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The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
1775-1952
A Complete History of the Regiment as compied by
2/Lt. John F. O'Flaherty
(An extract from the Gosling Memorial Library)
Page one
The angry quarrels between the American Colonies and the mother country, Britain, which had started as early as 1761, grew steadily over the years and finally flared into open warfare. England declared war on her thirteen colonies in North America in 1775.
The Americans had no regular army, but a hastily-formed militia was called together and placed under the command of the Virginian, George Washington. It was with his consent that Benedict Arnold led an expedition to invade Canada, the main objective being Quebec. Arnold had hoped to keep his mission secret, using a circuitous and difficult route to Quebec. But his strategy was discovered by the British, through friendly Indians, and plans were made to repel the invaders.
So it was that in this fateful year of 1775, Colonel Colin Campbell arrived in Newfoundland and recruited between 150 and 200 fishermen to aid in the defense of Quebec. Their arrival came at a most opportune time, because the merchants had been demanding the surrender of the city to the Americans, hoping that in return for this, they and their goods would be unmolested. But the sight of these fierce and rugged looking men from Newfoundland parading through the streets, so heartened the citizens that they immediately turned to, to aid in the defense of the city. On New Year's Day, 1776, with the Newfoundlanders constantly in the vanguard and fighting like men possessed, the Americans were repulsed, and Quebec saved.
About 1782-3, presumably with the veterans of Quebec as a nucleus, the Newfoundland Regiment was formed, said to be the oldest regiment in Canada. More or less a volunteer organization at first, it was put on a regular footing during the French Revolutionary Wars, and about 1792-3 became a recognized force eventually listed on the rolls of the British Regular Army. Around 1805-6 it was given the prefix "Royal".
In 1812, there were four regiments borne on the roll of the British regular army that had been formed by enlistment in the British American Provinces. One of there was the "The Royal Newfoundland Regiment", numbering 536, then stationed in Lower Canada. In the same year 1812, a war with the United States broke out in consequence of England insisting on her right to search American vessels for deserted British sailors. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment took part in this war, which lasted until 1814, with distinguished gallantry, being present at such battles as Lundy's Lane, York (now Toronto), Stoney Creek (now Hamilton) and may others.
In January 1812, Major-General Brock, commanding the forces in Upper Canada, addressed a memorandum to Sir George Prevost, the Governor General, requesting that a detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment might be detailed for service as marines upon the armed vessels on Lakes Erie and Ontario, a duty for which they were regarded as being well adapted, having been recruited from among the seafaring inhabitants of the island which gave its name to the corps.
Page Two
Accordingly in April, five companies, numbering about 360 officers and men, received orders to proceed to the upper province for service afloat. A return of the 1st of July shows that the strength of this wing, having its headquarters at Kingston, under Major Heathcote, was 19 Officers, 18 Sergeants, 14 Drummers and 317 rank and file. There were then only 127 Officers and seamen available to man the eight armed vessels on the two lakes, which actually required three times that number to work them efficiently. The men of these companies were therefore distributed on board these vessels to enable them to take the lakes at the beginning of hostilities. In this way they performed excellent service and held possession of the lakes for four months. On Lake Ontario the "Royal George", manned chiefly by men of this regiment, tool several prizes, besides convoying boats and transporting troops. On the night of October 1st, her boats entered the mouth of the Genesee and captured the schooner "Lady Murray", and a small vessel employed as a revenue cutter. Next day a landing was make for the purpose of gaining possession of a quantity of naval stores,, which was entirely successful. A large fleet of American batteaux, laden with military stores for Fort Niagara, narrowly escaped. A few days later the "Royal George" took the schooner "Charles and Ann". On November 10th she was chased into Kingston by an American squadron of six vessels. She was struck three times by round shot, and a soldier of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was killed.
The "Gloucester" and the "Earl Moira" were employed for several weeks patrolling the St. Lawrence as low as Ogdensburg, a monotonous but very important service. During this period it was estimated by American observers that not less than 600 boats of five tons burden, laden with provisions and military stores, were enabled to ascend the river in perfect safety.
During the first week in September, Major Heathcote, with a detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, was employed in escorting the prisoners taken at Detroit from Kingston to Montreal. He returned immediately, having in charge a valuable convoy of about forty boats, with an escort of only 138 men. His advance up the river became known to the American commandant at Ogdensburg, who sent a strong detachment to intercept him. On the night of September 15th , the Americans landed on Toussaint's Island and captured its only inhabitants, a French Canadian from whom the island had received its name, and his wife. During the excitement caused by the appearance of the boats coming up the river shortly after daybreak, Toussaint managed to escape and, although fired at several times, gained his canoe, and by his shouts and signals, warned the boatmen of their danger. The leading boats were then entering the narrow passage between the island and Presque Isle Point, where they were fired at from the bushes all along the shore. Heathcote at once landed a party to clear the island, but hardly had this been done when a schooner armed with a six-pounder came around the lower end of the island, and a large Durham boat, filled with riflemen, appeared in the channel above. The schooner fired round shot, and the musketry from the Island and the American boat continued without interruption for an hour, when the Americans attempted to land a party on the point. They were driver off with some loss by thirty men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, who were promptly joined by the militia of the neighborhood under Capt. Ault, who hurried to the spot with great alacrity, and their boat was captured with a quantity of arms. The Americans on the island were then taken off by the schooner, and retired to their own shore. Heathcote lost a private of the 49th killed and on of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment wounded, besides one or two of the Militia. Toussaint's wife stated that she counted twenty men killed or wounded on the island, but the Americans admitted the loss of four only.
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The detachment on Lake Erie also found active employment on board the "Hunter" and the "Queen Charlotte". On July 2nd, an American schooner was observed entering the Detroit River. Information of the declaration of War had been received at Amherstburg the day before, and Lieut. Rolette of the "Hunter" rowed alongside the approaching vessel in his barge accompanied by only six men. The schooner proved to be "Cuyahoga", employed as a transport by General Hull, and in addition to her ordinary crew had on board a guard of four Officers and twenty-seven soldiers. Rolette, with admirable presence of mind, demanded the surrender of the vessel, and caused the hatches to be clapped down before the soldiers could gain the deck or make any resistance. Among the prisoners was the Adjutant-General of General Hull's army, and documents of inestimable value were found among his baggage. Instructions, returns, correspondence, all that an adroit enemy could wish to acquire, were thrown into Rolette's possession. The importance of this fortunate capture to the British commanders can scarcely be overrated. The "Queen Charlotte" was moored at the mouth of the river,Canard, and prevented the advance of the Americans from Sandwich upon Amherstburg by commanding the bridge and the only available road with her guns. On August, 7th, Lieut. Rolette with the boats of the two British vessels captured eleven batteaux with fifty-six wounded American soldiers.
In the advance on Detroit, the detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was landed and formed part of General Brock's division. During the whole of these operations Capt. R. Mockler of the regiment acted as aide-de-camp, in the first instance to Col. St. George, and afterwards to Col. Proctor.
On October 8th, the brig "Detroit",
a prize taken at General Hull's surrender, arrived off Fort Erie, having on board as passengers thirty American prisoners and thirty-four French Canadian voyageurs on their way to Montreal from Lake Huron. She was commanded by Lieut. Rolette, and her crew consisted of two petty officers, three able seamen and seven landsmen, besides Ensign Thomas Kerr, a sergeant, a drummer and seven privates of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment acting as marines. The vessel had no bulwarks or boarding nettings, and the deck was encumbered with the beds and baggage of the passengers, The boatswain and corporal were both sick, and Sergt. Woodland was the only non-commissioned officer fit for duty. The night was very foggy, and Lieut. Rolette remained on deck until midnight, when he set a watch of six men and went to bed. At 3 o'clock he was aroused by firing from the sentries and upon reaching the deck he found the vessel drifting down the river with two boats alongside containing four officers and eighty-eight men of the U.S. frigate "Adams", and two officers and thirty soldiers of the American army. The voyageurs who were sleeping on deck rushed tumultuously down the hatchways in their haste to escape, and prevented the rest of the crew from coming on deck for some minutes. The Americans called to Rolette to surrender, and upon his refusal, opened fire and began to clamber on board. He was joined by Mr. Kerr and nine men, and offered a resolute resistance for nearly fifteen minutes, when he was knocked senseless, one soldier being killed, Mr. Kerr and four men wounded, and the remainder driven down the hatchways, While this struggle was going on a party of American seamen made their way aloft and set sail, carrying the vessel down the river to Black Rock, where she was subsequently destroyed by the fire of the batteries below Fort Erie.
