Hill 60~ Party's of ex miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions were sent to help excavate the mines beneath the German lines at Hill 60. They were part of the 171st Tunnelling Company. They dug under the German positions over the next two months and at 19.00 hours on 17th April 1915 the mines were successfully exploded enabling the Infantry to take and hold the German trenches. It later transpired from information from a German Prisoner of War that the Germans had planned to set off explosions prepared in their own mines on 19th April just two days later. The men of the 1st Battalion involved in this action were..........
Lt WB Burnyeat
157 Sgt D Evans 1115 Cpl JH Spencer
1518 L/Cpl A Lloyd 2661 Rfn A Berry
1246 Rfn P Brooks 1450 Rfn H Campbell
2419 Rfn H Ceasar 2080 Rfn P Collier
2343 Rfn G Coleman 1711 Rfn WG Davies
3024 Rfn HT Finch 2418 Rfn JD Francis
2383 Rfn G Goodyear 1588 Rfn WJ Griffiths
1872 Rfn EG Hill 1858 Rfn T Hope
1997 Rfn D Howells 1297 Rfn E Hughes
1374 Rfn T Isaac 2382 Rfn AG James
2351 Rfn S Jones 2378 Rfn SV Jones
1732 Rfn E Jones 1354 Rfn WJ Jones
1330 Rfn T Kift 1839 Rfn W Lock
1726 Rfn W Medicot 2359 Rfn J Meek
2365 Rfn R Meek 2376 Rfn P Murphy
1357 Rfn A Russel 1574 Rfn J Scanlon
2073 Rfn W Smith 1418 Rfn H Teague
1287 Rfn G Williams 1848 Rfn A Williams
2804 Rfn T Watkins
Artist impression of Hill 60 April 1915
1st Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment Timeline WW1
August 1914: at Newport. Part of Welsh Border Brigade in the Welsh Division. Moved on mobilisation to Pembroke Dock but by 10 August went to Oswestry and by the end of the month was at Northampton. Moved in December to Bury St Edmunds and in January 1915 to Cambridge.
13 February 1915 : left the Division and landed in France. Came under orders of 84th Brigade in 28th Division.
27 May 1915 : amalgamated with the 1/2nd and 1/3rd Bns at Vlamertinghe, after all suffered heavy casualties during Second Battle of Ypres. Resumed identity on 11 August 1915.
3 September 1915 : transferred as Pioneer Battalion to 46th (North Midland) Division.
Battalion Numbering
In 1908 on the formation of the Territorial Force, the Brecknock Battalion and the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Battalions Monmouthshire Regiment each introduced a new series and re-numbered its existing volunteers. The first 600 numbers were used in a very few months. By 1914 each battalions numbers had reached about 2300 (4 Digits). The high casualty rates in WW1 soon meant that there were TF soldiers with the same 4-digit number serving in the same battalion - particularly after the battles of the 2nd Ypres in 1915 after which all three battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment were briefly amalgamated.
This was rectified on 1st March 1917 when a universal 6-digit numbering series was introduced. Each battalion was given its own range within the series, every serving soldier was re-numbered and therefore it is possible to determine which battalion a soldier served with. The number ranges are as follows:-
200001 ~ 225000 Brecknockshire Battalion
225001 ~ 265000 1st Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment
265001 ~ 290000 2nd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment
290001 ~ 315000 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment
315001 ~ 340000 4th Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment
The 4th Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment did not serve on the Western Front, but remained in the UK. They provided some drafts for the other Monmouthshire Battalions.
Battle Honours of the Monmouthshire Regiment 1914-18
Ypres 1915
Gravenstafel
St Julien
Frezenberg
Bellewarde
Somme 1916
Albert 1916
Arras 1917
Scarpe 1917
Ypres 1917
Pilckem
Langemarck
Poelcapelle
Cambrai 1917
Lys
Messines 1918
Hindenberg Line
St Quentin Canal
Beaurevoir
Cambrai 1918
Ypres 1918
Courtrai
Sambre
8th May 1915
On this day all 3 battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment were heavily involved in the fighting at Frezenberg. It was during this battle at Zonnebeke when the Germans were swarming all over the trenches occupied by the 1st Monmouth's that a German was heard to call out "Surrender". Captain Edwards was heard to exclaim "Surrender be damned! Rapid fire boys!". Captain Edwards was then seen firing at the Germans when he was shot and died.
The picture below, painted by Fred Roe, is believed to capture the moment when Captain Edwards uttered those words. This picture is currently hanging in the Newport Museum and Art Gallery.
The exclamation went on to become the title of an excellent book about the 1st Monmouth's 'Surrender be Damned by Les Hughes and John Dixon ISBN 0951708716. Should anyone wish to read more about this Battalion then I recommend this book to you.