed to reach their first objective with fewer losses. Then, as they carried on, heavy fire cut across them resulting in very high casualties. The attack came to a standstill within ten minutes. Trench fighting continued, but once again the shortage of bombs proved decisive. The Division lost 180 officers and 3,583 men within ten minutes, and achieved absolutely nothing.

Decades later, a great deal of distress was caused by the dumping of waste on what had been the Hohenzollern Redoubt.  This was addressed and there is now a permanent ban on any dumping.

On 13^th October 2006 a Memorial to the 46^th (North Midland) T F Division was  put in place on land close to the Redoubt donated by the local farmer, Michel Dedourage. 

The land where the memorial stands is 46 sqm.  It is made from Portland Stone (the same as the Dorset Memorial) in the form of a ‘Broken Column’ and was designed by Michael Credland.

The top of the column is tilted at an angle of 46 degrees.

The bottom step is 46 inches across and the column is 46 inches high. 


Every angle: the top, the base, the steps and the facets of the column are 46 degrees.

Each of the eight sides has a gun-metal plaque bearing the cap badges and names of the battalions: Lincolnshires, Leicestershires, Sherwood Foresters, North Staffordshires, South Staffordshires,  1^st Monmouths, RFA and RE.  The plaques were made by the famous Bell Founders: Taylors of Loughborough. 

The Inscription "THEIR COUNTRY FOUND THEM READY", which is carved on the top step of the Memorial, was chosen by Martin Middlebrook, who wrote of Captain Staniland's Journey: The North Midland Territorials Go To War. It comes from the popular war-time song "Keep the home fires burning" composed by Ivor Novello In 1915.

Photographs of three brothers who served with the 46th (North Midland) Division.  The larger photograph is of a Hohenzollern Redoubt Survivor 

 St. Mary's Advanced Dressing Station Cemetery on the Hulluch to Vermelles road, Haisnes.

46th North Midland Memorial, Vermelles

THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE

46th (North Midland) Division - short history
The Dorsetshire Memorial

Lincolnshire Regiment

The Best Billet on the Somme

Find a relative with English Ancestry

©Karen Ette

46th North Midland Division in World War 1 - a short history

As my main area of research is with the Leicestershire and South Staffordshire Regiments, I was recently looking further into the 46th (North Midland) Division.   

Without giving the complete history, I thought I would give one or two important little snippets of information.

It was originally formed in 1908, known then at the North Midland Division and was one of the14 Divisions of the Territorial Force.

The Midland Brigades which formed the Division were:

137th (Staffordshire) Brigade, 138th (Lincoln & Leicester) Brigade, 139th (Sherwood Forester) Brigade

When the war broke-out the Division was under the command of Major General Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley.  He is an interesting character, and disliked by Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig.  His story will come later. 

All units were mobilised on 5^th August 1914 and converged in the Luton area by the middle of August.

After the King had inspected the troops (19^th February 1915) they set off for France and The North Midland was the first Territorial Force Division to arrive complete.  On 12^th May 1915 the Division was given the title 46^th (North Midland) Division. They first went to the Ypres Salient where they experienced the German liquid fire attack at Hooge on the 30th and 31st July.

The Division then moved south into France eventually taking part in the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt where, on 13 October, the Division was decimated.



Recent photo showing where part of  Redoubt was

There was much to-ing and fro-ing to Egypt and back in early 1916 and the Division was later involved in the Battle of the Somme (1916) on the failed attack at Gommecourt, 1^st July 1916 and the Battle of Albert (1^st – 13^th July 1916).  On 29 September 1918: The Breaking of the Hindenburg Line.

This brings me to my recent visits to the Redoubt and to the two memorials to the 46^th (North Midland) Division, near in Vermelles. 

The memorial nearest to Vermelles is on what was the British Front Line close to
Saint Mary's Advanced Dressing Station Cemetery at Haisnes

46th Division Memorial near Vermelles

The memorial honouring the casualties of the 46th Division at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, which is where the German front-line was, is worth a page of its own; please click here to read all about it. It is on the opposite side of the Hohenzollern Redoubt at Auchy-les-Mines. 

46th Division Memorial at Auchey-les-Mines

There is also a 46th Division Memorial near Bellenglise (Hindenburg Line) and I would like to thank Tony Guest for the photograph (below)




46th Division Memorial at Bellenglise Photograph by Tony Guest - thanks Tony

Also on the Vermelles Road at Haisnes just behind the British front line is the St Mary's Advanced Dressing Station Cemetery where Jack Kipling is buried – lots of controversy there.

© Karen Ette