From Ice Floes to Battlefields

by Anne Strathie

  In early March 1916, over a year after leaving Blandford, Nelson returned to England; now, at last, he would be reunited with his wife and family and see his baby daughter. Nelson was now in command of the RND battalion with which he shared a name; he did not, however, lay claim to be descended from the famous Admiral.3 He had originally been ‘loaned’ to Nelson in late 1915, after its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Norman Burge, had fallen sick and been evacuated from Gallipoli. The transfer had been made permanent, but, soon after Nelson had been promoted to temporary commander, he succumbed to a fever and was evacuated to Malta’s naval hospital. By the time he was well enough to return to duty his battalion had been evacuated from Gallipoli to Lemnos and Burge was back in post. Nelson was duly confirmed as second in command to Burge; his new commanding officer was a well-respected leader who was known for looking after his men well and trying to keep them cheerful in trying conditions.

  In early May, at the end of his leave, Nelson met up with Freyberg, Asquith and Kelly at Charing Cross station, from where they were waved off by, inter alia, the prime minister’s wife, Margot Asquith. Nelson shared a cabin with Kelly on the crossing and joined him, Freyberg and Asquith for a drive to Wimereaux before joining the Boulogne–Marseilles P&O Express. When they reached Marseilles they found that the ships bringing their men from Malta had not yet arrived, so had time for a good meal, fine wine and lively discussions at the Hotel Splendide and a stroll around the crowded town before taking a late supper.4

  On 24 May, having bade his Hood Battalion companions farewell, Edward Nelson rejoined Nelson Battalion after six months away from the front line. An 8-mile march through streaming rain brought them to a village far enough from the front line to have sufficient intact buildings to shelter them for the night.

  In Nelson’s absence the RND had been reorganised into the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division of the British Expeditionary Force which consisted of the 188th Infantry Brigade (Anson, Howe and RND Marine Battalions), 189th Infantry Brigade (Nelson, Drake, Hawke and Hood Battalions) and 190th Brigade of four army battalions.

  During June the Nelsons and other RND battalions carried out exercises and trained for a planned ‘big push’ along a 20-mile front around the River Ancre. The Germans had captured most of the area in 1914, since when tens of thousands of Allied troops had been killed and injured in attempts to take German positions. Although the Allies had made some progress in the south of the area, they had been unable to break through in the north. The Allies’ efforts were currently concentrated on trying to capture Thiepval ridge and plateau, a strategic high point overlooking and commanding several crossing points on the Ancre, a railway line and the villages of Beaumont-Hamel and Beaucourt.

  On 1 July 1916 the Nelsons received their first taste of British Expeditionary Force style trench warfare. Although the ‘new’ RND Division was now supported by machine-gun units, field artillery and trench mortar companies, five men from Nelson died (three in action, one from battle wounds, one in an accident) and seventeen were wounded during their first seventy-two hours on active duty.

  By mid-July Nelson and his men had completed their initial BEF induction and training and were deemed ready to begin trench ‘rotations’ at a safe distance from the main front line. Over the next three months they moved around the area, fighting in trenches, joining working parties and undergoing further training in preparation for moving up to the main battle area on the Ancre.

  On Saturday, 16 September Edward Nelson rode over to see his friends in Hood Battalion. It was a special occasion, as, following dinner with Kelly, Freyberg and Asquith, he would join them and the rest of the battalion for a special performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture by the Hood’s Silver Band.5 This was the fulfilment of Kelly’s long-cherished ambition to conduct this stirring work in the open air to the accompaniment of ‘live’ battle sounds provided by Hood’s artillery and mortar cannons. The triumphant performance, which they all enjoyed, was the result of long hours of work by Kelly and rehearsing by the band – all of which had been fitted in between battle training and fighting duties.

