Driver Shotter's letter from front (1914)

Post date: Jan 23, 2014 2:52:27 PM

Extract from Parish Magazine of January 1915.

We have received one or two further letters from the Front: from Seaman William Thomas Weller, H.M.S. Bacchante, Pte. Edward Pursey, Motor Transport, A.S.C., and Driver H. Shotter⁷. Ammunition Column, 29th Brigade, R.F.A.⁵ We print below Driver Shotter's most interesting letter :—

November 14th, 1914.

DEAR SIR,

I must thank you very much for parcel received October 19th, consisting of socks, cigarettes¹, etc., the socks being especially very welcome, as the weather here is frightful, rain incessant¹⁰, rain morning and night. A few lines on what we have been doing may be of interest to you. We came to France 23rd August²; after 17 hours train³ journey we arrived at St. Quentin. 20 hours later we were in action with our 18-pounder guns⁴. It was a terrible battle, our division against four German Army Corps, our casualties being 5,000, the Germans 20,000 these are official figures. By sheer numbers we were forced to retire, then began the most terrible ordeal man and beast can submit to; I refer to the retreat from Mons to Paris; we were in the saddle three nights and four days without sleep and with very little food⁸, men were falling from the saddle fast asleep, numerous horses fell exhausted and had to be shot⁶. Few of us thought we should see happier times, the enemy continued to follow us within four miles and their incessant greetings in the form of shells were very troublesome, the villages for miles around were fired by the "Huns"¹¹ as they advanced. A beautiful though terrible sight, to see the flames and shells bursting a short distance to the rear of us, and this in the middle of the night when you are fleeing for your life can be better imagined than described. After 14 days of this kind of thing we came to a halt within the forts of Paris⁹. From that time we began to advance and have continued to do so ever since. We have taken a part in all the big engagements since, and it has kept us fully occupied. At present we are entrenched at the extreme left end of the firing line. As I write a big battle is going on, and great destruction has been done to the town we are in. Yesterday 60 of the civilian population were killed by the "Huns"¹¹ gun fire, consisting chiefly of women and children; as soon as we attack they bombard the town this being the usual practice, not the exception. We are all sick and tired of this dangerous life, but we would willingly remain another 12 months or more to crush beyond recovery this tyrannical and vicious power "Germany."

The organist wishes to state that five out of nine choirmen having joined the Army, there are vacancies for tenors and basses, and he would be very pleased if volunteers would come forward to join the choir.

WATERINGBURY BOYS' SCHOOL.—LIST OF SCHOOL PRIZES, CHRISTMAS, 1914.

—Given by W.O.B.S.—George Collins, Bert Cronk, Charles Horscroft, Leslie Curd, Charles Crayford, Jesse Thornby, Geoffrey Travers, Sutton Lambert, George Shepherd, John Fullager, Benjamin Cronk, William Stow, Leonard French, Fred Skinner, Sidney King and William Cox.

Vicar's Sports' Prizes—Charles Horscroft, Jesse Thornby and Fred Pearson.

Given by Miss Knife—Harry Thornby and Sidney Ashbee.

Sir George Wolseley's Scout Prize—Scout Charles Horscroft.

Mrs. Edgar Smith's Writing Prize—George Fullager.

The Boys' Prize for most popular Boy—Charles Horscroft.

Headmasters' Prize for Head Boy—Charles Fullager.

At the prize-winners' own request the value of the prizes (£2) has been given to the National Relief Fund. The boys each received a printed card instead of a prize. The distribution took place in the presence of numerous visitors, and the boys sang various patriotic songs. After this the visitors adjourned to the Girls' School, where they witnessed a delightful little entertainment by the girls, "Father Christmas" and "The three Bears" causing special pleasure.

