Grantham – A Padiham Man's Great Sacrifice

Not everything can be discovered using direct evidence. Sometimes we must use deductive reasoning to determine the most probable likelihoods and outcomes. My desire to discover to which of the four Companies of 8th Battalion my Great Grandfather belonged has led me back to the period before 8th Bn. even existed.

Extract from the 218th War Diary for 20.1.18 confirming the formation of 8thBn.

The Battalion was formed on 20th January 1918 out of four existing MG Companies. ‘A’ Company was formerly the 23rd Company of the 23rd Brigade, ‘B’ Company was 24th Company: 24th Brigade, ‘C’ was 25th Company: 25th Brigade and ‘D’ Company came out of the 218th Company which was the 8th Division Reserve MG Coy.

The 23rd Coy. had been formed on 15.1.15

The 24th Coy. on 17.2.15

The 25th Coy. on 19.1.16

And the 218th Coy. had not formed until 23.3.17

The main engagements they were involved in before becoming 8thBn. were: 31.7 – 1.8.1917 Battle of Pilckem Ridge (II Corps/5 Army), 31.7.1917 Attack on Westhoek, 16 – 18.8.1917 Battle of Langemarck, 2.12.1917 Assault on Southern Redoubt, Passchendaele (VIII Corps/2 Army)

All of the above is fact. Beyond this point, there is only educated speculation on my part.

John Harry had reenlisted on the 23rd of February 1917. When a man had been out for over a year, he was rarely returned to his old unit (in John Harry’s case, the East Lancashires), rather, he was sent where he was most needed.

I believe it was at this time that John (probably not by choice) joined the MGC. And the timing suggests that – having completed his minimum five weeks of training at the MG school at Grantham – he would probably have been placed in the most recently created MG unit.

Of the four Companies that would eventually be formed into 8th Battalion MGC, the only one that fits is 218th Company. As stated, they were formed on the 23.3, exactly a month after John reenlisted. That leads me to the inevitable conclusion that John began his period with the MGC in the reserve MG Company of the 8th Division.

That being the case, I would have to say the most likely candidate for the Coy. that John served with in the 8th Bn. was D Coy (formerly 218th).

Even this is nominal, however. D was the reserve Coy. of the Battalion, which means it was constantly feeding replacements into the other three Coys. as they sustained casualties. And, in the month of March ’18, they sustained a great many casualties. John could well have ended up fighting with any of the other line Coys. but, on paper at least, he was more than likely a member of D Company.

And so, what becomes clear, among all these fragments, is the sequence of random events that led up to John Harry’s death; forced back into the service by an untenable economic situation, being considered of a high enough calibre by the military Bureaucratic machine to be fed into the Machine Gun Corps, sent to the Somme to cover a general retreat, and finally, fatally wounded in an unspecified action.

Even the location of his death and subsequent burial (more than likely at a French rather than British Dressing Station) meant he was not able to be officially identified until some months later; placing undue stress and suffering upon his family.

I doubt his story is unique and many soldiers had it much worse, so may remain unidentified or unlocated, but it still reads like a Kafka novel where the protagonist’s fate is decided by a series of random accidents completely beyond their control.

MGC Song

By F L Shaw

We’re the Corps born yesterday

We’re the Corps that’s come to stay

(And there’ll be the devil to pay)

We’re the MGC

We know no fear or favour

We’re not given to palaver

We’re never known to waiver

We’re the MGC

We’re in the van of the attack

And, when things are looking black

We’re in the rear to hold them back

We’re the MGC

You should hear the bullets zip

When our guns are on the rip

And we smite them thigh and hip

We’re the MGC

We’re always on the spot

Where’re the fight is hot

Till all the team is shot

We’re the MGC

We’re the Corps born yesterday

We’re the Corps that’s come to stay

We’re the Corps that earns our pay

We’re the MGC.

So, what was it to be a member of the Machine Gun Corps? Was there something special about the men who crewed the lethal death machine known as the Vickers Machine Gun?

In a word, yes.

To Join that elite Corps, a soldier (officer or enlisted) needed to be a cut above the average Infantryman of the time. Beyond his original training, any candidate for the MGC needed a minimum of five weeks intensive training at the Machine Gun Training Center at Belton House in Grantham.

Even soldiers who had already seen action as Infantry Brigade level machine gunners were required (often to their chagrin) to take the five-week course. There they discovered that there was a lot more to the science of machine gunnery than they had hitherto experienced.

The entire point of the formation of the Corps was to develop new tactics and techniques beyond simple Brigade level fire-support. By putting the MG in the hands of highly trained specialists, it was hoped (and eventually proven) that the MG could be used more like artillery, creating screens and barrages to hamper the enemies offensive opportunities.

This is why all members were required to attend the camp at Grantham. Only men with the correct physical requirements and mental aptitude were accepted.

Army Council Instructions No. 1589. 14th August 1916

General Physique:

The all-round standard required for a machine gunner is far higher than that necessary for an Infantry soldier. To be well developed and sufficiently strongly built to enable him to work with, and carry, a machine gun / similar weight under adverse conditions, and if necessary, to double or crawl with it. He must have no physical defects that would interfere with this work.

Age:

Not less than 19 years, not over 35 years, but the actual age is not so important as the general physical condition of the individual.

Height:

Not less than 5 ft 3 ins unless in exceptional cases.

Chest Measurement:

Range of expansion not to be less than 3 ins, but 3 ins is sufficient for untrained recruits.

Eyesight:

Without glasses, V=6/9 in at least one eye.

Teeth, inoculations and vaccinations attended to before arrival at the Machine Gun Corps training center.

If these standards don’t seem particularly high to you, you are probably unaware of just how lax the standards for general Infantry were. In his memoir, Goodbye to all that, the Author (and former WWI line Infantry Officer) Robert Graves recounts how his Battalion had not one but two privates serving in the trenches who he estimated were each around 70 years old.

The Machine Gun Training Center at Belton Park and Harrowby Camps had several schools including the Officer School, the NCO School, the Drill School, the Machine Gun School, and Artificers School.

Each soldier, whether officer or enlisted man was required to attend several of the schools. Every member of the 6 man MG team had to be trained in how to fire the gun should it be necessary.

As the Belton Park information package states:

A machine gunner had to learn a lot at the schools over a short period of time. They needed to be able to fire the Vickers Machine Gun accurately and keep it in good condition in the Artificers’ and Machine Gun Schools. Learning Range Finding and recognising enemy aircraft were essential as was soldering, welding and rough carpentry skills as you never knew where you might need to make repairs.

Being able to get to a position in the field quickly and following orders were equally important so map reading and signalling with large and small flags, lamps, heliograph, buzzer and telephone had to be learnt, as well as physical training.

This War brought a new enemy to the battlefield – Gas – so soldiers were drilled for Tear and Poison Gas attacks.

This emphasis on Machine Gunnery as a science surely elevated the feeling, amongst the Corps members, of being part of an elite, specialist force. I had not considered, before embarking on this research, that John Harry might have been anything more than an average man in extraordinary times. I may have done him a disservice in that regard. It appears that in training, courage, and ability, he may well have been far more than average.