The light company of the regiment, under Captain Whelan, formed the garrison of Fort Erie on the night of November 28th and furnished gunners for the batteries in repelling the attempt at invasion on that occasion.
A return of December 21st shows that the Regiment was then widely scattered. There were at Quebec three officers and 46 men; at Prescott, five officers and 77 men; at Kingston, nine officers and 64 men; at York, two officers and 1 man; at Fort George, four officers and 111 men; at Amherstburg and Detroit, one officer and 70 men; and serving on the lakes, four officers and 146 men. The casualties during the year numbered thirteen deaths.
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A detachment consisting of Capt. Robert Mockler, Lieut. John Garden, Ensign Thomas Kerr, and 58 non-commissioned officers and men, Formed part of Colonel Proctor's force at the battle of the River Raisin on January 22nd, 1813. Of this small party one private was killed and Ensign Kerr and 17 non-commissioned officers and men were wounded. Mr. Kerr, who was only eighteen years of age, fell while gallantly leading his section to the attack of a large barn occupied by the enemy. On receiving his wound, which proved mortal a few days later, he is said to have exclaimed: "Push on, boys, they have done for me".
Captain LeFevre and 40 men from the detachment stationed at Prescott, took part in the capture of Ogdensburg exactly a month later. One private was killed and four wounded in storming the enemy's works, and Capt. LeFevre was particularly mentioned for his gallant conduct in leading a body of militia.
On March 17th, the batteries at Fort Erie were again manned by the Light company during a brisk artillery duel across the river, in which they dismounted three of the American guns at Black Rock. "The enemy celebrated St. Patrick's Day," General Sheaffe wrote, "by firing on us at our right flank. One man was killed and two wounded of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment".
When York was attacked on April 27th, a detachment of 95 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, under Lt. Colonel Heathcote, was stationed there. Little more than half of it, however, was fit for duty in the field. The total force at York consisted of a bombardier and twelve gunners of the Royal Artillery, to assist whom men, were drawn from the other corps; two companies of the 8th; about a company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment; one company of the Glengarry Light Infantry; and about three hundred militia and dockyard men.
Major Givins was sent forward with the Indians to oppose the American landing. The company of the Glengarry Light Infantry ordered to support them and the militia, not having arrived at the ravine, the grenadiers of the King's and a small portion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment belonging to the garrison of York moved on, led by Lt. Colonel Heathcote, commander of the garrison. This movement was directed to be made within the wood parallel to the lakeshore, and only so far from it as not to be discovered by the enemy's vessels, several of which were not a great distance from the shore. Capt. Eustace's company of the 8th and some militia that were quartered at the east end of the town, lest the enemy might make an attempt on that flank, were ordered with the exception of a small party of militia to join these troops. While these operations were going on, Major-General Shaw, adjutant-general of militia, led a portion of the militia on a road at the back of the wood to watch the rear and act according to circumstances. By some mistake he drew away the company of Glengarry Light Infantry to accompany this detachment, so that it came late into action instead of being near the Indians a the commencement.
Heathcote's small force made a gallant resistance against overpowering numbers. The grenadiers of the 8th regiment were cut to pieces and the Royal Newfoundland detachment lost one sergeant and eleven privates killed; seven privates wounded; Lieut. DeKoven, three sergeants and nine rank and file wounded and prisoners; two privates prisoners; and two missing.
Capt. Mockler, Lieuts. Garden and LeBreton, and 60 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, formed part of General Proctor's expedition to the Miami, from April 23rd to May 9th, 1813. Capt. Mockler acted as aide-de-camp to the General and Lieut. LeBreton as assistant engineer. The latter officer was specially mentioned for this gallantry in attacking the enemy, during a sortie from their fort, at the point of the bayonet. The Royal Artillery in their laborious duties were well assisted by the Royal Newfoundland under Lieut. Gardiner, as additional gunners. The detachment lost 3 privates killed, 1 wounded, and 1 prisoner, during these operations.
Page Five
On April 29th, the companies stationed at Kingston, were distributed among the vessels of the Lake Ontario squadron; 123 men were put on board the "Royal George"; 53 on the "Prince Regent"; and 54 on the "Earl of Moira". They took part in the expedition against Sackett's Harbour, in which they lost 4 killed; 13 wounded and 1 missing. "The detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment behaved with great gallantry", Colonel Baynes said in his despatch. They continued to serve as marines during the remainder of the campaign.
A detachment of 40 men of this corps was next engaged in opposing the landing of the Americans near Fort George on May 27th. In this desperate but unavailing struggle against vastly superior numbers aided by the fire of their whole squadron, 2 privates were killed, Capt. Winter, Lieut. Stewart, 1 sergeant and 6 privates wounded, and 5 privates wounded and made prisoners. The remainder of the detachment stationed on the Niagara, numbering five officers and 65 men, retreated with General Vincent to Burlington and accompanied him in his subsequent advance. Capt. Whelan with 48 men was then sent to Amherstburg, arriving on August 5th, in response to an urgent request for reinforcements from Capt. Barclay, commander of the Lake Erie squadron. "I have also to mention his (Capt. Barclay's) strong desire to have some of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment," General Proctor has written, "as his greatest reliance is on those of that corps at present employed as marines."
On July 11th, he added: "besides the detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, I have been obliged to send 50 men on board three vessels from the 41st regiment." The equipment of the squadron was extremely defective in every respect, but the want of experienced seamen was particularly felt. "Your Excellency speaks of seamen, valorous and well disciplined." General Proctor wrote the Governor General on August 26th: "except, I believe, the 25 whom Capt. Barclay brought with him, there are none of that description on this lake, at least on His Majesty's vessels. There are scarcely enough, and of a miserable description, to work the vessels, some of which cannot be used for want of hands such even as we have. Capt. Barclay has, besides the Royal Newfoundland, 150 of the 41st regiment. Better soldiers there cannot be, but they are only landsmen. " On August 29th, he reiterated: "there are not in the fleet more than 24 seamen." Barclay's complaints were not less frequent and emphatic. On Sept. 1st, he wrote to Sir James Yeo: "By exercising the soldiers at the guns, I hope they will make a good hand if it. I am sure if you saw my (French) Canadians you would condemn every one, with perhaps one or two exceptions, as a poor devil not worth his salt." Again, on the 6th, he said: "I am happy to announce the arrival of the party of seamen under Lieut. Bignall. The number is totally inadequate to render the squadron under my command effective."
The disastrous result of the battle of Lake Erie which followed is well known. Of a detachment of about one hundred of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment on board the British vessels, Lieut. S.J. Garden and five privates were killed, and the remainder taken prisoners. The latter were marched to Kentucky and detained in captivity for nearly a year, during which time they suffered the extremes of privation.
The regiment lost seventy-seven men by death and less than two hundred rank and file remained, of whom many were in hospital.
"The Newfoundland Regiment being reduced to a very inconsiderable number from losses in action, from sickness, and particularly from the capture of a large part of them with the fleet on Lake Erie," said Sir George Prevost in a letter to Lord Bathurst of the 4th of November, I submit the expediency of sending them in the spring to Newfoundland to recruit, and to replace them by the Nova Scotia Fencibles.
