Charles George Dixon 1895-1917

Positions of the 1st Btn. East Surrey Regt. on the 23rd of August

Christmas Card sent from Charles to his father Charles 1914

Blighty

Private Charles Dixon was still serving with the 3rd Battalion going into 1915, then on the 26th of May, Charles was admonished and had to forfeit 3 days pay for being absent, from the 22nd until 8.30am the 25th of May. He continued to serve at the Depot when on the 6th of December Charles was again admitted to Hospital due to an infection in his right hand caused by his old gunshot wound. His was discharged on the 13th to light duty.

In 1916 Charles received orders to again go back to the front in France. He arrived in Etaples, on the 3rd of February at the 12th Infantry Base Depot. He was posted to 'C' company, 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment, 37th Brigade attached to the 12th Division, rejoining in the field at the village of Ham on the 14th. The next day the Battalion marched to Bethune, staying here until the 20th and were billeted in a Tobacco factory.

Hohenzollern Redoubt 1916

On the 21st the 7th Battalion relieved the 8th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and 2 Companies of Royal Irish, and occupied the front line trenches in front of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, an area where underground mine warfare was very active. It was here that Private Charles Dixon faced the enemy again, this time in the trench warfare of the Great War. That first night passed quietly but the next day enemy snipers and trench mortars were very active. A particular German sniper who had been troublesome to the 8th Royal Fusiliers was reported by a Sniping Officer to have been, first shot by a Corporal, then blown up with his small 'fort' by trench mortars. That night there was an alert period for an Incoming Gas attack, due to favourable wind conditions for the enemy but again the night passed quietly.

The 23rd was spent on work and carrying parties for the Royal Engineers, and general trench maintenance. German snipers were relatively quiet perhaps because their star performer had been killed the day before. The 24th was again spent working with the Royal Engineers as was the following days, and the front was fairly quiet with little shelling. On the 29th February the East Surrey's were relieved by the 8th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, and marched back to Bethune. The Drums accompanied the Battalion from the village of Sailly Labourse. With the end of February the 7th battalion had suffered 3 sick Officers, with 2 Other ranks being killed, 7 wounded and 18 becoming sick and their strength stood at 33 Officers and 1003 Other Ranks.

The first days of March 1916 were spent resting at Bethune, until the 4th when the East Surrey's were hurriedly moved to Sailly Labourse in preparation to relieve the 6th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, owing to German attacks and resultant heavy casualties, but did not reoccupy the trenches until the following day. The 7th Battalion found the landscape had changed due to heavy bombardment in front of and in the enemy line.

The 6th of March was spent being heavily bombarded and a mine was exploded to the right of the East Surrey's line at 12.50am on the 7th. The Germans attacked the East Surrey's position 3 times that night, one at 8pm, another at 9.22pm and the final one at 10.35pm each time being repulsed. The Battalion was relieved on the 8th and moved to the support trench where they were tasked on the 9th of March to bring supplies of bombs and rations up to the front line positions.

No.4 Stationary Hospital, Arques

The 10th of March saw Private Charles Dixon admitted to the 38th Field Ambulance due to his old gunshot wound on his right hand again becoming infected. From here he went to the 9th Casualty Clearing Station based at Lillers, and was then sent to No.4 Stationary Hospital in Arques, by train on the 15th. Charles was discharged and returned to duty with the 7th Battalion on the 29th in the village of Vermelles.

Mine Warfare

On the 30th of March 1916 Charles and the East Surrey's relieved the 6th Royal West Kent Regiment, holding the front line trenches from Riflemans Alley to South of Swinburn Loop. A few heavy trench mortar's fell and the Battalion retaliated. The next day passed quietly until 7.15pm when the Germans exploded a mine followed by 2 more at 7.32pm. All 3 mines were at the Hairpin and the Germans attempted to bomb from the craters but were bombed back. The 7th Battalions trenches in the vicinity of the mine explosions were blown and shaken in and work commenced all night clearing and consolidating and this was completed before daylight when the trenches looked much the same as before.The following day the East Surrey's continued repairing the damage done and learnt that the previous evenings mine explosions caused about 30 casualties.

The Battalion was relieved on the 3rd of April, moving back into the support trenches until the 6th when they again went back to the front line occupying the same trenches as before. The 7th of April passed quietly until 7.30pm when the Germans again exploded a mine this time on the Hohenzollern with no follow up activity. On the 8th, the 7th Battalion were shelled for a considerable period, and a new form of hate was introduced by the Germans in the form of a shell shaped like a cannister containing a virulent form of acid which was forwarded to the Brigade. The next day again the Battalion was shelled considerably with trench mortar's and whizz-bangs and effective retaliation was given.

On the 10th of April the 7th Battalion moved to Brigade Reserve at Annequin, getting to bath and clean up. They stayed here until the 14th when they again moved, this time to Bethune reoccupying the old tobacco factory. Except for a period on reserve duty on the 17th, the 7th East Surrey Regiment rested in Bethune until they relieved the Royal West Kent Regiment on the 21st again on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, with 'A' Coy on the right, 'D' Coy in centre, and 'C' Coy including Charles, on the left. 'B' Coy was held in reserve but the day passed quietly. There was considerable work to be done, due to the incessant rain causing the trenches to be a bad state and falling in.

At 7.30am on the 22nd of April 1916 the British exploded a mine near Russian Sap and 'C' Crater which was deemed successful as it blew in the enemy Galleries undermining Russian Sap. No casualties were taken by the East Surrey's and very little damage was done to their trenches and all the debris rained over the German line. Again it rained continuously causing the trenches to be in a fearful state, consequently the men were tired as they worked hard repairing the damage caused by the weather as well as the shells.

The Brigadier offered a weeks leave to any man capturing a prisoner, or a weekend for a dead one. It was thought the Germans had carried out a big relief, and it was of up most importance to finding out who the Battalion was facing.

At 1.30pm the 23rd, the Germans exploded a mine but no casualties were taken and the days passed quietly enabling the Battalion to get a great deal of work done until the 25th when they were relieved by the Highland Light Infantry Regiment, and marched to Noeux Les Mines where they entrained to Lillers, arriving at 3.20pm and then marched 3 miles to Allouagne. The Battalion was extremely tired having little sleep for the last 4 days and being wet through.

They rested for the next day but were Stood To, on the 27th at 6.30am due to the Germans releasing gas and attacking in the areas around Loos, Chalk Pits and Hohenzollern Redoubt, with heavy bombardments being heard for the previous 40 hours.

Gas was smelt at Allouagne about 9.30am and this was 12 miles from the front, with the Battalion Stood Down at 11.30am.

Rest continued on the 28th and on the 29th of April a draft of 34 men arrived, half were wounded men arriving back, with the other half being casualty replacements from the 3rd Battalion in England.

Resting and Training

The East Surrey's were Stood To at 9.30pm to be ready to move in 3 hours but were Stood Down again at 9.00am the following morning. The day was spent for Charles and the 7th Battalion with a Brigade Parade for Church Services and the Divisional Band played, and after Church the Brigade marched past the General and the Band played the Regimental marches. In the afternoon the Divisional Band played in the village square.

April 1916 had been a strenuous month for The East Surrey Regiment with the weather being bad and a great deal of work to be done to the trenches. Casualties for the month were 9 Other Ranks killed with 26 wounded and 1 missing. 4 Officers and 36 Other ranks were also sent to hospital because of illness and the 7th Battalions strength on the 30th was 57 Officers and 998 Other Ranks.

From the 1st until the 7th of May 1916 the 7th Battalion East Surrey regiment were still resting in Allouagne. The Battalion carried out training and generally working all morning with the afternoons free except for classes for N.C.O's and marked men. On the 4th of May the Battalion participated in the 37th Brigade sports day. The East Surrey's held their own winning, The Mule Race, Officers Charger, Bicycle Orderlies finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd, The Veterans Race, Best Cooker and finishing 2nd in the Nile Race. Company Quarter Master Sergeant Barker and Others proved to be a great attraction as they set up a Bookies and carried it through with great reality.

On the 8th of May the Battalion marched 14 miles to Flechin leaving at 5am with breakfast taken on the way. The following day training began in the new 1st Army training area which was hilly with a good sized Wood which was ideal landscape for the Divisional training.

Company training continued until the 13th, with Brigade and Divisional training from the 14th to the 21st.

The East Surrey's were inspected training by Lieutenant General Cavanagh who was pleased with the men's spirits. From the 21st until the 27th the men spent time digging trenches for a practice attack. Their was between 2000-3000 men digging at a time, with the trenches dug a replica of the English and German line near Festubert on front of about 2 miles. The evening of the 27th the Battalion received orders at 9.pm to move out 10.40pm leaving for Allouagne and arriving at 4.am. The men had had a hard day marching 7 miles there and back to the digging grounds plus 5 hours spent digging before the 14 mile march to Allouagne.

