237 Battery, Royal Field Artillery

   LXXV Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, initially made up of 235, 236 and 237 Batteries RFA and the Brigade Ammunition Column, served with 16th (Irish) Division. The 16th Irish Division was established by the Irish Command in September 1914, as part of Kitchener's Second New Army. They moved to England and into barracks in Aldershot by the end of the month. On 23 January 1915 the three six-gun batteries were reorganised to become four four-gun batteries and were titled as A, B, C and D. In July 1915 they left the 16th (Irish) Division and underwent training on Salisbury Plain. They landed at Le Havre on the 3rd of September 1915 and joined the Guards Division. In Autumn 1915 they were in action in The Battle of Loos.
The Brigade Ammunition Column left the brigade on the 13th of May 1916 merging with the other columns of the divisional artillery to form the Guards Divisional Ammunition Column.
In 1916 they fought on the Somme at the The Battle of Flers-Courcelette and The Battle of Morval, in which the Division captured Lesboeufs. The batteries were reorganised on 14th of November 1916 becoming six-gun units. Two guns of B Battery joined A and C Batteries. B Battery, 61 Brigade RFA joined, merging with half of D Battery 76 (Howitzer) Brigade to become D (Howitzer) Battery, 75 Brigade.
In 1917 they saw action during The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and Third Battle of Ypres including The Battle of Pilkem, The Battle of the Menin Road, The Battle of Poelkapelle and The First Battle of Passchendale. In 1918 They fought on the Somme during The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Albert and The Second Battle of Bapaume. Also The 1918 First Battle of Arras, The Battle of Havrincourt, The Battle of the Canal du Nord, The Battle of Cambrai 1918, The pursuit to The Selle, The Battle of the Selle and The Battle of the Sambre

12th June 1916 Re-routing of Units  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Barlin. Battery Commanders went to reconnoitre positions of batteries of the 23rd Division. Capt Lindell D236 Battery proceeded on 7 days leave of absence to England. Col Lowe DSO appointed OC. Right Group. Right Group consists of the following Batteries, A,B and C,237 Brigade and A,B,C and D,236th Brigade.

13th June 1916 Movements

14th June 1916 New Positions

15th June 1916 All Quiet

16th June 1916 Batteries Register  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix Noulette. OC. 236th Brigade took over command of Right Group from OC. 102 Brigade. Batteries commence registering. Except for a few 5.9 & 4.2 rounds into Souchez, all was quiet on our front. At 2230 a laye mine was exploded in the south followed by heavy artillery and machine gun fire.

17th June 1916 Road Shelled  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette. Lt Petro C236 Battery to England. Some shelling of road between Aix Noulette and Bully Grenay. A great amount of aerial activity at 1200 as 9 enemy planes passed over Aix Noulette in the direction of Hirsin.

17th July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery: Nothing to report all quiet.

18th June 1916 Poor Light  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette. The light was not good for observation. A236 Battery's roving gun fired 38 rounds.

19th June 1916 Batteries Retaliate  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix Noulette. Slight minewerfen (mortar) fire on our front. Our Batteries retaliated and stopped their fire. Enemy aeroplanes were more active. A236 Battery's roving gun fired 36 rounds and A237 Battery changed position.

20th June 1916 Trench Mortars Active  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report enemy trench mortars again very active in the morning and our Howitzer Battery shelled the suspected places with good result. Our own trench mortars registered the German wire. Major Cooper A236 and Major Clifton A237 Batteries are Mentioned in Despatches. 1417 Gunner Young A236 Battery is awarded the Military Medal by the Commander in Chief under authority from HM The King (IV GRO 943).

21st June 1916 Trench Mortar Activity  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette report there was much trench mortar activity about 1200. The enemy trench mortars were also very active and scored two hits on our lines wounding 2/Lt Folingsby 237 Brigade, attached to Y236 Trench Mortar Battery, also wounding Lt Kimber 237 Brigade acting as Liason Officer to the Left Battalion. Our Battery did great damage the day before to wire at enemy's front line. Trench Mortars have had this strafe on retaliation. GOC’s Division HQ sent a message to Trench Mortar officers commending their work. There was again a lot of aerial activity. Lt Kimber and 2nd Lieut Folingsby both died of wounds the same night. (Thomas Grueber Folingsby, aged 20, is buried at Aix-Noulette Cemetery Extension and Henry Cyril Dixon Kimber, aged 22, is buried Barlin Communal Cemetery Extension. Both of 7th London Brigade RFA now 237th London Brigade.)

