Herbert Ashman - Ashman in Kent

Work Still in progress-

Herbert Ashman was born at Peterborough, Northants on the 12th May 1896 to Edward Alfred Ashman and Jane Elizabeth Morton. On his birth certificate, Jane gave her address as Tidebrook, Wadhurst, East Sussex. This must have been during the time that Edward was a coachman/gardener, an occupation he originally carried out at Hawkinge. He finally settled at Dover, which of course is not far from the origins of the family at Brabourne, where Edward, and a lot of the ancestors were born and buried.

Herbert left school, and became a clerk at the Dover CO-OP stores, until the 1914-1918 war started. On 2nd September 1914 at the age of 19yrs and 121days he joined the East Kent Buffs Regiment, which were part of K2 Kitcheners New Army formed at Canterbury in Sept 1914. Herbert (Army No. 649) was assigned to the 7th Buffs (East Kent Regiment) - B Company;. 55th Infantry Brigade.
Pay 1/- (1 x Shilling) a day. The training initially started in September at Purfleet encamped with other units of the brigade. The new volunteers having very few trained officers and NCOs to command them and no organised billets or equipment. When the men's own civilian clothes had been worn threadbare the melancholy-looking blue uniforms and forage caps that were served out came as something gay and resplendent. Eventually enough Khaki uniforms arrived to provide about one per platoon. Training at Colchester under Lieut-General Sir Ivor Maxe at Colchester the Division included marching seldom less than 10 miles a day. On a trck through Suffolk in April 1915 62 miles were covered in 48Hrs carrying full marching order. Sleeping in barns and billets with very little sleep. At dismissal in Colchester 100 men dropped in exhaustion and slept where they fell.
In April 1915, the 18th Division was considered to be ready for France. The Division served with distinction on the Western Front for the remainder of the war, taking part in most of the significant actions.

As with many survivors from Hell, Herbert was reluctant to tell much about his war experiences but below I have attempted to mix his stories with a timetable of events captured from the web and numerous books which describe events he endured from day 1 to the last day of the "Battle of the Somme" when he was captured.
Click on links in the text below for his own words on the events - which I extracted from him after a whisky or two on his 90th birthday

May 25 1915 - 18th Division landed in Boulogne.
7th Buffs (East Kent Regiment)7th (Service) Bn
7th Queens 8th E Surreys
7th Queens Own Pals

6th September 1915 Herbert started receiving Field Pay as a Lance Corporal at 1/3d a day which continued until 10th November 1916

The 18th Division was not committed at Loo's, it was allowed to train under Ivor Maxse and was first committed on 1st July 1916 after a year in France, this became a brilliant division.

Build Up to The Somme Offensive mp3 lowband

Herbert arrived near Albert in France which was a depot and training area for soldiers.

The 7th Buffs who had a number of time-expired regulars amongst them, were preserved from` wholesale slaughter until the opening of the great Somme offensive on July 1st 1916. They had a supporting role on the right wing of the 4th Army, and although this was one part where the objectives were taken, they suffered 205 casualties in winkling out some dogged enemy groups. They endured much in the confusion of Trones Wood, during the Bazentin attack.
1914 - 1918 The Buffs lost 5668 men

Over The Top July 1916 mp3 lowband

During a period up on the front line with his unit, they became decimated and very few survived. During July 1916 the period his division were fighting through the woods.(Trones Wood) Herbert said his company (About 400 men) came out with only 38 men. As he had no unit to return to, he became a spare man and carried out duties as a runner and scout taking fresh troops up the line.

18th July 1916
Herbert was made Acting Corporal the and was put in charge of a small group of men. His pay increased to 1/8p

During times of battle the men of the front line would be relieved and spend some time at the back recuperating.

11th September 1916
Herbert took his men to a town where they could spend some well deserved R & R. On reaching the centre the men wanted to visit the local brothel. He delivered them but would not join them leaving instructions that they should re-group outside at 9o'clock. Herbert went to a bar ( he said he only had one glass of wine). Suddenly he realised that it was 9pm. so he gulped the last mouthful and rushed out through the door. Unfortunately as he exited, an individual was walking along the raised boardwalk outside of the building and was just passing the door. Herbert knocked him spreadeagle into the mud. Bad luck - it was his CO.