The Battalion Commanding Officer with several other Officers began reconnaissance between the 28th and 30th of May first inspecting the line because of Aeroplane reports that the enemy were concentrating behind Loos and also a German Deserter recently caught, stated that the Germans were going to make a strong attack with 3 Corps and a feint attack at Festubert.

The 7th Battalion began June 1916 on Army Reserve with the 37th Brigade which continued until the 16th. On the 13th of June the East Surrey's were inspected by Brigadier General A.B.E Cator commander of the 37th Brigade and he expressed delight in the appearance of the Battalion.

Orders were received that the 7th Battalion was to move by train at 12.51pm on the 16th with nobody knowing the final destination.

The Somme 1916

The Battalion entrained on time and arrived near Amiens at 9.30pm where they had an hours rest and then marched through Amiens, 12 miles to Flesselles arriving at 4.am having made tea on the road. The C.O's Adjutant and Company Commanders went by bus to inspect the trenches at Albert on the 17th and the men rested until the 19th when they participated in practice attacks with the 37th Brigade on trenches taped out to represent the German Lines, in a plan to capture Martinpuich which never materialised. Training continued until the 23rd and preparations were everywhere for the coming offensive. Rumour's were circulating and growing but nobody seemed in the least to know what was going to happen.

The East Surrey's preparations continued, refitting and discarding all heavy kit that the Battalion had accumulated over the year they had been on active service.

The Bombardment of the German lines began on the 25th of June, known as 'U' day, which continued on the 26th. Orders were received to move to Flechincourt but when nearing their destination the 7th Battalion were told to stop at St. Gratian. They stayed here on the 28th of June and the attack was supposed to commence on the 29th but was delayed for 48 hours owing to the bad weather. The Battalion marched to Bresle on the 30th arriving at 3.am on the 1st of July and then on to Millencourt arriving at 9.am where the men stayed in the fields in case Millencourt was shelled.

The Infamous 1st of July 1916

The opening day of the Somme Offensive begun at 'Z' hour or 7.30am for the British Army, after 7 days of intense artillery bombardment on the German lines. By the end of that first day the British Army had suffered the worst day in its history with 60,000 dead, wounded or missing which had a profound social effect on the British as a whole, due to the composition of the British Army which was mainly a volunteer force, but also the Pal's Battalions with many men serving together from the same localities back home.

Private Charles Dixon and the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment were held in reserve after arriving in Millencourt on that first day of the offensive. At about 5pm news began to filter into the Reserve that the French everywhere had reached all their objective's and so had the British up to the 3rd Corps sector. This sector was probably the worst as it contained places like La Boiselle and Ovillers with miles of underground passages.

The 8th division entered both areas and suffered enormous casualties and were soon bombed back to their old front lines. La Boiselle and Ovillers trenches were constructed by the German Army to be one trench above another, so the Germans could let the British into one trench and fire upon them from another. The Germans had heavily garrisoned La Boiselle and Ovillers, dug very deep cutouts and cellars which meant they were practically immune from the artillery barrage, with the area being a hive of machine guns.

In Reserve

At 6.30pm the 7th Battalion received orders to relieve the 8th division and this was completed by 3.30am on the 2nd with the Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment on the right and the Royal West Kent Regiment on the left in the firing line with the East Surrey's again held in reserve. Orders were received that pulled the men back to Crucifix Corner as a bombardment was to start at 3.30pm on La Boiselle and Ovillers and by 5pm the Battalion was told that the 19th Division was to attack La Boiselle, and that if they were successful then the 12th division including the 7th East Surrey's would attack Ovillers.

The order was received at 2am and the 7th Battalion in Reserve again, was in position at 3.15am when the Queens Royal West Surrey and Royal West Kent Regiments went over the top. The attacks failed as the men were cut up by machine gun fire and bombed back to their own lines and the 19th Division only took the Southern portion of La Boiselle. The 7th East Surrey's never went over the top, still being reserve the men were in a communication trench and experienced some nasty shelling. At 1pm on the 3rd of July, all idea of attack was given up and it was decided to hold the current position as a defensive flank, but the 19th Division managed to take La Boiselle by the evening.

Into the Fray

At 3pm on the 3rd of July 1916 the 7th Battalion were once again back in the firing line, taking over the whole of the front line from the Queens and West Kent Regiments. This was a big task as they had to defend a battlefield, in which the trenches were in a very bad state, full of the dead and wounded. However the men worked splendidly and by the 6th, when the East surrey's moved out, the trenches were clear of the dead, and almost 250 wounded men including many Officers, had been brought in from No Man's Land. The men from the 7th Battalion went over the top to get them, sometimes even during the day. The men suffered with bad feet during this period owing to the trenches being full of water and mud at a higher level than their boots. During the 3 days of fighting the Battalion lost 3 Officers wounded, with 10 Other Ranks killed and another 80 wounded.

The men were very tired and grateful for a nights rest, the first in about 7 days.

On the 7th of July, the East Surrey Regiment were in Ovillers where they rested all morning and had their feet attended too, which had become very sore and swollen after standing in water for the last 4 days. At 6.30pm the 7th Battalion were in the intermediary line West of Albert, near to the Divisional Advance Report Centre, when they received orders stating they were being lent to the 36th Infantry Brigade as reinforcements and consolidation of positions gained. The East Surrey's moved out at 7.45pm, with the men drawing 2 bags of bombs each from the Crucifix Corner stores.

The 7th East Surrey's about 350 men strong, arrived at Ovillers post at 11pm carrying 2 boxes of bombs each due to no bags being available at the stores. Here they were told that Point 42 was heavily occupied by the Germans and it was to be taken at all costs, depending on an advance by the Division on the right at 1.am, and that they were to occupy Points 54-57 and 33 to the road and consolidate the position. At midnight on the 7/8th of July the Battalion moved up the Ovillers Road and found the going tough crossing ditches and trenches, when about 2.30am they found themselves behind the Essex Regiment who were just entering the German trenches. At 3am Point 42 was taken without opposition and the Battalion used torches to flash light down Mash Valley to show the right of their position. The objectives had been taken but the men could not advance due to their own artillery and by 6.15am a message was sent to 36th Brigade Headquarters saying the Battalion has established contact with the South Lancashire Regiment on the right.

The East Surrey's were ordered to push on through to the village at 8.45am and the barrage holding them up, was lifted at 9.am and the men moved out 10 minutes after. The advance was in stages, taking trenches and consolidating the positions before moving to the next. At 10am communications was established by telephone line, to Brigade Headquarters and by 12.45pm the Battalion was occupying trenches X.8.C.77 - 67 - 68, with Essex Regiment to the left and the South Lancashire Regiment on the right.

The East Surrey and the South Lancashire advance was held up by machine gun fire, although attempts to bomb up the trench were beaten back. The advance was brought to a halt at 4.pm as the Essex Regiment was some distance to the rear of the 7th Battalion and the left flank was exposed and the South Lancashire Regiment had started to consolidate their positions. The men of the East Surrey's were exhausted owing to the heavy equipment and the boxes of bombs the men had been carrying all night and to the deep mud they had been moving through all day.

At 4.45pm a Vickers machine gun was brought to help with the defence of the line and by 7pm telephone lines had been established with all the companies in the 7th Battalion although some were broken by shell fire. When it got dark the Germans sent up Very Lights from the trenches in front although the night passed quietly except for the shelling and the East Surrey's were finally relieved by the 13th Battalion Highland Light Infantry Regiment at 5.30am on the 9th of July. Thanks to the excellent way the men, including Private Charles Dixon performed in carrying 2 boxes of bombs each which weighed 48lbs, plus extra ammunition, tools etc, the 7th Battalion was able to hand over to the Highland Light Infantry Regiment over 8000 bombs, 4 boxes of Very lights and the telephone lines that had been established.

Out of the Line

The 7th Battalion now moved out to firstly Warloy where they rested on the 11th and now marched to Vauchelle les Authie where they were billeted in huts with the Brigade Headquarters and the Royal West Kent Regiment on the 12th.

On the 14th of July 1916, 1000 men from the 37th Brigade of which 6 Officers and 324 Other Ranks were from the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment, were attached to the 29th Division and went to Mailet Mailly as a working party, as the 29th Division had suffered 5000 casualties in the recent fighting and were pulled out of the line until reinforcements arrived.