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However, before the regiment could be concentrated for this purpose at Quebec it was decided to send two companies to the relief of the garrison at Mackinac, an extremely arduous service, which would require men thoroughly inured to fatigue and accustomed to the management of boats in fog and floating ice for its successful accomplishment. The detachment selected for the purpose consisted of six officers and 130 non-commissioned officers and men, and was accompanied by eleven artillerymen and Lieut. Worsley and twenty seamen of the Royal Navy. In the course of the winter they built thirty large boats on the Nottawassaga river, in the midst of the unbroken wilderness. On April 19th, favoured by an unusually early spring, the expedition began descending the river, and on the 25th, it entered Lake Huron. On May 18th all of the boats arrived at Mackinac except one, which was crushed in the ice.
The difficulties experienced in conducting open and deep-laden batteaux across so great an extent of water as Lake Huron, covered with immense fields of ice and agitated by violent gales of wind, could only have been surmounted by the zeal, perseverance and ability of the officers commanding the expedition. For nineteen days it was nearly one continual struggle with the elements, during which some the hardships to which the men have been exposed were sufficient to have discouraged the boldest.
The arrival of these troops placed the Island of Mackinac in a position of safety for the remainder of the campaign, an object which Sir George Prevost justly considered as of paramount importance. Its geographic position was admirable, its influence extended and was felt among the Indian tribes to New Orleans and the Pacific Ocean. Vast tracts of country looked to it for protection and supplies, and it gave security to the great trading establishments of the Northwest and Hudson Bay companies, by supplying the Indians of the Mississippi, the only barrier which interposed between them and the enemy.
Late in July, an American squadron of five vessels, with 1000 troops on board, made its appearance, and on August 4th the soldiers were landed. They were briskly attacked in the woods by the garrison and about fifty Indians and driven back to their ships with a loss of seventy men. Two schooners, the "scorpion" and "Tigress" sere then left to blockade the island.
On the 31st, Lieut. Worsley arrived from the Nottawasaga with his party of seamen, having passed close to the blockading vessels in the night. They lay at anchor fifteen miles apart, and he instantly volunteered to conduct an expedition to attack them. Four boats were equipped, two of them having field pieces mounted in the bow. Of these , one was manned by seventeen seamen under Lieut. Worsley, the other three by four sergeants and fifty men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment under Lieuts. Bulger, Armstrong, and Rodenhurst.
After rowing for twenty-four hours, they reached the Detour, where the nearest of the blockading schooners had been seen, and remained concealed among the islands until his position could be precisely ascertained. On the evening of September 3rd, they proceeded to attack the vessel, while lying at anchor about six miles distant.
About 9 o'clock at night the enemy was discerned and the force approached to within one hundred yards of them before they hailed us. On receiving no answer they opened fire, with both musketry and 24 pounder. All opposition was in vain, however, for Lieut. Worsley and Lieut. Armstrong on the starboard side, and Lieut. Bulger and Lieut. Rodenhurst on the larboard, boarded the enemy vessel within five minutes. The ship proved to be the "tigress", commanded by sailing Master Champlin , mounting one long 24 pounder, and with a complement of 30 men. The defence of the vessel did credit to her officers, who were all severely wounded. She had three men wounded and three missing, supposed to have been killed and thrown immediately overboard. Our loss was one seaman killed and seven soldiers and seamen slightly wounded.
Page Seven
The prisoners were sent away to Mackinac and every precaution taken to avoid giving alarm to the crew of the other schooner. The position of the "Tigress" was not altered, and the better to carry on the deception, the American pendant was kept flying. On the 5th, the enemy's schooner was discovered bearing down on the captured vessel. The soldiers were directed to keep below or to lie down on the deck to avoid being seen. Everything succeeded. The enemy came to anchor about two miles away during the night, and as the day dawned on the 6th, the cable on the British-manned ship was slipped, and she was run down under job and foresail. Everything was so well managed by Lieut. Worsley that the vessel was within ten yards of the enemy before it was discovered. It was then too late, for in the course of five minutes her deck was covered with Newfoundlanders, and the British flag hoisted over the American. She proved to be the "Scorpion", commanded by Lieut. Turner of the U.S. Navy, carrying one long 24 pounder in her hold, with a complement of 32 men. She had two men killed and two men wounded. Lieut. Bulger and six privates had been wounded in taking the "Tigress", but no loss was sustained in the capture of the "Scorpion".
In September and October 1814, the miserable remnant of the detachment that had been taken prisoners in battle on Lake Erie were landed at Long Point, entirely broken down by disease and exposure. They were almost naked, most of them without shoes, and many of them suffering from fever and ague.
The officers were removed from Frankfort on July 16th and arrived at Newport on the 18th; they were detained there till the 24th; On August 2nd, they arrived at Franklinton and were detained until the 9th; on the 18th, they arrived at Lower Sandusky. They bivouacked on the march and were constantly exposed to heavy rains without any covering or change of clothing, but there were only two of them sick when they arrived at Long Point.
The situation of Sandusky was extremely unhealthy, the river being almost stagnant and the banks swampy. They were detained there for more than a month without blankets, greatcoats or any other covering, save a few old tents furnished by the Americans, not sufficient for more than a third of the prisoners. There was only one medical officer with them who had very little medicine.
Had the prisoners been embarked on their arrival at Lower Sandusky, instead of being detained there so long, the regiment would have acquired an effective strength of some hundred instead of the wretched remains they did get, many of whom died, and all who survived were incapable of service for many months.
Lieut. Clemens, who returned by a different route, reported in similar terms of the prolonged detention of his party, which seems unquestionably to have been designed to prevent them from joining Sir Gordon Drummond's division while it was engaged in the siege of Fort Erie. He reported that when the prisoners arrived at Cleveland their situation was shocking, many being sick, without any medical attention, and they were encamped without tents or any covering in the most bleak and cold situation that could be picked out. The men complained that they were half-starved and did not receive their rations regularly and that what they got was not fit to be eaten, as it smelt and was unwholesome.
There was not a town that the prisoners marched through, that they were not surrounded by people offering them money and making use of every means to persuade them to change their allegiance. But despite sickness, hunger and privation they rejected all offers to join the American service.
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When hostilities ceased, and the tension between England, the United States and Canada died away, The regiment was disbanded (1816). The British Army regulars garrisoned St. John's, the 96th Regiment of Foot being stationed in Newfoundland in 1817, together with a detachment of the Royal Artillery, and No. 8 Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Sappers and Miners.
Many of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment must have gone to other lands, because it is more than likely that the Newfoundlanders who turned up in the American Civil War, in the Crimea, and even in South American insurrections, had first smelled powder in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
The Veteran Companies were organized in 1824 and were redesignated Royal Newfoundland Veteran Companies in 1827, and Royal Newfoundland Companies in 1842.
Following the riots of 1861 in St. John's, a detachment of the 62nd Regiment was despatched from Nova Scotia to strengthen the garrison. The following year the Royal Newfoundland Companies were absorbed into the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment, another "colonial corps" of the British Army, which henceforth supplied the infantry garrison. The whole garrison was maintained at the expense of the United Kingdom. A decision having bee made to withdraw such garrisons from the self-governing colonies, Lord Granville, Colonial Secretary, wrote to the Governor on 11th January, 1870:
"I have to inform you that it is not the intention of her Majesty's Government to maintain a garrison of Imperial Troops in Newfoundland.
It will rest with the inhabitants of Newfoundland to make the necessary arrangements for the internal security of the Colony either from their own unaided resources or, if the Island should hereafter become part of the Dominion, with such support as may properly be afforded to it by Canada."
The complete disbandment of the Royal Canadian Rifles having been ordered, the infantry force disappeared, and the approach of autumn, 1870, found only an artillery detachment remaining in Newfoundland. In November the troopship "Tanar" arrived to carry away the artillerymen, whose guns and stores had already been shipped to England, and at the end of the year the military works and buildings were handed over to the Colony. The last vestiges of imperial military occupation thus disappeared from Newfoundland. It appears that no military organization existed in the Island between 1870 and 1914.
Despite the dark pages in the history of her treatment during days gone by at the hands of the statesmen and politicians of England with her domestic and foreign troubles, the loyalty of Britain's oldest colony to the mother country had established itself too deeply in the hearts of Newfoundlanders to be denied, and ample proof of devotion and patriotism of Newfoundland to the Crown was forthcoming during the First War, 1914-1918
When England declared war on August 4th, 1914, Newfoundland was probably the least prepared of the overseas possessions to supply trained man-power and equipment for either offensive or defensive purposes.
