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The Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment by Harry Payne. No text for this item |
The Action for Which 2nd Lt R C Leach, Reserve Officer Attached to the 1st Battalion The King's Own Lancaster Regiment Won His VC by B S Bagdatopulos (P) On 24th May 1915, when the enemy captured the trenches situated on the right of the Royal Lancaster Regiment, near Shell Trap Farm, north of Wieltje, it was entirely due to the individual efforts of 2nd Lieutenant Leach and a few men that the enemys forces were prevented from working along their trench, with the result that we were enabled to retain our other positions. The condition of affairs was very critical; the enemy were in force, they appeared to have an unlimited supply of hand grenades, and this particular part of the trench was being heavily shelled, with the result that the parapet was breached in several places, exposing anyone who passed by to fire hostile from the German trench in front. In spite of these difficulties, and the inevitable delay in collecting sufficient hand grenades, 2nd Lieutenant Leach, his Captain, and a few men, succeeded in not only stopping the Germans, but in retaking two traverses and capturing a German flag, ostentatiously set up to mark fresh conquests. This officer fought till midday, when he was badly wounded in the leg by hand grenades. He rendered invaluable services throughout the winter, and his devotion to duty during the underground fight in the mine gallery at Le Touquet was especially conspicuous. He was awarded the Military Cross. |
King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment (4th Foot) by Richard Simkin. Printed on high quality 300gsm German etching stock. Only 25 copies of this superb quality reprint are available. |
Private J. Miller Staggers Back, Mortally Wounded, With The Answer To A Message And Falls At The Feet Of An Officer On Delivering It. Private James Miller, of the Royal Lancaster Regiment, was ordered to take an important message under heavy fire and to bring back a reply. On leaving the trench he was shot almost immediately, the bullet coming out through his abdomen. But he compressed with his hand the gaping wound, delivered his message, staggered back with the answer, and fell at the feet of the officer to whom he delivered it. He gave his life with a supreme devotion to duty, in recognition of which a posthumous award of the V.C. was made. |
The Fourth Battalion The Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment and the Great War. Lt Col W F A Wadham and Capt J Crossley. The 4th (TF) Battalion of the Kings Own went to France in May 1915 as part of the N Lancashire Brigade (154th) which had replaced a Highland brigade in 51st Highland Division. The brigades parent division, the West Lancashire Division, had been broken up to provide reinforcements for the BEF. In January 1916 the division was re-formed in France as 55th (W Lancs) Division and the brigade rejoined it as the 164th. The division became one of the best in the BEF, winning more VCs (12) than any other non-regular division, including the only VC and Bar to be awarded (Capt N.Chavasse, RAMC) 4th Kings Own won three VCs. The battalion fought at Festubert, Arras, the Somme, Third Ypres and at Givenchy where the divisions memorial is, commemorating its defence of that place in April 1918, stopping the German assault. This is a good, informative account of the battalions fortunes in France and Flanders (it could do with maps) and the appendices (which are paginated with roman numerals) provide a wealth of information: nominal roll of officers on mobilization; nominal roll of officers who went to France with the battalion; additional nominal roll of all officers who served with the battalion, listed in order of joining (196 of them!) roll of officers and other ranks killed, died of wounds, wounded, missing and prisoners of war; list of honours and awards with citations for the VCs. There are no dates with these various nominal rolls. According to the divisional history, the battalion casualties from January 1916 (when the division re-formed) to November 11th totalled 3,061. Finally there is an index. |
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