The East Surrey's were now resting and every available man in the Battalion had to do training on the Lewis Gun. On the 18th July a training accident reminded the men that even away from the front line they could be injured or killed. A No.5 Mills bomb prematurely exploded, killing the Battalion Bombing Officer and a Private, whilst injuring 2 Sergeants and a Lance Corporal. The next day a funeral service was held for the 2 victims, and some of the men attached to 29th Division returned to the East Surrey's. Training courses in Bombing and the Lewis gun continued until the 21st when orders were given to relieve the 4th Division at Beaumont Hamel.

Private Charles Dixon and the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment were again in the reserve and moved to Bertrancourt and they were here until the 24th when they moved back to Vauchelle.

On the 25th of July 1916 the East Surrey's were moved to Martinsart Wood still in the reserve. They provided 200 men each day to help consolidate and strengthen the positions around Ovillers, and 150 men each night with the same orders. On the 29th 'C' Company which was the Coy, Private Charles Dixon was serving with, suffered 32 casualties when an 8" shell landed in the Brigade's Bomb, Very Light and Rocket stores although not many of the bombs exploded, several men were badly burnt by the Very lights and Rockets.

The 7th Battalion moved back into the trenches on the front line near the North of Ovillers on the 31st, relieving the 6th battalion Royal West Kent Regiment. The next day 'C' Coy was holding the left of the Battalion's line and the day passed quietly except for the whizz-bangs.

Ovillers August 1916

Just after midnight on the 2nd of August Point 88, was bombed by a German patrol and an Officer was severely wounded. The enemy had moved down an old communication trench and bombed the East Surrey's post with a new type of bomb whilst still out of range of the Battalions Mills bombs. After about 5 minutes of lively bombing the German Patrol was driven off and for the remainder of the day the 7th Battalion advanced the post at Point 88 about 25 yards until it was within 15 yards of the Germans barricades.

That night the men could hear a terrific bombardment near Poziere and the Lewis guns on 2 occasions fired at enemy patrols. The 3rd was spent moving the barricade at Point 28 to a higher position. At 7.30am on the 4th, 'A' Coy reported a man killed and 2 wounded holding ration trench and a Lieutenant returning with his working party had his work cut out keeping the men out of the fight as they had also had 2 wounded. By 9am the line was quiet and the Companies were all back in their original positions until 4pm when they were relieved by 6th Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment. During the relief the Germans shelled the line with a heavy and accurate bombardment and the East Surrey's took another 5 casualties. The Battalion arrived back at Ovillers post and were settled down by 7.15pm.

At about 8pm a Captain Scott improved the 'shining hour' when he decided to take a bath. On looking for his sponge he discovered it had been buried by a whizz-bang. Thinking discretion the better part of valour, he leapt out of the bath and made a hurried entrance in the mess, naked, wearing only a pair of slippers. More sponges arrived on the next transport.

On the 5th 'B' Coy had to go back into the line to act as support to the 6th Queen's. The day was quiet for the rest of the battalion with the men on working parties and resting and this continued until the 9th.

'B' Coy had returned to the 7th Battalion having had a bad time helping the Queens Regiment. They had 2 men killed, 6 wounded and at one point 11 men were buried in a dugout which took 2 hours hard work to dig them out.

On the 10th of August the 7th Battalion were back in the front line trenches North of Ovillers. The day was quiet and in the evening the East Surrey's sent a patrol out to the right of the front line and gained precious information on enemy dispositions and also brought back a helmet cover to help identify the Regiment they were facing. The next day was quiet and Private Charles Dixon with 'C' Coy were relieved and sent back to the dugouts in Ovillers.

The 12th again the day was quiet and the Battalion spent the day preparing for an assault that evening. Zero Hour was at 10.30pm when an intense artillery bombardment opened fire on the German lines. At 10.33pm the 7th Battalion commenced the attack with the forward Companies advancing under the cover of the artillery fire working as close to the barrage as possible.

'B' Coy attacking to the left, met with heavy enemy machine gun fire and the Germans put up a barrage all along their trench, rendering it impossible to get near to them and the men had to find cover in bomb craters and remain where they were. 2 more attacks were made by 'C' and 'B' companies but neither made, met with success owing the enemy barrage. 'A' Coy was then brought up and organised the survivors of the 3 assaults, numbering about 120 men who had crawled back to the British Line. A bombing attack was then carried out on Point 90 trying to breech the enemy post their but again this was unsuccessful.

'D' Coy attacking on the left with 2 platoons from 'C' Coy went over to attack Points 74, 4.4 and 5.5. The attack strayed to far to the left and no more information was heard. The support troops didn't find any trace of the front platoons except a few wounded men. All the men who had seen into the German trenches agreed the line was held in great strength, with many Germans wearing overcoats and packs, suggesting that that perhaps a relief was in progress. The 7th Battalion suffered 5 wounded Officers with a further 5 missing with 10 Other Ranks killed, 60 missing and 90 wounded.

The men were relieved on the 13th and moved back to Albert where they met with Busses which took them on to Forceville. The East Surrey's remained out of the line resting and training until the 21st of August when they relieved the 5th Dorset Regiment in Riviere and were held on in the Brigade Reserve.

Quiet Sector- Riviere, Arras Front

The line appeared quiet and the men found it strange to walk along a communication trench from Beaumetz-Les-Loges to Riviere as the village was untouched by the war and still inhabited. The men enjoyed good billets here, the best they had seen in a long while. The chief feature of the village was the Brigade tea garden.

On the 24th the 7th Battalion moved into the front line trenches relieving the 6th Royal West Kent Regiment. The placed seemed in good condition with good dugouts for the men and the next few days saw practically no artillery barrages by either side with only occasional sniper and rifle grenade fire. The men worked hard on the wire, communication lines and while the trenches were in a good condition they needed improving before any bad weather.

The 27th of August was extremely quiet and a British band could be heard playing in either Beaumetz or Riviere, which pleased the Germans as they sung lustily and beat time on some corrugated iron until they were finally disturbed by a rifle grenade. The days passed fairly quietly for the East Surrey's with little activity by either side until the 6th of September when the 7th Battalion moved back to Riviere. The men spent the next 4 days training, going out on working parties and resting when they could, before they again moved back to the front line.

On the 11th of September 1916 'B' Coy could hear the sounds of hostile mining and they informed the Royal Engineers. That night the Germans could be heard whistling and singing. The 12th was quiet with some enemy shelling on Wailly and the next day the men and the front line was inspected by General Allenby the Army Commander and the next couple of days passed with hardly any shelling.

The 16th of September was extremely quiet with scarcely a shot being fired by either side. At about 2pm several men of the East Surrey's reported seeing a hostile kite balloon erupt into flames and that it was completely destroyed, apparently the handiwork of an aeroplane.

The fighting in this sector of the front continued for the 7th Battalion in the same fashion with a little shelling by both sides, working parties being sent out to repair the wire, improve the trenches and bring supplies up to the front.

The evening of the 21st of September the Germans were very active with a Trench Mortar which caused a trench on Flood Street to be blown in and 2 dugouts badly damaged, 1 man was wounded and the men repaired the damage trench during the night and the next morning the 7th Battalion were relieved by the 6th Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment and moved back to Ovillers being held in the Reserve.

Usual routine life in the billets commenced and all the men were used on working parties and bathing and cleaning their clothes. On the 26th September the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment received a draft of 199 men from the base depot, and this gave the 7th Battalion a strength of about 600 men ready to go into the trenches.

The 12th division which included the 7th Battalion East Surrey's Regiment were relieved from the front line on the 27th by the 14th Division, with the 8th Rifle Brigade taking over the 7th Battalion's trenches. The men of the East Surrey's moved to Beaumetz arriving that evening and staying for the night before moving by motor bus to Lucheux the next day, where a draft of 10 men who had been previously wounded rejoined the Battalion. Captain Marshall who had been the only Officer lucky to receive some leave, also rejoined.

The 29th of September saw the men again moving by motor bus arriving at Albert about 10.30pm and set up camp on the Albert-Amiens road. The men including Private Charles Dixon stayed in camp the next day performing steady drill and arm drill parades.

October 1916 Back on The Somme

Early morning on the 1st of October 1916, the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment left the Camp on the Albert-Amiens road and moved by bus to Montauban where they were met by guides who took the men to Longueval Valley and here they stayed in dugouts for the day.

That evening again following guides the 7th Battalion moved through Delville Wood along the Ginchy-Geudecourt road to the front line trenches just in front of the village Geudecourt.

Here the men took over from the 7th Leicestershire Regiment and the relief was successfully carried out considering there was no communication trenches and a intensive hostile artillery barrage with only 1 Officer and 4 Other ranks wounded.

The German continued the heavy and incessant artillery barrage on the 2nd with most of the shell passing over the single but very deep trench the East Surrey's occupied, and the Battalion Headquarters received a considerable share of the shells landing. 2nd Lieutenant Hollingsworth was buried by a shell and sustained severe injuries to his head and later died of his wounds.

