junior officers and men had not received much information about the impending
battle, in which many of them would die.
The 2
nd
East Lancs formed part of the first wave of the attack by 24
th
Brigade on the
Rouges Bancs section of the German Front Line. B and C Companies of 2
nd
East
Lancs led the assault on the right flank of 24
th
Brigade across the Fromelles to Sailly
road. The Regimental History records that on the night before the attack one platoon
each from “B” Company (Lt Daws) and “C” Company (Lt Boothby) took up their
positions in the advance trench. The advance trench from which the two platoons had
to attack was open to enfilade fire from the left. After the heavy bombardment of the
enemy lines at 5am next morning, one of the men shouted, “It’s a walk-over, a ----
walk-over.” He soon found out that it was not. At 5.40am the attack commenced. The
men had to cross about 300 yards of open ground to reach the German trenches. As
soon as they left the Advance Trench they met a hail of bullets from the enemy lines.
After the initial attack had failed a further artillery bombardment was ordered. Many
of the British shells fell short, causing yet more casualties, including my father. So
ended what was described in the Regimental History as the most disastrous day, with
one possible exception, that the battalion experienced in the whole war. The casualties
on that day amounted to 19 officers and 388 other ranks killed or wounded, and 42
men missing.
What follows is my father’s own account of his life in the army and his part in the
battle, which he wrote shortly before he died in 1972. He calculated that his chances
of surviving the conflict were not very good, and as he sailed away he wondered if he
would ever see England again. Reading his words brings alive what it was really like
to fight in the trenches in World War One:
War Memories of Lt. W L Heape of the East Lancashire Regiment, 1914-1919
“I entered Sandhurst in August 1914 and joined “G” Company, which was
commanded by Major Cowie of the Dorset Regiment. We were housed in the
handsome old buildings with spacious rooms. I rose to the rank of Sergeant and had a
lovely room to myself, just over the main portals.
I was commissioned to the East Lancashire Regiment in December 1914, having
stayed only a few months at Sandhurst. The war was going badly, and conditions then
were quite abnormal. Our work was entirely confined to military training. I have no
recollection of any academic classes. We worked all day at musketry, range firing,
field exercises, map reading and night compass marches. We dug trenches and
learned to build bridges. We also did a lot of physical training in the gym and over
obstacle courses. My knee stood up very well and I got very fit. I ran occasionally
with the Aldershot Command Beagles, but I spent most of my free time in boats on the
lake.
My time at Sandhurst was far too short, and I was still very green when I joined the
Third Battalion of the East Lancashires in December 1914. We were stationed at
Liara Barracks in Plymouth, under the command of Lt. Colonel Lloyd-Carson. He
was a rather elderly, retired officer and a very nice man. Our adjutant was Captain
Orr-Paterson, and he and his wife were very popular. Our main task was to train
drafts to feed the regular battalions in France, and I remember being sent to Preston