MARCH APPENDIX 4. Report on Bombardment of B.6. on March 25/1916 0.64. (Additional material to 1/5th S Staffords War Diary record, 25th March. 1916. e.f.w.)
At 2.20 p.m. I saw my Company file out of Trench 5 down the B. des ONDES. I left behind in the fire trench and Trench PAYERNEthree double sentry posts and one bomb post (2 men). In the Company Hd Qr dug-out I left 2 runners, 2 orderlies, one signaller and one officer. The F.O.O. took up his station at X marked 1 on sketch map, outside the dug-out. I left a chain of sentries down the B. des ONDES for communication.
The bombardment began at 3.0 pm and the 9.2x fired in all about 15 shells,4 of which were blind. Of the first 9 shells – 2 went into the crater, and 3 were behind our fire trench to the right of the dug-out. The ninth hit the parapet just to the right of the dug-out entrance and exploded, burying Lieuts Wilkinson and Dawson, a piece of the same shell wounding Pte Simpson S. H. at point X 2 on sketch map – this man was acting as connecting file. Previous to this the F.O.O.* had phoned that shells were dropping short, but was unable to speak direct to the battery. (*F.O.O. Forward Observing Officer).
Signed. A. A. Smith Lt O. C. ‘B’ Coy. In the Field 25/3/16 5.25 pm.
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Elizabeth Hibbett Webb.
Lt A. A. Smith,Officer Commanding ‘B’ Company1/5th South Staffordshire Regiment wasKilled in Actiona few days later on2nd April, 1916 when 2 German mines were exploded underground.
The British Army kept the TrenchNames ‘B(oulevard) des Ondes’ & Trench ‘Payerne’ after they took over Neuville St Vaast & the Labyrinth from the French 10th Army in March 1916.
La Targette French Cemetery, Neuville St Vaast (with 42 thousand French WW1 soldiers, buried in strikingly moving patterns)lies next to the British War Cemetery. French Colonial Troops are buried in the Muslim Section where their head stones are turned to face Mecca.
29th Mar. Wed: Battalion in Brigade Reserve. Carrying party took explosives up to B.4. Battalion, (less ‘A’ Company and 2 platoons of ‘B’ Company, which were placed at the disposal of Officer Commanding 6th South Staffordshire Regt)stood to at‘Alarm Posts’ at 6.30 pm.Germanmine under B.4. successfully camoufleted(1) at 6.30 pm.
CASUALTIES resulting from bombardment. WOUNDED: 9609Corpl. J. H. Naylor;8816 Pte H. Flynn;770Pte J. Jones; 9693Pte H. Johnson.
30th Mar. Thur: TRENCHES 063, 064, 065. Battalion relieved 1/6th South Staffordshire Regt in the trenches. Relief complete 9-45 pm.
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Pte BERTIE HIBBET: LETTER to MARIE NEAL HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd Walsall. Censor Arthur Rowley*.
Thursday Mar 30th/ 16. Excuse bad writing & soiled paper. I will let you know more on Sunday.
My Very Dear Mother,
On coming from duty in the trenches early yesterday I found the draft of men in this place – some of them were sleeping, including Sydney, so I did not disturb him until he woke of his natural will.
Sgt SYDNEY HIBBETT .
When he did wake we greeted one another quietly, cheerfully & with the usual xxxxxxx. Then we had a quiet chat. I took particular notice to see if there was any difference in him, but could not tell very well in the candlelight.He gave me dearIda’sXmas Cardwith the scented sachet inside, – how ‘bon’, many thanks toSister (2). I gave him the rest of yourEmbassy Cigs & have since made hot drinks & cocoa.
The weather is sunny & bright during the day with a little snow & rain getting on towards night.
For my part, as yet, the only difference I have noticed in Sydney is that he is more quiet than he usually was, but he still cracks out in touches of humour & I fairly split my sides once.
German Jack Boots. 1914 -15.
I noticed,in one particular case, thathe became absent minded; it was when I got hima pair of Jack Boots to go into the water logged trenchesand when I wanted them back he could not tell where he left the pair I gave him, but he had a pair on when he came back, & said those were a pair someone had carried up for him. But, dearest Mum, I am telling you candidly what I think or rather feel for him – do not be at all anxious. He is in splendid physique & has taken the roughness we have experienced last night surprisingly cool (2). I have felt sorry for him since he came back to such an extremity.
I shall have to close now.
I am in need of a clasp knife.Could you get me one with just oneblade &a tin opener.
Best love & kisses, Bertie.
PS Sydneyis attached toNo 3 Platoon A Coy. (4)
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
Pte Bertie Hibbett had not seen his brother Serjeant Sydney Hibbett since he was sent to hospital in England with ‘catarrhal jaundice’ in Nov. 1915.
(1) ‘Camoufleted’: mine exploded underground. (2) Ida’s Xmas Card: indication that the family did not know where Bertie was at that time. (3) ‘Roughness’ & ‘extremity’: German bombardment 29th Mar. see S Staffords War Diary above.
(4) Sydney Hibbett in ‘A’ Coy, therefore on 29th Mar. attached to Officer commanding 6th South Staffordshire Regt. when German mine camoufleted under Crater B.4.
28th Mar. Tue: Battalion in Brigade Reserve. Carrying Parties. Draft of 191 men arrived at 8.20 pm. V. Quiet Day.
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Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to ARTHUR & MARIE NEAL HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd Walsall.
The way may be rough, but it cannot be long And then oh how joyful the Conqueror’s song. (1)
Behold, we count them Happy which endure. James 5:11.
Mar. 28th 1915
My Very Dear Mother & Father.
After coming from fatigue I read Mother’s two very long but interesting letters(& touching too they were) before settling down tosnooze, although it was3 in the morning. I was sending you a greenon Sundaybut have kept it for this to answer, in a more detailed way, yourripping parcels& letters. You will get my letter of yesterday & Sunday together before this.
1st I will answer Mum’s letter of 14th.That, which you started with, holds good in my case:-‘My head seems to be so full of things that I hardly know what to say’(& how to begin) (2) .
– Now I must go back to theSunday letter of Mum’sto say thatI too went toHoly Communion so that makes a third & Providential cause of your going, for it was the Sunday night we went to the trenches. I was very pleased & amused on reading that you got a letter from me on Sunday. I should like you always to get one on a Sunday, as well as for me to write to you on a Sunday.
Do you know, dearest Mum, & all of you, that I am sorry for Dear Sydney & that sorrow sometimestakes away the hopes of the pleasure of seeing him – I mean the pleasure of seeing him.