Heavy shelling on the village and Battalion H.Q continued on the 3rd of October especially between 9am and 3pm when the barrage developed in an organised bombardment. That evening immediately after dusk the 7th Battalion were relieved by the 6th Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment. The period between the 1st-3rd of October saw the 7th Battalion suffer between 50-60 casualties all from enemy shell fire.

On the night of the 3rd/4th of October the Battalion moved back into the support occupying Grid trench and Bull Road trench which were badly damaged but had several old German dugouts still intact. All the men at some stage managed to get some shelter. Just after midnight on the 5th the East Surrey's were relieved and moved back to the billets at Longueval Valley arriving about 9am. Everyone was very tired and the whole Battalion settled down to sleep.

The 6th of October saw the 7th Battalion preparing for an attack that was to commence the next day. The East Surrey's were to be held in Brigade Reserve, with the Royal West Kent regiment on the left and the 6th Royal East Kent regiment known as the 6th Buffs, on the right attacking the high ground to the north east of Geudecourt. That evening the 7th Battalion moved to its position in reserve, taking over Switch trench from the 6th Buffs who had moved up the line for their part in the attack.

During the morning of the 7th, the British artillery bombardment steadily increased when at Zero Hour 2.50pm an intense shrapnel barrage was positioned on the German lines. From the position in Switch trench the East Surrey's watched as the first men went over the top but the view was obscured by smoke from the bursting shells. The Buffs on the right managed to get into Garden trench but the remainder of the 37th Brigade's attacks were held up by heavy machine gun fire. The attack to the right succeeded and several German prisoners were passed back down the line where the 7th Battalion supplied men as escorts to take them back to be processed. That evening the East Surrey's supplied several working parties of men who helped to carry the wounded men of the 6th Buffs and Royal West Kent Regiment down to the casualty clearing stations. The 8th of October was a quiet day and the 7th Battalion continued to supply men to help carry the wounded.

The East Surrey's relieved the 6th Battalion Queens Royal West Surrey regiment on the 9th which was completed without any casualties being taken although shortly after 2nd Lieutenant Paul M.C. was killed by a 5.9 inch shell.

'C' Coy with Private Charles Dixon in the ranks appeared to receive all the German shelling that night with 'A' and 'D' Coy on the left and right respectively getting off lightly.

On the night of the 10-11th of October the East Surrey's were relieved by the 1st Battalion Newfoundland regiment with the relief completed successfully without any casualties being taken. The 7th Battalion moved back to Longueval Valley and were billeted in bivouac and bell tents and all the men got shelter and everybody was quite comfortable as the weather was dry.

The 35th and 88th Brigades attacked the same positions as the attack on the 7th, but although the 88th Brigade's attack on the left was successful the 35th Brigade's attack was held up by a thick uncut barbed wire entanglement and they had to return to their original positions. The East Surrey's played no part in this attack although they were stood to with 30 minutes notice to mive up.

Between the 13-16th of October 1916 the 7th Battalion East Surrey regiment remianed in billets at Longueval Valley. Drill, cleaning and working parties took up most of the men's time, with several of the carrying parties sent up to the front line but all were lucky as they took no casualties. The Germans occasionally shelled the surrounding camps and transport lines but again the 7th Battalion were lucky that none fell where the men were camped, to be considered dangerous. Training time was spent on consolidating shell holes and various plans and suggestions were tried. The weather turned to rain on the 15th which made any digging work almost impossible but although the weather made conditions uncomfortable all the men were able to keep dry in their bivouacs and bell tents.

On the 17th the Battalion learnt that the 35th and 88th Brigades were going to attack again and the men spent the day preparing in case they had to be moved up as reinforcements. The East Surrey's were attached to the 36th Brigade as they had lent a Battalion to the 35th Brigade.

The attack started at 3.40am on the 18th and the 7th Battalion were held in Divisional reserve with the 36th Brigade under orders to move at a 30 minute notice. The 88th Brigade was successful in its attack but again the 35th Brigade was held up by more barbed wire that hadn't been cut by the artillery.

At 5pm the 7th Battalion which did not move during the attack, was stood down as the 30 minute notice to move was over. A draft of 50 Other Ranks arrived in the afternoon with the transport and it had rained all day.

Orders were received to the effect that the 7th Battalion was no longer under the command of the 36th Brigade and expected to soon move back behind the lines and the order to this effect were given at midday with the East Surrey's marching off at 2pm to Ribemont. The men marched cross country owing to the bad state of the roads and the amount of traffic on them. Marching via Fricourt the Battalion arrived at Ribemont about 9pm after a long march in very muddy conditions although only about 4 men fell out, which was good considering the state of the ground. The men were soon in billets and out of the rain which had been falling heavily since 1pm.

The 20th of October was spent cleaning up and throughout the day transports arrived bringing supplies from the camp at Montban. As much winter clothing that was surplus was issued to the men during the day and the final transport in the evening arrived with the Battalion Quartermaster and Transport Officer.

The next morning the 7th Battalion was supposed to move out first thing in the morning but this was put off until 1.30pm. The East Surrey's boarded busses and leaving at 2.30pm left for Wanquetin. They arrived at 9.30pm after travelling via Amiens and Doullens and were soon all in billets.

On the 21st the East Surrey's again spent the day cleaning their kit and equipment and preparing for the Battalion's Commanding Officers inspection the next day. The C.O inspected the men during the morning of the 22nd and Major Nicholls arrived at lunchtime with the Brigade transport. In the evening a draft of 90 Other Ranks arrived and the Battalion was fairly strong once again.

The 24th of October saw the 7th Battalion move to Monchiet in preparation for taking over the Divisional Reserve at Beaumetz.

On the 25th the 37th Brigade which included the 7th East Surrey Regiment took over 'F' sector of the trenches at Monchiet and the 7th Battalion's move to Divisional Reserve at Beaumetz was cancelled owing to a lack of accommodation, due to the 14th Division still coming out of the line. During the evening word was received that 2 German prisoner's had escaped from the camp at Fusseux. The battalion posted men on examining posts all night and at first light on the 26th a thorough search of the area around Simoncourt, Beaumetz, Monchiet, Guoy and Bac du Sud although no prisoner's were found. At 1pm the 7th Battalion completed it's move to Divisional Reserve at Beaumetz and the billets were good all except 'B' Coy's which had seen better days. In the evening a draft of 10 Other Ranks arrived.

The 27th was spent on parades and courses and the Battalion Commanding Officer handed out Divisional Green Cards for Gallantry to several N.C.O's and Other Ranks in the afternoon of the 28th. The 29th drill parades continued and the C.O went to a conference at Brigade H.Q. In the afternoon a party of Officers and N.C.O's went to a demonstration on the new small box respirator at Berneville.

It rained almost continuously on the 30th whilst the C.O gave lectures to all the Officers in the afternoon and to all the N.C.O's in the evening. Usual courses and parades were held for the Other Ranks including Private Charles Dixon. On the morning of the 31st of October the 7th Battalion relieved the 6th Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment in the trenches near Wailly. 'C' Coy was kept in reserve and a tremendous amount of work as required to bring the trenches up to standard with special attention paid on wiring and the boards supporting the trenches.

November 1916 Trenches Near Wailly, Arras Front

The early hours of the 1st of November passed quietly with a large quantity of wire laid out. All 4 companies were settled into their positions and the all men were devoted to work on the trenches. The Germans were extremely quiet with the exception of occasional sniping there was hardly any hostile activity.

The front line trenches were in a terrible condition and needed constant work which was proving difficult on the 2nd, as the Royal Engineers were installing their Gas cyclinders.

The Germans continued to be quiet on the 3rd although there was more shelling and the weather was very bad causing the trenches to collapse owing to the rain, with all available men working on building them up. At 11pm on the 4th, 2nd Lieutenant Piggott was patrolling the front line on the right when he spotted 3 figures approaching the wire. Faggotts were place on the wire and the men climbed over. 2nd Lieutenant Piggott challenged the men and receiving no reply opened fire with his revolver hitting 1 man in the arm. The 3 men immediately dropped their weapons and surrendered. They turned out to be deserters and quite well behaved. 2 were from Lorraine and 1 was Prussian and they provided the East Surrey's with some interesting local intelligence.

The rest of the night passed without incident. The weather continued to be bad on the 5th and the men continued to work on the trenches and during the night a large quantity of wire was put out as per previous nights.

