Ipswich and the Battle of Arras 1917-2017

Ipswich and the Battle of Arras: 1917-2017

The year 2017 marks the centenary of the World War I Battle of Arras, 9th April-16th May 1917, a major offensive on the Western Front conducted by British and Commonwealth troops. In response, the Ipswich Branch of the Royal British Legion joined with the University of Suffolk and two local schools, St Alban’s High School and Stoke High School in a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund to commemorate the Battle and the lives of those soldiers from the County of Suffolk who fought and died at Arras. The project had several stages and facets. The university and school students identified a group of Suffolk soldiers killed at Arras in 1917 from local war memorials and researched the prior lives and wartime experiences of these men. As part of this research process the students visited the former battlefields at Arras to follow the path of these soldiers and to trace where they were buried or commemorated. This information was used to create a two-centre exhibition. Throughout the centenary period an English-Language version was hosted at the University of Suffolk in Ipswich and a French-Language version within the Town Hall at Arras. The findings of the project were also disseminated at a public event held at University of Suffolk on the 5th July 2017. This publication provides another opportunity to share the findings of the student work and the content of the two exhibitions, all of which have been made available online.

The motivation for the project was to engage young people and the wider community in the history of the First World War and particularly to highlight the role of five Battalions of the Suffolk Regiment in the Battle of Arras in 1917. Arras was one of the bloodiest British offensives of the War. Every day cost on average 4,000 British and Commonwealth dead and wounded. In total 62,000 men from Germany, Britain and the Commonwealth lost their lives in less than 40 days of fighting. Among them were at least 700 men from the Suffolk regiment drawn mainly from the County and each from a variety of rural hamlets, villages and towns, including Ipswich. This significant sacrifice has informed the friendship and cooperation that has since developed between the towns of Arras and Ipswich and which continues to flourish, one hundred years on.

Introduction

The Ipswich-Arras Link

During the First World War on the Western Front, between 9 April and 16 May 1917, five battalions of the Suffolk Regiment were among hundreds of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers that took part in the Battle of Arras. More than 700 ‘Suffolks’ were killed in action or died of their wounds as a result. In the immediate aftermath of the war Arras and its agricultural infrastructure were devastated. The people of Ipswich and Suffolk were at the heart of British efforts to revive farming in the area. Farm machinery, seed for new crops and fertiliser, all products of Ipswich, were freely given to the people of the war-torn French town. In 1993 the county town of Suffolk, Ipswich, was formally twinned with Arras, the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department of France. This in turn led to the Ipswich-Arras Association being formed in 1995 to promoteeconomic, educational, cultural and sporting links between the two towns.

Aims of the ‘Ipswich and the Battle of Arras 1917 – 2017’ Project

The Ipswich Branch of the Royal British Legion and the University of Suffolk initiated the ‘Ipswich and the Battle of Arras 1917 – 2017’ project. Working with a range of supporters, including local schools and community groups, the project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, aims to raise public awareness of the Battle of Arras in Ipswich and Suffolk. The project seeks to engage young people in particular in learning about the importance of the Battle of Arras within the wider context of the First World War and specifically about the contribution of local men in the 1917 offensive.

‘Ipswich and the Battle of Arras 1917 – 2017’ Project

Pupils from schools in Ipswich have worked alongside university students to research both the prior lives and wartime experiences of a representative group of local men killed during the Arras offensive. They have drawn on information gathered from local war memorials and material from online genealogical databases and other national and local archival collections. They have been supported in this by historians and archivists. The results of their research forms the basis of this exhibition, highlighting the legacy of the Battle of Arras and its effect on Ipswich and Suffolk.

The Arras Offensive 9 April -16 May 1917

Background to the Battle of Arras

The ground and date for the Battle of Arras were chosen to coincide with the French General Nivelle’’s offensive against the Chemin-des-Dames ridge, an area of high ground north west of Rheims. The armies of Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, were arrayed on a fifteen mile front east of Arras, on the mainly flat farmland south to Bullecourt and in front of Vimy Ridge as far north as Givenchy-en-Gohelle. The battle was planned to incorporate many of the lessons learned the previous year on the Somme.Artillery tactics and technology along with communications, tunnelling and mining, the use of tanks and aircraft and infantry training and tactics had all improved since 1 July 1916.

