The attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt - 13th Oct 1915

On the 13^th October 1915, my ancestors Ben & James Hollins (My great uncle’s), James Fisher and William Cunningham serving with the 1/6^th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment prepared for a day time full frontal assault against one of the strongest defence points of the German Army.

James Fisher 1/6th North Staffords

The Division's objective was to attack and capture the Hohenzollern Redoubt and the immediate area behind it. The Redoubt, was a formidable fortification. The position took the form of a salient that protruded into "No Man's Land". The Redoubt was linked to the German front line by two trenches; "Big Willie" and "Little Willie", both of which were deep, well-fortified positions that contained several machine-gun positions. "Big Willie" trench was partially occupied by the British, a trench block being the only barrier between the two sides. Two communication trenches; North Face and South Face, lead back to "Fosse" and "Dump" trenches, which were built in the shadow of a large slagheap known as the "Dump". At the base of the slagheap was a mine, "Fosse 8". "No-Man's Land" was very exposed to machine gun and rifle fire from the Redoubt. The position had been captured by the 9th (Scottish) Division on the first day of the battle of Loos, but had been recaptured shortly afterwards. An attempt to recapture it had failed, the task was now allotted to the North Midlanders,

The North and South Staffords reached the assembly trenches around 6am. The trenches were crowded with troops and had been badly damaged during the earlier fighting. Private C. C. Oram, a soldier from Lichfield serving with "C" Company of the 1/6th North Staffords, wrote about the conditions in his section of the line:

"It was a beastly old trench, dead bodies lying about and all knocked about, having been a few days ago a German trench."

At mid-day, the barrage commenced. The shelling of the German line was awe-inspiring to the Staffords waiting for the assault, as Private Barlow of the 1/5th North Staffords recalled:

"Well, I cannot attempt to describe what it was like; it was acknowledged to be the fiercest bombardment the world had ever seen. I had many a look over the parapet and what a sight! For miles you could see their first line of trenches - one blazing, raging mass of flames, smoke and dust."

The British artillery continued with their bombardment. At 1.00 p.m.  Sappers of 187th Special Company also began to unleash the gas. The infantry in the trenches pulled their gas masks ("Hypo" helmets, a primitive gas mask worn over the head. Made of cotton impregnated with chemicals that reduced the effects of chlorine gas) down over their heads and tucked them into the collar of their tunics.

The chlorine gas was discharged from the cylinders and smoke candles ignited by the Royal Engineers. The yellowish-green cloud began to rise and drift towards the German lines. However, despite favourable winds, the gas settled in the remains of trenches and shell holes that bisected the shattered ground. A few of the gas cylinders had also been hit during the counter-barrage, with the Brigade suffering a few gas-related casualties. The gas had also served as a warning to the German garrison in the area that an attack on them was imminent.

The 46th Midland Division advancing on the Hohenzollern Redoubt - Note the Smoke and Gas cloud

In the minutes before the attack was due to commence Lieutenant-Colonel Raymer of the 1/5th South Staffords recorded that three trench periscopes were hit by machine-gun fire in his battalion's trenches. It became evident to the men waiting to attack that the bombardment had failed to suppress the German machine guns, as Private Barlow observed:

"We thought that there wouldn't be a German left alive. But would you believe it, about five minutes before we charged they opened up a murderous machine-gun fire, simply sweeping our parapets. It was a mystery to us, but we still knew we had to face it in a few minutes".

At 2.00 p.m., the leading battalions of 138th Brigade, 1/4th Leicesters and 1/5th Lincolns, began their assault on the West Face of the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

At 2.05 p.m., the order to advance was given. The line attempted to move forward in rushes. Private Harrison (1/5^th North Staffords) advanced with the first wave:

"A whistle blasted, and over the bridge of death we climbed and shouted. I got clear of our barbed wire and commenced to advance, rifle and bayonet fixed in one hand and spade in the other, under a terrific machine-gun fire, bullets whizzing past me in thousands. I got about one hundred yards and took a short rest; up again, but alas! a bullet hit my spade, glanced off and grazed the bone of my left eye slightly. It dazed me for about one minute, but I soon recovered myself, only to find that I was about thirty yards from the first German line”.

The 1/6th North Staffords forward line consisted of "A" and "B" Companies. These troops were also to suffer heavy casualties from artillery and withering machine gun fire as they tried to move forward across the open ground.

