Craven's Part in the Great War. John T. Clayton
OF PEACE.
The peace treaty was signed on Saturday, June 28th, in the Galerie des Glaces, Versailles, by the German delegates and representatives of all the Allied Powers except China. The German delegates, in a statement to the Press, declared they had signed the Treaty without any reservations and in the honest intention of carrying out its provisions to the best of their ability. They hoped, however, that some of its provisions would in time be modified.
The signing was received with great rejoicing throughout Britain, a notable demonstration being made outside Buckingham Palace, where the King, the Queen, their three sons and Princess Mary appeared on the balcony and were enthusiastically greeted.
The Chinese refusal to sign was due to the fact that the Council of Four could not see their way to reserve the question of Shantung for future consideration instead of its being settled as provided for in the Treaty.
The scene in the historic chamber was remarkable for the absence of pomp or martial show. M. Clemenceau presided over the formal proceedings, and with him were the French delegation, MM. Pichon, Klotz, Tardieu and Cambon; President Wilson and the American representatives, Mr. Lansing, Col. House and General Bliss; the British delegation consisting of Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. A. J. Balfour, Lord Milner and Mr. G. N. Barnes; with the following representatives of the Empire: Canada—Sir George Foster, Mr. Doherty and Mr. Sefton; Australia—Mr. Hughes and Sir Joseph Cook; New Zealand—Mr. Massey; South Africa—General Botha and General Smuts.
Subsequent to the signing the King issued a formal message in which he stated that he shared the people’s joy and prayed that the years of peace might bring to them ever-increasing happiness and prosperity.
CRAVEN IN FLANDERS.
War Record of the ⅙th Battalion Duke of Wellingtons (West Riding) Regiment.
In these few pages it is only possible to give in the barest outline the story of the part played by the Craven Territorials in the great war of 1914–1919. Time must necessarily elapse before any definitive history can be written, when events can be critically studied and full credit be given to all. The present sketch aims simply at recording how men of Skipton and Keighley, of Settle and Bingley, of Haworth, Guiseley and Barnoldswick, from the dales of Ribble, Aire and Wharfe, from the moors of Sedbergh and from the Forest of Bowland, left their peaceful avocations and went to war at their country’s call, as their fore-fathers had done before them. It will tell how their previous military training enabled them to go overseas and bar the road to the Channel while Britain was yet gathering her latent strength; of how they faced the Salient in its darkest hour, and of the parts they played in the great battle of the Somme, in the fighting among the sand-swept dunes of Nieuport, and in the grim tragedy of Passchendaele; and finally how, after foiling the last German onslaught in a quick series of desperate encounters, they took their full share in the swift, relentless attacks that ushered in the crowning victory.
No space can be given to the full list of honours won; they are already written in the official records. And when, here and there, a few names necessarily come into the story, it must be remembered that to every name mentioned a dozen more could easily be added of men who deserved equally well of their country.
FROM PEACE TO WAR.
On July 26th, 1914, the 6th Bn. Duke of Wellington’s Regt. went into camp near the little village of Marske for its annual training, and it was amid the peaceful moorlands of the Yorkshire coast that it heard the first rumblings of the storm to come. When the camp was suddenly broken up and the companies returned home on the fateful first Monday of August, there was a general feeling of tense expectation. They had not long to wait. At 6 p.m. the following day (Tuesday, August 4th), the orders for mobilization were issued from Skipton Drill Hall, and the Skipton men at once began to stream in. The outlying companies arrived during the night, and at noon next day the complete battalion, with a heterogeneous transport commandeered from willing neighbours, entrained for Immingham Dock under the command of Lieut.-Col. John Birkbeck, of Settle. The rapidity with which the change from peace to war conditions was effected is abundant testimony to the keenness of all ranks and to the practical character of the Territorial organization; but the chief credit of the successful move must be given to the sleepless labours of the three South African veterans, Capt. Sidney Marriner (Adjutant), Lieut. John Churchman, D.C.M. (Quartermaster), and Regimental Sergt.-Major Buckley.
COAST DEFENCE AND TRAINING.
Of Immingham, the Battalion has only confused memories of concrete floors as sleeping places, of endless tours of sentry-go, of its first experience of strict army rations, and of countless rumours to which unnecessary credence was given, since the troops had not yet learnt the tainted source from which such stories rise. Early one morning there was a particularly strong report of a great battle in the North Sea, and an officer asked a recruit just coming off duty if he had heard any firing in the night. “I’m very sorry, sir, it was me!” was the unexpected reply: “I let it off by accident.”
After about a week the battalion moved into billets at the pleasant and hospitable village of Healing, near Grimsby. Here they spent a happy and healthy month, and on Sept. 15th moved into camp in Riby Park, about four miles further inland. The weather was glorious and the physique of the battalion improved out of all knowledge. Faces and arms turned brown, packs and equipment felt lighter, and the marches over the Lincolnshire downs insensibly grew longer. During all this time both officers and men had been continually welcoming friends among the new recruits who came to take the places of those unfit for active service, under age, or whose circumstances prevented them from volunteering for work overseas. And when a cold wet spell at the end of October brought on a welcome move from tents into the warmer shelter of schools and other billets in Doncaster, it was a strong battalion of fit men, ready to go anywhere, that marched to the station.
At Doncaster the battalion settled down for the winter and made a vast number of firm friendships among the inhabitants, who had viewed the arrival of troops with some apprehension. The Christmas dinner, served in all the company billets, was a huge success, though there were already many who were sore that they were not yet in the trenches and feared that the war would be finished without them!
All this time progressive training had gone on. At Healing the battalion was alone in the village, and battalion and company drill were the usual order of the day. Riby was a Brigade camp, and the presence of the 4th, 5th and 7th Duke of Wellington’s and a battery of Artillery gave an added rivalry to the quest of military efficiency and to endurance in long marches. The harvest was now in and field manœuvres became possible, and the battalion received its initiation in trench digging. There was a good deal of musketry instruction and a little firing on an indifferent range. The signallers under Lieut. A. Slingsby and the machine-gunners under Lieut. B. R. Brewin improved enormously along their special lines; while the cyclists under 2nd Lieut. “Pedaller” Palmer tested their wind and muscles up the gradients of Swallow Downs. The Brigade was inspected at Brocklesby by Major-General Plumer, who was, in a few months’ time, to welcome them to his own particular salient of Ypres.
At Doncaster musketry practice was more seriously undertaken and, when the Cantley ranges overflowed, parties proceeded to all parts of Yorkshire. The field days, under