2nd Lieut. W.A. Thacker. QMS. Yorkshire Regt. Killed in Action May 1917.
Glad you like Thacker*no doubt then, if you should like him, Sydney would, as he told me in his Christmas letter.
I expected to see dear Sydney when I came off fatigues last night.We live in a cavewhile inreserve & do fatiguesat night. The way down to this dark hole is long & ‘squeemish’ & at the endI quite expected Sydney’s voice to be heard. Well, I suppose he will come today.Yes, I am so grateful he is Sergeant & he has a nice chum Burton*, who was made Sergeant Major after the bombing accident (3), & was formerly Sergeant when Sydney made chums. Burton is TT & only smokesselect tobacco & a Woodbine now & again, he does not care for dearcigs.
Yes the shirt is most lovely & comfortable & what I say is:- ‘A Comfortable Shirt is half the Battle’. A light pair of pants is my next requisite for underwear. The socks I must especially thank you for, with the exquisitely beautiful scented soap within, for they have come at a very acceptable time amidst rain, water & dirt —— I am telling you more about me sen.
Oh dearest Mum, I should so like to write you a letter you would really like & which would prove a comfort to you dear ones.Wouldn’t Ida & Dad say that, if I said more about myself & what I do, I might take a stride too far & then you would feel more anxious & unhappy. And then there is the Censortoo; some censors I’m afraid would burn the letter if it contained news of importance to the enemy – or hints even. But as you were so brave & collected dear Mum during that alarm (4) I will venture to tell you more aboot me sen,without gobbling up the fishing rod & hook, as well as the fish.
I shall need more candles if we are down here for any considerable time. Another reason why I couldn’t write to you,as I would have liked, is thatwe could not get any lights & it rained up at the top. I wrote my Sunday letter at the entrance – tell Ida it’s like Linley Caverns (5) & would be jolly for a picnic in Peace time, – but oh its far from a pic-nic in War time.
You are most self-sacrificing to put butter in the parcel & eggs too, my word. If you like you can send currant bread& I will eat this without you putting butterin the parcel.Dadsaid he hoped I had as much pleasure in consuming the contents as you have in packing them up. Ah I am more than indebted to you & can hardly find words. I fairly shivered with emotion on opening your parcel & reading the letters. The parcels acted as a good stimulus when I was on that tiresome fatigue & I thought of Miss Foster’s* apt quotation in Wayside Memories. ‘And then Oh how JOYFUL the Conqueror’s Song’ – & indeed it was like a beautiful song which was wafted with theparcel& good thoughts from Home.
Can you read this awful letter dears? – surely I am not so ‘bad’ as George*(6) & Mrs Jones’s* writings.Do you really & honestly think the photo a good one and DO I GIVE you a cheerful impression when you see me? I did think of Miss Foster* but I did not want to send her a photo which would make her think I was a WEE bit sad (7). Shall I send her that photo? I have one left in that little khaki case of mine.
Yes, I still have your dear faces left & my poor, poor Prayer Book & khaki Bible look all the worse for wear and I am anxious that they will last until I come on Home Leave.
Oh dears, I have a little better & hopeful news. Home Leave, as I told you in my last letter, is going at amore satisfactory pace & if it does not stop suddenly, like it has done in times past,I shall, or rather hope to, spend Easter with you & oh how joyful it will be if we spend Easter Sunday together & go before the altar to thank God for His mercy.
I told you in my last that Sydney sent me a F.P.C. from the Base with the line‘letter follows at first opp.’ so I took it that it was another of Sydney’s ways of taking the letter to be himself following. I will let you know as soon as he comes and at my 1st opportunity. Yes, I expect Sydneywill be exceptionally full of talking,although he is not one for ‘gassing’ as I am. I hope his Com. will push on with greater speed now our Colonel*(Lt Col.R.Raymer) is back.
Now I must say how my heart leaps to you in congratulations for your extra good work at Mrs Venables* (8) Yes, if you can spare me one of those squares I should indeed be delighted with one & treasure it to think of you whenever I use it (9).
I am glad you have lost that wretched snow & hope Spring weather will soon be there for you to enjoy. Yes SPRING, & I hope it will bring me with it. How most Providential, you being so cool during the Raid. I too have been surprised at myself for I could not have been frightened if I tried during some shelling we had.Ifelt it a duty to cheer up those who were nervous.You were most apt in your description, yes, it is just like a Peacewithinone (10).
I think I mentioned the bombing accident before, but of course I refrained from telling you details for two reasons,we are forbidden to mention casualties in our letters until we see them published in the papers,& also I thought you would be more anxious with the suddennews from me.
Remember me kindly to Mrs Brown* & the Venables*. I should think Arthur*(11) is one of the youngest subalterns in his Regiment.You say you feel very, very sad at times dear Mum, well, I too felt sorry that you were like that, but I do not disbelieve my prayers have not been heard. I must persevere more (12) Yes, I think Sydney & you all, will feel the parting sore for a time, but I hope it will be short.
Victorian Arcade Walsall. 2016.
I conjure up all sorts of things that I will do when I go Home to you. How it puzzles me to get Homeclean & how I shall have to try to dodge being seen & pressed on going from the Station to the House. How I shall pop into the Arcade Restaurant (13) & buy you some pork pies and then go to Sammons for some tomatoes & flowers.I might think of playing a practical joke, but now I think it would be best to go straight forward.
Now for your delightful letter of 19th. So Dad was playing hymns – ah!they seem to have their truer meaning nowadays & I think we shall‘sing them with the understanding also’ (14). Although it has been such a long time since I heard the Psalms sung I can remember some quite well & they remind me of Sydney liking them.How beautifully happy, yes, that is how I felt when I read that you were happy although it rained on Sunday. You see you kept your promise that is why, &jolly old Basil,he did do a ‘dodge’ out of his cosy bed and dodged first. I remember well you saying you liked walking in the fresh rain.
Yes, Mr Darling*would feel mentally tired, as well as physically. He told me so one night I went to my Preparation (Confirmation) Class & it was Lentthen too. I am sure he takes it more of a duty now-adays. Of course you will tell me if Mr Dixon*gave a stirring sermon & brought a crowded church (15).
Sydney is true in saying he finds his position as Sergeant an advantage, but he will, and will have done,by what I gather from your letters found correspondence goes against the grain at times & the amount of mind concentration upon his extra duties will cause him & anyone to be inclined not to bring his thoughtson behalf of Home etc into action.
I am glad you are all well generally, but sorry Mum has those nasty pains. I am wondering if Sydney will be attached to either another Coy. or Platoon, if so you must send smaller parcels. Compris! I shan’t mind a toss – its the thoughts I care for – except when the rations are na pous ‘finis’ & bread is scarce (16).We are having better & bigger rations of bread now as we go into the trenches.
