William Slade Vincent

7.1
History of 7th Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment WW1

The 7th Bn. had arrived in France on 18th July 1915. On 13th August 1915, near Lecorbil, France, it was reported that the first casualty in the Bn., from enemy action, was No. 13932 , Pte. (Private) J. Frith, who although wounded, was being transported in an ambulance when he died.

Pte. J. Frith – first casualty when William joined 7th Bn. [60]

Luckily William joined a Bn. that had been in numerous actions for over a year before he joined them, and they had seasoned soldiers that could teach him how to stay alive.

The K.O.R.L.R. raised 17 Battalions, was awarded 59 Battle Honours, 8 Victoria Crosses, and lost 6,478 men during the war. By 4th August 1914, Britain and much of Europe were pulled into a war which would last 1,566 days, cost 8,528,831 lives and 28,938,073 wounded or missing from many armies.[61]

On 1st July 1916, the British suffered 59,000 casualties on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. William may not have been aware of the horrors he was to face when he joined the men in the trenches, but the following account, if he had known, of an attack made by the 12th Bn. K.O.R.L.R., on German trenches, 3 months before his arrival in France, would have filled him with trepidation.

On 31st May 1916, the 12th Bn. of the K.O.R.L.R., had 31 officers and 1095 other ranks on its roll but its effective strength was 28 officers and 1053 other ranks. Sickness and casualties had already taken a toll, but this was minor compared to what was to come.

On 1st July, the 12th Bn. attacked the German trenches. In the attack it lost 18 officers killed, wounded and missing. Of the 22 officers in the trenches (i.e., not counting 6 officers of the Head Quarters staff), only 4 returned uninjured. Other ranks suffered 541 killed, wounded or missing.

The primary cause of the failure was the inability of British artillery to cut the wire in front of the German trenches and all companies lost half of their men to German machinegun fire. The artillery bombardment of the German positions occurred 4½ hours before the attack, so the Germans had advance warning something was up. Also, the men had to stand in knee deep water for 4½ hours prior to the attack as it did not occur on the planned designated time.

The Brigadier commanding the battalions of the K.O.R.L.R., was relieved next day. His comments to his men, prior to leaving were:

“I wish to express to all ranks my admiration of their behaviour. I have been through many battles in this war and nothing more magnificent has come under my notice. The waves went forward as if on a drill parade and I saw no man turn back or falter. I bid good-bye to the remnants as fine a Brigade as has ever gone into action.”

The War Diary of 1st July 1916 gives an account of the attack and shows the incompetence of the British Commanders at the time.

After arriving at the Ploegsteert Wood area of France in September 1916, the 7th Bn., as part of the 56th Brigade, worked its way to the frontline and undertook training in infantry attack and other skills.

Two months later at Candas, France, on 26th November 1916, William was suffering from trench feet and was evacuated from the 7th Bn. and admitted to the Duchess of Westminister Hospital, Le Louquet, prior to embarking for England from Boulogne on 4th December 1916. Hospitals for the wounded were built at French ports on the English Channel and were given English names.

William Evacuated from France suffering from trench feet December 1916 [62]

He landed at Dover on 5th December and was admitted to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Millbank, London on 6th December 1916 and discharged on 9th February 1917. A note on his record at Millbank said he was transferred to Endsleigh Palace Hospital on 12th December 1916. He was at Endsleigh for a short time and was transferred back to Millbank on 10th February 1917 and then was transferred to Guy’s Hospital, Southwark, London.

After the war, on 15th April 1919, William was in front of a medical review board in Dublin, Ireland, where his Bn. was then stationed, and documents from that review gave details of his first bout of trench feet. Other details on the record are incorrect and applied to Lt. Vincent who was confused with our William.

Admitted to Queen Alexandra Hospital, Millbank, December 1916 [63]

William, with trench feet, admitted to Guy’s Hospital, London, 10th January 1916 [64]

A Medical Board was convened for William on 8th February 1917, before he left Guy’s hospital. The board declared him unfit for General Service (G.S.) for 2 months, and unfit for Home Service (H.S.) for a month after that. When the three months was up, he was expected to be fit for light duties but without route marching. Variations in the unfitness and fitness of William went through until 6th July 1917 when he was declared fit for G. S. That meant he was fit to undergo training and be sent overseas.