22nd June 1916 Very Little Shelling  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix Noulette. Very little shelling today. Enemy put 6 rounds of 4.2 inch shells in A237 Battery's new position. The light for aerial observation was good and a party of enemy aeroplanes flew over Aix Noulette this afternoon. They came back about two hours later followed by our planes.
The following officers arrived from England. 2/Lt G.N. Gaburn - posted to C236 Battery. 2/Lt Wills - posted to C236 Batttery. 2/Lt E.H. de B West - posted to D236 Battery.
Other movements. 2/Lt Gordon Tombe attached to C236 Battery leaves to rejoin his unit 47th Divisional Ammunition Column. Lt Pilditch, Adjutant, 237th Brigade RFA, has left this Group HQ. Lt Tausley, Orderly Officer, 237th Brigade RFA, is attached to this HQ. One of the guns of Y236 Trench Mortar Battery had a premature(shell exploding early) resulting in one man killed and 2 men wounded.

23rd June 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report All quiet. Hostile aeroplanes were very active. B223 Battery commanded by Major T----- joined Right Group and was positioned south of A237 Battery (south of the edge of Noulette Wood)

24th June 1916 Wire Shelled  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette (War Diary very faint) All batteries of this group shelled wire ---- to ---- zones. Y/47 Trench Mortar Battery (Lt Brown) fired 50 rounds wire registering and retaliation on enemy trench mortars. Much less aerial activity owing to bad weather. Lt Brown attached to Y047 Trench Mortar Battery. A gun of Y047 Trench Mortar Battery blew up killing the Bombardier in charge of the gun.

25th June 1916 Wire Cutting  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix Noulette: Divisional Artillery continued wire cutting in conjunction with the Trench Mortar Batteries. Enemy T.Ms also active at times during the day, but stopped firing when fired on by our Batteries. Aeroplane activity was much less owing to the weather. The sound of heavy bombardment came from just north of the Angres Sector at about 1230.

26th June 1916 Wire cutting  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix Noulette. Wire cutting and fire on enemy mortars continued throughout the day. Enemy trench mortars were active on our front, but were silenced by our artillery. At 2330 2nd Division opened a heavy bombardment of enemy trenches on Vimy Ridge. The enemy barrage was fairly heavy for a time but by midnight had practically ceased while our fire carried on until about 0045. At 0445 an exactly similar state of affairs was observed opposite the Loos Salient, very little gun fire was heard and infantry confined themselves chiefly to bombs and machine gun fire.

27th June 1916 Wire Cutting  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette report 18 pounder Batteries and Y047 Trench Mortar Battery were wire cutting all day. At 2345 Divisional Artillery opened a bombardment along the whole of the Divisional Front. Under cover of this, gas was let off at 0120. Artillery fire became intense and at 0125 our infantry raided German lines. At present time ----- --- ----. The enemy retaliated very little with 5.9s and heavy minenwerfer (mortars) on our front line. Also a few shells on roads going up to Aix Noulette. All was quiet by 0230. The gas was discharged from the Angres Sector. The artillery barrage was excellent and very heavy.

28th June 1916 Bad Light  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette: Batteries engaged in wire cutting, but light very bad for observation during the morning. At about 2145 artillery was very active in Loos Sector. Capt Gayman C236 Battery reverts to the rank of Lieutenant.

29th June 1916 High Winds  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette. A very high wind made wire cutting very difficult especially by the Bois en Hach which, owing to the nature of the ground and undergrowth, is very difficult to see. C236 and B236 Batteries put forward a gun for wire cutting. Lt Yenken C236 Battery arrived from England, but went at once to the Field Ambulance Unit again.
At 2130 2nd Division opened a short but very intense bombardment of Vimy Ridge and the enemy replied with a short barrage.

30th June 1916 Wire Cutting Continues  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix Noulette report wire received from GHQ that 3rd & 4th Armies launched attacks at 0730 this morning in conjunction with the French and results so far are satisfactory. Batteries continue wire cutting and aeroplane activity is much greater than yesterday.

1st July 1916 Very Quiet Day  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette report a very quiet day. Germans displayed slightly more aeroplane activity. A236 Battery and C236 Battery carried out wire cutting with single gun.

2nd July 1916 Quiet Day  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette. 2/Lt Gunn C236 Battery moved from post and returned to his battery. A quiet day with enemy retaliation feeble in reply to bombarding their front line and Vimy Ridge.