12th September 1916
The following morning Herbert lost the new stripe and the extra money for the rest of the war. Pay reverted to 1/3d. He was charged with being drunk. Back to the running about. Fine for drunkeness was 10/-

During the advance over the ridge in the morning of the 18th an enemy trench was over-run, and he came upon a wounded German Officer. He relieved the officer of his revolver and nothing else, but unfortunately someone in the unit stole the officer's watch and personal possessions. He got caught up in the horrendous barrage and knocked unconscious by blast. On regaining consciousness he was alone in the smoke and muck. All around him were dead and he started to make his way back clambering over bodies and carnage towards what he thought was the rear. The enemy had infiltraded? and surrounded that part of the line. At what he called Crucifix Corner - somewhere between Schwaben Redoubt and Mouquet Farm, near Thiepval he saw two figures in the gloom and called to them. The two Germans turned, rifles in hand. Herbert surrendered. He and three other prisoners were accused of the theft of the officers property and imprisoned in Cambrai Dungeons, until the thief owned up. The thief was not heard of again.

The regiment thought Herbert had been killed and wrote a series of letters to his parents including one that stated that his body had been recovered and buried.

Herbert spent the next two years in a German Prisoner of War camp. Transferred to a pig-iron works at Friedricsfeldt, where the soldiers boots rotted in the mud and were replaced by wooden clogs. The conditions were not good and the occupants suffered from disentry and frostbite. One day when running at the sound of the meal signal, he took a short-cut across the rows of pig iron troughs, he lost his balance. A clog struck the molten metal stream and his foot was burnt, resulting later in the amputation of one toe without anaesthetic. On leaving the hospital he was then occupied as a book keeper.

At the end of hostilities in 1918 the prisoners were dressed up in the best kit that could be found and their photograph taken. Each man was given a postcard version of the photo to be posted back to their next of kin. (See above) Just imagine what his family felt after having been told 3 times that Herbert was dead.
He was returned to his parents home, The Bun Shop, at 18/19 Market Square Dover in November 1918.

Collection of 18th Division and 7th Buffs information from the web, see bottom of page for credits and useful links.

Including the capture of Montauban, Mametz, Fricourt,
XIII Corps : 3rd Division, 9th Division, 18th Division, 30th Division, 35th Division Major General Walter Congreve XV Corps : 7th Division, 17th Division, 21st Division, 33rd Division, 38th Division Lieutenant - General Sir Henry Horne

July 1 - 1916

Pic of July 1st Buffs movements

XV Corps 7th & 21st Div captured Ficourt & Mametz. The attack from Maricourt to Carnoy was carried out by X111 Corps 18th and 30th divisions after the destruction of trenches and deep dugouts by the heavy guns of the French 6th Army and was virtually the only British success of the day. The objective of the Montauban Ridge had been gained by 4p.m. At a cost of 6000 casualties. Quite an achivement as the the 18th and 30th divisions were both New Army with all apart from 2 battalions, had no battle experience. The 30th division had to cross 500yds of No Mans Land but was fortunate to find the wire entanglement almost destroyed. The 18th division only had 200 yards to cross and found the enemy cowed by the bombardments. Both divisions could have gone furthur but it would have been against orders. The German reserve troops were captured as well, negating a counterattack. X111 Corps would next move forward with V11 and 111 Corps to overlook Mametz Woods. Advance 2 Km. Schwaben Redoubt first captured
Montauban village was taken by the 30th and 18th Divisions on the 1st July 1916 and remained in British hands until March 1918. It was retaken on the 25th August 1918 by the 7th Buffs and the 11th Royal Fusiliers of the 18th Division.

Conan Doyle's history of ' The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1916
The hardest fighting of any fell to the lot of the 55th Brigade upon the right. The advance was made with the 8th East Surrey and 8th Queen's Surrey in front, the latter to the left. The 7th Buffs were in support and the 7th West Kents in reserve. No sooner had the troops come out from cover than they were met by a staggering fire which held them up in the Breslau Trench. The supports had soon to be pushed up to thicken the ranks of the East Surrey - a battalion which, with the ineradicable sporting instinct and light-heartedness of the Londoner, had dribbled footballs, one for each platoon, across No Man's Land and shot their goal in the front-line trench.

