by Ian Uys
“Though we were for a week in a continual dungeon of smoke, our boys behaved splendidly; they worked and fought till weariness quite overpowered them. Some of our boys were so tired that they stood sound asleep with their rifles at the shoulder.
“The enemy made many fierce rushes, and at one time we were shooting them at a range of ten to fifteen yards. Their casualties must have been enormous, and, though ours were about half theirs, I dread to think what the shock will be when Cape Town gets the news. There are only two of us left out of our section, the others are either killed or wounded, as they did not answer to their names at roll-call. How I got through everything untouched will always be a miracle to me.
“Half-dazed by shell fire and enraged at seeing your pals lying motionless round you, you simply carry on with murder in your heart, and I now realise the truth about men going half-mad when in the thick of the fight. I think this fight is likely to take its place in history. The papers here can’t speak enough about the South Africans and the way they behaved.”
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Corporal Archie Dagnin thought mainly of sleep …
“One hundred of us were cut off from the brigade for three days and nights including Col Thackeray, where we held three companies of Germans off, who attacked us day and night for three days. We were living on dead men’s rations saturated in blood and even managed to snatch two hours’ sleep each day laying on dead men. We were too dead beat to care.”
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There was a great deal of confusion as to what had happened to various men. Colonel Thackeray was later to recommend Errol Tatham for a DSO.
“Before and after Col Tanner was wounded this officer was indefatigable in assisting me in every way and fearlessly exposed himself in visiting the detachments of his regiment under heavy fire. He was wounded and is missing since. He left me during the big enemy attack on the 18th in Delville Wood.”
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While holding a portion of the Buchanan Street trench Sec-Lieut Garnet Green and his men attacked and dispersed a body of Germans who were endeavouring to dig in about 30 yards away. His fearless and gallant manner instilled energy and confidence in his men.
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Colonel Thackeray managed to get a message through to Gen Lukin by runner, saying that the British heavy artillery had fired on them causing additional casualties and that snipers made it impossible to evacuate the wounded or bury the dead.
“… the strain of five days’ continuous work and fighting is becoming beyond endurance and as I have now only Lieut Phillips and one or two NCOs I do not feel that we can hope to hold the trench in the face of any determined assault.”
The 19th Durham Light Infantry reached Thackeray, but pressed on eastwards, saying that they had no orders to relieve him. Brigade-major Mitchell-Baker, replied to Thackeray’s message at 4.45 pm, saying that Gen Furse had promised relief at the first opportunity, probably after dark.
“He has expressed the highest admiration for you and your men and describes your stand as a most gallant one.”
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Although himself wounded in the leg, Capt Claude Browne, 4th SAI, was a keen observer of the dogged defence by Thackeray and his men.
“On the following day I was lying on the parados of the trench when two shells (luckily duds) fell within a very short distance of me and partly covered me with earth. Colonel Thackeray again pulled me to safety and carried me into the dug-out used by him as headquarters; while he was doing this another shell fell within a few feet of me. During the whole of the day I lay in close proximity to Col Thackeray’s headquarters, and he continually by his example kept the men fighting till the very last, although the odds were heavily against us.
“We were bombed and fired at from both sides of the trench at the same time by the Germans who had managed to creep through in places where the men had been entirely wiped out. I heard Col Thackeray tell the men that he would not leave the trench unless relieved, and the men were encouraged to hang on until the very end.”
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Lieutenant Edward Phillips had never realised what a fighter his colonel was.
“On the night of 19 July, when the enemy massed and assaulted our lines of trenches, Lieut-Col Thackeray jumped on to the parados and threw hand grenades, and when enemy’s grenades exploded, throwing him into the trenches, he immediately got up and continued throwing grenades until the enemy’s attacks were repulsed.
“In my opinion, had Lieut-Col Thackeray not shown his total disregard of danger, our men would never have fought the way they did in Delville Wood.”
