First World War Project
Home News - September 1917
Another change of theatre map (right), laying out the area to the east of Ypres below Passchendaele - trenches corrected to 1st October 1917 (click map for enlarged image - 15Mb).
The war was still very much at stalemate across the Western Front. The Allies determined to break the German hold over Passchedaele (Passendale) standing over the beleaguered Ypres (Ieper). This phase of the war proved enormously costly to the Allies and their soldiers drawn from across the globe. The Battle of Passchendaele opened on 31st July and continued through to 6th September 1917. It was not long before news of this ill-fated struggle emerged in local press.
The largest losses borne by Creekside parishes during August fell not to Lynsted - thankfully spared - but to all the other parts of the Creekside Cluster during the period of the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) - From 31st July to 10th November 1917
| Faversham and North East Kent News of 16th November 1916 |
| Mr and Mrs Higgins, of Chequers Hill, Doddington, have received a communication from the War Office, stating that the Army Council are regretfully constrained to conclude that their son, Harry Victor Higgins, of the Buffs, who was reported missing over a year ago, is dead. |
The Army and Navy Gazette reported on 22nd September. On September 10 in the neighbourhood of Villeret, south of the Bapaume-Cambrai road, Northumberland troops extended their gains. They took another 400 years of German trench. During the day British aeroplanes bombed two enemy aerodromes near Cambrai and rest billets near Douai, and during the night dropped bombs on an aerodrome and search-lights near Courtrai. On September 11 heavy casualties were inflicted on the enemy in British raids, 281 bombs being dropped on various targets. Among the objectives were two aerodromes south of Lille and two aerodromes and a large ammunition dump in the vicinity of Roulers. At night 89 bombs were dropped on railway stations and other objectives in the Courtrai area, making a total weight of over six tons during the twenty-four hours. Six miles to the north of Ypres the enemy attacked the British positions at Langemarck on a front of over a mile on September 13. The attack was preceded by a heavy bombardment. After fierce fighting the attack was repulsed with severe losses to the enemy. On the same day 80 bombs were dropped by British aeroplanes on the enemy's billets east of Lens. On September 15 London troops took a strong point north of Inverness Copse. On September 16 from a height of 100 feet British airmen engaged 2,000 German infantry, who were scattered by machine gun fire.
| Faversham and North East Kent News of 16th November 1916 |
| Mr and Mrs Higgins, of Chequers Hill, Doddington, have received a communication from the War Office, stating that the Army Council are regretfully constrained to conclude that their son, Harry Victor Higgins, of the Buffs, who was reported missing over a year ago, is dead. |
Reported in The Army and Navy Gazette of 6th October: During September heavy fighting again took place south of the Ypres-Menin road. The enemy fought with great determination, but without success, to regain possession of the Tower Hamlets Ridge. In the course of the day three strong counter-attacks north of Tower Hamlets were completely repulsed by Durham troops. Repeated hostile attacks made further south compelled our, advanced troops to fall back slightly from part of the ground gained on September 21 in this area. The whole of the positions captured by the British were made secure on September 20. At dawn on September 23 an attack delivered by German storm troops north-east of Langemarck was completely repulsed, leaving 25 prisoners in our hand. English Rifle regiments then attacked in turn, and after sharp fighting captured a further potion of the German defence system in this neighbourhood with a number of prisoners. Under cover of the thick mist the enemy launched a powerful counter-attack at dawn on September 25th against the British positions on the ridge east of Ypres, between Tower Hamlets and Polygon Wood. At two points the enemy succeeded in penetrating the British lines for short distances on narrow fronts. Fierce fighting continued during the morning, and at midday the enemy launched another heavy counter-attack. In spite of his efforts, the enemy was unable to make further progress, and early in the afternoon the British counter-attacks drove his troops from positions into which they had entered. Sir Douglas Haig won another great success on September 26. Early in the morning the British advanced on a six-mile front east of Ypres from Tower Hamlets Ridge to a point east of Sr. Julian. The ground was bitterly contested, and a series of heavy counter-attacks still continued at certain points at night. On the south the capture of the Tower Hamlets spur was completed. To the north of this the British were obstinately resisted, and only accomplished their task towards the close of the day. The main attack, in the centre – the clearing of Polygon Wood and the capture of the enemy trenches to the east of it – was carried out successfully by Australians. On their left English, Scottish and Welsh battalions went forward to the depth of nearly a mile and stormed Zonnebeke, and the British success was completed by an advance of North Midland and London Territorials towards Paschendaele. Over 1,000 German prisoners were taken, while the enemy's losses, both in the British attack and in his counter-attacks were again heavy. All the positions east of Ypres which the British set out to take on September 26 were taken, and been held. Before the day closed seven powerful counter-attacks, the heaviest being north of the Ypres-Menin road and near Gravenstafel, were repulsed with heavy losses to the enemy. The Germans lost over 1,600 prisoners, including 48 officers. Our casualties were light. The report from British headquarters on September 30 announced the defeat of three determined German attacks in the Ypres region. During September 24-29 British airmen shot down 55 German aeroplanes and drove down 17 others. Twenty-four British machines did not return.
