Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele.

My Grandads battalion were certainly in the thick of the action during World War One. They were at Neuve Chapelle  in 1915, on the Somme in 1916 and now at 3rd Ypres, better known as Passchendaele
in 1917. 
The following is from an article I had published in 'Medal News' about my Grandads army service and what happened around Passchendaele.

The diary states that July was spent in preparing & training for ‘forthcoming offensive ops including individual instruction in musketry, bombing, rifle bombing, Lewis gun, map reading, signalling etc as well as actual rehearsals of the attack over ground specially laid out with spitlocked & flagged trenches.’(Spitlocked trenches are marked out but not dug)

In actions that were to become known as the 3^rd Battle of Ypres the Battalion was once more in the thick of it from the end of July & into August. The 8^th Division was at this date part of II Corps, Lieut General Sir Hubert Gough’s 5^th Army.

Zero Hour on the 31^st July was 3.50am when the artillery barrage opened up. By 5am the 2/Middx had reached their first objective point, the Germans retreating on both flanks & in front. The battalion passed through other regiments who had captured Bellewarde Ridge & onto Westhoek Ridge which they captured. The diary states the enemy had ‘stopped running away & was opening fire with machine guns,’ snipers also coming up to do their worst. Tanks were due but the diary states that there was disappointment with their late arrival. Though the enemy counter attacked they were beaten off. There was also enemy aircraft overhead that dropped what is described as a ‘White light.’ This was followed by heavy shelling, and deterioration in the weather which changed from drizzle to heavy rain. They were at last relieved by the 8/South Lancs & the 11/Cheshires late on 1^st August. Losses were 4 Officers & 28 Other Ranks killed 8 Officers & 201 OR’s wounded & 38 missing. Better progress had been made further north of 8^th Div but there wasn’t the breakthrough that Gen Gough was pressing for.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: A room with a view!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: A room with a view!: A hotel with a sea view is where I stayed near Cromer last night........unfortunately it wasn't a sea view from my room though, more a ...

A room with a view!

A hotel with a sea view is where I stayed near Cromer last night........unfortunately it wasn't a sea view from my room though, more a view of the local Spar which was very dull and had far less boats, however with a decent pint of Doom Bar on offer in the bar I could console myself about the naff view. This beer had come along way as it's a Cornish brewery & it seems popular just about everywhere at the moment. The cask ale is 4% strength and I have to say one of my faves, incidentally the name comes from the sand banks in the Camel Estuary in Cornwall.
The restaurant had a sea view though, had Whitebait (again, I know but I like it) with a little lemon juice & brown bread & butter then a very acceptable steak & kidney pud, mash & veg. Only criticism would be that the pastry was abit thick and the base was quite hard, however I enjoyed it for all that.
Had a stroll after all that stodge, found a war memorial to the Royal Engineers bomb disposal experts of World War Two that I forgot to photo & saw a lovely rainbow out at sea which I remembered to photo. A pleasant hotel that I'll probably stay in again, Decent brekky then off for another day round Norfolk only being marred by having a flat tyre. Bugger!

     

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Myth and reality of the Great War.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Myth and reality of the Great War.: This was the title of the next in the series of lectures by the Herts At War project  ( follow this link for more info http://www.hertsatwa...

Myth and reality of the Great War.

