History of the 1/4th Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, 1914-1919.Bales, P. G.
History
History of the 1/4th Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, 1914-1919.
Bales, P. G.
Great Britain. Army. Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
While the Battalion had been in the neighbourhood of
Villers-en-Cauchies the transport lines had been established near
Rieux. Capt. H. N. Taylor who, though left out of the battle, had
not gone to the Divisional Reception Camp, organised a party of men,
consisting mainly of the Battalion Band, to search the battlefield of
October 11th. The ground was gone over systematically, the dead were
collected and were properly buried in a cemetery by the cross roads
near Rieux. The cemetery is called the “Wellington Cemetery,” and
there lie the remains of most of those who perished in this series of
actions. Their graves are well tended. French women of the neighbouring
village have taken upon themselves the duty of paying this tribute to
the men who sleep in their midst.
(_c_) Reorganisation.
For three days the Battalion lived in fairly comfortable billets
at Naves. The village had not suffered very severely in the recent
fighting and, since the enemy had fallen back to the River Ecaillon,
was out of range of anything but long distance artillery fire. While
the Battalion was resting there it was never shelled. The urgent
business was reorganisation, for it was probable that the 49th
Division would soon be back in the fighting line. Casualties could
not be replaced, so each company was reorganised on a two-platoon
basis. The loss of the many specialists, who had been gassed in
Villers-en-Cauchies, was very serious. To a certain extent these could
be replaced by the men who were at the Divisional Reception Camp, but
even then the deficiency was great. However, what could be done was
done.
[Illustration: WELLINGTON CEMETERY, Near ROEUX.
In the background is the ridge which the Battalion captured on Oct.
11th, 1918.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account