Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. Introduction [1]

1914-1919

With the completion o f this, the fourth ,
volume o f "€œ Berkshire and the W a r "€
it may be in te re stin g to
state briefly th e orig in and
scope o f this unique local
record o f the Great War.
A s is w ell k n ow n in the
County o f Berks an d in a wide circle
a roun d th e county town , "€œ T h e Reading Standard" € h as long
been fa m o u s fo r it s illustrations o f local events.
W h en th e w ar broke ou t in August, 1914, th e illustrated p a g e s w ere naturally
filled w ith pictures o f military scenes, and soon portraits o f th e gallant men
w h ose nam es w ere in the casualty lists w ere coming
in to th e office in great numbers.
In addition , in order t o stimulate recruiting, groups o f the members
o f patriotic families w ho w ere joining up or serving
w ith th e Colours formed a prom inent fe a tu re .
It seemed desirable that the
material thus go t together should not b e los t in th e
pages o f a weekly newspaper, b u t gathered up
and classified in to a permanent work which would be
a valuable portrait gallery o f th e brave men w h o went
o u t from the County of Berks to meet the
onslaught of _ an aggressive foe, and in
m a n y ca ses died for th eir King and Country.
I t was, of course, im possible for a
local newspaper t o insert th e portrait o f
e v e ry b o d y who deserved to b e included.
A s th e w a r w en t on paper w as rationed
and almost unprocurable, a n d th e cost of
th e p rin tin g b lock s, like every th in g else,
was raised. N everth eless, it is a m atter
o f le g itim a te p rid e th a t d u rin g th e period
covered b y th is work -€” August 4th 1914,
to th e Peace Celebrations, July 19th 1919
- some 8,000 picture s w ere published at a
co s t o f nearly £ 2,000 . T he p ortraits were
classified in to th e various military units__
a m a tter rendered e x tre m ely difficult by
th e prohibition b y th e military authorities
t o m en tion th em a t th e tim e o f publication - and thus th e volumes w ill doubtless
prove o f increasing interest as th e years
g o by t o th e friend s and comrades o f th e
gallant men w ho are p ictures th erein . The
volumes d o n ot preten d t o g iv e a detailed
history o f th e part played b y th e County
units in th e w orld stru g g le fo r freedom ;
th a t will entail volumes o f th eir own. B u t
th is work w ill be a valuable addition t o the War records of Berkshire.
The period covered by this volume is from November 1917 to the celebration of peace, July 19th, 1919.
Brief records of the service of the Berkshire units are as follows: -

1st BATTALION

T h e autumn o f 1917 was notable for the
sensational advance on th e Cambrai front,
when a la rge number o f tanks broke
th rou gh on a. w ide fron t. F o r som e days
th e Germans w ere pushed back, but th ey
soon hurried up reinforceme ts and strongly attacked. T h e 2nd Division w ere at
Bourlon Wood , and h ere some desperate fig h tin g to o k place.
T he 1st Battalion m a n fu lly held th eir grou n d . T h ree posts
w ere overwhelmed a n d fell fightin g t o th e
last. T he enemy m ade a tta ck a fter a tta ck , b u t w ere sim ply m ow n dow n , and
on e correspondent says €˜" th eir arm s ached
from th e sheer physical effort o f killing Huns ."
The Battalion claim ed t o have killed 500 o f th e enem y.
In th e grea t German offensive o f March -April, 1918,
th e Battalion was again heavily engaged,
and showed th e sam e determination as at
Cambrai and oth e r notable engagements.
Col. G. P . S. Hunt was killed a t Manancourt on March 23rd, th e command bein g
then ta k en o v e r b y Capt. M . P . Pugh ,
M .C ., son o f M r. H . T . Pugh , o f Reading.

H e withdrew th e regiment from
position t o position , and k ept it
in ta ct. T he Battalion fo u g h t its
w ay t o th e Ancre. In the final
British advance th e 1st attack ed
at Ayette , in six da ys captu rin g
th e villages o f Ervillers, Behagnies and
Sapignies. A n oth er success w as achieved
on S eptember 2nd, and early in November
near Novelles. T h e regim en t w as again in
action on October 8th, a t Forenville, and
tw o da ys b e fo re th e armistice w as heavily
shelled.
They had then reached Escarmain.
T he battalion m arched in to Germany and finally rested' a t Nettishien,
east o f Cologne. Th ey w ere a t Roniwerskirchen when ord ers w ere received t o return hom e. Reading was reached on April
8th, 1919, th e unit co n sistin g o f seven
officers and 71 other ranks, under the com m and
o f Col. Brett. Fifty -three officers o f th e battalion w ere killed or
died o f wounds.

2 nd BATTALIO N .

The 2nd B a tta lion to o k p a rt in th e
g re a t a ttack on th e Passchendaele R id g e
on December 2nd, 1917, and w ere also in
a ction a t th e end o f th e m onth.
L ik e oth er Berkshire units, th e 2nd Battalion
w ere in th e th ick o f th e German offensive
in March , 1918. T he 8th Division were
h oldin g p osts in th e Christy-Flavy area,
and later - on A pril 23rd-24 -” a t Villers-Bretonneaux.
The enemy w ere held up. On May
27th, when th e third battle
of th e Aisne opened and th e French
were overwhelmed, th e Berks were
on th e French right. The Berk s experienced a very
try in g tim e. W h en th e British advanced th e 2nd
w ere in th e vicinity o f Vimy Ridge .
They captu red Fresnes line and the
Queant-Ducort line, followin g th e enemy up t o th e
n orth of Mons. A fte r the
armistice th ey were billeted
a t Esplechin, Enghein and Ath .
T he battalion received a ■warm w elcom e
hom e on Saturday, May 17th, 1919.
D u rin g th e w ar th e casualties were: -
Officers: Killed 58, w ounded 193.
Other ran ks: Killed 887. wounded 3,138,
missing 842.

1 /4t h B A T T A L I O N (T.)

The fightin g in th e awful th ird b a ttle o f Ypres will
live in th e m em ories of all w ho survived.
T he battalion w as engaged on Aug. 16th, 1917, th e ob jective
being th e Gheluvelt-Langemarch line, against Von
Armin'€™ s €œ" pill box"  defences. O ther a tta ck s to o k
p la ce on August 27th, and
under te rrib le w eather con ditions in O ctober. Then cam e th e Italian disaster, and
th e regiment w as hurried t o Italy. A fte r
th eir exp erience on th e Flanders front this
exp edition seemed lik e a " h o lid a y ."
On a rrival lo n g m arches b ro u g h t them to
th e Bre ta Valley, south o f Monte Grappa.
T h e w in ter w'as spen t here. In February,
1918, th ey -went in to th e lin e on th e Piave
fro n t. In April th e Division was m oved
t o th e Asiago Plateau. On June 15th th e
Austrian s attack ed, and th e battalion
w ere called upon t o retake th e lin e in th e
Boxon sector. E a rly in November th e
regiment atta cked and captured Monte
Catz, ca p tu rin g 480 prisoners and over 30
guns. T he Austria n fro n tie r was crossed
on November 3rd, and finally Caldonazzo
w a s reached. T he 48th Division captured
20,000 prisoners. A fte r th e armistice the
battalion w as billeted in Novale fo r some
months. T he cadre arrived in R ea d in g on
March 31st, 1919, a fte r bein g in th e war
from th e beginnin g.

2/4th BATTALION (T.).

A t th e end o f September th e 61st Division w ent t o Arras.
In October, 1917,






BATTALIO N .