On the Beaconsfield war memorial the inscription below the two figures is particularly apt: ‘They died for England … They were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.’
Francis’ medals are in the care of the 9th and 12th Lancers Museum in Derby.
E.W. ALEXANDER
Elouges, Belgium, 24 August
The 5th Division as part of II Army Corps under Lt. Gen. Sir H. Smith-Dorrien arrived in France in August; Brig. Gen. J.E.W. Headlam was the CRA. On 22/23 August at Mons the 5th Division was responsible for the line along the Condé Canal to the west of the city, and the 3rd Division was responsible for the line as far as Mariette. The position was not at all suitable for artillery, as it lacked a field of fire and observation.
Right from the start the ground to the south of Mons was surveyed for suitable gun positions, south of the Haine river but north of the line between Dour and Wasmes. The landscape was criss-crossed with railway lines, most of them industrial ones, and there were several mining spoil heaps and Fosses.
The XXVIII Brigade RFA was deployed to the left of the line and the XXVII Brigade RFA to the right. The latter was behind the 15th Infantry Brigade and consisted of 119 Battery (Maj. E.W. Alexander), 120 Battery (Maj. C.S. Holland) and 121 Battery (Maj. C.N.B. Ballard) and 37 Howitzer Battery (Maj. E.H. Jones) of VIII Howitzer Brigade.
We are mainly concerned here with the story of 119 Battery which on 23 August, had been in position near d’Hamme Wood. It fired on the enemy at Ville Pommerouel and in the afternoon ‘searched’ for enemy gun positions. It was joined in this work by 108 Heavy Battery in position near the village of Dour. On the 24th, later to be nicknamed ‘Shrapnel Monday’, the Germans having suffered a great many casualties the day before were planning to cut off the British Army with a massive enveloping movement from the west as well as attacking from the north and east. The 8th Division (IV Army Corps) was the main force used and nine German Batteries were in position on a line from Valenciennes to Mons to the north-east of the village of Quievrain.
In the morning Gen. Allenby, General Officer Commanding of the Cavalry Division, had sent out units of the 1st Cavalry Division to make contact with the enemy but they failed to do so as the Germans were already too far to Allenby’s left. As the Germans advanced, the commander of the 5th Division ordered a rearguard to be set up consisting of the 1st Cheshire Regiment, the 1st Norfolk Regiment and 119 Battery. The commander of this force was Lt. Col. C.R. Ballard of the 1st Norfolks. The infantrymen were positioned to the north-east of the road between the small towns of Elouges and Audregnies. They were facing north-westwards and were on slightly higher ground than their opponents.
At 12.30 hours the enemy began to move forward from the area of Baisieux and Quievrain and Brig. Gen. De Lisle in charge of 2nd Cavalry Brigade ordered the 9th Lancers and two troops of the 4th Dragoon Guards to make a mounted charge from Audregnies against the enemy. They reached the outskirts of a sugar factory adjacent to a Roman road and were covered by the guns of L Battery who were in positions to the north-east of Audregnies close to an industrial railway. The attack was very foolhardy but despite the considerable number of casualties it did manage to ‘buy time’. There is a full account of this charge in the section on Francis Grenfell. Although the cavalrymen did not do much damage to the advancing Germans and their gun positions, L Battery was able to inflict considerable damage and was seen to be firing ‘as if on an exercise’. In addition the Cheshire and Norfolk Regiments inflicted heavy casualties with rifle and machine-gun fire. One section of 119 Battery close to the railway station in Elouges itself, under Lt. C.O.D. Preston, had to withdraw as it came under heavy fire. After half a mile Preston halted the section and brought it into action against German cavalry. Later, Preston once more took on the enemy infantry and machine guns until they were only 800 yards away. He was wounded four times.