  Within a few days of the concert Asquith learned that his elder brother Raymond had died after being shot in the chest while leading his company of Grenadier Guards into battle.6 A married man with three children, Raymond had studied at Balliol, Oxford; he had then moved to London, where he trained as a barrister and worked on the investigation into the sinking of the Titanic. He had, like Brooke and Patrick Shaw-Stewart, been a member of the ‘Coterie’ of Lady Diana Manners – and had also, like his brother Arthur, refused to be relegated to ‘staff duties’ simply because he was a son of the prime minister. Within a few days of Raymond Asquith’s death, that suggestion was put again to Arthur Asquith – who again refused to consider it.

  During the second part of September Nelson and his men were moved, in stages, towards the front line. At Acheux station they had their first glimpse of the tanks which Churchill and others hoped would transform trench warfare. At their new billets they cleaned camp, bathed and enjoyed a film show at the YMCA before continuing their training. On 8 October, they moved to Englebelmer, where they received instruction on aircraft-to-infantry communication; they also joined working parties which had been instructed to keep waterlogged trenches in working, habitable order.

  On 14 October, RND’s long-standing and popular commander, Major-General Archibald Paris, was badly wounded in the leg and invalided home. His replacement, Major-General Cameron Shute, had little time for what remained of the RND’s navel ethos and traditions. After Sub-Lieutenant Alan Herbert penned a satirical poem about him, he became known as ‘that shit Shute’.7

  Trench life, already cold, damp and uncomfortable, became increasingly unpleasant and dangerous after the Germans began attacking RND positions with tear gas shells. By early November everyone was waiting for their orders for the forthcoming ‘big push’. Asquith, much to his annoyance but the relief of his superiors, would not be taking part; he had recently been badly injured by a ‘Minnie’ (minenwerfer) mortar and invalided home to England.

  On 27 October the Nelsons moved to new billets 12 miles from the front line, where they were told that Shute would inspect his division on 2 November. Everyone assembled on the appointed day but after they had been standing in pouring rain for several hours it was announced that Shute would now arrive the following day – which he duly did.

  On 1 November the London Gazette listed men who had been mentioned in dispatches ‘for distinguished and gallant service’ at Gallipoli: amongst the names were those of Nelson, Kelly and Egerton.8

  On 8 November Nelson and his men arrived at Hamel. While Burge and Nelson waited for their final orders, 21-year-old Sub-Lieutenant Edwin Dyett approached Nelson with the latest of several requests to be reassigned to sea duties due to the state of his nerves.9 Nelson considered his request sympathetically but, given that everyone was suffering under the same conditions, he did not feel he could make an exception for Dyett.

  On 10 November Nelson received his final battle orders. The aim was to capture German trenches and other lines of defence designated as the ‘Dotted Green Line’ (German front-line trenches), ‘Green Line’ (a fortified line near Beaucourt railway station), ‘Yellow Line’ (a fortified trench defending Beaucourt village) and ‘Red Line’ (German position on the far side of Beaucourt). This would be achieved through a series of ‘leap-frog’ movements, whereby Hood, Howe, Hawke and 1st Royal Marine Light Infantry would take the Dotted Green and Yellow Lines, and Nelson, Drake, Anson and a light infantry unit would take the Green and Red Lines.

  Edward Nelson would be based at Hédeauville (some 4 miles from the front line), from where he would dispatch reserve RND troops to Divisional and Brigade HQ and the front line, based on messages and orders passed back from HQ and the front line.

  On paper, it all seemed understandable, but the appearance, in the early hours of 13 November, of a blanket of thick, freezing mist over the still-dark battlegro
und threatened to complicate matters.

  During the day Nelson dispatched men forward as required. When it came for Edwin Dyett to move forward, Nelson sent him in a car to Brigade HQ, together with Lieutenant Cyril Truscott, a more experienced officer who had served at Gallipoli. He told them that they would be given further orders when they arrived at Brigade HQ.

  The following day Nelson learned that Beaucourt had been captured but that, of the senior officers, Burge (Edward Nelson’s CO) had been killed and Freyberg had been seriously injured. ‘Sep’ Kelly had also been killed whilst attacking a bombing post on the German third line of trenches.

