Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 23112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 551

A 'Leipzig Redoubt, 1916' casualty pair to Private J. Ward, 1st/4th Battalion, West Riding Regiment late 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, who was killed in action on 22 September 1916 less than a week after his transfer to the West Riding Regiment

British War and Victory Medals (3005 Pte. J. Ward. Durh. L. I.), good very fine (2)

John Ward was the son of John and Ellen Ward of Darlington, Yorkshire and lived at 27 William Street, Spennymoor, Durham before enlisting there on 5 October 1914. Posted to the 6th (Reserve) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry he was appointed Corporal with this unit with 2nd/6th Battalion on 14 April 1916.

This unit served as a reserve to 1st/6th Battalion and not long after the appointment Ward joined them in France, reverting to Private the day he arrived on 21 July 1916. Arriving in time for the Battle of the Somme he found the British Army battered by the heavy fighting and in desperate need of reinforcements.

As Ward was acclimatising to his new surroundings the 1st/4th Battalion, West Riding Regiment had been thrown into the savage around Ancre. The attack they made on 3 September 1916 near Schwaben Redoubt was to prove one of the costliest of their war with 11 officers and 336 other ranks becoming casualties. The Battalion needed to be largely re-constituted, the History of the 1/4th Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, 1914-1919 outlines the process involved:

'The supply of men was simpler. Large drafts arrived within a few days, and, by the middle of September, the Battalion's fighting strength was practically the same as it had been at the beginning of the month. On September 21st a draft of eleven officers arrived, and several more joined a few days later. Among them were three or four who had already served with the Battalion abroad, either as officers or in the ranks, while others had seen active service elsewhere.'

Ward was one the first drafted to bring this battle-hardened unit back to full strength, arriving on 8 September 1916 being given the service number 4/6570, later dropping the 4 to leave 6570. Fully re-constituted by the 15 September they were once again marched to the front to support an attack by the 1/7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment on the Leipzig Redoubt.

The attack was a success with the Battalion suffering only light losses in their supporting role- a role they continued to perform when 5th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment was posted to occupy the captured positions. Three days later they took over the defence of the position themselves, a particularly onerous duty as the German guns had marked their trenches and dugouts making their bombardments particularly accurate.

Once again, the Battalion History gives us an idea of nature of the hellish position they found themselves in, stating:

'D Company, with C Company in close support to it, held the whole of the captured ground; the other companies occupied the old British line. D Company's sector was a ghastly place. Rain and shell-fire had turned the ground into a mass of mud, littered with the awful debris of battle. Never had the Battalion seen so many dead Germans; and there were many British too. Bodies were lying all over the ground in the open; many more were exposed by the shovel, and hastily recovered. A hot September sun beat down in the daytime, and the air was filled with the stench of decaying humanity.'

The Battalion held their ground in the awful landscape until relieved on 24 September, in that time a great many men were killed by constant rain of shellfire. Ward was one of these, killed in action on 22 September, he is commemorated upon the Thiepval Memorial; sold together with copied research including extracts from the recipient's service papers, medal rolls, Commonwealth War Graves certificate and registry of effects.

Subject to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium. For more information please view Terms and Conditions for Buyers.

Sold for
£75

Starting price
£70