The Suffolk Regiment during the First World War

Immediately before the First World War the Suffolk Regiment had two regular battalions of infantry, the 1st and 2nd, based in Sudan and Ireland. The 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion was responsible for recruitment and maintaining the Regiment’s reserve and was based in Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe in Suffolk. The Regiment also had three battalions of the Territorial Force, 4th, 5th and 6th (Cyclist) all based in Suffolk. On the outbreak of war hundreds of thousands of men rushed to join the army and the Suffolk Regiment expanded rapidly in common with all infantry regiments. A further eight Territorial Force battalions were created including the Suffolk Yeomanry, which became the 15th Battalion. Battalions were also created for war service only to man the New Armies, also known as Kitchener’s Armies. Eight of these Service Battalions were created under the SuffolkRegiment. Finally, two home service ‘garrison’ battalions were created. Through the course of the war therefore, the Suffolk Regiment contained up to twenty-four battalions of which ten saw active service, eight of them on the Western Front.

Progress of the Battle of Arras

After a twenty- day artillery bombardment the Arras Offensive opened on 9 April, Easter Monday, 1917 in a heavy snowstorm. Once underway the offensive progressed through distinct phases:

• The Battle of Vimy, 9-14 April 1917.

• The First Battle of the Scarpe, 9-14 April 1917.

• The Second Battle of the Scarpe, 23-24 April 1917.

• The Battle of Arleux, 28-29 April 1917.

• The Third Battle of the Scarpe, 3-4 May 1917.

There were also concurrent flanking and subsidiary attacks at Bullecourt, Lagnicourt and La Coulotte. The initial gains of the Arras Offensive were impressive, particularly on Vimy Ridge and the battle did succeed in supporting the French offensive to the south by drawing German troops away. As the Arras Offensive ground on through April and into May however, the gains were less spectacular and the casualties quickly mounted. By the end of the Battle of Arras Britain and the Commonwealth had sustained 150,000 casualties.

Men From Ipswich at Arras

Ipswich during the First World War

When the war broke out in 1914 Ipswich was a thriving town of nearly 70,000 people with electric trams running in the town centre. The surrounding area of Suffolk was very rural and agriculture was a major employer. Manufacturing in Ipswich was often linked to agriculture and the town was an important centre for the production of fertiliser and farm machinery. Breweries and the dockyards were also major employers. Between 1914 and 1918 many local engineering works were converted to produce shells and other war-related materiel. The Stokes Mortar was invented by Wilfred Stokes in Ipswich and manufactured in the town. Ipswich was subject to Zeppelin raids during the war in 1915 and 1916.

The following men from Ipswich were researched for this project

• Douglas William Arthur Nicholls, who had lived at St Mary’s Quay Vicarage, Ipswich; 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

• Ernest William Rush, who was born at Rushmere St Andrew near Ipswich; 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

• Arthur William Cocker, who had lived at 9 Watts Court, Foundation Street, Ipswich; 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

• James Page, who was born and lived in Holbrook near Ipswich; 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

• Alfred Newton Watson, who was born and lived in Rushmere St Andrew near Ipswich; 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

• George Snowden Gosling who was born in Woolverstone and had lived in Station Street, Ipswich; 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

• Percy William Scrutton, who had lived at Calcutta Villas, Croft Street, Ipswich; 11th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

• William Fairweather who had lived in Cauldwell Hall Road, Ipswich; 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