  It had become apparent to Freyberg quite early in the day that, with hundreds of RND men being mown down by German machine guns and artillery, the ‘leap-frogging’ was unlikely to work. Casualties apart, the dense fog and the damage done to German trenches by the British pre-assault bombardment meant that it was almost impossible to get a sense of direction without using a compass.

  After Freyberg and his men reached the Dotted Green Line, he decided not to wait for the next group of men to ‘leapfrog’ them but to continue forward, gathering men as he went. At dusk Freyberg and the 800 men with him (largely from Hood and Drake) dug in and waited for water, rations and reinforcements to be brought forward. Freyberg then received a message telling him to hold his ground until the following morning when everyone who had reached the Yellow Line in front of Beaucourt would join in an attack on the village.10

  Nelson Battalion had, it appeared, suffered particularly badly. Burge, nine sub-lieutenants and twenty-four other ranks had been killed; a lieutenant-commander, two lieutenants, six sub-lieutenants and 200 other ranks had been wounded; over 100 men were reported missing.

  On the morning of 14 November, following an all-night bombardment, Freyberg led his men towards Beaucourt. When they entered the village they found it was already in ruins. Large numbers of Germans were ready to surrender, but it was not long before a German bombardment sent everyone scuttling into trenches. Freyberg had been hit and badly wounded. While he took some morphine (which he carried for just such eventualities), a Hood fellow-officer, Captain Montagu, dressed his wounds. Montagu offered to run for assistance so that Freyberg (who weighed 16 stone) could be stretchered to a casualty station but Freyberg refused to let him leave the trench. As the morphia began to take effect Freyberg stood up and, and, with Montagu’s assistance, staggered to the nearest first-aid post. The regimental doctor applied some temporary dressings and prepared to evacuate Freyberg back down the line.

  The day after the battle Edward Nelson was appointed as temporary commander of Nelson, replacing Burge. The following day, two days after Nelson had ordered him report for duty at the front, Edwin Dyett was found wandering around aimlessly, far from the field of battle; he was immediately placed under arrest.11 Sir Douglas Haig came to congratulate the Division on their efforts in capturing Beaucourt and to advise them that Freyberg was now out of danger and had been recommended for a Victoria Cross.

  On 2 December, Nelson was placed in temporary command of a much depleted 189th Infantry Brigade when his brigade commander left for England on ten days’ leave. On 19 December he signed a charge sheet on which Dyett was accused of one of two alternative offences: desertion ‘when it was his duty to join his battalion, which was engaged in operations against the Enemy’ or ‘conduct to the prejudice of good order and Military discipline’. General Haig gave his approval for the convening of a court martial.

  On 26 December, Boxing Day, Dyett was brought from the prison cell where he had been detained since his arrest. The prosecutor was Sub-Lieutenant Herbert Strickland of Nelson Battalion; Dyett’s defence counsel was (in the absence of a suitable Nelson Battalion officer) Sub-Lieutenant Cecil Trevanion of Hawke, who had practised briefly as a solicitor before the war. Dyett pleaded ‘not guilty’ to both charges.

  Edward Nelson was the first to give his evidence:

  On 13 November, 1916, I was in command of the officers of the Nelson Battalion who were not taken into action with the Battalion at the commencement of operations. We were then stationed at Hédauville. In consequence of orders I received that day from the 63rd RN Divisional Headquarters I detailed Lieutenant Truscott and the accused to report to Brigade Headquarters. I personally gave these orders to both these officers and told them that a car was waiting to take them up at Divisional Headquarters. I saw both these officers leave in this car. The accused appeared to be quite nervous when I gave him these orders.

  Under cross-examination from Trevanion, Nelson expanded on what he had said about Dyett:

  I have known the accused since about June last … My opinion of the accused’s capabilities as an officer up to 13 November 1916 was that he was a very poor one. His authority in command over men was not good. Before 13 November the accused did approach me with a request for transference to sea service and the question as to his capabilities in the firing line was then raised by the accused. Accused told me that he was of very nervous temperament and that he thought he was not fitted for the firing line.