Newfoundland had the distinction of being the first of the overseas dominions to offer help to the mother country. Almost immediately on declaration of war, the Newfoundland Government decided to raise a contingent of men for overseas service, and on August 8th, Governor Davidson telegraphed the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London to the effect that Newfoundland desired authority to enlist special forces for service abroad.
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This offer His Majesty's Government immediately accepted, and accordingly the requisite machinery was set in motion to proceed with the establishment of a volunteer military unit. Party politics were sunk and the leaders of the Opposition co-operated in every way with the Governor and the Premier, and the whole energy, and enthusiasm and devotion of the Colony turned from material development to the defense of the Empire.
At first, the objective was 500 men, but the authorities had no immediate conception of the available numerical strength of Newfoundland's man-power. There was no difficulty in raising recruits for the army. The majority of the volunteers at first came from St. John's. Men of all classes joined the Service, professional men and lumber-jacks, fishermen and bank clerks, sons of statesmen and sons of labourers. Their average age was 23. There was no nucleus on which to build, the most military organizations available were bodies like the Church Lads' Brigade (Church of England), the Methodist Guards, the Catholic Cadet Corps, and the Newfoundland Highlanders (Presbyterian). It was from these four church organizations that the nucleus of the 1st contingent of officers and men alike were drawn, as well as from the Legion of Frontiersmen. Undeterred, the Newfoundlanders sought instructors, ordered test books and started training.
The campsite chosen was at Pleasantville and by September nearly 700 men were under canvas, ready to undergo such training as the limited facilities would permit.
When it became known that the 1st contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force would be convoyed across to England in October the Newfoundland Government decided to take advantage of the opportunity to send her pioneer troops across at the same time, so that their training might be carried on under more favourable circumstances in the Homeland.
Accordingly, the S.S. Florizel of the Red Cross Line, then plying between ST. John's to New York, was chartered by the Newfoundland Government. On the afternoon of October 3rd, the First Newfoundland Contingent, 537 strong, broke camp at Pleasantville and marched through a densely-packed throng of cheering townsfolk that lined the streets from the camp-grounds to the departure pier. On October 4th, the Florizel set sail and joined up with the large convoy of Canadian troops off St. Pierre.
Officers forming part of the 1st draft included: Capt. C. Alexander (Conducting Officer), Capt. George Carty (Second in Command), Capt. W.F. Rendell (Adjutant), Capt. A.E. Bernard, Capt. J. W. March, *Capt. A. O'Brien, *H.F. Summers (Quartermaster), Lts. A. Raley, *R. Rowsell, R.H. Tait, C.R. Ayre, *C. Wighton, J. Nuns, *N. Alderdice, *H.H. Goodridge, Dr. A. Wakefield, *J. Ledingham, and B. Butler.
(* - subsequently killed in action)
On October14th, the contingent arrived at Devonport, and from October 15th to December 18th they were encamped at Salisbury Plain. Here they were reorganized into the platoon system with two companies of four platoons each; also formed were transport section, stretcher-bearer section, signals section, camp cooks and other detail sections. At this time the Contingent was attached to a Canadian Brigade and Lt. Colonel Clegg of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was assigned as Commanding Officer. He was followed soon after by Lt. Colonel R. de H. Burton, a British regular force of the Middlesex Regiment, who remained in command until wounded in Gallipoli in October, 1915.
The Newfoundland Contingent was brigaded with Canadian Troops only during training at Salisbury Plain, for Newfoundland sentiment demanded that the troops from Britain's Oldest Colony should preserve their own identity as far as possible. Consequently, they received their training and saw overseas service as a detached unit all through the war.
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The members became known as the Blue Puttees, because they had been issued with puttees of a blue colour on their departure from Newfoundland instead of regular khaki colour which were not available at the time. The Newfoundlanders moved from Salisbury Plain to the depot of the Seaforth Highlanders at Fort George, Inverness-shire, Scotland. There they underwent intensive training and had their first taste of life in regular barracks of the British Army.
In February, 1915, the contingent moved to renowned Edinburgh Castle, and the Newfoundlanders had the distinction of providing the first non-Scottish troops to guard that historic garrison post. Here the "Blue Puttees" found the first reinforcing draft from Newfoundland awaiting them. The draft numbered 245, and during the next month a second draft of 246 arrived, followed by a third draft of 241, all ranks. The total number under canvas at Edinburgh Castle was now 1200, all ranks, slightly more than a full battalion in the British Army, and the contingent functioned on a battalion basis.
From Edinburgh Castle the Newfoundlanders moved in May as a unit to Stob's Camp at Hawick, a border town between Scotland and England, where there was further training given them under canvas. Here the regimental colours were presented by Lady McGregor, wife of the former Governor of Newfoundland, the flag being a gift of the Daughters of the Empire. The colours adopted by the regiment were claret and white, whilst the caribou head was the emblem for their badge and crest. During the stay at Stob's Camp the nucleus of a second battalion was formed and a Regimental Depot established at Racecourse at Ayr, Scotland, birthplace of Robert Burns. In August, the battalion made the move to their final training ground in England, and went into quarters at Aldershot, the great military centre of the British Army, where they remained for three weeks.
The Newfoundlanders had enlisted for a period of service for one year, and when the fourth quarter of that year had nearly ended they were still in England. The battalion was now fully equipped and ready for service at the front. In addition to the Regiment being at full battalion strength, there were enough troops to form a reserve in the United Kingdom. Each man was given the choice of abiding by the agreement of one year's service or of signing on for "3 years or for the duration." To the credit of the Battalion every man re-enlisted. Finally, after a minute inspection by Lord Kitchener, the 1st Battalion, consisting of 34 Officers and 1,042 other ranks, entrained for Devonport on August 19th to embark on the H.M.T. Megantic to proceed to the Gallipoli Peninsula. They were attached for duty with the famous 29th Division, a Division of British Regular troops, which was counted a feather in Newfoundland's cap.
On August 39th, the Newfoundlanders arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, and proceeded to barracks at Abbassia, on the outskirts of Cairo, almost within the shadow of the Pyramids and the Sphinx. After a few weeks at Heliopolis they broke camp and embarked on the "Ausonia" for the Island of Mudras, in the Aegean Sea, which served as a base of operations in the Dardanelles Campaign.
The regiment arrived at Suvla Bay in the evening of September 19th, at about 9:30, and the men at once began to disembark at Kangaroo Beach. They did not finish landing until nearly 1 o'clock in the early morn. It was an exceedingly cold and stormy night, and all the shelter available was a series of open dug-outs, holes never more than four feet deep, dug in the sand. In the early morning the men began to deepen their holes, but Turks, seeing some signs of movement, located them and began shelling.
It was the first time the regiment had actually been under fire, and the men had not yet learned the necessity of taking all possible shelter.
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After the explosion of each shell they ran out to pick up bits as souvenirs. Nothing that their officers could do could keep them under cover. Time after time they went out, and several men were hit in consequence. Ultimately, the shell fire became so heavy that they had to move away to the hills near by. Every few minutes a shell burst near them. The troops moved off the hills in platoons numbering about 35 or 40 each, and reached a ravine, afterwards called the Newfoundland Ravine. The Turkish fire followed them, and grew so heavy that men had to break up into sections of 10 or 15. This first experience of war cost them some 65 men, killed and wounded.
They dug themselves into quarters in the ravine and camped there for about two days. Then they were scattered among the various regiments in the front lines in order that they might learn something of actual trench conditions. Then they took over their own part of the line. The first casualties in the firing line were on September 23rd, when one man was killed and four were wounded, The first Newfoundlander to pay the supreme sacrifice on the field of battle was Regimental # 902, Pte. H.W. McWhorter.
