| Name |
Alexander Pringle GRAHAM |
| Birth |
09 Oct 1895 |
15 Church Street, Willington Quay, Northumberland  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Census |
31 Mar 1901 |
Bewicke Road, Willington Quay, Northumberland [1] |
| Census |
1911 |
188 Lytton Street, South Shields |
| Driver, Coal Mine |
| Event |
11 Sep 1915 |
France |
| Entered Theatre of War |
- Medal Card indicates that Alexander GRAHAM was a Private in the Durham Light Infantry, service number 17834.
He subsequently served in the South Lancashire Regiment with the number 36954.
His daughter, Doreen, recalls that he spent time in India [November 2008]: the first battalions of both the DLI and the South Lancs Regiment were stationed in India throughout the War. She believed that he was sent to India to recuperate from gas attacks in the trenches.
|
 |
World War I Medal Card of Alexander GRAHAM, who served with the Durham Light Infantry and South Lancashire Regiment.
Regimental history records that the 14th & 15th battalions served in France and Flanders from 11th September 1915 - "B14" on the medal card suggests that Alexander GRAHAM was a member of the 14th Battalion.
14th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Newcastle, September 1914, as part of K3.
September 1914 : attached to 64th Brigade, 21st Division.
28 November 1915 : transferred to 18th Brigade, 6th Division.
1 February 1918 : disbanded in France
"AZ" in the remarks section means that he was discharged to Class Z Army Reserve. There were fears that Germany would not accept the terms of any peace treaty and therefore the British Government decided it would be wise to be able to quickly recall trained men in the eventuality of the resumption of hostilities. Soldiers who were being demobilised, particularly those who had agreed to serve "for the duration", were at first posted to Class Z. They returned to civilian life but with an obligation to return if called upon. The Z Reserve was abolished on 31 March 1920.
|
 |
British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Card
|
| Event |
25 Sep 1915 - 28 Sep 1915 |
Battle of Loos |
| The 14th Division of the DLI took part in this battle. |
- The battle was the British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the Third Battle of Artois. General Douglas Haig, then commander of the British First Army, directed the battle; however, his plans were limited by the shortage of artillery shells which meant the preliminary bombardment, essential for success in the emerging trench warfare, was weak. Immediately prior to the troops attacking the German lines, at around 6:30 a.m., the British released 140 tons of chlorine gas with mixed success?in places the gas was blown back onto British trenches. Due to the inefficiency of the gas masks at the time, many British soldiers removed them as they could not see through the fogged-up talc eyepieces, or could barely breathe with them on. This led to some British soldiers being gassed by their own chlorine gas as it blew back across their lines.
The battle opened on September 25 and the British were able to break through the weaker German trenches and capture the town of Loos, mainly due to numerical superiority. However, the inevitable supply and communications problems, combined with the late arrival of reserves, meant that the breakthrough could not be exploited. A further complication for many British soldiers was the failure of their artillery to cut the German wire in many places in advance of the attack. Advancing over open fields in full range of German machine guns and artillery, British losses were devastating. When the battle resumed the following day, the Germans were prepared and repulsed attempts to continue the advance.
The fighting subsided on September 28 with the British having retreated to their starting positions. The British attacks had cost over 20,000 casualties, including three divisional commanders; George Thesiger, Thompson Capper and Frederick Wing. Following the initial attacks by the British, the Germans made steady attempts to recapture the Hohenzollern Redoubt. This was accomplished on October 3. On October 8 the Germans attempted to recapture much of the lost ground by launching a major offensive along the entire line, but abandoned the effort by nightfall due to heavy losses. This marked the official end of the hostilities, although in an attempt to strike before the winter rains set in, the British attempted a final offensive on October 13, which failed due to a lack of hand grenades. General Haig thought it might be possible to launch another attack on November 7th but the combination of heavy rains and accurate German shelling during the second half of October finally persuaded him to abandon the attempt.
Major-General Richard Hilton, at that time a Forward Observation Officer, said of the battle:
A great deal of nonsense has been written about Loos. The real tragedy of that battle was its nearness to complete success. Most of us who reached the crest of Hill 70 and survived were firmly convinced that we had broken through on that Sunday, 25th September 1915. There seemed to be nothing ahead of us but an unoccupied and incomplete trench system. The only two things that prevented our advancing into the suburbs of Lens were, firstly the exhaustion of the 'Jocks' themselves (for they had undergone a bellyfull of marching and fighting that day) and secondly the flanking fire of numerous German machine-guns, which swept that bare hill from some factory buildings in Cite St. Auguste to the south of us. All that we needed was more artillery ammunition to blast those clearly located machine-guns, and some fresh infantry to take over from the weary and depleted 'Jocks.' But, alas, neither ammunition nor reinforcements were immediately available, and the great opportunity passed.
|
| Event |
15 Sep 1916 - 22 Sep 1916 |
Battle of Flers-Courcelette |
| The 14th Division of the DLI took part in this battle. |
- The battle is significant for the first use of the tank in warfare and expectations were high that it would prove a decisive weapon. However, the Mark I tank's performance in the battle was patchy and the British commander-in-chief, General Sir Douglas Haig, has been criticised for revealing the secret weapon too soon. He was warned against this by both his subcommanders (such as E.D. Swinton) and the French government which sent Colonel Jean-Baptiste Eugène Estienne and Subsecretary of State of Inventions Jean-Louis Bréton (normally arch-enemies) to London hoping to persuade the British government to overrule Haig.