This was the title of the next in the series of lectures by the Herts At War project  ( follow this link for more info http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/ ) by Gordon Corrigan a former Gurkha officer, and very interesting he was too.
I suppose much of the lecture was explaining the popular myths and how they came about. The myth that WW1 wiped out a generation for instance is largely untrue, though notwithstanding there was an appalling lose of life. How did people start thinking this? One possible answer is from the soldiers themselves. A local battalion would have men who possibly worked together, socialised together and went into battle together. If they sustained 10% casualties its not beyond the realms of  fantasy to suggest that every soldier who survived would have known someone who didn't. Expand this over all the regiments up and down the country & maybe that's how this became a 'lost generation.'  Infact the loses of France and Germany were greater than Britain.
Lions led by donkeys is another one. That is to say all the Generals were out of touch & miles behind the front line. Infact 146 officers of General rank were killed  by the Germans & others were wounded or taken prisoner. Of course the Generals weren't in the front line, that wasn't their job. Information from brigade, division and army corps had to be passed back to the headquarters for the decisions to be made. There were some old duffers of course, recalled out of retirement on the outbreak of war and had never led men in battle. As colossal  as the casualties were the General Staff were learning all the time & the tactics of 1914 had changed by 1916 and again throughout the war.
British soldiers were shot out of hand at Court Marshals. Abit more controversial this one. There was a Court Marshal process, soldiers were represented by officers who in civvy life were lawyers and barristers. 46 of the 300 or so soldiers executed  were so for murder. In civilian life at that time murder was a capital offence so they were shot instead of hanged. Now that court marshal papers have come into the public domain it appears that alot (but by no means all) were serial offenders. In many cases the death sentence was suspended and the soldier returned to the front only to desert again & again, and shell shock was recognised as a real condition. Also Australia did have the death sentence for their troops but the sentence had to be ratified by the Governor General back in Australia & this was never done so none were ever shot.
 I did know alot of what Corrigan was talking about but not in the depth he went into, for instance it's a common misconception that troops went to France and were in the front line trenches all the time. On average  troops stayed a maximum of seven days in the front line and were then taken back to other bases though alot were then used to take supplies up to the front line. French troops on the other hand were left for months in the front line until the brigade had taken 30% casualties only then were they taken out of the line, this certainly fuelled their munity of 1917.
A war that need not have been fought? Major Corrigan thinks not. Germany were looking to expand, in the build up to war they launched 17 brand new battleships, this could only be in direct competition with the Royal Navy. Had Britain watched while Europe became embroiled in war the probable outcome  would have been a German victory. It's unlikely they'd have stopped there so the thought was that Great Britain would then have had to take on a much stronger Germany. That's just one theory of course and there are no doubt many other different views  but our speaker tonight put his take on things in a very lively and interesting way. I'd go to his lectures again.

Gordon Corrigan in full flight at the Lecture Theatre at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. 

    
 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Trains,punts, automobiles and lots of walking.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Trains,punts, automobiles and lots of walking.: Not exactly 'Trains, planes & automobiles' I grant you but the nearest I could get. Just back from a couple of days away and it...

Trains,punts, automobiles and lots of walking.

Not exactly 'Trains, planes & automobiles' I grant you but the nearest I could get. Just back from a couple of days away and its started to rain......which is good because our trip away was a scorcher,
we didn't go far  just into Cambridgeshire for a couple of nights being spoilt in some nice pubs & hotels.
Ostensibly celebrating our 33rd Anniversary we had an excellent dinner at Chez Jerome on Friday .This was supposed to be a bbq but Sainsbury's managed to deliver everything except all the bbq food & accompaniments. Things going slightly pear shaped have been bit of a hallmark to our days away, I should add we didn't need an excuse to go to Chez Jerome it's always great ( follow this link for details http://chezjerome.co.uk/  )
We got on the road on Sunday & went over to Audley End House near Saffron Walden, an English Heritage property there's lots to see there, except the house was closed as Danny Boyle was there filming for a American TV series. It was good to wonder the grounds and see the other things as well, in particular the stables which once was a 16th century house well worth another trip to see everything we missed,we left there late afternoon & went to our stop over The Cricketers  Arms at Rickling Green, got there about 5.45pm & dining finished at 6pm! Nowhere did it state when I booked that there was no food in the evening, however the staff were good & made sure we could order but our meal was abit earlier than planned.

Obligatory ice cream!

The house.

15th C house used as stables

Inside stables, note bricked up door.

Site of the boilers to heat the greenhouses.

