The Great War had but 18 days left to run yet men were still being killed.
Of all the futile waste of the war these deaths must surely rank amongst the most futile. The 16th/Royal Warwickshire's, the battalion in which my Grandad now served, had been in the trenches since the 12th October and had passed through such areas as 'sunken road' later made famous in photos etc, they were around the village of Viesly and on the 20th withdrew to Bethencourt. The action they had been involved in won the congratulations of the General Officer Commanding the 5th Division Major General J Ponsonby. The casualty figures for October 1918, the last full month of the war were:
Killed
2 Officers
16 Other Ranks
Wounded
3 Officers
71 Other Ranks
Missing
8 Other Ranks
NYD* (Gas)
16 Other Ranks
Of course it's unknown whether any of the wounded subsequently died or what extent their wounds were. The still very class conscious age named all officers in the diaries but NCO's and men were just referred to as the all encompassing 'Other Ranks.' A point which still annoys me, even after all the war diaries I have read, why should a captain's name be more note worthy than that of a corporal?
The battalion was now at Caudry and on todays date the entry just reads:
A & D Coys** on range. Company training.
*Not Yet Diagnosed.
** Company (approx 120 men though less towards the end of the war)
Of all the futile waste of the war these deaths must surely rank amongst the most futile. The 16th/Royal Warwickshire's, the battalion in which my Grandad now served, had been in the trenches since the 12th October and had passed through such areas as 'sunken road' later made famous in photos etc, they were around the village of Viesly and on the 20th withdrew to Bethencourt. The action they had been involved in won the congratulations of the General Officer Commanding the 5th Division Major General J Ponsonby. The casualty figures for October 1918, the last full month of the war were:
Killed
2 Officers
16 Other Ranks
Wounded
3 Officers
71 Other Ranks
Missing
8 Other Ranks
NYD* (Gas)
16 Other Ranks
Of course it's unknown whether any of the wounded subsequently died or what extent their wounds were. The still very class conscious age named all officers in the diaries but NCO's and men were just referred to as the all encompassing 'Other Ranks.' A point which still annoys me, even after all the war diaries I have read, why should a captain's name be more note worthy than that of a corporal?
The battalion was now at Caudry and on todays date the entry just reads:
A & D Coys** on range. Company training.
*Not Yet Diagnosed.
** Company (approx 120 men though less towards the end of the war)
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