Sunday 30th July 1916

Front line trenches east of Pozieres

About 3am Tunstill’s Company moved forward to reinforce the men holding sections of Munster Alley.

The day became hot and fine and remained largely quiet.  At 6pm the Battalion was relieved by 9^th Yorkshires and moved back to trenches near Scots Redoubt.

From 11.30pm the front lines and Brigade HQ at Contalmaison were heavily shelled with tear- and poison-gas shells; this continued through the night until 6am, “necessitating the continuous use of gas helmets at Brigade HQ and by troops in Contalmaison for over 6 hours. Practically no sleep was obtainable”. Brig. Genl. Lambert described conditions in a letter to his wife (I am indebted to Juliet Lambert for her kind permission to quote from the letter);

“the Bosches had started sending those beastly gas shells at us. It was then about 12 midnight. They went on doing it steadily. It was my turn to go to sleep at about 1am but by this time we had all got our gas helmets on and in considerable discomfort! We had to bottle up all entrances and exits to our dugouts and even then the stuff kept creeping through. They sent over a mixed lot of shells. Sime big fellows full of lachrymatory or tear gas which makes your eyes water but mixed up with these were any number of little chaps which hold poison gas. We have had to sit for six hours with smoke helmets on, bubbling away in great discomfort and all looking like a lot of Italian Inquisitors. It was infernally hot and stuffy down in our dugout of course but they were shelling such a lot outside that it was no more pleasant and the whole air was full of their beastly stuff! It was practically all wasted as it did no harm but it was very uncomfortable and knocked out a few of course. Personally I fared better than most. I cannot breathe in a helmet for long owing to the lack of the best part of my old lung I suppose but Fraser and the others looked after me and shut me up with wet hankies etc. far down in one part of our little bolt-hole with Kerridge who was feeling rather bad. He and Elliott had to go sick afterwards but I hope they will be all right”. 

Lt. William Andrew Leo Kerridge (see 27^th August 1915) was one of the original officers of 10DWR. He was from Walsham-le-Willows, Suffolk, where his father had worked as a solicitor’s clerk. William was one of eight children and had been born in 1886. Before enlisting he had been a school teacher in Cambridge. He had been commissioned (Temporary) Second Lieutenant on 22^nd January 1915 and promoted Lieutenant on 22^nd June 1915. He had recently, while on leave, been married to Ada Read. 

Lt. McCulloch, 15^th Battalion, 5^th Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, sent a congratulatory message to 10DWR, following the events around Munster Alley:

“I beg to congratulate you on the excellent work done by your Signal Section during the 28^th, 29^th and 30^th July. The way they have maintained telephone communication under heavy shell fire is grand, repeatedly going out on the lines while the wires were being cut, and in this connection I must mention two names, that of Cpl. Dean and L.Cpl. Walker. It is no exaggeration on my part to say your lines were broken on an average of once an hour and immediately the operator reported any one of your Companies out of ‘call’ the above two men went out and repaired the break. Altogether these two men have laid over three miles of wire, the whole of it under shell fire. On the 29^th the front of your signal dugout was blown in, wrecking all wires and smashing two telephones. One of your section was killed and the cool way your Signal Sergeant and and his men set to work to clear the debris and restore the wires excited my admiration and their subsequent work has been a revelation to me.

I am in a position to criticise the work done by your work because I have been standing by your telephones for the past three days keeping up communication with our Brigade through yours and I trust you will excuse me in taking this opportunity of congratulating you on such a fine section.

With regard to Cpl. Dean and L.Cpl Walker, these two men must have taken enormous risks in maintaining your wires and I feel it my duty to specially mention their names.

L.Cpl. James Walker (see 4^th May) was one of the Earby recruits who had been added to Tunstill’s Company in September 1914. The other man commended, Acting Cpl. Angus Dean, was not one of Tunstill's recruits.

A/Cpl. Harry Holmes (see 29^th July), having been wounded the previous day, lost his acting rank and reverted to the rank of Lance Corporal.

Following the recent losses in actions there were a series of promotions. Sgt. Billy Oldfield (see 30^th December 1915) was promoted Company Sergeant Major; Cpl. Arthur Bearpark (see 29^th July) was promoted Sergeant, leaving his post with the Company administrative staff. CQMS Frank Stephenson (see 11^th July), later remembered that “I spoke to him about staying as my clerk, when he would not have to go over the top, but, like all good and true Englishmen, he wanted to get on”. L.Cpl. Michael Kenefick (see 10^th July) was promoted Sergeant. Cpl. Albert Herd (see 18^th September 1914) was promoted Acting Sgt.; L.Cpl. William Edmondson Gaunt (see 27th October 1915) was promoted Corporal and immediately appointed Acting Sergeant. A/Sgt. William Proctor (see 11^th July) was promoted Lance Sergeant (paid). L.Cpls. John William Dickinson (see 29^th July) and Edwin Merrall (see below) were promoted Corporal and Ptes. James Barker (12288) (see 22^nd July), James Moran (see 17^th June 1915), John Stewart (see below) and Willie Waggitt (see 9^th January) were appointed Lance Corporal. 

CSM Billy Oldfield

Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton

CQMS Frank Stephenson

Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton

Acting Sgt. Albert Herd

L.Cpl. Willie Waggitt

Edwin Merrall had been one of the Keighley recruits posted to Tunstill’s Company in September 1914; he had been working alongside his father, Fred, who was a bootmaker and had joined up underage, being only 17 when he enlisted.

John Stewart had not originally been a member of Tunstill’s Company and it may be that this appointment marked his move into the Company. He was a Scotsman, born in Govan, but on 27^th August 1914, aged 29, he had enlisted in Wallsend, having been working as a shunter on the railways. He was soon (18^th September 1914) promoted Corporal and was promoted Sergeant on 21^st April 1915. However, he had been reported drunk on 15^th July while the Battalion was resting at Molliens-au-Bois and had been tried by Field General Court Martial on 20^th July. He had been found guilty and reduced to the ranks and awarded 56 days Field Punishment Number One. The sentence was then immediately commuted to forfeiture of 28 days’ pay in place of FP no.1. 

The six new subalterns (2Lts. Costello, Currington, Evans, Hodgkinson, Millward and Snowden, see 25^th July) who had arrived in France four days earlier reported for duty with the Battalion.

2Lt. William Neville Dawson (see 20^th July), after the extended proceedings regarding his post as a commissioned officer, finally and formally relinquished his commission.

Pte. Edward Smitham, the eldest son of Sgt. George Edward Smitham (see 27^th July), who had attested for service (though underage), three days earlier, was attached from 3DWR to 6^th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders.