VCs of the First World War 1915 The Western Front

by Peter F Batchelor

  He was placed on the Reserve after his three years’ Home Service with the 1st Battalion and applied to join the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP), Canada. On 2 August 1913 he was engaged, as constable no. 5685, for a three-year term in the RNWMP at Regina, Saskatchewan. He soon displayed his courage, taking part in a two-hour running battle with two gunmen; after their capture, he was presented with a gold ring which he wore for the rest of his life.

  Cuinchy area

  He was granted a free discharge from the RNWMP on 22 September 1914 in order to rejoin the British Army. Returning to England, he was mobilized on 22 October, going to France on 23 November to join his battalion, 1st Irish Guards. After only a short time in France, O’Leary was Mentioned in Despatches for gallantry, and was promoted lance-corporal on 5 January 1915; on 4 February he was promoted sergeant in the field after his VC-winning action. An item appeared in the New York Times of 28 May 1915 reporting that an artilleryman serving at the front had written to a friend, ‘Sergeant Michael O’Leary, V.C. was killed in the last battle’.

  O’Leary’s bravery captured the public’s imagination and a large reception was held in Hyde Park, London, on Saturday 10 July 1915. Thousands of Londoners turned out and accorded him a hero’s welcome. Among other tributes the Daily Mail published a poem about him, a ballad about his exploits was performed before the King, and a short play was written by George Bernard Shaw. On his return to Ireland, O’Leary was greeted by crowds at Macroom but when his father, a strong nationalist, and a prize-winning weightlifter and footballer in his youth, was asked by a reporter to comment on his son’s courage, he replied, ‘I am surprised he didn’t do more. I often laid out twenty men myself with a stick coming from the Macroom Fair, and it is a bad trial of Mick that he could kill only eight, and he having a rifle and bayonet.’

  After receiving the award of the Cross of St George, 3rd Class (Russia), in August, O’Leary was commissioned into the Connaught Rangers as a second lieutenant on 23 October. On a recruiting drive in Ballaghaderrin, Ireland, he was jeered by Ulster Volunteers, an incident which led to questions being asked in the House of Commons on 6 December. Serving with the 5th Bn Connaught Rangers in Salonika, O’Leary was again Mentioned in Despatches, and after a posting to Macedonia retired from the Army in 1921, his final service being at Dover with the 2nd Battalion.

  Leaving his wife Greta and two children in Ireland, he returned to Canada in March 1921, reputedly to rejoin the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the name of the RNWMP since February 1920), but for reasons unknown he did not do so. Instead, he first gave lectures on the war and then spent a brief period in a publishing house before joining the Ontario Provincial Police during 1921 as a licence inspector for the enforcement of prohibition, a post he held for two years. His wife and twin boys having joined him, O’Leary was then appointed sergeant of police on the Michigan Central Railway, stationed at Bridgeburg, Ontario, at a salary of £33 per month.

  As he later informed a Daily Mail reporter:

  I was with Michigan Central for two years. Unfortunately on the railway I came into contact with bootlegging and smuggling interests … A detective has to take bribes to keep his mouth shut or else people are out to get him.

  O’Leary was arrested in 1925, charged with smuggling an alien into Buffalo, USA, from Bridgeburg; after a delay of some months the court acquitted him of the charge. In the autumn of the same year he was again arrested, charged with ‘irregularity in a search for liquor’. He spent a week in an American jail but was again acquitted at a later trial. He was not reinstated in his job by the Michigan Central Railway.

  After he had been unemployed for several months, the authorities at Hamilton, Ontario, advanced the money (£70) for passage to Ireland for O’Leary and his family and in October 1926 his wife and four children sailed from Montreal, on the Letitia, for Ireland, where an uncle had promised to look after them. O’Leary stayed in Canada having been promised a ‘suitable position’ by the Ontario Attorney General and worked in Hamilton for a time, during which period he suffered several bouts of malaria, contracted in Salonika. Finally, he left Canada. The British Legion heard of his parlous state and employed him for some time as a packer in its poppy factory in England.