Like the earlier offensives of 1 July (Battle of Albert) and 14 July (Battle of Bazentin Ridge), Haig had hoped to achieve a breakthrough of the German defences, enabling a return to mobile warfare. Though the British, Canadian and New Zealand forces did make significant gains on the day, a breakthrough was not forthcoming and the Somme front reverted to an attritional struggle, which, with the onset of wet weather, created dreadful conditions in which the infantry had to live and fight.
Objectives that were taken included High Wood and the Switch Line over which the British had been struggling for two months. On the left flank the Canadian Corps captured Courcelette while in the centre the villages of Martinpuich and Flers were taken but these were short of the original objectives of Gueudecourt and Lesb?ufs. On the right, the German redoubt known as the Quadrilateral stopped the British well short of Morval. To take these remaining objectives, the British Fourth Army launched the Battle of Morval on 25 September.
|
| Event |
25 Sep 1916 |
Battle of Morval |
| The 14th Division of the DLI took part in this battle. |
- The Battle of Morval, which began on 25 September 1916, was an attack by the British Fourth Army on the German-held villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs during the Battle of the Somme. These villages were originally objectives of the major British offensive of 15 September, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The French Sixth Army, which had not been keeping pace with British progress in September, also attacked to try and bring the two armies into line. While the village of Combles was finally taken, the French were unable to match the British advance and so the problem of a German salient at the boundary of the Allied armies remained.
|
| Event |
1 Oct 1916 - 18 Oct 1916 |
Battle of Le Transloy |
| The 14th Division of the DLI took part in this battle. |
- The battle, which opened on 1 October, began well with the capture of Eaucourt L'Abbaye by the 47th (1/2nd London) Division as well as an advance along the Albert-Bapaume road towards Le Sars. The advance was resumed on 7 October and Le Sars was taken by the British 23rd Division but progress along the Canadian lines was stalled.
The weather was rapidly deteriorating and the battlefield, which had been pummelled to dust by relentless artillery bombardment over the preceding three months, turned to a quagmire. Rawlinson mounted further attacks on 12 October, 18 October and 23 October but there was little chance of a significant gain. The last throe (which by now included the Australian forces of the I Anzac Corps) came on 5 November despite protests from some corps commanders who believed continued attacks to be futile.
|
| Event |
24 Jun 1916 - 18 Nov 1916 |
| Fought in Battle of the Somme |
- At the beginning of the Battle of the Somme the battalion were held back in reserve at the start of the battle and moved into the battlefield in August at Le Hamel and carried out two tours at the cost of 44 casualties. Pulled back to billets again for drill and training the Battalion next saw action in the Battle of Flers-Courcelete during September. The 6th Division were tasked with attacking and securing a system of trenches known as the Quadrilateral. Having resisted several earlier attempts at capture, the 14th Battalion were sent forward to consolidate a position where a railway crossed the Ginchy / Leuze wood road in preparation for the attack. Arriving in total darkness the battalion found the trenches full of dead and wounded Norfolk and Suffolk regiment soldiers and worked until dawn to move the wounded to first aid stations.
During the attack to capture the Quadrilateral 2nd/Lt Arthur Moore Lascelles was wounded. Lascelles would, later in the war go on to win the Victoria Cross
The next day, 17th September 1916, the battalion moved forward into the assembly trench ready to attack. At 0530 hours on the 18th September under a creeping barrage the battalion attacked. The objective was stormed and hundreds of German prisoners taken, but the price was high the 14th 4 officers and 31 other ranks killed with 5 officers and 161 other ranks wounded. At the end of September 1916 the battalion marched to billets in Ville-sur-Ancre and underwent training and reorganising. A further 18 soldiers had lost their lives and 72 ad been wounded. Battalion strength now consisted of 15 officers and 459 other ranks.
By the beginning of October 1916 the 14th Battalion had moved into Trones Wood in preparation for attack on a trench system known as Rainbow and Shine. Extracts from the 14th's War Diary for October detail the attack.
11th October 1916. 0730 hours:-
Battn. moved into Reserve trenches between GUIDECOURT and LESBEOUFS. Orders were received to move into assembly trenches and attack the next day. Some difficulty was expected in keeping direction in the attack owing to the fact that the West Yorks held part of the enemy trench, and the part we were to attack was on the left of the West Yorks, whereas the assembly trenches, from which the attack was to be launched, lay directly behind the West Yorks. The direction of the attack would therefore be half-left. To obviate this we laid a tape from the West Yorks extreme left to the extreme right of the assembly trenches.
The first objective was to be this trench from the West Yorks right as far as a sunken road ( about 350 yards of trench), the 12th Division attacking from the sunken road to the left. After attaining the objective we were to advance on a 100 yards? front with our left on the sunken road until we reached the the enemy trench 300 yards in front. This was to be captured and , if possible, a new line to be dug about 300 yards in front of this trench; the 12th Division on the left and the West Yorks on the right were to continue the line.
