Pelsall during The Great War

The Guards Division remained in the Ypres Salient into May 1916 and consequently the casualty figures mounted. 26 year-old James Riley had worked at Aldridge Colliery with Edwin Breakwell but, after enlisting in the guards, had been posted to a different Grenadier battalion, the second, and had been at the front since November 1915. On the evening of 5th May, 2nd Grenadier relieved 2nd Irish Guards in front of the village of Wieltje and they were greeted next day by, ‘…heavy shelling on our left. Our artillery replied vigorously. Enemy shelled Wieltje Road from 7:54 p.m. to 1 a.m. Several transports were damaged. Casualties were 3 killed and 8 wounded,’ (War Diary). One of the three men killed, James is buried in the lovely White House Cemetery where his headstone bears the inscription requested by his parents, James and Annie, ‘God is our guide even unto death’. They would have need of their faith in the ensuing months.

At the end of July 1916, the Guards Division was moved to the Somme, where the fighting had been intense since the bloody 1st July when the British had suffered more than 57,000 casualties. The Pelsall lads with the Guards fought in two of the September battles on the Somme, at Flers-Courcelette and Morval, coming through both safe and sound. In the spring of 1917, the Guards took part in the pursuit of the Germans during their retreat to the powerful Hindenburg Line but in midsummer the division moved north again into the hated Ypres Salient to prepare for the coming offensive on 31st July – what was officially named ‘3rd Ypres’ but is known to history as ‘Passchendaele’. In the north of the Salient, on the Guards Division front along the difficult obstacle of the Yser Canal, the Guards were given the task of crossing the canal in advance of the main assault to prepare the attack on Pilckem Ridge. Albert Hickin had volunteered for the Grenadier Guards in December 1914 at the age of just seventeen – legally underage, but by now he was Guardsman Hickin of 1st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards and he had experienced a hectic time since mid-July 1917.

‘The Guards Division in the Great War’, records, ‘…16th July 1917, artillery bombardment for 3rd Ypres began; the enemy’s evening reply contained the first use of ‘mustard’ gas that blistered skin through clothing and caused many casualties. During the delay prior to 3rd Ypres, the Guards carried out several raids (on the nights of 19th-20th July and 22nd-23rd July)…The Guards crossed the Yser Canal (north of Ypres, near Boesinghe) on 27th in broad daylight and without preliminary bombardment or covering fire. At 5:20, they found the enemy trenches deserted. By 5 a.m. on 28th, 4/Coldstream (Pioneers) had placed fourteen bridges over the canal.’ As Albert Hickin died of wounds on 28th July at one of the base hospitals in Rouen, it is probable that he was hurt during one of the earlier incidents and then evacuated down the line. At first, the leg wound had not appeared life-threatening but gas gangrene developed and proved fatal even though the limb was amputated. 19 year-old Albert Hickin of Highbridge was buried in the St. Séver Cemetery Extension at Rouen, close by the base hospital in which he died.

3rd Ypres claimed the life of another Pelsall guardsman in October 1917. One of three brothers who served, miner Bert Whyley of Coronation Road, High Heath, volunteered in January 1915 and had been at the front with 2nd Battalion, the Grenadier Guards since July 1916. Having survived the carnage of the Somme, Bert developed a bad case of trench foot in April 1917 and was returned to England. He rejoined his unit in August in the Salient in time for the Battles of the Menin Road and Poelcapelle and it was during the latter action that Guardsman Whyley was severely wounded. The battalion war diary explains, ‘…There was no preliminary bombardment on 9th October but at zero hour, 5:20 a.m., there was an intense 18-pounder and Stokes Mortar barrage. Troops crossed the stream using fallen trees, duckboards etc, some even wading. Enemy was surprised, resistance poor, advance rapid, all objectives taken. Then enemy shelled us until our relief arrived. Casualties were 33 killed, 147 wounded, 11 missing.’ As one of the many wounded, 20 year-old Bert Whyley was evacuated to a Casualty Clearing Station near Poperinge but three days later he succumbed to his severe wounds, dying on 12th October. He is buried in the heavily wooded Dozinghem Military Cemetery, near Krombeke, Poperinge; upon his headstone his parents, Harry and Sarah, chose to have inscribed the words, ‘Memory like the ivy clings.’