In September 28th, just as one company was leaving the trenches, the Turks began attacking some miles off on the right. The Newfoundlanders received orders to stand to arms. At last, they thought, their first experiences of real fighting were about to begin. A terrific cannonade followed, all the batteries at Suvla and all the ships in the Bay taking part. For two hours the men stood at attention, expecting at any moment the order to go over the top or expecting to have to meet a big Turkish advance and engage in hand-to-hand fighting. But nothing happened. The Turks had been defeated by our artillery and had suffered heavy casualties. The Newfoundlanders had no casualties at all.
The experiences of the next few weeks were exceedingly trying, not because of the severity of the fighting, but because of the monotony of the life and the hardness of the conditions. There was a shortage of food and water. Enteric and dysentery swept the ranks. This made life a burden. There was patrol work and digging, trench making and the bringing up of supplies. Day and night seemed to merge together in one long wearisome round. Each day saw fresh parties of men down with illness, and on most days there were fresh casualties from the Turkish snipers and Turkish guns.
Up to October 11th, only one-half of the regiment went into the firing line at a time, being relieved after about six or seven days by the other half. But from that date the whole regiment went in at once and was relieved usually after 10 days by the Imperial troops. This time of relief was uncertain, however, and largely depended on the condition of the troops that were being sent up. On one occasion the Newfoundlanders were in the trenches for 35 days at a time. When in the firing line working parties of about 15 would go out from each company to dig trenches and advance saps. Digging parties set to with such zeal that the Newfoundland diggers soon became famous. Patrol parties would creep out into No Man's Land to find out what the enemy was doing. The Newfoundlanders now formed part of the famous 29th Division, the other regiments in the Brigade being the 2nd Hants, 1st Essex and 21st London Royal Fusiliers.
On the night of November 4th , patrols were sent out to reconnoitre some Turkish posts on a ridge half-way to the enemy trenches. A number of Turkish snipers used to come down at night time and occupy this ridge, leaving it before daybreak, and the British had suffered heavily from them. Most of the Newfoundlanders' casualties had come from here. A patrol in charge of Lieut. Donnelly took possession of the ridge before the Turks arrived for their night's work. The enemy came as usual, and seeing our men they attacked them, The Newfoundland patrol numbered 1 officer and 7 men; the Turks numbered about 50. The first attack was repulsed with some slight casualties and the Newfoundlanders held on.
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The Officer Commanding, hearing the firing, sent out another men under Lieut. Ross and Sergt. Greene to reinforce Lieut. Donnelly. This patrol ran into a Turkish patrol, which was on its way to surround Lieut. Donnelly's group. A skirmish followed and all the men except Sgt. Greene and Pte. Hynes were wounded. These two men gathered the wounded together and kept on fighting, driving the Turks off.
Meanwhile the original patrol held the ridge all night, and in the morning Lieut. Donnelly reported the ridge still held. They were then relieved by another group. Every man of the little group had been wounded. This ridge, the foremost point in our line, was afterwards called Caribou Hill, in honour of the Newfoundlanders.
On the following night the Turks attacked again, but by this time our line had been carried out to the ridge, and the Newfoundlanders had established themselves in the position and p;aced machine guns at commanding points.
The General of the Division complimented the men very highly in their endurance. The taking of Caribou Hill was followed by a marked increase of Newfoundland casualties, for most of the losses had been caused by sniping from that particular place. But the few weeks of the war had already considerably thinned the ranks of the regiment.
The regiment had now been in the trenches since November 16th. The troops who were to have relieved them had been so reduced in numbers that they could not take their place. There was nothing to be done but to hold on, day and night, enduring one of the most dreadful and trying ordeals that soldiers have ever had to pass through. Even the sick men held on in the lines, and deeds of heroism were so many at this time that they went unchronicled. They were now down to little over a quarter of its original strength. A very welcome draft of about 90 officers and men arrived on December 1st straight from England, and brought the strength up to about 400 men. Shortly after this the Newfoundlanders were evacuated, and the remnants of the regiment reached Mudros about 4 a.m. on the morning of December 20th. They remained at Mudros and Imbros for a few days and then were sent back to Cape Helles to help in the evacuation at this point. Part of the regiment was given the post of honour as the rearguard line.
On January 12th, after having been joined by their wounded, the remnants of the regiment left Mudros for Alexandria. About 1,050 men had left England; 933 officers and men arrived on the Peninsula; afterwards further drafts arrived from England. Only 170 were left to answer their names at the Roll Call after the final evacuation.
Brigadier-General Cayley, commanding the 88th Brigade, paid a high tribute to the gallantry, efficiency and adaptability of the Newfoundland soldiers at Gallipoli.
"It has been the greatest honour and pleasure to me to have these gallant fellows in my brigade, whose traditions they have most worthily upheld. Their fellow countrymen have every reason to be proud of them on their doings. Their casualties have been many from bullets and sickness."
On leaving Gallipoli, the Newfoundland Regiment stayed for a time in Egypt, where under Lieut-Col. Hadow, the battalion was rebuilt after its exacting and exhausting experiences. From Egypt it moved on in March, 1916, to France, reaching Marseilles on March 22. The next few weeks were spent partly in the trenches and partly in reserve, without very much happening. Late in June it took up its position as one of the army that was to make the long planned attack on the German lines on the Somme.
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On the night of June 30th, the Newfoundlanders were brought up to the lines from Lunencourt to act as supports to the Brigades which were to attack the first system of the enemy trenches south of Beaumont Hamel. The Brigade of which the Newfoundlanders still formed part, was to move forward at 8:40 to act as the third wave in the advance. Word came shortly after 8 o'clock that the troops were not to move until further orders; evidently even the gallantry of the Ulsters and the Inniskillings, who had gone ahead, had failed to bring victory at this point. Less than half an hour afterwards a second message came that the Newfoundlanders were to advance with another battalion and take the first line of trenches. They were to move, if necessary, independently and to go forward as quickly as possible.
The distance to be crossed at this point varied from 650 to 900 yards. Despite the tremendous artillery bombardment, the way over this long distance was by no means clear. Lines had been cut through our own wires through which the troops might move, but those gaps were not nearly sufficient in number. The enemy knew all of these lanes and had their machine guns playing directly over them. There was a slight dip in the ground shortly after leaving our trenches, about three or four feet deep. The German machine guns had thus an admirable line of sight towards which they could sweep their fire, making the passage impossible. Immediately our artillery barrage slackened, the German machine gunners pounced from their dug-outs, and took up their positions.
The Newfoundlanders moved off at 9:15. They were the very pick of the population of the Island Colony. They had been thoroughly trained. Many of them were skilled sharpshooters, men who, living for years in the open hunting and trapping, had all the keenness of vision of the bold forester. Some were picked lumbermen. Most had been accustomed to open-air life, and were magnificent specimens of humanity. For months they had trained, day after day, for this hour.
They knew before they started that they were undertaking an almost impossible task. The Colonel called his Company Commanders together and briefly addressed them. Telling them what was ahead. The men in the ranks exchanged words together with tight-set lips. "If I go down," said the corporal to the private at his side, "you take charge and go straight ahead."
The Newfoundlanders advanced as steadily as though on parade. The ranks kept perfect line. They moved forward with two companies in the first line, in platoons in file at 40 paces interval and 25 paces between sections, followed by two other companies in similar formation at 100 paces distance. Their line of advance was over the open from the near trenches known as St. John's Road and Clonmel Avenue. The German machine guns played right on them. As the men passed through the gaps in our own front wire they were mown down in heaps. Never once did they falter, the survivors just kept on advancing. Men were falling on all sides. "Push on with it, " said the sergeant to the man under him as he himself fell, struck by a bullet in the chest. Those in the second line, saw the companies in front decimated, yet they never hesitated, never looked back, but advanced bravely almost to the last man. Some survivors got as far as the German wires. It is told of one officer that, finding all his men were shot down, he himself ran forward straight at the Germans, to be shot before he reached them. One man, Regt.-Sergt.-Major W. Clare, kept on alone, and was one of the very few who succeeded in reaching the enemy wire.