The Suffolk Regiment at the Battle of Arras

The regular 2nd Battalion, the Territorial Force 4th Battalion and 7th, 8th and 11th Service Battalions of the Suffolk Regiment all took part in the Arras Offensive. Immediatelybefore the opening of the offensive the 2nd Battalion were ensconced in the Wellington Quarry below Arras where they took part in an Easter Sunday church service. On 9 April the 2nd Battalion attacked Tilloy-lès-Mofflaines while 7th Battalion also moved out of the Quarry below Arras to assault Feuchy Chapel. On the same day the 11th Battalion advanced fromRoclincourt towards the German trenches in front of Bailleul. During the Second Battle of the Scarpe the 4th Battalion joined the offensive attacking Guemappe. The 7th Battalion were in action again North of Monchy-le-Preux during the Battle of Arleux and the 11th Battlion took part in the tough fight for the Roeux chemical works. Finally, during the Third Battle of the Scarpe the 8th Battalion assaulted Chérisy.

Douglas Nicholls

Douglas William Arthur Nicholls

Douglas Nicholls was the youngest of five children and was born in Westleton in Suffolk in 1895. His father, the Reverend Francis Nicholls, was an Anglican clergyman. Before 1911 Francis was appointed the vicar of St Mary Quay Church in Ipswich and his family, including Douglas, moved to the vicarage in the town. Douglas was educated at Ipswich School and then attended Balliol College at Oxford University from which he graduated in 1914. In the same year, on the outbreak of war, Douglas joined up. He obtained a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and was posted to 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. Nicholls joined his battalion in France in November 1915 after it had fought in the Battle of Loos. A friend recalled “Douglas Nicholls had neither the instincts nor the physical attributes of a born soldier, and it was only his sense of duty which prompted him to offer his service to the Army.”

Captain Nicholls, 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

Nicholls fought with 7th Battalion during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He took part in an attack on the German held village of Ovillers on 3 July 1916. The assault took place before first light and the fighting became confused in the dark. Douglas Nicholls was awarded the Military Cross for his actions during the battle. His citation read; “For conspicuous bravery during an assault, when he showed great coolness under heavy machine-gun fire in correcting by compass bearings the direction of an assaulting wave which had lost its way in the darkness. He was wounded later when rallying his men to lead them forward again”. 7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment sustained 470 casualties on the day and only four officers were left alive and uninjured. When Nicholls recovered from his wounds he returned to the Battalion and was promoted to Captain.

Captain Nicholls at the Battle of Arras

7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment took part in the First Battle of the Scarpe on 9 April 1917. Emerging from the tunnels under Arras the Battalion moved through Tilloy les Mofflaines, which had already been secured and attacked Feuchy Chapel on the Cambrai Road. Douglas Nicholls was one of three officers from the battalion killed in action during the attack. His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel F.S. Cooper, wrote to Douglas’s father; “He was killed at the head of his company just as the position was taken. His death was instantaneous. Your son showed the greatest coolness, courage and initiative throughout the action. His loss is a great one to the battalion and Army. He was very popular with officers and men, who, with me, deeply sympathise with you in your great loss. On the evening of the 9th his devotion to duty, pluck and self-sacrifice helped very considerably his company to hold a position which was under heavy enfilade fire. It will please you to know that your son attended Holy Communion on Easter Sunday, the day before going into action. We buried him close to the spot he had so gallantly fought for. A wooden cross was placed at the head of the grave, on which was written his name, regiment and date. Barbed wire has been put up round the grave”.

Douglas Nicholls

Ernest William Rush

Ernest Rush was born in 1886 in the village of Rushmere St Andrew, near Ipswich. He was the oldest of five children and his father was an agricultural labourer. Rush was also employed as a farm worker by the time he was 15 years old, but on 1 January 1904 he joined the army at the age of 17. He began his career as a professional soldier with the 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment,joining the Battalion in Madras in India. In 1907 he moved with the Battalion to Aden before returning to England. By 1911 Ernest had been promoted to Lance Corporal and was based in Aldershot in Hampshire and in 1913 he married Flossie King from Capel St Mary, near Ipswich.