Company Quartermaster Sergeant Martin, from Uttoxeter serving with "B" Company, gave a stirring account of their exploits to his local newspaper:

"Exactly at the appointed time the signal to advance was given, and Major Peach, who was in command of the company, was first out of the trench. Then the advance began across the open, the men moving as if on parade. The forward movement was well maintained, although men were falling fast for the first 300 yards, when Captain Bamford fell. He was last heard shouting "Come on, lads!" The first position was reached and it was won by the bulldog courage of the men, and was held with more than bulldog tenacity."

The reality of the situation was that while a few men from the forward companies had managed to reach the communications trench connected to Big Willie, most of the survivors were compelled to return to the trenches from where the attack had started. Major E. W. Peach , the officer commanding "B" Company of the 1/6th North Staffords, was wounded during the advance. In a letter written from a hospital in London, he recounted how he was rescued and taken to safety:

"I was hit early in the attack while leading my men, of whom I am very proud. They were as cool as if on parade, and charged at quick time. I had a fearfully painful time getting back about 300 yards in the open, crawling with my leg dragging behind, expecting to be hit again every minute. My servant Wilkinson stayed with me like a brick, and lifted up the barbed wire entanglements so that I could get under. Then he bound the leg with two pieces of board to stop it wobbling and carried me on his back for two miles to the Dressing Station, where Colonel Dent set my leg."

The fourth wave of the assault consisted of "B" and "D" Company, of 1/6th South Staffords, and "C" and "D" Companies of the 1/6th North Staffords. They were ordered to move from their assembly trench to the front line as planned. However, due to the communication trenches being clogged with the dead and wounded from the previous attacks, they were compelled to advance across the open to reach the forward trenches. Sergeant Caleb Norton was with "C" Company of the 1/6th North Staffords, and described the events that followed in a letter to his brother:

"As soon as my platoon got over, I had Cpl. Fradley shot dead. The next I saw was Private Marsh badly bleeding. He asked me not to leave him. I called for stretcher bearers. Next I saw Captain Jenkinson shot through the leg. He fell and the stretcher bearers came to him, and they were also shot down. One was killed - Pte. Neville of my platoon - three were wounded. The next I saw was Staff Sergt. Platts and Kenney shot and several more.

I then advanced into the first line trench. I found about all the officers had been shot. I got my men together then rushed into the second line trench without losing a man in my platoon on the second rush. I think there was a great mistake in rushing the first time in short rushes. We lost a lot of men by doing so. A rush straight across would have been a success. We were all exposed to fire. I dropped into a shell hole. I stopped in the first trench for about ten minutes. I told the men to prepare to advance into the next line of trenches about two hundred yards away without halting and they did. I was very pleased to know all got across without a man getting hit."

Private H. Holden, normally a member of "A" Company of the 1/6th North Staffords, was a member of No. 6 Bombing Party:

"At five minutes past two we all mounted the parapet, most of us feeling mad - some wild with thirst for German blood. Then I witnessed the most awful sight I ever saw in all my life. Hundreds fell before we reached the German lines and then didn't we let into them. I cannot describe what I saw, as I was too excited. Later we got reinforced, as almost all of our officers had either been killed or wounded. I got back into our own trench, thanking God…"

By 4 o'clock, the fighting on the 137th Brigade front had virtually ceased, with both sides conducting an artillery duel over the area. In the space of about ten minutes, the Brigade had been decimated and the remnants of the Staffordshire battalions had not made any significant progress against the defenders of the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The ground in front of the first line trenches was littered with dead, dying and wounded soldiers. Among these was Private Joseph Barlow (1/5^th North Staffords) :

"There I lay flat, face downwards, wondering what would happen next. A few yards away lay seven or eight pals, some dead, some gone delirious. I felt more sorry for them than I did myself. I could not help crying and praying for the Lord to help them. You should have seen me digging a hole with my chin in the soft ground. I couldn't get low enough, the bullets were flying within an inch at times."

Several soldiers tried to rescue their wounded comrades, as Caleb Norton witnessed:

"Next I met Lance Corp. Mallett. He had been over the top and fetched in two wounded. I begged him not to go over again. He would not be persuaded by me. He went - did not go far before he was hit never to rise again. It was a case of several men throwing their lives away trying to save the wounded. But it was murder to go."

One of those men who lost their lives rescuing wounded comrades was Pte. James Fisher.

Norton's brother, Sergeant Sydney Norton, was also wounded during the attack but managed to crawl back to the trenches. He later recalled his experience in a letter to his wife in Fazeley:

"I crept about 200 yards on my stomach into a safe place where the stretcher bearers could get me expecting every minute was my last. As I was being carried away they were pinging away at us but Oh when I was in a safe place I prayed and thanked the Lord above."