A crater had been formed by a mine explosion, forming a gap in the German front, and round this crater a fierce fight raged for some time, the Germans rush ing down a side sap which brought them up to the fray. Into this side sap sprang an officer and a sergeant of the Buffs, and killed twelve of the Germans, cutting oh their flow of reinforcements, while half a company of the same battalion cleared up the crater and captured a machine-gun which had fought to the last cartridge.

It is worth recording that in the case of one of these machineguns the gunner was actually found with a four-foot chain attaching him to the tripod. Being badly wounded and unable to disengage himself, the wretched man had dragged himself, his wound, and his tripod for some distance before being captured by the British. The fact was duly established by a sworn inquiry.

The brigade was winning its way forward but the hard resistance of the Germans had delayed it to such a point that there was a danger that it would not be in its place so as to cover the left flank of the 90th Brigade, who were due to attack Montauban at 10 a.m. Such a failure might make the difference between victory and defeat. At this critical moment the officer commanding the East Surreys dashed to the front, reformed his own men with all whom he could collect and led them onwards. Captain Neville was killed in gallantly leading the rush, but the wave went forward.

There was check after check, but the point had to be won and the Suffolks of the 53rd Brigade were brought round to strengthen the attack, while the West Kents were pushed forward to the fighting line. By midday two platoons of West Kents were into Montauban Alley, and had seized two houses at the western end of Montauban, which were rapidly fortfied by a section of the 92nd Field Company. The flank of the 90th was assured. A South African officer led the first group of Surrey men who seized Montauban. He is said during the action to have slain seventeen of the enemy."

March 1916
17th Battalion
The Manchester Regiment
14/3/16 The Battalion was on relief in Suzanne. At about 6pm, the village was shelled at 20 minute intervals, the shells mainly falling round the chateau and on Centre Street. Privates James Barlow, A Gibbons and F Salt were killed. 10 others were wounded. Pte.George Cartlidge, "A" Coy died next day.
17/3/16 Orders were issued for a relief the next day. These noted that
“All trench stores, reserve ammunition, grenades, gum boots and plans of trenches are to be handed over to the incoming unit. Receipts are to be obtained for all stores handed over. Any other stores which are the property of the Battalion, e.g. sniperscopes, are to be taken with the Battalion.”
“Officers mess cart will be at point 104 at 7pm and must be used for mess boxes only. If officers have any other baggage to be transported, they should report amount to Orderly Room by 12 noon and transport will be arranged accordingly.”
18/3/16 The Battalion was relieved by 7th Buffs at 7pm

July 2
Sunday was spent consolidating captured ground, evacuating casualties and relieving frontline troops.

