1914 - 1915: Training For War

Introduction

Around the end of 2013, with the centenary of the opening of World War One looming but still comfortably over the horizon, I thought it may of interest to his descendants to briefly document what was known about the war experiences of ‘Great-Grandad’, Walter Hitchcock (known throughout these pages as “WH”).  Thanks to a cassette recording my parents (Pam and Charles Duddridge) had made of WH in the late 1960s, in which he was encouraged to discuss what he recalled of the Great War, I was already aware that he saw extensive action on the ‘Western Front’ before being shot in the leg and taken prisoner of war and shipped off to Poland for the final seven months of hostilities - which may just have saved his life.  Knowing the war was a long and complex one, I wondered whether it would be possible to get a better understanding of the influences that would have shaped WH’s personal war.  Therefore, with the aid of regimental diaries, historical documents and, perhaps most importantly, the voice of WH himself, what follows is the first chapter of WH’s Great War experiences.

Notes

1.  Although I have tried to set the scene a little in a prologue, this does not represent a historical document of the war itself.  For example, the scope of hostilities was widespread, covering Asia and the Pacific, India and Africa, as well as the more commonly referenced battles in Europe.  This history is very specific to WH’s movements.

2.  Quotes from the cassette recording made by my parents are referenced by T. (A full transcript of the interview can be found as a separate blog post.)  All other quotes are referenced to their source material (see the end of this text).

3.  Wanting this to be ready for the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War, I started all this too late!  Having no experience of historical research, I was not prepared to the extent that one small piece of information would become fractal, each fact exposing more facts behind it but none of them linear, instead spawning off in all directions.  It’s been very interesting but probably of limited interest beyond my own desk.  I have tried to keep this a family-interest document more than anything.  (I am sure I’ll be told if it wanders from this aim.)

I mentioned that this is a ‘first chapter’.  WH did not reach France until September 1915, a full year after he signed up for the war effort.  This timescale was dictated by the complexities of creating a primary fighting force after the full time British Army suffered terrible losses in the early stages of the war.  From 1915 on, movements are frequent and complicated - but they are documented.  It will take a little time to get them straight.  Therefore, this initial chapter is short but I anticipate those to follow will be longer.  So, in order to have something online for the 1914 centenary, the text below covers September 1914 to September 1915, a busy but less dangerous time …

Prologue

June 28th, 1914.  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife, Sophie, are assassinated while on a state visit to the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo.  Although planned by a group of six young men from the nationalist group, Young Bosnia, the assassin who fired the shot, Gavrilo Princip, was handed his opportunity by fortune rather than meticulous planning; after at least two missed opportunities, Princip has all but abandoned his groups aims for assassinating the Archduke when the carriage in which the Archduke and his wife are travelling takes a wrong turn into the street in which Princip is walking.  Princip takes the initiative, fires and seals Europe’s fate for the next four years.  Suppressed Imperialism and Austro-Hungarian paranoia over Serbia’s government’s involvement in the assassin’s aims, lead to Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia on July 28th, 1914.   However, Serbia is Russia’s main influence in the Balkans.  To see Serbia under the control of  Austria-Hungary is something Russia is not prepared to accept; Russia mobilises on July 29th.  Germany - already having committed support to Austria-Hungary following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, will not stand to see Russia mobilising against Austria-Hungary.  Germany declares war on Russia on August 1st.  Within the next few days, an attack by Germany on Luxembourg is followed by German declaration of war against France.  Belgium will not let German troops cross its borders to advance on France; Germany declares war on Belgium.  Britain presses Germany that Belgium must remain neutral - Germany disagrees.  On August 4th, Britain declares war on Germany.  Europe is at war.

Across the channel, life on the Denbies estate near Dorking, Surrey, continues as it has for countless years.  News of the Balkan crisis has made headlines - the outbreak of hostilities caused the stock market to close on 31st July and Madame Tussauds even has a section for the European leaders involved in this Balkan crisis but, if events are discussed at work at all before today, it would seem more likely that the now surely inevitable revolution against English rule in Ireland has had the focus of attention.  However, like nearly everybody else working on Denbies estate, the 21 year old Walter Hitchcock is a member of the Territorial ArmyT and will doubtless be watching events unfold in Europe with some interest.  Maybe the Territorials will be engaged.

The opening of the war is a shock to the regular British Army.  The regiment which WH is destined to join, The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey), after having distinguished itself in the Boer War, is reduced to just 32 men in the 1st Battalion by 1st November, 1914; six days later the 2nd Battalion had suffered 676 casualties.B3  However, the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener is not taken by surprise, he has long considered the, “It’ll all be over by Christmas” spirit to be erroneous.  He has fought not to limit replacement troops to the Territorial Army but to expand the existing Army using ‘Service’ divisions.  On September 5th, 1914, the posters go out:

Answering the call, on 25 September 1914 WH travels to Guildford to enlist.  Like most of the workers on DenbiesT, he is keen to get to war, though is disappointed when he is initially docked wages ‘ten bob’ by the Bailiff (Mr Swann) for leaving early, though this decision is soon reversed by Lord AshcombeT of Denbies, who even presents him with a golden half-sovereign.  (Lord Ashcombe later lost three sons in the Great War.)  Given his geography, WH is enlisted into the The Queen’s, Royal West Surrey Regiment (“RSWR”) 8th Service Battalion (“The 8th”)T.  The 8th is one of the new ‘Service’ divisions, having only been formed that monthB1 and  becomes part of the 72nd Infantry Brigade1 in the 24th Division of the Third New Army; WH is in ‘B Company’, under Captain Fox.

