A warm welcome to all members and visitors to what is the last meeting before our summer break. Today I have great pleasure in welcoming back to the branch Professor Peter Simkins. Peter is a good friend of the branch, this is his sixth visit excluding the one scheduled two years ago which was ‘washed out' due to the flooding that the entire country experienced. Peter will be giving us his talk that was originally planned for 2006 "One More River: The British Fourth Army in the Battle of the Selle". I am sure we are in for an excellent afternoon.
On 27 June the branch will be attending the Yorkshire Family History Day at The Knavesmire, at York Racecourse - we hope that we will have a good chance of raising our profile in the York area and maybe even recruiting some new members. Please visit us if you are able to pop along!
On behalf of myself and the rest of the committee, I hope you have an excellent summer, and we look forward to seeing you again in September.
Brian Marsden
Chairman
Forthcoming Speakers:
5 September: The Defence and Capture of Roeux, April - May 1917 - Foster Summerson
This talk will focus on the attempts to capture the village of Roeux, one of the strong points on the German line, during the Battle of Arras in April and May 1917. It will examine British tactics and German defensive measures in what became a bitter struggle on both sides.
3 October: ‘Single Handed': the military career of Kenneth Dalgliesh - Col. Michael Hickey
Kenneth Dalgliesh (of the Leicestershire Regiment) wrote regular letters to his parents. He was seriously wounded in the arm, which was later amputated. Undaunted, he remained in the Army and after being posted to Egypt, where he met his future wife, continued commenting on the war. His correspondence covered most aspects of his life, military training and his war experience.
The Vimy Memorial (from the CWGC web site)
The Vimy Memorial was unveiled on 26 July 1936. The passage of time, wear and tear and harsh weather conditions have led to the monument's deterioration, despite regular upkeep over the years. Its restoration requires more than routine maintenance.
The rehabilitation and restoration of the Vimy Memorial started in December 2004 and was completed in 2006. As the Memorial has been designated a national historic site of Canada, the work respects the historical and cultural integrity of the original monument design by the artist and architect, Walter S. Allward. The rehabilitation plan for the Vimy Memorial was part of the Canadian Battlefield Memorials Restoration Project, directed by Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs in cooperation with other Canadian departments, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, consultants and specialists in military history.
Over 60% of the stone blocks forming these walls, and engraved with the names of the missing, required replacement. Unlike other memorials however, where it is the usual practice to engrave names in columns on removable stone tablets, the names on the Vimy Memorial follow each other horizontally and are incised directly into the structural stone. The panels were engraved off-site and put in place. A special template is then used to cut across the join.
The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved so that visitors can easily see the scene of the battle as it was at the time.
Branch Lecture Series - May 2009
Paul Hanson: 1/6th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment on the Somme, 1916.
The 1/6th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment recruited at the Belle Vue barracks in Bradford when the war started. By the end of August 1914, they had departed to Selby for training.
Their war really started in April 1915 when they were sent to France. Initially they were based at Merville where they were introduced to trench warfare by the 2nd Battalion of the Green Howards. In June 1915 they were sent north to Ypres where they held front line trenches at Turco Farm. It was here they experienced their first trench raid. In 1915, one of their NCOs, Corporal Meekosha won the VC. Meekosha was with a platoon of about 20 NCOs and men holding an isolated trench. During a very heavy bombardment, six of the platoon were killed and seven wounded, while the rest were more or less buried. When there were no senior NCOs left in action Corporal Meekosha took command, sent for help and in spite of more big shells falling within 20 yards of him, continued to dig out the wounded and buried men in full view of and at close range from the enemy. His courage saved at least four lives.
In February 1916, the 1/6th Battalion moved to the Somme area in preparation for the big offensive. They detrained at Ailly sur Somme and transferred to Aveluy Woods. At this time their brigade (146) was part of Perceval's 49th (West Riding) Division, itself part of Morland's X Corps. Morland held the 49th Division in reserve so the 1/6th West Yorks did not see action in the initial assault. They were directed to advance from the woods below Thiepval in the afternoon of the 1 July as part of a diversion during which soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division attempted to cross No mans Land.
When Gough's reserve army was assigned responsibility for the northern part of the Somme battlefield, the 49th Division was transferred to Jacob's II Corps. In July they were rested and brought back up to strength and took part in the September attacks on Thiepval from the woods to the north of the salient. They experienced heavy losses during these fruitless attacks and both Lt Col Wade, commanding officer of the battalion, and the brigadier commanding 146 Brigade were replaced. This was the end of their Somme experience. The battalion were in reserve during the Poelcappelle attacks during October 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres (at this time they were part of Godley's II Anzac Corps). The brigade had little success but took heavy casualties. In 1919 they served in the occupation of Germany, returning to the UK to be disbanded.
There is an excellent memorial window to the 1/6th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment in Bradford cathedral. The window is to be found close to the entrance and it depicts scenes from the battalion's war service in France and in Germany.
Peter Palmer
This newsletter has been prepared by David Tattersfield.
Any opinions contained in this are his and do not necessarily reflect those of the committee as a whole.
