Grandpa's Lonely Walk Home : March 2013

Our Uncle's Rest in Peace

Below, are two family members who were mentioned earlier in this Blog (see post, Enlisted at Kohukohu, 1916). They enlisted with Grandpa at Kohukohu. Unfortunately, both were killed on the Western Front. Recently, I located photos of their resting places and headstones, in Belgium. They are reverently and respectfully, placed here so family members can become familiar with their locations. They will also serve as a reminder that we will never forget the great sacrifices-- they made-- to preserve the freedoms we enjoy, today.

David Padlie (#20625)
UNDERHILL FARM CEMETERY
Comines-Warneton
Hainaut
Belgium

Location Information: Underhill Farm Cemetery is located 12 Km south of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Rijselseweg N365, which connects Ieper to Wijtschate, Mesen (Messines) and on to Armentieres. From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg. 3 km after the town of Mesen (Messines) lies the right hand turning onto the Rue du Petit Pont. (Kleine Brugstraat). 1 Km along this road on the right hand side of the road lies the cemetery.

Historical Information: Underhill Farm and Red Lodge were the names given to two buildings on the north-western edge of Ploegsteert Wood. They were occupied by dressing stations and the cemetery which they used is close to the farm. The cemetery was begun in June 1917 and used until January 1918. It fell into German hands in the spring of 1918, when it was used under the name of "The Military Cemetery at the foot of the Nightingale Hill". The cemetery was recovered in September 1918 and used again for Commonwealth burials until October. There are 190 Commonwealth casualties of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Nine of the burials are unidentified and special memorials commemorate five casualties whose exact places of burial in the cemetery could not be determined.

Peter ‘Pona’ Te Whata (#20621)
MAPLE LEAF CEMETERY
Comines-Warneton
Hainaut
Belgium

Location Information: Maple Leaf Cemetery is located 14 kilometres south of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Rijselseweg, N365, which connects Ieper to Wijtschate, Mesen (Messines), Ploegsteert and on to Armentieres. From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg. On reaching the village of Ploegsteert, turn right at the church onto rue du Romarin. At the end of this road lies the left hand turning onto Niepkerkestraat (for only 50 metres), then immediately right onto Zakstraat. The cemetery is located 50 metres beyond the right hand turning onto Zakstraat.

Historical Information: Maple Leaf Cemetery was begun in December 1914 by fighting units and field ambulances, but from July 1915 to April 1916, the village was occupied by the advanced dressing station of the 3rd Canadian Field Ambulance and the cemetery thus acquired its present name. The last Commonwealth burial was made in December 1917, but German graves were added in April 1918 when the cemetery was in German hands. The cemetery contains 167 Commonwealth and nine German burials of the First World War.

"Shout out" to the following website for all of the photos and
information (see above) included on this page
www.findagrave.com

Grandpa's War Documents

Attestation of Enlistment Details (Doc.1)

Medical History Upon Enlistment (Doc. 2)

Description Upon Enlistment (Doc. 3)

Casualty Form During Military service (Doc's 4a, 4b, and 4c)

Military History Sheet (Doc. 5)

Statement of Service (Doc. 6)


Grandpa at Cousin Norma Clarke's 21st Birthday *

Grandpa's Favorite Hat *

Notification of Death (Doc. 8)

Tangi on the Western Front

IN MEMORY OF A FALLEN LEADER

Name: George Augustus King
Rank Last Held: Lieutenant Colonel

Forename(s): George Augustus

Surname: King

Serial No.: 11/680

Place of Birth: Christchurch, New Zealand

First Known Rank: Captain

Occupation before Enlistment: Farmer

Marital Status: Married, 2 children

Next of Kin: Mrs A.L. King (wife)

George Augustas King was the first Commanding Officer of the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion, (which was from September 1917 known as the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion). He was posted out from the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion to Command the 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment. he was with them when he was killed by British artillery fire during the attack before Passchendaele on 12 October 1917.

Of the attack where Lt.-Col. King lost his life, it was said that,

"They had poured out their blood like water. The bodies of 40 officers and 600 men lay in swathes about the wire..."