However, 500 yards to the left of Elouges station there were two other sections of the battery in operation, close to a mineral-works’ railway line. Alexander was trying to keep the guns firing to the last minute. The mineral works was to the east of the Elouges-Audregnies road with its own railway line running along an embankment. The line took away spoil to a dump a few hundred yards away to the north-west. A bridge carried the line over the road, and the protection afforded by the embankment was to become crucial in the saving of the remaining four guns which were under considerable threat of being overrun by the German advance. As the battery had lost so many of its horses in the fighting Alexander gave instructions for the guns to be moved back by hand to the shelter of the embankment. Unfortunately the ground was very heavy and only one gun could be manhandled at a time. The situation was grave as Alexander was running short of men to do the work. At this point Capt. Francis Grenfell, with the remnants of the 9th Lancers and 4th Dragoon Guards (eleven officers and forty men) came up on horseback and offered their assistance. Grenfell was already wounded. Their offer was quickly accepted and the dismounted cavalrymen worked hard with the remaining gunners running the four guns by hand to a place of safety. They were under ceaseless fire from the enemy with shells and bullets flying around in all directions. At least three German Batteries were concentrating on destroying 119 Battery. The guns were limbered up and taken away at great speed just as the enemy reached the mine dump at the end of the mineral-works line.
During the battle 119 Battery lost forty-two men and forty-three horses, but this figure paled beside the casualty figures of the Cheshires and Norfolks who between them had 800 casualties. Despite these high casualty figures, together with those of the Cavalry, the left flank of the British Army had been saved from almost certain capture. Both Grenfell and Alexander were awarded the VC and Sergeants Turner and Davids the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for their work on this day. Grenfell had been wounded a second time and was picked up by his friend the Duke of Westminster in his Rolls Royce and taken to Bavai to have his wounds dressed.
Elouges, 24 August
Alexander’s decoration was to be the first of no less than eighteen VCs that were won by the Royal Artillery in the First World War.
The 119 Battery was involved next in the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August when it fired all day at the enemy from a well-protected position alongside 121 Battery. They were in positions to the north-east of Troisvilles, south of the Le Cateau-Inchy road. Maj. Alexander was still in charge of 119 Battery and they were again in support of the 15th Infantry Brigade. The artillery was behind a ridge about 1,500 yards to the north-east of Troisvilles, with its observation post (OP) to the north-east of the village. The guns could only fire at long range owing to difficulty in clearing the immediate hill to the front. At about 15.30 hours orders were received for the batteries to fall back. At first 15th Brigade and 119 Battery covered the withdrawal of 121 Battery and then it was 119’s turn to move back to the rear.
After their role at Le Cateau 119 Battery fought at Crépy to the east of Nery on 1 September and on the Marne in the early part of September. They also fought in the First Battle of Ypres in mid-October. A year later Alexander used the method of the ‘creeping barrage’ for the first time at the Battle of Loos. Alexander received his VC at Buckingham Palace on 12 July 1915. In 1922, seven years later, 119 Battery was disbanded.
Ernest Wright Alexander was born at 87 Everton Road in the southern suburbs of Liverpool on 2 October 1870. One of five children, four of whom were boys, his home was at Woolton Heyes, a mansion with a large estate that was situated between Out Lane and Watergate Lane. The main entrance was in Woolton Street. Alexander’s father was Robert Alexander, a director of the Suez Canal Company and a prominent shipowner. Ernest’s mother was Annie Alexander, a daughter of James Cranston Gregg of Belfast where the family had its roots.
The firm of Robert Alexander & Co. had formed the Sun Shipping Company and their offices were at No. 17, Water Street, Liverpool in 1868. The firm later
became the Hall Line of Steamers and in 1901 the business was sold to J.R. Ellerman for the sum of £434,000. The name of the Hall Line was retained until the 1960s.
Ernest Alexander was taught at home for three years before he went to school at Cherbourg House, Malvern, before moving to public school at Harrow. In January 1888 he went direct to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery on 27 July 1889, when he was not yet nineteen. At this time he was with the 9th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery. From 23 September 1892 to 13 November 1900 he was stationed in India. He married Rose Newcome, daughter of the late Maj. H.G. Newcome, RA (retired), HM Bodyguard to the Royal Household, on 1 September 1903. The marriage took place at Aldershot Manor, Hampshire and a month later Alexander returned to India, with his wife, where they remained until 25 June 1906. By this time he had been made up to captain with the RFA on 26 December 1899 and to major with the Royal Artillery on 25 April 1906.
