Page 37 - BBC History - September 2017

September 1917

“We decided to let ourselves go and write
the report in the style of one of Ashmead-
Bartlett’s newspaper dispatches”

Thomas Louch

Thomas was born in Geraldton, Western
Australia in 1894. He rose to the rank of
platoon sergeant in the Australian Imperial
Force before injury in the Gallipolli campaign.
By 1917 he was serving with the Australian
13th Brigade during the third battle of Ypres.
In September, a new phase Glasgow to forward to
of the battle began: the divisional headquarters.
British sought only to take
the German frontline zone, Some time before,
eschewing thoughts of a Glasgow had complained
breakthrough, and adopting that the 13th Brigade was not
‘bite and hold’ tactics. The getting its fair share of medals
results were great successes and decorations, and the reply
at the battles of Menin Road was that perhaps the brigade
on 20 September and Polygon ‘stories’ were not as well ‘written
Wood on the 26th. Thomas up’ as in other units. This time
was on the staff of Brigadier there was little for us to say as
General William Glasgow.
everything had gone to plan, but
George Horridge We were getting battle- we decided to let ourselves go and
wiser every day. The write the report in the style of
preliminary reconnaissance was one of [war correspondent]
Born into a wealthy textile manufacturing
family in Bury, Lancashire in 1894, George thorough and the troops were Ashmead-Bartlett’s newspaper
was commissioned as a territorial in the 1/5th assembled in an area that we had dispatches from Anzac. So the
Lancashire Fusiliers in 1913. After serving in found was not usually shelled. artillery “showered bouquets of
Egypt and Turkey, in 1917 his regiment was This was so successful that some shells” and the infantry “ad-
dispatched to the western front. officers complained that when vanced through the spume and
the time came to move up on to haze”. In our original draft, we
Lieutenant Horridge was realising that, as far as I knew, the tape they had to go along had something about “the
serving in the Ypres Salient in nothing had hit me. waking all their men up. bronzed warriors from down
the first week of September. There was a dead silence. I said: There was a tremendous under”, but we cut it out because
Every night, ration parties “Are Mr Mast and Mr Hudson
went back to supply dumps to here?” They were the two officers supporting barrage and the we did not think the ‘Old Man’
collect food for the men at the who’d been with me – no reply. attack, so far as we were would stand for that, and he had
front. The Germans knew Then a sort of hubbub broke out. concerned, went exactly to sign the report!
exactly what routes they had This shell had not only killed the according to plan. The 4th Peter Hart is the oral historian at
to follow and shelled at two officers, it had killed four of Brigade was equally successful, the Imperial War Museum
GETTY IMAGES/PICTURE CONSULTANT: EVERETT SHARP I happened to look up to the right thing was a terrible shock. We had task. As assistant brigade major, WEBSITE
but the 5th Division struck
random throughout the night.
the ration party, one of whom
trouble at Polygon Wood before
We were watching the
had both legs blown off, and
eventually making good their
DISCOVER MORE
rations being dumped.
wounded eight others. The whole
I was like the fifth wheel of a
E You can read some previous
and I could see shadowy forms
to get the wounded away, in the
coach, and only did odd jobs.
instalments of Our First World
coming. I said: “Hello, here’s the
dark, and we knew the gun was
Brigade headquarters was in a
War at historyextra.com/
second ration party, I’ll just give
pointing at the same place and
small pillbox on Westhoek Ridge,
ourfirstworldwar
them a shout, tell them where we
might fire another shot at any
chock-a-block with brigade staff,
TV AND RADIO
are!” I took two steps – not more
time. I think I had a certain
signallers and liaison officers.
E The BBC’s First World War
– and a big shell fell on the plate
amount of shell shock because
coverage is continuing. You
After the battle, the brigade
I’d been leaning against. A
when we got them away and
can find out more details
staff had to ‘write up’ the
tremendous flash and I was
everything had gone quiet, I found
through the regular TV and
medal recommendations in
blown down against the side of
an old pillbox and lay down in a
radio updates on
reports for Brigadier General
the trench. I picked myself up,
corner for 24 hours more or less.
historyextra.com
NEXT TIME: “It was mud, mud, everywhere”
BBC History Magazine 37