The walking wounded were able to make their own way to the first aid post in Bart's Alley, but those who were more seriously injured had to wait in agony until they could be taken to the Collecting Station, as Sergeant Caleb Norton observed:

"I walked along the trench. I witnessed a terrible sight of men killed and wounded and no stretcher bearers to be found. Men were in awful pain. I dressed a lot of wounds and then sent them out of the trench. Them that could not walk had to lie in the trench in awful pain for twelve to eighteen hours or more."

He continued:

"It was an awful night, foggy and damp. The enemy tried a counter-attack but were repulsed. At daybreak they continued to shell us. I found out that Sergt. Hayward had been hit by a shell but did not see him. All day long we stuck to the trench expecting a counter-attack, but it was an artillery duel all day long. About four o'clock we had news that we were going to be relieved at nine o'clock, but unfortunately did not get relieved until seven the next morning by the Guards."

The number of fatalities suffered by each battalion on the 13th October, not including those men who were killed before or after that date, or died of their wounds, were:

	Officers	Other Ranks
1/5th South Staffords	5	92
1/6th South Staffords	5	108
1/5th North Staffords	10	217
1/6th North Staffords	7	87
Total	27	504

Source: "Soldiers Died in the Great War" and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Caleb Norton informed his brother of the casualties suffered by the 1/6th North Staffords:

"Our Battalion lost heavily. I was the only Sergt. that came out without a scratch. In fact all the Officers and N.C.O.'s suffered a lot. There were only three officers, with the Colonel and the Adjutant, came out of it. Sergt. Copeland, Sergt. Hair, Sergt. Cutler, Sergt. Stone were killed and others wounded - yourself, Platts, Austin, Kenney, Hammond, Watts, Shirley, Cpl. Burrows, Clements, Littleford, Cronise - I cannot remember them all. Smalner Smith has died of his wound, also Mason. You will be surprised to see the list of the lot. We had a roll call the next morning. I shall never forget it - the strengths were 'A' Company - 90, 'B' - 92, 'C' - 112, 'D' - 114."

It seemed that no town in Staffordshire was unaffected by the casualties suffered in the assault. In the 1/6th battalion, North Staffords, four Rugeley men lost their lives

Sgt. Frank Wallbank (350) B Company Age 29

Pte. Reginald Clarke (2119) D company Age 19

Pte. James Deakin (1506) D company

Pte. James Fisher (1196) D company Age 28

James Fisher had only been in France since the 22^nd June, he left behind a wife, Harriet (my 2^nd cousin twice removed) and James his one year old son.

 

The casualty lists that appeared in the local papers also mentioned that Hollins (2972) Lance-Corporal B and Hollins (1545) J, two of my Great Uncles, were both wounded (Burton Daily Mail 8^th Nov 1915). It’s not clear if they were wounded during the attack on the Hohenzollern redoubt on the 13^th, but it would seem likely.

Ben Hollins -  1/6th North Staffords

The official war dairy for the 13^th Oct reads as follows:

At 12 noon our artillery heavily bombarded Fosse 8 – Big Willie – Hohenzollern redoubt and enemy’s machine gun emplacements, communication trenches.

At 1pm gas used against hostile position. Between 1.05 and 1.20 enemy replied with machine guns on to our trenches also shelled support trenches.

At 2pm Infantry of 137 Bde advanced against Big Willie – Dump trench & Fosse 8. A and B Coys 6^th Staffs Regt forming 3^rd line. C & D Coys in fourth line. Enemy's machine gun and rifle fire very heavy on advancing infantry who was unable to proceed. Line established in old fire trench. Two bombing parties were found by this battalion one gaining 30 yards of Big willie trench but had to return through heavy casualties and were relieved by 1/5 S. Staff Regt.

Enemy kept up a heavy fire on our trenches with their artillery and machine guns making the work of bringing in wounded a difficult one.

Casualties

Killed 7 Officers and 53 other ranks

Wounded 10 officers and 211 other ranks

Missing 30 other ranks.

It hardly seems to tell the tale of the bravery of the men who went over the top that day 100 years ago.

References:

Andrew Thorton - Hellfire Corner. 

Callan Chevin - Hell at Hohenzollern.*

British Newspapers Archive website.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

*This is an excellent book, which I would thoroughly recommend for those interested in wider reading about this event.