I should so much have liked to have sent my contributionfor Mr Darling*. I was very touched on reading that Sanger*did not go to see you. Well never mind, everything is for the best.
No, (this time) it didn’t even enter my mind that your parcel was a long time in coming.I mean since your promise of a parcel.You will no doubt be thinking I am a long time in acknowledging yours, but do forgive me dears, I do try. Yes, I am sure God is keeping us all safe & I am grateful Sydney had a safe crossing & I have come out safely from six days in the trenches & every night on fatigue so far.I am quite well enough to manage & peg this War out.
I must now answer Harold’s letter & parcel containing Milk Tablets,which came in useful to quench my parched lips on fatigue.Please dears, I advise you not to depend too much upon the clothwrapping when sending parcelsas the cardboard box is liable to get smashed.
Best love Bertie.
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
Pte Bertie Hibbett’s family wanted him to write more ‘about me sen’ (more about myself). But true to character this letter is full of the thoughtfulness and understanding of others that my father invariably showed in his life.
NB My father had expected to see his brother arrive with the draft of 181 men reported in S Staffords War Diary for 28th Mar.1916.
(1) Conqueror’s Song: Hymn:John Newton 1779.Former Slave owner turned anti-slavery.Collection of Hymns by John Wesley. 1875.
(2) ‘A Little Book of Words & Doings’.Hibbett Letter 13th March. 1916 1916. (3) Bombing Accident:Hibbett Letter 28th Feb. 1916. (4) Zeppelin Raid Walsall.19th Jan. 1916.
(5) Linley Caverns, Aldridge, Staffordshire. Extensive 19th cent limestone workings now flooded: ‘an incredibly dangerous place’. Used for storing bombs in WW2. See <https:brownhillsbog.com> details of Urban Exploration at Linley Caverns. 1957(16th Aug.1957 edition Walsall Observer).
6) George Lammerman(Ida’s friend from childhood). (7) ‘Wee bit sad’: Ida’s comment on Bertie’s photo with Hindustani Sikh at Marseilles. 27th Feb.1916.
8) Mrs Venables*:ref. to Bertie’s Mother helping at her Knitting Workshops & Sales for Soldiers, 1914-1918. (9) Face-flannel squares.
(10) ‘Peace within’: See below Little Book of Words & Doings & Page: My Memories A.H.H. (I remember from childhood how my father’s sermons were often about ‘Peace’).(11) Corp. Arthur Venables dressed Pte Bertie’s wound 1st July 1916. Later Killed in Action.
(12) ‘Very, very Sad’: ‘Little Book of Words & Doings’.Hibbett Letter 27th Mar.1916.
Victorian Arcade, Walsall.
(13) Arcade Restaurant, Walsall.Sammons (Brothers?): Walsall Greengrocer. (My father’s dream of arriving in Walsall on Home Leave and buying pork pies, tomatoes & flowers I find particularly poignant).
(14) ‘Sing with the understanding also’. I Cor. 14.5. St Paul ‘I will sing/prayer with the spirit and use words with the understanding also.(15) The Revd E. More Darling, (Vicar of Walsall )last Services on Retirement.
(16)‘na pous finis’:British soldiers’ slang for French saying -‘no good/ rubbish’.
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Pte Bertie Hibbett’s ‘Little Book of Words & Doings’. Treasured Sayings in Letters from Home.March 1916.
‘My head seems so full of things that I hardly know what to say. Mother’.
The Zeppelin Raid: ‘Do you know dear Bertie, Mother was the best of all of them. When the raid came I seem to have had strength given to me. I do not think Basil was frightened at all – he wanted to know where the things were going . . . Dad looked white & pinched round the nose & Ida took hold of my hand & cried & said ” Oh Mum I am frightened” and I said ” Never mind my love, we shall be all right” and I felt such a peace in me. Mother. ‘
NB Computer problems meant this Letter was posted with:-
26th Mar. Sun: NEUVILLE ST VAAST. Battalion in Brigade Reserve. Carrying and digging fatigues.CASUALTY: 7801Corpl. G.H. Maybury severely wounded.
27th Mar. Mon: In Brigade reserve. Carrying and digging fatigues. NEUVILLE shelled at 6.15 pm and again at 8.45 pm.
<http://www.1914-1918.com> The Long Long Trail. Great War Forum. Map showing Neuville St Vaast and the Labyrinth, held by 1/5th S. Staffords March, 1916. Jack Sheldon Old Sweats.
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Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to MARIE NEAL HIBBETT & ALL , 95 Foden Rd Walsall.
Monday Mar. 27/ 16
Just bide a wee and dinna fret. (1)
My Very Dear Mother & All of you,
Mother waiting.
Received your very nice parcel last night, after coming off fatigue.Circumstances are very hard for writing letters and oh HOW I did wish I could write a long letter just to your liking, but there has been no outward post lately.
I wrote yesterday& was forwarding the Com(mission)formin the green envelope,but will wait till I have answered your very long & nice letters of14th & 19th Mar.
I also had Harold’s parcel last night.I am absolutely at my wits end to know how to answer all the correspondence received of late. Miss Foster’s*lettersof Friday are waiting to be given in.
Must stop now as the orderly will be wanting the letters to be given in.
God bless you all.
Ta ta Bertie.
PS You will no doubt be seeing some of the 1/5th in Walsall on Leave.Don’t be alarmed, the Leave might stop any time, but gratefulto say, if it keeps on at the rate it is doing now,I shall probably spend Easter with you. D.V. Miss Foster*will tell you also as I told her in my letter.
Also I expect to see Sydney today & will ‘see how he looks’ and tell you as you wished.
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
Outward Post from Neuville St Vaast Trenches was stopped by ‘circumstances’ (i.e. the heavy shelling of the enemy, constant need for fatigues to repair trenches & bring in supplies) – but the Army seems to have made sure the Inward Post arrived with Harold Hibbett’s promised parcel and Letters from Home.
Church of St Vaast & Mayor’s Office today. Neuville St Vaast. N. France.<www.en-wiki.com>
(1) ‘Bide a wee & dinna fret’. ‘Wait patiently a little while & do not be anxious’ (about Pte Bertie’s Home Leave & Sydney’s return to the Front). CNDC California Digital Newspaper Collection. California Farmer & Journal of Useful Sciences Vol 48. No 1. 2nd May 1878. Anon. 19th Cent. Scottishemigrant? Until I read this letter I thought this familiar saying came from my Mother’s Scottish side.
