The Regiments of Gloucestershire in the Great War

The conduct of 2nd Gloucesters during the Battle of Frezenburg Ridge would have made their famous predecessors, the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment, proud. On 8 May the Germans began an attack on 27th Division and the following day assaulted 2nd Gloucesters from Stirling Castle, after a 10-minute heavy bombardment followed by intense small arms fire, then another bombardment, again followed by machine gun and rifle fire. The Battalion was deployed with two companies forward (D Company on the right, B on the left), with A Company in close support behind and C Company as battalion reserve with Battalion HQ. The Germans concentrated their efforts on B Company. There were few British guns, and in any case these had little ammunition, but a Belgian battery did what it could to help. Platoons of the forward left company were cut off, and the company commander ordered all but ten men per platoon to try to withdraw, but the intensity of the German fire made movement almost impossible. One wounded platoon commander, Lieutenant E. D’O Aplin,1 got back with just three men, the sole survivors of his platoon.

When the Germans assaulted, [9th/10th] they did so in strength and, despite suffering heavy casualties, were soon able to get into some of the left forward trenches and, more seriously, into the communication trenches behind. The close support company rushed forward to support what was left of the forward company but was unable to dislodge the Germans, losing men in hand-to-hand fighting. The Battalion reserve company, along with Battalion HQ , occupied the reserve trenches about 250yds behind the main line. Two companies of Leinsters were ordered forward to help. There was no communication between groups except by runner, and the ground was not only a morass of mud and shell holes but covered in a tangle of fallen trees, a hazard for both sides. When Battalion HQ learnt that the Germans were still holding the forward trench, the battalion reserve bombing parties advanced to turn the enemy out. (Throughout the Great War hand grenades, as they are now known, were referred to as ‘bombs’, and bombing parties or sections of specially trained men were often used to clear enemy trenches). Two parties got within 20yds of the Germans, but the attempt failed. As Everard Wyrall wrote, ‘Many brave actions were performed during that heavy fighting.’ A counter-attack organized by Brigade Headquarters for mid-afternoon also failed, but not until great acts of gallantry had got some of the Gloucesters to within 15 to 20yds of the enemy; at this point the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel George Tulloh, was killed, and there appeared to be only Captain A.C. Vicary and five subalterns left. At about 5.30 pm Captain Vicary crawled forward and found Major Nisbet and three other officers and a few men still holding out and led them back. Major Nisbet took over command. The Brigade Commander ordered no further attacks; the Battalion was to consolidate on the old Main Line. During the night [10th/11th] the line was handed over, and the Gloucesters, with their wounded, marched back to the GHQ Line of reserve trenches.

From "A Gallant County: The Regiments of Gloucestershire in the Great War" by Robin Grist, Pen & Sword Books