July 3
V111 Corps Cleared Bernafay wood on the Briish right flank. Join V11and 111 Corps at South of Mametz Wood which is only 40 yards in diameter. Fricourt and Bernafay Wood captured. La Boiselle captured and lost. Ovillier & Thiepval attack failed
By 5 July the 30th Division had been replaced by the 8th Division and returned to camp behind the line, reorganising itself ready for its next effort.'"
July 7
XV and 111 Corps assault Hardicourt & Trones Wood and reach thre outskirts of Contalmaison & Ovilliers. XV Corps attack Mametz wood. V111 Corps fail to cover with Artillery due to communications breakdown. very bad weather - La Boissselle taken.
July 8
V111 Corps attack on Trones Wood postponed to today - Reinforced with 9th and 3rd Divisions continuued to fight hard until 11th July when part of Trones Wood was captured "The Trones Wood Action Started 8/9th July 1916. On 8 July, a Saturday, the Brigade held a church service, and immediately received orders to move to Trones Wood, which was between Montauban and Guillemont. The wood, in common with all the woods of the battlefield, was entangled with a mass of undergrowth. Heavy bombardment had helped to render the wood completely impassable, except through paths, which were well protected by enemy weapons. Trones Wood was, therefore, a formidable and treacherous obstacle.
July 8 -12
All four battalions of the Pals were engaged in gallant, but fruitless attacks. General Stanley described the events of the four days: 'We marched off to Montauban which was full of troops. I don't think I have ever spent so uncomfortable a night. It was bitterly cold; our transport had gone wrong; we had to flounder through the mud in pitch darkness and got filthy and wet, added to which the guns were going off Just over our heads and making a deafening noise'. Private Johnson also recorded a miserable night of it, Germans sending shells over preventing me from sleep'. The wood was so thick that it was impossible to see more than three yards ahead; the 2nd Bedfords had managed to cover most of the wood and had dug in. But the Germans had hidden behind screened dug-outs, and once the Bedfords has passed them, they emerged from their protected bases and shot at them.
Brigadier-General Stanley recorded that the whole day went on like this.
The 19th Battalion was sent to try and stop the shelling from a strong German post on the right of the wood, but the manoeuvre was not very successful and there were many casualties.
The 20th Battalion tried bombing the road that led from Trones Wood to Guillemont. Four attacks were launched upon Trones Wood; 17 officers and 498 other ranks were wounded or killed.
Even Brigadier- General Stanley recorded that 'It is impossible to understand the operations that occurred, unless one first realises (a) that it was difficult to assemble troops for the attack by day; (b) that only one covered approach existed to the wood fit for small parties and a bad passage at that; (c) the overwhelming artillery fire which could be produced by the Germans owing to the nearness of the wood to the German second line; (d) the thickness of the wood itself which allowed the defenders to keep up a sort of bush war-fare which rendered organised movement difficult by day and impossible by night'
July 11
Preliminary bombardment of the German front line starts preparing the stsart of the the Battle of Bazentin. Part of Trones Wood captured On 11 July congratulations were sent to the 30th Division for its gallant defence Of Trones Wood, by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the British Armies in France.
July 12
Mametz wood finally taken but desimating 39th (Welsh) Division Division was relieved of its duty on 12 July the wood, except for a small footing in the southern extremity, was still in enemy hands
July 13
General Balfourier. Commander of the 20th French Corps expressed his admiration for the magnificent efforts of the Division: 'his desire is to find himself fighting alongside this Corps during subsequent operations'.

Battle of Bazentin. 14-17 Jul 1916
Included the capture of Longueval, Trones Wood and Ovillers Redoubt and the Regina Trench
XIII Corps : 3rd Division, 9th Division, 18th Division finally captured Trones Wood. The Trones Wood Action Started 8/9th July 1916
Trones wood holds a strong link for men of Kent, In 1916 the 18th Div fought for it, a company of the 7th West Kents were trapped for 2 days before helping the attack of the 12th Middlesex to capture the wood. Ironically they had to recapture the wood in 1918, the survivors of 1916 must have been gutted. 18th Div memorial

July 14
On the morning of 14th July at 3.20am a 5 minute bombardment mashed the German lines and at 3.25am under the cover of darkness X111Corps & XV Corps. advanced 1300 Metresand stormed the German 2nd line on a frontage of 5.5 KM between Longueval and Bazentin le Petit capturing fortified localities of Bazentin le Petit - Bazentin le Grand - Part of Longueval taken. The infantry then consolidated whilst the 1st & 3rd Cavalry and 2nd Indian Calvary went through into" In his diary for 14 July Brigadier-General Stanley described the events of the four days: 'We marched off to Montauban which was full of troops. I don't think I have ever spent so uncomfortable a night. It was bitterly cold; our transport had gone wrong; we had to flounder through the mud in pitch darkness and got filthy and wet, added to which the guns were going off Just over our heads and making a deafening noise'. Private Johnson also recorded ~a miserable night of it, Germans sending shells over preventing me from sleep'. The wood was so thick that it was impossible to see more than three yards ahead; the 2nd Bedfords had managed to cover most of the wood and had dug in. But the Germans had hidden behind screened dug-outs, and once the Bedfords has passed them, they emerged from their protected bases and shot at them.
In the fray. X111 & XV Corps casualties of 9,149 - 2nd reg of Indian Cavalry Division lost 102 officers and men and 130 horses 18th Division captured Trones Wood