Is the road very dreary ? Patience yet.Rest will be sweeter if thou art a-weary, And after night cometh the morning cheery, Then bide a wee and dinna fret.
The clouds have silver lining, Don’t forget; And though He’s hidden, still the sun is shining; courage instead of tears and vain repining, Just bide a wee, and dinna fret.
With toil and cares unending art beset’! Bethink thee how the stormsfrom heaven descending Snap the stiff oak, but spare the willow bending. And bide a wee, and dinna fret.
Grief’s sharper sting doth borrow From regret; But yesterday is gone, and shall its sorrowUnfit us for the present, and the morrow? Nay; bide a wee, and dinna fret.
An over-anxious brooding both beget A host of fears and fantasies deluding; Then, brother, lest these torments be intruding, Just bide a wee, and dinna fret. — Leisure Hours.
‘A SHORT HISTORY OF THE STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT’. Regimental War Museum, Whittington, Lichfield.
NEUVILLE ST VAAST & THE LABYRINTH (1).
MARCH 1916: ‘The South Staffs then went into the trenches at Neuville St Vaast – holding the line which was known as the Labyrinth.. . .’
‘The shocking condition of the trenches atNeuville St Vaast was caused by the severity of the weather and owing especially of the enemy. The 6th South Staffs underwent some of their worst experience. The snow storms of the period and the hardship was keenly felt. Bosche’s activity underground added to the strain.Mines are the most unpleasantform of trench warfare.South Staffs were blown up no fewer than 9 times.’
FRENCH MAP of NEUVILLE ST VAAST, the Labyrinth, La Targette & Crete de Vimy with dotted Front Line. Website: Rene Bramond: Killed in Action here. 1917.
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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY.
19th Mar. Sun.Proceeded to the Trenches EAST of NEUVILLE ST VAAST in the relief of 6th South Staffordshire Regiment.
20th Mar Mon: NEUVILLE . Enemy bombed Y Listening Post,damaging the barriers of N. 5. Trench.Enemy snipers active, our snipers shot a German opposite B.4.
21st Mar. Tue: ST VAAST. TRENCHES No. 4.5.6.Enemyheavily shelled with H.E. No 4. Fire,support and communication trenches from 11.0 am to 12 noon.Our artillery support very bad,3 of 5 shells burst inside our own lines. At 3.45 pm No. 5 and 6 Trenches cleared to enable our 9.2’s to burst Crater B.6. One 9.2 shell burst behind No. 6. Fire Trench, no damage. CASUALTIES: No 54Pte J. Brettle killed; No 161 Pte M McNally wounded.
22nd Mar. Wed: Very quiet day. 23rd Mar. Thur. About 12.15 pm our artillery sent over 5 whiz bangs. Enemyretaliated with 4. H.E. which (landed) in rear of No. 4. Support. Otherwise very quiet day.
GERMAN MAP showing WW1 Front Lines at NEUVILLE ST VAAST & Labyrinth, north of Arras. Jack Sheldon. Old Sweats. Great War Forum. The Long Long Trail. GERMAN War Graves at Neuville St Vaast. Courtesy: http://www.alamy.com
25th Mar. Fri. About 7.10 am enemy opened brisk grenade attack. Our grenadiers replied vigorously. Artillery support good. Our guns bombarded the Crater B.6 at 3.0 pm and 9.2’s firing 15 shells, 4 of which were blind and 3 falling short, the ninth shell burst short,striking the parapet to the right of the dugout of Officer Commanding 064 Trench,burying Lieuts F. Wilkinson andA. L. Dawson,Forward Observing Officer 2nd Lincoln Battery, a piece of the same shell wounding 6954 Pte S. H. Simpson.The Forward Observing Officer had previously phoned that shells were dropping short, but was unable to speak direct to the Battery.
Battalion relieved in the trenches by 6th South Staffordshire Regiment at 11.20 pm and went into Brigade Reserve. Battalion in billets at 1.0 am, 26-3-16.CASUALTIES: Lieut. F. Wilkinson and 6954Pte S.H. Simpson wounded, also ArtilleryOfficerLieut. A.L. Dawson wounded.
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Pte BERTIE HIBBETT’SWAR DIARY: ‘A Little Book of Words & Doings’.
March 19th 1916:Sunday evening. Went into trenches at Neuville St Vaast. On Sat received parcelfrom Mrs Jones*. Neuville St Vaast all in ruins to the ground. Bertie on Listening Post.
Postcard: La Grande Guerre. 1914-1915. Dans les ruines de Neuville St Vaast.
Treasured Sayings in Letters from Home:
Mother re Bomb Accident (2).‘Life is very sad now, but as Sydney said, he loves the Psalms & I said which is your favourite hymn Sydney? & he said, at once. “ Rejoice, again I say, Rejoice” so I say. “Rejoice again I say Rejoice” (3) “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing” (4).’ Mother.
LETTER TO MARIE NEAL HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd Walsall. Censor Arthur J. Rowley.
In the Trenches. 3rd Sunday in Lent. Mar 26/ 16
‘Faith looking upward saith,‘Good is everything, Let it come, God ordereth the days’. Wayside Memories.
My Dear People,
I wonder if you ever think that it happens, some Sundays, circumstances make it very difficult to get a letter written to you. I am determined to write to you to day. I receivedDad’s letter last Tuesday. His report is ‘untrue’.
On Friday I had a very nice surprise of another parcel from Miss Foster*, with a tin of Youmi Turkish cigs for Sydney. Miss Fosterthinks he is with menow. I got a F.P.C. (5) from Sydneythis morning saying he was at the Base.I noticed he crossed out ‘Received letters, parcels, telegram’ although I wrote to him about Mar 5th to Derby.
How is Harold getting on? – just remember me kindly to him.Although I rarely mention him in my letters I am generally thinking of him & always mention him in my prayers. It does puzzle me about his promised parcel& I am beginning to think he cannot have had my letter of Mar 5th.
Trusting you are having a pleasant Sunday.I enclose the form for Com(mission).
Yours affec. Bertie.
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
The 1/5th South Staffords took over the trenches of Neuville St Vaast at the same time that the Canadians took over Vimy Ridge. ‘Circumstances’ (i.e. crater warfare, heavy bombardment, shelling, grenadeattacks and casualties when 1/5th Staffords Artillery shells fell short) made it difficult forPte Bertie Hibbett to write Home.
NB The name ST VAAST was to resonate with my father twenty years later when, in 1936, he became Vicar of St Vedast’s Church Tathwell, near Louth, Lincolnshire.