After Britain declared war on Germany in early August 1914 Alexander left for France. He was given command of 119th Battery, XXVII Bde., RFA, attached to the 5th Division. After he had gained the VC on 24 August he became the commander of XXII Brigade RFA on 5 October 1914. He then became commander of the XXVII Brigade RFA, and later commander of RA 15th Division, and then temporary brigadier-general on 25 August 1915. On 22 March 1917 he became commander of the Royal Artillery of the 11th Corps. He left this position when he became major-general, RAHQ, 1st Army under Lord Horne. Later he became commander of the Royal Artillery, Southern Area, Aldershot Command with the temporary rank of brigadier-general. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 30 October in the same year. During the First World War he had been in France from August 1914 to March 1917 and from May 1917 to 1919, and altogether he was mentioned in despatches nine times. He remained with the 1st Army until the end of the war and became CRA, 2nd Division at Aldershot and retired as a major-general in 1920. He was created Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1915, and awarded the Military Order of Savoy (Cavalier) in 1918. In 1919 he received the Croix de Guerre and CB. He was also made Grand Officer, Military Order of Avis. In 1919 he was promoted to colonel on 2 June when he was made commander of the Royal Artillery, Southern area, and purchased Horswill House, South Milton in South Devon.
Alexander became very involved with local affairs and became a Justice of the Peace (JP), a member of the Kingsbridge Guardians Committee, a member of the local Rural District Council, and also the President of the local branch of the British Legion. He also became vice-president of numerous clubs and groups. If a man in the village was without employment Alexander endeavoured to find work for him on his estate.
In the summer of 1934 he underwent an operation but did not recover and died in hospital in Kingsbridge, Devon on 25 August almost exactly twenty years after he won the VC. His ashes were placed in the family grave at Putney Vale, reference AB, grave 149. The Alexander Way at Putney Vale also commemorates his memory as does the memorial chapel at Woolwich. Six months later his wife also died and in 1936 their house in South Devon was put up for sale. The South Milton parish hall commemorates Alexander where a portrait of him is on display. His VC and medals have been on loan to the Royal Artillery Museum and were sold to the Ashcroft Trust on 25 February 1999 for £92,000.
A particularly endearing quality of Alexander was his loyalty to his former army servants: he employed three of them on his estate. Thomas Williams, who had been his batman, was made his gardener, and employment was found for Thomas Doyle, his former groom, and William McCullen, his trumpeter. On Alexander’s death he left them cash or annuities to the value of £52, £50 and £50 respectively. All three men had taken part in the battle at Elouges on 24 August 1914.
On their deaths the Alexanders left three surviving children: their eldest son Robert, who became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy; Annie, Robert’s twin, who had married Lt. Col. W.P. Akerman in 1925; Mary, their youngest daughter who was still at school. Gear, a younger son, had died aged three in 1914. Alexander also left a brother, Mr F. Alexander, OBE, who lived in Lancets, Cornwall.
Horswill House has had its own ups and downs; a few years ago it was acquired by a property developer who began to turn it into flats without touching the servant’s quarters on the top floor under the roof. The developer then went bust and the house was left empty with the usual dire results to the fabric. However in the early 1990s the house was bought by a family who plan to restore it to its former glory. While they work on its restoration they are living in the former servant’s quarters.
G.H. WYATT
Landrecies, France, 25/26 August
The Battle of Mons took place on 23 August 1914 and the British Army began its retreat the next day. However, without Sir John French’s support Gen. Sir H.L. Smith-Dorrien, general officer commanding of II Corps decided to stand and fight on the uplands to the east of Le Cateau. Sir Douglas Haig, commander of I Corps planned to set up his headquarters and billet his troops in the town of Landrecies, a few miles to the north-east of Le Cateau. A main road to Paris ran between the lines of the neighbouring Corps.
By late afternoon on the 25th, the 4th (Guards) Brigade of the 2nd Division (I Corps) under Douglas Haig reached the outskirts of Landrecies. The day’s march had begun in the small hours and had continued through a very hot day.
In Landrecies there were many rumours circulating about the coming approach of the Germans, and what the Guardsmen did not know was that it was also the German intention to spend the night in the town where the British were already being billeted.