On the 6th the 7th East Surrey Regiment were relieved in the morning and moved back to billets at Riviere which were good. The few days the 7th Battalion were in the trenches they lost 1 man killed and 3 wounded all from artillery or trench mortar fire. On the 7th of November 'A' coy were sent on working parties in the trenches and 'B' and 'C' Coy including Private Charles Dixon spent the day bathing and cleaning up.

All available men were sent up to the trenches on the morning of the 8th to help clear the damage caused by the rain, which was heavy all day and this continued on the 9th and 10th. The men rested on the 11th with no working parties and stayed in their billets.

The 12th saw the 7th Battalion back in the trenches relieving the 6th Royal West Kent Regiment. The relief was completed by 11am and it was proposed to let off Gas during the night but eventually decided to save the Gas for another day as the wind wasn't very favourable. The night passed quietly as did the day of the 13th with a few trench mortar's exchanged.

The 14th was again quiet and at 5.30pm with the wind now being favourable it was decided to send the Gas over. A Special Company of the Royal Engineers released the Gas from the right and centre of the 7th Battalion's line. The Germans sent up plenty of coloured rockets and Very lights, and a German in 'C' Sap which was only 35 yards from the East Surrey's line shouted out ''You Dirty Buggers''. He may have been too late in putting his mask on. The Battalion reoccupied the front line which had been cleared of all men except the Lewis gunners. Gas still hung in places but was generally clear. German retaliation was small. The next passed quietly and work continued on the trenches.

The morning of the 16th saw the Germans retaliate heavily for the Gas attack. They targeted the right and centre of the front line Companies which damaged the trenches quite badly. The Germans used trench mortar's on the front and support lines and 4.2 inch and 5.9 inch shells on the reserve line. the remainder of the day was spent clearing the damage. The men continued to clear up on the 17th of November and the day again passed quietly.

The 7th Battalion were relieved on the 18th by the 6th Royal West Kent Regiment and moved back to billets at Beaumetz. The East Surrey's stayed here for the next few days with courses on the Lewis gun and bombing. The Battalion C.O inspected the troops in marching order on the 21st with several of the new respirators issued and tested on the 22nd. The 23rd was spent again testing the new respirator and in the evening a Divisional concert party visited the East Surrey Regiment giving the men a very good show.

The 7th Battalion moved back into the front line trenches near Wailly on the 24th and the relief was completed by 2pm. The next day was quiet and the German Infantry made no show of themselves although two 90 pound trench mortars landed in the trenches on the left of the line.

The 26th saw Major Nicholls go on leave and the day was once again quiet but did see more trench mortar activity than had become usual. Again 2 more 90 pound trench mortar's landed in the left trenches completely destroying 2 firing bays. The Battalion's artillery retaliated quite strongly although a large percentage of the shells fired were dud.

The German's were very active on the 27th with large trench mortar's blowing in the front line in several places. During the night an Officer was killed by a stray bullet and Company Headquarters on the right had to be moved as the German's seemed to have line on their dugout. The day was bright and the men could see several large flights of British aeroplane's probably going to and from bombing raids.

During the morning of the 28th the German's again trench mortared the front line heavily, badly damaging the trenches in several places. The rest of the day passed quietly with very little sniping or hostile artillery being directed against the East Surrey's sector of the line. At 7pm and at intervals throughout the night the German front line and routes leading up to it were subjected to heavy fire from the Brigade Field guns and 4.5 inch Howitzers in order to try and catch enemy working parties suspected of bringing up Gas cylinders to the trenches and installing them there. The 29th passed quietly with little trench mortar or artillery fire by either side. On the 30th just after 'Stand To' British artillery fire appeared to disperse a large German working. The 7th Battalion were relieved during the morning and returned to Riviere where usual billets routine commenced.

December 1916 Riviere

On the 1st of December the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment was spent on the usual routine work in billets although most of the Battalion were employed on working parties however a Gas Alert was still on.For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of December all the men were in large working parties bringing up supplies of 2 inch trench mortar bombs. The weather had turned very cold and there had been a heavy frost for the previous 3 nights.

It was thought that the German's were putting in Gas cylinders, based on a conversation that was overheard by a patrol in No Man's Land. The night of the 4th-5th the Battalion was expecting activity by the German's, as for the previous 3 nights the words ''Tonight is Peace'' were tapped from the German wire, whereas it had changed that night to ''Tonight You Understand'' although the night passed quietly. The 5th was spent mainly on routine billet work although all the men were on working parties for the greater part of the day.

On the 6th of December the 7th Battalion moved back into the front line trenches with the relief completed by 11am and everybody was settled into position by 3pm. The Junction of Friary Street and the front line trenches had been badly knocked about and required a lot of work to them. On the morning of the 7th, the German's trench mortared 'C' Coy and Private Charles Dixon position on the right of the line quite heavily and obliterated 3 firing bays. Luckily the sentry on duty was a good man and no casualties occurred. During the night a party of 20 men came up from the support Battalion and managed to dig a passage through the blown in part of 'C' Coy's line.

The day passed quietly on the 8th with Major Nicholls returning from leave and Colonel Baldwin left for a month's leave. The 9th passed as quietly as the day before and a lot of work was done on the damaged and collapsed parts of the trenches, which considering the time of year were in an excellent condition. The German's commenced trench mortar fire at 9am on the 10th lasting until 10.30am with 40 large bombs in all. Private Charles Dixon and 'C' Coy's section of the line was hit badly again but once again were lucky that they took no casualties. That night and the early hours of the 11th saw the men repair the damage done to 'C' Coy's line and again dig a passage through.

On the 12th of December the 7th Battalion were relieved by the 6th Royal West Kent Regiment and the East Surrey's moved back to Beaumetz into billets and the remainder of the day was devoted to cleaning up. The cleaning continued on the 13th and 2 working parties were made up from the men during the day. The Divisional Gas Officer paid a visit in the morning and inspected Private Charles Dixon and the rest of the men from 'C' Coy's box respirators and pronounced himself to be pleased with their condition and the way the men wore them, thus giving the men extreme confidence in them.

On the 14th of December 2 working parties of 50 and 30 man were out while the rest of the Battalion were employed in cleaning up, in preparation for the move back the next day. In the morning of the 15th the 7th Battalion were relieved from Divisional Reserve by the King's Royal Rifles Regiment. Dinners were served to the men on the road between Moncheit and Gouy and afterwards the East Surrey's marched to Grande Rullecourt arriving about 4.30pm. Billets for the Officers were not very good but the Other Ranks had good quarters and were all soon settled down.

Grande Rullecourt Christmas 1916

The 12th Divisional which included the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment were now behind the front lines and the men could enjoy a proper rest, the first since June. The 16th and 17th of December was spent cleaning equipment and the men's clothing and generally smartening up the Battalion. On the morning of the 18th the C.O inspected the men of the East Surrey Regiment. All the Ranks were quite clean and there was a good turnout. Major Nicholls and several Officers went to Amiens to attend a Court Martial, leaving Captain Cook M.C in command of the Battalion.

The cleaning continued on the 19th as Blanco was now available from the Battalion canteen. The C.O inspected the billets which were quite clean although the new men hadn't quite got in the way of putting things out correctly and had hung items up. The 20th was spent conducting drill for 4 hours during the morning, mainly consisting of handling arms and squad drill.

The Divisional Commander Major General A.B. Scott inspected the 7th Battalion's billets on the 21st and seemed quite pleased with them and the general cleanliness of the men he met. He watched Private Charles Dixon and 'C' Coy on parade for a short time and was favourably pleased. The usual routine of training continued on the 22nd with the day's programme made up of, 8.30am until 9.30am phyiscal training and bayonet fighting, 9.45am until 10.45am close order drill, 11am until 12 noon Guards, duties of sentries, and saluting with and without arms, with each Company to march past the Company Commander at the end of the parade, 12 noon until 1pm Specialist classes on the Lewis Gun, Bombing and rifle grenades under Company arrangements. During the afternoon a draft of 106 Other Ranks arrived from the Base Depot and most of the men were from the 4th Battalion and a large majority had nearly 2 years service and were of good physique. On Christmas Eve Church services were held and another draft of 80 Other Ranks arrived in the afternoon, and they also appeared to be good men with a certain amount of training.

Christmas Day 1916 saw the men of the 7th East Surrey Regiment attend a parade Church service after which the Officer's played the Sergeant's at football. The ground was very bad but the Officer's won 2 goals to 1. At midday Private Charles Dixon and the rest of the Battalion's men sat down to their Christmas dinner with all the Companies arranging extra food and beer for the men and they turned out a good show. 1 barn per Company was fitted with tables by the Pioneers and the men had quite a comfortable meal. Pigs had been bought from the various farms in the district and extra vegetables etc were supplied. At 1 o'clock the Battalion C.O went round all the companies and found the men to all be in good spirits. The Sergeant's had there Christmas dinner in the Battalion Canteen and in the evening all the Officers had there meal together in the mess at Battalion H.Q. Unfortunately 2 representatives of the 4th Otago Regiment, who were from New Zealand, were unable to attend due to a lack of Officers in their unit.

