11th Middlesex - 12th May 1917

As I wrote the other day, Pte Alfred Wade of the 11th Middlesex Regiment was presumed killed in action on 12th May 1917, his commanding officer and his best friend both writing to Frances Wade to offer condolences.

Following an appeal on the Great War Forum, a forum member has sent me the relevant diary extracts from the 11th Middlesex war diary and I have transcribed the entry for 12th May 1917, below. At the time, the battalion was in trenches near Arras.

From the War Diary of the 11th Middlesex Regiment, WO 95 / 1856

12th May 1917

Relief complete 2.30am. There were no casualties. Our dispositions were as follows: ‘A’ Coy on the right in CHAIN trench from BIT lane to the junction of HALBERD & RIFLE trench. ‘B’ Coy in RIFLE trench form the junction to HARNESS Lane. ‘C’ Coy in HALBERD trench, and in the forward piece of RIFLE trench. ‘D’ Coy in trench between MUSKET trench and ORANGE lane, also on each side of the junction CURB lane and RIFLE trench. On our left the 6th Queen’s, 37th Bde, on our right King’s Own [sic] Liverpool Regt, 3rd Division.

During the night a man of the Royal West Kents was brought in by ‘C’ Coy having been in No-Man’s Land since May 3rd. 2nd Lt A A KEOGH[1] and 2 O[ther] Ranks killed [by] shell fire H[eavy] B[attery] at 7.30am, just to the right of the junction CURB lane and RIFLE trench. Coys laid low and rested all day. Enemy very quiet. At 6pm the attack was carried out as per attached Operations Orders, a similar operation being carried out on our right and left. The attack failed to reach its objective, being held up by heavy enemy machine gun and rifle fire from DEVILS trench.

The situation for a long time was obscure, and when eventually [it] cleared up at about 7.30pm it was discovered that we were occupying ARROW trench on our right, and a line of shell-holes level with it, on our left, both our flanks being in the air. Information obtained at this point stated that the Queens had gained their objective, but no information could be obtained from our right. Immediately 2nd Lt WILKINS was sent out with his platoon and an extra Lewis gun to form a defensive flank on our right parallel to [reference] from BIT lane. This was successfully carried out with a few casualties, at about 8pm. Information was obtained that the King’s Own Liverpools [sic] had gained their objective so it was determined to carry DEVILS trench at all costs. Our casualties in officers up to this point were 2nd Lt GODFREY, 2nd Lt MORRISON, 2nd Lt TOWGOOD killed & 2nd Lt GARDENER wounded[2].

At this period, Lt PROCTER, who had already gained very valuable information, was sent forward to OC ‘B’ Coy for him to re-inforce with 2 platoons on the left, take DEVILS trench, and get in touch with the Queens. He found that 2nd Lt REGAN had already decided with the forward artillery observation officer to reinforce Captain ANDERSON on the right with 2 platoons, after a preliminary bombardment at 9.30pm.

Lt PROCTER arranged with 2nd Lt REGAN and the FAOO that the attack should take place at 9.45pm , the 2 platoons reinforcing on the left as ordered. The attack was held up, meeting with the same resistance as before, after getting within 40ft of the trench. Arrangements were being made with the King’s Own Liverpools [sic] to get in touch with our right, by bombing down DEVILS trench, when definite information was received, that both our left and our right had failed to reach their objective. ‘C’ Coy was ordered to withdraw, Lieut PROCTER being put in command, together with the 2 platoons of ‘B’ Coy.

Notes

[1] 2nd Lt Alfred Alexander Keogh is buried at Feuchy British Cemetery; grave ref II.E.5
[2] 2nd Lt Herbert Arthur Godfrey (12th May 1917), 2nd Lt Robert Vernon Morrison (13th May 1917) and 2nd Lt Arthur Cecil Carden Towgood (13th May 1917) are all commemorated on Bay 7 of the Arras memorial.

The 11th Middlesex tried again, unsuccessfully, the following day. Casualties for this second attack were recorded as 6 officers killed and 1 wounded; 26 Other Ranks killed, 66 wounded and 20 missing believed killed.

50167 Pte Alfred Leonard Wade, 11th Middlesex Regiment

Alfred Wade was the first Great War veteran I interviewed. I’d seen a small article in The Chelmsford & Essex Chronicle in August 1981 which noted that he and his wife Frances had just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. The article mentioned that Alfred had served during WW1 and that he’d been wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans. I wrote to Alfred via the Essex Chronicle and asked if I could some and talk to him about the First World War. Two weeks later, I met them both at their home in Kelvedon, Essex.

Alfred was one of four brothers who served their King and Country during the 1914-1918 war . He was born on 25th January 1893 at Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex and worked as a groom and gardener before he attested, probably under the Derby Scheme, in October 1915. He was initially posted to the Royal Fusiliers but was then obviously transferred to the Middlesex Regiment. He was given the number 50167 and it is this detail which appears on his medal index card.

I didn’t have my tape recorder with me when I visited Alfred, and my notes are sketchy. On 29th July 1916 he was certainly allowed 24 hours’ leave to marry his fiancée and he probably went to France shortly after that.

On 12th May 1917, a party of men from the 11th Middlesex took part in an attack on DEVILS trench near Arras, and a little under two weeks later, 2nd Lieutenant Percy Chipperfield wrote to Frances Wade in Essex:

24.5.17
BEF

MRS WADE

Dear Madam

I deeply regret to inform you that your husband, 50167 Pte. Wade. A. was killed in action during an attack on a German trench at 6pm on 12.5.17. He was struck by a bullet and killed instantly.

It is my grievous duty to inform you of these facts and I only hope that your sorrow will be in a degree lessened by the fact that he died like many other men, that England may live. A good soldier and a good comrade.

His body will be properly interred as soon as conditions permit, under the direction of the Graves Registration, The War Office.

My deepest sympathy to you and yours.

Yours sincerely

Percy Chipperfield
2nd Lt. 11th MIDX


The following month Frances received another letter from 29731 Private Arthur J Wall.

Pte A Wall 29731
10.6.17

Dear Mrs Wade

I will now try and write just a line to you – I now by now you have heard officially of your dear husband’s death, and believe me you have my sincerest sympathy. We promised each other months ago to write to each other’s wife should anything befall us.

He was on the same gun team as myself until May 12th, when he was suddenly transferred to another; sorry to say I never saw him again and when he didn’t return to the Company I was in hopes he was wounded and gone to the dressing station but unfortunately no news came of him.

I wouldn’t write before as he told me of a little event he was expecting to take place next month. I do hope you are well and that the little chap will cheer and comfort you in your sadness.

Your husband was my best chum, and I miss him sadly – he was brave and never seemed to fear anything, and I have been by his side under very trying circumstances, and he was calm as if nothing was happening.

If there is anything you would like to know and I am able to tell you, I shall be only too pleased to do so.

Believe me,

Yours sincerely

(Pte) A Wall

But of course, Alfred was not dead. He’d been hit in the thigh by machine gun bullets, had tumbled into a shell-hole and had then lain there for two days until he was picked up by a German patrol. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to a hospital in Belgium.

In July 1917, two months after he had been reported killed, Frances Wade received a postcard from her deceased husband telling her that he was recovering well. He spent the rest of the war in a German labour camp in Posen, Poland.

Alfred Wade died in April 1986 at the age of 93.

Also see my blog post which includes the 11th Middlesex War Diary entry for 12th May 1917.