The Germans were from the 7th Division (IV Army Corps) who had fought at Mons. The 27th Regiment was their advance guard and had instructions to occupy the Sambre Canal crossing in Landrecies. At about 17.30 hours some French civilians rushed into the town, declaring that the Germans were already in the Forest of Mormal and Englefontaine, to the north of the town. The Guardsmen were ordered to fall in but as there was no apparent sign of the enemy, they were subsequently dismissed. This acted as a sort of dress-rehearsal for the Guardsmen came to know their positions in the event of an enemy night attack.
The 3rd Coldstream Guards were one of four Guards Battalions of the 4th (Guards) Brigade, and the 2nd Grenadier Guards, 1st Irish Guards and the 2nd Coldstream Guards were the other three battalions.
North-west of Landrecies, beyond the Sambre Canal and the railway line, was a narrow road called the Faubourg Soyères. After a couple of hundred yards the road split, one part went to the north-west to Englefontaine and the edge of the Forest of Mormal, and the other went due north into the forest itself. This was thought to be where the main enemy threat would come from.
The 3rd Coldstream Guards set up an outpost with a machine-gun section under Capt. C. Heywood in a ditch close to the fork. The other Guardsmen took up their positions to the south of the fork under their company commander Capt. the Hon. C.H. Monck. The eastern and western approaches to the town were also covered by other Coldstream Guardsmen. Darkness fell early on the evening of the 25th and a thunderstorm followed the extreme heat of the day. A report soon came in that the Germans were approaching the town with an estimated thousand men together with guns. At 19.00 hours a German patrol reached the crossroads and was immediately fired on by the Coldstream Guardsmen, which resulted in a few casualties and a swift withdrawal down the Forest road. Number 2 Company of the Coldstream Guards was then replaced by Number 3 Company and the defensive positions were moved forward in order that the straight road to the forest should be covered.
It was then reported that the French Army was also in the immediate vicinity on its way from the direction of the Englefontaine so the next group of men were expected to be French. The men at the outpost could indeed hear the sounds of French singing. When the group approached the British positions, they were challenged and a light was suddenly flashed in Capt. Monck’s face. The order to fire was immediately given but before he was bayoneted, the man firing one of the
machine guns was able to send a hail of bullets down the road and into the oncoming mass of men and horses. A whole gun team was knocked out which caused chaos in the narrow road. In the fight Capt. Monck and Lt. Bingham were swept aside and desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued. The Guardsmen were forced to fall back because they had lost the use of one of their machine guns which was later recovered. Gradually, with the use of revolver and bayonet, the Germans were pushed back.
At the Faubourg Soyères the enemy had set up a field gun, and attempted to fan outwards from the road and to work their way into the town from the east and west. Maj. T.H. Matheson then came up to reinforce Number 3 Company and brought up more Guardsmen. The 1st Irish Guards barricaded the streets and generally placed Landrecies in a state of defence.
Landrecies, 25/26 August
The fight between the Guardsmen and the enemy continued through the night and the advantage kept swinging from one side to the other. The Germans were trying to get around the back of a barn behind the cover of a hedgerow at the end of the street in order to set up a machine-gun post, to enfilade the right of the British positions. They were prevented from achieving their aim and the barn was shelled with incendiaries. This resulted in a haystack catching fire illuminating the British positions, which could have been disastrous had the fire continued to burn. No. 5854 Pte. G. Wyatt heard Maj. Matheson shout out ‘put out that light,’ and decided to obey this order. The haystack caught fire a second time and again Wyatt put out the flames. He was not more than 25 yards from the enemy but his actions encouraged the Coldstreamers to hold their ground. At 01.00 hours on the 26th a howitzer was sent up by Col. Feilding of 54th Brigade which put the German field gun out of action. The attack subsequently died down with the resulting casualties of 14 men of the 3rd Coldstream Guards being killed and 115 either wounded or missing. The 2nd Coldstream Guards lost one officer killed and six men wounded. The 4th Guards Brigade evacuated Landrecies before dawn.
VCs of the First World War 1914 Page 6