At Sea
During 1917, through the competing navies, there continued the desire to disrupt and strangle supplies to fighting forces and demoralise home populations. 1917 saw significant losses of shipping that included civilian and hospital shipping following the earlier German implementation of a policy of "unrestricted submarine warfare". The German strategy made significant hardship for the civilian population at home. On 4th September, a German submarine bombarded Scarborough.
In the air
Having begun the war as a bit of a novelty, aircraft were by this time an essential weapon and intelligence resource. The number of crew needed increased and recruitment responded across the Empire. On the 2nd September, the Germans mounted their first aeroplane raid on England by moonlight by more than one aeroplane. On 4th September, a German attack in force on London at night.
| Army and Navy Gazette of 1st September 1917 |
Airmen from South Africa. "Almost from the start of the war there have been South Africans in the R.F.C., and they quickly proved their quality. Consequently Major A.N. Miller sent out to South Africa on a recruiting mission, which was so successful that he had 2,000 applications. Of these he could only nominate 400. Being picked men they gave as good an account of themselves as the 100 of their fellow South Africans already in the R.F.C., and so Major Miller is about to pay a second visit to the Union. This time he will be accompanied by Lieutenant Bagshaw, R.F.C., who is himself a native of the Cape Colony, and two aeroplanes, with which he will tour the country, giving flying exhibitions in pursuit of his mission. The scale on which he is to work may be gathered from the fact that he is given a free hand in obtaining cadets – at any rate where numbers are concerned – and he hopes to recruit 1,000 during his projected six months' tour. South Africans are desirable recruits for the R.F.C., because the conditions of their life make for physical fitness and for the development of the hunter's most valuable qualities, which are also essential to a good flyer. Many of the gold and diamond fields are equally valuable on the mechanical side of aeronautics." Reported the following week in the Army and Navy Gazette: THE AERIAL COMBAT - At the commencement of the war the question of fighting in the air was purely a matter of theory; many even of those who had carefully watched the evolution of both airship and aeroplane were of the decided opinion that the only object of the use of aircraft was to observe the enemy's movements and dispositions and furnish reports to the responsible authorities with the least possible delay. They went so far as to say that it was the duty of an airman to avoid all unnecessary risk of losing his life or his machine by anti-aircraft fire in an aerial duel. They argued that unless be returned with the information he had been sent out to get, the whole object of his training and mission would be nullified, his own side would suffer by the loss of a trained observer and a valuable machine, and the enemy would be correspondingly the gainer. |
Statistics
THE NUMBER OF MILITARY COURTS ON PRISONERS OF WAR AND CIVILIANS, RECEIVED BY THE JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL, FROM 4TH AUGUST, 1914, TO 31ST MARCH, 1920, AMOUNTS TO 4,449, MADE UP AS FOLLOWS:-
| Period | Prisoners of war | Civilians | Total |
| 4th August, 1914, to 30th September, 1914 | - | - | - |
| 1st October, 1914, to 30th September, 1915 | 92 | 126 | 218 |
| 1st October, 1915, to 30th September, 1916 | 173 | 134 | 307 |
| 1st October, 1916, to 30th September, 1917 | 283 | 137 | 420 |
| 1st October, 1917, to 30th September, 1918 | 1,245 | 151 | 1,396 |
| 1st October, 1918, to 30th September, 1919 | 1,480 | 52 | 1,532 |
| 1st October, 1919, to 30th September, 1920 | 569 | 7 | 576 |
| Total | 3,842 | 607 | 4,449 |
The results and percentages of these Trials are as follows:-
| Number | Percentage | |
| Convictions | 3,987 | 89.62 |
| Acquittals | 278 | 6.25 |
| Quashed | 124 | 2.78 |
| Not Confirmed | 60 | 1.35 |
| Total | 4,449 | |
| Partially Quashed | 26 | 0.58 |
| Partially not confirmed | 7 | 0.16 |
| Total | 33 |
Farm Training of Ex-Service Men
| Army and Navy Gazette of 1st September 1917 |