The Wateringbury and District Cottage Gardeners' Society held their Annual Autumn Show in the Church Rooms, on Wednesday, November 11th, and the entire proceeds, which amounted to £9, were forwarded to the Times Fund for the Red Cross Society. They were rather unfortunate in having a very wet night for it, which greatly decreased their takings at the door, but great credit is due to some of the honorary members who very kindly sent produce to the show and gave permission for it to be sold afterwards, and also to the members as there were no prizes offered, it being simply for honour alone. Most of the exhibits were sold, and the Committee wish to thank those members who so willingly came forward and exhibited, to help them in their endeavour to help the Red Cross Society, which at the present time wants all the assistance it can possibly get. Some of the main features of the show were splendid collections of fruit from R. H. Fremlin, Esq., from T. B. Brocklebank, Esq., from Canon G. M. Livett, from Henry White, Esq., from W. Jude, Esq., from G. Chambers, Esq., from A. Lambert, Esq.,and other various exhibits included lavender satchets from Mrs. Cator, bread and rolls from Mr. Neame and a friend and a large collection of vegetables by Mr. Rogers. The cake (kindly given by R. H. Fremlin,Esq.) was won by Mr. P. Cronk and Mr. S. Hadlow, who shared it, and the potato competition was won by Master Bert Pickett. During the afternoon and evening Miss Adams and Miss M. Eley kindly presided at the piano, and the Secretary officiated as Dutch Auctioneer at the conclusion of the show. (Communicated.)

F.M.R.

Notes:

1. Cigarettes. Although Shotter was more appreciative of the gift of socks than cigarettes, cigarettes were regarded as a sound gift as generally soldiers smoke more in war zones. During the Boer War the village had sent each Wateringbury serving soldier a pound of tobacco (see War 1900) and until 1914 most working men would have used a pipe or rolled their own; but loose tobacco was impractical in wet conditions and so cigarettes for the troops came into their own, smaller than today and sometimes in tins. Cigarette companies increased production and promotion, and cigarette cards were a particularly important innovation of this time. Princess Mary established a fund tgive each soldier and sailor a Christmas gift -See http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/princess-mary-gift-fund-1914-box-and-contents

2. First troops of BEF arrived in France on 9th August just 5 days after declaration of war, sailing to ports of Boulogne, Le Havre and Rouen. The mobilisation of the BEF, its crossing of Channel (without a single casualty) and transfer to the concentration area had been swift and efficient, a quiet triumph of staff work (Adrian Gilbert's Challenge of Battle). Arriving on 23rd August Shotter would have just missed the Battle of Mons on the very day shotter arrived, and the order to retreat was given on 24th August as a result of the retreat of French Fifth Army which left the BEF isolated.

3. The infantry were taken by train which was relatively comfortable and quick but afterwards infantry no more mobile than Marborough's armies and in initially stifling heat. From 21st August the infantry covered between 216 and 244 miles in 16 days on the hard pave roads of northern France (Adrian Gilbert's Challenge of Battle p154)

4. 18 pounder guns. Introduced in 1904 the 18 pounder was an effective field gun, capable of 20 rounds per minute in short bursts and firing a 18 1/2 lb shrapnel shell. An infantry division was allotted 3 brigades of 18-pounders, with each brigade consisting of 3 six-gun batteries. During opening months of war British field guns were only supplied with shrapnel shells, and often not in sufficient quantities, and it was not until October that high explosive shells first arrived on front line. (Adrian Gilbert's Challenge of Battle p.46). Shrapnel shells should ideally burst at just over 30 feet above and before the target but this was a very hard technique to master. shrapnel was effective against troops in open but against troops in trenches or buildings high explosive (HE) was necessary.

5. R.F.A. =Royal Field Artillery, one of the three branches of British artillery. The others were The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) and The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The RHA was assigned to the cavalry and only had 13-pounder guns but was considered the most prestigious branch. The RGA was responsible for the long-range heavy artillery that came to dominate war on the Western Front.

6. Many of the other accounts of the retreat from Mons mention the crowds of refugees on the roads; British troops felt some sense of guilt for their predicament in that they had not been able to defend their homes.

7. Driver Henry (28674) (E Sub) Ammunition Column, 29th Brigade, 4th Division, Royal Field Artillery.

8. Distributing supplies from the railheads to the retreating units- whose position was seldom known at any time - was extremely difficult.Food was placed in dumps alongside roads so troops could help themselves as they passed. ((Adrian Gilbert's Challenge of Battle p.90).

9. The Germans got to within 20 miles of Paris.

10. The weather experienced by the BEF was hot until 11th September when it changed dramatically to wind and rain with much lower temperatures.

11. The term huns was the result of a speech by Kaiser Wilhelm in July 1900 when he exhorted marine troops bound for China to conduct themselves "like the Huns under King Attila a thousand years ago" so that "Pardon will not be given, prisoners will not be taken. Whoever falls into your hands will fall to your sword." (quoted in Kaiser Wilhelm II by John C.G. Rohl page 69.)