  Trevanion then asked Nelson why he had sent Dyett towards the front line:

  I had no other officers available to go up to the firing line on 13 November. Sub-Lieutenant Cowans and Sub-Lieutenant Strickland were not available as they were employed on special duty. Sub-Lieutenant Redmond was not under my command [but] doing duty at the time with the Division. Sub-Lieutenant Walker was our Transport Officer, so he was not available. Sub-Lieutenant Truscott and accused were the only two officers available to be sent forward. I felt some apprehension about sending the accused up into the firing line. I had to send two officers and these were the only two available. I had some misgivings about the accused. I had not the same confidence in him as in Lieutenant Truscott.

  When the Prosecutor asked Nelson what he thought Dyett might do, he said that he thought Dyett would obey orders but he had experienced ‘misgivings’ as to Dyett’s possible behaviour. After Nelson’s evidence had been read back to him, he left the room.

  The court found Dyett guilty of desertion and absence from his battalion, but not guilty on the second charge of ‘prejudicial conduct’.

  The story which emerged during the court martial was a confusing one. Truscott and Dyett had arrived together at Brigade HQ, where Brigadier General Phillips had given Truscott orders (which applied to both him and Dyett) to join Nelson Battalion at the front. On the way they had met another group of men from different battalions. After Dyett had started arguing with one of them (Herring), Truscott had identified some Nelson men and taken them up to the front. The last Truscott had seen of Dyett and Herring they had still been arguing. Truscott thought Dyett seemed ‘normal’, with ‘nothing strange in his demeanour’ or signs of ‘cold feet’.

  Phillips confirmed what Truscott had said and that, after Dyett had been found wandering around, he had questioned Dyett and placed him under arrest.

  Herring stated that the group of men with him when he met Truscott and Dyett had been ‘retiring’ from the front when, in his view, they should not have been. He implied he had ordered Truscott forward with the Nelson men and that the argument had arisen when Herring had ordered Dyett to follow Truscott and his group. Dyett disputed Herring’s authority and said he was returning to Brigade HQ for further orders. Dyett had then, Herring suggested, followed Herring back to the ammunition dump where the latter was based. Herring then sent a message to his captain complaining about Dyett’s behaviour. Herring had not thought Dyett seemed ‘afraid’, ‘in a funk’ or to be deserting.

  Dyett declined to give evidence, call witnesses or say anything in his defence. His defence counsel described him of being of ‘neurotic temperament’ and confirmed that Dyett had regularly asked to be transferred to reserve forces. He suggested Dyett had not deliberately deserted but had simply wandered around before reporting to Lieutenant-Commander Egerton of Hood Battalion (who had not been asked to give evidence).

  When Dyett w
as found guilty, the court passed the death sentence on him, but recommended mercy due to his young age, lack of battlefield experience and ‘circumstances’ including the increasing darkness, heavy shelling and the presence of large numbers of men retiring from the front, all of which seemed likely to affect a young man of his temperament.

  On 28 December 1916 Nelson left for England on leave. When he returned on 9 January 1917 he learned that Dyett had been executed four days previously. The court’s recommendation for mercy had, somewhat unexpectedly, been rejected by Haig.12

  Edwin Dyett had been blindfolded and tied to a stake. A firing squad of Nelson ‘other ranks’ aimed for his heart and fired. Dyett, who asked his colleagues to be sure to shoot straight, had, according to the records, died instantaneously.

  Within a few days of his return from leave, Nelson marched his men for 50 miles through rain, sleet and snow to join buses which took them to the new front line at Beaucourt. Nelson was now one of only four Nelson Battalion officers who had fought at Gallipoli and the only non-army officer in charge of a RND battalion.

  After spending several days in a shell-pocked, frozen quagmire of trenches being bombarded by German artillery, Nelson and his men were relieved by Hawke Battalion; by then they had lost a dozen men, killed in action or dead from their wounds.