Once enlisted in the battalion, he is moved to a large tented camp hastily set up in Oxen Field, Shoreham, just outside Brighton.  (The camp area is now dissected by the A27 but alterations to the ground made by the camp are partially visible from the air: https://goo.gl/maps/4Va2Z)  The camp has been hastily assembled to accommodate and train the influx of new recruits in the south of England.B1

No. 8 Platoon - B Company - 8th Queens (WH highlighted)2

Badge of the The Queen’s Royal (West Surrey) Regiment

The tended camp at Shoreham (Archive photo)

Shoreham camp map, 1914, over-laid with the roads and houses of today

However, Shoreham is clearly not ready.  Documents from the 8th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment, who are brigaded with The 8th and arrived at Shoreham a couple of weeks prior to The 8th (and who documented training in far more detail than The 8th did), state that, despite the pouring rain there is no accommodation, men have to shelter beneath trees from the rain and there are no plates, “a piece of wood or newspaper had to serve as plate, and the fingers as knife, fork and spoon”.  Furthermore, “The tea invariably had half an inch of grease on the top, while the food was almost uneatable”.B2

Do to the lack of military supplies and, therefore, presumably in order to keep the thousands of new recruits occupied, the first weeks in Shoreham consist of, “squad drill and marching and nothing else” from 6.30am through to 5pm, with only two hours off during the day at 8am and 1pm.  However, occasionally, an ‘afternoon off’ is granted and the battalion marches to the beach in Brighton for a swim.B2

By October the men have serge blue uniforms but no rifles.B1/B2  However, the uniforms do give the battalion a more organised appearance and it is noted that discipline improves with this uniformity, “it had been formerly impossible to tell whether a man was a soldier or not”.B2

While October had been fair weather, November is not.  As recalled in the Royal West Kent regimental history,

“... the weather got worse and worse, until by the end of the month the camp was no better than a mud patch about six inches deep, and, as always happens in a muddy camp, had become very unhealthy, and was condemned by the sanitary authorities.”B2

More inclement weather follows and The 8th is billeted to Worthing.B1/T  WH’s initial billet is not good, with the old lady with whom he lodged feeding him only, “corned beef and skilly”.T  Domestically, it is uneasy too, as the old lady taunted her husband as, “she reckoned that her old man was running around after her niece”.  A request to the Quartermaster to move billets is rebuffed and WH later comments, “I was green, very green”.T

Now a Lance-Corporal, WH moves into new billets, one of four men this time.  Given his rank, he is given specific instructions in this new billet to take charge of two of the others, “Irishmen ... and the landlady says they’re coming home drunk every Saturday night”.T  Unfortunately though, while in this billet he spends time confined to his bed with chicken pox.

We now move into 1915.  Eventually, khaki uniforms and Japanese design rifles arrive and company training began in earnest.B1  This is to last until Good Friday 1915 when the Battalion marches to billets in ReigateB1/T - a distance of around 34 miles.  (According to Google Maps, this march would take at least 11 hours on modern roads3.)

The stay in Reigate lasts just a fortnight.B1  A march back to Shoreham for, “a very strenuous two months”,B1 is followed - at the end of June - by a march back to Blackdown, near Farnborough.  This time, the march is split over two days: Shoreham to Guildford on day one (11 and a half hours?); and Guildford to Blackdown on day two (a mild 3.5 hours?).T

During the stay at Blackdown, musketry training takes place in Bisley [B1].  Given the surprising tenacity of resistance encountered by the British Expeditionary Force already engaged in combat in Europe, it is of great concern that initial rifle practice is, “rather disappointing”.B2  As recorded by the Kent 8th Battalion, driving wind and rain is making matters worse,

“On many of the days on which we fired, shooting would have been cancelled under peace conditions; but time was short, and we were forced to get on with the work if the targets could be seen at all”.B2

Given what lay ahead, perhaps this training is more apt than was realised at the time.

During the stay in Blackdown, on the 12th August, the 24th Division (which includes The 8th) is inspected by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener.

“The whole Division was drawn up in one line of battalions in mass, and Earl Kitchener rode down the line from the right, and was received with general salute.  The whole proceeding, as far as each battalion was concerned, lasted about two minutes but no one with experience of these functions will be surprised to hear that we were on parade waiting for over one and a half hours before anything happened.”B2

Preparations for engagement overseas are stepped up.  Essential trench warfare training takes place on Chobham Common, with ‘opposing forces’ digging trenches overnight until the exercise is halted at 7am.  However, the weather is considered too bad for the exercise to continue and is abandoned.B2

Of note during this trench digging exercise is a visit by King George V and the Queen, who, it is reported, “walked along the trenches, speaking to many of the officers and men, and we felt this foreshadowed a fairly imminent departure for other trenches”.B2

Walter Hitchcock

Notes

1 Other parts of the 72nd Infantry Brigade included 8th Buffs, 9th East Surrey and the 8th Royal West Kent Regiment.

2 The exact date of this photograph is unknown.  However, WH appears to be a Sergeant, suggesting it was taken at the end of the training, prior to leaving for France in 1915.  I also have a high resolution, semi-restored digital image of this photograph.

3 Google Maps, 20 July 2014

References

B1 History of the Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment In The Great War, Colonel H. C. Wylly, C.B., N&M Press, ISDN 9781843425397

B2 The Eighth Battalion, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 1914-1919, Lieu.-Col. H. J. Wenyon & Major H. S. Brown, N&M Press, ISDN 9781843426714

B3 The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey), Jock Haswell, Hamish Hamilton, London (Pre ISDN, 1967)

T CQMS Walter Hitchcock (Interview Transcript)  [www.dudds.co.uk]