ST VAAST(Flemish, Norman, Picard)(English Vedast, Foster) AD 453 -540, was responsible for the conversion to the Christian Faith of the Frankish King Clovis. (St Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, appointed him 1st Bishop of dioceses of Arras & Cambrai). Many churches in Northern France, including the Cathedral at Arras, are dedicated to him, whereas he is Patron Saint to only two churches in the UK:St Vedast Foster Lane, London and St Vedast, Tathwell, where I was born on his Day, 6th Feb.
(1) The Labyrinth, Neuville St Vaast, on the slopes of Vimy Ridge, north-east of Arras:- a grim underground fortress of caves, tunnels and entrenchments cut into the chalk in ‘a lunar landscape of water filled shell-holes & destroyed trenches’ – compounded by ‘stench of rotting bodies’. A place of ‘horrific fighting’ and crater warfare, with 1/5th Staffords blown up 9 times. Pte Bertie Hibbett’s Listening Post would have been deep underground.
Vimy Ridgeis a 9 mile/15 km long hump-backed barrier, rising from the valley of River Scarpe to a peak of 145 metres to drop abruptly into the valley of River Souchez. An area fought over since Roman times, it commanded the Douai Plain and protected Lille and the coalfields of Lens. cf <http://www.battlefields.com/the-battle-of-Vimy-ridge>
14th-16th Tue & Wed. Mar. Battalion to Divisional Reserves. 3 Lewis Teams and Guns relieved 3 Lewis Guns and teams of 5th North Staffordshire Regiment in the trenches.
17th Mar. Fri.Battalion in Divisional Reserve.
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Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to IDA NEAL HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd Walsall.
St Patrick’s Day. Friday Mar. 17/ 16
Psalm 131verse 4 & 5 ‘. . . Let the righteous rather smite me friendly and reprove me.’ & v. 7 ‘But let not their precious balms break my head. . .’
‘Though he fall he shall not utterly be cast down.’(Psalm 37.24) (1)
‘Forgive and Forget.’ ‘The reproof of a good man resembles fuller’s earth’, it not only removes the spots from our character, but it rubs off when dry.’ (2).
‘It is sorrow which makes our experience, it is sorrow which teaches us to feel rightly for ourselves & others. We must feel deeply, before we can think rightly.’ Wilkinson’s Wayside Ministries. (3)
My Dear Sister,
Champion Ida Hibbett VAD Nurse.
You have written me some most advisable letters which have, as Miss Foster* once termed it, ‘dressed me down’.But I felt a wee bit hurt about this last one of yours; now deary,don’t be alarmed for it was much for my own good.
You raked up past memories of the petty quarrels Vernon* & I had. Those were in England before we came to face the seriousness of life more – in the fighting line.
Forgive and Forget, I say. Yes, dear Ida, there isa great deal under that exterior, so quiet, of his. I will not say anything in criticism of that, I will practice to be broader minded. I may rightly say‘the waters have come over my soul’ (4) – and they are like a cataract or torrent, for I had a letter from Vernon yesterday & although he said something ending up with ‘between ourselves’ I will let a little of the secret out to you. I told him I should have to pray hard for humility & now, after reading your letter which I got at ‘Tattoo’, I feel more uneasy, –but, as the old saying goes,‘peace will follow storm’ (5).
St Francis de Sales.
So I hope that the morning will bring freshness & a good resolutionto rise, for I had nearly fallen to the lowest when in England with Vernon. But WAR has proved a blessing to me in more ways than one.
Now I must say something about each delightful item in your jolly letter.
Poor Sydney’s departure made me feel sympathetic for him, & you all,yet I could not help thinking of Miss Foster’s*comic postcard – ‘Which shall it be ‘Onward Christian soldiers’ or ‘Abide with me’?’ I enclose her PC.
I wrote Vernon a long letter last night in reply. I had not written to him since I left the Batt. because I thought my writing to him would be an insinuation & he would ‘Break Out’ in his generosity to send me something, he being in England.
Harold puzzles me. Mum, in one of her past letters,told me how he was cross with Sydney for not acknowledging his parcels etc. Well, I wrote to Harold, about the time I wrote to you, Mar 3rd, in reply to his letter of Feb 16th, addressed to Notts & Derbys.In that letter of hishe said he had some things waiting for me & he would send them as soon as he knew I was settled & heard from me. This, your letter of Tue. Mar 14th, has come in 3 days. I don’t know whether to inform Harold or not. Should he have sent me his promisedparcel, & it had gone astray, he will think I, too, do not appreciate his parcels & am lacking in consideration, for if I find time to write to you & other people I have time to answer his parcels. – But – How Tantalising he is. I have been looking out for his parcel as day comes & goes, just as Mum told me to do with regard to hers, & have been disappointed, in a sense, each time.
I have not yet written again to Harold. I don’t like to, but I am waiting, – waiting for a result. I guess I shall hear of somethingTOMORROW.
I knew you would go to St Paul’s and how did you & Mum like Mr Darling’s* sermon (6)?By the by, that reminds me, he told me not to write a long letter but ‘just send me a line with your address’. I wrote the ‘line’, but forgot my address; could you give it him at your earliest opportunity please?
Although I shall be pleased to see Sydney,I was hoping and still hope his ‘little business’ (7) will soon come to settlement. I dreamt last night I saw him, & Basil came as well.
Your letter, with reference to the photo (8), also did me good after all, for I can’t be TOO CHEERFUL with the right sort of CHEER, but I do not think I shall send Miss Foster* a duplicate of the one I sent you. I shall wait until I can send her aCheerful Face.
Best love to all, Bertie.
Remember me kindly to the Overends* & Evans.*
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
This Letter is an example of family relations under strain – and how hard it was for Pte Bertie Hibbett to explain – and for those at Home to imagine, let alone understand, exactly what it was like for their loved ones fighting at the Front. Ida Hibbett had obviously taken Pte Bertie to task for being annoyed with his pal Vernon (for telling the family more about himself than he wanted told cf Letter of 5th Mar.). This upset him but true to character he accepted the ‘dressing down‘. He also realised that the War had made him understand how he must ‘forgive & forget’.
(1) Psalms of Penitencefor Lent most likely quoted in Walsall Church Magazine. (2) ‘The reproof of a good man’. The Biblical Illustrator. Commentary on Titus: Joseph S ExellMA 1819 -1887: Methodist Minister/ onetime served in Walsall.
(3) Wilkinson’s Wayside Ministries.American Missionary. (See previous Letter).(4) ‘The waters have come over my soul ‘. Psalm 69.1. Lamentations 3.54.(5) St Francis de Sales. 1567 -1622. Introduction to the Devout Life. Ch XIII.