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Private R Thompson had shown conspicuous devotion to duty in the wood since the 15th. On the morning of the 19th he returned to the wood from carrying wounded out. Although almost physically finished he crawled back to his trench under machine-gun and sniper fire, determined to do what he could to assist the wounded while his strength lasted.
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Two telephone operators, Privates Long and Capel, had remained with their instrument until it was destroyed by shell fire. Private Charles Ernest Long had farmed at Holmedene, Transvaal. When the war commenced he hired a man at 15 shillings a day to manage his farm, then enlisted at one shilling a day.
Howard Godfrey Capel, 25, came from Johannesburg. He had brown hair and eyes and a scar across his chin. After serving for a year in the Transvaal Field Telegraph Service, he joined the brigade and did a further signalling course in May 1916.
Charles Long later wrote of their brave stand.
“Shells fell among us like an African hailstorm, and still we stood it. My word, I, with what remained of us, had decided to die fighting.
“One fellow was so frightened he dare not get up from the bottom of the trench. I made him load rifles for me. As soon as one got too hot to hold, he handed me another; so he was useful in that way.
“I was, with two others, told off for the telegraph instrument. First one got his arm broken, and then the other got shot right through the head whilst helping me to rescue our corporal, who was badly hit in his left leg and was dragging himself along the ground to our trench.
“We both ran out to help him and, after putting him in a large shell-hole, we both ran back again. I reached the trench safe enough but not so my mate; he fell dead at my feet, having been shot through the head. He was a good fellow and a brave chap. His name was Capel and he lived in Johannesburg.”
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Tom Heunis woke at 3 am. “As day broke I heard screaming going on. I stood up and looked into a German’s face. He said, ‘Kom! Kom!’ Only 75 of us were there and they took us to the village. I was lucky that they were Bavarians. We were hungry so the Germans gave us food, which we cooked. A chap and I made a fire to cook. A British aeroplane came over and dropped a bomb. The Germans and French were running and geese were flying but we paid the plane no attention. After what we had been through, it was nothing.”
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Sergeant John Naisby, 45, of No 9 Platoon was an auburn haired engineer, originally from Northumberland, England. He was an imposing man, weighing over 200 lbs and with a scar on his left cheek. He had left his wife, Antoinette, and two children at his home in Mayfair, Johannesburg. His previous military service included two years with the Royal Engineers and Railways Regt and ten months with the Rand Rifles and SA Medical Corps in SWA.
From the 15th to 18th he constantly and fearlessly exposed himself under heavy artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire to assist the wounded and to fetch water and ammunition from Longueval and in the wood. He set an outstanding example of bravery to his men.
When severely wounded in the right foot, left shoulder and back on the 19th, he still insisted on helping another wounded man away. Colonel Thackeray was to recommend him for the VC.
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Private O Chapman recalled that his friend Pte Frederick Butcher was shot early in the morning on the 19th. Chapman was on special duty with Lieut Francis Somerset when they struck a party of Germans in the wood and Somerset was killed.
Later Chapman and L/Cpl Parminter were half-buried by a bursting shell. The Germans dug them out.
“I was led and walked back about three miles over the German lines to their first dressing-station. Here I bade sad farewell to Palmy; he, Gordon and Blake being the only three left of 16 (Platoon).”
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Private Roy Hill was personal orderly and runner to Capt Tomlinson. He continued to work though wounded and was carrying despatches when wounded a second time.
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Although his men were completely worn out, Major Hunt knew that they would return to the wood with him.
“July 19. At 7 am received order timed 3.40 am from Dawson to retire to Talus Boise. Some Norfolks came up. Sent B and C companies to Talus Boise. Found Dalgety and walked down road with him to Talus Boise and then went to look for Brigade HQ at Montauban.
“On getting to entrance of Brigade HQ, dug-out was nearly blotted by shell which landed me in my kilt upside down at the foot of the dug-out steps. Found another brigade had taken over.
“Returned to Talus Boise and found General Lukin sitting on a stump. He told me Thackeray was still in wood and asked if we were ready to go in again to get Thackeray out. Said ‘Yes, sir!’ though in my heart knew all my lot were done in.