According to the Royal Flying Corps High Wood appeared to be empty but there were no orders to advance. The Gemans consolidated a line behind Deville Wood and High Wood.
July 15
Battle of Delville Wood. 15 Jul-3 Sep 1916.
XIII Corps : 2nd Division, 3rd Division, 9th Division, 24th Division, 18th Division (53rd Brigade)
XV Corps : 7th Division, 14th Division
XIV Corps : 20th Division, and 24th Division.
South African brigade entered Deville wood and were pinned down for 6 days 5 nights.
July 16
Ovilliers Taken
July 23
Poiziers attacked by 1st Australian Division it was not taken until 7th August, with the loss of 23,000 men
North of Longueval taken - Guillemont entered and lost

Aug-1916 .
Aug 27th.
Bernafay Woods finally regained by 18th Div.

Sep 1916
September 3
Guillemont captured
September 4
Ginchy captured
September 15
X1V Corps relieved X111 Corps XV Corps make for Flers First use of Tanks - Tank D1 to be first into battle about 6am near Deville Wood Martinpuich , Courcelette(sugar factory) captured by 2nd Canadian Div.- Flers captured by 41 Div with 12 tanks - High Wood cleared of enemy by 47th London Div.111Corps with 750 bombs after tanks failed - Matinpuich taken by15th Scottis Div. 111Corps with 4 tanks
Setember 23
Preliminary bombardment of Theipval Ridge
September 25
Morval and Lesboefs taken.

Battle of Thiepval. 26-28 Sep 1916.
With 13 Divisions of the 4th and Reserve armies, "33rd Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division, II Corps, 4th Army
By mid-September the advance North of the Somme had ground to a halt. In front of the British 4th Army positions, and dominating the valley of the River Ancre, were the strong German defences of the Thiepval Plateau. These consisted of the Village itself, Mouquet Farm and the Zollern, Schwaben and Stuff Redoubts, all supported by well fortified trenches. On 26th September the 11th Division were given the task of attacking Mouquet Farm and the Redoubts, whilst on their left the 18th Division attacked Thiepval Village. In total 4 Divisions were involved in the attack on a frontage of over 5,000 yards."
Schwaben Redoubt still holds "The village of Thiepval was not to fall to the British until late September, and the Schwaben Redoubt remained in German hands until mid-October 1916."
September 26
1st Canadian repulsed - 11 corps almost completely in control, Gueudecourt captured
September 27
Germans abandon Zollern Redoubt
September 28
Theipval subdued

Battle of the Ancre Heights. 1-11 Oct 1916, incl capture of the Schwaben Redoubt, Stuff Redoubt and the Regina Trench. In the above action, the 18th Division captured Schwaben redoubt, and helped capture Regina Trench.
7 Oct
Le Sars Captured
9 Oct
Stuff Redoubt Captured
King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment Grandcourt 13th November: A successful attack was made under cover of mist and a German trench was captured.

7th Buffs fought a desperate, gruesome but successful bombing match for the Schwaben Redoubt at Theipval.
13 Oct
Schwaben Redoubt finally cleared
Royal Naval Division went over the top on the 13th November 1916
October 16