| "FARM TRAINING FOR EX-SERVICE MEN The Church Army is offering a three month's course of training at its 750 acre farm in Essex, with the object of enabling men honourably discharged from either of the Services, partially disabled or otherwise, to earn their living as workers on the land. Even in cases where men do not intend to take up such work as a livelihood, a time spent on the land cannot fail to be beneficial to the, especially perhaps in the case of men suffering from shell-shock or nervous disorders. The Church Army's man in charge of the farm is himself a practical farmer, and has had many years' experience, with considerable success, in the training of men and lads on the farm fro emigration. Board, lodging, washing, &c, are provided during training and wages paid. While, of course, not pretending to turn men out as finished agriculturists in three months, the Church Army claims that men completing the course will able at once to take situations on farms at reasonable wages. We wish the scheme every success, both as a benefit tto the men who have done their duty to King and country, and as a method of helping forward the national food supply." |
Air Raid on Chatham
| Dundee Courier of 5th September 1917 |
THIRD SUCCESSIVE AIR RAID. GERMAN AIRMEN DROP BOMBS IN LONDON AREA. Considerable Number of Machines Take Part in Last Night's Attack. NAVAL BARRACKS AT CHATHAM. BOMBED BY GERMAN AIRMEN. 107 Men Killed and 86 Injured. COOLNESS OF OUR NAVYMEN. Bomb Drops on Sleeping Quarters. |
† - Eighty Fourth Loss in the Kingsdown with Creekside Benefice - 3rd September 1917.
Private, Stephen ROGERS, (of Oare), Killed in Action aged 19 |
Royal Naval Air Service sees Action
| Army and Navy Gazette of 8th September 1917 |
| THE FLEETS – North Sea A hostile submarine appeared off Scarborough about 6.15 p.m. on September 1 and fired 30 rounds, of which about half fell on land. Three persons were killed and five injured. Material damage was slight. Enemy aeroplanes in considerable numbers crossed the South-East Coast shortly before 11 p.m. on September 1 and dropped bombs at a number of places. Some of the machines reached the London district, where forty bombs were dropped shortly before midnight. The total casualties reported are: Killed, 11; injured, 62. One enemy machine is reported to have been brought down in the sea off Sheerness. On September 3 a raid was carried out by about six enemy aeroplanes, which proceeded up the south bank of the Thames Estuary as far as Chatham. Bombs were dropped in the Isle of Thanet and in the Sheerness-Chatham area between 10.10 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. There were no Army casualties; civilian casualties were: Killed, 1; injured, 6. Material damage was slight. British machines went up and anti-aircraft guns came into action, but without result. In the course of the raid the following casualties were caused to naval ratings: killed: Killed, 107; wounded, 86. An enemy aeroplane crossed the East Kent coast at about 11.15 pm on September 2 and raided Dover. Seven bombs were dropped, killing one man and injuring slightly four women and two children. The Admiralty reported that our light forces operating off the coast of Jutland on September 1 destroyed fur enemy mine-sweeping vessels. A bombing raid by the Royal Naval Air Service was carried out on August 31 on Ghistelles aerodrome, about five miles south-east of Ostend. Several hits were made on the sheds in the south-west corner of the aerodrome, in which vicinity a fire was started. Bombs were also seen to explode on the adjoining Ostend-Thourout railway line. Many tons of explosives were dropped. All machines returned safely." |
Early ideas for the creation of the Imperial War Museum
| Army and Navy Gazette of 8th September 1917 |