“Lukin then asked what was my strength? Told him 19 B Company, 21 C Company, 6 A Company here, lying down. He said ‘No! that would be no use, stop where you are!’ Company cookers are up here, thank goodness.”
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Betteridge had no idea what had happened to the rest of his company.
“I woke at dawn, about 4 am to find it was still drizzling, but the terrific bombardment seemed to have eased somewhat. I crawled towards a dead Scottie a few yards away and found emergency rations in his haversack. I promptly opened a tin of bully beef and this, with an army ‘dog’ biscuit and water from the dead man’s water bottle, filled my empty tummy. I had hardly eaten anything for 24 hours.
“I felt horribly tired and the smell of gas did not let me rest in one place for very long, notwithstanding the pain I now had in my leg. Several wounded men passed me on their journey through shell-pocked terrain.
“I fell asleep again for about three hours, and then ten minutes later two of our stretcher-bearers came along and attended to my leg under still heavy shell fire. They placed me on their stretcher, my head next to the backside of a tall lad who was with me at school in East London; I think his name was Nichols.
“They had carried me about 150 yards when a shell burst alongside us. A large piece of shell hit the bearer next to my head, in almost the same place I was hit. I was summarily dropped off the stretcher. The other bearer attended to the wounded man, applying a tourniquet to the gaping hole in his leg, which looked much worse than mine. He then carried our pal to the dressing-station, half a mile farther to the rear.
“I lay there for another three hours before another party of bearers picked me up. Before they arrived, I crawled to another shell-hole where I saw another dead Scottie, aiming to help myself to his emergency rations which he would not need. I never took his rations; he had both legs shot away and the shell-hole was half full of water stained red with his blood. A nasty sight in the midst of much death and destruction.
“I finally reached the rear dressing-station, lined up with many other wounded, unable to walk. Not far from us about thirty bodies covered with blankets and groundsheets awaited their last journey on this earth. The not so severely and walking wounded were crammed into motor trucks and taken to fully equipped hospitals in the rear.
“We lying cases were given injections, duly labelled and pushed into ambulances for the trip to the comparative quiet of the field hospital. After further attention there we were driven in another ambulance to the railhead for transport to Blighty.”
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Lieutenant Allen Centilivres Chase, 23, was a customs clerk from Uitenhage, the great-grandson of John Centilivres Chase (1795-1877). John Chase was an 1820 settler who became civil commissioner and magistrate of Uitenhage and commandant of the Uitenhage Volunteer Cavalry. He was a leading public servant, merchant, historian, author and politician.
Allen Chase lived in Chase Street, Uitenhage. He was 5 ft 10 ins tall and had grey eyes and fair hair. Chase had previously served as a lieutenant in Prince Alfred’s Guards, and was a keen and highly efficient officer, popular with his men and with all who knew him. He was shot in the chest at Delville Wood and carried out.
Chapter 10 — Relieved
Thursday 20th
The promised relief did not arrive during the night, despite an understanding that the 3rd Division would effect it. At 8 am Thackeray sent a message to Major Mitchell-Baker for Gen Lukin, in which he referred to the state of his men and requested food, water, reinforcements and news of what was transpiring elsewhere. He made no actual reference to their disappointment at not being relieved, knowing that Lukin would be doing his utmost in this regard.
During the fighting that day the Germans hurled themselves against Thackeray’s band of bone-weary heroes, but could not overrun them. The colonel himself threw Mills bombs and fought with a rifle on the parapet. His personal courage and example inspired his gaunt survivors to superhuman efforts.
The War Diary of the 52nd Regiment shows that Thackeray’s survivors were still full of fight. The German unit records that:
“On the 20th the enemy once again renewed the attack. In the evening the regiment was deployed in an 5-shaped formation in the wood. From west to east were stationed the 6/52, 5/52, a platoon of 8/52, 4/52 and 3/52. Part of 12/52 came next together with sections of 7 and 8/52.” (From this one can deduce that part of the 1st Battalion were dragged into the fighting for the wood on the 20th but the main body of the regiment was still over towards Longueval.)