At the beginning of 1914 the 2nd Battalion moved to Curragh in Ireland, but on the outbreak of war was sent to France. Ernest, by this time a Sergeant, fought with 2nd Suffolks at Le Cateau in August 1914, where he was reported as missing, but later made his way back to the Battalion with fourteen other ranks. Within two days of his return the Suffolks fought their way back across the River Marne and on to the north bank of the River Aisne. Rush continued to serve with the 2nd Suffolks and fought in the Ypres Salient throughout 1915. In 1916 the Battalion was sent to the Somme and Rush was promoted to Company Sergeant Major at the close of the battle on 13 November 1916.

Ernest Rush

Lieutenant Rush

On 1 April 1917 Ernest Rush was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment just prior to the Battle of Arras. He survived the First Battle of the Scarpe, but was killed in action on 28 April 1917 during the Battle of Arleux. When the battalion attacked German trenches north of Monchy-le-Preux Rush was hit by machine gun fire from Roeux along with many other members of 7th Battalion. By the end of 28 April the battalion had been reduced to 190 effective soldiers, with all but two officers having been killed or wounded.

Arthur Cocker

Arthur William Cocker

Arthur Cocker was born in Ipswich in 1896. His father was a dock labourer and his mother was a corset maker. Cocker was the oldest of three surviving siblings, another six having died during infancy. Before the war he was living with his family at 9 Watts Court, Foundation Street in Ipswich and was working as a moulder for Ransomes, Sims and Jeffries who made agricultural machinery at their Orwell Iron Works. In common with many other workers at the company Cocker joined the Territorial Force 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. He deployed to France on 28 February 1915 where he joined his Battalion. The following month the Battalion took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and in 1916 it fought on the Somme. Cocker, recently promoted to Corporal, was killed in action on 23 April 1917 during the Second Battle of the Scarpe when the 4th Suffolks took part in an unsuccessful attack in the Sensée Valley near Croisilles. He was one of 315 casualties suffered by the 4th Battalion on 23-24 April 1917.

Alfred Newton Watson

Alfred Newton Watson

Alfred Watson was born in Rushmere St Andrew, near Ipswich in 1896. His father was horseman on a local farm but died when Watson was still a young boy. In 1911 his mother Mary, then a widow, lived with Watson and six of his eight siblings in Brickyard Cottage, a four roomed dwelling in Rushmere St Andrew. Watson was employed as a caddy on the local golf course. On the outbreak of war he joined a Territorial Force battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, but was later transferred to the 2nd Battalion Suffolk Regiment. On the eve of the Arras Offensive Watson was present at an Easter Sunday service held by the 2nd Suffolks in the Wellington Quarries below Arras. The following day, 9 April 1917, the Battalion emerged from tunnels east of Arras to attack a system of German trenches known as ‘The Harp’ south of Tilloy les Mofflaines. Private Watson survived the First Battle of the Scarpe, but was later killed on 28 April 1917 during the Battle of Arleux.

Percy William Scrutton

Percy Scrutton was born in Ipswich in 1893, the seventh of nine children. His father Charles was a paper making machinist and later a carpenter working for a veterinary surgeon. In 1911 Scrutton was employed as an outfitter’s apprentice and was living with his parents and four siblings in a six roomed terraced house at 6 Calcutta Villas, Croft Street in Ipswich. Following the outbreak of war Scrutton enlisted in the 11th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. At Arras Percy survived the 11th Suffolks attack on the Bois de la Maison Blanche during the First Battle of the Scarpe. He was killed however, on 28 April 1917 during the Battalion’s assault on the Roeux chemical works during the Battle of Arleux. Captain F. Tempest wrote to Percy Scrutton’s father; “I deeply sympathise with you in your great loss; he died fighting bravely and valiantly, but I fear this will be poor consolation. I think his death must have been instantaneous, so he would have felt no pain. With very deepest sympathies from me and all his friends, by whom he was greatly respected.” Percy’s older brother Henry, a Rifleman in the Rifle Brigade, was killed in the Ypres Salient in December 1917.