(6) The Revd E. More Darling, Vicar of Walsall’s retirement sermon.
A Little Book of Words & Doings.Treasured Sayingsin Letters from Home: Mother re Rev. Darling’s Farewell Sermons. ‘When Mum got up to go to Holy Communion with Basil & Ida. Raining. “I enjoy walking in the rain. We got up in good time & had a good breakfast & then we all went off to Church again & locked up the house. Mr Darling has taken all the services today. I am sure he must feel very tired tonight & with the strain of saying goodbye, but I hope we shall often see him.” ‘
(7) ‘Little business’:Sydney’s Commissionapplication,if successful it would mean training in England.
(8) Photo of Pte Bertie Hibbettwith his Hindustani Sikh friend Buckshee Ichbye Sing Waltu, Marseilles.
OCCOCHES. 6th Mar. Mon. Battalion marched to new Billets at WAMIN (1).
7th Mar. Tue. Battalion Training. 8th Mar. Wed. Battalion marched to new Billets atMAGNICOURT (2). 9th Mar. Thur. – 10th Mar. Fri. In Billets. Battalion Training.
11th Mar. Sat. Battalion marched to new Billets at AUBIGNY (3).12th – 13th Mar. In Billets. Battalion Training. Battalion marched to new Billets at ECOIVRES (4).
1/5th South Staffords’ March to the Front from Occoches (off map bottom left). Mar. 1916.
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Pte BERTIE HIBBETT:
‘A Little Book of Words & Doings’.
March 10th 1916. ‘Mum got a letter from me, rare occasion. Sydney left Derby after being in England on sick leave.’
Treasured Sayings in Letters from Home:‘My head seems so full of things I hardly know what to say. Mother.’
LETTER TO BASIL HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd. Walsall.
In the Field.Monday Mar 13/ 16
‘Next to the Sunlight of Heaven is the cheerful face’.Wayside Ministries (5).
Basil Hibbett aged 18. 1916.
My Dearest brother Basil,
Three puffs of an Embassyand I will start ‘mon ecrire encore’.
‘alf-a-Mo-Kaiser! Copy of Bairnsfather’s cartoon by A.H. Hibbett. 1916.
You will think I have caughtWriting Feverno doubt, but I have just inwardly digested the QMS Mag you kindly enclosed in Mum’s parceland consequently I feel magnetised to the ‘Wire of Correspondence’ fixed between ‘Home Sweet Home’ and WarwornFrance.
Queen Mary’s School Magazine. Dec. 1914.
What do you think of the articles in the Mag this time? Do you remember how the ‘Knowalls’ once called it a bore to read them & the Editors had no ‘savvy’ whatever as to ‘Editorial’?
After reading Lieut Thomas’ & Lawley’s account of their experiences (7) & then commencing to read the School Notes, the effect was ‘vice versa’as to the time I was at QMS. Do you compris my meaning? You, for instance, are sometimes naturally bored a little at reading Editorialletters about School, butthe letters from the Front to the QMS Editor are to you ‘tres bien interestant’. But the vice versa effect was not to the extreme, in fact I was deeply interested in Lawley’s vivid account of the Charge last Sept. (8).
The Debating Society’s Summarywas also jolly to read & I was so struck by it that I wished I could, at the very moment, send something in the way of a contribution, & then I decided to wait until I have Home Leave, at which time I will see if I can give them an Autograph Album after the example of the Spencer Club (9) – for the purpose of the members writing their names in after each Debate, & an illumination on each page.
The Poets in Queen Mary’s School seem to keep up the fine record of blossoming original verse (10).I should like to send a contribution to the Editor’s Letter Boxbut I count myself as no great writer & also come to the conclusion my sending a letter to appear in the ‘swanky’ pages of the Mag would have an embarrassing effect. I noticed your noble name in the list of new scholars under the noble title of School House; which House should be the prouder after the reception of your noble self, what what!
You have some ‘knutty’ ideas & phrases in your letters to me of late – they are worthy of being mentioned in the Magazine.
I will close now. Although I have written this today I doubt if I shall send it along to you for a time, because I havetwo letters to send Home. One to Dad, in reply to his ‘elongated’ envelope & one to Mum, in answer to the parcel of Mar 5, which, as I say again, was an ideal pancake (11).
Ah! dear Dodger, I trust you will use your gifted energy at comforting Mummy & use your tact if you are called up on you coming of 18 years of age. My best wishes for your success in the examsat School for your sake & Mum’s & Dad’s. (12).
Tell Ida she must send me a written formal apology for saying I am a WEE bit SAD.But of course you quite know it is all a mere joke on my part. Ha Ha!
Ta ra. Bertie.
PS This evening I received a sweet little letter from Molly (13) with her usual beaucoup kisses.She followed my idea of sticking a stampon the back of the envelope – one of a pussy cat.I think I have been the cause of renewing that craze, what think you?
TUES. “STOP PRESS” Got Mum’s letter of Friday about Sydney coming. Hope he will have a safe journey.
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
Pte Bertie Hibbett is now within 25 miles of the Western Front and the trenches of Neuville St Vaast and Vimy Ridge.
(1) Estree-Wamin: farming village/commune in Pas de Calais (Roman site – ‘estree’ is from ‘strata/street’).10 miles north from Occoches. (2) Magnicourt-en-Comte: commune in Pas de Calais. 13.05 miles north from Estree–Wamin. (3) Aubigny: commune in centre of Mont St Eloi area.11 miles south-east from Magnicourt. (4) Ecoivres: hamlet in commune of Mont Saint Eloi.6 miles east from Aubigny. Total March of 40 miles approx.
(5) Wayside Ministries. Called Wilkinson’s in Letter 17th 1916. Christian Mission literature/under influence of 18th Cent. American Jemima Wilkinson? Quoted in Walsall Church Mag.? (6) Lieut ( W.G.?)Thomson & (H.H.?) Lawley. QMS scholars /Info. pending.
(7) Battle of Loos-Hohenzollern Redoubt,13th Oct. 1915. (8) The Spencer Club. QMS Club? Bertie Hibbett was fond of creating ‘illuminations’ and after the War he kept an Autogaph Album of drawings, contributions and signatures of friends, some collected during the War.
(9) QMS Magazine December 1914. SONNET
Oh hear the wailing cry of agony Which swells above the cannon’s sullen roar, Above the piercing sounds of bloody war, And fills the hearts with deepest melancholy; Which drowns our feeble cries of victory, Whereby, poor thoughtless fools we set such store, Yea, opens to our eyes Death’s gaping door, Dark with the growing clouds of misery.