| The War Museum. There have been several letters and articles of a more or less inspired character in the papers lately on the subject of the proposed National War Museum, and a reference to these conveys the idea that the matter has now assumed very much larger dimensions than were discernible when we first referred in these columns to the subject, and has indeed greatly expanded beyond the intentions of those who first fathered the idea of such a Museum and introduced it to the notice of the nation. As at first ventilated the scheme provides for no more than the provision of an existing but suitable building with plenty of open space surrounding it where, in and out of doors, should be brought together a collection of all manner of exhibits, literature, maps, paintings and photographs in any way connected with the present war. Then it was thought that the Museum ought to contain the inanimate fragments of history of all the wars in which the British Empire from the earliest days has taken part, and it was seriously suggested that from the public Record Office, and presumably also from the British Museum, should be raided all the documents which these have so long housed, and which bear upon our wars, ancient and modern. The scheme has now assumed even larger proportions, and there are some enthusiasts who propose that a much wider field should be covered, and that the War Museum should comprehensively record the entire life of the Empire during the war – not merely the work of the Navy and the Army, but all the supplemental branches in any way whatever connected with these Services in particular and the conduct of the war as a whole. The danger of the attempted realisation of so grandiose a scheme seems to be the difficulty of defining its limitations and the inevitable sinking into a wholly secondary place of the original idea of a purely War Museum. |
Teynham Marriage of miraculous couple
| Faversham and North East Kent News of 16th September 1917 |
| TEYNHAM - An interesting wedding was solemnised at Teynham Parish Church on September 8th. The bridgegroom, Private S. Stockford, of the Royal West Kent Regiment, has been wounded three times and awarded the Military Medal. The bride, Miss L F Macey, was blown through a window at an explosion in a munition works and severely injured last December, but pluckily returned to work. |
Harry Philpott's Relations serving overseas
| East Kent Gazette of 8th September 1917 |
| DODDINGTON. THE LATE PTE. H PHILPOTT – In connection with our announcement in the last week's issue of the death, killed in action of Pte H. Philpott, their youngest son of Mr and Mrs Philpott, of Homestall Farm, Doddington, we are asked to state that the oldest son of the bereaved parents, Sergt W.H. Philpott, is serving in France with the Mechanical Transport, ASC, Sergt Philpott has been on the Western front for over two years. |
Crews in liferafts are further shot at by the "U" Boats involved - 10th/11th September
| The Army and Navy Gazette of 6th October 1917 |
English Channel.- The following are accounts of the shelling of torpedoed seamen while in open boats:- "The schooner Jane Williamson, of Arklow, encountered a small German submarine off the coast of Cornwall at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of September 10. The submarine opened fire, shelling the schooner until she sank. Meanwhile her crew had taken to their boat, but the submarine, after sinking the schooner, turned her gun on the open boat. The shipwrecked crew were picked up a British trawler at 8 o'clock next morning. The master, the mate, and one seaman had been badly wounded, and the remaining three members of the crew lay dead at the bottom of the boat. |
British Injured Prisoners returned to England
| Dover Express of Friday 14th September 1917 |
| Among the thirty-seven officers included in the first batch of wounded prisoners of war from Switzerland who arrived in London on Tuesday [11th September], was Captain W.D. Johnson, of the 8th Battalion The Buffs, who was taken prisoner in October, 1915. Among the 362 men were Sergeant A. Bodiem, 2nd Burrs, Private H.J. Davidson, 8th Buffs, and Private H. Chandler, 8th Buffs. |
John Hollands, V.A.D., injured in Chatham bombing
| Faversham and North East Kent News of 15th September 1917 |
| Among those injured in the air raid at Chatham last week was John Hollands, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Hollands, of Greenstreet, who is on the sick bay staff at the Royal Naval Barracks. It seems that it was not until he became exhausted while assisting in the rescue work that it was discovered that he himself had been hit. |
† - Eighty Fifth Loss in the Kingsdown with Creekside Benefice - 16th September 1917.