William Fairweather

William Fairweather was born in 1894 in Ipswich, one of six siblings. His father George was a telegraph workman employed by the Great Eastern Railway Company. In 1911 Fairweather was living with his parents and four siblings in a six roomed house at 317 Cauldwell Hall Road in Ipswich. His older brother, also called George worked as a grocer’s clerk and his older sister Elizabeth was -employed as a domestic servant. William worked as a tailor’s apprentice. Following the outbreak of war Fairweather joined the 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. He survived the Battalion’s attack on Feuchy Chapel during the First Battle of the Scarpe, but was killed by machine gun fire from Roeux, between the River Scarpe and Monchy le Preux, during the Battle of Arleux.

Like many soldiers Fairweather was initially reported as missing in action. On 15 June 1917 his parents posted the following request in the Suffolk Chronicle and Mercury newspaper;“Pte. W. Fairweather, 43177 (known as “Ridge”), Suffolk Regiment, is reported wounded and was last seen in a shell-hole on April 28th last, ‘somewhere in France’. His parents, who reside at the Railway Tavern, Burrell Street, Ipswich, would be glad to hear of any news concerning him”.

They published this request for information every week for the next four weeks. William was later confirmed killed in action.

Percy William Scrutton and William Fairweather

Douglas Nicholls

Douglas Nicholls

Arthur Cocker

George Gosling and James Page

James Page

James Page was born in 1897 in Holbrook. He was the eldest of the seven children of Harry and Elizabeth Page. Harry Page had worked as a bricklayer and gardener, but in 1909 he and Elizabeth moved with their family into the White Horse Inn in Holbrook and assumed the role of publicans. By the age of thirteen James Page, although still receiving some schooling, was working on local farms. Soon after the war began he enlisted in 7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, even though he was under eighteen, the minimum age for recruitment. His mother, Elizabeth, wrote to the War Office to explain that her son had lied about his true age and the army sent Page back to Suffolk where he trained with 3rd (Reserve) Battalion Suffolk Regiment stationed at Felixstowe. During this time, Page was promoted to corporal, and when he reached nineteen, the minimum age for overseas service, he re-joined 7th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment in France. Page survived the First Battle of the Scarpe at Arras, but was killed in action on 28 April 1917 during the Battle of Arleux. Page was recorded missing after the attack on German trenches north of Monchy-le-Preux when enemy machine guns positioned at Roeux on the north bank of the Scarpe inflicted mass casualties on the Battalion. His body was never recovered.

George Gosling

George Snowdon Gosling was born in Woolverstone, Suffolk, in 1897. His mother, Susan, was originally from Kinsale, Ireland. His father, also named George, was born in Holbrock in Suffolk. He was a blacksmith, employed in a foundry in Ipswich. Both parents had travelled extensively before eventually settling in Ipswich. George Snr. and Sarah spent time in India (Jhansi, Bengal) before returning to England sometime after 1892, and possibly in Ireland before that. In 1893 the Gosling family were living in Shoeburyness in Essex, before returning to Suffolk, initially to Freston, sometime before 1901. By 1911 they were living in Ipswich at 43 Station Road, Stoke, Ipswich. By now the family included five living children; five others had died in infancy. George Snowdon Gosling was the second son of Susan and George Snr. In 1911, at the age of fourteen, he was working as a baker. His older brother, Frederick, was employed by the Great Eastern Railway Company cleaning steam locomotives. His sister, Olga, was a ‘sweet -packer’ in a factory in Ipswich. Two younger siblings, Arthur and Madge, were still at school.

After the war began George Snowdon Gosling joined 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. He fought in the first phase of the Arras offensive and was among those who emerged from the tunnels and cellars underneath Arras on the morning of 9 April 1917 as part of the opening infantry assault. He survived the Battalion’s attack on the Feuchy Chapel redoubt during what became known as the First Battle of the Scarpe. However, like so many others, George was killed close to Monchy le Preux on the 28 April 1917 during the Battle of Arleux, probably as a direct result of machine gun fire from the German positions at Roeux. Gosling’s body was never recovered.