It is the sorrowing people’s pained cry, Who mourn the loss of all their bravest youth, Snatched by untimely death that knows no ruth, E’en while they fought for Home & Liberty. But better far they should thus honoured fall Than deaf remain to their dear country’s call. Anon.
(10) ‘an ideal pancake’: ref. to his Mother’s parcelof good things for Shrove Tuesday ‘Pancake Day’. 4th Mar.1916. (11) Senior OxfordExaminationMatriculation. (12) Molly Evans.Bertie’s pal Vernon Evans‘ little sister.
Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to Marie Neal HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd Walsall.
I sent you a Green last Sunday.
The Next Sunday before Lent. Mar 5/ 16
‘I am very proud to think that the British blood is not weakening but growing stronger’. (1) ‘All our doings without CHARITY are nothing worth’. (2)
Mother at Tea.
My Very Dear Mother,
You will be pleased to know I did get your handsome Parcel of the 11th Feb:addressed to the Notts & Derbys. If I ever told you that I suspected the men in the Batt. of keeping that parcel with ill intention I am ashamed of myself.
No, I could tell by their distinct manners & behaviour, of both officers & NCOs alike,that they would fain do such a thing.
All your letters& the parcelsent to the jolly, decentSherwoods (3), (as they are called) have been forwarded to me & I did enjoy reading them too, & relished the Parcel immensely.
I got your letter of Feb. 28thenclosing Dodger’s scribbly one, but how excitable to read. Oh no, Basil, your detailed account was not monotonous by far, it really drew my breath. Again I emphasise that Basil, Harold & Sydney & Bertie have much to be grateful for to have such a brave & patient Mother. And I must not leave out dear, dear Dad. I put Mother’s calmness, during the raid (4), down to Dad’s encouragement & comfort shown towards Mummy, as they sat in the silent sternness by the fire, in the dark.Oh how my heart leaps to you dear Mum & how it touched me when I thought of the amusing incident of ‘Sentry Go’ by Ida & Dodger alternately. I pray that you will never have another alarm even, let alone a raid.
I received your parcel of Feb 28th. What a lovely, soft, warm shirtand thank you for the (Walsall) Observer which I read with interest, as you will tell by the cuttings I have sent you.
John Kempthorne, Bishop of Lichfield and his daughter.
Yes I am of the opinion of our dear Bishop: “Was it not something of an honour that we, in what was a comparatively small way should share the pain & the sacrifice of the men who were laying down their lives for us“– (that underlined please note).
The raid, I might say, was not so comparatively ‘small’, in one sense of the phrase, as Basil also had the same idea as the Bishop. I think that the raid, to you, was more of a catastrophe than a bombardment is to us in effect. For you must take into consideration that we out here have been used to the sound of guns – like Ben Battle, in ‘Faithless Nellie Grey’ (5) – ‘used to war’s alarms’whereas you atHomehave not only lived without the sound of a gun, but have had to bear anxiety & many sleepless nights (poor Mum) for thinking about us out here. Yet to Dodger & Ida I guess the raid ’twould be most ‘dramatically bookish’, like a vivid story in a book put into practice.
Dearest Mum, I read the beautiful account of the loss of your Mayoress* & also the sad account of Ken Marshall* (6). I noticed you marked those columns with a cross, but you did not notice the marriage. I think you can mingle sadness with gladness don’t you? Did you notice the account of Pte. Robert Ball (7) that Queen Mary’s Scholar who was chums with Sydney & me & came to see you when we fired at Tame Valley Range (8)? He had a rosy complexion, Bob, & I faintly remember him telling you he too had relatives in Ashton under Lyne. (9).
My word I did like that currant batch loaf & was able to get some butter, but this tinned stuff is not so nice as yours.
Vernon was naughty for not using a little more discretion. I shall have to pull him up aboot saying he last saw me scrubbing a floor. I was ordereddear Mum, I did not offer or volunteer to scrub and you must know that an order from a superior in the Army is what we call a DOOTY dear Mum. And then again, can I console you, & bring matters straight betwixt me & you & the gatepost,by just repeating what I read in the Parish Magazine you sent me. – ‘The only undignified thing is scamped work. All work of whatever kind is dignified’.
Of course, dear Mum, that doesn’t mean to say I shall put myself in the way to do charwoman’s work.
I too have felt so, so happy after doing something for someone else, lending a hand to the Lambs (10) of the 3rd Lineby carrying a rifle for my comrade marching on my right on a long, long, tiresome march. I knew what it was to have sore feet & so didLieut. Robinson. (11). He amused me by struggling with 3 rifles when he should have carried one. (12).
The title of the Frontispieces of the Feb. Mag.struck me as the one you wrote in my prayer book in February 1911 – ‘Be thou faithful unto death & I will give you a crown of life’. (13)
My letter this Sunday is getting long. I could fill all the pages of note paper you have sent me but I must now be on the close.
Did you read that Ken Marshall* did not wish to apply for a Com:he humbly left that responsible position of an officer to another who was more capable. I agree with him three parts of the way; the fourth part was responsible for my handing in the form you sent – E 536 (14).
Form E536. Application for Commission in Territorial Force. Held in National Archives.
I wrote to Dad, at his office, saying I needed a Birth Cert. & the other form. Then, when we have gone a little ‘forrarder’, all we shall do is to WAIT & SEE.
I am waiting patiently in high hopes for a speedy conclusion of Sydney’s application & shall be proud to see him in his TOGS. I wrote to Harold the night before I got the shirt, and to Miss Foster* some few days ago. Did you send her a stamp of mine? – hers is a pretty one.
Hoping you are spending a typical Sunday.
Best love to all, Bertie.
PS Did you get the Petit Parisiene(sic)(15) with that photo – or did the Censor take it out ? I am replying to a parcelfrom Miss Brookes* now.
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Elizabeth Hibbett Webb.
Whilst Pte Bertie Hibbett was applying for a Commission in 3/5th Territorial Reserve Bn in UK, Serjeant Sydney Hibbett was applying for a Commission in 1/5th South Staffords, which would keep him out on the Western Front.
(1) Unknown Quotation. (2) Collect for Quinquagesima Sunday/next before Lent: Latin, literally ‘fiftieth’ day before Easter. Book of Common Prayer 1662.
(3) ‘Sherwoods‘/ The Sherwood Foresters i.e Notts & Derby Regt.Pte BertieHibbett possibly attached to ‘Transport’ in 1/5th Bn Sherwoods Territorial Force which became the 139th Brigade in 46th Midland Divison.
