8th North Staffords trench raid at the Chapigny "Birdcage", 20 March 1916

This article has been developed from my 2012 study of Pte 13791 John William Harrison, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his part in the raid. He also served under his true family name of Shields. John was serving with the 8th (Service) Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment when it disembarked at Le Havre in France on 18 July 1915. He survived the war.

John is mentioned by name in the battalion’s war diary, in connection with his part in a trench raid carried out by his battalion on 20 March 1916. The diary also includes detailed plans and operational narratives which I have used to reconstruct these events, below.

The 8th (Service) Battalion was under command of the 57th Infantry Brigade of the 19th (Western) Division at the time of the raid.

Events

A present-day Geoportail map on which I have marked the village of Fauquissart, as a point of reference.

Part of a map from the British Official History of Military Operations. It records the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 but is useful as it marks the location of Fauiquissart (top) and Chapigny (along the Rue du Bois towards Neuve Chapelle). The front lines ran approximately parallel to this road. Chapigny could scarcely even be called a hamlet, being essentially a large farm complex.

At the time of the raid, the battalion was out of the line and headquartered at Riez Bailleul, a hamlet near the town of La Gorgue (which is near Estaires). The brigade under whose command it came was holding a difficult sector of the front, with a feature of the German trenches known as the “Birdcage” right in front of it. This had been a troublesome spot for some time and the raid was designed to destroy the position, kill as many enemy troops as possible, identify the units holding the position and generally cause as much disruption and demoralisation as possible. It was a co-ordinated raid, with the Royal Engineers sappers of 255th Tunnelling Company exploding five mines under the German trenches, the British artillery concentrating on strong points and stopping any German attempts to rush reserves into the “Birdcage” during the raid, and for a party of the North Staffords to advance down the various enemy trenches, using hand grenades to kill men and destroy dugouts and posts.

“Instructions and information re. minor operations to be carried out night of 20th/21st March” attached to battalion war diary (National Archives WO95/2085. Crown Copyright.)

Same source. Part of the battalion’s detailed orders for the raid.

The mines were exploded at 9.59pm and the North Staffords immediately began their advance. They found the ground very heavy going once they were in the crater field at 10.05pm.

This extract from a British trench map shows the position. The map dates to 14 June 1916 but other than minor detail changes the position is as it was on 20 March. British trenches are in dark blue, German in red. Note the cluster of craters from underground explosions, all around the tip of the “Birdcage”. That they are in red means that they were in German hands. The communication trench “Winchester Street” (called Road in the war diary) can be seen running from top left of this images, past Chapigny Farm towards the British front line.

The battalion’s war diary includes a detailed narrative. A close-fought hand grenade fight ensued in the crater area. By 10.14pm, with the grenade supply having gone astray, the battalion’s bombing party began to run out. They were ordered to withdraw. Behind them, the sweeping party had also entered the enemy position although German machine gun fire from the north wounded two men.

War diary entry for 20 March 1916. The battalion’s casualties in this operation were one man killed and one officer and nine men wounded.

Sadly, no war diary exists for the 255th Tunnelling Company RE, although the Royal Engineers museum holds a summary of events covering this period. The diary of 19th Division’s Commander Royal Engineers is very terse at this time and makes no mention of these events at all.

From the war diary of the General Staff at 19th divisional headquarters (National Archives WO95/2053. Crown Copyright.)

Same source. Post-action analysis and lessons learned. This document was signed on 23 March 1916, essentially two days after the raid.

Casualties

Pte 14181 John Arthur Ross was killed. He has no known grave and is commemorated at the Loos Memorial. He was the 22-year-old son of John and Elizabeth Ross and came from Burton-on-Trent.

Pte 13780 Henry Ralph Dean died of wounds at 7th Casualty Clearing Station in Merville. He was aged 27 and the husband of Alice Maud Dean, of 42, Rood Hill, Congleton, Cheshire. His natural parents are unknown as he was adopted when young. Henry is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery (VI.P.1.)