On the 26th Major Nicholls went to a Gas conference not returning until 5pm having sample about 100 different gases during the day. A draft of 90 men arrived at the Battalion in the afternoon and for the rest of the men the morning was spent on more drill parades and in the afternoon trial games of football were played with a view to selecting the 7th Battalion team. The morning of the 27th saw the Commanding Officer inspect the 3 drafts that had arrived recently. The first two were very clean and had appeared to make most of their time, whilst the last draft had not had much opportunity to clean up and did not seem to composed of such good material as the other two. In the afternoon the 7th Battalion's football team played the Divisional Field ambulance team with the East Surrey's losing 8 goals to nil. The team looked as though it would improve tremendously with more practise.

The last 3 drafts were sent on an hours route march on the morning of the 28th in full kit marching order having done very little in training before being posted to the 7th battalion, whilst the usual parades continued for the rest of the men. The weather turned bad on the 29th raining heavily all day so work as done in billets. Lewis gun drill, smoke helmet drill and lectures the order of the day. Major General A.B Scott C.B D.S.O presented medals to several N.C.O's and Other Ranks on the 30th.

On New Year's Eve 1916 there was voluntary Church services held and in the evening there was an Officers dinner held at Battalion Headquarters mess. At midnight the band played all the Regimental scores. At some point during the evening's activities it was heard that 2 Privates had both been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry whilst out in No Man's Land wiring which was cause for celebration.

January 1917 New Year In Grande Rullecourt

The 1st of January saw the 7th Battalion East surrey Regiment still behind the front lines resting at Grande Rullecourt. The men continued with the parades and training course that was usual billet routine in the morning whilst the afternoon saw the Battalion given a lecture by Brigadier General Cator D.S.O, on minimising casualties and wastage both in the attack and when holding the line. The lecture was very interesting and instructive as the Brigadier had been working on the subject for some time. In the afternoon the East Surrey's sent a football team over to Ambrines to play the Suffolk Regiment the game resulted in a draw finishing 1 all.

On the 2nd news was received that Major Nicholls, Captain Wilkes and 2nd Lieutenant Beadle had all been awarded the Military Cross. The Battalion Quartermaster was also in the New Year's Honours List as being awarded a higher rate of pay under Article No. 241 of the Royal Warrant. The first fortnight of rest was complete the Battalion now changed the programme of work the men did each day. The East Surrey's now completed an hour's physical training each morning between 8.30am and 9.30am, then route marches in full marching order between 9.45am and 10.45am and then 2 hour's of courses on the Lewis gun and rifle grenades between 11am and 1pm.

The Battalion continued it's training and courses on the 4th and the Battalion C.O inspected the platoon which was to form the nucleus of the East Surrey platoon of the Divisional Depot. In the latter part of the morning the Battalion went on a route march and practised rapid forming into artillery formation, the movements being performed quickly. A Battalion inspection was performed in the morning with all the men well turned out and the equipment was well put on and fairly clean although it was not yet up to the standard obtained at Allouagne in May 1916. A Battalion rugby team was being formed which promised to be quite good. Arrangements were also being made for a boxing match and the East Surrey's football team was knocked out in the 2nd round of the Divisional Cup by the 6th Queens although the Battalion's cross country stood a good chance of winning.

The 6th of January was a Sunday and the usual Church services were held with the usual routine continuing on the 7th. Additional Musketry courses were also held for an hour. On the 8th all Officers N.C.O's and Other Ranks who had not yet had their box respirator's tested in gas attended the Divisional Gas School at Liencourt and had them tested with tear gas.

The 9th saw the men performing Musketry courses and the shooting was good. The 1st practise the men had to do Bull's Eye Grouping from 25 yards hitting the 1", 2", 3" ring's with 5 rounds. The 2nd practise they had to lie prone firing over cover with 5 rounds and the 3rd practise was rapid fire 5 rounds then unbutton their pouch, load and fire 5 rounds all within 30 seconds.

The Musketry courses continued on the 10th and Lieutenant Colonel Baldwin returned from his months leave and was looking very well. The Lewis gunners held short courses firing their guns. The 7th Battalion was inspected in mass on the parade ground by the C.O on the morning of the 11th of January. The men turned out quite well considering the short notice given. It snowed hard during the entire inspection.

The 12th saw the Battalion C.O, the Adjutant and all Company and Platoon Commanders go to Arras by motor bus to inspect the trenches shortly to be taken over by the East surrey Regiment. The trenches to be taken over was the left subsector of 'I' sector. The line here extended from the River Scarpe through the village of Blangy to Infantry Road just South of Arras cemetery. The line here was extremely interesting in that the left of the line was in ruined houses very close to the enemy, the centre was still amongst the ruins of the village and the right was quite an open piece of trench about 250 yards from the German trenches. Whilst the Officers were away, Major Nicholls took the rest of the Battalion on a route march and also tried out the East Surrey's Band with consisted of 13 instruments bought with the profits from the Battalion canteen. The next day the 7th Battalion were taken on a cross country run and spent the rest of the day preparing for the move the next day.

On the 13th no parades were held and at 12.30pm Private Charles Dixon and the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment begun the move back into the front line. The men moved firstly to Agnes-les-Duisans and leaving by motor bus at 8.30pm for Arras, arriving at 3am having lost their way. The men got into billets and were shortly asleep. The 12th Division including the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment moved back into the front line on the 14th January 1917 and remained here other than periods of rest until towards the end of 1917. 'D' Coy moved out at 6am relieving the 7th Seaforth Highlanders with the rest of the companies moving out between 8am and 8.30am. The relief went well and was completed by 12.30pm and the rest of the day was extremely quiet.

Arras Trenches In And Near Blangy

The morning of the 15th passed quietly and a lot of work commenced on the trenches. During the afternoon the German's begun a heavy trench mortar attack against the centre and left of the line and the British artillery retaliated which stopped the enemy barrage. At about 8.30pm the Germans started to shell the reserve line and the reserve Coy billets causing no damage. The rest of the night passed quietly although 1 casualty was taken. The German's were quiet on the morning of the 16th and trench mortared a little in the afternoon. 2nd Lieutenant Cator and 2 men were buried by a trench mortar and once dug out were found to be only shaken.

There was a heavy snowfall on the 17th and usual trench mortar and artillery exchanges. The 7th Battalion were relieved by the 6th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment in the morning of the 18th and went back to Arras. The Battalion H.Q was at No.8 Rue Gambetta and rest of the men were in the College Des Jeunes Filles. The 19th and 20th saw a large number of men out on working parties all night. The 21st the East Surrey's supplied 200 men to carry Gas cylinders up to the railway embankment where there was to be an experimental release of gas by a new method.

The 7th Battalion moved back into the trenches on the 22nd of January completing the move by 11am. During the afternoon there was the usual heavy trench mortar attack against the centre and right of the line causing a certain amount of damage to the trenches with 1 casualty. Major Nicholls took Command of the Battalion as the C.O had left for a Conference. The night passed quietly but just after morning 'Stand To' the German's begun a trench mortar barrage and the British artillery almost immediately retaliated. At 2pm the Germans trench mortared again but was successfully retaliated. During the night the damaged parts of the line which had received direct hits were repaired and dugout.

At 3am and 7am on the 24th of January the German's sent over a few heavy trench mortars which slightly damaged the trenches on the Battalion's right. During the afternoon the German's 'Minnies' begun again and the British artillery retaliated and succeeded in stopping them. A carrier pigeon flew over the line from Arras and landed in the German line, apparently there were spies in Arras. The Battalion Commanding Officer returned in the evening from the conference he had attended.

Early in the morning on the 25th Major Nicholls made a reconnaisance of the River Scarpe having an interesting walk round finding some suspicious tracks in the rather close up behind the front line. At 10.30am the German's fired a barrage of 4.5 inch Howitzer shells near Battalion H.Q and everybody there had to take to the cellars for about 20 minutes, the houses on the opposite side of the road taking most of the damage. In the afternoon 4 Batteries of 9.2 inch Howitzers bombarded the German's heavy trench mortars, whilst accidentally dropping 2 shells into the East Surrey's line luckily causing no casualties.