13-18 Nov 1916 The 7th Buffs were brought in again mid-November for the extension of the offensive leftwards by the muddy banks of the Ancre, and in the face of sleet and the usual pockets of undetected machine guns they gained their objectives but at heavy loss.
16 Nov.
Meanwhile war went on steadily in France and Belgium, and the1st, 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions of theBuffs were all there taking part; so we must now take up their history from the 18th November, 1916 , which is the date Sir Douglas Haig assigns as marking the close of that lengthy struggle called the battle of the Somme. Of the units mentioned above , the 7th was the first to participate in a general action , for it must be understood that fighting in the neighbourhood of the Somme and the Ancre rivers by no means ended on the fixed date mentioned; in fact, our 7th found itself in the thick of a fierce battle on the 18th November itself. Sir Douglas Haig , in describing his plans for the winter, makes it clear that it was desirable to allow the enemy no respite during the cold season, and he tells us why he resolved to keep up as much offensive work in the neighbourhood of the River Ancre as the weather and the state of the ground would allow. In fact , the German was to have no rest until the new spring offensive was brought into being , and further operations on the Ancre, as well as many minor enterprises and raids, were organised to annoy him while, at the same time, all troops that could be spared from actual touch with the enemy were to undergo a period of training and refitting as well as the rest they so much required; for after all rest is only a change of occupation, just as in civil life a man who daily fatigues his body rests in a long chair under a tree; so an office man , sedentarily employed , rests himself on holiday by a game of cricket or football.
To get back to the history of the 7th Battalion, then, it was on the 16th November that it received a message from its brigadier that operations might recommence on the following day, and together with the 7th Queen's, it went into trenches in relief of the Cheshire and Welch Regiments, and on that date 2nd Liet.I.H. Hess and two men were killed and six wounded. Near Mouquet Farm and stretching eastwards from the village of Grandcourt was a trench of the same name, and about five hundred yards south of it, also stretching east from the southern edge of Grandcourt, and covering the village of Miraumont, lay a long trench line called Desire; both these were occupied by Germans. Facing Desire trench, about six hundred yards from it and nearly parallel, ran the English line called Regina, and in it had been for some few days the East Surrey and West Kent Regiments. Behind Regina was Hessian trench, and Zollern trench was behind that again. The line was prolonged to the left by the Queen's and Buffs on the 17th November.Tthe ground was new to these two regiments.

During the night the first snow of the winter has fallen and at 6:10 A.M. on the 18th of November the assault was delivered in whirling sleet which afterwards changed to rain. More abominable conditions for active warfare are hardly to be imagined: the infantry, dark figures only visible for a short distance against the white ground, groped their way forward as best they could through half-frozen mud that was soon to dissolve into chalky slime. Little wonder that direction was often lost and with it the precious barrage, whilst the objectives, mantled in snow, were hard indeed to identify. Observation from the air was impossible; ground observers could see little or nothing, so that the batteries, in almost as bad a plight as the infantry, were, for the most part, reduced to firing their prearranged programme, regardless of the fortunes of the advance. To the sheer determination, self-sacrifice and physical endurance of the troops must be attributed such measure of success as was won. The enemy opened fire almost at once, and at 6.45 his barrage was intense. No news from the assaulting companies could be got at the Buffs' headquarters and several runners were killed in trying to obtain information; but at last the officer commanding the Queen's were in touch and that they were consolidating.

? Was Herbert supposed to return to HQ instead of going over the top?
? Was Herbert assumed to be one of the several runner killed as in the paragraph above?

It was, however, only at 6.30 p.m. on the 19th that the whole of the original objective of the Buffs was secured by the help of D company (Captain Wood ). The ground over which the original attack had passed was now examined and the secret of the heavy casualties discovered: it was found that in front of A company, particularly opposite its right flank, a number of shell holes about thirty yards the English side of Desire had been improved by the enemy into most excellent cover and connected backwards to their trenches by well constructed narrow slits or passages. The Germans had remained covered in this place till our barrage lifted over it and then come to life again, so to speak, and opened quite unexpected and very deadly fire on every living man who approached . Captain Dyson was killed, and there remained but one unwounded soldier of A company.

