The Boar's Head - Part III - Another Report.

This is another report in the Eastbourne Gazette on 19th July 1916. No name is given by the wounded officer, but his letter confirms the other reports without overemphasising the carnage of the attack.

The Wounded Officers Letter – “The Men Were Magnificent”

No warmer tribute to the splendid work of “Lowther’s Lambs” in the recent operation on the Western Front could be given than contained in a private letter by a wounded officer, who says:-

“The men were magnificent; there is no doubt about that. If the men in the rest of Kitchener’s Army are anything like the ‘Southdowns’ nothing will stop us now that we have made the right start.

Our divisional General said only a few days before the beginning of this great push, “You men (meaning the Southdowns) do not require leading, we know their reputation.” And he was right. When their officers and men fell on the survivors went, right through the hell of fire. ‘My Company (‘A’ Company of the 13th Royal Sussex) went 150 to 200 yards in the face of it with never a falter. It was a superb test.

The men were absolutely wonderful. Their training had fitted them for what they had to go through, and the pity of it is that so many had to fall to accomplish what they did.
We had not counted on the enemy being so prepared for our reception with heavy guns and machine guns. You can imagine what we had to go through.

“Corporal Parsons, an Eastbourne man who is missing, showed indomitable pluck , and all through the ‘Southdowns’ a similar spirit was apparent. No regular soldiers could have been finer.

Sergeant Baker, an old regular army man, is attached to the “Southdowns”. When his officer was knocked over he led the men on to the second line of German trenches. I heard him shouting, “Come on boys, here are the Huns!” This was followed by cries of ‘Kamarade’ from the German soldiers. But the blood of the ‘Southdowns’ was up, for the enemy had been bombing them only a few minutes before. Sergeant Baker showed a splendid example both to the N.C.O’s and men.”

“I had a narrow escape in this attack. I was wearing a Dayfield body shield and a bullet struck me just below the shoulder blade and about an inch below the top of the shield. It did not penetrate the shield but turned upwards and gouged its way out through the fleshy part of the shoulder."

"An amusing incident of the attack was recalled a few days ago when I visited a wounded sergeant of my company who is now in hospital. I had taken a little German prisoner who insisted upon following closely upon my heels. The sergeant recalling the fact said, ‘I could not help laughing when I saw that little German chap following you about the trenches like a lap-dog.’
I got rather tired of him following me about. There were a lot of rifles lying about and I did not know when this fact might occur to him. Finally, I showed him my revolver and pointed to our trenches in the distance, and he very soon took his departure there.
The Germans were more than willing to surrender when we got close to them, but they were throwing things at us when we did get close?”

Corporal Percy Parsons metioned above, of the ‘A’ Company, 13th Battalion had dodged a sick parade to ensure his part in the attack, died on the German wire. He was 37 and was married to Susanna Parsons, of 20, Lower Rd., Gore Park, Eastbourne. He is buried in CABARET-ROUGE BRITISH CEMETERY, SOUCHEZ.