  In 1932, while he was working as a commissionaire at the Mayfair Hotel, Park Lane, London, he took part in the ‘Cavalcade Ball’ held there in aid of the ‘Journey’s End’ home for disabled officers; together with A.O. Pollard VC, he served tin mugs of rum to the distinguished audience.

  He continued working at the hotel until called up from the Reserve of Officers in June 1939 and went to France with the BEF as a captain in the Middlesex Regiment. He was invalided back to England before the evacuation at Dunkirk, transferred to the Pioneer Corps and put in charge of a prisoner of war camp in the south of England. Discharged from the Army on medical grounds in 1945, he returned to civilian life as a building contractor, in which trade he worked until his retirement in 1954.

  He attended the Victory Parade in June 1946 but at the 1956 Centenary VC Review held in Hyde Park, London, he was impersonated by a man in a bathchair.

  O’Leary lived in the same district of London for more than thirty years, originally at Southborne Avenue, Colindale, but in later years at Oakleigh Avenue and Limesdale Gardens, Edgeware. He died at Whittington Hospital, Islington, on 1 August 1961 after a long illness and was buried at Mill Hill Cemetery, Paddington. After the funeral service at the Roman Catholic Annunciation Church at Burnt Oak, the coffin was saluted by Guards officers as it left the church and it was accompanied by a ‘lone piper’ through the cemetery. Six of O’Leary’s seven children were at the funeral, including twins Daniel and Jeremiah, both winners of the DFC in the Second World War.

  In July 1962 O’Leary’s medals – VC, 1914 Star and Bar, BVM, with MID, BWM, Cross of the Order of St George, 3rd Class (Russia), Coronation Medals for 1937 and 1953, and Defence Medal 1939–45 – were presented to the Irish Guards by his family. Although O’Leary also wore his 1914 Star with a Bar, and always claimed that he was entitled to do so, his military records show he arrived in France one day too late for such entitlement.

  THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE

  10–12 March

  On 15 February Sir John French asked the First Army Commander, Gen. Sir Douglas Haig, to draft a plan for an offensive with the line La Bassée–Aubers Ridge as its objective. Haig’s subsequent plan of attack was for the Meerut and 8th Division (Indian and VI Corps respectively), to break through the German line at Neuve Chapelle between Port Arthur and the Moated Grange, and to fan out to right and left; the Lahore and 7th Divisions would assault on either side of the breach. The Cavalry Corps would then ride through to the Aubers Ridge and wheel right behind the enemy line, with supporting infantry consolidating along the Ridge. An artillery barrage was planned to precede the infantry attack: the German wire and breastworks were to be bombarded by nearly 300 field guns and howitzers, and the enemy batteries shelled by heavy artillery.

  When the artillery bombardment began on 10 March the enemy wire and breastworks were largely destroyed, leaving significant gaps in the defences. Eight battalions advanced at 08.30 hours and in less than half an hour a breach some 1600 yards long was made in the enemy line. Problems arose on both flanks; on the right the 1/39th Garhwalis advanced in the wrong direction and attacked undamaged German defences, and on the left a 200 yard long stretch of the German breastworks was left untouched as two siege batteries had arrived too late.

  The centre battalions were ordered to advance only 200 yards beyond the enemy breastworks and wait while the village was subjected to further shelling. This delay took away some of the advantage gained by the surprise attack. During the bombardment the Germans occupied some of the recently constructed machine-gun strongpoints (Stützpunkte) which were located 1,000 yards to the rear of their breastworks, and positioned 800 yards apart to cover much of the flat ground.

  Having advanced through the village, the leading ba
ttalions were ordered to wait until both flanks of the attack could advance; consequently, the battalions supporting them could not advance as planned, causing a bottleneck west of Neuve Chapelle as several battalions were held up in the traffic jam.

  As both Corps HQ were some 4 to 5 miles from Neuve Chapelle and separate from each other, up-to-date information took some time to reach the Corps Commanders, Rawlinson and Willcocks. It was not until early afternoon that Rawlinson became aware of the situation of his forward battalions and he ordered a resumption of the attack in conjunction with Indian Corps. However, the orders took three hours to reach the front-line battalions and so the attack did not take place until it was nearly dark. It failed.

