Current Information:

Age-18

5, Drayton Terrace, South Kensington 

Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue, France

The Royal Artillery

During the First World War some 800,000 British and Allied men served in the artillery, of whom nearly 50,000 were killed. They were a vital component of the army, used for a number of purposes but primarily to destroy the enemy’s defences before the infantry attacked. The artillery brigade was the equivalent of an infantry battalion with a complement of over 800 officers and men whereas the artillery battery, of which there were three to a brigade, numbered about 200 personnel. Within the ranks there were gunners and bombardiers, drivers, signallers and telephonists. At the beginning of the war when things were much more fluid, artillery batteries could find themselves in the front line of the action but as the war progressed and trench warfare became the norm, the batteries were placed behind the line and in the case of the Royal Garrison Artillery, which employed the big, heavy guns, often many miles back from the line. However this did not mean safety. The enemy would use spotter planes and other methods to determine the positions of the guns and these would then be targeted by their own artillery. When this happened there was little escape for the gunners. They had to keep firing their own guns regardless of what might be happening around them and there were many a direct hit on their emplacements, killing and injuring whole gun crews. Others would act as spotters which meant going forward to the front line and signalling back to the guns necessary changes in target and other vital information. Once in position, artillery brigades tended not to move much so whilst the infantry could be relieved at regular intervals and move back to safe positions, the men of the artillery stayed where they were for much longer periods of time.

Action of Pietre

With the aim of diverting German troops away from Loos when the British attack went in there on 25th September 1915, there was an attack by the Meerut Division of the India Corps along a 1500 yard front against the German salient west of the Moulin du Pietre with the possible objective of gaining a foothold on the Aubers ridge in which case the Lahore Division  would attack through the Bois du Biez.  As at Loos, gas and smoke were used but this handicapped the attackers more than the defenders, especially when German shells destroyed some of the cylinders.  Zero was at 6am and on the right, 2/3rd Gurkha Rifles and 2nd Leicestershire of Garhwal Brigade stormed forward. However, very little artillery ammunition had been made available for the diversionary attacks and here the German wire was still largely intact.  This resulted in severe losses for these two battalions who got no further than the dykes in front of the German line. 4 Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery were part of the Meerut Division.