Leinster Regiment

If you ever visit the village of St. Elois in Flanders it is hard to believe today the stories and tales written by the survivors of the Great War who experienced the trauma of battle and trench warfare in this quiet picturesque place. Yet it was here that the 1st Battalion of the Leinster Regiment relieved the Cameron Highlanders on the 12th January 1915. This photo is taken where the front line trenches were, facing south. The line ran across the road at the far side of the tall building.

St Elois was by then a trench war battlefield with poorly prepared British trenches facing well prepared positions of the opposing side, a mere 100 yards (less than 100 metres) apart. The British trenches were formed into three sets, the forward fire trench that was waist deep in water, the rear trench about 2 feet (600cm) under water and the "extension trench" was a staggering 5 feet (1.5m) deep, with the bottom of each trench covered in a clinging, slimy mud.

For the soldiers the trench duty meant captivity in the water because to leave was to be exposed to the accurate sniper fire from the enemy line. Because the trench was a mere 3 feet (91cm) in width it was even difficult to try and move within the trench without creating a "wave" of water causing further distress to comrades. Nowhere to sit, nowhere to lie, not even a place to rest a rifle in the dry for the whole 48 hour of the duty period.

This then was the temporary "home" for the Battalion when on trench duty, but the discomfort was not limited to standing in water! Empty rations tins were used to facilitate sanitation, then having been used they were slung forward from the trench into "no mans land". A contemporary diary of the time recorded the following entry. "It was purgatory for me … I had diarrhoea 14 times during daylight … I was in a dreadful state when I eventually got to the hospital".

When not actually in the trenches the Battalion were billeted in the ruined houses of the village, and when the soldiers were relieved following their 48 hours in the trenches, they could hardly march back to those ruined houses. Bent double, soaking wet from the waist down and covered in slime and mud from the waste up the Leinsters all but staggered back. And so time moved on, and for just over a month every four days the Battalion marched to the trenches and made their way wearily back 48 hours later. During this period casualties mounted, particularly following an incident on the 7^th February when the trenches came under rifle fire from the enemy after they had been shelled by British Artillery. Captain R.A.H. Mackenzie was shot by a sniper on the 7^th February whilst trying to provide fire control information to the artillery. Second Lt. H.C. Alban was mortally wounded in the thigh whilst trying to protect his men from enemy fire in trench 21, a mere 12 yds (10 meters) away from the enemy trench. Lt. Alban died two days later on the 9^th February 1915 at the Battalion Headquarters located at Shelley Farm. Officers wounded during this period were Captain B. J. Jones, Captain M.C. Heenan and 2^nd Lt. V.A. Haddick. Sixteen Other Ranks lost their lives and 47 were wounded.

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