  A further attack was ordered for the next day. Due to poor artillery support, the gunners were unable to register their shots in the mist, and this, combined with the fact that the Germans had brought up reinforcements during the night, meant that this attack was also not successful.

  The Germans launched a counter-attack early on 12 March, superseding a planned British attack ordered for that morning. The enemy attack was halted, with very heavy losses inflicted on the attackers. Because of poor communications, Army HQ received little accurate information about the German attack for several hours, and at 15.00 hours Haig, convinced that the Germans were ‘much demoralized’, ordered both Corps to ‘push through the barrage of fire regardless of loss’, and ordered 5th Cavalry Bde to move forward in support. Again the orders took some time to reach the battalions concerned and those which attacked were repelled with severe casualties. The action was called off later that night.

  British casualties for the battle exceeded 11,600, with German losses almost as high. Virtually all the ground gained had been taken in the first three hours, and despite the unwieldy nature of the British force (under two Corps Commanders) operating in a relatively small area, and the poor and confused communications, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle was nevertheless significant for it proved to the French that the British were capable of attacking and were not just a defensive force.

  GOBAR SING NEGI

  Neuve Chapelle, France, 10 March

  The Garhwal Bde (Meerut Division), comprising the 2nd Leicester, 3rd London, 2/3rd Gurkha Rifles, 1/39th and 2/39th Garhwal Rifles were ordered to carry out an attack on the south-western sector of Neuve Chapelle. The start positions ran from Port Arthur for about 500 yards along the Estaires–La Bassée Road where the battalions designated for the attack moved up during the early hours of 10 March (see map opposite).

  On the left of the Brigade was 2/39th Garhwal Rifles under Lt-Col. D.H. Drake-Brockman; their assembly position was to the left of the road which led to the village of Neuve Chapelle. The defences projected in a small salient and Drake-Brockman observed that the ground in front of the main German line sloped more steeply in front of a ditch close to the La Bassée Road. Consequently, he ordered a passage to be cut in the breastworks and a shallow trench to be dug on the eastern bank of the ditch, which offered some cover to the front companies before the attack. The battalion moved up to the front line and at 05.15 hours Nos. 1 and 2 Coys filed out to the shallow trench.

  Neuve Chapelle

  The artillery bombardment commenced at 07.30 hours, the flight of howitzer shells clearly visible up to the point of impact in the German trenches. Promptly at 08.05 hours the leading companies doubled across the intervening space between the lines. No 1 Coy, on the right, advanced on an orchard, which ran at right angles to their line of attack. They found the front line empty but captured a machine-gun and some prisoners in the second line; the third line was also easily taken but in the subsequent advance to a trench behind the orchard, several men were killed by an enemy machine-gun positioned to the left.

  No. 2 Coy, on the left, had a longer approach to the first-line trenches as the German line angled back sharply from the orchard so that the men on the far left of the battalion had almost twice as much ground to cover as those on the right. Parties from No. 2 Coy eventually worked up to the German front-line trench but met considerable opposition. It seems that either the artillery bombardment was less effective in this area, or the longer approach gave the enemy sufficient time to man their defences.

  The British line bent sharply north-east some 200 to 300 yards from Pont Logy, and so one part of the German front line, held by 12th Coy, 16th Regt, was not directly attacked by infantry, for both the Garhwal Bde, on the right, and the 25th Bde, on its left, were advancing roughly at right angles from the breastworks, on a line that met at a point behind the enemy main line.

  No. 2 Coy split up and those on the left began to clear the trenches. A section under Naik (Cpl) Jaman Sing Bisht drove a party of Germans up the trench towards No. 1 Coy, forcing many of them to surrender. For this action the Naik was later awarded the Indian Order of Merit, Second Class.