The 7th Buffs' casualty list for this battle of the Ancre amounted to 3 officers killed, 4 wounded and 1 missing, and 23 other ranks killed , 76 wounded and 124 missing.
A discovery was made by Captain Wood on the evening of the 19th which , to the disgrace of our enemies be it written, was practically unique in the history of the war. He found an officer , several men of A company and two of the West Kent all severely wounded in a dug-out in Desire trench; they had been carried in by the enemy and had been bound up and treated well by them.
17 Nov
Capture of Beaumont Hamel by 5th Army
"1.5.10 Army message forms from 2nd Cdn. Div. Arty., addressed to Britton's Group (artillery), outlining action to be taken in a possible attack to be made on Grandcourt Trench, 11:40 a.m., amended at 12 noon and 6:30 p.m. 18 Nov. 1916.
1.5.11 Operation Order No. 84 by BGen. E. W. B. Morrison, 2nd Div. Arty., cancelling Operation Order No. 79, 17 Nov. 1916, and notice that the Order will come into effect on 18 Nov. 1916 at 6:10 a.m. (preliminary to the capture of Ancre Trench), in support of the 4th Cdn. Div. and 18th Br. Div.
" Canadian 38th Battalion On November 17th the 38th took over a section of front line from the 11th Battalion of the Dublin Fusiliers as part of the attack on Desire Trench and Grandcourt. The 38th went "over the top" for the first time on November 18th and all objectives were gained. The Battalion had about 500 casualties, including 5 officers killed and 11 wounded. The Regiment was relieved on November 20th and what was left of it returned to Albert and after a few days reorganization, the march to the Vimy Ridge front was commenced.
Major J. S. Lewis
November 18, opposite Grandcourt, he was severely wounded while leading twenty-five men on an attack on a machine gun at the Desire trench and its support trench. He had previously been wounded in October. The machine gun was in a ‘concrete emplacement walled and roofed'. The plan was to attack with twelve bayonets and thirteen bombers with no rifle fire. Twenty-three of the attackers were casualties. When they reached the gun, only McClintock and Private George Sinnock Godsall, a brass finisher from Montreal were standing. Of eleven Germans only two were standing. Many were taken prisoner. Before the attack, Major John Simon Lewis, who was killed two hours later, said to McClintock, 'This is going to be a bit hot, McClintock', he said, taking my hand, 'I wish you the best of luck old fellow - you and the rest of them.' He was described by McClintock as the bravest and best loved man in the battalion. I believe McClintock would have been further decorated if Major Lewis had lived. The award of DCM or higher decorations required acts which were witnessed by an officer.
Major John Simon Lewis, age forty-two, is buried at Bapaume Post Military Cemetery, Albert. He too was an American, a writer from Dubuque, Iowa. His headstone indicates he was born in Potosi, Wisconsin, USA. His attestation papers say he was born in Dubuque, Iowa. This is quite puzzling. He was born in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. I have a copy of his birth certificate. He was Mentioned in Despatches for action January 2, 1917. His circumstances of death report reads as follows:

Major J. S. Lewis went into the attack of November 18th 1916, in command of ""D"" Company. This was the action in which our battalion captured Desire Support Trench from the Germans. He was hit in the head by a piece of shell or bullet shortly after leaving our trench and crossing No Man's Land, and he died almost instantaneously. His body was later brought back and buried in the Division Cemetery, Albert, by our Chaplain, Capt. J. W. Wayman, a suitable cross being erected over the grave. Major-General D. Watson was present at the service.
Major Lewis was a most exceptional officer in every particular; too much cannot be said in his praise and the Battalion will always feel the poorer for his loss.
Major General David Watson was 4th Division Commander.
McClintock had over twenty wounds from two different shootings November 18. He had six operations. As late as December 11 he was still on the dangerously ill list. Parents of soldiers on that list could go to France to see them. That day he had a temperature of nearly 104° at the hospital at Rouen. He was also suffering from trench feet, as he had several times before.
While in the King George Hospital in London, he was visited by King George V. It was reported in the Lexington newspapers that he had been decorated by the King, but he did not receive his DCM until he had returned to New York, although it was awarded February 5, 1917.
After this hospitalization, he was transferred to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Bromley, Kent and was discharged February 13 then to Hastings, Sussex for further recovery.
He was offered a commission but wanted to serve in the U.S. Army. After entering Canada aboard the S.S. Metegama March 5, on June 28 he was discharged from the Canadian Army as medically unfit at Montreal, where he had enlisted in November, 1915. Upon discharge he complained that he had not received a twenty pound bonus for his DCM. This is curious because his pay was in Canadian dollars and because soldiers from the Empire received extra leave instead of the bonus.
8th Bn. GLOUCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT They attacked near Grandcourt on the 18 November and took their objectives but at a cost of another 295 casualties. The next day they withdrew to Cromwell Huts.

Herbert Ashman Survivor from Hell 1896 -1991

Herbert Ashman
Survivor from Hell
1896 -1991