A German officer who visited the scene afterwards noted in his diary: “The wood was a wasteland of shattered trees, charred and burning stumps, craters thick with mud and blood, and corpses, corpses everywhere. In places they were piled four deep. Worst of all was the lowing of the wounded. It sounded like a cattle ring at a spring fair.”
This defence may well have saved the entire flank of the British front. At noon Field Marshal Haig enquired about the position at Delville Wood, realising that a German victory there would endanger the masses of British artillery in Caterpillar Valley and allow the Germans to enfilade the British advance.
General Rawlinson had issued orders for the XV Corps to seize High Wood and the XIII Corps (Gen Congreve) to take Longueval and Delville Wood. In the latter case the attackers lost direction in the assault and incurred heavy casualties.
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The British fought valiantly to relieve the South Africans. Two men of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were to win the Victoria Cross for their heroism.
In Longueval Cpl James Davies pushed through their own barrage and single-handedly attacked a machine-gun emplacement after several men had been killed in attempting to take it. He bayoneted one of the Germans and captured another together with the machine-gun. Although himself wounded, Cpl Davies then led a bombing party against a defended house and killed a sniper who was harassing his platoon. Davies subsequently died of his wounds.
Private Albert Hill, 20, from Manchester was one of the smallest men to win the VC. When the order to charge into the wood was given Hill dashed forward and on meeting two of the enemy bayoneted them.
His platoon sergeant then sent him to find the company. He was cut off and almost surrounded by 20 Germans. Hill attacked them with bombs, killing and wounding many and scattering the remainder. He then joined a sergeant and helped him to fight his way back to their company.
On regaining their lines Hill heard that an officer and a scout were lying out wounded, so assisted in bringing them in. Finally he himself captured and brought in as prisoners two of the enemy. He was to receive a hero’s welcome when he returned home on leave.
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That evening Major Mitchell-Baker made strong r
epresentations to the high command which resulted in the 3rd Division relieving Thackeray at 6 pm.
When Lieut-Col Thackeray led the remnants of the brigade out of the wood at 6 pm he had two wounded officers and 140 NCOs and men with him. Of these, Lieut Garnet Green of the 2nd SAI and 81 men (1st SAI 9, 2nd SAI 33, 3rd SAI 14, 4th SAI 25) had entered the Wood on the 15th. Lieutenant Edward Phillips and the surviving 59 men of the Trench Mortar Battery had been sent forward as reinforcements on the 18th. They spent the night at Talus Boise, rejoining the rest of the brigade at Happy Valley, near Bray, the following day.
In summing up the brigade’s achievement John Buchan wrote, “The six days and five nights on which the South Africans held the most difficult post on the British front, a corner of death on which the enemy fire was concentrated at all hours from all sides … constitute an epoch of terror and glory scarcely equalled in the campaign.”
“In the History of the 9th Scottish Division, J Ewing wrote, “The defence of Delville Wood by Lieut-Col Thackeray’s small band rightly takes its place as one of the classic feats of the war. But though less well known, the charge of the Highlanders that saved Longueval when a serious disaster seemed inevitable, is an achievement that ought to secure a lasting place in our military annals.”
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Brigadier Lukin’s report on the final day of the battle was short and to the point. “Throughout the 20th the wood was again heavily shelled, and snipers were very active. In the evening Lieut-Col Thackeray and his men were relieved by the Suffolks. The strength at which he marched out was three officers (including two wounded) and 140 other ranks, being details of all units of the brigade.”
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The TMB men had helped Thackeray to repulse further attacks. The battery was relieved at 4 pm by the Suffolks and went to Talus Boise where they would later meet him.
Lance-Corporal Gerald Strickland, who was attached to the TMB, showed conspicuous gallantry in keeping his men together in the wood and repelling an enemy bombing party after his senior NCOs had been wounded.
