The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division 1914-1918Gibbon, Frederick P.
History
The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division 1914-1918
Gibbon, Frederick P.
Great Britain. Army. Division, 42nd; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
“He held his own, not only directing his men and encouraging
them by exposing himself with the utmost disregard of danger,
but personally throwing bombs continuously for forty-one hours.
When his detachment was relieved after twenty-four hours, he
volunteered to continue the direction of operations. Three
times during the night of August 8-9 he was again heavily
attacked, and once the Turks got over the barricade; but after
shooting three with his revolver he led his men forward and
recaptured it. When he rejoined his battalion he was choked
and sickened by bomb fumes, badly bruised by a fragment of
shrapnel, and could barely lift his arm from continuous bomb
throwing.”
On the 8th and 9th the 126th Brigade relieved the 125th and continued the
struggle, and Lieutenant S. Collier, 6th Manchesters, gained the M.C. for
a good bit of work on the right of the Vineyard. A trench held by a group
of men of the 126th Brigade was fiercely attacked by enemy bombers, and
its capture appeared certain. Collier, however, organized and led the
defence, and though he had never before handled a bomb, he displayed much
aptitude with this weapon; and in spite of persistent attacks, continued
throughout the night, the Turks were beaten off. On the night of the
12th the enemy attacked in mass and captured the Vineyard, but the next
day were bombed out of it, and it was finally consolidated and held.
Throughout the operations the Divisional Engineers had worked and exposed
themselves as fearlessly as ever. Their services were continuously in
demand, and they had never been found wanting. The bulk of the work on
this occasion had fallen on the 1st Field Company. The Signal Company,
too, had proved how competent all its branches were. Much of its work
is not done in the limelight, and it may be mentioned that the average
number of messages passing through the Signal Office daily had been about
three hundred. In times of stress this number was greatly increased.
On August 13 the 42nd Division was relieved in the trenches and went into
Corps Reserve. The following 8th Army Corps Special Order was issued next
day—
“The 42nd Division has now been withdrawn into Reserve after
having been in the firing-line for three months without relief.
During this time the Division has taken part in three big
attacks, and has been subjected to the continuous strain of
holding, improving and extending our line and communications
under constant fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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