A very good full English next morning set us up for a day in Cambridge. Staying in central Cambridge is ridiculous money so we stayed just out side at the Red Lion at Whittlesbury. Two stops along on the train and you are in Cambridge itself. Not long out the station & we were accosted by people selling punting trips. This was on our agenda for today so we signed up for a trip later on. We wanted to visit the Fitzwilliam Museum today......to find it closed, as are it appears most museums in Cambridge on a Monday. Bugger!
Repaired to the Fitzbillies Café  for tea & cakes. Even a good selection of gluten free for Tara. I had a homemade Chelsea Bun 'sustaining Dons & students alike for years' it said. A cross between a Chelsea Bun &  Lardy Cake it was very nice.

I'm sure Tara was happier with her cake than she looks!

Chelsea Bun.

 Corpus Christi College was very interesting to look round. A Medieval courtyard where Christopher Marlowe stayed and studied no less was one of the attractions. A contemporary of William Shakespeare he gained his BA in 1584. A short & very sharp shower ensued but luckily we were under cover so missed the worst of it. Pottered on around Cambridge. It's a beautiful place with lots to see. Main street were teaming with tourists but get off the main track and there's lots of interesting side streets to see.

Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi Chapel

Add caption

Being punted along the river.

    Our allotted time for a punting trip came round, although the river was busy it was a very pleasant trip going through a number of colleges. Cambridge would appear to get alot of tourists, particularly from the far east. It wasn't just us on this punt, we were at the front with about 6 Chinese behind us! It was however a very relaxing trip.   Repaired to a pub for a snack and a beer after (The Mitre I think) and thought about heading back to the hotel. A short bus trip & the train & we were back to the Red Lion. You'll see in the photos the door to our room was tiny! Known as the 'hobbit hole' luckily the room is normal size! A very nice dinner followed washed down with a local beer of which the name escapes me.

Crab cakes

Corned beef hash

Hake with lentils

Pork with black pudding

Peanut ice cream

Mango cheesecake

Weather started to look a bit dodgy we noticed after breakfast so we decided to head home. A really lovely couple of days. Must do it again.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Happy Birthday.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Happy Birthday.: We went with Ella & Julian to wish Mary (Julian's Mum) a very happy birthday. She's 98, very frail   now  and not always lucid ...

Happy Birthday.

We went with Ella & Julian to wish Mary (Julian's Mum) a very happy birthday. She's 98, very frail   now  and not always lucid though today she was on top form & as long as you hit the right pitch you could have bit of a chat as well. Unfortunately it was arranged at too short notice to get the boys and girls along which was a shame.
 We took her down to the pub next door (how convenient!) for lunch the only negative being again there was next to nothing Tara could have. Soup without the bread for instance.........is it beyond the wit of man to keep a loaf of wheat free bread in the freezer!? It doesn't take long to defrost. Many pubs these days claim they can cater for dietary intolerances, it looks good on the menu but in practise as Tara has the double whammy of being vegetarian as well there's usually precious little to choose from, however, rant over. I should also say that when the pub found it out it was Mary's Birthday they presented her with a bottle of Prosecco which was very kind.
The very palatable 'Reverend James' ale was both mine & Julians choice. Based on the recipe from 1885 it's quite sweet but not too sweet, a lovely mid brown colour, tawny I suppose, and 4.5% in strength. Having ranted about gluten/wheatfree Tara had a gluten free bottle of Peroni lager, Ella had a Southern Comfort and lemonade and Mary a small sherry.
Spiced Parsnip and honey soup  for T&E was bit of a surprise though they agreed it was alittle insipid, Prawn and lobster pot for me (posh prawn cocktail, very nice though). Mains were in the shape of baked camembert & salad for T (a bigged up starter without bread!) pork belly for J, childs cod goujons and salad For Mary and I had a really very good chicken, leek & crème fresh pie with mash & green beans.  Strawberries & frozen yoghurt for Tara's pud, lemon cheese cake for Ella and ice cream for Julian and his Mum. I slummed it on beer!
A very pleasant couple of hours with a grand lady.

Julian, Mary and Ella.