Private, Frederick BACK, (of Teynham), Killed in Action aged 21 |
Discharged from Service through injury - what next? Training rejection by the disabled.
| Army and Navy Gazette of 6th October 1917 |
| TRAINING THE DISABLED. The report for 1916 of the War Pensions, &c., Statutory Committee of the Royal Patriotic Fund was issued on September 21 as a Blue Book. It brings the accounts of the committee up to August 31, 1916, when the committee came to an end, its functions in dealing with supplementary pensions and separation allowances being transferred to the Special Grants Committee of the Ministry of Pensions. The committee began operations in January, 1916, and established local committees in 302 areas. It was soon found impracticable to appeal for voluntary contributions towards supplementary pensions and separation allowances, which were properly looked upon as a State charge, and negotiations with the Treasury resulted in a grant by Parliament of £1,000,000 on March 31, 1916. This grant was available for the costs of any of the Statutory Committee's functions. The liability for supplementary separation allowance was taken over the National Relief Fund on July 1, 1916. The report mentions that the Committee's desire to make the medical treatment of disabled men complete before their discharge from the Service was not approved by the War Office. It has been found that the men after discharge are reluctant to undergo the special treatment which is necessary in their interests. It is even more difficult to get disabled men to accept training for new civilian occupations than to get them to submit to special medical treatment. Generally they refuse training and drift into the many temporary jobs at high pay which are at present offered to them. Up to August 31 the Statutory Committee had spent £969,519 of public money and £82,072 from private subscriptions. |
Teynham Roll of Honour created
| Faversham and North East Kent News of 17th September 1917 |
| TEYNHAM. The girls of Mrs Purton's Thursday evening class have collected among themselves the cost of an illuminated Roll of Honour which will be placed in the church and contain the names of parishioners who have been killed in the war. The scroll is of large size and is beautifully illuminated by Mrs. Ford, of Selling. |
20th to 25th September - Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (Ypres) begins
The significance of this battle is put in context in a lengthy retrospective article from which this introduction is extracted.
| Gloucester Journal reported of 1st October 1927 |
| TYNE COT MEMORIAL. The Empire's Tribute to 35,000 "Missing" Men. ITS SIGNIFICANCE LOCALLY. The presence of the King of the Belgians, coupled with the publicity and the impressive ceremonial which attended the unveiling of the Menin Gate Memorial to those 56,000 soldiers of the Empire who fell in the Ypres Salient between 13th August, 1914, and 15th August, 1917, and have no known graves, has somewhat overshadowed the importance of the complemental memorial at Tyne Cot Cemetery, on Passchendaele Ridge, to their 35,000 comrades-in-arms who laid down their lives under similar condition in the Salient between the commencement of the Battle of Passchendaele on the night of 15-16 August, 1917, and the end of the war. Nevertheless, to many districts and their local regiments the latter is as equally significant, and to some of even greater significance, inasmuch as it bears more names of their fallen; whilst the period covers the most desperate offensive fighting of the British Armies in Belgium, as Ypres itself represents their most stubborn resistance. |
† - Eighty Sixth Loss in the Kingsdown with Creekside Benefice - 20th September 1917.
Percy Albert WILDISH (of Teynham), Killed in Action aged 22. |
Claxfield Farm Auction
| Kent Messenger of 29th September 1917 |
| GREENSTREET, NEAR SITTINBOURNE. About one mile from Teynham Station on the SE and C Railway. LIVE & DEAD FARMING STOCK ON CLAXFIELD FARM. Comprising: 4 powerful cart horses. 15 Yearling Heifers and Steers. 180 Kent 1,2 and 3-lamb ewes. 60 Kent Ewe Tegs; 3 tractor trucks, thrashing machine, three dung carts, self-binder, manure drill, sewage distributor, potato spraying apparatus, 3 hay tedders, horse hop washer, 3 hand hop washers, ash screening machine, Kent plough, 2 nidgets, hop harrow, potato sorter and other Agricultural Implements and Effects, including the necessary harness for 4 horses; also 120 9ft. Lengths of 3in. Iron Water Piping, 13,500 14ft. Hop Poles, 5,500 Use Poles, and 500 Landway poles. |
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