The blow was so sudden and so overwhelming that it seemed almost impossible that it could be true. A number of wounded dropped down in shell holes where they remained, some of them, for days before they could creep in. But for the time nothing could be seen of them. The officers and men left behind did their utmost to rescue the wounded in No Man's Land.
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The survivors were so eager to go out to rescue the wounded that it was necessary to check their zeal, for the enemy could still sweep the entire line and blazed away even at men going over the top on errands of mercy. Lieut. S.C. Frost brought in tow wounded men, carrying them on his back, and one of them was shot as he bore him along. He would have gone out again had he been permitted. Two men in the ranks received Military Medals for their gallantry in attempting this. Pte. S. Dowling brought in two wounded men under machine gun fire, and worked continuously relieving the wounded under heavy shell fire. On the day after the attempted advance he brought in six wounded even under shell and machine gun fire in broad daylight. On July 3rd, he went out again in daylight looking for more. Pte. J. Cox was also decorated for showing conspicuous gallantry and contempt for danger.
Every officer had been hit except the Colonel and a Captain. Newfoundlanders suffered more heavily in the advance of July1st in proportion to numbers than any other branch of the British Army.
The news of this gallant attempt sent a thrill through the Empire. To the people in Newfoundland itself it came as a message for greater efforts and greater sacrifice. "We will show ourselves worthy of our men who have fallen," said the people. Fresh recruits were enrolled. Fresh drafts were sent out. July 1st, 1916, will remain in immortal memory to England's oldest colony.
Sir Douglas Haig sent a message to the Government of Newfoundland which well voiced the general feeling. The Lieut.-General now in command of the Corps, expressed, both to the Premier and to the survivors themselves, his appreciation of their splendid courage and determination. He declared that the charge would live in history. and in a letter to Sir Edward Morris the Lieut.-General said:
"That battalion covered itself with glory on July 1st by the magnificent way in which it carried out the attack entrusted to it. It went forward to the attack when two other attacks on that same part of the line had failed, and by its behavior on that occasion it showed itself worthy of the highest traditions of the British race, and proved it self to be a fit representative of the population of the oldest British colony. When the order to attack was given every man moved forward to his appointed objective in his appointed place as if on parade. There were no waverers, no stragglers, and not a man looked back. It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour, and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no farther. They were shot down by machine guns brought up by a very gallant foe under our intense artillery fire. Against any foe less well entrenched, less well organized, and above all, less gallant, their attack must have succeeded. As it was the action of the Newfoundland Battalion and the other units of the British left contributed largely to the victory achieved by the British and French father south by pinning to their ground the best of the German troops and by occupying the majority of their artillery, both heavy and field. The gallantry and devotion of this battalion, therefore was not in vain, and the credit of victory belongs to them as much as to those troops farther south who actually succeeded in breaking the German line.
I should like you to let my fellow citizens of the Empire, in the Oldest Overseas portion of the British Realm, know how well their lads have done, both officers, non-commissioned officers and men, and how proud I, as their Corps Commander, am to have had such a battalion under my command, and to be a comrade in arms of each and all of them. Newfoundlanders, I salute you! You are better than the best."
The Premier of Newfoundland went over to France to visit the depleted battalion. He found that it had now been pulled out of the line. Fresh drafts had come out from the Depot in Scotland. All he could do was to tell them that all appreciated their achievements.
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He noted "that they in no way appeared to be cast down by the losses of July 1st. On the contrary there was a light in the face of every man of them, and a ring of determination in the voices of all; they appeared to long only for the hour when they could have an opportunity of getting at the insolent foe and avenging the deaths of those of their comrades who had fallen."
The Regiment was built up again, fresh reserves being sent from England and after a short time behind the lines in the Ypres Salient it went to the Somme to take part in the attempt of early October which followed the capture of Thiepval. It reached the Somme when the physical conditions of the war were exceedingly trying. The weather was very wet and cold, and the heavy shelling of the previous three months had reduced the entire Somme and Ancre front to a mass of silted and sifted earth in which men sometimes sank bodily and even horses were drowned.
The regiment reached Poperinge from the Ypres Salient on October 5th. Two days later it entrained, for the south, and on October 10th it left Corbeille and bivouacked in the open, south of Longueval, moving into the line after dark. The fighting strength this time was half what it had been before the battle of Beaumont Hamel.
Next day, October 11th, as though the Germans knew of the arrival of the regiment, very heavy shelling was opened upon their position. On the same day orders were received that the Newfoundlanders were to take part in a big movement forward on the morrow, their objective being the strong German positions at Gueudecourt. The preliminary German shelling continued so heavily that the casualties were considerable.
There was a conference of Company Commanders on the Wednesday night. Everyone knew that a few hours hence they were to make their second great effort since they left Gallipoli. Every man had fresh in his memory what had happened at Beaumont Hamel. Even while they were waiting it seemed that under the unceasing shell fire of the enemy there might be very few left to g forward, But each man was resolved that now the moment had come to strike hard. Newfoundlanders would prove afresh that they could do their duty. In the heart of many a soldier that night were memories of old friend who had gone, friends whose loss was to be avenged.
On Thursday the regiment moved forward to attack, in conjunction with other Imperial Brigades to its right and to its left. Once more it was side by side with the Regiment which had fought to the right of it at Beaumont Hamel.
October 12th was only a partial success for our armies. Strong enemy machine gun fire prevented our advance to the right and to the left. The Newfoundlanders were more fortunate than some others. Two companies advanced in two waves, each on a front of two platoons. These were followed in similar formation b other companies. The advance was wee covered by a very effective barrage and the troops kept close up behind it and seized the enemy trench.
Capt. Donnelly, who had so distinguished himself in previous fighting, was killed on reaching the trench, and Capt. O'Brien was hit on the way over. Two officers, Capt. March and Capt. Butler, were left to carry on.
The first trench being won, an attempt was made to advance still farther, and a party under Lieut. Cecil Clift moved forward, but was wiped out. The Newfoundlanders proceeded to clear the trench which they had taken. They bombed the dug-outs and captured the Germans in them. When they found that our troops to their left had retired to their original positions, Capt. March at once sent a patrol to the unoccupied trench on our left and held it with his greatly depleted ranks.
Page Sixteen
A company of the 2nd Hampshires was sent up as reiniforcements, and early next morning a second company of the same regiment arrived, when all that was left of the Newfoundland Regiment was withdrawn to the support trench. The Newfoundlanders had paid a high price, but had obtained a great success. It was estimated that 250 of the enemy had been killed, three machine guns captured and two officers, one warrant officer and 56 men taken prisoners.
After a period of rest in camp the regiment marched back into line at Glutamine over frozen and very slippery roads early in January. The position it now had to hold was little more than a broken front where the very trenches had disappeared. The regiment took active part in the ceaseless work at this point. Sarcomatoid Gardener, the son of a fisherman of Trinity Bay, who had already been decorated for gallantry, did an act which make him the pride of the regiment. He followed a regiment into No Man's Land, with a party of stretcher bearers. Having filled all the stretchers, he noticed that there were some Germans in the trench directly in front of him. He immediately came and gave himself up. Then Gardener shouted to the others: "Trees bon. You're late. Everybody else has cameramen." Whether the enemy understood his words or not, they comprehended his gestures. Other men came out of the trench. Eventually Gardened collected 72 prisoners, whom he marched off and handed over to a party of the regiment. By his initiative and daring, the British troops were able to make good their flank, without opposition. The weeks that followed were filled with the usual routine of trench and rest-camp life.