CommemorationThe Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Arras

The Imperial War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter in 1917 and changed its title to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in 1960. The Commission is responsible formaintaining the graves and memorials of over 1.7 million war dead at 23,000 locations in 154 countries. The Arras Offensive in 1917 cost Britain and its Imperial forces approximately 158,000 casualties. Today there are over one hundred CWGC cemeteries around Arras ranging from those like the Happy Valley British Cemetery with just seventy-six burials to Faubourg D’amiens containing over 2,650 burials. The Arras Memorial commemorates nearly 35,000 servicemen who died in the Arras sector but have no known grave.

Men from Ipswich Commemorated in Arras

The soldiers highlighted in this display were killed in action or died of their wounds during the Arras Offensive. The comrades of Captain Arthur Nicholls took care to ensure that he was buried close to where he fell, near Feuchy Chapel, with a wooden cross at his head and barbed wire around his grave. Despite this, by the end of the war, the location of his grave had been lost and he is commemorated on Bay 4 of the Arras Memorial. Lieutenant Ernest Rush was buried northwest of Monchy le Preux, he remains there in what is now the Happy Valley British Cemetery along with four other members of 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. After the Arras Offensive Private Percy Scrutton’s body was taken from the battlefield near Roeux and buried in what is now Brown’s Copse Cemetery along with sixteen other members of 11th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. Private Alfred Watson was probably wounded during the Battle of Arleux and was evacuated to a dressing station to the west of Arras. He died of his wounds and was buried in what is now Faubourg D’amiens Cemetery in Arras along with thirty-four other members of the Suffolk Regiment. The bodies of Corporal Arthur Cocker, Corporal James Page, Private George Gosling and Private William Fairweather were either not recovered or their graves were lost after the battle. They are listed as missing and are commemorated on the Arras Memorial among 637 members of the Suffolk Regiment

Memorials in Ipswich

After the First World War communities, organisations and employers built war memorials to commemorate those who had fought and not returned. Ipswich War Memorial in Christchurch Park was unveiled on 24 May 1924 and commemorates 1,481 men from the town killed during the First World War. The names of Douglas Nicholls, Arthur Cocker, George Gosling, Percy Scrutton and William Fairweather are allcommemorated on plaques behind the elaborate bronze cenotaph. Ernest Rush and Alfred Watson are commemorated on a memorial in the churchyard of Rushmere St Andrew. In addition, Douglas Nicholls and Arthur Cocker are remembered on a brass plaque in the church of St Mary Quay. Arthur Cocker is also listed on a memorial commemorating 130 workers from Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies who were killed during the First World War.

Acknowledgements

St Albans High School (Ipswich): Luke Harpur, Kitty Smith, Felicity Ryan and Jhona Monge.Stoke High School (Ipswich): Ashley Watson, Nathan Parkinson, Scott Davidson, Becky Lawal, Saffron Green, Faye Alexander and Emily Fillbrook.

University of Suffolk: Dr John Greenacre, Dr Harvey Osborne, Dr Edward Packard, Dr Lisa Wade, Dr Erich De Wald, Vivienne Aldous, Carol Gant, Samantha Lanier, Luke Kelleher, Lucie Ledoux, Danielle Kingswell and Ashleigh Hewitt. We also acknowledge the support and contributions of the following organisations and individuals.

The Heritage Lottery Fund, Royal British Legion, Suffolk County Council, Arras-Ipswich Association, Ipswich Borough Council, The East Anglian Daily Times and Evening Star, BBC Radio Suffolk, University of Suffolk, Arras Town Council, Ipswich School, University of Artois, Suffolk Regiment Museum, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, Robin Vickery, Paul West, Matt Marvell, Betty Contart, Andy Lock, Peter Gray, Brian Ralph, John Field, Taff Gillingham, Bridget Hanley, Louise Kennedy, Amy Rushton, Gwyn Thomas, Iain Dunnett, Samantha Bloom, Neil Salter and Melissa Beer.