The 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment were relieved early morning on the 26th and the men moved back to Brigade reserve with 2 Companies at Cemetery Post and St. Sauveur respectively and 2 Companies in reserve at the Grand Place. Battalion H.Q was located in Rue de la Paix and the men spent the remainder of the day checking the Battalion's stores and sorting themselves and their equipment out. The next 3 days were spent in the 37th Brigade's reserve with the men working on the defences of the keeps occupied by the 7th Battalion. Working parties were also sent to help out with the Royal Engineers and the C.O and the other Officers spent the day visiting the Companies various billets and keeps which were quite spread around. On the 29th a Lance Corporal from the East Surrey's was tried by Field General Court Martial at Battalion H.Q. 1 man from 'D' Coy was wounded by flying shrapnel in cemetery but beyond this there had been no casualties.

The 7th Battalion relieved the Royal West Kent Regiment early in the morning whilst a heavy barrage of trench mortars was fired by the German's however the East Surrey's didn't take any casualties. The 31st continued to be quiet and the German trench mortar was inactive.

The 1st of February 1917 was a very quiet day with German activity increasing towards the evening. The day was very cold and the ground was frozen hard with not much progress done to the trenches by the working parties. During the early hours of the 2nd the German trench mortar was spotted and was then silenced by the East Surrey's own 2" mortar trench. The German trench mortar became active again at about 11am and managed to this time knockout the 7th Battalion's own 2" trench mortar although the men were confident they would have it back in service for the next day. The 7th Battalion were relived on the 3rd which was completed by 11am whilst the afternoon saw several parties of men working for the Royal Engineers.

February 1917 Preparation And Practise Arras Sector

On the 4th all the men were out on working parties for the Royal Engineers again in very cold conditions with the Battalion recording a temperature of -6 degrees celsius overnight. The 5th saw the men on ammunition fatigue and digging the Boulevard Bouvey and a lateral communication trench around Arras from the Citadel to the Basin and to about 200 yards to the East of the Town. The morning of the 6th of February was spent preparing to move back and in the evening the 7th Battalion were relieved from the Divisional reserve by the 8th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. The East Surrey's moved back to Duisans arriving at midnight, and quickly settled into huts on what was another bitterly cold night.

The men of the 7th Battalion East surrey Regiment including Private Charles Dixon spent the 7th and 8th of February 1917 on working under for the Royal Engineers, 278th Railway Company. The men had to level the ground for the track to be laid upon for a new line which was to run from Saulty through Wanquetin up to the village of Mont St. Eloi. The ground was fearfully hard and not much progress could be made. At 4pm on the 8th the 7th Battalion marched to Manin, a distance of about 10 miles. The march was very cold but the East Surrey's arrived at 7.30pm with only 4 men falling out.

The morning of the 9th all the men were allowed a rest with a kit inspection for each of the Companies under their respective Commanders. In the evening the men were allowed to go into Avenses-Le-Compte which was the local metropolis. An inspection of the billets the Battalion were staying was performed by the C.O in the morning of the 10th, with them found to be in good condition but draughty for the time of year. On the 11th there was a meeting for the Company Commanders at Battalion H.Q, to discuss a proposed reorganisation of the Battalion's companies. In the afternoon the Company Commanders planned out lines of trenches in the snow which were to be dug the next day. That evening the men enjoyed the 1st performance of the Battalion cinema which was a great success, made more enjoyable by the music provided by Private Camnock who played the Padre's organ.

The next morning the men dug of the snow from the trenches laid down the day before and it was thought the trenches would be a great success as they showed up so clearly in the snow. On the 13th the men practised a trench to trench attack with all the companies engaged in steady arms drill and handling of arms in the afternoon. 100 men were sent to Ambrines to work on the practise trenches, during the day of the 14th whilst the usual routine of drill assault, physical and musketry training with a period of bayonet fighting for the rest of the men.

The 15th and 16th the men continued their program of training and on the 17th 400 men were sent to Ambrines to dig the practise trenches there with the remainder of the men on parades at Manin. The same 400 men went back to Ambrines to continue the digging there on the 18th. The practise trenches being dug at Ambrines were an exact copy of the British and German lines at a certain point that the East Surry's soon hoped to attack. The rest of the Battalion spent the day training on the Lewis gun with the same work done on the 19th.

The 20th and 21st of February saw 600 men go to Ambrines to work on the trenches there whilst on the 22nd the Company Commanders organised their sections in the morning with the 7th Battalion going to the practise trenches in the afternoon and walking over the ground in attack formation with features and various points etc, pointed out to the men. On the morning of the 23rd some of the men were again sent to the practise trenches this time to mark in dugouts and special points of interest. The rest of the men had instruction on the Lewis gun, bombing and rifle grenades and again in the afternoon the Battalion had another practise attack at Ambrines.

The East Surrey's continued training for the forthcoming attack on the 24th and several Officers, Company Commanders with the Battalion C.O all went to Blangy to watch the tanks at work. They were shown the tanks moving over trenches, wire entanglements and shell holes although they were a bit over enthusiastic when it came to demonstrating the tanks climbing up and down banks with 2 left stuck in the mud.

Training continued on the 26th with a lecture given to all the Officers of 37th Brigade in the evening. On the 27th and 28th of February the 7th Battalion were again at the practise trenches in Ambrines where they participated in a Brigade practise attack.

March 1917 The Training Continues

Private Charles Dixon and the men of the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment continued training in preparation for the forthcoming attacks in the Arras sector of the Western front. The 1st of March saw the men again practising a Brigade attack at the practise trenches at Ambrines. Stokes mortars put up a barrage and cooperation with an aeroplane was tried although this was not a great success as the cloud's were quite low. The next day's practise saw all the Officers taken out and the N.C.O's had to continue the attacks.

Musketry, bombing and Lewis gun training was practised on the 3rd and the 7th Battalion moved a lot of its store to Montenescourt which the East Surrey's moved to at 2pm on the 4th. The Battalion marched via Noyelle-Vion, Noyelette and Habarcq passing Brigadier General Matheson who remarked that he thought the East Surrey Regiment the smartest Battalion he had seen in France. On arrival at Montenescourt the man soon got into billets which in bad state.

On the 5th of March the Battalion Headquarters and many of the Companies found better billets and the Brigade H.Q moved to Lattre St.Quentin. Training resumed on the 6th with the usual classes in musketry, physical and Lewis gun training. The men considered Montenescourt to be the muddiest in France. The next day Battalion baths were opened having been made by the Pioneers. 1 double and single baths were made with 1 Company per day using them. The weather had changed and it was again snowing.

It snowed hard on the morning of the 8th so training classes were held in billets and in the afternoon 1 Officer per Company and 1 N.C.O per platoon attended a class on firing the Vickers and German machine guns. The usual routine now continued on the 9th and 10th and Sunday Church service held on the 11th. The 12th saw the men on a Battalion parade and training in the new Brigade training area. The next morning the men were inspected by the Battalion C.O and all found to be fairly clean which was good considering the amount if mud in the village. The Company Commanders went and heard about the listening sets that were now being used but came back unimpressed.

On the 14th the men of the East Surrey Regiment carried out a practise attack in conjunction with the 36th Infantry Brigade. The 7th Battalion left Montenescourt at 6.30am in the pouring rain and returned at 5pm having marched about 20 miles and carrying out the practise attack over heavy ground as well. Only 3 men fell out throughout the whole day. The next the East Surrey's spent preparing for a move to Arras in the evening and the Battalion set of at 5pm and arrived at 1.15am. The men relieved the 6th Queens working on dugouts in the line, with working parties starting at 5.30am and continuing throughout the day.

During the day on the 17th of the whole Battalion was sent on working parties.

There were 24 casualties taken at one point during the day all from 1 shell which fell into a platoon killing 6 and wounded about 14. An Officer was hit badly in the head and legs and died later in the day at Habarcq. All the men were again employed on working parties on the 18th. Some of the working parties again received some shelling but this time there was practically no casualties.

The Officers at Battalion H.Q were annoyed on the morning of the 19th, as they all had to retire into the cellars owing to the persistent shelling of 1 German gun. All the men of the Battalion were excited by the German withdrawal. Communiques were coming in every 15 minutes, with everybody having a different theory. The German withdrawal from the Somme back to the Hindenburg Line did not affect the British Line at Arras and the East Surrey's continued preparations for their next attack.

The 7th Battalion spent the next 2 days on working parties and on the evening of the 21st the Battalion were relieved by the 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers from the 36th Brigade who had moved up from the Brigade training area with the East Surrey's and the 37th Brigade. Over night on the 22nd the Battalion marched about 15 miles to Manin with none of the falling out and the last Company arriving about 9am.

The man spent the day sleeping and cleaning with Brigade training on the 23rd and 24th on the practise trenches and then a move to Agnez on the evening of the 25th arriving at 9pm with the men going straight into billets. A working party of men moved to Arras in the afternoon and the rest of the Battalion left in the evening taking over from the 7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment and their billets in the museum.