  The most prestigious award of the day, however, went to 1683, Rfn Gobar Sing Negi, a bayonet man with the bombers of No. 2 Coy, who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. In his book The Royal Garhwal Rifles in the Great War, Drake-Brockman described the action thus:

  … the other half [of No. 2 Coy] remained on working up the trench towards their left to gain touch with the British regiment on the right. It was in one of these parties bombing up the trench to the left, whose commander had been killed, that one of the party, Rifleman Gobar Sing Negi, had the initiative to assume command and carry on bombing and rounding up prisoners and working up the trench. This action also drove others of the enemy into the hands of the British unit on our left. A machine gun detachment was thus captured. He, gallant fellow, was unfortunately killed later on, but I am glad to say he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his great gallantry that day …

  The Garhwal Rifles moved on and linked up with British units on their left, clearing the remaining Germans out of the buildings in the eastern part of the village. A position east of the village was established in support of 2/3rd Gurkhas and the battalion remained in these trenches for the remainder of the day. Their total casualties were relatively light: 3 Indian Officers and 57 other ranks killed, 2 Indian Officers and 71 other ranks wounded; they captured 3 machine-guns, 3 officers and 187 other ranks. Some of the prisoners were identified as men with whom the Garhwalis had fraternized on Christmas Day 1914.

  The battalion suffered over thirty casualties on the 11th, although it was not actually involved in any attack, and later moved to billets near Croix Marmeuse where it remained throughout the next day before returning to billets at Zelobes on the evening of the 13th. Negi’s VC citation was published in the London Gazette on 28 April 1915.

  Gobar Sing Negi (Gabbar Singh Negi) was born on 7 October 1893 at Manjaur village, near Chamba, in the State of Tehri, part of the original Kingdom of Garhwal. The son of Badri Sing, he enlisted in the 39th Garhwhal Rifles in October 1913.

  This regiment was formed in 1887, and first became known as the Garhwal Rifles in 1892; the second battalion was created in 1901. Originally composed of hillmen who had previously served in Gurkha regiments, the Garhwal Rifles wore Gurkha-style uniforms and carried the kukri.

  Gobar Sing Negi’s Victoria Cross was sent by the War Office to the India Office on 28 July 1915 for presentation to his next of kin. It was acquired (as was the Victoria Cross of Darwan Sing Negi, 1st Bn) by his regiment, and a duplicate was sent to his widow. A painting by J. Princep Beadle, entitled ‘Neuve Chapelle, March 10th 1915’, shows members of the Rifle Brigade and Garhwal Rifles moving past ruined houses; this painting was later purchased by Lt-Col. Drake-Brockman.

  Since 1925 the Gabbar Singh Negi Fair has been held annually on 20/21 April (depending on the Hindu calendar) and organised by members of his family. A strong Indian Army presence including bands, athletic displays and recruiting rallies attracted many villagers from some distance. In 1971 the Garhwal Regiment adopted the Fair and an impressive memorial was built. During the last few years the military interest appears to have waned but the family has continued the tradi
tion with a procession to the memorial followed by a ceremony and wreath laying by family members including Gabbar Singh Negi’s grandson, Kamal Singh.

  On 6 November 2002 HM The Queen unveiled the Commonwealth Gates at the Hyde Park Corner end of Constitution Hill. Comprising four stone gate posts, two each side of the road, each surmounted by a bronze urn and a domed pavilion (or chattri) on the north side of the road. Country names, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Africa, Caribbean and Kingdom of Nepal are inscribed on the gate pillars. The names of 70 Victoria Cross and George Cross winners, including Gabbar Singh Negi, are inscribed within the domed roof.

  On 10 June 1970 the New Delhi Evening News ran a story about the fate of VCs awarded to Indian soldiers, and pictured the widow of Gobar Sing Negi wearing his medals, including the Victoria Cross. The newspaper, questioning what would happen to this award, seemed to be unaware that she was almost certainly wearing the replica VC.

  Inscribed upon the Neuve Chapelle Indian Memorial at Port Arthur are the names of all members of the Indian Corps killed in France who have no known resting place. The names include Rfn Gobar Sing Negi VC, together with 140 other members of his battalion.

  W. BUCKINGHAM

  Neuve Chapelle, France, 10/12 March