Showing posts with label Gallipoli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gallipoli. Show all posts

Thursday 2 November 2017

One Hundred Years Ago Today...


A hundred years ago today the 3rd Battle of Gaza began, amongst those who failed to return were three men from the local area, all members of the local Territorial Force serving in the 1/5th Battalion Essex Regiment.  

On 23rd July 1915 some 20 officers and 649 'other Ranks' of the 1/5th Battalion Essex Territorial Force sailed on the S.S. 'Grampian' for Gallipoli in the 161st Brigade as part of the 54th (East Anglian) Division landing on Suvla Bay on the 10th of August 1915 to face their introduction to the Great War. Here the battalion fought through the heat of the summer into the snow of winter departing to Mudros on the 27th of November 1915. Six officers and one hundred men had remained in position throughout their time on the peninsula, twenty seven had died in action plus ten from disease and one hundred and thirty three had been wounded including the Commanding Officer who never returned to action.
From the cold of Gallipoli the battalion served in the warmth of Egypt, much of the time being bored while guarding the Suez Canal. By March 1917 however the battalion saw action at the first battle of Gaza where they attacked the 'Green Hill' successfully in spite of advancing over 4000 yards of open ground, heavy casualties resulted but all were recalled because of misunderstandings regarding the position elsewhere.
The 5th participated in successful action during the early morning of November 2nd 1917. At five minutes to three in the morning the 5th Battalion attacked Zowaid Trench and the Rafa Redout from their positions on the beach to the west of Gaza.  Darkness, smoke from the guns, dust thrown up from the beach, desperate and deadly efficient Ottoman defending plus the general 'fog of war' caused confusion and the battle was not won for many hours. The cost was terrific as an entire Turkish Division had been brought in to defend the position leaving the battalion losing 2 officers and 73 other ranks killed and having 7 officers, including the replacement Colonel wounded for a second time and 172 other ranks wounded. 



Among the dead lay Serjeant William George Ambrose who fell attacking Zowaid Trench. Also there were two more Braintree and Bocking men Private Arthur William Gosling and Private James Joseph Willis.
William George Ambrose was born in Braintree in1896 and by 1911 lived in Woodfield Road. His father worked at Crittalls and William found employment as an office boy, possibly a rather tedious job for an energetic young man. With his father also being a serjeant in the 1/5th Battalion Essex Territorial Regiment it is no surprise to see William enlisting at the Drill Hall in Victoria Street when he was fifteen years of age. His photograph shown here reveals him to be a man of action and it is no surprise that he was serjeant also by the time he was 18 in 1914. For many men the Territorial Force was the only way to get away from the daily routine, meet mates and have a bit of excitement. The Battalion was dedicated to 'Home defence' however when volunteers for 'overseas action' were called for many were keen to answer that call.   Nineteen was the enlistment age and many who volunteered for overseas service were below that age, some well below!  William George Ambrose was an experienced fighting man of 21 years of age when he died leading his men attacking Zowaid Trench at Gaza. His body was recovered and now lies in the well cared for Gaza War Cemetery. 


Private Arthur William Gosling off similar age to Ambrose was the son of a milkman living in Stine Cottage, Panfield Lane. Arthur had been employed as a painter with Gobbold and Millbank before the war.  He too had joined the regiment possibly full of excitement and sharing the patriotism of the crowd but he also fell during this battle and was said to have died of his wounds, unfortunately however his body was never recovered.  The damage from artillery often making identification impossible.  He is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial.
Private James Joseph Willis was 19, he lived in Maltings Lane of Bradford Street and worked for Baileys the grocers in the High Street on the corner of Sandpit Road. James had left his job when 16 years of age and enlisted (by lying about his age probably) in the 5th Essex and was early in the war. He too fell somewhere during this third battle of Gaza and died of his wounds, his body also was never recovered for burial and he is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial.




Saturday 25 April 2015

Not to be Forgotten Colonials



Much of this morning was taken up with watching the ceremony at the Cenotaph for the ANZAC Day commemorations.  The next few years will see many centenaries from the war and this was probably one of the most significant.  The combined forces of the Australian and New Zealand armies not only partook in an unglamorous conflict but by doing so they forged two new nations.
Until this operation there was a tendency to see themselves as an extension of the 'mother country' something that has occurred time and again down through the centuries.  The British Isles sent many to these to land masses, sometimes unwillingly, and it was the war of 1914 that brought the realisation that these two nations were just that, nations, not an extension of anyone else.
The Anzacs had a tough and difficult time at Gallipoli and later played a part in operation in the Sinai desert.  In 1916 they were transferred to the harder still fighting in France serving at Poziers on the Somme.  
The contribution to the war effort by the Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Indian and many other nations cannot be overlooked.  Too often however that is what happens.  Today the ceremony brought them to the fore and also added contributions from their former enemies the Turks!  They too cannot be ignored.  
Fighting soldiers are usually the first to be pacifists when war threatens but the first into battle when peace breaks down.  Those who know war are the first to avoid it!  These men are also the first to welcome gatherings like this where former enemies meet to commemorate and live new lives.

   
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