This was the blackest day in New Zealand's experience of war, with 2700 casualities. New Zealand Pioneer Battalion known as this until September 1917 when the unit became known as New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion.

http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/cenotaph/8276.detail

(colored tinting added to photos)

Ordered Not to Rescue

(continued from tab, "Why the title, "Grandpa's Lonely Walk Home"?)

Mare’s memory from this evening with Grandpa is consistent with a number of details I collected, previously. Other family members have shared different aspects of this story with me. I have also seen the pocket book Mare refers to. It was in my dad's possession and I remember listening to him tell me why it was stained. Unfortunately, we still have been unable to relocate it.

It is also interesting that more formal sources of information (e.g. WW1 histories, excerpts from soldier's journals, etc.), independently, confirm details contained in Mare's narrative. These include:

Direct orders (Usually given at the beginning of an attack) that no soldier stop or return to pick up the dead or injured,

The deplorable and inhumane conditions that existed on the Western Front, and

The standards of discipline and consequences for soldiers who disobeyed a direct order.

To be fair, many factors required careful review by a commanding officer before fallen and injured soldiers could be recovered. One of the major concerns was whether those recovering the bodies, would also be killed. However, the loyalty, love, and compassion for fallen friends, often compelled soldiers to risk their own lives—from both the enemy and their own commanders— and venturing out into No Man’s Land. The following examples highlight this conflict of loyalty:

The British High Command did not allow the rescue of wounded men in the open, in case the rescuers themselves should become wounded. The Australians [ANZAC’s] disobeyed. They could not leave their mates stranded and calling for help. One officer walked across the battlefield and made a truce with the Germans. He even offered himself as a prisoner while his men tried to find all the Australian [ANZAC] wounded. (http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/overview/west.html)

In similar fashion, tensions increased around this matter, especially between ANZAC and British commanders at the Battle of Fromelles. At the end of this battle, a temporary truce between the German and Allied troops was agreed upon. This allowed for both sides to collect their dead and injured from No Man’s Land. Unfortunately, the truce was stopped at the last minute, by senior British Officers. (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_fromelles.htm)

Deplorable Conditions

Unfortunately, deplorable conditions inside and outside of the trenches were the norm for the Western Front. A mixture of limited resources (e.g. blankets, nutritional food, clean water, etc.), mud filled trenches, and seasonal changes in the weather, severely disrupted living conditions for soldiers. The following are six (6) firsthand accounts, by soldiers, describing their experience on the front line, in the trenches:

"One soldier was going insane with thirst and drank from a pond covered with a greenish layer near Le Mort-Homme. A corpse was afloat in it; his black countenance face down in the water and his abdomen swollen as if he had been filling himself up with water for days now."

"I have returned from the most terrible ordeal I have ever witnessed. […] Four days and four nights – ninety-six hours – the last two days in ice-cold mud – kept under relentless fire, without any protection whatsoever except for the narrow trench, which even seemed to be too wide. […] I arrived with 175 men, I returned with 34 of whom several had half turned insane."

"...mud, heat, thirst, filth, rats, the sweet smell of corpses, the disgusting smell of excreta and the terrible fear: ‘it seems we will have to attack’, and that when nobody has any strength left."

"They must be crazy to do what they are doing now: what a bloodbath, what horrid images, what a slaughter. I just cannot find the words to express my feelings.
Hell cannot be this dreadful. People are insane!"

"...during the summer months the swarms of flies around the corpses and the stench, that horrible stench. If we had to construct trenches we put garlic cloves in our nostrils."