Tunneling and working parties continued and the German's were shelling Arras almost constantly. Civilians were still living in Arras which was fraught with danger. The 29th of March was somewhat quieter but the shelling continued and on the 30th a shell fell in the main street killing an Officer in his Billets. The German's shelled Arras heavily all day on the 31st, using shell of a large calibre.

April 1917 The Tunnels and Caves In Arras

The preparations for the forthcoming attack continued on the 1st and 2nd of April with the all the men on working on the tunnels and caves which extended under the trenches to the German line. Originally the only underground passages known to the British Army authorities was the town's sewer system, which in the East Surrey's sector of the line, ran around the outside of the town.

Tunnels cut into the chalk around Arras was then found and in numerous places they broke into caves some about 20 feet high and large enough to hold about 100 men. The sewer, caves and tunnels were then put to good use. The tunnels were cut through to the sewer with entrances made in the town and the trenches. The caves and tunnels were then shored up and boarded. A tram line was then laid and some places there was branch lines and double lines and a miniature railway was started. Electric lighting was put in place with cables festooning the walls to the trenches. An oil engine for the lighting was installed with bunks in the caves for the men.

Headquarters and report centre were placed at the end of the tunnel which was just about under the German wire. Attention then turned to the excellent cellars in the town and a general linking up was begun and soon it was possible to get from the crypt of the Cathedral to under the German wire without having to brave the shell fire out in the open. The end of the tunnel was arranged so that a opening could be made, at a moments notice.

The 7th Battalion East Surrey with Private Charles Dixon in the ranks moved back into the front line trenches overnight on the 2nd of April taking over the whole Divisional front. The British bombardment was becoming very heavy on the 3rd with weak retaliation from the German's. The 7th Sussex and 11th Middlesex Regiment's took over the left of the Brigade front line relieving 'A' coy who went back to the cellars at Rue de Saumont. On the 4th the 6th Queens Regiment took over the right of the Brigade front line, leaving the East Surrey's in the Battalion's section of the front for the attack. Stores for the Battalion were being collected and given out to the men.

The 5th of April saw Private Charles Dixon with 'C' Coy alongside 'D' Coy having a miserable and very wet time in the trenches, digging a new assembly line and trying to keep the trenches passable. The British artillery barrage on the German lines was getting heavier and particularly intense at times And the Battalion's casualties were light only about 4 slight ones. This was due to the East Surrey's holding the line sand the good dugouts, cellars and caves in and around Arras.

On the 8th which was Easter Day, preparations in regard to equipment, ammunition etc was completed by the Companies. At 6pm 'C' Coy including Private Charles Dixon and 'D' Coy left the cellars while 'A' and 'B' Coy's took up their battle positions in dugouts. During the night all wire was cut with ladders and bridge's put into positions.

Arras The First Battle Of The Scarpe

The attack started at 5.30am in a heavy snowfall, with the British artillery barrage intensely bombarding the German lines, and by this time the men of the East Surrey's were in or near to the front trench ready to go over. The German counter barrage did not descend for 3 minutes and it was thought the 7th Battalion got away without one casualty. All the lines assigned to the 7th Battalion were taken in excellent style the whole attack being carried off like a parade. Messages, prisoners and the wounded started to arrive back at the British lines about 6.15am and from these it was learnt that the German 3rd line had been attacked. At 6.23am it was reported that the Black Line which was the German 6th trench had been captured. 7th Battalion's headquarters moved into the report centre in the tunnels and a message from an Officer confirming that the 4th and 6th lines had been captured.

At 8am Lieutenant Colonel Baldwin, Captain Anns and Lieutenant Ward moved up and found that the 3rd wave was consolidating in shell holes in front of the Black line and that all the attacking Battalions had drifted to the right and this was adjusted. Enemy machine guns were firing from the Blue line as well as German snipers. The Royal West Kent Regiment was pressing over the captured ground to take the Blue line.

It was about this time that Sergeant Cator with a Lewis gun worked his way up to the Blue line, in the open, under heavy rifle and machine gun fire. He then moved along the blue line which was a strong and carefully prepared line of defence, killing many of the enemy he came across until reaching a German machine gun which was threatening to hold up the attack of the Royal West Kent's. The machine gun and it's crew was put out of action by Sergeant Cator and he was instrumental in sending back so many prisoners and he dealt with the snipers who were firing on those moving in and in front of the captured line. For this action Sergeant Harry Cator was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valor and the French Croix de Guerre.

By the afternoon all the objectives in the Blue line had been captured by the Buffs and West Kent's and the battle had passed further on.The Brown line with the exception of Feuchy Chapel redoubt was captured by the evening and the redoubt fell early next morning. The 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment's casualties during the attack was the loss of 3 Officers killed, 2 wounded and 1 missing. 36 Other ranks were also killed, 136 wounded with 4 missing.The 7th Battalion's losses of it's Non Commissioned Officers was heavy and they had sent 674 Other Ranks into the battle.

The attack at Arras, and the use of practise attacks over trenches dug to resemble the German lines and the complete preparation of the attacking Battalions proved that lessons had been learned from the Battle of The Somme the previous year. The attack also proved the necessity of good N.C.O's especially Section Commanders as during the battle command was basically in their hands. Command was rarely exercised by Officers or N.C.O's over groups of 20 men during the attack. The importance of rifle fire and fire orders was noticeable as many enemy casualties was caused by the men firing as they were getting into the German trenches. Consolidation of the captured trenches was well carried out and showed that the Officers and N.C.O's had studied this very important part of the attack. And it was on this day the 9th of April, that Private Charles Dixon was promoted to unpaid Lance Corporal.

Battalion H.Q moved to the dugout in the Blue line an the Battalion remained in the same position on the 10th. On the 11th the 37th Brigade moved to the Brown line in artillery formation which was about a mile and half from Monchy, in preparation for taking over from the Brigades of the 37th Division. Snow was still thick on the ground and the night very dark and cold with sleet and snow.

General Cator, the East Surrey's Brigadier decided that the 7th Battalion, and the Buffs could not relieve that night. The men spent a terrible night in shell holes and it rained or snowed continually. The Battalion H.Q was located in a shell hole the whole time until the East Surrey's were relieved on the night of the 12th by the 29th Division and they then moved back to their original positions in the old British line. The men stayed in the dugouts on the 13th and then marching 8 miles to Gouves on the 14th although all Ranks were tired nobody fell out. The 15th saw the Battalion march to Humbercourt in the morning. The day was very wet but again nobody fell out although some men with bad feet came down by lorry.

Resting And Refitting

Lance Corporal Charles Dixon and the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment spent the period between the 16th to the 22nd of April 1917 at Humbercourt where they begun cleaning and bathing after the recent fighting and begun training courses on the Lewis gun. Inspections of the men and their kit was held and the refitting continued. On the 20th the Battalion were thanked for their good work, whilst on parade by the General of the 37th Infantry Brigade.

On the 23rd the 7th Battalion moved to Lattre St.Quentin in the morning and then moved to Duisins on the 24th where they were billeted in huts and then moving back to Arras on the 25th. The men continued to clean their equipment, have physical training and courses on the Lewis gun ehich continued until the 29th of April. On the 30th of April the 7th Battalion left Arras and relieved the 7th Suffolk Regiment in the trenches known as 'Gun Pit Valley' which was to the North of Monchy. The relief was complete in the early hours of the 1st of May and it was fairly quiet.

The 3rd Battle Of The Scarpe May 1917

The 36th Brigade attacked Rifle Trench in the dark of the early hours on the 2nd of May with the East Surrey's in cooperation. The 7th Battalion had relieved half of the 6th Battalion The Buffs in Bayonet trench and the part of Rifle trench that had been captured previously. The attack was unsuccessful and the ground was in a poor state and the trenches little more than shell holes that been conslidated. No communications trench existed. The rest of the day the men spent preparing for the attack to be launched in the early hours of the night.

The attack on the 3rd of May 1917 was another bleak day in the history of the British Army with over 5900 men killed. The role of the 12th Division which included the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment was to advance 2500 yards on the left flank in the overall capture of Roeux. A larger effort by the British 1st, 3rd and 5th Armies commenced at the same time on a front of 12 miles, and an artillery bombardment had begun 2 day's before.

The 7th Battalion with the 6th Buffs on the right and the 11th Middlesex Regiment on the left, attacked at 3.45am and had 2 objectives. The Brown line named Gun trench and the Yellow line named Cartridge trench. The attack failed disastrously and casualties to the East Surrey Regiment were heavy. No messages were received by the 7th Battalion's Officers at Headquarters until the afternoon and that was from an Officer to say he was back in the British front line with 2 Officers and about 40 men.