At 9.50am on 10 September 1916, an explosion rocked the area of the Bassin Loubet at Boulogne in France. Men had been handling 18-pounder high explosive artillery ammunition, loading it from a lorry into a truck at Number 4 Berth. The explosion killed one man and injured four others. A court of enquiry held next day found that it was caused by a faulty fuze and that no one was to blame. The court also noted that prompt action with a fire engine prevented what might have been a more serious incident.
Where is the Bassin Loubet?
The casualties
Killed:
Pte S/14451 Alexander Laing, Seaforth Highlanders. His death left his widow Mrs. Mary Laing (nee Wallace) and their son William, who was not yet one year old when his father died. The couple had married in May 1915, at which date they lived at 31 Hill Street in Anderston, Glasgow. Alexander, aged 20 at the time, was employed as a boiler foreman, and Mary made a living as a sewing machinist. He was conscripted into service in June 1916 and after the briefest of military training went to France with the regiment’s 5th Labour Company, which landed at Le Havre on 24 July 1916. He was however soon attached to 24th Labour Company of the Army Service Corps. Alexander is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, plot VIII, row C, grave 135.
Injured:
Pte S/14450 Joseph McFarlane, Seaforth Highlanders and numbered next to Alexander Laing. Severe burns to both hands and loss of sight of an eye caused his discharge from the army on medical grounds on 29 June 1917. Born in 1890, he was unmarried and lived at 5 Balgay Street, Lochee, Dundee.
Pte T4/141208 John Hagerty, Army Service Corps. A severe wound to his right elbow caused his discharge from the army on medical grounds on 16 April 1917. Born in 1869, he was married and lived at 22 Park Street, Brecon Road, Merthyr.
Pte T4/142001 Harry Keeves, Army Service Corps. Harry enlisted at the age of 42 and had been in France since November 1915. He was posted to 24th Labour Company on Section E, Gang 2 of 24th Labour Company on 24 May 1916. Severe wounds to his leg, buttock and both feet caused his discharge from the army on medical grounds on 19 May 1917 after treatment at Croydon War Hospital. He was married with five children and lived at Filgrave near Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire.
Pte 174282 Norman Secker, Army Service Corps. Later transferred to the Labour Corps as Pte 301671. His family has added detail to the “Lives of the Great War” website, saying that he had been born in 1893 at Fulstone, near Huddersfield, and lived most of his life in the neighbouring village of Shepley. He sustained wounds to his arm and one eye.
Witnesses
The detailed witness statements given to the court of enquiry are available to read in the war diary of the GHQ Inspector General of Communications. The witnesses were
Captain Archibald Kenneth Buddington Mackintosh, Royal Field Artillery, who was employed as the Assistant Military Landing Officer at Bassin Loubet. While the truck was still burning, he rescued one man from it and observed another man on fire inside.
Pte S/14558 John Alexander Campbell, Seaforth Highlanders and later 506302 Labour Corps. He was knocked down by the explosion and could not rise for a few seconds, but did not know what had caused the explosion.
Sergeant Major 638 Thomas Charlesworth, Military Foot Police. He quickly took a chemical fire engine to the burning truck and extinguished the fire. He saw a hole in the bottom of the truck and two unexploded shells without cases which had fallen through. [Charlesworth was among the very earliest British soldiers to arrive in France: he landed on 9 August 1914. A veteran of the Second Boer War, he had already been mentioned in despatches].
Major Arthur Clare Vernon Gibson, Royal Artillery, ordnance officer in charge of ammunition at Boulogne. About 40 minutes after the explosion, he inspected the scene and Truck 1033 which had been destroyed. He found 11 unexploded 18-pounder HE shells lying loose in the truck, and pieces of 12 cartridge cases. He also found one No. 100 Mark II B fuze which had fired.
03392 Staff-Sergeant William Scott, Army Ordnance Corps. He was in charge of the handling party and had been standing on the far side of the lorry from which the shells were being taken. He said that the men were working carefully and were constantly warned about the necessity for doing so.
SS/16872 Harry Hammond, Army Service Corps. He was working in 4 Berth and soon afterwards took a roll call of his Gang, producing the list above.
Sources
War diary, GHQ Inspector General of Communications. National Archives WO95/3970.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Military pension records via Ancestry/Fold3
Army service records via Findmypast
Personal details from civil records via Scotlandspeople.