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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte. Benjamin Thomas Corbett
British Army 2nd Bn. Warwickshire Regiment
from:Birmingham
(d.18th Dec 1914)
Benjamin served under the false name of Thomas Franklin with the 1st & 2nd Bn Royal Welch and served during the Boer War.
He was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with Clasps for
Cape Colony,
.- Tugela Heights,
- Relief of Ladysmith,
- Orange River Colony &
- Transvaal
He went on to Hong Kong, Pekin & India finally being demobed in May 1906.
In 1911 he married a widow, Edith Mary Franklin in Birmingham and in September 1913 was sentenced to three months hard labour in Birmingham Prison. During this time he was still a 'reservist' with the Royal Welch.
On 11th August 1914 he enlisted in the Warwickshire Regiment and was posted to the 3rd Battalion who were stationed on the Isle of Wight. On the 11th November 1914 he was transfered to the 2nd Bn. and moved to France. In a letter home written on the 10th November says, ''Whitehouse is not for it''. On 20th November he arrived at Fleurbaix and until the action on 18th December the battalion are either in trenches or in billets at Rue de Bataille.
The weather was very wet when on the 18th December the 961 men of the 2nd Warwicks saw action. They were ordered to attack German trenches which were in front of the village of Le Maisnil. The attack commenced following an artillery bombardment at 4.30 p.m. when the battalion were formed into three lines . As soon as the advance started the Germans opened up a withering rifle and machine gun fire. The battalion advanced but suffered very heavy casualties. The 2nd Queens sent one and a half companies in support but to no avail and the attack failed in its objective.
Lt. Col. Brewis with four officers and thirty four men were later found forty yards from the enemy position and some men did get into the trenches but they were either killed or taken prisoner. Ben Corbett was missing, his remains never found, but was only recorded as being dead in July 1915. The Battalion's War Diary shows that from September 1914 to the end of December that year 66% of the battalion had been replaced with no leave granted.
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