Early in March, 1917, the regiment was at Silly Salivas, where it was face to face with some very active German brigades, which kept up a constant bombardment and frequent bombing raids. On March 3rd, after there had bee several bombing attacks against our men, an artillery bombardment opened at 7 a.m. on the Palm Trench. The bombardment grew in intensity, until by 8 o'clock it was almost overwhelming. At 8:15 the enemy advanced. The day was very misty, and the Germans used smoke bombs still further to conceal their movements. The attackers were 650 yards of the trench before they were discovered. Than about 50 Germans could be seen advancing on one side. Another 50 extended to the other side of the trench. At the moment of their attack a shell, pitched just inside one part of Palm Trench, killing two of our bombers and wounding one of the gun team supporting them. The platoon commander at this point had been severely wounded during the preliminary bombardment. As the Germans approached, an S.O.S. signal was sent over the telephone to headquarters. Immediately afterwards all communication by telephone was cut off. A non-commissioned officer began to fire rockets, as signals for aid. He fired two, but before he could discharge the third he was wounded. The Germans were now right on our men. The first second Lewis gun near the head of the communication trench was jammed on account of dirt thrown up by the bursting of the bombs. This left only one Lewis gun bearing on the attackers. While the bomb battle was going on between the advancing Germans and our own men, three more Lewis guns were quickly brought up, and the four of them were playing on the advancing enemy at the range of less than 200 yards.
The Germans got in at the right of Palm Trench and drove our men back, reaching as far as the head of the communication trench. By this time a British barrage had opened to prevent further Germans from getting up. At the most critical moment a young officer, 2nd Lieut.. G.G. Byrne, saved the situation by his courage and initiative. Byrne was in command of a platoon situated about the centre. Without orders and without hesitation he arranged a bombing counter-attack, supported by a squad of Rifle Grenadiers, He personally led the attack up the Trench, which was knee-deep in mud, drove the enemy out, and followed them into their own trench.
Page Seventeen
Despite heavy shell and rifle fire and a rain of bombs, he held a section of their trench and put a new block in it about 40 yards in advance of the old one. He subsequently received the Military cross for his work that morning.
Lance-Corporal Picco was in the trench at the point where the Germans first attacked. He and the remainder of his men were only driven back when they had thrown all their bombs. The German bomb which had put the Lewis gun out of action slightly wounded Picco in the first two fingers of his left hand. Nevertheless he continued bombing, drawing the pins from the bombs with his little finger. When his men were driven back into the communication trench, Picco obtained further supplies of bombs from the company in support, and counter-attacked at the same time that Lieut. Byrne and his men moved forward. He then helped Lieut. Byrne build a block and remained in command of our new advanced bombing post. On being relieved that night he marched to Combles. Next day at foot inspection, the Medical Officer found that he had been fighting despite the great suffering from a very bad attack of trench feet, which necessitated immediate hospital treatment. Private J.P. Lewis was to the left of Palz Trench when the fight began, and so was out of the immediate area of the fight. When a demand came for bombs from his position, he knew that the stock of fighting men must be running low. Without any orders he jumped over the parados and ran back across the open to Potsdam Trench behind, obtaining two boxes of bombs from the company in support. He carried them up over the open under very heavy shell fire, and was running for some more when he was stopped by an officer, as the enemy had been driven out.
On the evening of April 13th, 1917, the regiment moved into the lines near Monch-le-Preux, 5 1/2 miles southeast of Arras, in order to attack the village and heights there, This was part of a great movement then being make by the British armies along the whole Arras front from Souchez to Henin. Following the German retreat on March 2nd, on the Somme and Ancre, our armies had driven them north and east, the German line resting with it right on Arras and swinging back northwestwards on to the Hinderburg line from Arras to St. Quentin. Then early in April we struck farther north, driving them out of Vimy Ridge and out of the country on Arras front to the south of it. The Germans sought by tremendous artillery fire and by counter-attacks, particularly on such positions as Thelus and Monchy, to stay our advance.
Monchy, spur of a salient, our most advanced point, and in some ways the key of our position, was the special object of the German counter-attacks. The enemy had massed a German Division to attempt to retake it, and had accumulated a very large number of guns against it. The General, then in command of the Brigade, resolved not to wait for the enemy attack, but to push forward against them and to attack and capture the German trenches on the spur and ridge and high lands to the east of Monchy-le-Preux. The Worcesters, the Hampshires, the Newfoundland Regiment and another battalion were to share in the attack, and they were supported by two battalions of another Brigade. The Troops were to push forward after gaining their immediate objectives to the Bois-du-Vert, the Bois-du-sart, the Bois-des-Aubepines and Kelling Copse and to occupy these points and the ground around in strength if possible.
At 5:30, on the morning of the 14th, our barrage opened and the troops advanced, each battalion moving in two waves on a front of two companies, and with a frontage of about 500 yards. The advance had not gone far over the shell-torn and difficult country before the Germans retorted with a tremendously heavy counter barrage. As our troops moved forward they came under considerable machine gun fire. One company of the Newfoundlanders to the left rushed through and captured a ruined windmill which was apparently a small strong point. Then they pushed on to a small wood beyond it. What happened there was never fully known.
Page Eighteen
The men were seen digging in. Then the wood caught fire. Another company dug itself in behind the top of a ridge, while the second wave, going beyond it, advanced over the spur beyond which was part of our objective. They moved up, and on, and were simply swallowed up. Two Lewis guns from the first wave moved up to cover them. Occasionally the guns could be heard firing.
Still farther along our advance a company came on a German trench newly begun. A few enemy wounded were in it, and about 10 others were captured. The remainder retired. A platoon was left in the trench to mask a dump of wood where a party of about 30 of the enemy were active. The regiment which was advancing by the side of the Newfoundlanders had missed this dump when they moved on beyond it. Three platoons advanced here and began digging in. Then a number of them could be seen pushing forward into the wood.
Our scouts and snipers were all knocked out by shell fire soon after the start. The casualties during the first part of the advance were heavy. Men were falling in all directions from shell fire and from snipers. Victory was impossible. A brigade, which was supposed to occupy the spur on one flank of the Newfouindland Regiment, could not be found. One Regiment reported soon after 7 in the morning that it had taken its objuective and was digging in. Then it became evident that a terrific counter-attack was in progress.
At this time large numbers of enemy could be seen advancing on the left, flocks of skirmishers in front, with ample supports behind. The company of the Newfoundlanders which had reached the German trench was practically surrounded by enemy troops advancing from different directions. The men fought on until they were hemmed in by the Germans, who were all around them at 50 yards range. Then little knots of soldiers could be seen surrendering. About 10 of this company ran for it to break through, but only one escaped.
The battle now reduced itself to a series of isolated and heroic conflicts. Little groups of men struggled against overwhelming masses of the enemy. Some of our platoons tried to retire, holding their own until the last moment and then rushing back. One platoon opened fire on two companies of Germans who were advancing. Its Lewis machine gun and team were soon knocked out by a shell, but the remainder of the men, few in number, continued to do good execution. The Germans had been advancing en masse; now they extended out on both sides of the road and came on. A wounded officer ordered the platoon to retire; but they were reinforced at the back of the village and soon re-entered the firing line.
The special observers had all been knocked out; the Intelligence Officer on the front had been killed; two companies had disappeared, and the enemy shell fire seemed to grow heavier and heavier. An Imperial regiment held the line to the right and reported by telephone that bodies of the enemy were coming behind and cutting off the line of retreat. Half an hour later a battalion signalling officer, who had been sent up to the trenches to observe and report, came back with the news that we had not a single unwounded man on the east side of Monchy, and that between 200 and 300 Germans were advancing and were only about 300 yards away. Every officer and man at Battalion headquarters at once fell in to step up to the fighting line. They numbered 20.
The telephone line to Brigade headquarters had been broken, so the Adjutant was sent back to report on the position,while the remainder of the little group of headquarters men moved through the village out into our trench. They paused at the last big house in the village and one man climbed up from a ladder to a shell-hole in the wall to look ahead. He saw that the enemy were just jumping into our Assembly trench. half way towards it was the last hedge of the village, forming a slight bank. The headquarters men made a rush across about 100 yards of open ground to the hedge. Only two officers and seven non-commissioned officers and men reached the hedge. The bombing officer and the signalling officer, the provest-sergeant and the Provost-corporal, the signalling corporal and two signallers, the regimental messenger and a private of another regiment.
