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te frequently, and this was so with Sergeant Ebenezer Lord,
who happened to be in Kings Cliffe, living on School Hill, in
1911. With him was his son, Walter John – generally known as
John, who was an assistant forester at that date. He was 15
years old and was born at his father’s last post in Bugbrooke.
When the call came he joined the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire
Regiment on 29th November 1914. (probably the 2/4 or 3/4
Battalion). He trained with this regiment until July 1916 when
he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, 41st Battalion. To
join the MGC you had to be very fit physically and have good
technical aptitude. The gun, tripod, ammunition and spares were
very heavy and it took a team of six men to operate each gun.
John probably went to Grantham where the main machine
gun training camp was located. The MGC, for good reason,
was known as the “Suicide Club”. A third of its men became
casualties and 8% were killed. In the later years of the war the
British adopted a strategy of “defence in depth”.
For the MGC this meant that they were positioned well forward
of the front line to kill as many of the enemy as possible, as
they advanced. By the time the enemy reached the defended
trenches, their number and condition was severely impaired.
This was all fine until the MGC positions were eventually overrun
and the machine gunners had to try to withdraw to the trenches
(with their heavy equipment) or suffer the consequences.
John did not go to France until March 1917 when he was in the
41st Battalion MGC. This group were involved in the pursuit of
the Germans to the Hindenburg Line, the battle of the Scarpe at
Arras, and the battles at Passchendael, as well as the German
push in late 1917.
John appears to have come through without serious injury, his
only period in hospital being 12 days in early 1919, suffering the
effects of a visit to “Mademoiselle of Armentiers”.
He left the army in May 1919, by which time his family had
moved to Clipston near Market Harborough.
In 1928 he married Hilda Henman at Kettering, and his death is
recorded at Brixworth in 1972.
135
who happened to be in Kings Cliffe, living on School Hill, in
1911. With him was his son, Walter John – generally known as
John, who was an assistant forester at that date. He was 15
years old and was born at his father’s last post in Bugbrooke.
When the call came he joined the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire
Regiment on 29th November 1914. (probably the 2/4 or 3/4
Battalion). He trained with this regiment until July 1916 when
he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, 41st Battalion. To
join the MGC you had to be very fit physically and have good
technical aptitude. The gun, tripod, ammunition and spares were
very heavy and it took a team of six men to operate each gun.
John probably went to Grantham where the main machine
gun training camp was located. The MGC, for good reason,
was known as the “Suicide Club”. A third of its men became
casualties and 8% were killed. In the later years of the war the
British adopted a strategy of “defence in depth”.
For the MGC this meant that they were positioned well forward
of the front line to kill as many of the enemy as possible, as
they advanced. By the time the enemy reached the defended
trenches, their number and condition was severely impaired.
This was all fine until the MGC positions were eventually overrun
and the machine gunners had to try to withdraw to the trenches
(with their heavy equipment) or suffer the consequences.
John did not go to France until March 1917 when he was in the
41st Battalion MGC. This group were involved in the pursuit of
the Germans to the Hindenburg Line, the battle of the Scarpe at
Arras, and the battles at Passchendael, as well as the German
push in late 1917.
John appears to have come through without serious injury, his
only period in hospital being 12 days in early 1919, suffering the
effects of a visit to “Mademoiselle of Armentiers”.
He left the army in May 1919, by which time his family had
moved to Clipston near Market Harborough.
In 1928 he married Hilda Henman at Kettering, and his death is
recorded at Brixworth in 1972.
135