Discipline

Grandpa was disciplined on eight (8) occasions during his military service. The designation W.O.A.S (While on Active Service) was noted on three (3) of the offenses. W.O.A.S. was a specific notation, used in the military, to enable field punishment by court-martial. The specific behaviors that prompted Grandpa’s discipline, resulting charges, and location they occurred, are listed below:

Charge: Insolence to superior officer (17 July. 1916)
Awarded: 7 days C.B. (Confined to Barracks)
Location: Narrow Neck Camp, Auckland, New Zealand

Charge: Inattention on Parade (10 Aug. 1916)
Awarded: 2 days C.B. (Confined to Barracks)
Location: Narrow Neck Camp, Auckland, New Zealand

Charge: Untidy Bunk, Neglect of Duty (11 Sept. 1916)
Awarded: 2 days C.B. (Confined to Barracks)
Location: HMNZT No. 61, Aparima

Charge: Drunkeness and Disorderly (7 Nov 1916)
Awarded: Fine 10/-
Location: Sling Camp, England

Charge: (W.O.A.S.) Using obscene and abusive language to an NCO (7 Nov 1916)
Awarded: Forfeit 7 days pay
Location: Sling Camp, England

Charge: Late on 1pm parade (8 Nov 16)
Awarded: 168 hours detention (7 days)
Location: Sling Camp, England

Charge: (W.O.A.S.) Absent from Gas Drill (28 April 1918)
Awarded: 5 days C.B. (Confined to Barracks)
Location: Hebuterne, France

Charge: (W.O.A.S.) Losing identity discs (23 July 1918)
Awarded: 3 days C.B. (Confined to Barracks)
Location: Coigneue, France

After reviewing Grandpa's behavior and the accompanying penalties, it is clear that he was never court-martialed, even though W.O.A.S. meant that a district court-martial (used for small scale misdemeanors and moderately, serious offences) could have been convened. The records show that Grandpa was heard and sentenced by his Commanding Officer. This was a common practice. Discipline, by a Commanding Officer, typically occurred for lesser offences.

Medical Locations and Interventions

The soldiers, on both sides of the war, fighting was constantly interrupted by health concerns, injury, sickness, and death. The deplorable conditions in the trenches; never-ending stress associated with small arms, shell, and gas attacks; rapid spread of diseases like flu and measles; and the ever present stench of death, meant that not one person— whether engaged on the battlefield or praying at home-- would be left, untouched by the war.

Listed, below, are reports of various medical interventions Grandpa received, while serving. Also included are the locations, indicating where the medical services were received:

Evacuated Sick to Hospital
Red Lodge, Steenwerck, France (27 April 1917)

Admitted to No.3 New Zealand Field Ambulance
Red Lodge, Steenwerck, France (27 April 1917)

Transferred to No.2 New Zealand DRS (Divisional Rest Station)
Steenwerck, France (28 April 1917)

Transported to 2nd Australian C.C.S. (Casualty Clearing Station)
Trois Arbres (near Bailleul), France (29 April 1917)

Admitted to 2nd Australian C.C.S. (Casualty Clearing Station)
Trois Arbres (near Bailleul), France (29 April 1917)

Admitted to No.1 New Zealand Field Ambulance
Ravelsberg (near Bailleul), France (12 May 1917)

Admitted sick to No.7 General Hospital
St. Omer, France (27 May 1917)

Admitted No.7 Convalescent Depot
St Omer, France (3 June 1917)

Admitted No.10 Convalescent Depot
Ecault, France (7 June 1917)

Admitted to No.24 General Hospital
Etaples, France (13 July 1917)

Admitted No.6 Convalescent Depot
Etaples, France (9 August 1917)

Admitted No.5 Convalescent Depot
Cayeux, France (11 August 1917)

Wounded remained with Unit
Chateau Road and Glencorse Lane, Dickebusch, France (19 Nov. 1917)

Admitted Endell St. Hospital while on Leave from France
London, England (3 November 1918)

General Life at Base Depot in Etaples, France

The following are photos of typical camp activities soldiers were involved in. Below, the map outlines the all areas that made up the New Zealand Base Depot in Etaples, France. Also included,

World War I New Zealand military camp
in Etaples, France.
Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association :
New Zealand official negatives, World War 1914-1918. Ref: 1/2-013754-G.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22545843

Sunset over tents at the WWI
New Zealand reinforcement camp, Etaples, France.
Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association :
New Zealand official negatives, World War 1914-1918. Ref: 1/2-013018-G.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22722937