The History of the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion, "the King's" (Liverpool Regiment) 1914-1919Wurtzburg, C. E. (Charles Edward)
History
The History of the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion, "the King's" (Liverpool Regiment) 1914-1919
Wurtzburg, C. E. (Charles Edward)
Great Britain. Army. King's Liverpool Regiment; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
The Quartermaster, going down to make some arrangements, was
unfortunately badly wounded by a 5·9 which burst just in front of the
entrance to "A" Company's billet. His left thigh was damaged, and two
pieces of shell entered his stomach, one lodging in the muscles of the
back near his spine. He was hurriedly taken to the regimental aid post,
where Captain McHugh did his best for him, and thence to the Advanced
Surgical Centre, Estaires. No one thought he could possibly live, but,
with his usual determination, he won through; and though his health
was badly impaired,[1] he became in due course an S.O.3 in the Air
Force after the Army had finally thrown him out. For his services with
the battalion he was Mentioned in Dispatches. His place was taken by
Regimental Quartermaster-Sergeant Wallas, for whom we tried in vain to
obtain a Quartermaster's commission.
[1] He died in June 1920, to the great regret of all who knew him.
At 11 p.m. on July 14th the sound of a heavy barrage disturbed us,
and shortly after one company was ordered to stand-to. We thought the
German raid had come off, but except for the heavy barrage nothing
further happened. The next night "C" Company relieved "B" Company in
the subsidiary line, and were probably not sorry to leave the "peace"
of reserve billets for a while. The post of extra company in the
subsidiary line was undoubtedly very popular. The area they occupied
was seldom shelled, and work could only be done by them at night and in
the vicinity of their posts. In the early hours of the morning, just as
"B" Company had got clear of the line, the barrage fell once more, and
after rolling the length of the front line from right to left formed a
box barrage on the left company front. It was a really heavy barrage,
and two working parties from our "A" Company, who were just stopping
work in Peter's Cat and had begun to arrive in Cambridge Avenue,
suddenly found themselves in the centre of a tornado of exploding high
explosives. 2nd-Lieutenant McWilliam, who was in command of one of the
parties, was, however, equal to the occasion, and with great gallantry
got the parties under cover, and then proceeded to reinforce the front
line. A number of Germans were seen coming across towards Cambridge
Avenue, and were called on to surrender. This they seemed quite
prepared to do, but an N.C.O. suddenly appeared, and they all fled back
together. One prisoner, however, was captured by Rifleman Mills.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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