Tag Archives: Maple Copse

13th Trench Duty 5th – 19th August 1915

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5.8.1915 Sanctuary Wood: Took over A8-12 & B1, B2 from the 5th Battalion. Order of Companies A B C D. Relieved in Maple Copse by 2nd Battalion.

Two men killed during the relief were:-

1776 Pte. John Barber a calico printer from New Mills who killed in action.1776 Barber1776 Barber 2

2838 Pte. George Birks a miner from Chesterfield who suffered a shrapnel wound and died later that evening at the 28th Casualty Clearing Station.2838 Birks 22838 Birks

The wounded men included:-

1663

 Pte Henry Hodgkinson 5.8.15 GS wound in the mouth and admitted to 10 CCS and 23 General Hospital. Transferred to England on 17.8.15. Returned to France on 18.3.16 with the 7th Reinforcement.
18 Cpl William Else 5.8.15 Wounded in the field.
2161 Pte Samuel Johnson 5.8.15

Shell wound in the forehead and admitted to 10 CCS and 22 General Hospital. Transferred to 46 NMD Convalescent Depot and returned to Battalion on 6.10.15.
2174 Pte John Oxspring 5.8.15 Wounded in the field.
3437 Pte Albert Baguley 5.8.15

Shell wound in the face and admitted to 10 CCS and 22 General Hospital. Transferred to CC and 46 NDM Base Depot. Re-joined unit 7.10.15.

2174 Oxspring

John Oxspring3437 Baguley

Albert Baguley

On this day 25th July 1915

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25.7.1915 SANCTUARY WOOD: German aeroplane shot down & observer fell in front of our trenches.

War Diary 25 July 1915

No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]

“We spent a further six days in Strong Posts in Sanctuary Wood and Maple Copse, during which an enemy areoplane was brought down in flames. This was claimed by the Archies as a victim, but as the petrol tank was perforated in nine places by bullets their claim was disallowed.

It was an interesting sight for those who saw the event-the first burst of smoke, the observer throwing himself out, falling the greater part of the way like a partly deflated balloon (his trench coat held the air), the bump when he struck the ground, the sweep of the machine as it turned to land in the open by Maple Copse, and the perfect landing, from which it was obvious that the pilot was conscious when the ground was reached. Within a few seconds of landing, three enemy shells burst directly over the plane, evidently intended for an anticipated rush of the curious.

The charred remains of the pilot were removed, when the fire had burned out, and buried, together with the remains of the observer, in the cemetery at the east of the wood. The light machine gun with which the plane was equipped was recovered and is now at Derby.”

[1/5th Sherwood Foresters]

AlbatrossThe German aeroplane was an Albatros C-type (armed two-seater reconnaissance aeroplane) from Flieger-Abteilung 3 and crewed by Oberleutnant Alfred Übelacker (Pilot) and Hauptmann Hans Roser (Observer).

1611 Plane

The victory was credited to Captain Lanoe Hawker of No. 6 Sqn RFC who was flying in Bristol Scout 1611 (seen above). He’d had an inconclusive fight with another German aeoplane and had also shot down an Albatros C-type earlier that same evening; these were the second and third victories of his eventual tally of seven. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exploits on 25 July.

HawkerMajor L G Hawker VC was later killed in action in a fight with Manfred von Richthofen on 23 November 1916.

War Diary 10th February 1916

In February they received a letter of thanks from FRAU ROSSER, wife of CAPTAIN ROSER who fell from a German Aeroplane by SANCTUARY WOOD on the 25th July 1915 and was buried by the BATTALION, his flight badge having been sent to his widow.

Roser“The young pilot, from West Germany, who did not even fight went to the front, unknowing. He has been one of too many, his grave still stands between thousands of others.”

On this day 12th July 1915

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No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]

1563 Depledge1563 Pte. Harry Depledge was killed in action and buried in Maple Copse. He was the first man of the 1/6th Battalion to be buried in this little copse, however, after the War his grave was lost, like that of 6 of his comrades and all of them are now commemorated on a special memorial with the grounds of the new cemetery.1563 Depledge

depledgeHarry enlisted into the 6th Battalion on the 8th February 1912 aged 17. He lived at Shallcross Mill near Fernilee and was a collier by trade in the employment of Buxton Lime Kilms Company. He served with “H” Whaley Bridge Company.

Depledge

The High Peak News records that Harry was ‘buried this morning in a little graveyard behind the trenches’.

Amongst the wounded was 2828 Pte. Edward Napier Mills, who was a cowhand from Wiltshire and served with “C” Company. He remained with the 1/6th Battalion for the duration of the War; later being prompted to Sergeant and finally disembodied on the 3rd March 1919.2828 Mils2828 Mills

 

On this day 10th February 1916

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The Battalion marched into Billets in Beaumetz.

War Diary 10th February 1916

Also on that day they received a letter of thanks from FRAU ROSSER, wife of CAPTAIN ROSER who fell from a German Aeroplane by SANCTUARY WOOD on the 25th July 1915 and was buried by the BATTALION, his flight badge having been sent to his widow.

War Diary 25 July 1915

RoserHans Roser (Marburg, 29 March 1893 – Ieper, 25 July 1915)

“We spent a further six days in Strong Posts in Sanctuary Wood and Maple Copse, during which an enemy areoplane was brought down in flames. This was claimed by the Archies as a victim, but as the petrol tank was perforated in nine places by bullets their claim was disallowed.

It was an interesting sight for those who saw the event-the first burst of smoke, the observer throwing himself out, falling the greater part of the way like a partly deflated balloon (his trench coat held the air), the bump when he struck the ground, the sweep of the machine as it turned to land in the open by Maple Copse, and the perfect landing, from which it was obvious that the pilot was concious when the ground was reached. Within a few seconds of landing, three enemy shells burst directly over the plane, evidently intended for an anticipated rush of the curious.

The charred remains of the pilot were removed, when the fire had burned out, and buried, together with the remains of the observer, in the cemetery at the east of the wood. The light machine gun with which the plane was equipped was recovered and is now at Derby.”

[1/5th Sherwood Foresters]

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Albatross

The German aeroplane was an Albatros C-type (armed two-seater reconnaissance aeroplane) from Flieger-Abteilung 3 and crewed by Oberleutnant Alfred Übelacker (Pilot) and Hauptmann Hans Roser (Observer).

1611 PlaneThe victory was credited to Captain Lanoe Hawker of No. 6 Sqn RFC who was flying in Bristol Scout 1611 (seen above). He’d had an inconclusive fight with another German aeoplane and had also shot down an Albatros C-type earlier that same evening; these were the second and third victories of his eventual tally of seven. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exploits on 25 July.

Hawker

Major L G Hawker VC was later killed in action in a fight with Manfred von Richthofen on 23 November 1916.

Hawker fight