3rd July 1916 Wire cutting  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette report Batteries wire cutting. B237 battery was shelled with 4.2s at about 0900 and one gun was damaged. The enemy shelled battery positions on the Aix-Noulette - Bully Grenay road all morning with 5.9 and 4.2 inch guns. Minewerfen (mortars) were active about 1600. At 2230 the enemy blew up a mine on Vimy Ridge but very little artillery fire followed. Another mine was exploded at 0030. At 0145 our artillery open a strong barrage in support of a raid by the 15th London Regiment on salient in Bois en Hache. The raid lasted twenty minutes with result at present not known. Enemy retaliation was much heavier than in the former raid. All was quiet again by 0230.

4th July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette the enemy was active in the Angres Setor this morning with trench mortars, otherwise all quiet.

5th July 1916 Observation Impossible  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette report Observation impossible so all quiet on this front.

6th July 1916 Trench Motors Active  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette. 2/Lt Wildes C236 Battery proceeded on Trench Mortar Course. During the early morning enemy trench mortars were active on Gouchez II to which our own retaliated. Observation was again difficult owing to bad weather.

7th July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette. All quiet. 2nd Lt Woollett transferred from D236 Battery to Y047 TM Battery.

8th July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette: All quiet.

9th July 1916 Billets and Roads Shelled  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery. at Aix-Noulette. Col. Peel took over command of Right Group. Col Lowe and Adjutant along with HQ Staff moved to new billets in Helsin. All quiet on this front. During the night the enemy's billets and ration roads were shelled in conjunction with IV Corps heavy artillery.

10th July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report All quiet on this front.

11th July 1916 Enemy Active  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette report enemy active about 1800 on Left Battalion HQ, our Howitzers retaliated on enemy support line. After a few rounds the enemy stopped firing.

12th July 1916 Weather Bad  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette. Officers and men of 63rd Division attached to C236 Battery for instruction. Batteries carried out small strafes on enemy billets, field gun positions and dumps. Weather rather bad for aeroplane observation.

13th July 1916 Daily Battery Activity 236th London Brigad  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery are at Aix-Noulette. Batteries carried out strafes on road, dump etc. B236 Battery fired 26 rounds on ---- de HIR---LLE obtaining several hits. Trench Mortars cut wire from 1430 to 1800 covered by fire from 18 pounders.

14th July 1916 Wire Cutting  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette. Trench Mortars continue wire cutting covered by fire from 18 pounders. At 1600 enemy retaliated for our wire cutting on Straight - Huntrench and Boshwalk. Our artillery retaliated strongly and the enemy ceased firing.

15th July 1916 Wire cutting  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette. Wire cutting by Trench Mortars and 18 pounders during the afternoon. The enemy retaliated as yesterday on the Straight & Boshwalk, otherwise all quiet.

16th July 1916 Cutting Wire  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette: Trench Mortars wire cutting in afternoon from 1500 to 1730. At 0100 on the night of 16-17th July, the 20th London Regiment carried out a raid on enemy lines at a small salient north of Bois en Hache. The raid was supported by intense artillery fire with 2" Mortars and Stokes Mortars. Enemy retaliation was slight consisting of a few Light High Velocity shells & trench mortars. Infantry report that German front line trench was entered, dugs outs were bombed and a machine gun was destroyed. Our casualties were light. All was quiet again by 0145.

18th July 1916 Slight Shelling  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette: Except for slight shelling of Boche Trench & the Straight everything was all quiet. 141st Infantry Brigade relieved by the 63rd Division.

19th July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report All quiet.

20th July 1916 Enemy Mine Blown  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report: Quiet all day. Enemy blew up mine by Double Crassier at 2230.

21st July 1916 All Quiet  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery: All quiet. Nothing to report.

22nd July 1916 Batteries Fire  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery report from Aix-Noulette: The Batteries fired on enemy trenches from 1400 to 1800. Retaliation was slight.

23rd July 1916 Straffing  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Aix-Noulette: Our artillery carried out a strafe at 0100 of 20 rounds per battery. The enemy was quick to retaliate on our support line.

24th July 1916 Personnel  236th London Brigade Royal Field Artillery at Hersin report: 2/Lt Wildes returned from Trench Mortar Course. During the course he was sent to the Neuve Chapple front to take command of a Trench Mortar Battery during the operations there.

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