Page Nineteen
The enemy at once opened rifle fire on them from the front and machine gun fire from the left. The little band fought on. The bank of the hedge was a parapet of quite a good trench. It provided excellent cover and commanded a good field of fire, the men in it being able to face north and south as well as east. The Assembly Trench, our old position, a little over 100 yards away, was now full of Germans. Fire was at once opened on the enemy by the little company. The machine gun to the left, firing at a range of about 200 yards, was knocked out of action in a few minutes, apparently by a British gun farther to the left. The Germans who were in the Assembly Trench were pinned down there, each man who showed his head was shot. After the first few minutes the nine men, recognizing that they must be careful of their ammunition, refrained from firing at any save enemy close to them. In the first two hours they shot 40 Germans at close range.
Soon after noon it became evident that the Germans' attack was developing on the right rear, which was held by the Worcesters. By the sound of the firing it appeared as if the enemy had entered the village from the south. But the worst was now over. The Germans had had enough fighting for one day. Their firing died down. British reinforcements came up. At 4:15 in the afternoon a heavy enemy bombardment opened again and our guns put a barrage down east of the village. At 8 in the evening the Newfoundlanders were relieved. The Germans who had been pinned in Assembly Trench were seen retiring in small parties and were heavily fired on as they tried to get away. Then the little remnant of the regiment gathered together.
But the Newfoundlanders had held Monchy. Beaten and more than beaten early in the fight, they had refused to recognize the fact, and had won victory out of defeat. This battle may well be ranked among the most desperate and heroic struggles in the war.
The survivors had to get to work burying the dead and salvaging. In these days of desperate fighting even tremendous losses such as these were not sufficient to cause the battalion to be withdrawn from the line for any time. The regiment soon recovered its formation. It was able to show a strength of 220 rank and file and 12 officers. Then in the fighting of April 23rd, where the British troops on the right bank of the Scarpe forced their way forward on a wide front south and east of Monchy-le-Preux, the weakened regiment once more did great service. The loss on this occasion was due to severe shell fire and a great deal of machine gun fire.
The regiment now moved back to Bonneville for training and rest and to have its ranks refilled by drafts from the depot. It then went on to Belgium and took up a position near Woestern, north of Ypres. Sir Douglas Haig had been, for some weeks, pushing a strong attack on the German lines here, an attack which had driven the enemy a considerable distance back and had deprived them of a large part of the Western Belgian Ridge. On August 15th, 1917, the Newfoundlanders took part in the Battle of Stenbeek River, an advance along a wide front against the German lines. The regiment had two objectives, the first about 400 yards from the British trenches, and the second, 400 yards beyond the first. The attack started just as it was getting light in the morning. The troops followed a creeping barraage, successfully taking both objectives. At the first point a large number of Germans were killed and two machine guns captured. Two other machine guns were captured at the second objuctive, and the men immediately consolidated their position by digging in.
Page Twenty
The ground over which the Regiment had to go during the first part of the advance was a mass of shell holes. But the second 400 yards was much more formidable, for here the troops had to cross a piece of land known as the "Floating Swamp", (a quaking morass which gave no foothold anywhere, but heaved and oozed and bubbled to unknown depths) and to attack a strongly fortified position with concrete defences on the other side.
The German machine gun fire was largely blinded by the splendid British barrage, but some of the bullets could not fail to go home. Any man who was badly hit in the swamp sank and had little chance of getting out. The slightly wounded might struggle back. The unwounded, muddy from head to toe, holding their rifles above their heads, dragged themselves through the mass of ooze. When they once got on dry land again there was no resisting them. No machine guns, no shell fire, could hold that tremendous rush. As the Newfoundlanders stormed the concrete emplacements, English troops, working around the south side of the swamp, rushed at the "pillboxes" there.
1 October, the battalion moved to Canal Bank, close to Ypres, and remained there for a day and a night before an attack which was timed to take place a couple of days later, The weather was miserable, with heavy rains which made the country an even greater mud heap than it usually was, and fog day and night. The position fixed for the regiment in the attack was some distance south of the Broenbeck River (sic). It was planned for it to take one objective in the attack, Imperial battalions preceding it.
Owing to the difficulties of the ground, and to the weather, the troops lost direction and the regiments became mingled. The Newfoundlanders found themselves in the front attacking wave in place of the wave which they had been detached for. They went forward with comparatively little difficulty, in spite of German machine gun fire and sniping from "pill boxes". A number of prisoners were taken and the positions were secured shortly after dawn.
It was soon evident that the Germans were not going to allow them to be retained if they could stop it, for during the morning our men could see large numbers of troops assembling, and they were heavily sniped from one farm in front of them. A strong counter-attack was made against the Newfoundlanders at noon, but was driven off. A still stronger attack was made at 6:30 in the evening all along the lines. The Troops to the left of the Newfoundland Regiment were forced back, and, their flanks being exposed, they had to retire for about 200 yards. A portion of this ground was retaken the same night.
This is typical of the sustained spell of fighting which the Newfoundlanders were now experiencing in Flanders. The whole character of the war had undergone great changes since the comparatively recent days of the battle of Monchy. Poison gas and flame were exploited to an even greater extent than ever. The Germans had been able to concentrate a great strength in guns and in machine guns. These latter, always one of their strong features, had increased in numbers during the summer by 40%. They had also been able to bring large bodies of picked troops against our front, in part owing to the Russian debacle. Our men at every point were faced by reinforced concrete emplacements of varying sizes. The enemy made a larger use of aircraft on this front than ever before, sending over their bombing planes protected by fighting planes above in daylight, and raiding far behind the British lines at night. Their long-range guns shelled areas which in the previous year had been considered as practically outside the fighting area.
The autumn of 1917 in northern France and in Flanders had been one of more rain than had ever before been known in the records of that district. In much of the British advance in which the Newfoundlanders played their part, the enemy faced us in positions strengthened by years of work and by every device known to modern militarism. They operated from their well-protected and comparatively dry points on the hilltops.
Page Twenty-One
Our men had to advance against them in the open, through fields and morasses and up hills where at every stop it seemed that it would be impossible to move farther forward because of the mud. The German artillery at some points were superior in numbers, although not equal in direction to the British. The German troops were the pick of the army - strong, sturdy, able-bodied, and well-trained men. The wonder remains the greater that so much should have been accomplished in the face of obstacles such as these.
In one year of war the Newfoundland Regiment had been moved from one to the other of the areas on the Western front where the fighting was severest. They had taken a prominent part in the battle of the Somme, where they had earned recognition as a regiment from the Commander-in-Chief in his dispatches, a recognition given to very few regiments. From here they had gone to the apex of the advance on the Arras front, Moncy-le-Preux, where, at a very heavy loss, the regiment had held the spur of our position.
From November 20th to December 5th, the Regiment participated in the Cambrai engagement. Tanks were employed for the first time. This was the first open warfare tactics employed and the Regiment crossed the Canal du Nord and took up positions on the outskirts of Masinieres. Marcoing was afterward occupied but strong enemy forces counter-attacked and the Regiment, together with other British units were heavily engaged. Casualties were severe. The title "Royal" was bestowed on the Regiment in recognition of its part in this battle.
When the big German drive started in 1918, the Newfoundlanders were doing duty in the Ypres sector at Passchendale, but were dispatched to Armentieres, where, for three weeks, they were in action. During the course of this operation casualties were quit heavy. They were then withdrawn from the line and did guard duties at Sir Douglas Haig's headquarters.
By September the Regiment had re-established its fighting strength and now formed a unit of the 28th Brigade, 9th Scottish Division. On the 28th of September the Newfoundlanders went into action again from the trenches at Ypres, and for four weeks fought from Ypres to Harlebeke, sustaining fairly heavy losses.
After the Armistice, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment marched into Germany and occupied the bridgehead at Hilden across the Rhine. In May, 1919, the Regiment participated in the Victory Parade through London and returned to Newfoundland. On June 2, 1919, the last big draft returned from overseas. With demobilization on November 20, 1919, the Newfoundland Regiment was completely disbanded.
The total enlistments in the Regiment were 12, 426; the total accepted for service 6,262; the total served in Gallipoli 1,178; the total in France and Belgium 4,253.
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