Thomas Hood.
(4) Zeppelin Raid on Walsall. 31st Jan -1st Feb 1916. (5) A Pathetic Ballad.Faithless Nellie GreybyThomas Hood. 1799-1845. English Poet & humourist. Adapted by Bertie to fit his trench foot misery. cf Letter: 29th Nov. 1915/his Father’s Birthday and 19th Dec 1916.
(6) Mayoress Maria Julia Slater*killed in Zeppelin Raid & Ken Marshall* missing/wounded?cf Hibbett Letter 27th Feb 1916. (7) Pte Robert Ball. QMS friend. Ref. account of his marriage in Walsall Observer? cf Hibbett Letter: 17th Dec. 1914.
(8) Tame Valley Range. Army Firing Range near Walsall. (9) Ashton-under-Lyne: Marie Neal Hibbett’s (Yoxall) family home.
Lamb & Flag Badge of Queen’s Royal Surrey Regt.
(10) Queen’s Royal Surrey Regt.had a Lamb & Flagbadge(symbol of Christ’s Sacrifice & Resurrection. Many refs to the Lamb of God in John’s Gospel & in Revelation).
(11) Lieutenant P.W. Robinsonrecently wounded in Bomb Accident. See Hibbett Letters: 28th Feb.1916; 9th Dec. 1915; 28th Nov. 1915; 16th Nov. 1916 (A Little Book of Words & Doings); 13th Oct. 1915. (refs to Captain Robinson of 6th Bn Sherwood Foresters & to a Chester Robinson/family member?)
(12) Rifle Rules/story/training in Bedfordshire. Hibbett Letters: Sept – Dec. 1914. (13) Faithful unto death. Rev. 2.10. Prayer Book given to Pte Bertie at his Confirmation.
(14) Form 536.Application for Commission in Territorial Force. The Long Long Trail. <http://www.1914-1918.net>.
Le Petit Parisien. 1902.
(15) Le Petit Parisien.French broadsheet newspaper. 1876 -1944. Largest circulation in world in 1927/ published WW1 propaganda posters.
29th Feb. Mon: 9.30 am. Battalion marched to new billets at OCCOCHES (1). 1st Mar. Wed. – 2nd Mar.Thur. OCCOCHES BILLETS: Battalion Training..
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Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to ARTHUR HIBBETT, 95, Foden Rd Walsall. (2)
In the Field. 2/ 3/ 16.
My Dear Sir,
Yesterday I handed in my application form for the Com. in the 3/ 5 South Staffs Regiment (3). I told the Captain you would see to the other form signed by the C.O. of the 3/ 5. (4). I was also told I needed myBirth Certificate.Of course I guess you will be only too eager to attend to any other necessity.
This morning I carried away the Platoon’s Post;quite a shoal of letters,but they were all of an early date being those addressed to the Notts & Derby’s.I thank Ida for her very kind letter of Sunday 14/ 2 /16and the one dated the Friday following (5).I also received Mother’s of Feb 14 and her’s of New Year’s Day.
Edward George Villlers Stanley. 17th Earl of Derby 1865-1948.
I was especially pleased to have a letter from Harold,(Feb 16). I was uncertain about his address, I see that he is still at ‘Penarth’ (6). On reading that he was attested under Lord Derby’s scheme for the R.G.A. I was keenly interested; but hopes of seeing him, after he has joined the R.G.A, were vague. (7)
I will reply to Ida’s & Harold’s letters at my first opp. (We are on the move again).
Every success to Sydney’s Commission & Best love to all.
Bertie.
See Over –
PSYou all want me to say more ‘aboot me sen’. Well all that I can say is that Je suis tres bien portent et tres heureuse beaucoup.Compris? My handing in the form was partly due to Mum’s forcible letters.
I will send those letters of Sydney’s, which Mother sent me in the parcels, in my next green (8).
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ELIZABETH HIBBETT WEBB
My Grandmother’s ‘forcible’ letters were the result of months of anxiety over the health and whereabouts of her two sons. By March 1916, Pte Bertie Hibbett had been at the Front without Home Leave for a year. Since enlistment he had been in Hospital several times with ‘trench foot’ and ‘blood disorders’. She must have argued that a Commission in one of the Reserve Battalions at Home would take him out of the firing line, improve his health and give him work more suitable to his abilities & background – and importantly, of course, give the family a chance to see him.
My father had already informed his family that he felt the life of an Officer was not for him. His reluctance to apply for a Commission appears also to have been influenced by a sense of loyalty to his pals at the Front and his wish to be near his brother Sydney until the end of the War.
(1) Occoches: a village commune in Picardie, Somme. An 8 mile march from Prouville.
(2) Pte Bertie addressed important news, such as this application for a Commission, to his father, as a matter of course,
(3)3/5th Bn & 3/6th Bn South Staffordshire Regiments were formed at Home Bases in 1915 as ‘third line’ units. On 1st Sept 1916, they were united as ‘3/5th Bn.’. Interestingly (in view of my father’s later connection with Lincolnshire), in 1917 3/5th Bn moved to Lincoln & Mablethorpe; in 1918 to Lincoln again & Sutton on Sea, ending the war at Mablethorpe, November 1918.
(4) Namepending. (5) Dateon envelope rather than on letter as Sunday was 13th Feb.(6) Penarth. A Victorian resort in Vale of Glamorgan, 5 miles south-west of Cardiff.
(7) Lord Derby: Secretary of State for War 1916-1918. Lord Derby’s Scheme.The National Registration Act for Military Service was initiated byLord Derby,and passed on 15th July 1915. Itrequired all men, between the age of 18 and 65 years, to register their residential location on 15th Aug.1915. See Hibbett Letter, 21st Oct. 1915. Ida Hibbett was an admin volunteer in Walsall. See also: <http://www. 1914-1918.net/derbyscheme> and < http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/derbyscheme.htm>. R.G.A. Royal Garrison Artillery.
(8) Green Envelope. Official envelope/Army’s attempt to speed up censorship of letters sent home in 1915. Soldier signed on back: I certify on my honour that the contents of this envelope refer to nothing but private and family matters. See esp. Hibbett Letter: 17th April 1915.
NEXT POST:5th March 1916.
The WW1 Letters and Drawings of Private Bertie Hibbett, 1/5th South Staffordshire Regiment, to his family in Walsall, will be posted again, one hundred years on, from August 1914 to November 1918, by his daughter Elizabeth Hibbett Webb. The first posting will be the Recruitment Postcard sent by Queen Mary's Grammar School Headmaster to the Hibbett family on holiday in Abergele, Wales.
1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY
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