?B? and ?D? Coys ? ?B? on the left, ?D? on the right ? were ordered to advance in extended order in two waves on a front of 300 yards at ZERO hour, ?D? directing with their line on the tape, and capture the first objective. At ZERO plus 20 ?B? Coy. was to advance on a front of 100 yards with it?s left on the sunken road, ?D? Coy. following 100 yards in the rear with its left on the sunken road with 1 Section R.E. and 2 Brigade Machine Guns attached. At the same time ?C? and ?A? Coys. were to advance in artillery formation from the Assembly Trenches and occupy the place of ?B? and ?D? Coys in the captured trenches.
Strong opposition was expected from enemy dug-outs in the sunken road. The left of ?B? Coy was therefore composed of 2 Headquarters Bombing Sections to deal with these dug-outs and a squad of 10 Rifle Grenade men, with an ample supply of rifle grenades, who were to bombard these dug outs in the sunken road prior to the advance at ZERO plus 20 MINUTES. Lieut. Batty was in charge of these parties. Each advance was to be preceded by a creeping barrage and a stationary barrage which was to left when the creeping barrage reached it. Batt. Hdqrs. were established in the West Yorks line next to the West Yorks Hdqrs.
By 1405 hours:-
Attack commenced. Almost at once the enemy opened a very heavy barrage on the Assembly Trenches and on the trenches already held by the West Yorks. ?B? and ?D? Coys however advanced steadily through the barrage and captured their first objective, taking about 15 prisoners and killing several. The 12th Division on the left also attained their first objective. During this advance ?B? Coy lost both it?s officers ? Capt. Hellier killed and 2nd/Lt Gillott wounded. Many Germans retired down a communication trench and the sunken road, but few escaped owing to the efficient handling of the Rifle Grenade Section by Lieut. Batty.
?B? and ?D? Coys adavanced, Bombing Sections and Rifle Grenade men cleared dug-outs on the sunken road.The advance again came under heavy barrage and a good deal of Machine Gun fire. The Lewis Guns were pushed forward, and they and the Rifle Grenade men did excellent work in facilitating the advance. ?C? and ?A? Coys moved forward in artillery formation and took the place of ?B? and ?D? , losing only a few men; but 2nd Lt. Swindell was killed and 2nd Lt. Dunn wounded.
Lt. Newsome in command of ?A? Coy, seeing that ?B? Coy had lost all their officers and were becoming disorganized, handed his Coy. over to his Coy. Sergt. Major, and went forward and took command of ?B? Coy. ?B? and ?D? Coys. ably led by Lt. Newsome and Capt. Richardson, then captured the German second line trench and established communication with the West Yorks on the right. Lt. Batty had materially assisted the advance by bombing up a communication trench, capturing a German officer prisoner; he was wounded on getting to the second line.
No further advance was possible owing to the fact that the 12th Division had not advanced on the left, and the West Yorks, who had been mowed down by Machine Gun fire on the right, had been unable to advance any further.
We therefore consolidated the position, and as our left was 400 yards in the air, formed a defensive flank. These operations were carried out successfully, and the Battn. was relieved the same night."
On the 19th of October 1916, the Battalion moved on to the Citadel area and began regrouping and reorganising for the remainder of the month drafting in new men and officers to replenish those lost and wounded in battle.
|
| Occupation |
Builder [2] |
| Occupation |
24 Feb 1926 [3] |
| Bricklayer's Labourer |
| Probate |
No will filed 1943-1945 |
| Residence |
South Shields, Co. Durham |
| Residence |
1926-1930 |
Brighton |
| Brother Willie also moved to Brighton. |
| Residence |
1931 |
56 Hampden Road, Highgate, North London |
| Residence |
Abt 1932 - Abt 1936 |
25[?] Grove Road, off Holloway Road, London |
| Residence |
1938 |
93 Amhurst Park, Stamford Hill, London |
| Residence |
1940 |
Clewer Crescent, Harrow Weald |
| Evacuated briefly (about 3 months) from Amhurst Park to this address, but being on the Bombers' flight path to Northolt it was no safer, and the surrounding area was frequently firebombed. |
| Residence |
Abt 1936 - Abt 1942 |
Avigdor House, 93 Amhurst Park, Stamford Hill, London |
| A Jewish School, which evacuated during the War. Lived in large flat on top floor. Had previously been owned by a Henry DAY, when it was named Aberdare House. |
| Residence |
Abt 1942 - Nov 1943 |
693[?] Lordship Lane, Wood Green, London |
| Death |
19 Nov 1943 |
North Middlesex Hospital, Edmonton, London [2] |
- Had operation to remove teeth, the next day he was taken into hospital. He developed an infection, thought to be connected with the chlorine gassing he suffered in the trenches during the Great War, and died two weeks later.
|
| Notes |
- Good amateur tenor - would sing in clubs, accompanied by his wife on the piano. [Doreen GRAHAM 2008]
|
| Person ID |
I680 |
Gadd |
| Last Modified |
22 Apr 2014 |
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1895 - 1943 (48 years)
